Lesbians Exposed

After reading Wittig's article and her point that lesbianism has been ignored in the past I was surprised. I thought I had been the only one who was left out of lesbian exposure for the longest time. For example, one of my aunts is lesbian. For several years when I was younger she would always bring her "roommate" to all of the family parties, and that's what I saw this other woman as, her "roommate". None of my family ever talked about it or explained it to me, and I even found out later that my Mother had told my aunt and her partner not to show affection in front of me. Apparently, if I was exposed to it I would be tainted forever or something. Looking back on it now it seems very odd to me. The fact that people, even my own mother, have gone to such lengths to cover the tracks of lesbianism. When I first heard that my mother had told them to keep their relationship hidden, I did not think to much about it. I thought that she only was only protecting me and my religious values at the time. And now I see that the bible has its own issues and contradictions, so that's a no go.

Overall, I believe that Wittig made a great point in her article, we are alienating women by defining their "natural" sexuality, and therefore overlooking other possibilities, lesbianism. After applying her ideas to my life I have realized another way how the oppression of women is affecting my life, my family. When we become conscious of oppression we can begin to fight against it.