Jennifer Olmsted: Jennifer Olmsted is an anthropology student at the University of Southern California
WHAT IS SHE LIKE, by Rosa Ainley, is yet another example of the cultural differences between the British and the American society. The laws regarding sexuality are profoundly different, and I often found myself confused by the references to laws that exist in Britain regarding homosexuals. Ainley writes, “Lesbianism as a distinct issue in Parliament was last discussed in 1921. The Criminal Law Amendment Act of that year attempted to bring lesbianism under the law. The debates around the issue at the time were, in several ways, echoed by those around the age of consent” (21). Essentially the British government decided to make laws regarding the age of consent that not only affect heterosexuals, but now homosexuals as well. In America we have issued laws that only affect the sexual interaction of all persons below the age of 18, or a few years younger depending upon the state laws. However, the laws in Britain state that heterosexual men and women have the ability to consent to sex at age 16, and homosexuals at 18.
There is tremendous focus on feminism and lesbianism from the 1950s to the present in this book. Also, this book discusses the effect politics have played on individual lives. The amount of visibility and political stances has grown, which has created a better understanding of what it means to be a lesbian, and all the issues that surround the culture. Ainley writes “Lesbians who pre-dated second wave feminism had been used to a vary different set of cultural norms, partly informed by a web of issues around visibility and personal safety. They may well have been interested in feminism, but their behavior was different. These lesbians were told they were wrong to live as they did” (71).
The most interesting aspect of this book were the personal stories Ainley included about individual women and their stories. Each story is about what being a lesbian means to the author and the significance it has on their identity and daily life. One woman by the name of Jayne Egerton reflects on the lesbian feminist scene of the 1980s and the effect that it had on her personally. She writes, ” The lesbian feminist scene of the early 1980s had some very negative and scary elements. There was a great deal of harassment and intimidation, often done in the name of a grand political principle. Race, class and sexuality came to be sticks with which to beat other women. There was a rush to identify as more than a lesbian, to clock up an additional oppression.” (Egerton, p. 91)
Overall, this book possesses certain points of view that don't relate very much to lesbians in America, and the text often gets confusing. However, the ideas on feminism, and the persuasive arguments for women to take action, reflect on all women. Although the author's perspective is very culturally based, the ideas are universal.
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