Compañeras: Latina Lesbians (An Anthology), Lesbianas Latinoamericanas: Third Edition/Tercera Edición (Routledge Library Editions: Women and Writing) (Spanish Edition)

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As a result of her auditory dyslexia, Aguilar explored her own method of verbal and written communication throughout her work. This book is a smorgasbord of poems, essays, diary entries, and other writings from Latina lesbians. In a November 1993 letter to photographer and teacher Joyce Tenneson—which Aguilar illustrated with more images from her Cemeteries series—Aguilar wrote about her burgeoning work with nude self-portraiture, which began around 1990. In this book, women are much more likely to say they are lesbians who have had sex with men than to identify as bisexual and this may rub some bisexual readers the wrong way.

But shining bright on the sidelines is Fabiola, well on her way to discovering, like the rest of us, that there’s no one right to be gay. If you’re secure with your manhood or your “self,” another person’s choice in gender shouldn’t matter Some of the annoying comments I get from men are: “you’re too pretty to be gay,” “who broke your heart? Department of Health Services, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Box 359455, Seattle, WA, USA.Wearing what Devi hilariously describes as the outfit of “a helpful Honda guy,” it’s clear that Fabiola, in her polo shirt and khakis, isn’t exactly comfortable in her own skin. This can also be true of the women who turn to men after a bad relationship with a woman, but in the end it’s still about human behavior, not about gender. I have observed that some lesbians have been abused or may not have liked attention from men, choosing to dress like a man to keep them at bay, like when a rape victim who becomes promiscuous to regain control.

This article discusses the challenges and rewards, as well as the affective labor, involved in forging a Latina lesbian “translengua,” in other words a common language in the context of Latina lThe women here speak from the specifics of lesbian experience in their various native lands (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and the US). Three themes emerged during the inductive analysis: (a) the trifecta: family, religion and gender, (b) the paradox of being Latina and lesbian, and (c) institutional care. For some Latine people, having a partner that speaks Spanish is important, so that they can communicate with your family easily. Each time a woman begins to speak, a liberating process begins, one that is unavoidable and has powerful political implications. While some responses represent the sitter’s realized self and journeys to self-acceptance, other portraits and accompanying statements act as unresolved confessions by the sitter.