THE LADDER a lesbian review november 1964 Vov»aber 196if purpose of the Ik e LaddeH ToI um 9 lia b e r 2 Publith*a monthly by tho Doughteri of BflltU, Inc., o gon- ^ pioflt corporation, 1232 Morkot Stroot, Suite 108, Son Fran- 0 B l L I T I S c isc o 2, Collfornio. Tolephono: UNderhlll 3 — 6196* A WOMEN’S ORGANIZATION FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROMOTING NATIONAL OFFICERS, DAUGHTERS OF BILITIS, INC. THE INTEGRATION OF THE HOMOSEXUAL INTO SOCIETY BY; PRESIDEMT - Cleo Olenn VICE-PRESIDENT - Del Shearer RECORDim SECRETARY - Agatha Mathys CORRESPONDING SECRETARY - Marjorie McCann PUBLIC RBUTIONS DIRECTOR - Phyllis Leon ............. TREASURER - Del Martin THE LADDER STAFF E d i t o r ^ Barbara GUttn^s O Education of the variant, with particular emphasis on the psych­ Fiction ond Poetry Editor — Agatha Mathys ological, physiological and sociological aspects, to enable her to understand herself and make her adjustment to society in all Production^)o^a Oliver, V. Pigrom its social, civic and economic implications— this to be accomp­ Circulation Manager— Cleo Glenn lished by establishing and maintaining as complete a library as possible of both fiction and non-fiction literature on the sex de­ THE LADDER is regarded as a sounding board for various viant theme; by sponsoring public discussions on pertinent sub­ points of vtaw on tha homophila and ralatad subjacts and doas not nacas&arity roftact tha opinion of tha organization. jects to be conducted by leading members of the legal, psychiat­ ric, religious and other professions; by advocating a mode of be­ havior and dress acceptable to society. CONTENTS Ô Education of the public at large through acceptance first of the HUMAN BEHAVIOR: AN INVENTORY OF SCIENTIFIC individual, leading to an eventual breakdown of erroneous taboos FINDINGS - by Berelson and Steiner. and prejudices; through public discussion meetings aforemen­ Book review by Dr, Marvin E. W olfgang,,,..............................*1 tioned; through dissemination of educational literature on the Notes from Abroad: Thanksgiving from Indonesia - by Ger van B....................................................... 9 homosexual theme. Mrs, Freeman and Mrs. Morley - by Vem N iv e n .,,,.................12 Focus on Fashion - by Melanie,.........................................................16 e Participation in research projects by duly authorized and respon­ Lesblana - by Gene Damon................................................................... 18 sible psychologists, sociologists and other such experts directed Special Report: Invasion of Privacy - by Del Martin................ 19 towards further knowledge of the homosexual. Cross -cu rren ts....................................... 21 Readers Respond........................................................................................... 2*1 Investigation of the penal code as it pertains to the homosexual, proposal of changes to provide an equitable handling of cases Cover photo: Ger van B ., by Rora. (See page 9) involving this minority group, and promotion of these changes through due process of law in the state legislatures. Back cover photo by Kay Tobin Copyright 196if by Daughters of B l l l t l s , In c ., San Francisco, California I such things as differential social perspective and voting be­ HUMAN BEHAVIOR: havior. Some of the In tellectu al giants, like William James, Sigmund Freud, Max Weber, Emile Durkhelra, are scarcely men­ an invanfory of stionfifit findings tioned. But Berelson and Steiner are quite clear about the reasons: the genius of these earlier writers lies in their "revolutionary reformulating of human problems," but they do not usually o ffer "the type of empirical documentation re ­ by Bernard Berelson and Gary A. Steiner quired in this Inventory." The reader does not miss the the­ New York, Harcourt, Brace & World, 196k. 712 pages. $11,00 ories because his focus Is on the data. The authors of this large book have undertaken the enormous Moreover, the reader need not be a teacher, researcher, or task of examining the increasingly abundant lite ra tu re in the formal student to understand and appreciate the writing, behavioral sciences, and then of selecting hypotheses, ecplr- which is marvelously free of Jargon without losing the force Ical findings, generalizations and principles that have borne or finesse of the findings. This is not to say that students in the field of human behavior will not profit from the book, fru it to become part of our heritage of knowledge about man's for the range covered is wide enough to h it some hiatus in behavior. V/e must keep in mind that there are about 9,000 almost anyone's knowledge. Findings are grouped under these articles in psychology and 2,5000 in sociology summarized for categories: behavioral development; perceiving; learning and PSYCHOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS and SOCIOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS each year! thinking; motivation; the family; face-to-face relations in There are many more in each field that are not abstracted, I small groups; organizations; institutions; social stratifica­ mention these figures merely to give a vague notion of the tion; ethnic relation s; mass communication; opinions, a t t i ­ task facing anyone or any group seeking to condense knowledge and to translate scientific findings into prose that communi­ tudes, and beliefs; the society; culture. cates to the non-specialist. In one sense, the presumption Mentions of conformity to and deviance from dominant culture that che task can be done is almost arrogant; that the work themes are scattered throughout the book. There is no focal has been done at a ll , and done w ell, is a display of devo­ emphasis on patterns of sexual deviation, but statements made tion, courage, and erudition. Lesser men would have given up by the authors and quotations from other writers are such in despair or never tried. that sex variations are placed in the perspective of cultural relativity common to anthropology and sociology. Ford and The selection process, while undoubtedly tedious, was aided Beach (PATTERNS OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR) are cited frequently in partly by the fact that much of the literature in psychology, this context, as are Kinsey and other well-known authors. sociology, anthropology, soclometry, and social psychology is Homosexual behavior is acknowledged as being different from heuristic and speculative - not yet tested or not presented the statistical norm but is not treated as being pathological in testable ways. These behavioral sciences deal with such or socially dysfunctional. Specific references to homosexu­ complex phenomena, human behavior, that th eir lack of p reci­ ality are not meant to constitute a systematic presentation sion and of adequate tools for measurement renders them read­ of the topic, but there are statements of interest. ily vulnerable to criticism. The hard core of verifiable ideas is limited partly by the sophistication of the research For example, in a general discussion of physiological needs, methods available to the researcher. This limitation has the authors report that a high percentage of women whose ova­ often resulted in over-researching the picayune and under­ ries have been removed show l i t t l e or no change in sexual reporting of the socially significant. This poverty has been desire (p. 49t; that hormones administered artificially have a reflection of these disciplines during this century. But little effect on men whose sexual motivation is low (ibid,); what has been of significance on a relatively firm basis has that when homosexuals are treated with hormones of their own been clearly, carefully, and succinctly presented by Berelson sex, homosexual interest is likely to be Increased rather and Steiner. The authors present, altogether, 1045 findings. than reversed if there is any effect at all (ibid.). As they cautiously remark: "Not a ll absolutely true, not a ll final or definitive - but certainly among the best-estab­ In an Interesting reference to a study in experimental psy­ lished generalizations of this scope. Taken together, these chology, the authors report that "when looking at interesting findings reveal a good deal about the subjects studied in the or pleasant materials, as compared to neutral ones, the pupil behavioral sciences, the ways in which they are studied, and dilates measurably. Conversely, looking at distasteful or the kind of knowledge that emerges" (p, 659), disliked materials produces contraction" (p. 103). In p a rti­ cular, acknowledged male homosexuals were differentiated from The book is, as the subtitle tells, an inventory of scientif­ "normals" simply by their d ifferen tial pupillary response to ic findings. Little attention is given to theory, and con­ photographs of male homosexuals versus female pin-ups (pages sequently there is no systematic viewpoint stretching across 103-104). The simplicity of such a tool for discriminating the span of topics, from such things as optical illusions to between hetero- and homosexuals reveals one of the lim ita­ tions of the book: namely, the lack of c r itic a l analyses of the varied research methodologies employed in the many works is the lack of research in psychiatry in general (or perhaps cited to buttress the generalizations. Perhaps an Inventory psychiatry's reluctance to be researched). "Strictly speak- of behavioral sciences is enough to ask for, however, because Steiner, " it cannot even be cLsidered the task of methodological criticism would require a separate established that psychotherapy, on the average. Improves a and different kind of book. Nonetheless, one is left wph patient s chances of recovery beyond what they would be with­ many unanswered questions when reading about such e^erlm ents out any formal therapy whatsoever" (ib id .). When improve­ as pupillary response and sexual differentiation. In fair­ ments do occur in p atien ts, homogamy between therapist and ness though, i t should be noted that the bibliography is ex­ client see^ to be Important, l. e., the more like the thera- tensive and thorough, and anyone wishing to probe deeper is p lst and the less in need of help the patient Is , the better given ample direction to do so.