Provides an examination of how lesbian and bisexual women in a Northeast community, come to see themselves and what those identities mean to them. This book presents women's stories in their own words, and understands how these accounts resonate with social science theories of identity and community. It reveals how women fall in and out of love.

"Lesbian and Bisexual Identities" reveals how women fall in and out of love, how they "perform" lesbian or bisexual identity through clothing, hairstyle, body language, and talk, and many other aspects typically not considered. The women present a variety of accounts. Some consider themselves "lesbian from birth" and have constructed their lives accordingly, while others have experienced significant shifts in their identities, depending on the influences of feminism, progressive politics, the visibility of the lesbian community, and other factors. Esterberg offers vivid accounts that defy the stereotypes so commonly offered. "Lesbian and Bisexual Identities" not only presents women's stories in their own words, it moves beyond storytelling to understand how these accounts resonate with social science theories of identity and community. Kristin G. Esterberg is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Director of Women's Studies at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. She is the author of numerous articles on the social construction of gay and lesbian identities.

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Theorizing Identity: Lesbian and Bisexual Accounts
2. Cover Stories
3. Changing Selves
4. Essentially Lesbian?
Performing Lesbian Identity
5. Race, Class, Identity
6. Twelve Steppers, Feminists, and Softball Dykes
7. Rule Making and Rule Breaking
8. Bisexual Accounts and the Limits of Lesbian Community
9. Beyond Identity and Community?
Appendix: Methodology
Notes
References
Index