Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown

"You know, lesbians are boyish and athletic. I mean Molly's pretty and all that but she's a better athlete than most of the boys that go to this school, and besides she doesn't act like a girl, you know? I'm not like that at all. I just love Molly. That doesn't make me queer." (p.84)

Rubyfruit Jungle is a lesbian coming-of-age novel, published by Rita Mae Brown in 1973. Can't relate to most of it, since the protagonist's story makes me look like I've lived a cloistered existence. The 70s sure was a crazy decade.

Can relate to the confusion and the need to experiment with the opposite gender (she was successful at it and concluded that boys are boring; I wasn't because my entire being recoils at the touch of a male specimen, which technically makes me a Gold Star even though I've had numerous boyfriends).

An absolutely good read, especially for those who are struggling not with their sexuality but with their place in society. Molly is a character who knows what she wants out of life and is willing to break her back to get it.

Just not too happy with the ending, though. The tale is parallel to the author's real life experiences and Rita Mae Brown seems to have emerged victorious. Wish Molly had gotten an epilogue similar to her creator's, too.

J. Neil Garcia

Graduated magna cum laude in AB Journalism (University of Santo Tomas). MA in Comparative Literature and PhD in Creative Writing (both from the University of the Philippines). Prolific contributor to Philippine gay literature.

Recipient of multiple awards including:

British Council Fellowship Grant to Cambridge, British Academy Fellowship, Taipei International Artist-in-Residence, Visiting ICOPHIL Fellow at the International Institute of Asian Studies, Leiden, the Netherlands, Procyon Poetry Prize, National Book Awards from the Manila Critics Circle, Palanca Awards for Literature, Philippines Free Press Literary Awards for Poetry, U.P. Gawad Chancellor for Outstanding Literary Artist,, U.P. Gawad Chancellor for Outstanding Literary Work,, U.P. Gawad Chancellor for Outstanding Research, U.P. Gawad Chancellor as Artist of the Year, Outstanding Thomasian Writers Award, 29th National Writers' Workshop, Dumaguete, 20th U.P. National Writers' Workshop.

AUTHOR OF THESE BOOKS!

I'd marry him.

If he weren't gay and I weren't a lesbian.


=P

Women Loving by Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz

Ms. Cruz's words flow gracefully into my lethargic consciousness.

Images crystalize so distinctly in my mind's eyes.

This consciousness sees the sights, feels the textures, hears the sounds, tastes the flavor and smells the essence of her written world.

An excerpt from page 50.

"That night, as she sleeps in your arms (because her big shot husband is in New York for a conference), you will marvel again at how perfectly your bodies fit and how beautiful she is even with her mouth hanging open. You will bury your face in her hair and revive your faith in soulmate-ism. You will be convinced that you had once loved her, in the time of Genji, when you wrote her poems on paper fans that you had to throw into her window before dawn because even then she was married."