Aug. 19, 1997 Contact Pauline Austin (541) 346-3129 EUGENE--A University of Oregon researcher concludes that becoming a lesbian is not a simple matter of culture vs. genes. The study is outlined in a new book by UO sociologist Arlene Stein, "Sex and Sensibility: Stories of a Lesbian Generation," published this year by the University of California Press. "Lesbians are not a monolithic group," Stein argues. Stein says her study indicates, instead, that a variety of factors are involved in an individual becoming a lesbian. There is no credible evidence, she insists, that either homosexuality or heterosexuality is biologically determined, but neither is it freely chosen. "To reduce sexuality to a matter of choice or biology is a simplification," Stein observes. The book probes questions of sexual behavior, the origins of homosexual feelings, and changes in sexuality and identity over time. The book is based on in-depth interviews with more than 40 women and focuses upon the experiences of baby boomer lesbians. Stein says she focused on baby boomers because they came of age, just as lesbianism was itself "coming out of the closet." "This group of women came of age at a politically volatile and exciting time," Stein says. "They felt that opportunities to recreate themselves were opening up. Feminism served as an impetus for that notion of recreation and self creation." Stein contends that many boomers took that message to heart and said "This (a lesbian) is who I want to be." Among the most controversial chapters in the book is a discussion of "ex-lesbians," women who lived as lesbians for a number of years, who have now decided that they prefer primary relationships with men. The book details the stories of 10 of these women and of the troubling questions this raises about who is a "real lesbian." "Some women experience their same-sex desires as deep, enduring and unchanging. For others, these desires may be fleeting, or experienced relatively later in life. This does not imply that some women are better or more authentic lesbians than others. It indicates that lesbianism is embraced by different types of individuals," Stein observes. One must understand sexual identity in an individual, a cultural and a political context, Stein argues. Individuals create sexual identities. But they do so in specific historical contexts. The sexual identities of women change as they move through the life cycle. Stein is a sociologist, author and assistant professor at the University of Oregon. She edited the book, "Sisters, Sexperts, Queers: Beyond the Lesbian Nation" (Plume: 1993). Her articles and essays have appeared in numerous anthologies on popular culture, lesbian and gay studies, and sexual politics. -30- #F-6085/Local,OrDailies,PDX,Special