LESBIANISM IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The topic of lesbianism in Singapore is still a relatively new one. To a large extent very much less is known about lesbians than the male homosexuals. Therefore my intention to do a study on them was greeted by people around me with both incredulity as well as an overwhelming enthusiasm. Some people thought I was crazy to attempt to tread into a field considered as taboo by society. Others thought I was overly ambitious to tackle a topic as controversial as this. I had initially wanted to do a study on male homosexuals since access to them would have been relatively easy for me. Doing a study on lesbian had never occurred to me. At that time, lesbianism was a vague concept, a concept almost non-existent in my mind. Indeed, as with a large part of society, it seems to have been overshadowed by male homosexuality. As it turned out, I was persuaded by Dr. Leong Wai Teng, who was later to become my supervisor, to do a study on lesbians instead of male homosexuals especially since a detailed study on them had already been done previously by him. I was skeptical at first since I did not personally know any lesbians or anything at all about them. However, I agreed to do it u I knew a girl who knew a few lesbians who were willing to help me out. Also, I saw study as one which would allow me to break out of certain conventions regarding deviant behaviour. It seemed like a lucky coincidence when soon after I made up my mind to do the study, the newpapers, Friday Weekly ran a full feature on lesbians. The Straits Times also ran a report on lesbians at around the same time. Throughout this study, I was constantly exposed to things I would have known by my other means. At times I was quite dismayed to discover that I too held some preconceived notions about lesbians which were not entirely justified. However, these notions were addressed as the study took its course. This study had its share of difficulties naturally. But even if I had a choice, I would keep the topic. Each session I had with the fifteen women was a different experience and thoroughly enjoyable. These women were indeed a pleasure to talk to. In the process too, I made some good friends. This study is unable to cover the vast number of things I learnt from these individuals but that is inevitable. Like my other aspect of the human experience, the lesbian experience is an inexhaustible field. To fully document it would be an insurmountable if not impossible talk.