This article, written in 1993 (which I will remind readers is 25 years ago) feels rather outdated with regard to both the language and views of the topic. This article was published two years before Donoghue’s masterwork Passions Between Women and no doubt represents some of the contributory research and thought that appears there. But given that the topic would be best considered through multiple lenses--not only a lesbian lens, but a transgender one and and intersex one--it should be considered an introduction to a topic that deserves deeper interrogation. That said, some of the primary sources that create the early modern image of the tribadic hermaphrodite are worth a closer look for those interested in portraying not only views of women who loved women in that era, but the context of ordinary interactions that they were considered to deviate from.
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