Whistling Women

Gain first-hand knowledge of how today''s lesbians aged 60 and over survived the 20th century!

“I didn’t know we were lesbians. We lived together 13 years!”

Whistling Women is a unique, candid collection of the life experiences of 44 lesbians between 62 and 82 years of age. This book explores new ground with interviews about their memories, feelings, and thoughts on a diversity of perspectives—from growing up during the Depression and World War II, to retirement and old age at the height of the gay liberation movement. This unprecedented resource captures a first-person view of lesbian history and documents the struggles and achievements of the women who lived it.

“All my schooling was women-oriented…so I was able to see what women and girls could give to each other.”

In Whistling Women, these older women share their views on:

• childhood and young adulthood—family, social factors, religion, schooling
• marriage—husbands, children, divorce
• lesbian relationships—coming out/closet relationships, role playing, butch and fem practices
• conventional politics—party affiliation, activities, concerns, degree of feminism
• work and money—financial arrangements, home ownership, investment properties
• life after 60—retirement, health, activities, communities
• and much more!

• socioeconomic class in childhood, mid-life, and at retirement
• level of education of participants
• number and duration of long-term relationships—both heterosexual marriages and lesbian lover relationships
• age of first lesbian relationship
• retirement statistics—year retired, age at retirement
• economic resources after retirement (compared to general US population)