Académique Documents
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Coming out under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War Two by Allan
Berube; Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century
America by Lillian Faderman
Review by: Loralee MacPike
The Oral History Review, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Spring, 1993), pp. 133-137
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the Oral History Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3675056 .
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It maybe centuries
yetbeforelesbianandgaystudiesmatches theim-
mensedocumentation andsophisticated
theoryofsocialandfamilyhis-
tory,butthetwobooksunderreviewhereare a foundation forthat
Thesevolumes
enterprise. arepartofthetwentieth bold-and,
century's
inthelightofpresent
discussion
onhomosexuals inthemilitary,
perhaps
ultimatelysuccessful-attempt ofhomosexuali-
at socialnormalization
ty.And,inpart,theirstrength
andpersuasivepoweris proportional
to
useandanalysis
theirskillful ofwhatlesbiansandgaymensayabout
themselves.
AllanBerubeinterviewed 71 peoplewhoservedin WorldWar
II forComing Out under Fire. LillianFaderman interviewed186
lesbians for Odd Girls and Twilight
Lovers. Interviewees
for both
books includedwhites,blacks,Hispanics,Asians, and Native
Americans, as wellas peoplefrom backgrounds bothurbanandrural,
working-classandmiddle-class, richandpoor-a commendably broad
spectrum ofAmerican life.Although women constituted onlyabout2
percentofmilitarypersonnel inWorld WarII, Berube hasincluded eight
women inhisseventy-one interviews (about11percent),making hisbook
a resource
forlesbianstudies as wellas gaymalehistory.(Indeed, Fader-
manusesitas a secondary oralhistory source.)
Berubearguesthatthe military begandiscriminating against
homosexuals as homosexuals attheoutset ofWorld WarII. Itwasthen
thatthemilitary's
policy thathomosexual actswerea crime thatmerited
discharge to a
gaveway psychiatrist-controlled theory thathomosexuali-
tywasanillness, andthesickperson,nottheact,becamethetarget of
anti-homosexualpolicies and directives.At thesame the
time, military's
needforrecruits-sixteen million attheheight ofthewar-created an
ambiguous for
place gay men and lesbiansinmilitryservice.
In theWom-
en'sArmy Corps,forinstance, lesbianswereofficiallyrecognizedas pro-
vidingmuch-needed leadership, and inother branchesofthe service
gay
menwereheavily utilized as cooksandclericals. Perhaps thebestillus-
tration
ofthemilitary'sambiguous attitude
toward gaysoldiers waswhat
Berubecalls"GI drag'--the troop entertainmentsthatwerecreditedwith
Loralee MacPike
CaliforniaStateUniversity,
San Bernardino