Ria Brodell

Kathleen M.’s childhood and adolescence were spent both in the city and on her father’s farm. One of six children, with an older brother and four younger sisters, her family were European immigrants of primarily Dutch, Irish and French descent.

On the farm, Kathleen could ride horses, climb trees, go on long solitary walks, play sports and do all the “rough out-of-door things.” She often dressed in her brother’s clothes and was described as a gawky and athletic tomboy. She “never took school as it was intended,” instead going to class sporadically, finding the majority of the teachers unjust and discriminatory. When she was eighteen she enrolled at an art institute.

In Sex Variants: A Study of Homosexual Patterns, conducted by George W. Henry and sponsored by the Committee for the Study of Sex Variants, Kathleen was described as bringing the “breezy atmosphere of an aggressive business woman.” She was exceedingly masculine, tall and thin, with square shoulders, and a raucous voice. According to the study, she had a swaggering walk and was frank and direct when she talked about her life and family. The study took place in New York City in the 1930’s. Kathleen was around thirty years old.

After about one year at art school Kathleen moved home again. Her father couldn’t afford the art school and wanted her to find a job. She continued her studies part-time at a nearby university while living at home. Eventually, she decided she couldn’t live at home any longer and left to live with a group of artists.

She began putting together exhibitions and meeting new people that introduced her to different ways of living. In the past she had had relationships with men but they had “meant nothing” to her and she had been completely uninterested. One of them had called her a lesbian. At the time, she had never heard the word before, but now she was being introduced to “famous lesbians” and was enjoying her sexuality for the first time.

She soon found herself in a difficult relationship with a woman who, “tried to make a lady out of me- to make me wear long hair, fluffy clothes and high heels. We lived together for five years but there was constant controversy over my appearance and rarely peace in the home”. The woman was often ill. Kathleen cared for her and supported them by working as a commercial artist. Upon finding out that the woman was unfaithful and untruthful to her, Kathleen became “disillusioned.” She began drinking excessively. “During this period I flirted a good deal with anyone who came along, I would make a definite play to get them, sleep with them and then leave them.” After about six months, Kathleen decided to stop drinking.  Her “normal” friends and her psychologist told her she should go back to men, but she wasn’t interested.

At the time of the Sex Variants study, Kathleen was in a relationship with an actress, whom she had been living with for two years and with whom she had adopted a baby. They were committed to each other and enjoyed each other’s company. During the study, recalling when she was thirteen and an analyst told her mother that she had homosexual tendencies, Kathleen said, “When Mother told me about homosexuality she told me it was abnormal, that there was no satisfaction and that the result was an empty life. I disagree. I don’t care what people think and I avoid people who ask personal questions. My personal life is my own affair. Since we have been living together our lives are fuller and happier. We create things together and we are devoted to our baby.”

Sources:

Henry, George W. Sex Variants: A Study in Homosexual Patterns. 2d ed. In one volume. New York: Paul B. Hoeber, 1948.

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