Lesbian refers to a woman whose primary emotional and sexual relationships are with other women.

The term is derived from Lesbos, the Mediterranean island that was the birthplace of Sappho, a 6th century BC female poet and devotee of the goddess Aphrodite.

Landmark research by Kinsey found that approximately six percent of women in the U.S. are lesbians. More recent studies suggest that between four and nine percent of women are lesbians, at least during some part of their lifetimes.

The work of Kinsey and others suggests that, overall,lesbians in the U.S. parallel the general population in terms of race, ethnicity, education level, income, and social class membership.

People have debated what it means to be a lesbian. Some, adopting what has been termed an "essentialist" perspective, argue that sexual orientation and individual sexuality are core features of a person's being, much like height, race, or sex.

Social constructivists counter that sexuality differs from one culture to another and from one age to the next based on social context. Social constructivists maintain that concepts like heterosexuality and homosexuality or lesbian, gay and straight, are of recent vintage.

Meaning of Lesbian: Redefining Itself
Consequently, the meaning of the term lesbian is neither fixed nor permanent but has undergone and will continue to undergo redefinition over time.

Like the term gay, lesbian is often used to refer to self-identified "out of the closet" women, rather than all women who engage in same-sex sexual behavior.

Compared to gay mens' lifestyles and associated patterns of sexuality, much less is known about these matters when it comes to lesbians. Since AIDS has not constituted a major health problem for lesbians, they have not been the focus of scholarly study or media attention in recent years to the same extent as gay men.

Many of the problems involved in studying lesbians stem from issues of defining and locating representative individuals that reflect the entire lesbian population.

Despite the relative paucity of research, evidence indicates that few lesbians can be characterized as assuming only a masculine (or "butch") or only a feminine (or "femme") role in emotional and sexual relationships.

Some women choose to adopt lesbianism in the aftermath of the dissolution of a heterosexual relationship. They may choose to rear their children in the same household with their female partner.

Coming Out: A Painful Process for Many Women
Conversely, many lesbians discover their sexual orientation during adolescence and some may have never even engaged in heterosexual activity. "Coming out" often constitutes a lengthy and painful process for many women who choose to adopt a lesbian lifestyle. A woman's acceptance of her lesbian identity generally follows involvement in one or more homosexual relationships.

As a result of their financial resources and education, white middle-class lesbians have been able to organize themselves politically to a greater extent than working-class lesbians, particularly those who are women of color. Because of this, far more is known about the lifestyles of the former than the latter.

Indeed, many white middle-class lesbians are strong advocates of a form of feminism referred to as lesbian-feminism. For these women, lesbianism constitutes a political choice, one entailing a conscious rejection of patriarchy and traditional male-dominant gender roles.

Contrary to popular stereotypes, however, the majority of feminists are not lesbians. Also, contrary to such stereotypes, many lesbians have close friendships with both gay and "straight" men.

Defending Their Rights
To further their interests and defend their rights, lesbians have formed various national, regional, and local organizations. Lesbians established the Daughters of Bilitis in 1955 in order to create a structure facilitating their coming out. Women in the Mattachine Society have addressed key women's issues while lesbian mothers formed the Lesbian Mothers Union.

Although, like gay males, lesbians tend to migrate to large and medium-sized cities, they are more likely than gay men to remain living in small cities and even rural areas, where they have formed communes and lesbian family living arrangements of various sorts.

Even in urban areas, lesbians are often the objects of discrimination, including within the workplace. Studies indicate that 25 percent of lesbians have experienced job discrimination based on their sexual-orientation, and over 60 percent anticipate possible negative consequences in the work place. The military, in particular, has been notorious in its discriminatory policies towards lesbians and gays.

Although white middle-class lesbians often are open to working in coalition with women of color, various African-American and Hispanic lesbians have formed organizations of their own. Lesbians of color constitute a "triple minority" as a result of their gender and racial/ethnic status and their sexual orientation.

Contributing to Cultural Genocide?
Many lesbians of color feel that they must subordinate their lesbian identity to their racial/ethnic identity. In addition to hostility from the larger society, lesbians of color often experience hostility within their racial/ethnic communities because they are seen as contributing to cultural genocide based on the belief that they have chosen not to engage in biological reproduction.

Aging lesbians experience discrimination from both the larger society as well as from within the lesbian community. A lesbian senior citizen may be denied access to retirement centers or nursing homes because of her sexual orientation.

Younger lesbians sometimes internalize ageist attitudes from the wider society which lead them to marginalize their older counterparts.

Some studies suggest that lesbian couples have sex less often than heterosexual or gay men. Furthermore, research indicates that lesbian lovemaking tends to focus more on the entire body (hugging, kissing, stroking) and less on the genitals (cunnilingus, insertion of dildos) than is true for heterosexual or gay couples. Most lesbians who desire to have children undergo artificial insemination, but some have turned to in vitro fertilization or adoption.

Children born into lesbian families may have one, two, three or more parents. Various lesbian family arrangements have evolved, such as a lesbian couple and a male (often gay) sperm donor who together raise a child, or families made up of a close circle of lesbian friends. All of these individuals may not reside together, but still consider themselves to be family members.