This contrasts sharply with her previous admittance that the first time she kissed a woman was when she was 20 and says that it was like coming to . The juxtaposition of definitions of coming to clearly and unabashedly admit her fear and shame in being the other and having to save herself from this position in her own mind. Clit Notes is an attempt to stop escaping. Speaking of her past and the difficulties associated with it is a means in which she can stop running. The title of the work itself, Clit Notes , is an attempt to reclaim her truth.
Female sexuality is taboo and buried deep within the tapestry of society.
Hughes speaks about the NEA crisis of 1990 when she was defunded and labeled a garbage artist. She believes that she lost her funding due to the homo-erotic nature of her work and the fact that she is an out lesbian. The N.E.A. culture wars of 1990 effected her life and her work. Due to the negative press her work received, Hughes life was turned into a battle to retain confidence in her work and in her self. Because her work is autobiographical and she puts herself on the line with ever performance, Hughes had difficulty separating the attack on her work from being personal.