They felt that opportunities to recreate themselves were opening up. Feminism served as an impetus for that notion of recreation and self creation. For others, these desires may be fleeting, or experienced relatively later in life. This does not imply that some women are better or more authentic lesbians than others. One must understand sexual identity in an individual, a cultural and a political context, Stein argues.
Individuals create sexual identities.
But they do so in specific historical contexts. The sexual identities of women change as they move through the life cycle. Stein is a sociologist, author and assistant professor at the University of Oregon. Her articles and essays have appeared in numerous anthologies on popular culture, lesbian and gay studies, and sexual politics.