A woman who consistently prefers the company of other women to that of men, who feels that she has her most satisfying emotional experiences with women, and who finds herself sexually attracted to her women friends should ask herself how these facts fit in with her sexual self-definition. No one can tell her that she is a lesbian, only she can say that. Often people ask why women are lesbians, or why a person is gay. There is no definite answer to that question. There may be as many answers as there are gay people.
Some lesbians now feel that their lesbianism is a political decision.
That is, they are lesbians because they feel that men are so sexist that they don't want to associate with them. Other women are lesbians because they have fallen in love with a particular women. Others have gradually realized that they simply prefer women to men. Whatever a women's sexual preferences, it's important that she does whatever makes her happy and what seems to feel best to her. Women who are just beginning to perceive themselves as lesbians often have questions about how being a lesbian might affect their lives.