![]() There was nothing about the way they dressed, spoke or behaved in public that set them apart from other women of their age and class-women I knew to be married because they were addressed as ‘Mrs So-and-So’. Looking back, I really don’t know if they were lesbians. I’m not sure if my mother was just trying to avoid the issue, or if she genuinely disagreed with my father about the nature of the women’s relationship. When I asked my mother later, she said: ‘he just meant they’re old maids: they live together because they never got married’. ![]() But I had no idea why he called them ‘dykes’. I knew who he meant: they weren’t part of my parents’ social circle, but the village was the sort of place where everyone knew everyone by sight. My father used the phrase ‘those dykes’ in a passing reference to two women who lived in the posher part of the village. It happened when I was eavesdropping on a conversation between my parents (a bad habit I developed at an early age). 1966 was the year when I turned eight it was also the year when I first heard the word ‘dyke’. My own memories of the year are rather less glorious. This summer, British television has been reliving the glory days of 1966, when London was swinging and England’s footballers won the World Cup.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |