Myths. There are all kinds of false ideas about homosexuality and lesbianism. “It’s a phase.” Or “it’s a choice.” But back in the day people used thought of some pretty bizarre causes for lesbianism.
Labial itching. According to Alternet, Galen, a Greek philosopher from the 2nd century, had a theory about the lesbian itch. He wanted to figure out why his daughter was a lesbian. So he he interrogated her vulva to find answers.
Labial itching. He concluded she had "an itch between the major and minor labia." Which apparently, only another woman could scratch with her itchy labia. Yeesh.
Hot vapors. Another Middle Eastern philosopher al-Kindi thought being a lesbian was caused by an itch, and also a certain vapor. He said, “Lesbianism is due to a vapor which, condensed, generates in the labia heat and an itch which only dissolve and become cold through friction and orgasm.”
Hot vapors. But no man could help with these alleged vapors. al-Kindi wrote, “When friction and orgasm take place, the heat turns into coldness because the liquid that a woman ejaculates in lesbian intercourse is cold whereas the same liquid that results from sexual union with men is hot. Heat, however, cannot be extinguished by heat; rather, it will increase since it needs to be treated by its opposite. As coldness is repelled by heat, so heat is also repelled by coldness.”
Celery. You know how your mouth gets itchy when you eat celery? Well you might be turning into a lesbian. According to Physician John Mesué, the lesbian itch can be caused from females eating celery, arugula, and flowers from an orange tree.
Male family members. Sigmund Freud had a lot of theories about female sexuality stemming from familial relationships. Women develop fixations on their fathers in the Oedipal complex. But what about their brothers?
Male family members. Freud writes about a case where a girl was “turned gay” by her younger brother. The brother’s penis made a “strong impression” on her. Which turned her away from men altogether.
Peer pressure. An article on HowAfrica argued women ended up being lesbians because their friends pushed them into it. The author writes, “Usually when they break their virginity through this act, it becomes difficult to break out of it because the perception is, that’s the normal copulation until maybe they meet a man who shows them the difference. Mostly this happens in single sex schools where most girls are into it and it’s seen as the norm and so it’s easy to make others believe so and pressured into it.”
The occult. A common theory used to discredit homosexuality is that it’s caused by occult forces or “the devil." Religious fanatics insist lesbianism is caused by demonic forces or witches. But there’s nothing dark about being gay.
Pseudopenis. According to Alternet, William of Bologna, an Italian surgeon from the middle ages, thought lesbianism was caused by “growth emanating from the mouth of the womb and appearing outside the vagina as a pseudopenis.” What’s a pseudopenis? An enlarged clitoris, which many women have.
Astrology. Astronomer Claudius Ptolemy, thought that astrology could predict more than personality traits and your future. It could change your sexuality. He said certain planetary alignments can lead to “wantonness” and “effeminacy.”
Hormonal secretions. According to Procon, Eugen Steinach argued that lesbianism was caused by hormonal secretions in the womb. He published a paper in 1917 based on research done on rats and guinea pigs where he injected hormones in their bloodstream that “sexualized” their brain. So what do lesbian guinea pigs look like exactly?
Heterophobia. Sandor Rado argued that people were not born homosexual. Rather, they had a phobia of the opposite sex. So lesbians are just heterophobic because they had some kind of bad experience.
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