Jessie Dumont

For Christmas this year, I received a poster-sized version of the book cover of the lesbian pulp fiction classic I Prefer Girls. So of course I bought and read the book as well.

Penny, a young lesbian living in Greenwich Village (who is hot and definitely knows it) spends much of her time preying on straight girls, whom she proceeds to lure into the lesbian lifestyle and subsequently “dominate” before moving on to the next. Penny lives with an older woman, Marcella, who is head-over-heels for Penny and who mindlessly provides for and protects her while receiving nothing but abuse in return. Soon Penny becomes obsessed with seducing Bernice, a young woman (with a fiance!) who is new to town and hoping to become an actress.

Penny is pretty much the worst human alive, a total caricature of the “predatory lesbian.” She makes no secret of her conniving ways—feeding Bernice ideas about how men (including Bernice’s fiance) are dangerous, lying to Bernice about being an actress herself. It turns out Penny will go to any lengths to get—and keep—Bernice within her grasp.

I Prefer Girls was both a horrifying and a fun read. It was definitely offensive to the utmost degree, so read it with a mountain of salt—and you’ll probably find it pretty entertaining.… (mehr)

Whoa, predatory lesbian alert! All of the characters have severe problems - Penny, who seems incapable of loving anyone but herself, who uses and abuses Marcella and makes a game of dominating others; Marcella, who is so hopelessly in love with Penny that she has no personality except that of a clinging co-dependent; and Bernice, who is so incredibly naive that she believes pretty much anything anyone tells her.

Penny cruises Greenwich Village, cheating on Marcella regularly, seeking to "convert" straight girls into lesbianism and dominate them (umm...). She tells one character that it's really impossible for two women to stay together and love one another like a woman and a man. Argh. I have a feeling that this book was written by a man who had no idea what he was talking about, especially when it comes to the descriptions of women's bodies.

Watch out for this one - this book is a huge bummer. Best thing about it? The cover art!… (mehr)