Sigh.
As the youngest of only 2 actively heterosexual members of the group I was a sitting duck. My conciousness, far from being raised, was around my ankles so to speak. I was not only Sleeping with the Enemy, I was LIVING with one. And he was a medical student - a trainee member of the oppressive patriarchal elite.
Pecking order went thus:
Political Lesbians were at top of food chain. These were hetero gals who chose to sleep with other women (even though they didn't really fancy them much) on grounds of right-on-ness.
Next came Lesbians who actually WERE Lesbian by inclination.
Then the celibates - straight wimmin who chose not to sleep with men, but couldn't quite bring themselves to sip from the furry cup instead, although they received LOTS of encouragement from groups 1 and 2 to give it a whirl.
Then the straight girls who didn't have a boyfriend, but were secretly desparate for one.
Then came our only mum. She was a mature student who had given birth twice, and therefore had a level of credibility in the womanhood stakes which none of us could aspire to, and which meant her married status and Catholicism were discreetly overlooked.
I lurked at the bottom of the heap. I was asked to leave for (gasp!) "Talking about Men Too Much".
The woman (group 1 political type)who phoned me to deliver the coup de grace is actually quite a well known personage now in certain musical circles. She has been married and divorced twice and has 2 kids, so I guess it was just a "phase"
.
I heard her being interviewed on Radio 4 a while back, talking about her music, which is incidentally, utter utter shite.