Apples & Oranges: My Journey Through Sexual Identity

by Jan Clausen

Both an intimate memoir and an intellectual musing on sex, gender, and relationships, Apples & Oranges allows writer and academic Jan Clausen to use her own life story as a model for new ways of thinking through sexual categories. Born into a stifling family where neither sex talk nor the slightest profanity was tolerated, Clausen underwent an intellectual and sexual awakening, first at Reed College, and later on the streets of New York City, where she discovered her passions for both the life of the mind and other women. Fast-forward a number of years, and, bored with a life that had become predictable, she moved herself to Nicaragua, where she discovered a newfound freedom — including the freedom to fall in love with a man.

INCLUSION CRITERIA

In Apples and Oranges Jan Clausen discusses identifying as a lesbian, then later discovering her attraction to men.