While Denise Bryant's own true case history is a rarity among the population as a whole, it can be considered as a typical one among those of women who find themselves Lesbian oriented.
It is quite noticeable that Denise hardly mention her father at all. The father was apparently shoved into the background by the mother. There is the distinct possibility that in doing so, the mother tended to alienate Denise from all men, and that because of this she stood in awe of them. The ease with which she was seduced by so many men seems to reveal this.
Unlike many Lesbians, Denise did not appear to have a deep fear of men. But at the same time, she became involved with many men who would be fearful to a female with more emotional stability. One of the most common roots of Lesbianism, a fear of and distaste for men, may well be revealed by this tendency to seek out only the most fearful men as a means of fighting off this very fear.
The classic causes are all there to some degree in Denise's story. And her neuroses kept building with each step of her erratically sex-active life. She constantly sought new thrills, more bizarre forms of expression with men. She was much like the latently homosexual Don Juan type who must have new female conquests each night, avoiding marriage or serious romance because it would be too similar to satisfaction of the incest wish. The only difference here is that Denise was afraid of having a daughter, and once Kathy was born, she spent the rest of her life up to a point, in trying to flee from this reincarnation of a situation she had fled from before in her own childhood.
In the case of her daughter, Kathy, it may well be that Denise is not to blame at all for any latent homosexual or incest-wish. It may be recalled that Denise's mother took care of Kathy from about the age of six to ten, very formative and impressionable years in a young girl's life. The possibility of a trauma between grandmother and granddaughter is not at all impossible.
It is fortunate for both Linda and Kathy that she sought professional help when she did. Many cases like this have been allowed to go on to fruition of the incest-wish with resultant tragedy for all concerned.