Al Ulrich could have been her ticket to the promised land.
Barbara Ulrich gazed past Father Tully and contemplated her late husband.
How had she come from there to here?
It had all started with Daddy. Daddy and his damnable “love games.” Then the change she’d felt inside her. The mistaken diagnosis, partly due to her reluctance to reveal what she instinctively sensed to be her shame.
Mother prying the details from her in the hospital.
That sight! She would never, could never, forget the tiniest detail. The broken “doll” they had taken from her, its head crushed and shattered.
For a long while after the abortion, she couldn’t return to the normal world. There were dreams-nightmares. It was a mercy she never saw her father again, though his absence contributed heavily to the unnaturalness of her home life. Between that and the unconventional atmosphere it all added up to a deeply dysfunctional household.
Mother had a lovely home sans husband. So she no longer needed entertain her boyfriends in cars and motels. Barbara had to make room for “Uncle” Peter and “Uncle” Roy and “Uncle” Lloyd. And, as time passed, other similarly premised relations.
To give the devil his due, mother Claire made certain that none of her suitors ever got familiar with Babs.
It had not taken Barbara long to identify the sounds coming from her mother’s bedroom. Schoolmates were liberal in providing details of sex, adult style. Some of the information was imaginative fiction. Barbara’s experience with Daddy provided cold facts to straighten out in her mind the actual process of “lovemaking.”
She was a high school teenager. She was gorgeous. She would have nothing to do with boys. The boys, hormones raging, were all over Barbara-sometimes literally. She fought them off.
Claire Simpson was spared one of the curses of mothering a teenage girl. She never had to worry that Babs was being led down a primrose path to perdition. If anything, Mother was concerned that her spectacularly beautiful daughter was headed toward a cloistered convent without the benefit of organized religion.
Claire sent Barbara to a psychologist-a woman.
There was an immediate at-oneness between Babs and Dr. Hunter-or Joyce, as the doctor promptly permitted.
During therapy, Barbara was able to vent all her repressed hostility toward her father, and even her mother. As a direct result of therapy, Barbara became a far more well-adjusted teen. She attended mixed parties. Eventually, she even went on dates. Her one major fear was pregnancy. She knew that should she become pregnant and there was no miscarriage, the child would be carried to term and be born.
This led to a dilemma. In no way did Barbara want a child. A child was not part of any plan she could envision for the short or long term. Yet her memory of her involuntary abortion was so powerful she could never repeat that. If she became pregnant, she would have the baby she didn’t want. She strongly doubted that she could give up a child for adoption. So the master plan was: don’t get pregnant.
This decision placed a considerable burden on both her and her dates. After all, the hormones were raging.
However, none of her dates could claim that he was unaware of the ground rules. If, driven by tormented testosterone, an attempt at intercourse was made, in effect it could only be labeled rape.
It was no surprise then that, among many of the boys in her graduating class, Barbara was known as the Virgin Queen.
However, she was making progress. After all, she was attending parties and going on dates. And that was more, much more, than she could have attempted before becoming the patient of Dr. Joyce Hunter.
In college she was able to relax some of her rigid rules of dating. She attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.
One eternally popular song, “I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo,” was written about, this quaint city. It was sometimes known as Mall City, with the claim that it had preceded even Minneapolis with a downtown traffic-free shopping mall. If Mary Tyler Moore had launched her cap in Kalamazoo, things might have been very different.
As it is, Kalamazoo boasts a couple of colleges, a university, some hospitals, and lots of medical specialists. It is also the hometown of noted author and poet, James Kavanaugh.
The highly intellectual level of life in the Mall City prompted Barbara to reevaluate her own coed life. Was she shriveling her personality by not mixing more freely with her fellow students? She determined to wade a bit more deeply into the mainstream of campus life.
Which did not, in any way, mean that all barriers were lowered. She insisted on plenty of protection for her partners, as well as taking stringent precautions herself.
Had she been even a tad less glamorous and attractive, she would never have been able to enforce her prophylactic paradise. But even with all her caveats, her dance card was always full.
Still, she couldn’t see the point of it all.
Rarely did any of her partners seem at all concerned about her pleasure. Foreplay was fun. But the cataclysmic climax was for the gentleman. She could not dismiss the thought: there must be more to this than that.
Then one evening, she entertained a classmate in her on-campus dorm room. Gretchen was attending WMU on a basketball scholarship. They had helped each other on occasion. Barbara tutored Gretchen in her liberal arts courses; Gretchen helped Barbara create a regimen of exercise for herself.
This was an unusually peaceful time in the building, Gretchen and Barbara were among the few students not attending any of the many campus events scheduled for this evening.
When they finished working on Gretchen’s English composition assignment, they, more from boredom than anything else, started playing word games. To neither’s surprise, Barbara won consistently.
In feigned frustration, Gretchen started to roughhouse. Which led to tickling. Both young women grew aroused. As they rolled on the bed, Gretchen’s touches became more intimate. At first Barbara tried to break clear. When she could not, a transformation occurred. For the first time, she could let down her guard. Suddenly she arched, her body rigid. It was almost as if tetany had occurred. Just when she thought she was about to break asunder, her body began to undulate. The orgasm exploded within her. She threw her arms around Gretchen and kissed her deeply over and over.
Before she allowed herself to relax, she brought Gretchen to what was for her a more knowing, practiced climax.
Then both young women lay quietly on the bed utterly quiescent and physically at ease and calm.
But shortly, confusion clouded Barbara’s afterglow.
What had happened here? Clearly, this was what it was all about. But with another woman!
Gretchen began the preliminaries again. Barbara couldn’t repeat. Not now. She was too confused. It became almost a rape situation. The scuffle bordered on cruelty. Gretchen angrily left.
As soon as Dr. Hunter had an opening, Barbara made an appointment. With Joyce of course there were no secrets. What a caring mother was supposed to be, Joyce was.
They had been over the dating situation before. Barbara had set the guidelines for lovemaking. Joyce had created the emotional space for Babs to do this. Now Babs wondered if she had been wrong in, perhaps, being too careful.
Maybe the problem was just that she hadn’t yet found the right man. That could be it.
These were young men … boys, really; what did they know about lovemaking? They were self-centered, just faking care of Number One. Once she got out on her own, once she got out of college, once it became appropriate for her to date older, more experienced men, everything would straighten itself out.
Then why had she nearly exploded with Gretchen? Was it just all that pent-up energy inside her seeking an outlet?
Barbara’s eyes met Joyce’s silent gaze. Under that penetrating look, Barbara spoke more and more slowly until she fell silent. “I … I’m … a lesbian, aren’t I?”
Joyce nodded. And smiled.
“And …” Barbara hesitated, fearing that she was about to be dead wrong and, at the same time, apprehensive that she was correct. “… and so are you!”
Joyce’s smile took on a melancholy tinge. Again she nodded.
“But you can’t be!”
“Why not?”
“You’re married! You’ve got a child!”
“It’s time to talk about this,” Joyce said.
“Time? Now? You mean you’ve known about this right along and you never brought it up? And ‘now’ is the time to face it? Is that what you mean?” Barbara’s tone became angry.
“Yes, now is the time,” Joyce stated flatly. “Not long after we met, I was pretty sure you were gay.”
“But … how? I like boys. I always have.”
“That’s not the point, Babs. Boys who are homosexual don’t hate girls. They’re just not physically, sexually attracted to them. Girls who are lesbian don’t hate boys. They’re just not as attracted to males as they are to other females.”
“But I’ve been with boys-sexually. As a matter of fact, Gretchen is my one and only gay … experience.”
“Face it, Babs: you never got from a guy what you got from Gretchen.”
“Maybe that’s because they didn’t know what they were doing. Maybe they just lacked the experience to bring me to orgasm. Maybe they were just interested in themselves.”
Joyce smiled condescendingly. “Come on, Barbara, not one young man you’ve ever been with did everything right-mechanically, even passionately? Not one really tried to help you come?”
Barbara exhaled deeply. She studied the floor. “You’re right. There have been times. I guess I just never faced up to it.
“Oh, Joyce …” She looked at her mentor, tears flowing. “How did this happen to me?”
Joyce shook her head. “You’re beginning to sound as if you had leprosy-something terminal and communicable.” She chuckled. “I’ve got it too, you know.”
Barbara felt apologetic. “I’m sorry. You’re right. But I can’t help thinking that what we are is unnatural … or freaky.”
“That’s because that’s how the rest of society wants us to think of ourselves. At best we’re simply different from the majority. And that scares them. Now you’re wondering how you got to be part of our minority.”
Barbara nodded with great interest.
“Well … nobody’s been able to pin down the cause for certain. It may be something genetic. It may be a chromosome. It may have something to do with early development. Take yours, for instance. How could anybody have had a much more screwed-up formation? A steady diet of incest resulting in pregnancy. The abortion. Your mother sleeping around. The fact that you’re as well put together as you are is a testimony to something inside you that survives.
“Whatever, it’s futile to fixate on the impossible. Anyone in this business who is honest will admit we don’t have any incontrovertible indication of why some-the majority-are straight and others-the minority-are gay.
“You are what you are. You live with it. You play the hand you’re dealt.”
Barbara, lost in thought, was trying to digest all she’d just heard. “Okay,” she said finally, “so you and I are lesbian. What I don’t understand is your husband and your kid. Aren’t they impossible for you?”
“Not really.” Joyce went to the credenza and poured two cups of coffee. She gave Barbara one and placed the other on her desk as she began to pace between the desk and a bookshelf. “You see, Babs, there’s this glass ceiling. You’re familiar with the term?”
Barbara shook her head.
“Well, the glass ceiling is a metaphor and at the same time a very real barrier that blocks women and minorities from rising from middle to senior corporate management positions or to tenured professorships.
“About the only way a woman today can be top gun in her profession is when she creates-is the founding mother, if you will, of the business. But how many people, men or women, can bring that off successfully?
“You haven’t been exposed to the glass ceiling yet. But you will be. You will be because you’re smart and you’re talented. There’s no reason why you couldn’t-shouldn’t-rise to the top. What do you want to work at after you graduate?”
Barbara tapped a front tooth with her index finger. “I’m not sure … I think maybe advertising or public relations.”
“Hmmm. There have been some moderate breakthroughs in those fields. Still … take a look at the larger firms in those fields and you’ll find at the very top a white male or a bunch of the same. The opposition to a minority or a woman getting those top positions is enormous.
“The obstacles are significant. Just look at large corporations, law firms-all men, all white men, at the top.
“Now, maybe you’re wondering why this system is called a glass ceiling.”
Barbara sipped her coffee and nodded.
“Babs, it’s because everybody, especially everybody on the top side of the ceiling, pretends it isn’t there. ‘There’s no opposition to you women and minorities joining us up here. Why, you can see us clearly.’ But try climbing up there with the big boys and you’ll rap your head on that invisible barrier.
“Got that, Babs? You can’t see it, but it’s there: a glass ceiling.”
Barbara nodded slowly. Yes, she did understand. She’d just never given it much thought. This was America. The Land of Opportunity, where anybody can become anything he or she wants.
But now that she thought about it, that wasn’t the way it worked.
“There’s something there even after the glass ceiling,” Joyce continued. “Suppose a woman or a minority member does manage to break through the ceiling. The white males occupying that floor just put up a concrete wall.
“For years-lots of years-there were no minorities, let alone women, who managed major league sports teams. Even today there still are damn few. But a few African-Americans have made it through that glass ceiling only to find a concrete wall blocking the way to ownership.
“But why am I telling you all about the glass ceiling and brick wall when you asked about my husband and our child?” She gazed into a distance that wasn’t there. “It happened after I discovered I was gay,” she said finally. “With that came the realization that I was not what the straight world expected a woman to be. It was then I concluded that we-gay women-have two strikes against us. The first strike is the glass ceiling that I just talked about. The second strike is that we don’t find men natural beasts of burden.”
“Huh?”
“Lots of women-most women? — rise socially, economically, whatever, on the backs of their husbands. It’s ‘Doctor and Mrs.’ or ‘Mr. Ford and his socially active wife so-and-so.’
“See, it’s not that women aren’t intelligent enough or are incapable of the skills needed to climb to the top; it’s that the male world prevents them from achieving the ultimate success.
“So lots of women-most women? — blocked from achieving all they’re capable of, ride the coattails of their husbands. But what gay women do not need are husbands-”
“So,” Barbara broke in, “you got married because it was the ‘proper’ thing to do. And you’re going to accomplish more as his wife than you could by yourself.”
“Let me put just a little different spin on that, Babs. I’m going to accomplish lots more because I am Joyce Hunter, wife and mother-and thus what the world wants me to be-than I ever would have as Joyce Matthews, lesbian.”
Barbara thought about all this for several minutes. Joyce gave her time to absorb many facts that until now had been completely foreign to her concept of what life held in store for her.
At length, Barbara looked intensely at Joyce. “Your husband, your child: how do they react to your lesbianism?”
“They haven’t a clue.”
“What?!”
“It’s true. No one would be more surprised than they if they were to find out.”
“But …?”
Joyce smiled broadly. “It’s time for us to pity the poor boys.”
“Huh?”
“They can’t fake an orgasm. As even you very well know, the male orgasm is part and parcel of his ejaculation. As a matter of fact, his ejaculation is his orgasm. In other words, he has to put up or shut up. He has to get aroused enough to reach a climax. A very visible, discernible climax.
“Not so with us women. It is a standard part of our equipment that we ejaculate nothing. We lubricate, but if we don’t we can use a cream or almost any sort of lubricant. After that, noises-a squeal, a moan, a scream or two-will convince the male that we’ve come. Maybe, if one wants to carry conviction, our noises, our body movements will convince our partners that we have come in a very big way.”
Barbara was aware that her mouth was hanging open. She closed it. “You mean you’ve faked orgasm totally, throughout your marriage!
“Well, maybe not totally. There’ve been times when we’re together and I … well … fantasize. That’s kind of common in any number of people who make love. How many women while they’re having intercourse with their husbands may be envisioning Robert Redford, or Mel Gibson, or someone else? That’s a fantasy.
“Sometimes, when I’m with Harry, I picture someone else in his place. I should admit that Harry is quite good in bed. So, when I’m not particularly turned on by him, I can respond to my fantasy.”
“I see.” Barbara hesitated, not knowing whether to try the question on her mind. But Joyce had been so open and frank … Babs decided to risk making herself vulnerable to rejection. “May I ask, Joyce: was I ever your fantasy?”
Joyce almost blushed. “You ask too many questions, gal.” Then, seeing that she had hurt Barbara, she added, “Babs, you’re a beautiful person, inside and outside. Sure you’ve been my fantasy. More often than not.”
Silence for several long moments.
“But even if you have a fantasy partner,” Barbara asked, “isn’t it still like being raped?”
The word “rape”, stung Joyce. “I hope I haven’t given you the wrong impression. It’s never even close to rape with Harry. He’s very considerate. He would never insist on lovemaking if I were not in the mood or didn’t feel well or something like that. It’s just … my physical love object is going to be a woman. That’s just the way it is … the way it has to be.” After a few moments, Joyce asked, “Want some more coffee?”
“No, thanks.” Pause. “You know, Joyce, it needn’t be a fantasy.”
“What?”
“Us … together … making love: it doesn’t have to be a fantasy for you or for me.”
Warning lights went on in Joyce’s mind. “Wait a minute, young lady. You’re a student in college. I’m an established psychologist.”
“You’re not hiding behind the difference in our ages!”
“Not that so much as the fact that you were-you are-my patient. It smacks of bad ethics to make love to one’s patient. It’s too dangerous. As inviting as it is, it’s also fraught.”
Barbara stood and walked over to Joyce. Face to face, they were only inches apart. “How about this: suppose we wait till I graduate. Suppose during this interval I’m not your patient. We sever our doctor-patient relationship. Supposing then we became lovers.”
“I don’t know ….” Joyce shook her head. “How do we know how we’ll feel after this? How do we know we’ll feel the same way then? Wait: there are no strings here … right?”
“None.”
“Open-ended, then. Okay, we’ll see what we will see.”
They held each other’s hands and looked penetratingly into each other’s eyes.
Then Joyce leaned forward and kissed Barbara as she might embrace a friend. And thus they separated until Barbara could begin her assault on that glass ceiling.