The Lesbian Mother

Abstract

Palko offers a comparative reading of Mary Dorcey’s Biography of Desire and Patricia Powell’s The Pagoda to explore the depth and impact of maternal bonds forged outside the heteronormative family, in Dorcey’s novel between the co-mother and her lover’s daughter, in Powell’s between the “father” (who is in actuality the mother passing as a man) and her daughter. These texts turn to the lesbian mother, thereby engaging a previously silenced perspective; Palko draws on the work of Diane Elise and Judith Halberstam to analyze the novels’ exploration of the queer family and its social consequences. They posit alternate perspectives that challenge a repressive normative, ultimately suggesting a difficult-to-reconcile tension between a maternal subjectivity and an autonomous ability to act on sexual desires.