Not all women recognize a sexual factor in their subjective emotional relations, particularly in the intrasexual field so heavily shadowed by social disapproval. Still they often exhibit indirect responses which have all the intensity of physical passion and which quite as basically affect the pattern of their lives. Hence this study includes not only women who are conscious of passion for their own sex, with or without overt expression, but also those who are merely obsessively attached to other women over a longer period or at a more mature age than is commonly expected. If “commonly expected” is another nebulous phrase, a species of pooled judgment is available to clarify it. During the past few decades—that is, since Freudian concepts have become a part of the common background—most works on sex guidance have taken some account of homosexuality. These agree in general that passionate attachments during puberty and early adolescence may lie within the norm, but if occurring later they constitute variance. Without here debating the absolute validity of this opinion, one may borrow it as a working criterion. As to women who habitually wear men’s clothing or even for a part of their lives pass for men, such transvestism is not in itself variant. To be sure, many psychoanalysts consider it indicative of latent homosexuality, but to bring a woman properly within the scope of this study her transvestism must be accompanied by some evidence of fondness for her own sex. And, of course, mere sex disguise arising from pressure of circumstance, a favorite device for plot-complication from ballads to modern films, has no significance here. With the meaning of _variance_ clarified, the more familiar terms _homosexual_ and _lesbian_ need attention. In popular usage the latter implies overt sexual expression and so it will be used only where such implication is intended. _Homosexual_ is more ambiguous. Still in good scientific standing, it ordinarily has not Dr. Henry’s restricted meaning, but is more nearly synonymous with his _variant_. For this reason and also because as a noun it is most often applied to men, it will be employed here only when needed to relieve verbal monotony. To conclude the business of definition, the word _literature_ has, of course, two common meanings: belles-lettres, and factual material relative to a given subject. Here it is used in the former, or, more accurately, not in the latter sense; that is, the impressive bulk of scientific writing on sex variance will receive only cursory attention, to provide background for the matter of primary interest. This latter comprises mainly fiction, drama and poetry, and might best be termed simply _imaginative writing_, since many works to be discussed can boast but little belletristic worth. Even such inferior items, however, are important in reflecting attitudes and providing quantitative evidence of interest.