Читать книгу Bisexuality and the Challenge to Lesbian Politics - Paula C Rust - Страница 10

First and foremost, I am deeply grateful to the 470 women who took the time to participate in this study during its many interview and questionnaire phases, from the “speed demon” who completed the questionnaire in a mere 45 minutes to everyone who gave five or six hours of their lives to help make this project happen. Special thanks go to the six women who assisted me by conducting the early phase interviews, giving me feedback on the questionnaire, and finally distributing questionnaires to several hundred women: Beth Masck, Beverly Santiago, Debbie Hillebrand, Elizabeth S., Lorna Rodriguez Rust, and Susan Gold.

I would also like to thank the members of my dissertation committee, who supported me in the research on which this book is based. When I decided to do research on lesbians’ attitudes about issues that are important within the lesbian community instead of research on a “safe” topic with a “broader” appeal, I thought I was risking my career. Who would take me seriously, and how would I ever find a job? Mary Jackman, Mayer Zald, Beth Reed, and Mark Chesler enthusiastically supported me throughout the project. My most sincere thanks go to Mary Jackman, who spent many, many hours straining her eyes over the initial draft of my dissertation, patiently wading through pages of detailed digressions and writing over and over again the comment “cut drastically.” The support I received from the University of Michigan extended beyond the efforts of individual faculty; the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies gave me the grant that made the research possible.

I am also grateful to those people who have supported me since, including the members of my department at Hamilton College who are my friends as well as my colleagues, Doug Raybeck who gave me the nudge I needed to start publishing the findings of my research, Niko Pfund of New York University Press who was interested enough in my work to inquire about it, Karla Jay who accepted it as part of her series “The Cutting Edge,” all the editors and anonymous reviewers along the way who taught me the writing skills I thought I had, my mother Mildred Rust who eagerly reads everything I write, and both my parents for giving me a solid start in life and a love of knowledge. In addition, several undergraduate student assistants helped with various stages of data preparation and coding. My thanks to each of them, especially Jacqueline Vargas and Danielle LaGrange for doing the most tedious kinds of work carefully and cheerfully at all hours of the day and night. The book you hold in your hands is not a revised dissertation; it is a book written from the ground up with the help and support of many people.

Finally, my deepest gratitude and love go to my most enthusiastic supporter, Lorna Rodríguez Rust, who has been with me through everything for the last eleven years. I saw her through her board exams, and now she has seen me through the birth of my first book.