It's a Small World After All!
Six Degrees of Separation (Wikipedia)
After receiving a few questions and comments about the Six Degrees of Separation theory (also referred to as the Human Web theory), I decided to put forth the main ideas behind it. Researchers have long wondered about human interconnectedness, originating all the way back to 1900's. Frigyes Karinthy (Hungarian author) is considered the first promoter of the Six Degrees of Separation concept. The idea was first introduced in one of his short stories (Lancszemek) written in 1929. Although social networking has evolved at an accelerated pace in the past 20 years (due to new technologies & the Internet), the human web theory sets forth a concept of world wide interconnectedness, by which five people separate one person from anyone else on the planet. It is also the origin of the famous expression "It's a small world". The concept was a daring one and researchers have tried to document several experiments to confirm such a theory but it has been proven difficult to do so. Several factors are taken into account and one of the main elements is the willingness for the people to be part of the experiment. Another factor to consider is that although technology does accelerate the process of finding the degrees of separation that connect us all, not everyone is connected to the Internet (world wide).
What does that have to do with lesbians?
Although not specifically referred to as the Six Degrees of Separation theory, the popular TV show The L Word introduced the concept as what they called "THE CHART". Alice charted sexual connectedness between lesbians. Interesting and challenging indeed! I, myself, cannot deny my own curiosity concerning my sexual connectedness to others lesbians! Living in such specific community, the degrees of separation have been reduced to two or three at the most. It is a known fact; lesbians tend to cultivate the degrees of separation theory. Who hasn't heard of a story (or two or three!) about an ex-girlfriend who has just hooked-up with another ex-girlfriend!? The reason for it is quite simple: it's all about numbers and statistics. The smaller the population, the more chances you have of decreasing the degrees of separation. And as Gace O'Neill puts it in her own blog:
"So why the need for this never-ending, extended entourage incest? Simple. Lesbians are by nature highly emotional people. Chalk it up to the overwhelming abundance of estrogen. More often than not, “dating” doesn’t just mean movies, dinner, and hopefully a full body workout between the sheets. It’s a bare one’s soul level of connection which renders both parties unable to just cut their losses and walk away once the relationship heads south of the border. And this, of course, leads to an entourage full of exes".1
Sexual networking in small communities has a strange social incest connotation that sometimes troubles me. It is not to say that women should not have the freedom to sleep with whomever they want, but I wonder what consequences it would bring if women could reproduce among themselves...!
Much ado about nothing? Maybe. Some women are so used to the idea that they don't question the sexual connectedness. "So what?" Well, I guess it all depends on how comfortable you feel about swimming in the same circle of friends and exes and how well you get along!
1. O'Neill, Grace (Sept. 2008). Six Degrees of Ex Separation. Grace the Spot. http://gracethespot.com/?p=464
"So why the need for this never-ending, extended entourage incest? Simple. Lesbians are by nature highly emotional people. Chalk it up to the overwhelming abundance of estrogen. More often than not, “dating” doesn’t just mean movies, dinner, and hopefully a full body workout between the sheets. It’s a bare one’s soul level of connection which renders both parties unable to just cut their losses and walk away once the relationship heads south of the border. And this, of course, leads to an entourage full of exes".1
Sexual networking in small communities has a strange social incest connotation that sometimes troubles me. It is not to say that women should not have the freedom to sleep with whomever they want, but I wonder what consequences it would bring if women could reproduce among themselves...!
Much ado about nothing? Maybe. Some women are so used to the idea that they don't question the sexual connectedness. "So what?" Well, I guess it all depends on how comfortable you feel about swimming in the same circle of friends and exes and how well you get along!
1. O'Neill, Grace (Sept. 2008). Six Degrees of Ex Separation. Grace the Spot. http://gracethespot.com/?p=464