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For ten centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire, lesbianism disappeared from literature.

Foster points to the particularly strict view that Eve — representative of all women — caused the downfall of mankind ; original sin among women was a particular concern, especially because women were perceived as creating life.

During this time, women were largely illiterate and not encouraged to engage in intellectual pursuit, so men were responsible for shaping ideas about sexuality.

In 15 – 16th-century French and English depictions of relationships between women ( Lives of Gallant Ladies by Brantôme in 1665, John Cleland's 1749 erotica Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, L ' Espion Anglais by various authors in 1778 ), writers ' attitudes spanned from amused tolerance to arousal, whereupon a male character would participate to complete the act.

Physical relationships between women were often encouraged ; men felt no threat as they viewed sexual acts between women to be accepted when men were not available, and not comparable to fulfillment that could be achieved by sexual acts between men and women.

At worst, if a woman became enamored of another woman, she became a tragic figure.

Physical and therefore emotional satisfaction was considered impossible without a natural phallus.

Male intervention into relationships between women was necessary only when women acted as men and demanded the same social privileges.