During a weekly luncheon with her two sisters, Brooklyn mother Shelly Dershowitz once again addressed the topic of her daughter’s sexuality. I asked how Dershowitz was handling the recent coming out of her eldest daughter, Sarah. “I love my Sarah, but…bisexual? I just don’t quite understand it,” she said. “Women are beautiful, of course, but to actually be with them? I don’t know. But if it’s something that brings her joy, I support her.”
Dershowitz, an art teacher at the local middle school, has admittedly been a long-time champion of the female form. She has hosted live nude drawing classes at the community college every Thursday night since Sarah was a toddler. The classes, “designed for women to meet other like-minded women,” have been a pillar of the community for years. “Many of these girls become very close friends…very fast” boasted Dershowitz.
Friends of the family have noted that the Dershowitz home looks like something out of a Bette Porter wet dream. “There’s not one wall that doesn’t have a tit on it,” stated Gina Schwartz, a childhood friend of Mrs. Dershowitz. “But that’s just always been Shelly’s style, even when we were at Wellesley together.”
When asked how she felt about growing up in a home so brazenly full of naked women, Sarah admitted, “I definitely used to get embarrassed by it, but now I think it’s cute!” I attempted to contact Mr. Dershowitz but was informed by his current wife that he would be unavailable for comment – indefinitely.
Eager to see the Dershowitz home myself, I caught up with Shelly in the spring and was greeted by a warm, scarf-laden woman wearing earrings in the shape of breasts. She caught me admiring the earrings and chuckled.
“Oh, aren’t these precious!” she beamed. “I bought them at the flea market from two very nice gals that run a jewelry business out of their apartment. It’s just so refreshing to see two empowered young women living together and making their own money, without needing a man.”
Mrs. Dershowitz then offered me a tour of the home. It wasn’t just one wall that was tit-less; there wasn’t one square inch without some form of naked lady art on it. And it didn’t stop there. Every corner was filled with at least one statue of a nude woman, which Mrs. Dershowitz affectionally petted as we walked by. In fact, the only room that stood out from the rest of the house was Sarah’s room – untouched since her teenage years – which was covered in Justin Bieber posters.
During our tour we discussed Sarah, at which point Mrs. Dershowitz made it very clear: “Sarah is my baby, and I love her to death. I was a little surprised to hear that she’s dabbling in the ladies now, of course, but I’m very glad to see her happy.”
The tour culminated in the master bedroom, where a Victorian painting of Sappho herself hung proudly above a plush pink bed. As we were saying our goodbyes, Mrs. Dershowitz unexpectedly received a call from Sarah and put her on speaker. Sarah had called to inform her mother that Melissa Etheridge tickets had just gone on sale. When asked if she should buy tickets for the pair, Mrs. Dershowitz gave an emphatic “YES!”
