grande période lesbienne

08:08 Jun 22, 2017 

Agree with your comment re "a frightful assumption". However, the shortage of men gave some women, including lesbians, a previously rare degree of economic independence and, with it, social and cultural independence to express themselves.

03:36 Jun 22, 2017 

I agree with Charles on both points; although it is an over-used cliché, I think 'finalement' to me here has the sense of 'at the end of the day', which of course has the same sense as Charles's 'all in all'.
I also agree with Charles about 'pour l'époque' — with possibly just an added nuance of the notion that 'even at the time, it was recognized as being a period of lesbians' — it was, after all, a great period for quite openly acknowledged lesbians, even outside France. It's a frightful assumption, of course, that women might become lesbian due to shortage of men... but it was certainly an idea prevalent at the time which helped people to 'rationalize' the situation.

01:09 Jun 22, 2017 

I see, thanks!

01:08 Jun 22, 2017 

To me "finalement" suggests "En fin de compte", something like "all in all" in English.

01:06 Jun 22, 2017 

I think "pour l'époque" probably means, in effect, "by the standards of the time". In other words, it was a great lesbian period "for the time", meaning relative to what could have been expected at that time, the implication being that you would not have expected there to be very much lesbianism going on back then (compared, say, to now). This would mean that it is this sense of "pour":

"4. [À propos d'une propriété, p. rapp. à des circonstances ou des obj. où elle est moindre]
− Cette robe est bien chaude pour la saison [...]
− Il est grand pour un Japonais (laisse entendre que les Japonais sont petits)."
http://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/pour

See what I mean?