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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Lesbians Lesbian community. Lesbianism'

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Published: 4 June 2021

Last updated: 13 February 2022

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1

Anderson, Carolyn A. "The voices of older lesbian women an oral history /." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 2001. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/nq64850.pdf.

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2

Noack, Andrea. "Building identities, building communities lesbian women and gaydar /." Connect to this title online via Theses Canada Portal Connect to this title online via UMI ProQuest, 1998. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ39217.

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Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 1998. Graduate Programme in Sociology.
Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-120). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ39217.

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3

True, Stephanie M. ""Living lavender" life in a women's community /." Oxford, Ohio : Miami University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc%5Fnum=miami1185808602.

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4

True, Stephanie M. "“LIVING LAVENDER”: LIFE IN A WOMEN’S COMMUNITY." Miami University / OhioLINK, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=miami1185808602.

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5

Sanger, Nadia. "Lesbians and the right to equality: Perceptions of people in a local Western Cape community." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2001. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=init_7204_1177923044.

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When lesbians, as women divert from social norms and reject the compulsory heterosexual norm, they are either punished through legal systems for transgressing patriarchial structures or not recognised at all. As women, lesbians suffer at the hands of a homophobic society which believs that women have stepped out of line through challenging the hegemonic discourses stipulating that they have specific and distinct roles to play - that of wives, mothers, homemakers and sexual partners to men. Because lesbians do not fit into this construct, their behaviour is socially and legally condemned for diverting from the "
natural order"
. This study aimed to identify and explore the various ways people construct and perceive lesbians and to reveal how sexuality, as a product of history and culture, determines the ways lesbians are treated in their own communities. This study attempted to explore how, despite the democratic stance of the new constitution, South African lesbians still experience discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation.

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6

McKenna, Susan E. "Seeing Lesbian Queerly: Visibility, Community, and Audience in 1980s Northampton, Massachusetts." Amherst, Mass. : University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2009. http://scholarworks.umass.edu/open_access_dissertations/102/.

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7

Laroussi, Evelina. "Using community-centered development to improve the interface of an application targeted at lesbians." Thesis, KTH, Skolan för elektroteknik och datavetenskap (EECS), 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-229727.

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Lesbesocial is a mobile application for same-sex attracted women, with the main purpose to strengthen the community and provide a safe environment for social interactions. Lesbesocial was designed with the intention of providing a space to discuss LGBTG-related topics, meet new people and find events. However, Lesbesocial struggles with participation among members. Lesbesocial is not the only online community, targeted to same-sex attracted women, that struggles in this way. While applications targeted to gay-males are thriving, similar applications for women are few with less downloads. Previous research on communities for same-sex attracted women have been emphasizing the importance of having them, because being in such communities can help to support identity formation and increase self-esteem. Furthermore, This paper utilizes a community-centered design approach to investigate how to improve lesbians’ participation in online communities. I do this through examining previous research on online communities and investigating fears and desires of the lesbian community in relation to being same-sex attracted. The analysis identifies six design implications to improve the application and engage users to participate. Social- and personal trust, as well as a sense of belonging, was found to be the most relevant aspects to consider when developing a community for same-sex attracted women.
Lesbesocial är en mobil applikation för bisexuella och lesbiska kvinnor, med huvudsyftet att stärka gemenskapen mellan dem och tillhandahålla en säker miljö för sociala interaktioner. Lesbesocial utformades med avsikt att ge utrymme för att diskutera HBTQ-relaterade ämnen, träffa nya människor och hitta event. Lesbesocial kämpar med att få medlemmarna att aktivt delta i communityn och är inte den enda communityn riktat till homo- och bisexuella kvinnor som, genom tiden, har gjort det. Medan liknande applikationer riktade till homosexuella män utvecklas och växer på marknaden, är liknande applikationer för kvinnor färre med mindre nedladdningar. Tidigare forskning om communityn för bi- och homosexuella kvinnor har betonat vikten av att ha dem, eftersom att communityn kan hjälpa till att stödja identitetsbildning och öka självkänsla hos de personersom deltar. I denna forskningsuppsats används en community-centrerad designmetod för att undersöka hur man förbättrar lesbiska kvinnors deltagande i en online-community. Jag gör det genom att undersöka tidigare forskning om onlinecommunityn och undersöker farhågor och önskningar hos lesbiska kvinnor i förhållande till att attraheras av samma kön. Analysen identifierar sex designimplikationer för att förbättra applikationen och engagera användarna till att delta. Socialt och personligt förtroende, liksom en känsla av tillhörighet, visade sig vara de mest relevanta aspekterna att överväga när man utvecklade en community för homo- och bisexuella kvinnor.

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8

Sykes, Heather Jane. "Teaching bodies, learning desires feminist-poststructural life histories of heterosexual and lesbian physical education teachers in western Canada /." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp03/NQ34632.pdf.

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9

Saldaña, Paola Renata. "The Scales and Shapes of Queer Women's Geographies: Mapping Private, Public and Cyber Spaces in Portland, OR." PDXScholar, 2015. https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds/2213.

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Queer women's relationship to space has been under-theorized due to the difficulties in identifying particular spatial patterns that can describe their presence in urban settings. Most of the research that has focused on queer space has mentioned the difficulty of mapping queer women. The purpose of this research is to identify the ways in which the scarcity of queer women-specific space in Portland, Oregon, has affected the development of a women's community based on a queer identity, the role of intersecting identities such as race and gender identity in these communities and spaces, as well as the implications of queer women's spaces for the development of inclusive spatial frameworks. This research is based on 15 map-making interviews with queer women in the Portland area. During the interviews, participants were asked to draw a map of what they consider to be queer women's space in Portland. The results suggest that queer women occupy an array of places, but lack public queer women-specific spaces. Some of the reasons for the decline in these spaces are changing identities and the political climate, an attempt at inclusion of trans and gender non-conforming people, and racism. In order to better understand queer women's spatial patterns, the scholarship needs frameworks that are inclusive of private, cyber and temporary spaces. Given the lack of scholarship on the relationship between queer women and space, this research contributes to a better understanding of queer women's geographies in a changing political climate.

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10

Palder, Amy. "So, Who Feels Pretty: Negotiating the Meaning of Femininity in a Nonheterosexual Community." unrestricted, 2008. http://etd.gsu.edu/theses/available/etd-07162008-085113/.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2008.
Title from file title page. Ralph LaRossa, committee chair; Elisabeth O. Burgess, Wendy Simonds, committee members. Electronic text (154 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Sept. 29, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-149).

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11

Lienert, Tania. "Relating women lesbian experience of friendship /." Connect to this title online, 2003. http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/thesis/public/adt-LTU20041006.114625/.

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12

DeLois, Kathryn A. "How women come to identify as lesbian : a grounded theory study /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 1993. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/11160.

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13

Steffensen, Jyanni. "Queering Freud : textual (re)configurations of lesbian desire and sexuality /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1996. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phs8174.pdf.

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14

Williams, Carolyn, of Western Sydney Nepean University, and Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. "Identity, difference and the other : a genealogical investigation of lesbian feminism, the 'sex wars' and beyond." THESIS_FHSS_XXX_Williams_C.xml, 1996. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/187.

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This thesis is an investigation into lesbian, and its primary focus is an analysis of the discursive conditions of the ?sex wars?: a moment in feminist politics in which contestations over sexuality became the central focus of feminist debate. In particular, the question is asked how it was possible for lesbian sadomasochism to be problematized as an ?anti-feminist? sexual practice. Lesbian feminism was committed to a modernist logic which compelled the production of ?regimes of truth?, which promoted a certain construction of ?lesbian? as a privileged form of feminist while problematizing lesbian sadomasochism. This problematization is traced to Enlightenment and humanist logics and precepts operative within feminist, lesbian feminist and gay liberationist discourses. The tendency of modernist discourses to produce singular, exclusionary identity categories and a hierarchical ordering of subject positions is also found to be present within the discourse of contemporary ?queer? theory. It is the contention of this thesis that the work of lesbian writers like Judith Butler, Shane Phelan and Teresa de Lauretis disrupts the modernist logic of the ?one? operative in both lesbian feminism and ?queer? theory and points to the theoretical and political work that needs to be done. The most urgent task facing current lesbian, gay and ?queer? theorists is the elaboration of an ethico-politics of difference, one that is attentive to the mutually constitutive multiple differences within and between subjects.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

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15

Lienert, Tania Marie, and Tlienert@latrobe edu au. "Relating Women : Lesbian Experience of Friendship." La Trobe University. Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry, 2003. http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au./thesis/public/adt-LTU20041006.114625.

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Friends are of crucial importance to lesbians� lives, their significance heightened due to lack of acceptance from blood family, work colleagues and society. Despite a proliferation of literature on lesbians� love relationships, lesbians� friendships remain understudied. In the light of theorising about widespread shifts in intimacy patterns in modern industrial societies, this thesis examines the role of friendship for contemporary lesbians. It takes an interdisciplinary approach, using lesbian feminist, feminist psychological and mainstream sociological theories to interpret lesbians� negotiations of their friendships and preoccupations with their own continually developing sense of self. The study finds that firstly, the most significant issue in negotiating friendships is deciding on a lesbian identity despite socialisation to �compulsory heterosexuality�. Friends are expected to be accepting and supportive or they are lost. Discrimination, the fact that the lover is the �best friend�, struggles with difference in lesbian communities, time constraints and a more general shift to individualism mean that community and family contacts are replaced by small, supportive and affirming friendship networks. These meet needs and within them lesbians negotiate a sense of self, but for the most part with no template of political consciousness. Secondly, while friendships are important, they are also difficult. The fluidity of the friendship relationship, blurred boundaries between friends and lovers, and women�s moral �imperative to care� all provide barriers to communication. Thirdly, while lesbians value �the relational self�, a confident sense of self is challenged when close-connected relationships sit at odds both with mainstream, heterocentric culture, and with traditional models of psychology which promote independence and separateness. Lesbians who are confident communicators, who have access to alternative feminist discourses which value relatedness, and who, together with their friends, are open to change, are able to negotiate satisfactory friendships and relationships. The study demonstrates lesbians� complex subjectivities as changing selves are negotiated through friendships, love relationships and communities, particularly through experiences of loss.

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16

Sharp, Christine E. "Lesbian identity narratives : telling tales of a stigmatised identity /." View thesis, 2002. http://library.uws.edu.au/adt-NUWS/public/adt-NUWS20031003.105408/index.html.

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Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Western Sydney, 2002.
"A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy" Bibliography : leaves [195]-[221].

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17

Bromseth, Janne C. H. "Genre trouble and the body that mattered : Negotiations of gender, sexuality and identity in a Scandinavian mailing list community for lesbian and bisexual women." Doctoral thesis, Trondheim : NTNU, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Arts, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture, 2006. http://www.diva-portal.org/diva/getDocument?urn_nbn_no_ntnu_diva-1495-1__fulltext.pdf.

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18

Ochse, Angela. "Dynamics of conflict in lesbian intimate unions an exploratory study /." Diss., Pretoria: [S.n.], 2009. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-02232010-210456/.

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19

Altice, Jessica Mae. "“You Can Fight Logic…But You Can’t Fight God”: The Duality of Religious Text and Church as Community for White Lesbians in Appalachian and Rural Places." Scholar Commons, 2016. http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/6060.

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Much of the research conducted on lesbians and place focuses on women who live in urban areas or highlights how participants wish to live in urban areas. Knowing that there are lesbians who live in rural and Appalachian areas that do not wish to leave to urban areas, this research examines participants’ experiences living in those places. Participants discuss how religion is a socially circulating meaning system in the places they live and it dictates much of social life. I argue that religion has a two-fold meaning for participants: one, it is a religious text that is used as a social control mechanism in the lives of the women and two, it is church as community, in which the participants use church spaces to both make community among themselves as well as be a part of the larger community in their towns. This research adds to the narratives of rural lesbian women and available ways of occupying spaces by breaking down a binary of common cultural ideas about place and sexuality.

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20

Donaldson, Natalie. "Lumberjacks and hoodrats: negotiating subject positions of lesbian representation in two South African television programmes." Thesis, Rhodes University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002473.

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With the inclusion of sexual orientation in the Equality clause of the post-Apartheid constitution which demands equal rights and protection for all individuals regardless of sexual orientation, South Africa has been praised as one of the most liberal countries in the world. Because of this legal equality, gay and lesbian experiences have become a lot more visible in every day South African lives. This includes visibility in South African television programmes and film. Today, a number of South African produced television programmes have included at least one lesbian character in their storyline and many LGBTIQ activist organisations have deemed this increased visibility as a positive step for LGBTIQ rights. However, discriminatory discourses such as same-sex sexualities as 'un-African ' and unnatural, which often result in brutal hate crimes against LGBTIQ individuals (such as corrective rape), contribute to the social and cultural intolerance of same-sex sexualities. South African research into the lives of lesbian women has often related lesbian experience to that of gay men or has focused on lesbian women as victims of corrective rape and oppressive practices at the hands of the dominant heteronormative culture. This research was a discursive reception study, using three focus group discussions with self-identified lesbian audiences (black and white). The study explored how this audience received (interpreted/talked about) the available fictional representations of 'black' lesbian women and 'white' lesbian women in three clips from two South African television programmes, Society and The Mating Game. Using Wetherell's (1998) critical discursive psychology approach, this research focused on examining the 1) Subject positions made available in/by these representations; 2) Interpretive repertoires used by the audience in appropriating and/or negotiating and/or reSisting these subject positions; and 3) Ideological dilemmas experienced by participants in this negotiation process. The predominant subject positions made available in these representations were differentiated according to binary racial categories of white lesbian women and black lesbian women. For example, participants positioned white lesbian women as "lumberjacks" and "tomboys" while black lesbian women were positioned as "township lesbians" and "hood rats". In working with these subject positions, participants drew on interpretative repertoires of othering and otherness as well as interpretative repertoires of survival. In negotiating with these subject positions and others found in the discussions, ideological dilemmas often arose when participants found themselves having to draw on interpretative repertoires which extend from a heteronormative discourse. These kinds of interpretative repertoires included religion, nature, and compromise which contradicted and created a troubled position when used in relation to the participants' lesbian sexualities. Therefore, when the ideological dilemma and troubled position became apparent, participants had to work to repair the troubled position by justifying their use of these heteronormative interpretative repertoires.

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21

Allen, Carrie Elizabeth, and Cheryl Marie Hughes. "The effect of a lesbian woman's coming-out experience on her psychological well-being." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2001. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1926.

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This study was performed to provide social workers with knowledge about the psychosocial risks of a lesbian client's coming-out event. A survey was administered consisting of 22 questions and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depressed Mood Scale (CES-D).

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22

"Lesbian masculinities: identity and body construction among tomboys in Hong Kong." 2004. http://library.cuhk.edu.hk/record=b5896167.

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Lai Yuen-ki.
Thesis submitted in: October 2003.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2004.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves p. 144-146).
Abstracts in English and Chinese.
Chapter Chapter One - --- Introduction --- p.1
"What is a ""TB""?" --- p.2
The cultural context of Hong Kong --- p.6
Research question --- p.8
Literature review --- p.9
Background of the study --- p.16
Persistent display of masculinities --- p.16
Fluidity of TB/TBG role-play --- p.23
Methodology --- p.29
Chapter Chapter Two - --- The lesbian community --- p.33
"Identity change from ""tomboy"" to ""TB""" --- p.34
The lesbian community in Hong Kong --- p.39
Ethnicity --- p.40
Lesbian pubs --- p.41
Lesbian service groups --- p.48
Lesbian websites --- p.51
Influence of the lesbian community on TBs´ةmasculinities --- p.56
Common features of TBs' bodies --- p.56
Identifying as a TB --- p.62
Diversity within the lesbian community --- p.71
Identity --- p.71
Sexuality --- p.73
Summary --- p.80
Chapter Chapter Three - --- Negotiation between TBs and the society --- p.83
The mini-society: the workplace --- p.84
Insisting masculinity in the workplace --- p.84
Femininity in the workplace --- p.91
Naturalization of TBs´ةmasculinities --- p.102
Negotiation between TBs and the society --- p.102
The lesbian community as buffer --- p.104
Summary --- p.106
Chapter Chapter Four - --- Negotiation between TBs and the lesbian community --- p.108
The discourse of sex in Hong Kong --- p.109
Expectations imposed on TBs --- p.111
TBs' sexual pleasures --- p.112
Power dynamics in sex --- p.113
Negotiation between TBs and the lesbian community --- p.116
Interchanging sex roles --- p.116
Role conflict --- p.118
Role-segregation and audience-segregation --- p.121
Negotiation process: resistance and conformity --- p.122
Fluid sexual relationship --- p.123
Using the sex service --- p.124
Casual sex with a man --- p.128
Masturbation --- p.130
Summary --- p.132
Chapter Chapter Five - --- Conclusion --- p.134
Personal reflections --- p.134
An overview --- p.137
Limitations --- p.139
Further implications --- p.141
Bibliography --- p.144

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23

Andreas, Michelle. "The interrelationship between being lesbian and its impact on community college leadership." Thesis, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1957/29800.

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24

Atwell, Anne Renee. "Rethinking queer theology homogeneity: Holy Conversations for lesbians in Metropolitan Community Churches." Thesis, 2020. https://hdl.handle.net/2144/41315.

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This project is an invitation for lesbians within Metropolitan Community Churches to speak the truth of their lived experiences, describe their experiences and encounters with God, and through that, create a lesbian theology. This author has observed that even in welcoming faith communities such as Metropolitan Community Churches, lesbian voices are missing from theological conversation. By critically engaging with various feminist, women’s, and queer theologies, this project envisions the modification of a Holy Conversations resource created by Metropolitan Community Churches that will consider how lesbians encounter God in various aspects of their lives. This author hopes that the creation of a lesbian theological resource will encourage other marginalized communities to speak of their God experiences and to create theologies that will connect them with God and with others.

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25

Miskell, Whitney. "A gender specific model for providing comprehensive health care to the lesbian community a report submitted in partial fulfillment ... for the degree of Master of Science, Community Health Nursing ... /." 1996. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/68799491.html.

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26

Victor, Cornelius Johannes. "Lesbian, gay and bisexual client's experience of psychotherapy and counselling; the search for LGBTI-affirmative practice." Diss., 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10500/13292.

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Despite legal and policy advancements in South Africa, prejudice, discrimination and victimisation are still a reality for many lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people in the country. The Psychological Society of South Africa (PsySSA) has embarked on a process to develop lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) affirmative practice guidelines for psychology professionals, when working with these client populations. As a part of the larger objective, this research study highlights LGB people’s experiences of psychotherapy and counselling in South Africa as possible inputs for the mentioned practice guidelines. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with selected participants. The results indicate that some aspects of LGB people’s experiences are similar to those of anyone in psychotherapy or counselling, but also that there are distinct differences. Negative experiences were almost exclusively due to the counsellor being disaffirming of the client's sexual orientation. Self-acceptance and the development of alternative perspectives of sexuality were more prominent outcomes of counselling compared to studies among broader populations. The participants’ feedback on a list of affirmative statements provides a potential basis for future affirmative practice guidelines.
Psychology
M. A. (Clinical Psychology)

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27

Miller, Shannon J. "Coming out to family and community narratives of African American lesbians /." 2008. http://purl.galileo.usg.edu/uga%5Fetd/miller%5Fshannon%5Fj%5F200812%5Fphd.

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28

Evans, A. L., Andy J. Scally, S. J. Wellard, and J. D. Wilson. "Prevalence of bacterial vaginosis in lesbians and heterosexual women in a community setting." 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10454/6392.

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Objectives: High prevalence of bacterial vaginosis (BV) has been reported in lesbians but most studies were based in sexually transmitted infection clinic settings; therefore, we wished to determine the prevalence and risk factors of BV in lesbians and heterosexual women in a community setting in the UK. Methods: A cross-sectional study recruiting lesbian women volunteers from community groups, events, clubs and bars. Heterosexual women were recruited from a community family planning clinic. They self-swabbed to create a vaginal smear, which was Gram-stained and categorised as BV, intermediate or normal flora. They completed a questionnaire about age, ethnic group, smoking, genital hygiene practices and sexual history. Results: Of 189 heterosexuals and 171 lesbians recruited, 354 had gradeable flora. BV was identified in 43 (25.7%) lesbians and 27 (14.4%) heterosexuals (adjusted OR 2.45, 95% CI 1.25 to 4.82; p¿=¿0.009). Concordance of vaginal flora within lesbian partnerships was significantly greater than expected (27/31 (87%) couples, ¿¿=¿0.63; p<0.001). Smoking significantly increased the risk of BV regardless of sexuality (adjusted OR 2.65; p¿=¿0.001) and showed substantial concordance in lesbian partnerships but less than for concordance of flora. Conclusions: Women who identified as lesbians have a 2.5-fold increased likelihood of BV compared with heterosexual women. The prevalence is slightly lower than clinic-based studies and as volunteers were recruited in community settings, this figure may be more representative of lesbians who attend gay venues. Higher concordance of vaginal flora within lesbian partnerships may support the hypothesis of a sexually transmissible factor or reflect common risk factors such as smoking.

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