(Dis)allowances of lesbians’ sexual identities: Lesbian identity construction in racialised, classed, familial, and institutional spaces

Gibson, Alexandra F; Macleod, Catriona I

Title: (Dis)allowances of lesbians’ sexual identities: Lesbian identity construction in racialised, classed, familial, and institutional spaces
Creator: Gibson, Alexandra F, Macleod, Catriona I
Date: 2012
Type: Article
Identifier: vital:6222
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006536
Identifier: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0959353512459580
Description: This article explores how lesbian identity construction is facilitated and constrained by the raced, classed, gendered, familial, and geographical spaces that women occupy. We present a narrative-discursive analysis of eight lesbians’ stories of sexuality, told within a historically white university in South Africa. Three interpretative repertoires that emerged in the narratives are discussed. The ‘disallowance of lesbian identity in particular racialised and class-based spaces’ repertoire, deployed by black lesbians only, was used to account for their de-emphasis of a lesbian identity through the invocation of a threat of danger and stereotyping. The ‘disjuncture of the (heterosexual) family and lesbian identity’ repertoire emphasised how the expectation of support and care within a family does not necessarily extend to acceptance of a lesbian identity.
Format: 33 leaves, pdf
Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
Language: English
Relation: Gibson, A., & Macleod, C. (2012). (Dis)allowances of lesbians’ sexual identities: Lesbian identity construction in racialised, classed, familial, and institutional spaces. Feminism & Psychology, 22(4), 462–481. http://fap.sagepub.com/content/22/4/462.refs
Rights: Pre-print version

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Gender Action Forum (GENACT)

Macleod, Catriona Ida (Distinguished Professor)

SDG 05. Gender Equality

RU Department of Psychology

SDG 10. Reduced Inequalities

SDG 03. Good Health and Well-Being

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