The majority of this thesis consists of my creative work in poetry, accompanied by researched information and concepts that serve to contextualize and illuminate the poems themselves and my creative process. Key areas of scholarship that underlie my poetry include the tropes and motifs of Gothic literature from the Romantic era to the present; the progression of women’s writing, particularly writing by women identifying as lesbian; and the conflation of female writers and characters with the concept of the ‘monstrous’ and transgressive. Also informing the two research chapters are some of the basic concepts about abjection and depression developed by philosopher and theorist Julia Kristeva. The collection of my poems contains both narrative and lyric poems. The final chapter, following on from my collection of sixty-eight poems, outlines my creative progress as I developed my particular poetic aesthetic. It is heavily informed by my growing acquaintance and comfort level with my own darkness and depression reflected in Gothic tropes, lesbian fiction, and aspects of Kristevan theory. The progression of my craft as a writer led me to strive for an effective expressive balance between the abstractions of the French Symbolists and Surrealists and a more ‘Imagistic’ focus on accurate, concrete imagery.

Donor conception has an established place in lesbian reproduction, and one that diverges from cultural understandings of conception, parenthood and family. However, to date, there is no major UK study into lesbian couples' experiences of pursuing donor conception. Exploring these experiences, the thesis first investigates, in a review and critique of the literature, existing research into lesbian conception. Noting the few studies into lesbian reproduction, it discusses how it figures in related areas of research: feminist studies of reproductive technologies; kinship and assisted conception; changing patterns of intimate and family life; and politics of gay and lesbian normalisation. Second, it investigates lesbian couples' clinical and self-arranged donor conception practices in an empirical study based on interviews with 25 couples in England and Wales, a study which the literature review suggests is the largest in the UK, to date. What emerges from couples' accounts is an irresolvable tension between being in receipt of donor sperm and a romantic desire to become a biogenetic nuclear family. The interviews are thematically analysed to explore the nature of this conflict. The thesis demonstrates that couples seek to negotiate donor conception through disassembling its material, practical and conceptual elements and reassembling these components in coordinated ways. In addition, couples undertake a repertoire of practices that signal togetherness, with the aim of constructing a bounded 'nuclear' family. Through these practices, lesbian couples seek to contain the potentially destabilising impact of the donor on their desired way of becoming and being a family. This takes place in a social context which challenges their claims to parenthood, and the constant possibility that their conception processes, and the meanings they give them, will be undermined. The findings underline the centrality of connectedness in contemporary personal life and the unremitting hegemonic power ofthe nuclear family model.

Fifteen women who identify themselves as lesbians were located through snowball sampling. These women participated in confidential taped interviews and assigned pseudonyms. They were questioned on topics which included growing up gay, family, work relations and friendship associations. It was assumed that life experiences may differ on the basis of social environments. This study focused on the unique experiences of rural lesbians. Erving Goofman’s book, Stigma, provided the theoretical framework utilized in the analysis of lesbian identity management. It also allowed for a discussion of stigma and its effect on lesbians. The women in the study experiencing homosexual feelings during prior to adolescence. Their reactions to these feelings related directly to the amount of stigma that they had internalized. All women in the study developed maintenance strategies that prevented disclosure of their lesbianism. It was found that lesbians often suffer great consequences when their sexuality is disclosed.

The meaning of family and motherhood is increasingly under scrutiny in contemporary society as individuals make new reproductive and parenting choices. Social change has occurred in the structure and form of family in the last three decades and family 'structures' generally have been fragmenting, changing and reforming (Morgan, 1997, Allen, 1999, Silva & Smart, 1999). New forms of families have included those created by lesbian couples, who found new routes to parenthood either through donor insemination or adoption. The focus of this thesis is lesbian couples who became parents as partners and the distinctive issues that arose with respect to their experiences. The reproductive choices of these parental couples evoked particular political debates in relation to bio-ethics, religion and naturalness. Lesbian led families were achieved through a complex array of negotiations. These included negotiations between themselves as to who would be the biological mother (in the case of DI families), and how, in the absence of a father figure, the role of 'mother' is defined for both of them whether their children are born biologically to one of them or adopted.

M.A. (Clinical Psychology), University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities / In 1996 South Africa was the first country in the world to protect sexual minorities from discrimination in its Constitution. The benefits of a liberal constitution cannot go unacknowledged, however, negotiating lesbian identity within the work context is still a challenge due to the pervasive stigma attached to homosexuality, as well as the remnants of South Africa’s stormy, oppressive political history. Lesbian woman in South Africa grow up in a society which remains predominantly patriarchal and conservatively religious and where the heterosexual assumption, the idea that one is ‘straight’ unless otherwise stated, is continually confirmed and perpetuated in a variety of contexts, including the occupational environment. It is within this setting that lesbian women woman must attempt to negotiate and continually, in varying degrees, and not always by choice, take part in the coming out process in different social spaces. In interviews with seven self-identified lesbian women, the dynamic process of coming out within the occupational environment, was explored in relation to and within relevant cultural, historical, familial and social contexts. All participants had disclosed their sexual identity within the work place, in varying degrees. Key aims of the research were exploring the negotiation of lesbian identity in various occupational contexts as well as identifying strategies used to negotiate the work environment and lesbian identity / MT2017

This thesis presents an analysis of lesbianism within a twofold perspective - the sociology of deviance (lesbianism as a 'counteridentity') and the sociology of female sexuality (lesbianism as it relates to the role of women in society). Throughout the text, I draw from both perspectives in order to present a contemporary view of lesbianism as a complex, social phenomenon. Traditionally, academics and others who were concerned with this area have advocated an individual or 'non-problematic' approach, or both. A major contention of this thesis is that prior theories have obscured important, it not necessary, social factors which are relevant to a full understanding of lesbianism. The methodology i. clearly outlined in terms of data collection (interviews, questionnaire. and participant observation), the purpose, goals and limitations of the research process. Three key sociological concepts are put forth and affect the direction of the analysis. They are: lesbian identity, lesbian role and lesbian social organisation. These concept. are drawn from a basic assumption of this thesis - Lesbianism, like sexuality, is a social construction. As the research process unfolds and the findings are revealed, we are continually confronted with lesbianism as a distinct, yet complex and changing social phenomenon which is directly related to objective social factors and subjective experience. A variety of relationships, organisational roles (of a political and non-political nature) and life-styles emerge from within the contemporary 'lesbian ghetto'. We observe how and why lesbians organise their social lives. It is hoped that a critical analysis of lesbianism will, not only challenge certain ideas about lesbianism and the lesbian role in society, but also, point out to the uninformed observer, academic and lay person alike, the complexities which are involved in the understanding of the contemporary lesbian experience, as well as the sociology of lesbianism.

Ina Yee. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-90). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Acknowledgements --- p.i / Table of Contents --- p.ii / Abstract --- p.iii / Introduction --- p.1 / The Gendered Vampires in Contemporary Culture / Vampires and Contemporary Culture --- p.1 / Woman/Lesbian as Vampire --- p.7 / "Ortner and ""the Angel in the House""" --- p.9 / "Mulvey, Postfeminist Media Critics and the Female Body" --- p.10 / Butler and the Lesbian Phallus --- p.12 / Feminism and Postfeminisms --- p.14 / Chapter Chapter One --- The Woman Vampire: The Fallen Angel --- p.18 / Woman and Nature --- p.18 / The Angel and the Woman Vampire --- p.23 / The Postmodern Dracula --- p.33 / Conclusion --- p.39 / Chapter Chapter Two --- The Girl Vampire: The Resistant Female Body --- p.40 / The Male Gaze --- p.40 / """When the Woman Looks"" at a Woman" --- p.47 / The Postmodern Female Body --- p.56 / Conclusion --- p.58 / Chapter Chapter Three --- The Lesbian Vampire: The Female Desire --- p.60 / The Lacanian Phallus --- p.60 / The Lesbian Phallus --- p.64 / The Lesbian Vampire --- p.67 / The Dark Kiss and Female Sexual Pleasures --- p.70 / Conclusion --- p.78 / Conclusion --- p.81 / Towards an Autonomous Representation of Womanhood / Bibliography --- p.87

Lesbian and gay people are more likely to experience long-term health problems and less likely to have relationships that typically provide informal care. Whilst some researchers have suggested that care is provided by family-of-choice relationships (i.e. a network of very close friendships), there has been no research looking at what determines the organisation of care. Grounded theory was used to explore what determines the organisation of informal care for older lesbian and gay people with health problems. Fourteen mid-later life lesbian and gay people were interviewed who had experience of providing/receiving care, or running groups for these populations. Findings suggest that this population experience losses to their network related to their sexuality as well as due to ageing and the impact of their health problem. This means that except for those living with others (partners, ex-partners or housemates), people often experience their care needs being “left to” them. In response, people seek connections or alternatives to support. Support arrangements developed for those living alone tends to be distributed across multiple people. Strategies and attitudes developed from managing being lesbian or gay influence choices and resiliencies in navigating these challenges. The results suggest that older lesbian and gay people have unique strengths and challenges in accessing care in the context of long-term conditions. Recommendations for research and practice are made, including the need for developing ways of working with distributed care networks and suggestions for supporting clients to use resiliencies developed from experiences of being lesbian and gay.

The present study describes the development and psychometric evaluation of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Affiliate Stigma Measure (LGB-ASM). Existing qualitative research and feedback from experts in stigma research, contributed to the development of 48 items that were subjected psychometric evaluation resulting in the final 17-item measure. Exploratory factor analysis of data from 471 LGB affiliates (family members and close friends of LGB individuals) resulted in 3 factors reflecting experiences of LGB affiliate stigma including (a) Public Discrimination/Rejection affiliate stigma, (b) Vicarious affiliate stigma, and (c) Public Shame affiliate stigma. Confirmatory factor analysis of data from a separate 101 participants supported the stability of the 3-factor model. Further psychometric evaluation of the measure resulted in evidence supporting the reliability (i.e., Cronbach's alphas of .71 to .93), convergent validity (i.e., with stigma consciousness, r = .17 to .45; with awareness of public devaluation, r = .18 to .28), and discriminant validity (i.e., with socially desirable responding, r = -.16 to .05). The final 17-item LGB-ASM yielded 2-to 3-week test-retest reliability coefficients of .74 to .76 with a sample of 61 participants. Links between the LGB-ASM and psychological distress (using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist - 21) were evaluated and unsupported.

In the last two decades, gay and lesbian parenting has emerged as a highly contentious subject in France. The creation of the Pacte Civil de Solidarité in 1999 and the legalization of same-sex marriage and adoption in 2013 testify to the evolution of gay and lesbian parenting from a hidden practice into a public matter. The growing visibility of gay and lesbian parenting has coincided with the emergence of lesbian mothering as a literary theme. While texts portraying lesbian mothers remain small in number, the fact that most were published after 2000 suggests their being on the rise. This thesis engages with this nascent branch of French literature, focusing on ten texts published between 1970 and 2013. It thus encompasses the period from the birth of the modern gay and lesbian movement until the adoption of same-sex marriage in France. It shows how the texts both reflect changes to the family and contribute to political and theoretical debates on gay and lesbian parenting and, more broadly, to the redefining of mothering and family in twentieth- and twenty-first-century France.