Master of Science / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Briana S. Goff / Homophobic hate crimes against lesbians and gay men represent a significant social problem that has important psychological consequences for survivors. Because the nature of these crimes is, by definition, against someone for his or her intrapersonal traits, it has even more potential to be damaging to a victim and in turn potentially detrimental to the development and/or maintenance of close personal relationships. The impact of trauma has long been studied from the view of the trauma survivor or any secondary traumatization of those around the primary survivor. The impact of hate crime victimization has also been examined, and it, too, has also been examined from the primary survivors perspective. Only in recent years has the impact of trauma on interpersonal relationships been examined. Additionally, there is currently little to no literature on the impact of trauma or traumatic events on gay or lesbian relationships. The types of hate crime victimization experiences range from verbal abuse to severe physical assault to death. While hate crime victimization is not specifically identified in the DSM – IV – TR as a potentially traumatic event, physical assault, which is found commonly in hate crimes, is identified. Therefore, hate crime victimization could be a potentially traumatic event. However, this has not been addressed in the traumatic stress field. This report is intended to address the gaps in the current body of literature in both the traumatic stress field and the gay and lesbian literature. This overwhelming lack of literature has the potential to be very detrimental to professionals working with this population and in turn detrimental to the population and society. Evidence suggests that there may be a difference in how or if the potentially traumatic hate crime victimization experience manifests itself internally or in other forms because of the nature and severity of the victimization in one or both partners. Evidence also suggests, similarly to heterosexual couples, the impact of trauma has repercussions throughout the couple relationship. This report provides a preliminary start to continue and expand the work with the gay and lesbian community.

The present study explored factors affecting vulnerability to depression among gay men and lesbian women in metropolitan Gauteng, South Africa. Risk factors consistently cited in the literature on depression among gay men and lesbian women, namely self-esteem, social integration, hate speech, physical victimisation, fear of victimisation and alcohol and drug abuse, were examined to determine their ability to predict vulnerability to depression. Data was collected from 385 participants who self-identified as lesbian or gay, using a purposive quota sampling technique to ensure representation across age, gender, race and socio-economic status lines. Participants were selected through gay and lesbian organisations, support groups, counselling centres, the gay and lesbian Pride Parade, an online questionnaire, and via snowballing techniques. Multiple regression analysis indicated that self-esteem and hate speech were the only significant predictors of vulnerability to depression. The regression model accounted for 21.7% of the variance in vulnerability to depression scores. / Psychology / M. Sc. (Psychology)

How much are we aged by biology, and how much by culture? Age criticism is a relatively new discipline – the word ‘ageism’ was only coined in 1968 by sociologist Robert Butler – but it has been asking this question since its inception. Feminists were among the first to investigate the idea of ‘age identity,’ and during the 1980s a handful of American older lesbian feminists took the women’s movement to task about its own ageism. Writers like Baba Copper and Barbara MacDonald argued that age is not only a state of mind but a political construction, anticipating much that has now become mainstream in the thinking of age identity. Since then, there has been a growing recognition that ‘age ideology,’ from birthday cards to employment law, delivers negative messages about ageing as decline, deterioration and loss. But there are still not enough representations of older people – and especially older women – which offer a positive paradigm for ageing, one that goes beyond platitudes of acceptance, or, more insidiously, the chimera of retaining ‘youth’ in old age. My thesis traces the early work of lesbian and feminist writers as they explored the subjectivity of older women at a time when this was still rare. I argue that this writing still has much to offer in challenging conventional and negative ideas of agerelated changes, without sentimentalising or denying physical, as well as social, pain. I begin by setting out an overview of the theory that has accompanied this writing, including Copper and MacDonald’s work. In particular, I explore its expansion in Margaret Gullette’s theory of diachronic identity, in which the fluid character of identity means that many ages can exist simultaneously, and Kathleen Woodward’s notion of a ‘mirror stage’ in midand older life. Such concepts provide guiding tools for my subsequent analysis of lesbian age writing. The thesis goes on to examine novels, life writing and poetry by older lesbians, organising the material thematically: chapters deal with menopause, memory and forgetting, sexuality and mortality respectively. The conclusion hinges on lesbian age theory as an aspect of feminist and gender research based at the interface of queer and age identities. Minority writing on oldness has a particular usefulness in delineating the specificities of difference, or what critic Margaret Cruikshank has called ‘the “inbetween worlds” within aging.’ Work by older lesbians can be seen as a tool for both understanding and shaping the experience of old age. This very particular literature, through its emphasis on continuity, friendship and community, refuses prescribed ‘life stages’ and instead offers paradigms for conscious and comfortable ageing.

This thesis is about the resources that speakers can draw on when producing actions, both verbal and non-vocal. It considers how identity categories, gaze and touch can contribute to action in everyday interactions. The study stemmed from an interest in how lesbian identity is made relevant by lesbian speakers in everyday co-present interaction. A corpus of approximately 23.5 hours of video-recordings was gathered: households self-designated as lesbian (including couples, families, and housemates) video recorded some of their everyday interactions (including mealtimes, watching television, and playing board games). Using the tools of Conversation Analysis and working with the video recordings and transcripts of the interactions, several ways of making a lesbian identity relevant through talk were identified. As the analysis progressed, it was found that many references to sexual identity were produced fleetingly; they were not part of or integral to the ongoing talk, and were not taken up as a topic by participants. Rather, this invoking of a participant s sexual identity appears to contribute to a particular action that is being produced. It was found that invokings of other identities, for example relating to occupation, nationality, and race, worked in a similar way, and this is explored in relation to explanations and accounts. Where the first half of the thesis focuses on verbal invokings of identity in relation to action, the second half of the thesis considers some of the non-vocal resources that participants incorporate into their actions. It was found that when launching a topic related to something in the immediate environment, speakers can use gaze to ensure recipiency. Also, when producing potentially face-threatening actions such as teases, reprimands or insults, speakers can use interpersonal touch to mitigate the threat. In addition to showing how identities can be made relevant in everyday interaction, the findings of this thesis highlight the complexity of action design, and that in co-present interaction the physical resources available to participants also need to be taken into account.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis presents a discussion of a photographic representation of lesbian identity in Southern Africa. Two photographic series, Does your lifestyle depress your mother? and the Dyke Career Series (collectively referred to/exhibited as Lavender Menace) produced during the period 1997 to 1999 form the practical component of this MA submission. Lavender Menace is considered in relation to lesbian identity, lesbian social visibility, stereotypes and the relationship between photography and 'reality'. The various readings that the works can be said to have, are discussed and an explanation of the purpose in photographing the 'ordinariness' of the lesbians who were imaged, is included. A historical overview of the concepts 'lesbian', and 'visibility'specifically in South Africa during the last 50 years, and how homophobia has affected lesbian life is presented in Chapter One. In Chapter Two, the notion of stereotypes is examined, particularly those of the 'butch' lesbian and the 'lipstick' or 'chic' lesbian. Neither of these stereotypes is entirely accurate and the role of stereotypes in potentially disseminating mis-information and prejudice, and how this influences potential ways of identity construction, is discussed. It can be seen that this influence of stereotypes on lesbians and lesbian visual representation cannot be ignored as the dominant stereotypes in society are too pervasive. The notion of readability is explored in Chapter Three. The constructed nature of photography, specifically with regard to Lavender Menace, is discussed in relation to truth, theatricality, the use of text and possible readings of the work. An explanation of my particular purpose in choosing to photograph in the way I did is included, concluding that although meaning is not fixed, the intention of the artist can be visually presented in a 'legible' manner (if desired) to assist possible interpretations. This thesis/research has been utilised to inform my own artistic production, by exploring the questions and issues raised while producing Lavender Menace, namely lesbian visibility, the use of stereotypes and how images are interpreted. This thesis and Lavender Menace should contribute to the general research area by promoting social visibility of lesbians in South Africa. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis bied 'n bespreking van 'n fotografiese voorstelling van lesbiese identiteit in Suid-Afrika. Die praktiese komponent van die voorlegging vir die Meestersgraad bestaan uit twee reekse fotos, Does your lifestyle depress your mother? en Dyke Career Series, wat in die periode vanaf 1997 tot 1999 geproduseer is (en gesamentlik as Lavender Menace uitgestal/beskou word). Lavender Menace word in verhouding tot lesbiese identitieit, lesbiese sosiale sigbaarheid, stereotipes en die verhouding tussen fotografie en 'werklikheid' beskou. Die verskillende lesings/beduidenisse wat die werk sou kon hê, word bespreek en 'n verduideliking van die doelstelling met die fotografering van die 'gewoonheid' van die lesbiese wat verbeeld is, word ingesluit. 'n Historiese oorsig van die konsepte 'lesbies' en 'sigbaarheid', veral in Suid-Afrika gedurende die afgelope 50 jaar, en hoe homofobie die lesbiese lewenswyse geaffekteer het, word in Hoofstuk Een aangebied. In Hoofstuk Twee word die idee van stereotipes ondersoek, veral die van die 'butch' en die 'lipstiffie-', of'sjiek' lesbiese vrou. Geeneen van hierdie stereotipes is geheel-en-al korrek nie en die rol van stereotipes in die potensiële verspreiding van verkeerde inligting en vooroordeel en hoe dit die potensiële wyses vir die konstruksie van identiteit affekteer, word bespreek. Daar word getoon dat die invloed van stereotipering op die lesbiese vrou en die lesbiese visuele voorstelling nie geïgnoreer kan word nie, aangesien die oorheersende stereotipes in die samelewing te deurdringend is. Die idee van leesbaarheid word in Hoofstuk Drie ondersoek. Die gekonstrueerde aard van fotografie, veral met betrekking tot Lavender Menace, word met betrekking tot die waarheid, die teatrale, die gebruik van teks en moontlike lesings/interpretasies van die werk bespreek. 'n Verduideliking van my besondere doelstelling met die keuse van hoé om te fotografeer word ingesluit, met die konklusie dat, alhoewel betekenis nie finaal vasgelê is nie, die bedoeling van die kunstenaar visueel op 'n 'leesbare' manier voorgestel kan word (indien dit verlang word) om moontlike interpretasies te ondersteun. Die tesis/navorsing is aangewend om my eie artistieke produksie in te lig deur die vrae en kwessies wat gedurende die produksie van Lavender Menace na vore gekom het, namens lesbiese sigbaarheid, die gebruik van stereotipes en hoe beelde geïnterpreteer word, te ondersoek. Hierdie tesis, tesame met Lavender Menace, behoort Inbydrae te lewer tot die navorsingveld in die algemeen deur die bevordering van die sosiale sigbaarheid van die lesbiese in Suid-Afrika.

No description available.

The overall objective of this study was to provide additional information as to the nature of the problem of eating disorders among the lesbian population, and to identify the role in which sexual abuse plays in the development of an eating disorder. To attain this objective, the following areas on eating disorders and sexual abuse were addressed by the researcher: a) eating disorders among women, b) DSM-IV criteria for diagnosis of an eating disorder, c) the relationship between sexual abuse and eating disorders, and d) eating disorders and the lesbian population. A self-administered questionnaire, consisting of 20 questions from the Eating Disorder Inventory 11 and 19 questions regarding sexual abuse from three different scales, was given to women who were self-identified as lesbians, and who attended one of several support groups in the Atlanta Metropolitan area. This study was an attempt to examine the relationship between eating disorders and sexual abuse, and to provide additional information to the social work profession as to the magnitude of the problem among the lesbian population. The results of the study showed a statistically significant correlation between eating disorders and sexual abuse among lesbians, using Pearson’s r with significance of p<.05.

Those concerned with racial, gender, sexual, economic, or disability justice should be concerned about the direction and focus of national conversations in the wake of Newtown. Controversies over gun control and mental health treatment have a profound impact on those marginalized based on race, gender, sexuality, class, and disability. Gun control laws endanger trans people of color and queer women of color, as well as those labeled mentally ill, by failing to reduce interpersonal violence while increasing the violence of the criminal legal system. Instead of increasing incarceration of people in marginalized communities who choose to carry guns, we should consider true disarmament. This disarmament would involve demilitarizing police, decreasing incarceration, keeping cops out of schools, no longer investing in the armed forces, and instead investing in communities. Expanded power to commit people based on mental illness, whether on an outpatient or inpatient basis, also harms marginalized communities, especially queer women of color and trans people of color who are already highly vulnerable to pathologization, disablement, institutionalization, and abuse. Instead, we should consider investing more deeply in holistic, community-directed services for mentally ill people that support self-determination and social change, including fighting state and interpersonal violence against people with mental illness.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

"Quare Contestations: Bridging Queer, Lesbian, and Feminist Narratives of the Irish Diaspora" examines three sets of biographical and autobiographical narratives about Irish who migrated to the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. Dwelling primarily in queer studies and diaspora studies, this thesis participates in the construction of a queer Irish diaspora archive by analyzing the spaces of overlap between Irish queer, feminist, and lesbian - together, quare - theory and lived experience in these narratives. In my analysis, I demonstrate the fluidity, movement, and interdisciplinary scope of a quare framework for approaching studies of gender and sexuality in the Irish diaspora context. This thesis intervenes into the work already being done to queer Irish diaspora by examining the contestations of "Irishness" appearing in the narratives that are analyzed, and by in turn contesting and complicating the action and meanings made by "queer" in the existing archive of queer Irish diaspora literature.