Li, Ming. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 74-76). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Section I: --- Literature Review --- p.5 / Homosexuals in China --- p.5 / The Invisible Lesbians --- p.6 / Minority Stress --- p.9 / Minority Stress Model --- p.10 / Understanding Lesbians' Stresses in the Chinese Context --- p.13 / Chapter Section II: --- Methodology --- p.17 / Sampling --- p.17 / Data Collection --- p.20 / Data Analysis --- p.22 / Sample Description --- p.23 / Limitations --- p.24 / Chapter Section III: --- Stresses among Lesbians --- p.26 / Family --- p.27 / Labor Market and Workplace --- p.33 / Intimate Relationship --- p.37 / Chapter Section IV: --- Different Identities under the Same Name --- p.46 / Gendered Understanding of Lesbian Identity --- p.46 / Components of Lesbian Identity --- p.58 / Relating Minority Identity to Stress --- p.63 / Chapter Section V: --- Conclusion --- p.69 / References --- p.74

The aim of the study was to gain a holistic understanding of the lived experiences of four South African, black, Xhosa-speaking lesbians in Nelson Mandela Bay. Contextual, exploratory, descriptive qualitative research based on a phenomenological approach was conducted and analysed through interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). A combination of purposive and snowball sampling was used to recruit participants and semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with four South African adult, black, Xhosaspeaking females of homosexual orientation between the ages of 18 to 35 years. Findings indicate that the participants experience the following: (a) sexual development as a major influence on their sexual- and self-identity, (b) homosexual sexual orientation had a psychological impact on their lives, (c) they have a holistic understanding of who they are, and this understanding of themselves, has positively influenced their lives, (d) their homosexual sexual orientation has influenced the personal relationships in their lives in both positive and negative ways, (e) society has influenced their lives both positively and negatively because of their homosexual sexual orientation , (f) social networking can act as a risk to unintentional disclosure of homosexual sexual orientation and (g) they have experienced discrimination in various areas of their lives because of their homosexual sexual orientation. Some suggestions for future research included exploring lesbian stereotypes within the broader society, as well as inside the black lesbian community and examining the so-called differences between city and township lesbians with an emphasis on beliefs, attitudes, practices, subcultures and gender identity issues.