Of longing and waiting: An inter-Asia approach to love and intimacy among older lesbians and bisexual women

Sexualities ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 136346072096411
Author(s):  
Denise T-S Tang
Keyword(s):  
Gender Roles ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
Bisexual Women ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Spatial Dimensions ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
And Bisexual ◽  
Older Chinese

This paper examines same-sex intimacies formed by and among older Chinese lesbians and bisexual women who were born from the late 1930s to the late 1950s through qualitative interviews and participant observation conducted in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. For this paper, I aim at complicating cultural notions of love, romance and intimacies, that were brought up within interstices of connected histories, gender roles and marginalized sexual subjectivities. Based on ethnographic data collected during 2016–2018, I elaborate on the moments of longing and waiting as redefining modern notions of love and intimacy across time and spatial dimensions. Then I bring up a methodological episode where inter-Asian referencing intersects with Chinese modernities to illustrate how gender and sexuality meet, intersect and influence each other in the cultural imagination and eventual materialization of women’s same-sex desires. The last section will examine the politics of butchness as protection and as a form of politeness.

All change please: education, mobility and habitus dislocation

2019 ◽  
pp. 119-136
Author(s):  
Jill Wilkens
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Sexual Identity ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
Bisexual Women ◽  
Affinity Groups ◽  
And Bisexual ◽  
Positive Ageing

This chapter examines the intersection of ageing, gender, class and sexual identity, and highlights the significance of same-sexuality social groups for older lesbians and bisexual women. Interviews with 35 women aged between 57 and 73, discussed ‘coming out’ in the 1950s and 1960s, loneliness and isolation and the experience of attending affinity groups. Many participants were rendered ‘out of place’ by aspects of their social mobility, generation, gender and sexuality. The chapter draws on Bourdieu’s concept of ‘cleft habitus’ to consider the contradictions of these mobilities, suggesting that these women faced unprecedented and unique disjuncture between their original habitus and the new classed, sexual and gendered locations in which they finally ‘arrived’. The chapter looks at the potential of social groups to alleviate loneliness and isolation; for many, they are sites of resilience, helping to promote positive ageing for those who have faced marginalisation across their life course.

‘Sexuality is fluid’, or or is it? An analysis of television’s The L Word from the perspectives of gender and sexuality

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Kuorikoski
Keyword(s):  
Los Angeles ◽  
Feminist Theory ◽  
Queer Theory ◽  
The United States ◽  
Critical Discussion ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
Bisexual Women ◽  
Current Article ◽  
And Bisexual ◽  
L Word

North American television series The L Word (USA 2004-present) tells the story of a group of lesbian and bisexual women living in Los Angeles. The current article offers a close reading of the first two seasons of the series, analysing them from the perspectives of both feminist theory and queer theory. It demonstrates that even though the series deconstructs the normative boundaries of both gender and sexuality, it can also be said to maintain the ideals of a heteronormative society. The argument is explored by paying attention to several aspects of the series. These include the series' advertising both in Finland and the United States and the normative femininity of the lesbian characters. In addition, the article aims to highlight the manner in which the series depicts certain characters which can be said to stretch the normative boundaries of gender and sexuality. Through this, the article strives to give a diverse account of the series' first two seasons and further critical discussion of The L Word and its representations.

All I get is an emoji: dating on lesbian mobile phone app Butterfly

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 816-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Tse-Shang Tang
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Mobile Apps ◽  
Social Networking Site ◽  
Bisexual Women ◽  
Mobile Media ◽  
Dating Apps ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Bisexual ◽  
Conservative Values

Unlike mobile apps for gay men, lesbian dating apps have been slow to catch on as a habitual space to look for friends and lovers. This study adopted a qualitative approach to investigate the social expectations and romantic longings of Chinese lesbians and bisexual women aged 35 and above in establishing same-sex relationships using mobile media. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 Chinese lesbians and bisexual women, and participant observation was carried out on the Hong Kong-based lesbian social networking site Butterfly. The aim of the study was to explore the social meanings of intimacy created, negotiated and changed among Chinese lesbians and bisexual women. I argue that although social media presents ample opportunities for love and intimacy, the prevailing conservative values and cultural norms surrounding dating and relationships in Hong Kong are often reinforced and played out in their choice of romantic engagement.

scholarly journals Sex During Menstruation: Race, Sexual Identity, and Women’s Accounts of Pleasure and Disgust

2020 ◽  
pp. 961-984
Author(s):  
Breanne Fahs
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Identity ◽  
White Women ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Male Partners ◽  
Bisexual Women ◽  
Heterosexual Identity ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Heterosexual Women ◽  
Positive Feelings ◽  
And Bisexual

Abstract This study analyzes qualitative interviews with 40 women across a range of age, race, and sexual orientation to examine experiences with sex during menstruation. Results show that 25 women describe negative reactions, two describe neutral reactions, and 13 describe positive reactions. Negative responses involve four themes: discomfort and labor to clean ‘messes,’ overt partner discomfort, negative self-perception, and managing partner’s disgust. Positive responses cohere around physical and emotional pleasure from sex while menstruating and rebellion against anti-menstrual attitudes. Race and sexual identity differences appear: White women and bisexual or lesbian-identified women describe more positive feelings than women of color or heterosexual women. Bisexual women with male partners describe more positive reactions than heterosexual women with male partners, implying that heterosexual identity relates to negative attitudes more than heterosexual behavior. Those with positive attitudes also enjoy masturbation more than others. Additionally, interviews address sexual and racial identities’ informing body practices, partner choice affecting body affirmation, and resistance against ideas about women’s bodies as ‘disgusting.’

Virginity beliefs in lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals experiencing same- and different-sex “first” times

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Coady Babin ◽  
Terry Humphreys
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Experience ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Sexual Experiences ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Significant Drop ◽  
First Sex ◽  
The Gift ◽  
And Bisexual

The purpose of the current study was to explore first sex experiences in lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals (LGB) using the Virginity Beliefs Framework ( Carpenter, 2001 ; Humphreys, 2013 ; Eriksson & Humphreys, 2014 ). The specific focus was on LGB individuals who have had both a sexual experience with a member of a different sex and a member of the same sex. This phenomenon is what the current study is defining as second virginity loss. Participants consisted of 275 self-identified LGB individuals; the sample was approximately half women (57%) between the ages of 18 and 56. Further, six semi-structured interviews were conducted to gain a clearer understanding of LGB individuals first sex experiences. Two primary research questions were proposed: (1) how do the virginity belief frames map onto the two “first” sexual experiences of LGB individuals? and (2) are there differences in the virginity belief frames between the two “first” times? Results found that LGB individuals hold stronger process beliefs than gift or stigma beliefs for both of their “first” times. The qualitative interviews suggested that the process of understanding virginity was enmeshed with a larger exploration, and eventual validation, of sexual identity. There was also a significant drop in the strength of some of the gift, process, and stigma beliefs from different-sex experience to same-sex experience for many in the gay and bisexual samples, but not in the lesbian sample. The current study is the first to explore the phenomenon of second virginity loss in LGB individuals and could be used as a foundation for future research on LGB first sexual experiences.

“I Liked Girls and I Thought They Were Pretty”: Initial Memories of Same-Sex Attraction in Young Lesbian and Bisexual Women

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1375-1389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara I. McClelland ◽  
Jennifer D. Rubin ◽  
José A. Bauermeister
Keyword(s):  
Bisexual Women ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Sex Attraction ◽  
And Bisexual

Relationship Quality and Domestic Violence in Women's Same-Sex Relationships: The Role of Minority Stress

2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly F. Balsam ◽  
Dawn M. Szymanski
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Minority Stress ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Internalized Homophobia ◽  
Bisexual Women ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Bisexual Woman ◽  
And Bisexual

Despite a large body of literature addressing relationship quality and domestic violence in women's same-sex relationships, few studies have empirically examined how stress specific to living as a lesbian or bisexual woman might correlate with these relationship variables. Degree of outness, internalized homophobia, lifetime and recent experiences of discrimination, butch/femme identity, relationship quality, and lifetime and recent experiences of domestic violence were assessed in a sample of 272 predominantly European American lesbian and bisexual women. Lesbian and bisexual women were found to be comparable on most relationship variables. In bivariate analyses, minority stress variables (internalized homophobia and discrimination) were associated with lower relationship quality and both domestic violence perpetration and victimization. Outness and butch/femme identity were largely unrelated to relationship variables. Path analysis revealed that relationship quality fully mediated the relationship between internalized homophobia and recent domestic violence.

WPS and LGBTI Rights

2018 ◽  
pp. 656-668
Author(s):  
Lisa Davis ◽  
Jessica Stern
Keyword(s):  
Gender Roles ◽  
Women's Rights ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
Women’S Rights ◽  
Bisexual Women ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Do So

This chapter explores current activism and debates on the discourse of gender within the WPS agenda. To do so, the convergence of women’s and LGBTI rights organizing in Iraq is explored. The interpretation of gender under the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) agenda is outdated, binary, and heteronormative. This narrow approach has overlooked the experiences of lesbians, bisexual women, transgender, and intersex (LBTI) people in conflict and disaster settings, failing to capture threats and/or create tailored responses to meet survivors’ needs. In response, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI), and women’s rights activists have begun to collaborate, raising awareness about how gender and sexuality are intertwined. This chapter suggests that broadening the WPS agenda’s understanding of gender is in everyone’s interests. It argues that a broader interpretation of gender builds coalitions across the women’s and LGBTI movements which amount to a larger movement committed to ending violence against individuals for defying traditionally ascribed gender roles.

Born this way: Sexual orientation beliefs and their correlates in lesbian and bisexual women.

2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 560-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S. Morandini ◽  
Alexander Blaszczynski ◽  
Daniel S. J. Costa ◽  
Alexandra Godwin ◽  
Ilan Dar-Nimrod
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Orientation ◽  
Bisexual Women ◽  
And Bisexual ◽  
Sexual Orientation Beliefs
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