Maternidad lesbiana: Otra cara del cambio social. Un enfoque etnográfico

This paper explores, through a qualitative methodology and an ethnographic approach, the experience of lesbian motherhood, recognizing it as a genuine kinship experience, associated with the care and the time spent together. It is interpreted as a form of the “mutuality of being” in Sahlins, where the biological becomes a metaphor of something that is experienced as a process. In addition, the exercise and visibility of lesbian motherhood is socially constructed, putting into discussion myths about lesbian identity and, at the same time, actively participating in social change, perceived as a long durée process, gradually moving away from static forms of kinship and social relations, towards a vision not necessarily individualistic (based on the “freedom to choose”) rather a process-like and dynamic one. Este artículo explora, a través de una metodología cualitativa, la experiencia de la maternidad lesbiana, reconociéndola como experiencia genuina de formas de parentesco asociada al cuidado y al tiempo transcurrido con el otro, lo que se interpreta como una forma de la mutualidad del ser en Sahlins, donde lo biológico deviene metáfora de algo que se vive como proceso. Además, el ejercicio y visibilidad de maternidad lesbiana se construye socialmente, poniendo en discusión mitos sobre la identidad lesbiana y a su vez, participando activamente en el cambio social percibido como un proceso de larga duración, de paulatino alejamiento de formas estáticas del parentesco y las relaciones sociales hacia una visión no necesariamente individualista (fundada en la “libertad de elegir”) pero sí procesual y dinámica de los mismos.

Personal and Professional Choices, Tensions, and Boundaries in the Lives of Lesbian Psychiatric Mental Health Nurses

<p>This study breaks new ground in articulating how sexual identity impacts on the therapeutic relationship between the client and the lesbian nurse in psychiatric mental health nursing. There is little consideration given in the literature or in research as to how sexuality of the nurse impacts on nursing practice. Most attitudes held by the public and nursing staff are based on the assumption that everyone is heterosexual, including nurses. Fifteen lesbian psychiatric mental health nurses from throughout New Zealand volunteered for two interviews and shared their experiences of becoming and being a lesbian psychiatric mental health nurse. The stories they told give new insights into how these nurses negotiate and position their lesbian identity in the therapeutic relationship. To work therapeutically with people in mental distress the nurse uses personal information about themselves to gain rapport with the client through appropriate selfdisclosure. Being real, honest and authentic are also key concepts in this relationship so the negotiation of reveal/conceal of the nurse’s identity is central to ongoing therapeutic engagement. One of the most significant things arising from the research is that participants areable to maintain their honesty and authenticity in the therapeutic relationship whether they self-disclose their lesbian identity or not. This is because the experiences in their personal lives have influenced how the participants ‘know themselves’ and therefore guide how they ‘use self’ in their therapeutic nursing. The concept of a ‘licensed narrative’ has also been developed during this research reflecting the negotiated understandings between the researcher and the participants. Further, the use of NVivo a qualitative software package helps to track and make transparent the research processes. These two aspects make a unique contribution to the field of narrative inquiry.</p>

Personal and Professional Choices, Tensions, and Boundaries in the Lives of Lesbian Psychiatric Mental Health Nurses

<p>This study breaks new ground in articulating how sexual identity impacts on the therapeutic relationship between the client and the lesbian nurse in psychiatric mental health nursing. There is little consideration given in the literature or in research as to how sexuality of the nurse impacts on nursing practice. Most attitudes held by the public and nursing staff are based on the assumption that everyone is heterosexual, including nurses. Fifteen lesbian psychiatric mental health nurses from throughout New Zealand volunteered for two interviews and shared their experiences of becoming and being a lesbian psychiatric mental health nurse. The stories they told give new insights into how these nurses negotiate and position their lesbian identity in the therapeutic relationship. To work therapeutically with people in mental distress the nurse uses personal information about themselves to gain rapport with the client through appropriate selfdisclosure. Being real, honest and authentic are also key concepts in this relationship so the negotiation of reveal/conceal of the nurse’s identity is central to ongoing therapeutic engagement. One of the most significant things arising from the research is that participants areable to maintain their honesty and authenticity in the therapeutic relationship whether they self-disclose their lesbian identity or not. This is because the experiences in their personal lives have influenced how the participants ‘know themselves’ and therefore guide how they ‘use self’ in their therapeutic nursing. The concept of a ‘licensed narrative’ has also been developed during this research reflecting the negotiated understandings between the researcher and the participants. Further, the use of NVivo a qualitative software package helps to track and make transparent the research processes. These two aspects make a unique contribution to the field of narrative inquiry.</p>

Tracing the Ephemeral

This paper examines how Greek television fiction introduced and represented lesbian characters during primetime. Drawing on feminist and queer theory and taking the codes and conventions of the comedy genre into account, the paper reveals Greek comedy’s elusive and ambiguous stances towards heteronormativity. By applying a qualitative textual approach, the paper argues that despite their subversive potentialities, the television shows in question (re)produce cultural stereotypes about lesbian identity, invest in queerbaiting strategies and play down the transgressive elements of certain lesbian characters. Despite this critique, the paper stresses the importance of recording, archiving, and further exploring such ephemeral moments in television history in understanding how small national television industries as well as audiences have engaged with the visual representation of gender and sexual diversity.