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University of Tennessee, Knoxville Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 12-1991 Authorities on Ourselves: Being Lesbian in Heterosexist Culture -- Can Personal Meaning Inform Social Work Practice? Sue Cover Wright University of Tennessee, Knoxville Recommended Citation Wright, Sue Cover, "Authorities on Ourselves: Being Lesbian in Heterosexist Culture -- Can Personal Meaning Inform Social Work Practice?. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1991. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/4060 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Sue Cover Wright entitled "Authorities on Ourselves: Being Lesbian in Heterosexist Culture -- Can Personal Meaning Inform Social Work Practice?." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Social Work. A. Elfin osM es, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Judith I. Fiene, Benita J. Howell, Margaret C. Wheeler Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official student records.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Sue Cover Wright entitled "Authorities on Ourselves: Being Lesbian in Heterosexist Culture -- Can Personal Meaning Inform Social Work Practice?" I have examined the final copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Social Work. A. Elfin Moses, Ph.D., Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: 7*!JA l � { . Accepted for the Council: Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Graduate School AUTHORmESON OURSELVES: BEING LESBIAN IN HETEROSEXISTCUL TURE -- CAN PERSONAL MEANINGINFORM SOCIALWORK PRACTICE? A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Sue Cover Wright December 1991 Copyright 1991 by Sue Cover Wright All rightsreserved ii ACKNOWLEOOEMENTS I wish to express my thanks to my doctoral committee members, Dr. A. Elfin Moses, chairperson, Dr. Margaret Wheeler, Dr. Benita Howell, and Dr. Judy Fiene, for their advice and warm support during the planning, research and writing of this dissertation. Each committee member brought energy and creativity to the project, as well as patient encouragement. I am also grateful to Dr. Jane Kronick who provided feedback during the preparation of my proposal. A special thanks to Dr. Moses who shared her original idea with me as a part of her own ongoing research. This research would not have been possible without the participants -- the women from Knoxville, Tennessee -- who were willing to risk possible exposure to contribute to this project. Their strength, hope and belief that social reality can·be changed was a source of continuous inspiration for me. They shared their homes, their experiences, and their lives with me. Some of these participants read parts of my manuscript and gave me valuable feedback. I will always be grateful to all of them. I wish to thank the University of Tennessee Social Work Doctoral Program for their financial support. I also want to thank my mother, Jessie Cover Wright, and iii my step.father, John Seay, for their continuous love and support of my goals. iv ABSTRACT This study was designed to explore the social reality of lesbian women. Its theoretical base lies in the social constructionist theory that the social context interacts with personal experience to create social meaning. Professional social science literature presents a confused account of lesbianism. Clinical studies have diagnosed and labeled lesbianism as a disease, a dysfunctional personality disorder, or poor social adjustment. Recent studies viewed them as an oppressed minority group. Few studies have gone to the source and asked the women to· define themselves -- what it is like to be lesbian in our culture; what their experience means to them; what strategies they use to arrive at positive, workable ways of living in the world. This study used a qualitative research method, unstructured interviews, to gain access to the participants' perceptions of social reality. A subsequent focus group interview provided some evidence for validity of the original findings. The sixteen women in the interview portion of the study were residents of Knoxville, Tennessee. The six focus group members were also Knoxville residents. There was a wide range of ages and occupations. Interview data were analyzed using grounded theory to identify categories of meanings and to generate an emerging theory about the daily realities of the participants. V Three steps were identified in the social process of how lesbians construct a social reality: (1) lesbians observed straight behavior toward and about gays and lesbians, (2) lesbians made decisions about the meaning of these observations, (3) lesbians made decisions about how to cope and how to act based on the constructed meanings. This process was seen as a feedback loop, with each step overlapping the others. In observing straight behavior, lesbians noticed the ways straights joke, spread rumors, and refuse to acknowledge the existence of, or speak of, lesbianism. They often observed from positions of hiddenness, in situations where they were assumed to be straight. The attribution of meaning was not an open process between straights and gays but a tacit process where each side made guesses and assumptions about the other. Lesbians saw straights creating social pressure: pressure to act straight; pressure to conform to stereotyped gender roles; and pressure to participate in social rituals that had little or no personal meaning for them. Lesbians felt that refusal to respond to the pressure would be followed by painful consquences such as social and personal rejection, name-. calling, threats or termination of employment. Most of the participants noted positive experiences, as well. Lesbians expended much energy coping. They spent time predicting how they would be treated and on preparing themselves based on these predictions. They vi decided how they were going to dress, when to hide and when to be open, whether to conform to stereotyped gender roles and whether to "pass" as straight. They sought support in the forms of literature, music, and art, and in friendship groups. The study findings have implications for social work practitioners. Knowledge of lesbian social reality is essential in the effective practice of clinical social work as. well as in the reforming of social institutions. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGES 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 1 2. LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................................... 7 Background Themes .......................................................................................... 1 o Current Approaches........................................................................................ 30 A Reconceptualization of Identity Formation .................................................. 42 Research.......................................................................................................... so 3. RESEARCH DESIGN....... · ......................... .......................................................... 61 Statement of the Problem............................ ................................................... 62 Research Approach .......................................................................................... 63 Theoretical Sampling..................... ................................................................. 67 The Participants .................................................................................. '.......... 72 Data Collection and Analysis........................................... :............................... 76 4. FINDINGS: HOW LESBIANS VIEW ATIITUDES OF STRAIGHT SOCIETY........... :. 80 Introduction................. : ........................ � ......................................................... 80 What Straights are Observed To Do................................................................ 86 What Lesbians Believe These Observations Mean ......................................... 101 viii How Lesbians Respond to These Meanings.......... .......................................... 114 Summary........... ............................................................................................ 119 5. FINDINGS: COPING AND SELF PRESENTATION........ ....................................... 122 Introduction.................................................................................................. 122 Developing Coping Strategies....................................................................... 127 Making Decisions about Self Presentation ................................................... 134 What Lesbians Make Decisions About.........................................................

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