A struggle for independence and autonomy may also contribute to IPV in lesbian couples. Throughout history, women have been socialized to identify themselves in relation to their intimate partner and to assign high value on intimacy. Lesbian relationships face a great deal of societal scrutiny in addition to pressure and often do not receive support or validation outside of the gay community. Because of this, lesbian couples often experience fusion in their relationship to help insulate them from the negativity of the greater society (Renzetti, 1988). Fusion has been previously defined as “the person’s state of embeddedness in, of undifferentiation within, the relational context” (Karpel, 1976, p. 67). Due to this fusion and the blurring of …show more content…
This layout of businesses may be perceived as a unique representation which is oddly similar to the closeness of individuals within the community they serve. This phenomenon further contributes to the sense of isolation within the community. Since World War II, more modern LGBT establishments began to take shape, providing safe spaces for LGBT individuals to gather with friends and be themselves without fear of discrimination (City of Los Angeles, 2014; Stryker, 2004). Understanding the historical context behind LGBT venues, along with the unity and safety they have brought to the LGBT community for decades, it is not hard to understand why they are still so ingrained in the group’s identity. Within the LGBT community today, bars and clubs are still relied upon as the chief social outlet (West, 2002) The prominence of bars in the community when coupled with the discrimination and homophobia, may contribute to heavy drinking (McKenry, Serovich, Mason, & Mosack, 2006; West, 2002) and risky sexual activity (Eaton et al., …show more content…
Women who identify as bisexual report rape at even higher rates (McKenry et al., 2006; Szalacha, Hughes, McNair, & Loxton, 2017; West, 2002). At least one study observed that those lesbians who were already open about their sexual orientation in their lives were actually more likely to encounter victimization (D'Augelli & Grossman, 2001). It is relevant to note that studies in this purview are contradictory, some studies show that historically lesbian women have come out at higher rates than bisexual women, putting them at risk for IPV (Gates, 2011). This opposing data reinforces the need for further research within the
In his work about gay life in New York City, George Chauncey seeks to dispel the various myths about the gay lifestyle before the Civil Rights era of the 60’s. He distills the misconceptions into three major myths: “…isolation, invisibility, and internalization” (Chauncey 1994, 2). He believes a certain image has taken in the public mind where gays did not openly exist until the 60’s, and that professional historians have largely ignored this era of sexual history. He posits such ideas are simply counterfactual. Using the city of New York, a metropolitan landscape where many types of people confluence together, he details a thriving gay community. Certainly it is a community by Chauncey’s reckoning; he shows gay men had a large network of bar, clubs, and various other cultural venues where not only gay men intermingled the larger public did as well. This dispels the first two principle myths that gay men were isolated internally from other gay men or invisible to the populace. As to the internalization of gay men, they were not by any degree self-loathing. In fact, Chauncey shows examples of gay pride such a drag queen arrested and detained in police car in a photo with a big smile (Chauncey 1994, 330). Using a series of personal interviews, primary archival material from city repositories, articles, police reports, and private watchdog groups, Chauncey details with a preponderance of evidence the existence of a gay culture in New York City, while at the same time using secondary scholarship to give context to larger events like the Depression and thereby tie changes to the gay community to larger changes in the society.
They mention the transition of “the closet,” as being a place in which people could not see you, to becoming a metaphor over the last two decades of the twentieth century used for queers who face a lack of sexual identity. Shneer and Aviv bring together two conflicting ideas of the American view of queerness: the ideas of the past, and the present. They state as queerness became more visible, people finally had the choice of living multiple lives, or integrating one’s lives and spaces (Shneer and Aviv 2006: 245). They highlight another change in the past twenty years as the clash between being queer and studying queerness (Shneer and Aviv 2006: 246-7). They argue that the active and visible contests over power among American queers show that queers now occupy an important place in our culture. They expand on the fact that queerness, real, and performed, is everywhere (Shneer and Aviv 2006: 248). This source shows the transformation in American culture of the acceptance of queerness. It makes an extremely critical resource by providing evidence of the changes in culture throughout the last two decades. Having the information that queerness is becoming more accepted in culture links to a higher percentage of LGBTQ youths becoming comfortable with their sexual identity. However, compared to the other sources, this
In sociology, the LGBT community is viewed as a subculture to the dominant world culture. The community is generally accepted by the dominant culture and although the group has some of its own beliefs and rituals/traditions, it still adheres to the fundamental beliefs and cultural expectations of the dominant culture. Before being considered a subculture, homosexual relationships and variations of sexual orientation were classified as devian behaviort. Even before that, someone who experienced homosexual thoughts or tendencies was labeled as mentally ill. The idea of homosexuality being a mental illness appeared in the DSM until 1987. There are still remnants of homophobia today but the consensus (at
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. (2005, March). Module 10G: Sexual Orientation and Alcohol Use Disorders. Retrieved October 6, 2014, from http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/social/Module10GSexualOrientation/Module10G.html
In the LGBT community, they develop intimate relationships in the same stages as heterosexual couples however they resolve conflicts more positively. Due to them being in a relationship with the same-sex partner, they approach roles in a relationship and marriage using egalitarianism. We all give and receive love differently. Knox & Schacht discuss the different types of loves styles a person’s desires from their relationships such as ludic, pragma, eros, mania, storge, and agape. These different love styles also express how lovers can understand and relate to one
In the past decades, the struggle for gay rights in the Unites States has taken many forms. Previously, homosexuality was viewed as immoral. Many people also viewed it as pathologic because the American Psychiatric Association classified it as a psychiatric disorder. As a result, many people remained in ‘the closet’ because they were afraid of losing their jobs or being discriminated against in the society. According to David Allyn, though most gays could pass in the heterosexual world, they tended to live in fear and lies because they could not look towards their families for support. At the same time, openly gay establishments were often shut down to keep openly gay people under close scrutiny (Allyn 146). But since the 1960s, people have dedicated themselves in fighting for
...r scene was instrumental in the development of a culture and identity for homosexuals. In today's contemporary world, we see the effects of what was done during the late 1800's and early 1900's. Today, there are numerous balls in which homosexuals are able to gather on a larger scale and engage in almost ritual practices. The bar scene has flourished well beyond the Bowery and into mainstream culture. Despite this, I have personally seen a new trend of bars opening up in areas, namely the less economically stable areas of New York City, that cater primarily to homosexuals. In these areas, homosexuality is shunned far more harshly than in areas with financial stability. Overall, the foundation that was built at the turn of the century are still being built upon by those of the contemporary age, and are trying to gain more notoriety, further the homosexual identity.
Tori, DeAngelis. "New data on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Mental Health." www.apa.org/monitor/feb02/newdata.aspx . N.p., 12 february 2002. Web. 9 Apr 2014.
Gender roles in a small, rural community are specific as to what a woman “is” and what a man “is”, and these norms are strictly enforced by the rural society. Cooper says that in childhood, “Rejection of the traditional feminity appeared in three ways:1) taking the role of the male, 2) being a tomboy, and 3) avoiding feminine dress and play” (Cooper, pg. 168). This rejection of the traditional roles as a child creates a stigma, or label, attached by society to these individuals. The punishment from society is greater than the punishment of an unfulfilled self. The lessened ability to obtain health insurance, health information on the partner, and other benefits also plays a key role in coming out. The rural lesbian society is so small a...
It is very reasonable to conclude that research on depression of those who identify as gay, lesbian or transsexual is not accurate; there is an underreporting of people who identify as these sexual orientations because of the fear of being different. It is understood that those apart of the LGBTQ community actively hide their identity in hopes to avoid being rejected or abused (Bird, 2013). Once the reporting issue of having a smaller percentage of the actual representation of the LGBTQ population is put aside, there is evidence that highly suggests that lesbians and gay men are at higher risk for psychiatric disorders than heterosexuals (Cochran, 2001). Even after underreporting, there is still enough information to conclude that sexual discrimination can have harmful effects on the quality of life. Common factors that have been observed in lesbians and gays that can potentially increase depression during Cochran's study are anxiety and mood disorders and decreased self esteem. Cochran and her partner also noted that dissatisfaction with how one is treated beca...
Israelstam, S., & Lambert, S. (1983). Homosexuality as a cause of alcoholism: a historical review. International Journal of the Addictions, 18(8), 1085-1107.
“The unprecedented growth of the gay community in recent history has transformed our culture and consciousness, creating radically new possibilities for people to ‘come out’ and live more openly as homosexuals”(Herdt 2). Before the 1969 Stonewall riot in New York, homosexuality was a taboo subject. Research concerning homosexuality emphasized the etiology, treatment, and psychological adjustment of homosexuals. Times have changed since 1969. Homosexuals have gained great attention in arts, entertainment, media, and politics. Yesterday’s research on homosexuality has expanded to include trying to understand the different experiences and situations of homosexuals (Ben-Ari 89-90).
As Tamsin Wilton explains in her piece, “Which One’s the Man? The Heterosexualisation of Lesbian Sex,” society has fronted that heterosexuality, or desire for the opposite sex, is the norm. However, the reason behind why this is the case is left out. Rather, Wilton claims that “heterosexual desire is [an] eroticised power difference [because] heterosexual desire originates in the power relationship between men and women” (161). This social struggle for power forces the majority of individuals into male-female based relationships because most women are unable to overcome the oppressive cycle society has led them into. Whereas heterosexual relationships are made up of the male (the oppressor) and the female (the victim who is unable to fight against the oppressor), homosexual relationships involve two or more individuals that have been freed from their oppressor-oppressed roles.
While sexual difference may not exist between lesbians all other forms of difference do. These include differences of identity: race, class origins, employment status, age, religion, physical abilities - and while we may struggle against these differences within our individual ‘spaces’ they have a material and institutional reality that cannot be wished away
When one hears the words “LGBT” and “Homosexuality” it often conjures up a mental picture of people fighting for their rights, which were unjustly taken away or even the social emergence of gay culture in the world in the1980s and the discovery of AIDS. However, many people do not know that the history of LGBT people stretches as far back in humanity’s history, and continues in this day and age. Nevertheless, the LGBT community today faces much discrimination and adversity. Many think the problem lies within society itself, and often enough that may be the case. Society holds preconceptions and prejudice of the LGBT community, though not always due to actual hatred of the LGBT community, but rather through lack of knowledge and poor media portrayal.