Social Work Commons^™

Authorities On Ourselves: Being Lesbian In Heterosexist Culture -- Can Personal Meaning Inform Social Work Practice?, Sue Cover Wright

Doctoral Dissertations

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 …