Lesbianism

In this major contribution to the literature, counselors, psychologists, and therapists address the issues that are vital to the lesbian experience. Although ten percent of the female population may be lesbian, the majority of people in the U.S. consider homosexuality, lesbianism included, obscene, vulgar, and anti-American. Despite the prevalence of and proven positive adjustment of lesbians, mainstream mental health professionals have mirrored society's attitudes in their conceptualization of lesbianism as deviant and in their treatment of lesbians in therapy. The contributors to this compassionate volume examine the need for greater understanding of the issues important to lesbians in order to decrease homophobic stereotypes and to demonstrate how the lesbian experience can serve as an affirmative model of nontraditional lifestyles. They focus on lesbian issues rarely discussed in print--married lesbians, lesbians in rural settings, and lesbian nonmonogamy. The choices, ethical dilemmas, and concerns of lesbians as mothers, lovers, clients, and therapists are voiced in this honest and provocative book.

This book offers a comprehensive examination of the ways in which the criminal justice system of England and Wales has regulated, and failed or refused to regulate, lesbianism. It identifies the overarching approach as one of silencing: lesbianism has not only been ignored or regarded as unimaginable, but was deliberately excluded from legal discourses. A series of case studies ranging from 1746 to 2013 from parliamentary debates to individual prosecutions shed light on the complex process of regulation through silencing. They illuminate its evolution over three centuries and explore when and why it has been breached. The answers Derry uncovers can be fully understood only in the context of surrounding social and legal developments which are also considered. Lesbianism and the Criminal Law makes an important contribution to the growing bodies of literature on feminism, sexuality and the law and the legal history of sexual offences.

First published in 1980, Lesbians, Women and Society presents an analysis of lesbianism as a phenomenon that developed from a ‘personal problem’ or ‘individual deviance’ to a social movement with political ambitions. Social lesbianism, an important concept introduced in the text, refers to the emergence of a public expression of lesbianism and is a stage in the process of establishing a lesbian group identity. It thrusts the issue into the public eye, and lends vitality to society’s awareness. Two groups of ‘social lesbians’ are visible: those fearful of change who cling to traditional and social views, ‘sick but not sorry’; and those who wish to challenge such traditional views in favour of a more public approach, ‘sorry, but we’re not sick.’ But regardless of their relationships to the dominant sexual ideology, as a group, ‘social lesbians’ threaten the structure of power in society. This critical analysis thus challenges many people’s views of lesbianism, and points out to the uninformed observer the complexities which are involved in the contemporary lesbian experience. This book will be of interest to students of sociology, gender studies, feminist theory, and sexuality studies.

Taking up such issues as mainstreaming, the male gaze, and female masculinity, this book puts forward provocative readings of little explored texts and offers new insights into the contemporary representation of lesbians.

Claudette Kulkarni explores lesbian experience from a Jungian and feminist perspective, through interviews with women who see themselves as lesbians or who are in a lesbian relationship. Although a feminist treatment of the subject challenges the heterosexism of Jungian theory, the author presents a link between theory and experience that is consistent with both approaches. She concludes that when a woman finds herself loving another woman she is often responding to a profound psychological instinct to act, in spite of internal conflict or external opposition, and that this is a significant move in the service of personal and collective individuation and a movement toward achieving self-understanding

Here is a valuable contribution to the new and growing body of clinical literature concerning mental health issues for gay males and lesbians. Lesbians and Gay Men: Chemical Dependency Treatment Issues addresses in-depth, specific issues in the treatment of chemical dependency in this population. Authors discuss special problems of the gay population and describe actual clinical techniques for treating them. Readers can easily apply these techniques and strategies for treatment directly to their own work. The book is full of case studies and other helpful information, making it one that practitioners may turn to again and again. A discussion of addiction and homophobia opens the book and creates a base for the chapters that follow, which present clinical material on topics such as: the treatment of homosexual addicted clients by heterosexual therapists the impact on professionals of treating HIV-infected substance abusers the role of spirituality in the recovery of gay males chemical dependency in gay and lesbian youth lesbians from alcoholic families stages of lesbian recovery from alcoholism dual diagnosis of homosexual persons Other useful chapters contain information on formatting an experiential weekend workshop for recovering lesbians and gay men, and ideas for applying family therapy concepts to the treatment of these individuals. An extremely practical book, it increases practitioners’arsenals of skills by explaining clinical strategies that can be put into use immediately. References at the end of each chapter guide interested readers toward further learning on specific topics. Health providers, chemical dependency counselors, social workers, psychologists, and psychiatrists will find Lesbians and Gay Men: Chemical Dependency Treatment Issues a book to depend on for effective treatments of both gay men and lesbians.

First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.