Sexual minority women's gender identity and expression: challenges and supports

Sexual minority women were divided into four groups to study their gender identities (butch and femme), and gender expression (traditionally gendered and non-traditionally gendered women who do not identify as butch or femme). Experiences of heterosexist events (discrimination, harassment, threats of violence, victimization, negative emotions associated with these events), mental health (self esteem, stress, depression), and supports for a sexual minority identity (social support, outness, internalized homophobia) were examined across these groups. Findings suggested that butch-identified women experienced more heterosexist events than femme women or women with non-traditional gender expressions. There were no differences in mental health variables.     

The Effects of Sexual Orientation,Gender Identity,and Gender Role on the Mental Health of Women in Taiwan's T-Po Lesbian Community

SUMMARY

We obtained via the Internet a convenience sample of Taiwanese heterosexual (n = 287) and sexual minority females (n = 260). A significantly greater percentage of sexual minorities (lesbian and bisexual females) than heterosexuals reported they had used tobacco or alcohol. Relative to heterosexuals, sexual minorities were significantly more likely to report a serious suicide attempt. Overall, gender identity (masculine, feminine, and androgynous) and gender role (butch, femme, and pure or undifferentiated) were poor discriminators of lesbian mental health. Differences between sexual minorities and heterosexuals were more robust than were the variations in gender identities and gender roles among lesbian and bisexual women. We discuss the implications of these findings for further clinical research.     

Butch bottom-femme top? An exploration of lesbian stereotypes

Lesbian gender labels (i.e., butch, soft butch, butch/femme, femme, and high femme) have set the stage for assumptions about lesbian attractions to sexual behaviors. This study explored the intersection of lesbian gender labels and attraction to sexual behaviors in 214 lesbian-identified women. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 69 with 48% being women of color. Contrary to stereotypes about sexual behavior in the lesbian community, very few differences emerged in regard to lesbian gender label. Overall, results do not support stereotypes about lesbian gender labels and suggest that behaviors in the lesbian community are fluid across labels.     

Gender Nonconformity and Butch–Femme Identity Among Lesbians in China

Previous studies have indicated that the butch–femme identities of lesbian women are related to gender roles (e.g., instrumentality and expressiveness). This study examined the association between butch and femme lesbian identities and gender nonconformity in both childhood (Study 1: 434 lesbian women and 230 heterosexual women) and adulthood (Study 2: 207 lesbian women and 342 heterosexual women) among women in China. In Study 1 (97 femmes, 76 androgynous women, and 264 butches), butches recalled more childhood gender nonconformity (CGN) than did femmes, androgynous, and heterosexual women, and androgynous women recalled more CGN than did heterosexual women. In Study 2 (43 femmes, 44 androgynous women, and 120 butches), butches reported more adulthood gender nonconformity (AGN) based on a “people–thing” dimension of interests than did femmes and heterosexual women, and androgynous women reported preferring more masculine hobbies than did femmes or heterosexual women. There was no significant difference in CGN and AGN between femmes and heterosexual women. These results indicate that femmes are quite similar to heterosexual women with regard to CGN and AGN, thus providing an important extension of previous studies based on a Chinese sample.     

More than Surface Tension: Femmes in Families

SUMMARY

This article raises questions about the lack of scholarly focus on butch/femme couples and their absence in studies of lesbian couples and family-building. In an era of lesbian marriage and lesbian parenting, femme and butch coupling and family-building remain unspoken topics within family studies, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT)–specific research. Moving beyond a focus on eroticism within the femme/butch couple, questions about how gender expression impacts other relationships dynamics, including the maintenance of long-term relationships, power and intimacy, domestic chores and child-rearing, are raised. The femme role in “homemaking,” that is, building and maintaining families, especially needs further exploration.     

Gender and the Mental–Physical Health Connection Among U.S. Adults

Using data from the 1995, 1998, and 2001 panels of Aging, Status, and Sense of Control (ASOC) Survey, we examine gender differences in the relationship between self‐rated physical health and mental health over time (n = 2,543). Gender‐stratified path models highlight how the nature of the mental–physical health relationship changes when we use indicators of mental health that have traditionally been labeled as female sensitive (depression) or male sensitive (heavy drinking). Results show that women and men are similar in that mental health has a stronger effect on physical health than the reverse. However, this is only the case when we use gender‐sensitive measures of mental distress: Men who drink heavily and women who are depressed report poorer self‐rated physical health over time, while heavy drinking for women and depression for men have no significant effects on their self‐rated physical well‐being. These results provide evidence of a health process that is gendered in its expression but more universal in its outcome—the exact measure might vary, but men and women alike are physically harmed by mental health problems.     

An investigation of predictors of mental health in single men and women experiencing homelessness in three Canadian cities

Homelessness is related to poorer mental health, yet, there is limited understanding of the predictors of mental health of men and women experiencing homelessness. To support service providers in identifying individuals who might be at particular risk of poor mental health, this study investigated the predictors of mental health in 501 single men and women experiencing homelessness in Vancouver, Toronto, and Ottawa, Canada. Data were obtained via in-person, structured interviews. In order to identify whether predictors differ by gender, multiple linear regressions were conducted separately for men and women. Mental health status was measured by the Mental Component Summary score of the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey. Better mental health for men and women was associated with the presence of fewer chronic health conditions and a higher level of social support. An older age, not having experienced a recent physical attack, and absence of a mental health diagnosis were related to better mental health for women. The absence of unmet mental health needs within the past 12 months was associated with better mental health for men. The study highlights differences in factors associated with mental health for men and women. Service providers should be aware of the association of these factors with mental health to guide assessment and service planning.     

Mobile Selves: Gender, ethnicity and mobile phones in the everyday lives of young Pakistani-British women and men

This paper focuses on mobile phone use by a young minority ethnic group as a medium through which to explore diversity and technology use in everyday life. Recent research with young people has shown that mobile phones are instrumentally, socially and emotionally important but few have problematized the homogeneous concept of 'youth'. This paper argues for increased recognition of the intersections of social categories such as youth, gender and ethnicity with technologies, specifically mobile phones, in order to understand complexity of use. Drawing on new empirical, qualitative data from an urban area in the North East of England we explore the focus group narratives of young Pakistani-British Muslim women and men focusing on the notion of 'shifting' gendered and cultural identities and social practices, developed and reworked in relation to the use of mobile phones. We look at the gendered dynamics of mobile use, including gender talk and text, and ask whether the young women and men experience mobiles differently in everyday life. We also explore the ways in which mobiles are used to create 'space of one's own' and the gendered dynamics of remaining connected, especially to key peer groups. The paper concludes with the assertion that in order to fully explore the mutability of youth cultures across space and time, we need to develop a more dynamic concept of 'mobile selves' by exploring the place and meaning of technologies such as mobile phones in the rich tapestries of young people's lives.     

Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Personal Mastery Among Sexual Minority African-American Female Sex Workers

Research among sexual minorities has traditionally examined problems such as substance use, HIV risk, mental health problems, and victimization. Among sexual minority street-based female sex workers, these vulnerabilities can be magnified. Grounded in theories of resilience, this study examines risk and protective factors associated with a high level of personal mastery among a vulnerable population of women. Data are drawn from baseline interviews from street-based African-American female sex workers enrolled in a randomized intervention trial in Miami, Florida. We compare sexual minority (N = 197) and heterosexual (N = 365) women on measures of risk and protective factors; among sexual minority women we present logistic regression analyses which reveal that severe mental distress and HIV transmission risk are associated with low levels of personal mastery, while protective factors of transportation access and social support are associated with high levels of personal mastery. These findings suggest that these protective factors may potentially facilitate the development of personal mastery and represent beneficial avenues for intervention efforts.     

The sociolinguistics of exogamy: Dialect acquisition in a Zhuang village

Adult dialect acquisition is typically studied in relatively idiosyncratic situations where adults happen to move to another community. But how does dialect acquisition play out in indigenous minority societies that have systemic adult migration due to exogamy? Do the in‐married spouses acquire the local variety? Why or why not? How much do they acquire? We investigated an indigenous Zhuang community in southern China. Sociophonetic analyses of in‐married women and local villagers show that the in‐married women acquired the local variety in most respects but not in aspirated consonants. To the limits of their phonological ability as adult learners, the wives followed the local sociolinguistic norm: they acquired the husbands’ variety. By contrast, in societies experiencing greater external cross‐cultural contact, exogamous women sometimes use their liminal status to challenge such gendered sociolinguistic expectations. Comparing the present study with outcomes in different societies, we lay the foundation for a typology of the sociolinguistics of exogamy. In this way, we help expand the study of language and gender toward new horizons and under‐represented social settings.     

Political Identities/Nationalism as Heterosexism

In the past decade, feminists have produced a considerable and important literature that critically analyses the gendering of the state and state-centric nationalism. This article draws from and shifts the focus of these studies to examine nationalism not simply as gendered but as heterosexist. I first locate nationalism as a subset of political identities and identification processes, then take (heterosexist) gender identities as an indispensable starting point in the study of political identities. I next turn to early western state making and its writing technologies to materialize the normalization and practice (divisions of power, authority, labor). Finally, I chart five gender-differentiated dimensions heterosexist presumptions - and enduring problems. of (hetero)gender binaries in thought (western metaphysics/phallogocentrism) of state-centric nationalism that expose the latter's     

Re‐inventing the Gendered Organization: Staff Attitudes towards Women and Gender Mainstreaming in NGOs in Malawi

Gender inequality within non‐governmental organizations (NGOs) is constructed on a daily basis through the gendered norms, attitudes and practices of individuals within them. The continual re‐invention of a gendered organization ensures the maintenance of the status quo and therefore the privileging of male/masculine interests over female/feminine interests. Gender mainstreaming is an approach designed to alter the status quo and facilitate women's empowerment. In Malawi, many NGOs have adopted gender mainstreaming as a strategy to address gender inequality both within their organizations and with the communities where they work. Gender mainstreaming initiatives involve a variety of activities including hiring more women staff members, designing policies within the organization to promote gender equality and educating staff members about gender issues through training workshops. While these strategies represent important steps forward for gender equality, it is not clear to what extent these policies and initiatives are translating into meaningful change within the organization.     

‘A Blinding Lack of Progress’: Management Rhetoric and Affirmative Action

In this study we explore how versions of organizational reality and gender are constructed in management discourse and whether such patterns change over time. Specifically, we examine management explanations and accounts of the gendered nature of their organizations through their commentaries on their affirmative action programmes. In Australia private sector organizations with 100 or more employees are required to report to government on their affirmative action programmes for women. In these documents, management representatives outline objectives for the coming year and report on their progress in reducing employment‐related barriers for women. In doing so they account for the ‘problem’ of gender‐based discrimination that affirmative action is designed to address, justify their actions (or lack of action) and reproduce versions of gendered identity. Thus we use affirmative action reporting as cases of management rhetoric to explore how aspects of gender and organization are constructed, taken for granted, challenged or problematized. Comparing reports from the hospitality sector over a 14‐year period, we explore whether there is any evidence of discursive change in management accounts of the gendered nature of their organizations.     

A Social Ecology of Bias-Based Bullying of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth: Toward a Conceptualization of Conversion Bullying

Homophobic bullying is pervasive and deleterious, and a source of extensive health and mental health disparities affecting sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY). Investigations conducted over the past two decades across the social ecology of SGMY indicate individual (e.g., gender), microsystem (e.g., schools), and exosystem level (e.g., community norms) factors associated with homophobic bullying. Emerging evidence at the macrosystem level demonstrates the powerful influence of laws, policies, and ideologies on the population health of sexual minority adults. Based on social ecological theory and emerging evidence at the macrosystem level, we advance a conceptualization of the religious social ecology of homophobic bullying and articulate the construct of conversion bullying, a form of bias-based bullying that may be unique to SGMY. Conversion bullying is manifested in the invocation of religious rhetoric and rationalizations in repeated acts of peer aggression against SGMY that cause harm, based on the premise that same-sex attractions and behaviors are immoral or unnatural and with implicit or explicit communication that one should change one's sexuality to conform to heteronormative ideals. We describe implications of conversion bullying for social work practice, education, social policy, and research.     

Gendered Projects of Solidarity: Workplace Organizing among Immigrant Women and Men

Drawing on an ethnography of organizing among Latina/o immigrant janitors in Los Angeles, I argue that constructing workplace solidarity between women and men is a dynamic, gendered project. I demonstrate both how this project unfolds and how it can be halted, with varying implications for gender and class inequality at work. Organizational restructuring upsets gender‐segregated divisions of labour making solidarity between women and men possible but restructuring also allows workers to reinforce gendered divisions and cultural distinctions. The mechanism pushing workers one way or the other is the degree to which the process of organizing recognizes gender inequalities.     

Sexual Minority Stress and Same‐Sex Relationship Well‐being: A Meta‐analysis of Research Prior to the U.S. Nationwide Legalization of Same‐Sex Marriage

Meta‐analytic methods were used to analyze 179 effect sizes retrieved from 32 research reports on the implications that sexual minority stress may have for same‐sex relationship well‐being. Sexual minority stress (aggregated across different types of stress) is moderately and negatively associated with same‐sex relationship well‐being (aggregated across different dimensions of relationship well‐being). Internalized homophobia is significantly and negatively associated with same‐sex relationship well‐being, whereas heterosexist discrimination and sexual orientation visibility management are not. Moreover, the effect size for internalized homophobia is significantly larger than those for heterosexist discrimination and sexual orientation visibility management. Sexual minority stress is significantly and negatively associated with same‐sex relationship quality but not associated with closeness or stability. Sexual minority stress is significantly and negatively associated with relationship well‐being among same‐sex female couples but not among same‐sex male couples. The current status of research approaches in this field is also summarized and discussed.     

Marriage and Women's Health in Japan

In this study, we evaluate alternative hypotheses about the potentially harmful or beneficial effects of marriage on women's health and examine the factors underlying observed relationships between marriage and health. Using data from the Japanese Panel Survey of Consumers, an annual survey of a nationally representative sample of Japanese women (N = 1,610), our study advances current scholarship on marriage and health by focusing on a context characterized by a high degree of gender inequality. Results from models employing different approaches to the potential role of health‐related selection into marriage consistently indicate that marriage is associated with better mental and physical health and that the lower levels of employment among married women play an important role in explaining this relationship. Our findings highlight the importance of considering how the specific pathways linking marriage and health may vary across societies with different gender and institutional contexts.     

Imag(in)ing Women's Agency

The use of images is central to Amnesty International's 2004 campaign ‘Stop Violence against Women’. Looking at how Amnesty International uses images to show women's agency reveals a conflation of the terms sex and gender. Despite its best efforts, Amnesty International's goal of empowering women ultimately remains out of reach because it fails to read violence against women in a gendered context. Through interviews and analyses of the images, this article claims that Amnesty International's concept of agency is trapped in a heterosexist, masculinist grammar that perpetuates non-agential articulations of women in human rights discourse. This article offers an alternative reading of gender and agency that contextualizes violence, opening up spaces in human rights discourse to begin to look at what causes individuals to resort to violence and at how violence may be perpetrated because of the presence of particular genders.     

Work–family Management among Low‐wage Service Workers and Assistant Professors in the USA: A Comparative Intersectional Analysis

Noting an inattention to the specific ways in which class, race, and gender combine to affect work–family management, we conducted a qualitative exploration of the processes of intersectionality. Our analysis relies on two points on a continuum of class experiences provided by two groups of predominately white female workers: low‐wage service workers and assistant professors. Drawing on in‐depth interviews with each group, we examine the similarities and differences in their experiences of negotiating their work worlds as they tried to meet family demands. We focus on the ways in which class and gender interacted to shape these women's everyday lives in different ways. While we found that women privileged by class were privileged in their abilities to manage work and family demands, we also found that class shaped the gendered experiences of these women differently. Our data suggest that, in the realm of work–family management, class mutes gendered experiences for assistant professors while it exacerbates gendered experiences for women working in the low‐wage service sector. Our analysis not only highlights the importance of considering intersecting hierarchies when examining women's lived experiences in families and workplaces, but provides an empirical example of the workings of intersectionality.