If I Am Not Straight or Gay, Who Am I?

Abstract

Women that are violating heterosexual norms for sexual desire will run into issues about identity. This study explores ways of dealing with sexual identities that seems to provide a workable solution for women when they navigate and negotiate their lives as lesbians in a society dominated by heterosexual norms. The data sources are therapeutic conversations and followed-up interviews with ten women. The stories told by these women fail to fit the phases and the categorizations of the traditional coming out model. In handling dilemmas, ambiguity seems to be a resource to them. Their efforts and solutions are more in accordance with queer theory, when they navigate between dichotomies of homosexual/heterosexual, feminine/masculine, normality/deviance and personal responsibility/ coincidence.

Transgender Competence in Social Work with Older Adults in Sweden

“…Studies that problematize and challenge gender dichotomy and norms, and discourses concerning gender in social work are often presented from a queer theoretical approach (Burdge, 2007;De Jong, 2014;Fabbre, 2015;MacKinnon, 2011;Ohnstad, 2009;Spivey, 2006;Tilsen & Grieves, 2007;Willis, 2007). Grounded in these types of earlier contributions, this study uses queer theory in similar ways, i.e.…”

Queerness and Dating Violence Among Adolescent Mothers in Foster Care

“…As a result, deviations from heteronormativity might be met with confusion to the point of hostility, discrimination, or the denial of a queer existence (Butler, 2004). These false dichotomies cause those with fluid experiences, for example, those who have sexual and romantic relationships with multiple genders to struggle in determining their own positionality (Ohnstad, 2009). Queer theory understands that individuals live outside a binary (Chevrette, 2013;Halberstam, 2012) and views gender and, subsequently, sexuality, as performed in ways that are not necessarily static or fixed, thus contributing to fluid, rather than fixed, identities (Butler, 1990).…”

“…As such, maternity homes for adolescent mothers are a valuable resource (Family and Youth Services Bureau, 2016). However, if caseworkers assume the adolescents in their care are heterosexual due to their parental status, queer youth might not receive appropriate services (Ohnstad, 2009).…”

“…Moreover, queer youth also experience negative mental health outcomes (e.g., depression, post-traumatic stress disorder) as a result of TDV (Dank et al, 2014;Reuter, Newcomb, Whitton, & Mustanski, 2017). Practitioners with queer clients might not fully recognize their diverse sexual experiences, making the provision of appropriate services difficult (Ohnstad, 2009;Van Den Berg & Crisp, 2004). The present study begins to fill this gap by utilizing a mixed qualitative method approach (QUAL þ qual; Morse & Niehaus, 2009) to examine how program staff from a residential foster care facility for adolescent mothers viewed residents' sexual performativity and experiences with TDV as well as how their viewpoints aligned with the mothers' own views and experiences.…”

Same‐Sex Relationships and Dissolution: The Connection Between Heteronormativity and Homonormativity

“…From this conceptual lens, we open ourselves to ask questions about navigating and negotiating the hetero/homonormative tensions (Ohnstad, 2009). Take, for example, a gay man who ''passes'' as heterosexual (one way to perform sexual identity).…”