Lesbian Women's Self-Identity

Recently, there has been a dramatic increase in the portrayal of lesbian women, relationships and communities prominent within media culture. Yet increasingly so, the same types of lesbian women and relationships are repeatedly shown. Certain systems and structures of power have regulated the way gayness and lesbianism are viewed and thus seen while media has the tendency to naturalize these stereotypes and assumptions. As the prominence of lesbians’ figures in media has risen, it seems that the media’s impact on lives of lesbian women has also grown. As such, the purpose of this investigation was to examine lesbian representations and its influence on lesbian identity.

This research sought to explore stereotypical representations of lesbian women with lesbian ideology through and of everyday life and media portrayals. To investigate how lesbians respond to the way lesbians are represented in society and media culture and if such imagery has had an impact on their self-identity. To respond is through self-presentation, thoughts, actions, performance, and all other aspects that make up who and how a person may identify themselves. Identity in this sense, was to be used to describe self-representation, feelings and opinions throughout the lifespan, …show more content…
I felt that representations of lesbians including media and stereotypes had an overall negative impact on lesbian’s self-identity. With that, I believe came the constant negotiation and/ or overall adjustment in either looks, dress, speech, actions, behaviors, etc. or combinations of each. I assumed lesbians perhaps viewed the women that are portrayed in media as ideals to look up to and were in constant negotiation to fit those discursive ideals. In sum I assumed lesbian representations regulated how some lesbian women saw and portrayed