Nikki Hayfield is a Senior Lecturer in Social Psychology in the Department of Health and Social Sciences at the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, UK, where she is a member of the Social Science Research Group. Nikki’s research interests include lesbian, gay, bisexual and heterosexual sexualities, identities and relationships. Most recently she has focused on heterosexual and non-heterosexual women’s lived experiences of being childfree by choice. She is a chartered psychologist and member of the British Psychological Society.
The Journal of Lesbian Studies is inviting proposals for the theme of solidarity. This special is... more The Journal of Lesbian Studies is inviting proposals for the theme of solidarity. This special issue seeks to address the question:
What does "solidarity" mean to, and for, lesbians and wider LGBTQ+ communities?
We welcome papers from a wide range of disciplines. The editors would welcome early expressions of interest and are happy to discuss proposals for contributions.
This paper provides a review of the psychological literature on LGBT appearance and embodiment. R... more This paper provides a review of the psychological literature on LGBT appearance and embodiment. Research on ‘outsider’ perceptions of LGBT appearance and embodiment has focused on the links between perceptions of physical attractiveness and homosexuality, and physical attractiveness and transsexuality, and on the detection of homosexuality from visual cues. ‘Insider’ research has examined LGBT people’s body image, and appearance and adornment practices in non-heterosexual communities. We identify three major limitations of LGBT appearance research: (i) the reliance on a gender inversion model of homosexuality; (ii) the marginalisation of bisexual appearance and embodiment; and (iii) the focus on trans as a diagnostic category and the resulting exclusion of the subjectivities and lived experiences of trans people.
Login to UWE Search UWE. Search UWE. Home page of UWE Bristol: About us About us. The Partnership... more Login to UWE Search UWE. Search UWE. Home page of UWE Bristol: About us About us. The Partnership University; Vision and mission; Departments and services; Structure and governance; The UWE Federation. Term dates; Facts and figures; Policies; History; Working at UWE. Supporters; Website information; Contact UWE. campuses maps and travel. Why UWE? Why UWE? Fantastic facilities; Great graduate prospects; The Partnership University. Unbeatable ...
Feminist scholars have identified a “motherhood imperative” in Western cultures, where heterosexu... more Feminist scholars have identified a “motherhood imperative” in Western cultures, where heterosexual women are understood to both want, and have, children. However, social shifts have resulted in a decrease in pronatalism as well as an increase in social recognition of the parenting desires of same-sex parents. Despite a resurgence of interest in childfree identities, research to date has predominantly focused on heterosexual women’s explanations for being childfree and their experiences of marginalisation. Our aim in the current study was to explore how childfree heterosexual, lesbian, bisexual, and queer women negotiate their childfree lives and identities in the context of their personal and social relationships within changing cultural contexts. Data from 23 interviews with women in the United Kingdom, who responded to a call for childfree participants, were thematically analysed. We constructed two themes: 1) Never say never? Negotiating being childfree as ever precarious, shows...
In this paper, we report on our survey research which sought to explore how pansexual and panroma... more In this paper, we report on our survey research which sought to explore how pansexual and panromantic people experience and understand their identities. Eighty participants, mainly in the U.K., were recruited via social media and internet forums. Thematic analysis resulted in the development of two key themes. In The label depends on the context: It’s like bisexuality, but it isn’t, we report the blurred lines between pansexual and bisexual identities and discuss how, despite often having a preference for pansexual and panromantic, these participants nonetheless engaged in strategic use of both bi and pan terms. In the second theme entitled Educated and enlightened pansexuals we report how participants portrayed pansexual and panromantic identities as requiring an advanced understanding of gender and sexuality. This meant that those who engaged in these terms were represented as educated and enlightened. In the subtheme An internet education: Tumblr-ing into pan identities and commu...
This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel ... more This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel technique that offers intriguing potential to the qualitative researcher. Since the method is new to qualitative research, it has fewer published research studies than some of the other methods covered in this book. For this reason, the chapter aims not only to provide a description of the method and recommendations for how best to use it, but also to explore some of the unresolved theoretical and practical questions about SC. These questions have been identified by the chapter authors, who comprise the Story Completion Research Group. We are a group of researchers who have come together to share our experience of using and further developing the method (see Box 3.1). Our view is that SC has the potential to ‘reach the parts that other methods cannot reach’ (Pope & Mays, 1995); it therefore has advantages over and above being enticingly resource-lite in terms of data collection, although...
Editorial: Bisexualities and non-binary sexualities: Reflecting on invisibility, erasure and marg... more Editorial: Bisexualities and non-binary sexualities: Reflecting on invisibility, erasure and marginalisation.
This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel ... more This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel technique that offers intriguing potential to the qualitative researcher. Since the method is new to qualitative research, it has fewer published research studies than some of the other methods covered in this book. For this reason, the chapter aims not only to provide a description of the method and recommendations for how best to use it, but also to explore some of the unresolved theoretical and practical questions about SC. These questions have been identified by the chapter authors, who comprise the Story Completion Research Group. We are a group of researchers who have come together to share our experience of using and further developing the method (see Box 3.1). Our view is that SC has the potential to ‘reach the parts that other methods cannot reach’ (Pope & Mays, 1995); it therefore has advantages over and above being enticingly resource-lite in terms of data collection, although...
ABSTRACT Prior research has found that asexual people may fantasise or participate in activities ... more ABSTRACT Prior research has found that asexual people may fantasise or participate in activities typically conceptualised as ‘sexual’. These behaviours may be considered paradoxical when an asexual person is conceptualised as someone who does not experience sexual attraction or desire. This research aimed to explore how kinks and fetishes are conceptualised, experienced, and negotiated by asexual individuals. Forty-eight participants were recruited to take part in an online qualitative survey. Thematic analysis resulted in three themes. In “Am I asexual?”: (How) can you be a kinky ace?, we discuss the sense of dissonance which some participants reported in negotiating what was seemingly the paradox between their self-identity as asexual and their exploration of kinks and fetishes. In the second theme, Between me and me’ and make believe: Kinks and fetishes as solo and imaginary, we report on how kinks, fetishes, and fantasies were often understood in a solitary context and as either undesirable – or impossible – to live out. In the final theme, Kink as a sensual enhancement in relationships, we highlight how participants positioned kinks and fetishes as an agent for intimacy. These findings expand our knowledge of how asexual people negotiate kinks and fetishes and capture the complexities of asexual identities.
This book draws on psychological and social sciences research to offer a unique and in-depth expl... more This book draws on psychological and social sciences research to offer a unique and in-depth exploration of the in/visibility of sexualities. It evidences how early sexologists understood sexuality within a binary model which provided the underpinnings of bisexual invisibility. Sexologists and psychologists have often overlooked bisexuality which has contributed to the ongoing erasure and invisibility of bisexual people and their identities. The text also focuses on individual and cultural in/visibility and offers a contemporary account of the in/visibility of bisexuality, pansexuality, and asexualities within education, employment, mainstream mass media, and the wider culture. The book concludes with a discussion of the limited ways in bisexuality, pansexuality, and asexuality have become somewhat more visible than in the past. This unique book is the first to extend discussions of invisibility beyond bisexuality to include contemporary identities. It will be particularly useful fo...
The Journal of Lesbian Studies is inviting proposals for the theme of solidarity. This special is... more The Journal of Lesbian Studies is inviting proposals for the theme of solidarity. This special issue seeks to address the question:
What does "solidarity" mean to, and for, lesbians and wider LGBTQ+ communities?
We welcome papers from a wide range of disciplines. The editors would welcome early expressions of interest and are happy to discuss proposals for contributions.
This paper provides a review of the psychological literature on LGBT appearance and embodiment. R... more This paper provides a review of the psychological literature on LGBT appearance and embodiment. Research on ‘outsider’ perceptions of LGBT appearance and embodiment has focused on the links between perceptions of physical attractiveness and homosexuality, and physical attractiveness and transsexuality, and on the detection of homosexuality from visual cues. ‘Insider’ research has examined LGBT people’s body image, and appearance and adornment practices in non-heterosexual communities. We identify three major limitations of LGBT appearance research: (i) the reliance on a gender inversion model of homosexuality; (ii) the marginalisation of bisexual appearance and embodiment; and (iii) the focus on trans as a diagnostic category and the resulting exclusion of the subjectivities and lived experiences of trans people.
Login to UWE Search UWE. Search UWE. Home page of UWE Bristol: About us About us. The Partnership... more Login to UWE Search UWE. Search UWE. Home page of UWE Bristol: About us About us. The Partnership University; Vision and mission; Departments and services; Structure and governance; The UWE Federation. Term dates; Facts and figures; Policies; History; Working at UWE. Supporters; Website information; Contact UWE. campuses maps and travel. Why UWE? Why UWE? Fantastic facilities; Great graduate prospects; The Partnership University. Unbeatable ...
Feminist scholars have identified a “motherhood imperative” in Western cultures, where heterosexu... more Feminist scholars have identified a “motherhood imperative” in Western cultures, where heterosexual women are understood to both want, and have, children. However, social shifts have resulted in a decrease in pronatalism as well as an increase in social recognition of the parenting desires of same-sex parents. Despite a resurgence of interest in childfree identities, research to date has predominantly focused on heterosexual women’s explanations for being childfree and their experiences of marginalisation. Our aim in the current study was to explore how childfree heterosexual, lesbian, bisexual, and queer women negotiate their childfree lives and identities in the context of their personal and social relationships within changing cultural contexts. Data from 23 interviews with women in the United Kingdom, who responded to a call for childfree participants, were thematically analysed. We constructed two themes: 1) Never say never? Negotiating being childfree as ever precarious, shows...
In this paper, we report on our survey research which sought to explore how pansexual and panroma... more In this paper, we report on our survey research which sought to explore how pansexual and panromantic people experience and understand their identities. Eighty participants, mainly in the U.K., were recruited via social media and internet forums. Thematic analysis resulted in the development of two key themes. In The label depends on the context: It’s like bisexuality, but it isn’t, we report the blurred lines between pansexual and bisexual identities and discuss how, despite often having a preference for pansexual and panromantic, these participants nonetheless engaged in strategic use of both bi and pan terms. In the second theme entitled Educated and enlightened pansexuals we report how participants portrayed pansexual and panromantic identities as requiring an advanced understanding of gender and sexuality. This meant that those who engaged in these terms were represented as educated and enlightened. In the subtheme An internet education: Tumblr-ing into pan identities and commu...
This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel ... more This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel technique that offers intriguing potential to the qualitative researcher. Since the method is new to qualitative research, it has fewer published research studies than some of the other methods covered in this book. For this reason, the chapter aims not only to provide a description of the method and recommendations for how best to use it, but also to explore some of the unresolved theoretical and practical questions about SC. These questions have been identified by the chapter authors, who comprise the Story Completion Research Group. We are a group of researchers who have come together to share our experience of using and further developing the method (see Box 3.1). Our view is that SC has the potential to ‘reach the parts that other methods cannot reach’ (Pope & Mays, 1995); it therefore has advantages over and above being enticingly resource-lite in terms of data collection, although...
Editorial: Bisexualities and non-binary sexualities: Reflecting on invisibility, erasure and marg... more Editorial: Bisexualities and non-binary sexualities: Reflecting on invisibility, erasure and marginalisation.
This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel ... more This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel technique that offers intriguing potential to the qualitative researcher. Since the method is new to qualitative research, it has fewer published research studies than some of the other methods covered in this book. For this reason, the chapter aims not only to provide a description of the method and recommendations for how best to use it, but also to explore some of the unresolved theoretical and practical questions about SC. These questions have been identified by the chapter authors, who comprise the Story Completion Research Group. We are a group of researchers who have come together to share our experience of using and further developing the method (see Box 3.1). Our view is that SC has the potential to ‘reach the parts that other methods cannot reach’ (Pope & Mays, 1995); it therefore has advantages over and above being enticingly resource-lite in terms of data collection, although...
ABSTRACT Prior research has found that asexual people may fantasise or participate in activities ... more ABSTRACT Prior research has found that asexual people may fantasise or participate in activities typically conceptualised as ‘sexual’. These behaviours may be considered paradoxical when an asexual person is conceptualised as someone who does not experience sexual attraction or desire. This research aimed to explore how kinks and fetishes are conceptualised, experienced, and negotiated by asexual individuals. Forty-eight participants were recruited to take part in an online qualitative survey. Thematic analysis resulted in three themes. In “Am I asexual?”: (How) can you be a kinky ace?, we discuss the sense of dissonance which some participants reported in negotiating what was seemingly the paradox between their self-identity as asexual and their exploration of kinks and fetishes. In the second theme, Between me and me’ and make believe: Kinks and fetishes as solo and imaginary, we report on how kinks, fetishes, and fantasies were often understood in a solitary context and as either undesirable – or impossible – to live out. In the final theme, Kink as a sensual enhancement in relationships, we highlight how participants positioned kinks and fetishes as an agent for intimacy. These findings expand our knowledge of how asexual people negotiate kinks and fetishes and capture the complexities of asexual identities.
This book draws on psychological and social sciences research to offer a unique and in-depth expl... more This book draws on psychological and social sciences research to offer a unique and in-depth exploration of the in/visibility of sexualities. It evidences how early sexologists understood sexuality within a binary model which provided the underpinnings of bisexual invisibility. Sexologists and psychologists have often overlooked bisexuality which has contributed to the ongoing erasure and invisibility of bisexual people and their identities. The text also focuses on individual and cultural in/visibility and offers a contemporary account of the in/visibility of bisexuality, pansexuality, and asexualities within education, employment, mainstream mass media, and the wider culture. The book concludes with a discussion of the limited ways in bisexuality, pansexuality, and asexuality have become somewhat more visible than in the past. This unique book is the first to extend discussions of invisibility beyond bisexuality to include contemporary identities. It will be particularly useful fo...
This article reports on a conversation between 12 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) p... more This article reports on a conversation between 12 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) psychologists at the first international LGBT Psychology Summer Institute at the University of Michigan in August 2009. Participants discuss how their work in LGBT psychology is affected by national policy, funding and academic contexts and the transnational influence of the US-based stigma model of LGBT psychology. The challenges and possibilities posed by internationalism are discussed with reference to the dominance of the United States, the cultural limits of terms such as ‘lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender’, intergenerational communication between researchers and the role of events such as the Summer Institute in creating an international community of LGBT psychologists.
A call for submissions to a Special Issue of Psychology of Sexualities Review on Bisexualities & ... more A call for submissions to a Special Issue of Psychology of Sexualities Review on Bisexualities & Non-Binary Sexualities.
Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide to Research Methods THIRD EDITION, 2015
This chapter provides an introduction to thematic analysis (TA). We highlight the unique features... more This chapter provides an introduction to thematic analysis (TA). We highlight the unique features of TA, including its flexibility, and its status as a technique that can be used within a wide variety of approaches to qualitative research. We then provide a detailed description of doing TA, using Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke’s six-phase approach to coding and theme development (Braun & Clarke, 2006), illustrated with worked examples from Nikki Hayfield’s interview research on bisexual women’s (visual) identities. This study has been reported in two papers – one focused on bisexual identities and marginalisation (Hayfield, Clarke & Halliwell, 2014) and one focused on appearance (Hayfield, Clarke, Halliwell & Malson, 2013) – and we use examples from both. We conclude with additional guidance on successfully completing a high-quality TA of qualitative data.
The Sage handbook of qualitative research in psychology, 2017
This chapter introduces thematic analysis (TA), a method that has become a widely used tool for a... more This chapter introduces thematic analysis (TA), a method that has become a widely used tool for analysing qualitative data, both in psychology and beyond. We first outline the history and context of TA, and identify key issues that need to be considered when conducting TA. We discuss the flexibility TA can offer, and highlight the need for deliberate and careful research. This flexibility can apply to theoretical assumptions, research questions, data collection and analysis. We include a detailed worked demonstration of the processes and procedures of undertaking a TA, illustrated with examples from Nikki Hayfield, Victoria Clarke, Sonja Ellis, and Gareth Terry’s research on the lived experiences of childfree women. Our discussion of how to complete a TA is based on a widely used version of TA – the approach developed by Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke (2006). We conclude by considering the limitations and applications of TA, as well as future directions.
Collecting qualitative data: A practical guide to textual, media and virtual techniques, 2017
This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel ... more This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel technique that offers intriguing potential to the qualitative researcher. Since the method is new to qualitative research, it has fewer published research studies than some of the other methods covered in this book. For this reason, the chapter aims not only to provide a description of the method and recommendations for how best to use it but also to explore some of the unresolved theoretical and practical questions about SC. These questions have been identified by the chapter authors, who comprise the Story Completion Research Group. We are a group of researchers who have come together to share our experience of using and further developing the method. Our view is that SC has the potential to ‘reach the parts that other methods cannot reach’ (Pope and Mays, 1995); it therefore has advantages over and above being enticingly resource-lite in terms of data collection, although that in itself is a sizeable benefit. We have been ‘experimenting’, in the broadest sense, with SC for the last decade or so, and in this chapter we share what we have learnt about, and our enthusiasm for, the method, drawing on a wide range of different SC studies from our, and our students’, research. The example studies reflect our interests in gender, sexuality, appearance and counselling and include research on perceptions of transgender parenting, sexual refusal in heterosexual relationships, the disclosure of non-heterosexuality to parents, non-normative body hair practices, same-sex infidelity, fat-therapists, weight-management, sexuality and appearance. Again, reflecting our shared interests in gender, most of these studies use a comparative design to explore gender variation –with regard to both the responses of male and female (or other gendered) participants and responses to male and female (or other gendered) characters.
Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences, 2019
This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel ... more This chapter introduces the story completion (SC) method of collecting qualitative data, a novel technique that offers exciting potential to the qualitative researcher. SC involves a researcher writing a story “stem” or “cue” – or, more simply put, the start of a story, usually an opening sentence or two – and asking the participants to complete or continue the story. Originally developed as a form of projective test, the use of SC in qualitative research is relatively new. The authors comprise the Story Completion Research Group, a group of researchers that have come together to share their experience of using and further developing the method. This chapter explains what SC offers the qualitative researcher – including choices about the “best” epistemiological lens and analytic approach for their research question, the potential to collect data about sensitive or taboo topics and to access socially undesirable responses, as well as the possibility of research designs that allow comparisons (for example between male and female respondents). This chapter also provides key guidance, such as what constitutes an appropriate research question, and sampling and design considerations. As a recently developed method, SC has fewer published research studies than some of the other research methods covered in this volume. For this reason, the chapter aims not only to provide a description of the method and recommendations for how best to use it, but also to explore some of the unresolved theoretical and practical questions about SC as well as to suggest future directions for SC.
Handbook of Research Methods in Health Social Sciences, 2019
This chapter maps the terrain of thematic analysis (TA), a method for capturing patterns (“themes... more This chapter maps the terrain of thematic analysis (TA), a method for capturing patterns (“themes”) across qualitative datasets. We identify key concepts and different orientations and practices, illustrating why TA is often better understood as an umbrella term, used for sometimes quite different approaches, than a single qualitative analytic approach. Under the umbrella, three broad approaches can be identified: a “coding reliability” approach, a “codebook” approach, and a “reflexive” approach. These are often characterized by distinctive – sometimes radically different – conceptualizations of what a theme is, as well as methods for theme identification and development, and indeed coding. We then provide practical guidance on completing TA within our popular (reflexive) approach to TA, discussing each phase of the six-phase approach we have developed in relation to a project on men, rehabilitation, and embodiment. We conclude with a discussion of key concerns related to ensuring the TA you do – within whatever approach – is of the highest quality.
The truth about (m)otherhood: Choosing to be childfree, 2021
This chapter provides a critical review of the inter-disciplinary research on voluntary childless... more This chapter provides a critical review of the inter-disciplinary research on voluntary childlessness, examining some of the problematic assumptions that underpin the literature and the image of the childfree woman that emerges as a result. It is not intended as a comprehensive overview of this literature, but rather a feminist engagement with the frameworks and ideology that shape and limit it. One of the reasons why the motives, characteristics, and personality of women who choose to be childfree have been of interest to researchers is because there is a social assumption that having children is a natural human instinct. Pronatalist social ideologies frame parenting as deeply fulfilling, essential for human happiness and a meaningful life, and a marker of a successful adulthood (Morison et al.; Moller and Clarke). Furthermore, there is a social equation of motherhood and femininity, a ‘motherhood imperative’ (Giles et al.; Gillespie, “When No Means No”), or ‘motherhood mandate’ (Russo), that results in a social expectation that all women naturally desire motherhood. In this chapter, we explore assumptions relating to pronatalism and coercive pronatalism, fixed categories, women’s social responsibility for reproduction, and heteronormativity, and show how feminist researchers have begun to problematise some of the pronatalist and arguably racist, heteronormative and sexist assumptions underpinning voluntary childlessness research. We conclude by outlining a framework for future research that avoids perpetuating these problematic assumptions and the associated view of childfree women as regretful, lonely and depressed.
Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke, Hannah Frith, Nikki Hayfield, Helen Malson, Naomi Moller, and Id... more Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke, Hannah Frith, Nikki Hayfield, Helen Malson, Naomi Moller, and Iduna Shah-Beckley came together at the University of the West of England (UWE) in July 2017 to discuss and share their enthusiasm for the story completion method. Virginia nominally “led” the discussion to keep us on track. This is a transcript of the discussion, edited by the Special Issue editors, principally Hannah Frith, which we have all read and commented on. The discussion begins with the contributors introducing themselves and their experience of the story completion method. It then identifies a series of “knotty issues” about story completion which we explored: 1) what can stories tell us?; 2) research practicalities, comparative design, and sample size; 3) what happens when story completion doesn’t go to plan?; and 4) getting published. The conversation ends by considering “future possibilities for story completion research.” Our aim was not to reach consensus of definitive “answers” but to debate and gain perspective on an open issue. Hence, we reach no “conclusion” for any of these issues.
Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke, Hannah Frith, Nikki Hayfield, Helen Malson, Naomi Moller, and Id... more Virginia Braun, Victoria Clarke, Hannah Frith, Nikki Hayfield, Helen Malson, Naomi Moller, and Iduna Shah-Beckley came together at the University of the West of England (UWE) in July 2017 to discuss and share their enthusiasm for the story completion method. Virginia nominally “led” the discussion to keep us on track. This is a transcript of the discussion, edited by the Special Issue editors, principally Hannah Frith, which we have all read and commented on. The discussion begins with the contributors introducing themselves and their experience of the story completion method. It then identifies a series of “knotty issues” about story completion which we explored: 1) what can stories tell us?; 2) research practicalities, comparative design, and sample size; 3) what happens when story completion doesn’t go to plan?; and 4) getting published. The conversation ends by considering “future possibilities for story completion research.” Our aim was not to reach consensus of definitive “answers” but to debate and gain perspective on an open issue. Hence, we reach no “conclusion” for any of these issues.
In 2006, psychologists Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke published a paper entitled Using themat... more In 2006, psychologists Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke published a paper entitled Using thematic analysis in psychology in Qualitative Research in Psychology. The paper sought to provide guidance, for psychology colleagues and students, on the conceptualisation, considerations and practice of thematic analysis (TA). Their paper proved unexpectedly popular, both within their discipline, and beyond. In the subsequent years they have written an award winning and best-selling qualitative research textbook Successful Qualitative Research (Braun & Clarke, 2013), numerous chapters (e.g. Braun & Clarke, 2012; Braun et al., 2014a, 2014b, 2015, 2016; Clarke & Braun, 2016), encyclopaedia entries (Clarke & Braun, 2014a, 2014b), commentaries (Braun & Clarke, 2016, 2019; Clarke & Braun, 2018) and editorials (Braun & Clarke, 2014; Clarke & Braun, 2017), and created a website (https://www.psych.auckland.ac.nz/en/about/our-research/research-groups/thematic-analysis.html), about TA, as well as written chapters and papers (e.g. Braun et al., 2017b; Clarke & Braun, 2019), and co-edited a book and a special issue related to other aspects of qualitative research (Braun et al., 2017a; Braun, Clarke, Frith & Moller, 2019). Over this time, their thinking around TA has evolved and they have encountered, and been frustrated by, many misuses and misrepresentations of their original paper. Early in 2019, Nikki Hayfield – who also writes and teaches around TA and has co-authored several chapters with them (Braun Clarke, Terry & Hayfield, 2019; Clarke et al., 2015; Terry et al., 2017) – interviewed Ginny and Victoria, asking them to reflect on these topics, and on their process, practice and thinking as TA proponents. The following edited transcript of their conversation highlights the context for writing their 2006 paper, some of the assumptions about qualitative research they made in writing this paper, their responses to misrepresentations and misunderstandings of their approach to TA, and their reflections on the importance of interpretation in TA.
A number of feminist scholars have argued that dress and appearance can be used to critique the d... more A number of feminist scholars have argued that dress and appearance can be used to critique the dominant culture and explore alternative subjectivities. Research on non-heterosexual visual identities has explored the role that appearance and clothing practices can play in the construction of individual identities and collective communities. However, bisexual women are largely invisible in these discussions. The minimal existing research suggests that bisexual women are unable to communicate their sexuality through their clothing and appearance. This study explored how bisexual women manage their bodies and appearance in relation to their bisexuality. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 self-identified bisexual women and the data were analysed using thematic analysis. The participants reported particular visual aesthetics associated with an embodied lesbian identity; however, they reported no visual image of bisexual women. Nonetheless, despite their lack of access to a distinct visual identity, the women negotiated ways in which to incorporate their bisexual identity into their dress and appearance, and considered their bisexuality an important aspect of their identity, which they would like to be recognised and acknowledged.
Drawing on interviews with 20 self-identified bisexual women, this paper contributes to the limit... more Drawing on interviews with 20 self-identified bisexual women, this paper contributes to the limited psychological literature on bisexual women by exploring their experiences of social marginalisation. These (mainly white and middle class) British bisexual women reported that they did not feel at home in either lesbian or lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, nor in the wider (heteronormative) society. They identified a number of understandings - bisexuality as a temporary phase on the path to a fully realised lesbian or heterosexual identity and bisexuals as immature, confused, greedy, untrustworthy, highly sexual and incapable of monogamy - which they reported as arising from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities and the wider society. The women refuted these accounts which they stated did not reflect their experiences of bisexual identity and which positioned bisexuality as invisible and invalid.
Body image pressures for heterosexual women are well established. However, lesbian body image is ... more Body image pressures for heterosexual women are well established. However, lesbian body image is less well understood, while bisexual women have largely been overlooked with the psychological literature. Further, women's investment in ‘traditional’ appearance practices associated with femininity are underexplored. The current study explored differences between 472 heterosexual, lesbian, and bisexual women on measures of body satisfaction, body hair practices, and cosmetics use. While there were no significant differences between body satisfaction scores, lesbian and bisexual women had more positive attitudes to body hair, and were less likely to remove hair from particular parts of their bodies, than heterosexual women. Cosmetics use was highest among heterosexual women, significantly lower among bisexual women, and lowest among lesbians. We argue that these results highlight the importance of exploring the distinctiveness of bisexual, lesbian and heterosexual women's appearance concerns and appearance practices.
Evidence suggests that most lesbians remain childless, but little is known about the childfree le... more Evidence suggests that most lesbians remain childless, but little is known about the childfree lesbian experience. The current study qualitatively explores the experiences of five childfree lesbians. The results show that even for a group for which childlessness is arguably still presumed, it remains socially difficult to articulate a desire to remain childfree. The women presented their childfreedom as both essential, and politically and biographically motivated. Being lesbian and childfree was framed as different from being heterosexual and childfree- discourses and practices of 'families of choice' and 'co-independence' in intimate partnerships provided a way of 'doing' family outside of dominant, heteronormative expectations. Concurrently, the greater visibility of lesbian parenting had resulted in the unwelcome imposition of heteronormative expectations. The results raise questions about the normalising effects of the legal recognition of same-sex marriage and queer parenthood on the lives of lesbian women, and other queers, who choose to remain childfree.
Feminist scholars have identified a “motherhood imperative” in Western cultures, when heterosexua... more Feminist scholars have identified a “motherhood imperative” in Western cultures, when heterosexual women are understood to both want and to have children. However, social shifts have resulted in a decrease in pronatalism as well as an increase in social recognition of the parenting desires of same-sex parents. Despite a resurgence of interest in childfree identities, research to date has predominantly focused on heterosexual women’s explanations for being childfree and their experiences of marginalization. Our aim in the current study was to explore how childfree heterosexual, lesbian, bisexual, and queer women negotiate their childfree lives and identities in the context of their personal and social relationships within changing cultural contexts. Data from 23 interviews with women in the United Kingdom, who responded to a call for childfree participants, were thematically analyzed. We constructed two themes: (1) Never say never? Negotiating being childfree as ever precarious, which shows how women constructed being childfree as requiring constant revisiting and renegotiating to maintain and (2) An ordinary life: Constructing being childfree as rational and reasonable, in which we identify the rhetorical efforts of participants to establish their being childfree as an ordinary, reasonable, and rational position. We conclude that for these women, childfreedom was constantly in flux and that maintaining a positive childfree identity required considerable identity work in order to manage intimate personal relationships and wider friendships.
Our special issue “New Frontiers of Family: LGBTQ People Pushing Back the Boundaries of Family” h... more Our special issue “New Frontiers of Family: LGBTQ People Pushing Back the Boundaries of Family” has brought together six exciting articles that each reconceptualize families formed by lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) people beyond the Standard North American Family model (SNAF; Smith, 1993). The SNAF has been the dominant ideological model of family in the United States of America and in Europe too, although it is hard to argue for a single unified model across the varying family traditions (Steinbach, Kuhnt, & Knüll, 2016). Indeed, most contemporary heterosexual two-parent families do not necessarily conform to the SNAF model of a mother and father living together with the father in full-time paid employment and the mother primarily responsible for children and the home (McGoldrick, Garcia-Preto, & Carter, 2015). We are also quick to add that Smith’s definition and astute critique of the SNAF has been the subject of much debate since publication, not least in the Journal of Family Issues (Gavriel-Fried & Shilo, 2017; van Eeden-Moorefield, Few-Demo, Benson, Bible, & Lummer, 2018). Yet the heteronormative lure of the SNAF remains as an ideological model, not least in the appeal of same-sex marriage (Grindstaff, 2003; Hopkins, Sorensen, & Taylor, 2013; Yep, Lovaas, & Elia, 2003). LGBTQ scholars have highlighted how arguments in favor of legal recognition of same-sex relationships often rely on traditional notions of family and relationships and have tended to emphasize similarities between heterosexuals and non-heterosexuals. However, there has also been some resistance to such narratives and there is evidence that lesbians, gay men, and bisexual people may have relationships that are nontraditional in their everyday practices (e.g., Clarke & Finlay, 2004; Green, 2010).
Our special issue “New Frontiers of Family: LGBTQ People Pushing Back the Boundaries of Family” h... more Our special issue “New Frontiers of Family: LGBTQ People Pushing Back the Boundaries of Family” has brought together six exciting articles that each reconceptualize families formed by lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ) people beyond the Standard North American Family model (SNAF; Smith, 1993). The SNAF has been the dominant ideological model of family in the United States of America and in Europe too, although it is hard to argue for a single unified model across the varying family traditions (Steinbach, Kuhnt, & Knüll, 2016). Indeed, most contemporary heterosexual two-parent families do not necessarily conform to the SNAF model of a mother and father living together with the father in full-time paid employment and the mother primarily responsible for children and the home (McGoldrick, Garcia-Preto, & Carter, 2015). We are also quick to add that Smith’s definition and astute critique of the SNAF has been the subject of much debate since publication, not least in the Journal of Family Issues (Gavriel-Fried & Shilo, 2017; van Eeden-Moorefield, Few-Demo, Benson, Bible, & Lummer, 2018). Yet the heteronormative lure of the SNAF remains as an ideological model, not least in the appeal of same-sex marriage (Grindstaff, 2003; Hopkins, Sorensen, & Taylor, 2013; Yep, Lovaas, & Elia, 2003). LGBTQ scholars have highlighted how arguments in favor of legal recognition of same-sex relationships often rely on traditional notions of family and relationships and have tended to emphasize similarities between heterosexuals and non-heterosexuals. However, there has also been some resistance to such narratives and there is evidence that lesbians, gay men, and bisexual people may have relationships that are nontraditional in their everyday practices (e.g., Clarke & Finlay, 2004; Green, 2010).
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What does "solidarity" mean to, and for, lesbians and wider LGBTQ+ communities?
We welcome papers from a wide range of disciplines. The editors would welcome early expressions of interest and are happy to discuss proposals for contributions.
Abstract submission deadline: 28 February 2022
Manuscript deadline: 15 April 2022
What does "solidarity" mean to, and for, lesbians and wider LGBTQ+ communities?
We welcome papers from a wide range of disciplines. The editors would welcome early expressions of interest and are happy to discuss proposals for contributions.
Abstract submission deadline: 28 February 2022
Manuscript deadline: 15 April 2022
We have been ‘experimenting’, in the broadest sense, with SC for the last decade or so, and in this chapter we share what we have learnt about, and our enthusiasm for, the method, drawing on a wide range of different SC studies from our, and our students’, research. The example studies reflect our interests in gender, sexuality, appearance and counselling and include research on perceptions of transgender parenting, sexual refusal in heterosexual relationships, the disclosure of non-heterosexuality to parents, non-normative body hair practices, same-sex infidelity, fat-therapists, weight-management, sexuality and appearance. Again, reflecting our shared interests in gender, most of these studies use a comparative design to explore gender variation –with regard to both the responses of male and female (or other gendered) participants and responses to male and female (or other gendered) characters.
Online slides for instructors who want to use this article for teaching are available on PWQ's website at http://journals.sagepub.com/page/pwq/suppl/index