‘Decidedly Different’: lesbian women and education

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Abstract
Lesbian women's experiences of education frequently occurs within a contradictory public relationship: their identity ‘woman’ is usually ‘visible’ whilst their identity ‘lesbian’ remains generally ‘invisible’ ‐ both in educational settings and within wider educational discourses. By drawing upon examples of self‐understanding of lesbian identity this paper discusses the meanings and connections between these two identities from the perspectives of lesbian women themselves. The inclusion of self‐understanding of lesbian identity as a central feature in exploring the relationship of lesbian women and education permits a discussion of both lesbian oppression and lesbian agency. I will discuss this with reference to my recent study of lesbian women and education. The inclusion of self‐understanding of lesbian identity illuminates the complex relationships which exist between individual identity meanings and those which are socially constructed and maintained within an educational system based upon the ideology of heterosexism.

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