Audrey F Autoethnography

gender is a social construct…what even is girlhood?

lesbian

girlhood

the lesbian relationship with girlhood

[ gurl-hood ]

noun

noun

a non-man who is exclusively attracted to other non-men

1. the state or time of being a girl

2. pain and confusion

3. being tenacious and successful against all odds

I am not a woman,

COMPULSORY HETEROSEXUALITY

I am a LESBIAN

what is it?

- Monique Witting

many lesbians feel like they have to pretend to like men to conform and fit in with their peers and even friends

many have fake crushes on men

Compulsory Heterosexuality arises from the partriarchal idea that a woman’s main purpose to serve men.

because of our society being so male-driven, the idea of women not aiming for male’s pleasure is not prevalent.

Compulsory Heterosexuality also stems from a lack of media representation, reiterating that straight is the only way for a woman to be.

“different from other girls”

some lesbians associate girlhood with hurt because they didn’t fit into societal and even familial expections

some lesbians see themselves as free from certain patriarchal oppression because they don’t have to cater to the male gaze

some lesbians feel like something is wrong with them, like they are not meant to love and be loved simply because they lack attraction for men

“I didn’t know the word lesbian. I didn’t know you could be one.”

when costantly surrounded by media that is straight and nothing but, queer people don’t get to see that their identity is something that can happen

this causes young queer people not only to feel isolated, but like there is a problem with how they love and feel

being a proud lesbian in itself can be revolutionary, because it is “a direct or indirect attack on male right of access to women”

there is a “virtual or total neglect of lesbian existence in a wide range of writings, including feminist scholarship”