Date of Award

1992

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Gerontology

Department

Gerontology

First Advisor

Arlene Taich

Second Advisor

Barbara Bollman

Third Advisor

Daniel A. Ricci

Abstract

Ageism, not aging, oppresses. Women are oppressed by other women as well as by themselves . This is an exploratory study of the root sources of ageism in the lesbian community, speculating about t he conscious and unconscious motivations around ageism. It is assumed to be clear to all lesbians who have shunned patriarchal notions, build- in negation and diminishing of women, that ageism distracts lesbians from the pursuit of t he essential self, the very identity which lesbianism makes possible.

One old lesbian writes that she thinks it ironic that even in a woman-identified society like the lesbian community, the old woman is still not recognized and celebrated. Another old lesbian states that political forces wrench women's emotional and erotic energies away from themselves, other women and woman-identified values. And, that lesbians have learned this as women surviving in the "real" world (of compulsory heterosexuality) where many of lesbian choices in life are determined by race, looks, class, ablebodiedness and age.

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