Background to the Problem
Systematic subjugation of the rights and privileges of lesbian groups in North America is most illustrative in the field of healthcare. These groups have found difficulties in obtaining necessary medical care because of structures that do not accept them into the general fold of the population (Wilton, 1995). The dominant social structures that accept heterosexual relationships as the only ideal forms of sexual order have withheld safeguards that are otherwise necessary for the creation of parity in medical care.
It is estimated that thousands of lesbian groups continue to suffer in silence partly because of active discrimination and partly because of the social stigma (Wolfreys, 2006). The discrimination aspect sets in situations where express legislation commits or omits certain legal structural procedures that lock them out of the circumference of need. This structural denial of rights in the end creates some form of a hierarchy that places the lesbian group at a cadre lower than the heterosexual groups in the society (Wolfreys, 2006). The implication of this is that lesbian couples are caught up in double jeopardy in that they are discriminated against on the account first of their feminine gender, and second, on the account of their sexual orientation.
Alternative systems of ascertaining the magnitude of challenges as faced by the lesbian communities can be found in the material deprivations that have grown increasingly into a defining characteristic. This study shall invest efforts into determining the various forms through which this deprivation represents itself on the medical score. It, therefore, becomes necessary that studies be conducted to determine the real extent of the situation as it affects the women on the medical score.
Statement of the Problem
The lesbian community in North America is caught up in the struggle to survive against the odds of discrimination (Wilton,1995). Their plight began as a social factor but has since undergone mutations to find new representation in all aspects. Despite the belief that the expansion of individual and group expression in the United States of America has yielded some freedom to this group, lesbians continue to face discrimination of all forms. Piecemeal concessions have generally not provided for health benefits which should be accorded to all American citizens according to the American constitution. The situations have stifled the livelihoods of the lesbian community with many of them failing to start families.
The most affected aspect of health care among this community is reproductive health. This is because lack of official recognition of this community means that little in form of government funding or donor subsidies are forthcoming. Their normal health lives are not adequately catered for despite the fact that the group is as much exposed to social hazards as the heterosexual community. Smoking, alcoholism, drug abuse, and other forms of lifestyle-related attributes have continued to destroy this silent society without meaningful intervention from the government (Wolfreys, 2006). As a result, there have been early deaths and physical damage which continually afflict this closed society in its struggle to gain popular acceptance.
There has been little research Endeavour in the past to ascertain the exact dimension of the suffering incurred by these groups. This research, therefore, aims at exploring the exact extent to which the lesbian community is endangered through the systematic denial of rights.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to explore the extent of health risks that afflict the lesbian community in North America. This study will attempt to dig into the facts and figures that relate to the health of lesbians in North America. The historical dimension of the problem shall be equally explored with a specific focus on how the passing of times and ideologies have influenced this phenomenon. This study will also aim at generating knowledge that might be used in future researches to work out the comparative analysis of the situation as it relates to different places at different points in time.
The need for this comparative analysis originates from the assumption that the lesbian community in North America faces the same situation as other lesbian communities beyond the borders of the United States. This study will also attempt an understanding of how specific government policies and popular opinions have affected the welfare of the lesbian community and the possible mitigating effects in the problematic situation.
Legislations and party policies shall be explored in-depth to determine the amount of influence that they have exerted on the whole issue of lesbian community health. This study will provide an academic framework that might guide future researchers and policymakers in the understanding of some of the salient aspects of the gay communities at least from the perspective of the lesbian community. Such a framework will also help scholars in the social sciences in creating an academic model for the understanding and resolution of the health challenges of the lesbian community in North America.
Theoretical Framework
This theoretical framework of this study is entirely dependent on the Queer theory curved out of post-structuralism and deconstructive ideals. The Queer theory is anchored on the realization that sexual categories can not be entirely classified into the binary model of natural and unnatural. The categorization of sexual relationships according to this theory defies the normative or deviant methodologies that have traditionally defined sexual relationships so that more possibilities are created for alternative definitions of sexuality. According to this theory therefore lesbianism shall be looked at from fresh dimensions that do not necessarily align with traditional perceptions that have defined lesbianism.
Through the queer theory, it is possible to critique the traditional conceptions that have governed the perceptions of sexuality with the objective of creating new forms of knowledge. This theory, therefore, creates the ideological space through which the study will probe into the dominant themes and signs that might have governed some of the long-held beliefs, stigma, and superstitions that continually stifle the lesbian community. The suitability lies in its impartiality and its probing nature. The study will proceed with an impartial kind of generalizations so that the vacuum created through the assumption of normative ideologies might be filled with fresh knowledge.
Definition of Terms
Lesbianism – Sexual relations between two or more people of the female gender.
Sexuality – The discourse that governs sexual relations of any form, either gay or heterosexual.
Heterosexuals – Sexual relationships between two or more people of the opposite gender.
Gay – The term denotes a sexual relationship between two or more people of the same gender.
Gender – A discourse that transacts the meanings, and relationships, and ideologies between males and females.
Ideology – A system of signs, meanings, and forces that define relationships and expressions of truths and opinions condensed into signifiers.
References
Wilton, T. (1995). Lesbian studies: setting an agenda. New York: Routledge.
Wolfreys, J. (2006). Modern North American criticism and theory: a critical guide. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.