Write a research paper on Lesbian feminist separatists communities in the USNeed a 5000 word dissertation chapter on methodology. I will be using qualitative methods via interviews with community members, and conducting a thematic analysis. Needs 10+ sources/references as to why I chose this approach from a feminist standpoint.
My research is about lesbian feminist separatist communities in the US. I will be researching lesbian feminist intentional communities in the United States that have been womyn’s communities (lesbian intentional communities, mostly for women born women/biological women) since the late 1970s. Many of these communities are in transition as residents are aging, and many are actively seeking young feminists and young lesbians to join their communities. Most communities are rural in nature, are a land trust (not one owner) and seek alternative ways of living (anti-capitalist, ecologically minded, etc.). I will be exploring concepts of belonging (including social exclusion and stigma), identity (including concepts of womanhood/sisterhood, lesbianism, feminism, etc.), how these lands are becoming NORCs (naturally occurring retirement communities), and how members of the community feel about aging in place.
I will be conducting primary research with women who currently live on womyn’s land via interviews over zoom or another video conferencing platform (if there are technical limitations as some lands do not have internet, I will conduct recorded interviews over the phone). This research will utilize inductive research methods, and while I do have some preliminary research questions, my research will be mainly guided by interviews and the participants themselves.
The main questions I have center around how community members first came to feminist, lesbian intentional communities, what lead them to create these separatist communities, what made them stay on these lands, how they feel about the future of their specific land (as mentioned most are in transition and either recruiting new members, or examining notions of gender), and how they feel about aging on women’s land (challenges/benefits).
Based on my conversations with community members I may be able to further examine loss of history, as many members feel like they (the personal history of their land, and lesbian history in general) are being written out of history and they (as well as their lands) will quite literally become extinct and forgotten, or worse; their community may fall into the hands on a biological male. I would ideally also like to examine how exclusion from the mainstream (western) women’s/feminist movement influenced the development and creation of lesbian land. In what ways stigma, social exclusion and separatism has increased sense of identity and belonging to this subculture, and how these community members manage stigma (or are they unaware of stigma since they are removed from mainstream society).
I would also like to briefly explore theories of social exclusion in that I would like to potentially examine what has become a continuum of exclusion for women’s land communities. I draw on the hypothesis that lesbian land community members were first excluded by the feminist movement, and that they are now excluding others (many lands exclude those who were not born female, and some exclude those who do not identify as a lesbian). Therefore, what are the implications for the future of women’s lands?
