'Opeens wist ik, verrek, ik ben lesbisch!' Oral history en de geschiedschrijving van lesbische vrouwen

Samenvatting

'Suddenly I Realized, Gosh, I'm a Lesbian!': Oral History and the Historiography of Lesbian Women. To investigate patterns of lesbian lifestyles in the Netherlands 1920-1970, interview data were collected in 1993 from 17 homosexual women born 1912-1948. Key topics included: daily life, meaning structures, lesbian self-identification processes, connections with other lesbians, and the formation of social image. The biographies reveal changes both in the social position of homosexuals within society at large and in the norms and values of the homosexual subculture. Ideas of emancipation have a direct influence on the crystallization of meaning structures, and attitudes toward lifestyles are closely linked to ways of verbally presenting oneself. 9 References.