The Internet in the Reading Accounts of Lesbian and Queer Young Women: Failed Searches and Unsanctioned Reading

Abstract

In my dissertation research (Rothbauer 2004a), I explore the role of voluntary reading in the lives of self-identified lesbian or queer young women (18–23 years). The larger context of this inquiry concerns the negotiation of diverse meanings of alternative sexualities constructed by young people through the consumption of a range of self-selected reading materials, including lesbian and gay literature. Data collection and analysis were guided by qualitative principles of interpretive and reflexive research, and data are taken primarily from conversational interviews with 17 young women, conducted between November 2001 and February 2003. One area of significant findings encompasses the uses of the Internet by my participants as they sought lesbian and gay reading materials in a computer-mediated on-line environment. In their reading accounts, these young women variously conceived of the Internet as a search medium and as a site of access to digital and paper-based texts. However, their failure to locate desired texts, along with a reluctance to draw attention to unsanctioned reading preferences, invites contemplation of the role of public libraries in the creation of access to lesbian and gay materials.

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