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ISA Handbook in Contemporary Sociology

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Current Sociology
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Gender, Sexuality and Embodiment

Access to and Experience of Healthcare by Same-Sex Attracted Women in Australia

Jane Edwards

University of South Australia, jane.edwards{at}unisa.edu.au

Helen van Roekel

Yarredi Services, Australia, helenvr{at}austarnet.com.au

This article identifies the way same-sex attracted women negotiate healthcare in a rural Australian setting. In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 women. Respondents choose general practitioners (GPs) carefully, `interviewing' them to see if they hold acceptable attitudes to same-sex attraction. However, sexuality is not the only evaluative criteria women use. Some women invoke gender-based discourse, evaluating GPs by how well they treat women's bodies. In other instances, women utilize a framework based on sexuality; good healthcare is associated with how the practitioner dealt with same-sex attraction. Sometimes women evaluated care by reference to a model of the body that did not implicate gender or sexuality and GPs are evaluated on the basis of clinical knowledge. This shows that women do not define themselves in a unitary way in relation to gender or sexuality. They selectively and strategically employ discourses of gender, sexuality and embodiment to structure and evaluate healthcare.

Key Words: Australia • embodiment • gender • healthcare • identity • lesbians • rural • sexuality

Current Sociology, Vol. 57, No. 2, 193-210 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0011392108099162
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