Intro

Kelly Laysears
Professor Marlen Harrison
English 202
02 March 2010

Pre Introduction

The purpose of this introduction is to help me see how my research question is coming along. To help my readers get a better idea of my research topic and where I’m going with this paper. This will show the readers some of the highlights in the research paper and what to look forward to while reading. By the end of this paper I hope get a good understanding of homosexuality and how some lesbian women think. My target audience would be college-aged kids, who have lesbian friends or have always been curious about why some straight women turn lesbians. I hope that everyone will read this research paper, but to be more precise maybe some lesbian women, bisexual women and women with children. The way I would tailor this audience would be to stick to the topic and not go way off subject. Since this research topic hasn’t been done often I hope to open up a new door to lesbianism research.

Introduction (rough draft)

I have many friends, some straight, some bi-sexual. Now I can add lesbian to the list. As of last year I can honestly say most of my close friends have chosen the lesbian lifestyle. I have been a witness to there new lifestyle on many different occasion and every time I’m left speechless. Not because of the crazy behavior they endure, but how they all change to lesbians overnight. There have been some questions on my mind for sometime now and I would just like to get a better understanding of the whole lifestyle.

Many lesbians lead mentally, healthy and satisfying lives. Rothblum and Factor (2001)
What about the children of these women? Is it possible that a parent’s lifestyle could determine their kid’s sexual orientation? Do some children with lesbian parents become involved with the same-sex partners because that’s what they grew up bearing in mind? From my own life experience most of my lesbian friends’ parents are not homosexual. Or have ever been for that matter. I know it might be a little strange, but that’s what leads me to this research.

I’m doing this research paper to get an understanding about lesbian women and their children. Although I do know some lesbians who have young children, some of them believe that there lifestyle won’t have any effect on their kids. But according to Bozett (1987) and the Lesbian Mothers’ Group (1989), many young people tried to avoid other children finding out about their parents’ sexuality. Is it easier to hide your parent’s sexuality so you won’t be judge? Or is it really a personal family matter? Whatever it might be, it got me thinking about my research question. Lesbian: Why Do Some Women Transition into Homosexuality after Having Children?

In this research paper I will be discussing my literature review and the three case studies I did with three lesbian women. First I decide to give them a questionnaire with ten questions to get some information on there background and how long they had feeling for women. Second, I decide to do a “face to face” interview with all three of my case studies. I will be asking them personal question about the sexuality, past relationship and children. I believe this will help my three case studies, my readers and I understand some lesbian women. Third, I decide to give some insight on the methods I choose and why. After, I will present my discussion and results. I will discuss what I learn from the three women and how it relates to my research. Next I decide to write about my result and how I now feel about the information I got and how it compared to my hypothesis. At last I will wrap up the research paper with conclusion which would discuss my hypothesis. Although this is only a brief research paper it will still gives us and idea of what some lesbian think and feel.

Works Cited

Fingerhut, Adam W., Letitia Anne Peplau, and Negin Ghavami. “A DUAL-IDENTITY FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING LESBIAN EXPERIENCE.” Psychology of Women Quarterly 29.2 (2005): 129-139.

Lesbians and their sisters as a control group: Demographic and mental health factors; Rothblum, E.D.; Factor, R. Psychological Science; 2001 Vol. 12 Issue 1, 7p.

Fairtlough, Anna. “Growing up with a lesbian or gay parent: young people’s perspectives.” Health & Social Care in the Community 16.5 (2008): 521-528.

Bozett F. (1987) Children of gay fathers. In: F.W. Bozett (Ed.) Gay and Lesbian Parents
, pp. 39–57. Praeger, New York.

Post Introduction

I believe I accomplish some of my goal, I felt as if I got some important information out. I forecast my thoughts, I talked about my goals and what lead me to this research. While writing I thought about different ideas, I almost change my research question, again. I’m please with my first draft, but I know the next one will be better. I feel as though I’m on the right track and that’s a good feeling.