Finding and Creating Possibility: Reading in the Lives of Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer Young Women

This study examines the voluntary reading practices of self-identified lesbian, bisexual and queer young women between the ages of 18 and 23 years. The practices associated with voluntary reading including finding, borrowing, buying, reading, sharing and talking about texts, especially those that fall into the genre of lesbian and gay literature, comprise the central theme of this study. Data collection and analysis were guided by principles of qualitative, interpretivist inquiry. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with seventeen young women in London and Toronto, Ontario. Three main themes related to reading emerged from analysis of interview transcripts. The first of these is an interrogation of the metaphor of reading as escape shown to be an inadequate description of the power of reading to give comfort through access to representations of lesbian, bisexual and queer female experience. The second major theme concerns the role of reading for possibility encompassing a rejection of modernist coming out narratives and an emotional engagement with memorable textual characters. The third theme suggests that reading functions as a way to engage with others augmenting social participation in larger communities. Modes of access to reading materials are also discussed. Two themes related to Internet use emerged: the Internet as a searching tool, and the Internet as a site of access to alternative digital texts. Libraries are a significant source of reading materials and thus support personal identity maintenance through the circulation of published materials containing lesbian, gay and queer representations, but libraries do little to augment social connectedness amongst participants. Bookstores play an important role in the reading accounts of participants, primarily as a source of information about lesbian and gay literature. Feminist and gay bookstores may constitute a ground for politically motivated consumption that contributes to the legitimation of alternative sexual identities. Implications for library services are also discussed. Key words: lesbian and queer young women, voluntary reading, public libraries, bookstores, qualitative research

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