Help two Students: Women Studies

My name is Caroline Huxley and I am a PhD student in the Centre for Appearance Research, which is based at the University of the West of England.

My research focuses on women’s body satisfaction, physical appearance, and sexuality. This is an important area to research as body satisfaction and appearance concerns are linked with psychological well being and health behaviours. Most research, however, assumes that women are straight. Little is known about how lesbian and bisexual women feel about their appearance, and how this has affected their well being.

In order to explore this I am conducting one to one interviews with women who identify as lesbian or bisexual to talk about their feelings towards their body and appearance. Interviews last about an hour and can be done at a time and place that suit you.

If you are interested in taking part or would like more information about the project then please contact me on: caroline3.huxley@uwe.ac.uk

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www.surveymonkey.com/sexualitysurvey

This is a link to a study looking at the role that internet communities have in the lives of Lesbian and Bisexual women and how this may relate, if at all, to health and well being. Further it will consider if message boards may in some way function as a sense of community and/or social support.

At the end of the survey (mostly multiple choice questions) there is an opportunity to register your interest in taking part in the qualitative part of the study. I do encourage you to send in your email address to take part in this part of the research also - as it is with this that detailed discussion about the meaning of the internet, and the meaning of the internet community as a resource, as a 'space', can be explored from the perspective of the lesbian/bisexual community.
Note this study does have a female gender slant as its focus is on L and B women.

Could I also encourage you to cross post this message and survey link on to other mailing lists and/or internet sites and/or other sources with lesbian/bisexual users?

Jo