Playing a Part: The Lives of Lesbian Physical Education Teachers

Abstract

The diversity and complexity of the lives of lesbian physical education teachers in secondary schools in England are the focus of this research, which begins from the standpoint of women. Like Smith (1987) I seek to make women the subject and not the object of analysis. The intention is to reveal something of their lived experiences and to challenge the oppressive structures that ‘force’ them to conceal their lesbian identity within the schooling context, and through this process give voice to their silenced voices (see Dewar 1991). At the same time it is acknowledged that we are all differently positioned and privileged and that this impacts on how we view and interpret our own lives as well as those we seek to understand. Thus, whilst I am arguing for the need to begin from the standpoint of the lives of these lesbian teachers, and to make their lived experiences central such a stance should not be viewed as a panacea and unproblematic. It is imperative that the differences between women are not obscured, nor any commonality falsely universalised. Such an approach for me involves a commitment to lesbian feminism, since as Jeffreys (1993: xii) aptly comments ‘... [it] transforms feminism by calling the naturalness of heterosexuality into doubt, by pointing out that it is a political institution and seeking to bring that institution to an end in the interests of women’s freedom and sexual self-determination.