This work focuses on the experiences made by young lesbian women in Bulgaria. To this end, it primarily examines their homosexuality-related domestic experiences by observing family as a microcosmic reflection of the generally established patriarchal and hetero-normative structures within society. Moreover, it shows how the familiar background often provides for coercive and violent practices, thus imposing conformity norms and oppressive mechanisms upon individuals. A close attention is paid

more »

... the different forms of subtle violence that these women are exposed to in their everyday (domestic) life. These occurrences, however, are not necessarily perceived as excessive violence but rather considered to be routine due to their habitual character. One of the main characteristics of such violence is an evident homophobic attitude within the family or society in general, manifested in ignorance of the sexual orientation of the daughter or labeling it as an erroneous development and a repugnant pathological condition. The latter is being normally attributed to external factors, such as malicious influence by peers or traumatic man-related experiences. Regardless of the alleged reasons, it is remarkable how female homosexuality, if perceived as such at all, is considered as distaste for men rather than intimate attraction towards women. In this connection, different studies on that matter describe homophobic abuse, experienced by lesbian women as a punishment for not abiding by the classical patriarchal model, which subordinates a woman to a man within the hierarchy of the conventional family. In this line of thoughts, the present work attempts to prove that homophobia, particularly manifested in the form of lesbophobia, derives from patriarchal, heteronormative and heterosexist rationales. Moreover, this work aims to put lesbophobia in the context of violence against women in general as an additional factor, differentiating female from male homosexuality-related experiences. In the public discourse, homosexuality in g [...]