Personal experience stories are an effective method as the participants become involved in the data analysis. Recognizing in their own experiences something that is “story worthy”Īnd for bringing their perception of those experiences with contextsĪnd thus creating identifiable, self-contained narratives ». « Personal experience stories are first-person narratives usually composed by the tellers and based on real incidents in their lives the stories “belong” to the tellers because they are the ones responsible for Stahl (1983: 268-269)ĭefines personal experience stories in the following manner: Specific event to an embarrassing faux pas. (1983) pointed out that experiences could involve anything-from a Itself-as people tell stories about the experiences in their lives. These stories are personal experience stories, which refer to a particular category of analysis of folklore. Before I start to share the stories, I will To conclude, I share one more story: that of academic discussing issues Following the stories, I offer my interpretation. I would like to bring those stories to Iĭid not hear any stories from women so this paper reflects only stories I kept hearing stories from visitors to Las Vegas. I reshaped my study after talking about my project to people I had hoped to follow-up these virtual chats with face-to- face discussions once I visited the city. To do this, I spent a great deal of time “cruising the net”, posting messages on various boards that members of the queer community mightįrequent-hoping to engage people in virtual conversations about theirĮxperiences. Initially, I wanted to speak with queer residents of Las Vegas. This is not the study that I had planned. I use the phrase “lesbian woman” to differentiate women’s experience. I use the phrase “gay man” when the man has
This paper, I use the term “queer” or the phrase “queer community” to Finally, homosexual-and related terms-are essentialist,Īscribing identity and characteristics not valued by the individual. Further, the term leaves out the possibility for bisexual or transgendered Steeped in a history of pathologizing and criminalizing people. “homosexual” as I find it to be a clinically produced identity that is Of political opinion/activism, socioeconomic class, ethnicity, sexualīehavior, and gender identity (and lack thereof) these individuals allĭepart the societal norms of heterosexuality. “queer” to refer to a broad assortment of individuals. The purpose of this paper is toīring to queer stories of Las Vegas. That are either silenced or ignored in organizations. I am primarily interested in hearing the voices of those populations In this particular issue, we are exploring Las Vegas. Interpretations, will contribute to and foster additional discussion. It is hoped that the stories shared in this paper, along with the author’s
By interpreting the stories shared by visitors to Las Vegas, the author raises themes of compulsory heterosexuality, heteronormativity associated with recognition of primary relationships, and the celebratory experience of becoming a majority population during a discrete time period. Of this paper is to consider queer experience as we can deconstruct Las Vegas.
With a focus on the personal experience stories of self-identified gay men, the purpose