Imagining from the Margins: An Archetypal Perspective of Lesbian Love in Texan and American Culture

Abstract

This autoethnographic inquiry explores the individuation process of lesbian sexuality within Texas and American culture. The study argues that a lesbian’s journey toward authentic self-expression of her sexuality is inflected by social discourse and culture. The individual and the collective have a deeply intertwined relationship that influences the psychological health of the other. Staying true to the autoethnographic method, this study both builds a case for societal change, and embodies that change as seen in its findings. The manifestation of archetypal energies within Texas and American culture is an understudied aspect of the marginalized experience of lesbian love. Although Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung explored masculine and feminine energies in relation to anatomical women, he did so from a heterosexist position, leaving the experience of the lesbian in the margins. This study’s research employs the meaning-making unconscious by using the myths of Aphrodite, Zeus, and Hestia to more fully explore a lesbian’s struggle to live genuinely in a patriarchal environment. The research demonstrates and concludes that when a lesbian develops a relationship with personal and collective unconscious content, a plural relationship develops that destabilizes the hetero-centric, patriarchal norms that have kept her from living authentically. Moreover, the research demonstrates the healing power of therapeutic love.