Global Journal of Human Social Science, G: Linguistics and Education, Volume 23 Issue 3
discrimination that gays and lesbians face is rooted in the colonized mentality of race and class, where the lighter-skinned and upper-class person faces less discrimination as compared to the darker-skinned and lower economic class person. The intolerance for homosexuals and gays is a product of historical forces (Charles, 2011). Some of these historical forces manifest in formal ways, such as the Offenses Against the People Act law that penalizes homosexuals for a maximum of 10 years, and also the actions and words of government leaders. Apart from these formal ways, the legacy of colonization is still lived out in informal ways through religiosity, music, heteronormative values, and discrimination at the intersection of race and class. Comparing the studies that took place in Jamaica to the studies that took place in other countries, Jamaica is the only setting where music was reported as upholding the hegemony of heteronormativity. Similar to Jamaica, other countries reported that homonegativity was perpetuated through the Offenses Against the People Act law, Christianity, and heteronormativity as the legacy of colonization. III. M ethodology For this research, I used post-intentional phenomenology (Vagle, 2014) to capture glances of how societal homonegativity shapes the lived experiences of a young woman who loves women in Jamaica. I was interested in exploring the tentative manifestations of the phenomena of societal homonegativity on the lived experiences of a woman who loves women. Since 2010, Vagle has helped others to see phenomenology in new ways. He was trying to see the phenomenon for what it is becoming. Vagle asserted that in post-intentional phenomenology, “intended meanings are always in the process of becoming” (Vagle, 2014, p. 41); therefore, intended meanings are generative. In other words, in post-intentional phenomenology, meanings are “multiple, partial, and fleeting” (Vagle, 2014, p. 41). Simply stated, a phenomenon can have several meanings, and it is never static. Post-intentional phenomenologists want to understand how things are experienced in multiple ways. In this study, I tried to understand and theorize the various ways things manifest and appear in and through the phenomena that I studied. For crafting a post-intentional phenomenology study, Vagle (2014) outlined a five-component process: Identify a phenomenon in its multiple, partial, and varied contexts. 1. Devise a clear, yet flexible process for gathering data appropriate for the phenomenon under investigation. 2. Make a post-reflexive plan. 3. Read and write your way through your data in a systematic, responsive manner. 4. Craft a text that captures tentative manifestations of the phenomenon in its multiple, partial, and varied contexts (p. 121). For the research methodology, I followed these steps - weaving in and out of them in a nonlinear fashion - as I worked my way through data collection, analysis, results, and implication of the phenomenon of how societal homonegativity shapes the lived experiences of Tracy, a young woman who loves women. 1. Identify a Phenomenon in its Multiple, Partial, and Varied Contexts. The first component consisted of six elements that lay the groundwork for a post-intentional phenomenology study. Vagle outlined the following elements: 1.1. State the research problem, 2.1. Conduct a partial review of the literature, 3.1. Write a philosophical claim that relates to the research problem, 4.1. State the research questions, 5.1. Situate the phenomena in varied contexts, 6.1. Identify research participants (Vagle, 2014, p. 122). 2. Devise a clear yet flexible process for gathering data appropriate for the phenomenon under investigation. This process required me to select data sources and align data sources with the research question. The data sources that I used were Tracy’s written memory, semi-structured interviews, artifacts such as Jamaican Dancehall music, and my post- reflexion journal. 3. Make a post-reflexive plan. A post-reflexive plan is used as a guide for the researcher to interrogate prior beliefs and assumptions, as well as interpretation of data in an effort to explicate the phenomenon (Vagle, 2014). Post- reflexivity encourages the researcher to think through ways the researcher and the research are always in an intentional relationship with each other (Vagle, 2014). Vagle (2014) suggested the post reflexive writing should contain four levels of post-reflexivity: a) Moments when the researcher instinctively connects with what he/she/ze observes and moments in which he/she/ze instinctively disconnects, b) My assumptions of normality, c) Bottom lines, those beliefs that the researcher refuses to give up, and d) Moments in which the researcher is shocked (Vagle, 2014, p. 132). I identify as a woman who loves women. I live with my partner and our daughter in America. Therefore, © 2023 Global Journals Volume XXIII Issue III Version I 43 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2023 G A Post-Intentional Phenomenological Study of a Queer Identified Youth in Jamaica
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