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Abstract
There is growing awareness in the lesbian community about the prevalence of alcohol problems, and the meanings and values attached to alcohol use are currently undergoing change. Little research has focused on lesbians' life experiences and alcohol use practices, although in earlier decades a number of medical theories linked lesbianism with alcohol problems as copathologies. More recent theories from the social sciences also linked lesbianism with alcohol problems, but on the basis of sociocultural dynamics and consequent negative self-images. This article compares and contrasts medical theories about lesbians and alcohol with lesbians' own ideas about alcohol use and alcohol problems. Mutually reinforcing themes in medical views and lesbians' experiences are identified. The analysis clarifies what is at stake in the current debates about alcohol, alcohol problems and recovery experiences in the lesbian community, and offers suggestions for research, theory, and practice regarding this significant health issue.