The grandmother role as experienced by lesbian women

This study explores the grandmother role as experienced by a nonrandom samp le of nine lesbian women. It examines how they define the grandmother role, and the behaviors and actions through which they enact the role. During in dividual interviews each woman was asked to talk about what makes a woman a good grandmother, memories of her own grandmothers, and the relationship s he has with one or more of her grandchildren. The effect of her sexual orie ntation on the relationship was not explored. These women define the grandm other role as providing emotional support to their grandchildren, providing varied experiences for their grandchildren, and providing support for the parents of their grandchildren.