xi, 158 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This study, set in the context of the feminist sex wars, explores the performances of Holly Hughes, Carmelita Tropicana, and Split Britches throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. The purpose of this study is to better understand the implications of a specific style of lesbian comedic performance, found at the WOW Café and defined here as lesbian camp, throughout a contentious era in feminist politics. The motivating questions for this study are: How can a performance inspire an activated spectatorship? How have lesbian comedic performance practices provoked feminist theory and practice? Chapter II defines lesbian camp and attempts to trace a dialogue among lesbian performance critics and academics ruminating over lesbian camp and its existence. It also explores lesbian camp's relationship to drag and butch-femme as well as how lesbian camp functions within specific performances of Holly Hughes, Split Britches, and Carmelita Tropicana. Chapter III argues that it is the very element of lesbian camp that brings forth the potential for an activated spectatorship. It is a chaotic, unstable environment that exposes and disassembles deep-seated fears, ideals, and practices seemingly inherent, although pragmatically constructed, to our communities and cultures throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. It presents a climate of resistance through the disruption of identificatory practices. This, in turn, provokes an activated spectatorship. Chapter IV examines the effects these artists had on the larger stage of the feminist sex wars and culture wars. Holly Hughes, for example, became a national figure, defunded from the National Endowment for the Arts due to her subject of the queer body, then deemed obscene and pornographic. Split Britches were popularized by feminists in the academy not only for their creative techniques but also for their (de)construction of butch-femme coupling. Carmelita Tropicana brought drag to a whole new level with incorporation of male and female drag into her hybrid performances. / Committee in charge: John Schmor, Chairperson, Theater Arts; Sara Freeman, Member, Theater Arts; Theresa May, Member, Theater Arts; Ellen Scott, Outside Member, Sociology

In a moment when visibility and representations of LGBTTQAI+ people are proliferating in North American society, it is important to think critically about how visibility and representations function and to interrogate their meanings and a/effects. This thesis uses data produced from five semi-structured interviews conducted with lesbian identified participants living in non-urban spaces in Ontario to demonstrate the importance of a continued lesbian specificity, to draw attention to heteronormativity and heterosexism in Ontarian society, to challenge femme invisibility and complicate the notion of femme privilege, and to move beyond the urban/rural binary as a way of making sense of sexuality. The methodological framework guiding this thesis draws on interpretive phenomenological analysis as well as feminist and queer methodologies, which facilitated a responsive and reflexive research process. This thesis is grounded in ongoing debates around identity politics and representation, drawing on literature from lesbian theories, lesbian-feminist histories, queer theories, heterosexism, heteronormativity and homonormativity, lesbian-feminist histories, white privilege studies, queer and feminist geography, and LGBTTQAI+ rural studies.

The purpose of this study was twofold: firstly to explore the parenting experiences of lesbian parents rearing children and secondly with a specific focus on parenting styles that may be present within lesbian families. The conceptual framework for this study was the ecosystemic model of Urie Bronfenbrenner. During the research I followed a qualitative approach, secured in an interpretative paradigm. A case study research design was utilised to gain a better, richer and deeper understanding. Data collection involved using semi structured questionnaires, parenting style worksheets and vignettes. Participant selection was a combination between snowball and non-probability sampling methods, including four lesbian families with children between the ages of four and twelve years. Data analysis consisted of identifying themes and subthemes. Several main themes emerged subsequent to the thematic data analysis. The first theme was the parenting styles within lesbian families namely; warm, involved and tolerant parenting style as the main styles. The second theme was family rules, values and norms. The third theme was discipline strategies that were used within the lesbian families. The fourth theme was the experiences and lastly a theme on how the participants saw themselves with regards to sameness or being different than other families was identified. Based on the findings I concluded that there are three main parenting styles that emerged within these lesbian families and that there are several experiences, both positive and negative, that have influences on how lesbian mothers rear their children. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / lk2014 / Educational Psychology / MEd / Unrestricted

Research on the experiences of children raised in gay/lesbian parent families (GPLFs) has shown that the children often feel exposed and/or threatened by the societal heteronormativity they are faced with (Lubbe, 2007; Lubbe & Kruger, 2012). It has also been found that GPLFs often have to work hard and diligently to create a comfortable familiarity, or sense of belonging, within the society in which they live in (Breshears, 2011). Nevertheless, these findings do not disprove GPLFs assertions that they are happy and are functioning effectively in society. Many psychological and sociological family studies have either ignored the family s bonding with society or dealt with it only in general terms (Cigoli & Scabini, 2006), while there is also scant literature in this regard relating to modern-day society, especially to South African populations and GLPFs specifically. The aim of this study was to explore the protective factors that facilitate resilience in South African GPLFs living in a predominantly heteronormative society. On the assumption that GPLFs experience challenges relating to living in a heteronormative society, the objective was to understand how (and if) the families interactions with society influence each other reciprocally. This study was embedded in a qualitative research approach and was guided by an intrinsic case study design. Accordingly, the lives of ten families were explored, using unstructured interviews, electronic interviews, visuals and other supportive data. In order to construct a resilience framework that highlights the factors that promote resilience in GLPFs, thematic content analysis and a thematic infusion process were conducted against a background of bio-ecological systems theory. The results indicate that there are both risk and protective factors on the micro-, meso-, exo-, and macro-systemic levels. Subsequently, a resilience wheel was drafted using the protective factors as a framework against which resilience in South African GLPFs can be interpreted and understood. The following protective factors were identified as promoting resilience: ? Micro level. Participants reflected a strong sense of self-determination in their personal ok-ness and intentional out-ness. They built resilience through avoidance, disclosure and personal beliefs. Meso level. Participants reflected a strong sense of family coherence, which was seen in the relationship among the family members and the subsequent family identity. They built resilience through open and honest communication styles, as well as preparational, recreational and bonding rituals. ? Exo level. Participants reflected a strong sense of belonging which was seen in the complexity of their social identity. They built resilience through their relationships with health care services and the school, their occupational profile and the support of extended family members. ? Macro level. Participants reflected a strong awareness of society s limited exposure to GLPFs and therefore experienced a constant awareness of difference. However, they were also aware that they were being supported by the Constitution in developing resilience, because if it were not for their difference , GLPFs would not have had protective laws in place to guide their negotiations with society in a non-discriminatory manner. ? Chrono level. Participants reflected the hope that unbiased treatment would be available to them in the future, accordingly, building resilience on their belief in social justice. Such social justice would be reflected the transformation of a heteronormative-family discourse in society to one that accommodates diversity in family structure. In summary, this study sheds light on GLPFs by expanding knowledge on the issue of their resilience, taking into account the broader political and social issues. The knowledge generated by this study can further be applied to contexts in which studies are conducted on diverse and minority family forms in society. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Educational Psychology / PhD

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This thesis aims to explore lesbian desire and sexual identity in Lydia Kwa¡¦s This Place Called Absence, beginning with the textual subversion of heterosexual norm, evolving through the author¡¦s mapping of butch/femme desire and concluding with the protagonist¡¦s formation of self-identity. Chapter One discusses how the text subverts the heterosexual norm through the erotic chaos created by queer characters. I will apply Judith Butler¡¦s notions of heterosexual matrix and gender performativity to look into the textual strategies of subversion. The appropriation of gender is not only a strategy of queer politics, but also the primary means by which lesbians articulate desire. To illuminate Kwa¡¦s mapping of lesbian desire, I apply Teresa de Lauretis¡¦s theory of lesbian fetishism in Chapter Two to examine how butches and femmes in the novel express their desire through manipulating gender signs. The masculinity fetishes are prone to social misunderstanding as penis envy and thereby arouse male hostility. The anxiety of lesbian characters with the paternal phallus will be the focus of the second part of the chapter. Chapter Three looks into how the protagonist establishes positive self-identity through reversing social stigma to empowering self-image in queer coalition. The queer coalition comprising gays and lesbians, nevertheless, cedes its place to equalitarian women¡¦s community at the end of the novel. The problems of the concept of universal women for lesbians will be discussed in the latter part of the chapter from the perspectives of Butler and de Lauretis. After probing into textual details, I will argue that the protagonist, in spite of her desire for female solidarity, ultimately identifies with queer coalition. In conclusion, I will regard the novel as a lesbian counter-discourse by summarizing its strategies of displacement, resignification and reversal of the heterosexual symbolic and foreground the multiplicity of desire and differences among lesbians against the reification of heterosexual symbolic.