Cette analyse a pour but de dénoncer les mythes créateurs du féminin et du masculin hérités des politiques culturelles sexuelles érigées au creuset de la rencontre coloniale. L’étude de A Married Woman (Manju Kapur), Babyji (Abha Dawesar), Indian Tango (Ananda Devi), trois romans présentant le lesbianisme comme une stratégie féministe d’émancipation, permet de mettre au jour diverses dynamiques discursives, d’exploiter le concept de représentation, et d’interroger les catégories préexistantes. Ces trois romans sont en effet écrits par des femmes participant à la culture indo-hindoue, et proposent des héroïnes à la similarité troublante : brahmines, habitant Delhi et insatisfaites de l’immobilisme liberticide de leur genre. Le préjudice hétéropatriarcal gaine les individus plaqués à l’intersection de leurs appartenances identitaires diverses et superposées : le genre, la culture, la sexualité… Le chemin de ces héroïnes suit ainsi une évolution interrogeant les inventions patriarcales de l’identité de la femme indo-hindoue. Au-delà de la dénonciation des dérives de son essentialisation, c’est sa transgression qui est éblouissante, parce qu’elle est sexuelle et lesbienne, engageant ainsi les possibilités d’une altérité, d’une alternative, d’un devenir différent. Ces textes questionnent alors la poésie et l’efficacité d’une esthétique lesbienne, la validité démiurge d’une utopie lesbienne, et le symbolisme d’un motif qui unit femmes de papier et autrices de chair au sein d’un positionnement récusant la subalternité implicite de catégories oppressives et obsolètes. En s’emparant de l’ipséité, ces narrations introduisent une poétique queer défiant déterminismes, cristallisations, normes et hiérarchies. Elles ouvrent à des possibilités radicales et multiples d’existences, de créations, signalant la matérialité de marginalités subversives qui problématisent la notion même d’individu, envisagée dans sa perspective hypermoderne. / This analysis aims at denouncing the original myths of the feminine and the masculine, inherited of the sexual cultural politics uprighted in the crucible of the colonial encounter. The study of A Married Woman (Manju Kapur), Babyji (Abha Dawesar), Indian Tango (Ananda Devi), three novels presenting lesbianism as a feminist strategy of emancipation, allows to excavate various discursive dynamics, to exploit the concept of representation, and to interrogate the preexisting categories. These three novels are indeed written by women belonging to the Indo-Hindu culture, and offer heroines with troubling similarities: Brahmines, Delhiites and dissatisfied with the repressions and inertia of their gender. The heteropatriarcal prejudice suffocates the individuals tackled at the intersection of their several and overlapping identity belongings: gender, culture, sexuality… These heroines’ paths hence follow an evolution interrogating the patriarchal inventions of the Indo-Hindu woman’s identity. Beyond the exposition and accusation of its essentialization’s deviations, it is its transgression which is dazzling, because it is sexual and lesbian, introducing the possibilities of an alterity, an alternative, a different becoming. These texts thus question the poetry and efficiency of a lesbian aesthetic, the demiurge validity of a lesbian utopia, and the symbolism of a pattern unifying the paper women and the women writers in a positioning rejecting the implicit subalternity of oppressive and obsolete categories. By getting a hold of ipseity, these narrations introduce a queer poetic defying determinisms, crystallizations, norms and hierarchies. They open to radical and multiple possibilities of living and creating, indicating the materiality of subversive marginalities which problematize the very notion of individual, envisioned in its hypermodern perspective.

Ce travail de recherche s’attache à analyser la visibilité des lesbiennes au cinéma américain et dans les séries télévisées et les web-séries américaines. Bien qu’ayant été globalement invisibles ou mal représentées dans le cinéma classique hollywoodien, elles apparaissent de plus en plus fréquemment sur le petit et le grand écran. Toutefois, cette visibilité est construite à partir d’un certain nombre de normes, privilégiant donc une image particulière des lesbiennes à travers notamment la figure de la lesbienne féminine. En outre, cette visibilité repose sur des stratégies de réappropriations et d’emprunts qui visent à « queeriser » les représentations existantes, et, possiblement, à créer un regard lesbien / The purpose of this work is to investigate lesbian visibility in American cinema, TV series and web series. Although lesbians have remained broadly invisible or misrepresented in classical Hollywood Cinema, they now increasingly appear on both the big screen and the small screen. However, this visibility is shaped according to a precise set of norms, thus favoring a specific image of lesbians, particularly through the figure of the feminine lesbian. Furthermore, this visibility is grounded on strategies of reappropriation and borrowings aiming to queer existing representations, and, possibly, to create a lesbian look

En France, dans une société hétéronormative à domination masculine, quelles représentations les mères lesbiennes ont-elles du genre et de la socialisation de genre de leurs enfants ? L’hypothèse principale qui sous-tend la recherche est que la position particulière des lesbiennes dans le système du genre – à la fois dominées et transfuges de la classe des femmes – leur permet un point de vue critique des normes dominantes et les prédispose à transmettre des modèles qui remettent en cause l’ordre du genre. Dans un contexte français d’institutionnalisation progressive de l’homoparentalité marqué par un débat public très houleux (2012-2013), 36 entretiens semi-directifs longs ont été réalisés entre 2011 et 2014 avec des femmes lesbiennes ayant des enfants de moins de douze ans conçus en contexte lesboparental. Malgré une certaine homogénéité des profils qui classent les enquêtées parmi les catégories sociales privilégiées, on constate une hétérogénéité des représentations et des pratiques pour composer avec les normes dominantes. Les mères lesbiennes rencontrées me semblent être des « résistantes ordinaires » à la domination : sans adhésion idéologique aux normes qui les assujettissent, elles sont animées d’une volonté d’intégration. Pragmatiques dans leur lecture du contexte et du contrat social, elles sont attentives à se préserver et à préserver leur famille des effets de l’homophobie. Elles déploient leur résistance du côté de l’infrapolitique pour repousser les limites établies par le cadre contraignant. / In the French heteronormative, male dominated society, what are French lesbian mothers’ representations of gender, and specifically of their children’s gender socialization? The main hypothesis is that being dominated as women and sex-class transfuges at the same time, lesbians have a particular position within the gender system, allowing them a critical point of view on the dominant norms. They are thus predisposed to transmit to their children gender models that challenge the gender system. In France, the gradual institutionalization of homosexual parenting is accompanied with a heated public debate (especially in 2012 and 2013). This research is primarily based on semi-structured interviews conducted between 2011 and 2014. The 36 interviewees are lesbian women with children under 12 years old, conceived within the frame of lesbian parenting. Despite the homogeneity of their social positions (middle and upper class), the interviewees have heterogeneous representations of the dominant norms. They also develop different sets of practices to face these norms. These lesbian mothers seem to develop ordinary forms of resistance to domination. While they show no ideological endorsement to heterosexist norms, they express a real will to be integrated within society. They interpret the context and social contract in a pragmatic way, and seek to protect themselves and their families from the effects of homophobia. Their resistance is mainly infra-political: pushing against the established limits of a framework that restricts them.

La orientación sexual es uno de los procesos que define la constitución identitaria, en el caso de los homosexuales representa mayor dificultad por un entorno adverso. Este estudio tuvo como objetivo explorar el proceso de reconocimiento de la orientación sexual en jóvenes gays y lesbianas de Lima Metropolitana desde un enfoque cualitativo fenomenológico. La muestra estuvo conformada por 6 gays y 6 lesbianas entre 19 a 25 años, con quienes se realizaron entrevistas semi estructuradas. Los resultados revelaron que el reconocimiento de la homosexualidad se ve complejizado por un contexto social predominantemente heteronormativo. Ante esto, resulta importante la búsqueda de información y el establecimiento de redes de apoyo. Asimismo, tras la consolidación de la homosexualidad, la persona resignifica sus vivencias y se convierte en un agente de apoyo para otros, puesto que logran vivir en libertad y congruencia consigo mismo, mostrando mejoras en su salud mental según sus discursos. / Sexual orientation is one of the processes that define the identity constitution, in the case of homosexuals it represents a greater difficulty due to an adverse environment. This study aimed to explore the process of recognition of sexual orientation in young gays and lesbians from Metropolitan Lima from a qualitative phenomenological approach. The sample consisted of 6 gays and 6 lesbians between the ages of 19 and 25, with whom semi-structured interviews were conducted. The results revealed that the recognition of homosexuality is complicated by a predominantly heteronormative social context. Given this, the search for information and the establishment of support networks are important. Likewise, after the consolidation of homosexuality, the person resignifies their experiences and becomes a support agent for others, since they manage to live in freedom and congruence with themselves, showing improvements in their mental health according to their discourse. / Tesis

La presente investigación tuvo como objetivo explorar el proceso de develación de la orientación sexual y la relevancia del soporte social percibido de las mujeres adultas tempranas lesbianas y bisexuales en Lima Metropolitana. Para ello, se elaboró un estudio de metodología cualitativa, en el cual se entrevistaron a 6 mujeres bisexuales y 6 mujeres lesbianas. El objetivo de las entrevistas fue conocer cómo fue el proceso de develación de la orientación sexual e identificar el papel que tiene el soporte social en esta etapa. Los resultados evidencian que dicho período suele ser muy angustiante, estresante y complicado, ya que usualmente están propensas a recibir respuestas negativas y/o rechazo por parte de su familia, pero en específico por parte de sus madres. Otro de los resultados más importantes, es que la red de soporte social conformada por amistades tiene un rol de suma de importancia, porque harán el proceso más llevadero, permitiendo así que las mujeres bisexuales y lesbianas no estén solas antes, durante, ni después de enunciar su orientación sexual. / The present research aimed to explore the process of disclosure of sexual orientation and the relevance of the perceived social support of bisexual and lesbian early adult women in Lima Metropolitan. For this purpose, a qualitative methodology study was elaborated, in which 6 bisexual women and 6 lesbian women were interviewed. The objective of the interviews was to explore the process of disclosure of sexual orientation and to identify the role of social support in this stage. The results indicate that this disclosure process is usually very distressing, stressful and complicated, because they are usually prone to receive negative responses and/or rejection from their family, but specifically from their mothers. Other important results is that the social support network of friends plays an extremely important role, because it will make the process more bearable, thus allowing bisexual and lesbian women not to be alone before, during, or after the disclosure of their sexual orientation.

Lesbian families with children are greater in number and more visible today than ever before. In fact, social scientists have suggested that we may be in the midst of a lesbian "baby boom". Canada's Census figures support this assertion. Between 2001 and 2006 there was a forty-seven per cent increase in households made up of two lesbian mothers and their children. This dissertation addresses the legal issues raised by lesbian motherhood, focusing primarily on legal parentage. It considers the terms upon which parental recognition has been achieved thus far, and evaluates the efficacy of a reform agenda focused exclusively on gaining access to the existing legal framework. To explore the legal and social dynamics of planned lesbian families, interviews were conducted with forty-nine lesbian mothers living in British Columbia and Alberta who conceived using assisted reproduction. Mothers were asked about the structure of their families, how they defined terms such as "parent" and "family", the extent to which they had engaged with law, and their recommendations for law reform. The interviews revealed that lesbian mothers define family and parenthood broadly, emphasizing intention and caregiving over a purely biological model of kinship. All of the mothers defined a "parent" as someone who intends to parent and, once a child is born, performs that intention through caregiving. Parental status was thus not limited to those who shared a biological relationship with a child, or even to two individuals. The research suggests that lesbian mothers have little interest in being subsumed into the existing legal framework which tends to prioritize dyadic and biological parenting. In fact, only a tiny portion of the mothers felt that identical treatment would adequately respond to their needs. The vast majority supported law reform that would extend to them the benefits of the current system, while simultaneously expanding the existing framework to include a wider variety of parental and family configurations within it. The reform model chosen to achieve this aim combined parental presumptions in favour of the lesbian couple or a single lesbian mother, with opt-in mechanisms that allowed the family to extend beyond the two parent unit.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of History, Aug. 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Lesbian families with children are greater in number and more visible today than ever before. In fact, social scientists have suggested that we may be in the midst of a lesbian "baby boom". Canada's Census figures support this assertion. Between 2001 and 2006 there was a forty-seven per cent increase in households made up of two lesbian mothers and their children. This dissertation addresses the legal issues raised by lesbian motherhood, focusing primarily on legal parentage. It considers the terms upon which parental recognition has been achieved thus far, and evaluates the efficacy of a reform agenda focused exclusively on gaining access to the existing legal framework. To explore the legal and social dynamics of planned lesbian families, interviews were conducted with forty-nine lesbian mothers living in British Columbia and Alberta who conceived using assisted reproduction. Mothers were asked about the structure of their families, how they defined terms such as "parent" and "family", the extent to which they had engaged with law, and their recommendations for law reform. The interviews revealed that lesbian mothers define family and parenthood broadly, emphasizing intention and caregiving over a purely biological model of kinship. All of the mothers defined a "parent" as someone who intends to parent and, once a child is born, performs that intention through caregiving. Parental status was thus not limited to those who shared a biological relationship with a child, or even to two individuals. The research suggests that lesbian mothers have little interest in being subsumed into the existing legal framework which tends to prioritize dyadic and biological parenting. In fact, only a tiny portion of the mothers felt that identical treatment would adequately respond to their needs. The vast majority supported law reform that would extend to them the benefits of the current system, while simultaneously expanding the existing framework to include a wider variety of parental and family configurations within it. The reform model chosen to achieve this aim combined parental presumptions in favour of the lesbian couple or a single lesbian mother, with opt-in mechanisms that allowed the family to extend beyond the two parent unit.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Acadia University, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-106). Also available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Lesbian families with children are greater in number and more visible today than ever before. In fact, social scientists have suggested that we may be in the midst of a lesbian "baby boom". Canada's Census figures support this assertion. Between 2001 and 2006 there was a forty-seven per cent increase in households made up of two lesbian mothers and their children. This dissertation addresses the legal issues raised by lesbian motherhood, focusing primarily on legal parentage. It considers the terms upon which parental recognition has been achieved thus far, and evaluates the efficacy of a reform agenda focused exclusively on gaining access to the existing legal framework. To explore the legal and social dynamics of planned lesbian families, interviews were conducted with forty-nine lesbian mothers living in British Columbia and Alberta who conceived using assisted reproduction. Mothers were asked about the structure of their families, how they defined terms such as "parent" and "family", the extent to which they had engaged with law, and their recommendations for law reform. The interviews revealed that lesbian mothers define family and parenthood broadly, emphasizing intention and caregiving over a purely biological model of kinship. All of the mothers defined a "parent" as someone who intends to parent and, once a child is born, performs that intention through caregiving. Parental status was thus not limited to those who shared a biological relationship with a child, or even to two individuals. The research suggests that lesbian mothers have little interest in being subsumed into the existing legal framework which tends to prioritize dyadic and biological parenting. In fact, only a tiny portion of the mothers felt that identical treatment would adequately respond to their needs. The vast majority supported law reform that would extend to them the benefits of the current system, while simultaneously expanding the existing framework to include a wider variety of parental and family configurations within it. The reform model chosen to achieve this aim combined parental presumptions in favour of the lesbian couple or a single lesbian mother, with opt-in mechanisms that allowed the family to extend beyond the two parent unit. / Law, Faculty of / Graduate