Cette thèse invite à reconceptualiser le récit dominant quant au parcours d’hommes immigrants de sexualités non normatives. Loin d’être une migration de la tradition vers la modernité, de l’oppression vers la libération, leur parcours est davantage un récit complexe de mobilité et de visibilité inscrit dans des rapports sociaux inégaux. Loin d’être un déchirement entre une «communauté ethnique» homophobe et la «communauté gaie» raciste, leur récit en est un de liens affectifs (r)établis au fil d’interactions sociales significatives. À l’intersection de normes multiples et contradictoires, on constate un processus de (re)formation de subjectivités, à la fois contraintes et habilités par ces normes. Deux corpus sont conjugués, soit l’analyse critique des représentations visuelles et textuelles de la différence ethnique et religieuse dans trois principaux magazines gais québécois et l’analyse par théorisation ancrée d’entretiens semi-dirigés. Ces entretiens ont été menés à Montréal auprès de trente hommes immigrants ayant des relations amoureuses et/ou sexuelles avec d’autres hommes. Les images analysées montrent une tendance à réduire le corps d’hommes de couleur à des objets érotiques et exotiques sur les couvertures des magazines. De plus, les textes avancent un récit de libération sexuelle par la migration qui reproduit les dichotomies dominantes. Un récit beaucoup plus complexe émerge toutefois de l’analyse des entretiens. D’une part, l’expérience de la migration est modulée par divers phénomènes sociaux au-delà de la seule libération sexuelle et l’homophobie se révèle insuffisante pour comprendre le statut des sexualités non normatives, tant dans les pays d’origine que dans les «communautés ethniques» : c’est davantage l’hétéronormativité qui a pour effet de rendre inférieures certaines pratiques de genre et de sexualités. D’autre part, l’expérience de cette visibilité contrainte ne s’exprime que très partiellement par l’idée du «placard» : ces hommes expriment plutôt le vaste potentiel d’expérience d’un espace «tacite» permettant, pour plusieurs, de vivre leur sexualité non normative sans la dire explicitement. Au contraire du rejet des accommodements religieux exprimé dans les magazines gais, les entretiens montrent finalement un réel potentiel d’accommodation du religieux et du sexuel qui, en dépit de tensions, préserve la foi religieuse ou spiritualité tout en vivant la sexualité. / This thesis calls for reconceptualising the dominant narrative about the life course of immigrant men with non-normative sexualities. Far from being a migration from tradition to modernity, from oppression to liberation, their life course is a more complex story of mobility and visibility inscribed in unequal social relations. Far from being torn between a homophobic "ethnic community" and a racist "gay community", their story is one of (re)established bonds over significant social interactions. At the intersection of multiple and conflicting norms, there is a process of (re)formation of subjectivities, both constrained and empowered by these norms. Two corpuses are combined: a critical discourse analysis of visual and textual representations of ethnic and religious difference in three major gay magazines in Québec and a grounded theory analysis of semi-structured interviews. These interviews were conducted in Montréal with thirty immigrant men who have love and/or sexual relationships with other men. The images show a tendency to reduce the body of men of color to exotic and erotic objects on magazines’ covers. In addition, the texts bring forward a narrative of sexual liberation by migration which reproduces the dominant dichotomies. A much more complex story emerges, however, from the interviews’ analysis. On the one hand, the experience of migration is modulated by various social phenomena beyond the single sexual liberation and homophobia is insufficient to understand the status of non-normative sexualities both in countries of origin and "ethnic communities": it is rather heteronormativity that renders inferior some sexual and gender practices. On the other hand, the experience of visibility constraints is only very partially signified by the idea of a "closet": these men rather express the vast potential for experiences in a "tacit" space, allowing many to live their non-normative sexuality without telling it explicitly. Finally, contrary to the rejection of religious accommodations expressed in gay magazines, interviews show a real potential for accommodation of religion and sexuality that, despite tensions, maintains religious faith or spirituality while living sexuality.

Hissaar is a noun and a verb, it is the periphery and the extremities, and the walls and the fortress. And it is to encircle, to wrap and to contain. This paper is an inexhaustive account of thoughts, experiences and lessons learned, of varying forms that influence my aesthetic sensibilities, my art-value system, and my art- ethical concerns. They provide for my art the impetus for its perpetual (and perhaps circular) journey. It is about finding connections between the fraying ends of free floating ideas. The following fragments explores how words make ideas, ideas make images, images make memory; memory sets into architecture, architecture moves the body, the body needs pain and pain needs words.

This thesis re-examines the role of marriage in the golden age of seventeenth-century French comedy. It reconsiders received wisdom on the subject to challenge acceptance of the final promise of marriage as a dénouement complet to comedy. Through an analysis of the themes of discontent, cuckoldry, fertility, non-heteronormative desire and widowhood, it offers an alternative view of what comedy can encompass. Close reading of works by Molière, Quinault, (Thomas) Corneille, (Françoise) Pascal, Ulrich and de Visé establishes that comedy can be both enjoyable and satisfying while incorporating elements that conflict with the marriage ideal. This thesis does not attempt to provide a full socio-historical reading of seventeenth-century attitudes to marriage, although an understanding of contemporary attitudes provides a starting point for close textual analysis. Critical theories, notably gender theory, are used where appropriate to further clarify the role of marriage in comedy. Chapter One presents and problematizes the framework of marriage as the structuring principle of comedy, drawing on themes of compatibility, discontent and desire. The second chapter focuses on anxiety regarding cuckoldry in comedy, relating it to the promise of marriage. An analysis of the desires of older characters in projected comedic marriages, particularly as these desires relate to fertility, is the guiding principle of Chapter Three, which also sets out essential terms of reference for the fourth chapter on widowhood and queer desire. The thesis demonstrates that rather than constituting a satisfying and happy ending, a constant challenge is posed to the promise of marriage by on-stage marriages, fears of cuckoldry, widowhood, and ‘inappropriate' or queer desires. I propose a more nuanced reading, showing that comedy can be fully satisfying and structurally complete without a final promise of marriage, and that, rather, comedy can incorporate significant elements that appear antithetical to the ideal of marriage typically associated with the genre.

The purpose of this paper is to synthesize literatures on stress, social support, symbolic interaction, and de Certeau as they pertain to the recovery of a homosexually-identified individual from a homophobic interaction. A model of the initial stressful interaction as well as the interaction between a homosexually-identified individual and his socially-supportive network is posited with the consumption of culturally-disseminated roles and the salience of role-identities as the mechanisms by which it works. The model is then considered as a form of resistance in the light of broader gay liberation social movements. The study focuses on white, middle-class, American, homosexually-identified males in order to control for variations that might occur from variables of race, class, nationality, and gender. Queer theoretical, essentialist, and postpositivist realist perspectives on identity are considered. The thesis concludes with possible future directions for an empirical study using the model outlined above.

In this research I examine the complexity of male sexuality and masculinity among male sex workers in New Orleans. Despite danger to their health and social standing, men engage in risky sexual behavior with other men for both business and pleasure. These behaviors may stem from the thrill of risk itself, or from other causes such as unexplored sexual inhibitions on the part of the male sex workers or their clients. Focusing on male sex workers, this ethnographic study explores why male sex workers engage in work that is high risk and potentially very dangerous. It examines the world of male sex work as one of the few places where men who adopt homosexual identity and those who refuse it are in intimate contact with one another. It offers us the opportunity to address questions about male sexual identity and homosexual desire, while attempting to understand the commodified spatial practices of a sexual culture in New Orleans.

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to develop an understanding of the role that masculinity has in identity development among self-identified Gay/Queer (GQ) collegiate men. The goal of this study was to develop a theory that explains how traditional college-age GQ men view masculinity within the context of their performance as men on a college campus. 16 college-aged GQ men attending a four-year, private liberal arts institution in the southeastern United States were the subjects in this study. The participants consisted of: two first year students, three sophomores, two juniors, eights seniors, and one individual that who had graduated from college six weeks prior to his interview. Individuals that identified as woman, or transgender students were not included in this study. Four themes were identified from the study: Creating Identity & Exploring Sexuality; Reliance of Stereotypes; Performance & Presence; and Community Expectations & Acceptance. The overarching concept that emerged from the study was that whatever qualities the participant found to be personally attracted were the same traits that he found to be the most masculine. Limitations and recommendations for the study were also provided.

The purpose of this degree project is to examine to what extent certain groups in society are represented in the teaching material in upper secondary schools in Sweden. Through the scrutinizing of a selected number of English textbooks, the intention is to analyse texts and images to see whether representation of individuals on the basis of ethnicity, gender, gender identity and sexual orientation occur in the material. Another aspect of the essay is to identify possible stereotypes regarding the mentioned categories. The analyses draw on a number of theories: postcolonial, feminist and gender, as well as queer theories, in order to relate possible non-representation in the teaching material to the key concept of otherness. Furthermore, the concepts of hegemony and heteronormativity serve an important role in the analyses of the material as they expose dominant structures in society which tend to give certain groups authority over others.

<p>Problem: Gay, bisexual, and queer (GBQ) adolescent males are disproportionately affected by negative sexual health outcomes compared to their heterosexual counterparts. Their sex education needs are not sufficiently addressed in the home and the larger ecological systems. The omission of their sex education needs at a time when they are forming a sexual identity during adolescence compels GBQ males to seek information in unsupervised settings. Evidence-based interventions aimed at ensuring positive sexual health outcomes through sex communication cannot be carried out with these youth as research on how parents and GBQ males discuss sex in the home has been largely uninvestigated. </p><p>Methods: This naturalistic qualitative study focused on the interpretive reports of 15- to 20-year-old GBQ males’ discussions about sex-related topics with their parents. From a purposive sample of 30 male adolescents who self-identified as GBQ, participants who could recall at least one conversation about sex with their parents were recruited for one-time interviews and card sorts. This strategy revealed, using Bronfenbrenners’ Bioecological Theory, their perceptions about sex communication in the context of their reciprocal relationship and the ecological systems that GBQ males and their parents navigate.</p><p>Results: Parents received poor ratings as sex educators, were generally viewed as not confident in their communication approach, and lacked knowledge about issues pertinent to GBQ sons. Nevertheless, participants viewed parents as their preferred source of sex information and recognized multiple functions of sex communication. The value placed by GBQ youth on sex communication underscores their desire to ensure an uninterrupted parent-child relationship in spite of their GBQ sexual orientation. For GBQ children, inclusive sex communication is a proxy for parental acceptance. </p><p>Results show that the timing, prompts, teaching aids, and setting of sex communication for this population are similar to what has been reported with heterosexual samples. However, most GBQ sons rarely had inclusive guidance about sex and sexuality that matched their attraction, behavior, and identities. Furthermore, the assumption of heterosexuality resulted in the early awareness of being different from their peers which led them to covertly search for sex information. The combination of assumed heterosexuality and their early reliance on themselves for applicable information is a missed parental opportunity to positively impact the health of GBQ sons. More importantly, due to the powerful reach of new media, there is a critical period of maximum receptiveness that has been identified which makes inclusive sex communication paramount in the pre-sexual stage for this population. Our findings also indicate that there are plenty of opportunities for systemic improvements to meet this population’s sexual education needs.</p> / Dissertation

It is well documented that hetero/cisnormativity is prevalent in schools. Queerness predominantly enters schools through anti-Queerphobia work, efforts to protect and include “at risk” gender and sexually creative youth from overt violence and discrimination. ‘Normative’ conceptions about gender and sexuality, however, are not just present in overt gender policing; they lurk in how Queer (LGBTQIA2S+) people are constructed as (in)visible, ‘humourous’, and brave/excessive in and around schools. Hetero/cisnormativty – a hegemonic discourse that interlocks with colonialism, patriarchy, and neoliberalism – is at the heart of why gender and sexually expansive people are not thriving in schools. Mainstream efforts to protect and include Queer people (particularly youth) do not combat hetero/cisnormativity. By focusing solely on the ways that Queer youth are suffering in schools, these strategies absolve schools of looking deeply at how they (re)produce norms and hierarchical, non-reciprocal relationships through space, curriculum, and pedagogy that negatively impact everyone. Through a five-month critical participatory action research (CPAR) project, informed by queer and feminist frameworks, nine activist educators who formed the Queering Schools Collective, explore ways that Queerness/queerness does and can exist in schools beyond protective and assimilationist mainstream efforts. Educators Bridget, Kat, Gabby, Lauren, Max, Gayle, Reagan, Ronnie and Sarah co-researched ways to queer schools through examining the following concepts: inclusion, queerness/queering, and queering schools (space, pedagogy, and curriculum). Analyzing individual interviews, focus group meetings, and select journal entries, this thesis proposes that queering is an orientation towards desire, hope, and thriving; it rejects Queer deficiency narratives and positions queerness as non-dominant ways of being, acting, knowing, and valuing. This thesis likewise conceptualizes queering schools praxis as a flexible, situational process that engages multiple strategies concerned with disruption, reciprocity, and care. Finally, through interpreting collective members’ observations about the process, this thesis positions radical community spaces, where people can dream and strategize, as crucial for enabling queering school praxis. / Graduate

The aim of this paper is to answer the questions ”What opinions do LGBT-youth have about libraries?” and ”What are LGBT-youths thoughts on the treatment they get at libraries?”. The theories that are used are the queer theory and norm criticism. The method that is used is interviews with LGBT-youth. The study shows that there is very little LGBT-themed media in libraries, especially media about less wellknown identities. It also shows that the treatment LGBT-youth gets at libraries generally is neutral. The concept of a seperate place in the library to keep the LGBT-themed media is debated between the people that were interviewed. Some think it is a good idea, this way the media would be easier to be found. Some think it is a bad idea because that puts younger LGBT-kids in a spotlight that they may not be ready for. Something that can help with this, and is also discussed, is a LGBTqualification libraries can get from RSFL, even if this also has both good and bad qualities.