This thesis argues that the work of the artist David McDiarmid is to be read as an enactment of late twentieth century gay male and queer politics. It will analyse how both the idea and the cultural specificity of ???America??? impacted on the work of this Australian artist resident in New York from 1979 to 1987. The thesis examines how African American music, The Beats, notions of ???hip??? and ???cool???, street art and graffiti, the underground dance club Paradise Garage, street cruising and gay male urban culture influenced the sensibility and the materiality of the artist???s work. McDiarmid???s cultural practice of dress and adornment, it is proposed, forms an essential part of his creative oeuvre and of the ???queer worldmaking??? which is the driver of his creative achievements. The thesis proposes that McDiarmid was a Proto-queer artist before the politics of queer emerged in the 1980s and that his work, including his own life-as-art practices of dress and adornment, enact a mobile rather than fixed gay male identity.

This thesis argues that the work of the artist David McDiarmid is to be read as an enactment of late twentieth century gay male and queer politics. It will analyse how both the idea and the cultural specificity of ???America??? impacted on the work of this Australian artist resident in New York from 1979 to 1987. The thesis examines how African American music, The Beats, notions of ???hip??? and ???cool???, street art and graffiti, the underground dance club Paradise Garage, street cruising and gay male urban culture influenced the sensibility and the materiality of the artist???s work. McDiarmid???s cultural practice of dress and adornment, it is proposed, forms an essential part of his creative oeuvre and of the ???queer worldmaking??? which is the driver of his creative achievements. The thesis proposes that McDiarmid was a Proto-queer artist before the politics of queer emerged in the 1980s and that his work, including his own life-as-art practices of dress and adornment, enact a mobile rather than fixed gay male identity.

This study explores the relationship between ideals of motherhood and heterosexual normativity, from the perspective of women at the margins of these discourses. The title, In the shadow of Motherhood, illustrates the overriding power of the image of motherhood to marginalise alternative experiences. The concept of motherhood, like that of Family, has traditionally signalled the reproduction of the normative; it does not usually encompass the critical scrutiny that would allow for diverse experiences of mothering. Theoretically, the study is located within the fields of feminist sociology and inclusive family studies in productive dialogue with queer notions of gender and sexuality. Methodologically, it is inspired by narrative analysis and consists of in-depth interviews with eight lesbian, bisexual and heterosexual women grappling with different experiences of motherhood and mothering practices. Some of them identify as mothers while others do not, but by not being biogenetic mothers within a heterosexual relationship they share the position of being outside of what is often considered normal, natural and desirable. The analysis reveals a considerable variation in the positions, experiences and identities of the participants, particularly in regards to changes over time, which cannot be reduced to binary categories such as heterosexual/lesbian, biological/non-biological, mother/childless or voluntary/involuntary childlessness. The analysis also exposes a deep tension between ideologies of motherhood and lived experiences of care practices. Furthermore, from the perspective of the participants, the boundaries between inclusion and exclusion reinforce and challenge each other, creating spaces of both individual and collective resistance. The study illuminates the need to shift the location of these experiences from the margins to the centre not only in sociological research of family and gender, but also within feminist sociology.

The 1980s was a decade when homosexuality was frequently debated because of the contemporary incoming of aids. Since aids first affected homo- and bisexual men they became stigmatized as the risk group. The Swedish authorities started to act with epidemical methods at 1985/86, which restricted the sexual minority. This study, unlike others made before, contextualizes the lawmaking of Bastuklubbslagen, a prohibition concerning gaysaunas, by analyzing it with queer theoretic perspectives. Through an investigation of Bastuklubbslagen and contemporary sexual norms, this survey shows that the making of distinctions between hetero- and homosexuality were central to the context of the lawmaking. The outcome primarily shows that sexual norms were linked to a heteronormative point of view when Bastuklubbslagen was motivated by the authorities. Heteronormative ideals about monogamy and twosomeness made impact on the founding of the law. Sex between men was pointed out as harmful and gaysaunas as the explicit locations for the spreading of aids. My survey is contextualizing behaviors as the authorities described meant a risk of being infected by aids, or to spread it. My study has shown that homo- and bisexuals were regarded as the active actors of aids increasing, while the heterosexual majority was passivated. In the field of historical queer studies this study enhances the greatness of heterosexual normativity within the stigmatization and sanctions made by the authorities’, as Bastuklubbslagen became an aids prevention strategy.

A heterossexualidade não é natural, ela é uma condição culturalmente construída que precisa ser constantemente reiterada de modo a ‘normalizar’ os sujeitos. Esta pesquisa assume tal premissa como seu fundamento. No que se refere à perspectiva analítica, alinho-me aos Estudos Culturais em sua vertente pós-estruturalista e recorro a formulações dos Estudos Feministas e da Teoria Queer. Entendo que, no processo contínuo de reiteração da heterossexualidade como norma, inúmeras estratégias e artefatos culturais são utilizados. Nesta tese, analiso os mecanismos postos em ação pelos filmes infantis de animação da Disney, quais sejam: A Pequena Sereia, Mulan, A Bela e a Fera e O Rei Leão. Esses artefatos culturais têm grande importância não apenas no cotidiano das crianças, como também no funcionamento da economia global, movimentando milhões de dólares. Eles certamente constituem-se em importante recurso pedagógico contemporâneo. Interessam-me, aqui, especialmente os enunciados performativos que são repetidos nos filmes infantis, de modo a produzir identidades de gênero e sexuais e garantir a heterossexualidade como norma Acredito que a identidade hegemônica não é perseguida apenas e tão somente através da constante apresentação do Mesmo, mas também (e, talvez, principalmente) é reafirmada através da produção do estranho, do monstro, do abjeto, que funcionam, nesse contexto, como parâmetros de normalidade, como modos de garantir o cumprimento das normas regulatórias. Para desenvolver esta análise, utilizo como ferramentas analíticas fundamentalmente os conceitos de identidade, performatividade, abjeção e normalização.

A travers l‟intervention des technologies numériques (films/vidéos, performances, installations multimédias, art en ligne), les artistes contemporains proposent de nouveaux imaginaires corporels et des perceptions inédites des genres. Cette recherche propose une analyse comparée des travaux pluridisciplinaires de Maria Klonaris, Katerina Thomadaki, Steven Cohen et Shu Lea Cheang. Leurs oeuvres permettent d‟élaborer le concept de « jouer le genre » (Judith Butler, 1990), et d‟approcher l‟image de « l‟utopie cyborg sans genre » (Donna Haraway, 1985). Ces possibilités du corps et des sexes font écho à des évolutions technologiques et culturelles, croisant la théorie queer. Ce sont des expérimentations en cours sur des identités en devenir. / Following the actual uses of digital technology (films, videos, performances, multimedia installations and Internet art), contemporary artists offer new visions of the human body and new perceptions of gender. This research offers a comparative analysis of the multidisciplinary works of Maria Klonaris, Katerina Thomadaki, Steven Cohen and Shu Lea Cheang. Their works provides a useful framework for understanding Judith Butler's theory of "gender performativity"(1990) and Donna Haraway‟s vision of "utopian dream of the hope for a monstrous world without gender"(1985). The possibilities of the body and gender respond to technological and cultural evolutions that are linked with queer theory. These works are on-going experiments for identities that are in-the-making.

This essay looks at the discourses on lgbtq topics in English language teaching aimed at upper secondary schools in Sweden. The purpose is to find out how the discourses are created by analyzing a set of textbooks as well as interviewing teachers. The method employed in this study is critical discourse analysis supported by queer theoretical perspectives. Together these frameworks help to show how the social relationships that affect lgbtq people are affecting the educational setting in English. The study finds that a separate set of discourses appear to affect textbooks and teachers. The textbooks in this study appear to be affected by discourses that favor non-lgbtq people while the teachers in this study appear to be affected by discourses that favor lgbtq people.

This video is a visual representation of the frustrations that I suffered from when I, a queer, gender non-conforming, person of color, went to “pasty normals” (a term defined by Jose Esteban Munoz to describe normative, non-exotic individuals) to get a definition of what Punk meant and where I fit into it. In this video, I personify the Punk music movement. Through my actions, I depart from the grainy, low-quality, amateur aesthetics of the Punk film and music genres and create a new world where the Queer Person of Color defines Punk. In the piece, Punk definitively says, “Don’t try to define me. Shut up and leave me to rest.”

A heterossexualidade não é natural, ela é uma condição culturalmente construída que precisa ser constantemente reiterada de modo a ‘normalizar’ os sujeitos. Esta pesquisa assume tal premissa como seu fundamento. No que se refere à perspectiva analítica, alinho-me aos Estudos Culturais em sua vertente pós-estruturalista e recorro a formulações dos Estudos Feministas e da Teoria Queer. Entendo que, no processo contínuo de reiteração da heterossexualidade como norma, inúmeras estratégias e artefatos culturais são utilizados. Nesta tese, analiso os mecanismos postos em ação pelos filmes infantis de animação da Disney, quais sejam: A Pequena Sereia, Mulan, A Bela e a Fera e O Rei Leão. Esses artefatos culturais têm grande importância não apenas no cotidiano das crianças, como também no funcionamento da economia global, movimentando milhões de dólares. Eles certamente constituem-se em importante recurso pedagógico contemporâneo. Interessam-me, aqui, especialmente os enunciados performativos que são repetidos nos filmes infantis, de modo a produzir identidades de gênero e sexuais e garantir a heterossexualidade como norma Acredito que a identidade hegemônica não é perseguida apenas e tão somente através da constante apresentação do Mesmo, mas também (e, talvez, principalmente) é reafirmada através da produção do estranho, do monstro, do abjeto, que funcionam, nesse contexto, como parâmetros de normalidade, como modos de garantir o cumprimento das normas regulatórias. Para desenvolver esta análise, utilizo como ferramentas analíticas fundamentalmente os conceitos de identidade, performatividade, abjeção e normalização.

This doctoral dissertation examines the social representation of masculinities in the contemporary Colombian cultural industry. The corpus of the study is composed by the novels of four Colombian writers (Santiago Gamboa, Alonso Sánchez Baute, John Better, and Efraím Medina) and their contributions to SoHo, a magazine for heterosexual men that is considered the Colombian version of Playboy. The research proves that gay and trans male bodies and subjectivities are commodified, spectacularized, and appropriated in order to include them in the late-capitalist logic that Colombia adopted at the beginning of the 90s. This dissertation relies on an interdisciplinary approach that combines Literary, Cultural and Gender Studies, and Queer Linguistics. In the first chapter, I argue that SoHo is a site of hybridization where local, regional, global, as well as hegemonic and counterhegemonic discourses about male Colombian sexuality concur. The second chapter focuses on the representation of gay and trans masculinities in Locas de felicidad (2009) by John Better and Al diablo la maldita primavera (2007) by Alonso Sánchez Baute, and shows how these Colombian authors question the neoliberal policies implemented in their country by constructing the male gay body as a commodity. Such construction reveals that LGBTQ subjects can only be fully considered citizens if they are useful to the imperatives of a liberal market economy. In chapter three, I explore the connection between Colombia's armed conflict, neoliberal policies, and masculinities in the novel Plegarias nocturnas (2012) by Santiago Gamboa. In this analysis I demonstrate that a violent, protectionist, and liberal masculine figure was erected in Colombia's national discourse as one of the means to cope with the longstanding military conflict in the country. Plegarias nocturnas contests this figure by emphasizing queer ways of living. The final chapter deals with Sexualidad de la Pantera Rosa (2004) by Efraím Medina and shows that although the subaltern protagonist of the novel presents himself as a critic of patriarchy, the power of his criticism is concealed through the use of an ironic and ambiguous discourse that, in the end, leads to the conservation of his heterosexual dominance. This research project is the first to analyze contemporary Colombian masculinities. The study of the rhetorical strategies employed by several writers to portray late capitalist masculinities enriches our knowledge of 20th and 21st-century Latin American literature demonstrating how it reflects the sociopolitical and economic changes of this period. In addition, by looking at how Colombian masculinities intertwine with regional and global gender politics, this research contributes to the current debates about sexual minorities and their role in maintaining neoliberal normative ways of living. Therefore, this study proposes innovative discussions regarding how the South reproduces and/or contests hegemonic discourses.