Graduation date: 2006 / Two decades of literature from national college student climate reports measuring student attitudes toward people who are lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) indicate, “anti-GLBT intolerance and harassment has been prevalent” (Rankin, 2003). This study seeks to explore the determinants of such attitudes and explore the life contexts of students’ processes by which they came to hold such attitudes through a qualitative interview approach. The eight themes that emerged from the interviews reflect participants’ own voices and their worldviews about LGBT people. These themes inform a framework of general recommendations for student affairs programming efforts to reduce homophobia and resistance to LGBT people and lifestyles throughout campus.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how gender and sexuality are made in the videogames Prince of Persia and Fable II, and more specifically to look at possibilities and limitations for the construction of gender and sexuality in these games. I understand videogames as an interactive media form that differs from other types of media like film and literature. It is a media form that depends on a player to be played. At the same time it is constituted by rules of how it can be played. I have analyzed my material by a method called close-playing. I ask questions about the conditions for play in terms of avatar design, ways of acting in and moving through the game by using Judith Butler’s notion of the heterosexual matrix and Gayle Rubin’s sex value system. I have found that Prince of Persia does not offer the player any possibilities to contribute to the making of gender and sexuality of the avatar. Fable II on the other hand provides a range of options that shape gender and sexuality. But at the same time the game rewards the player if he or she shapes the gender and sexuality of the avatar in a way that fits the heterosexual matrix. I argue that Prince of Persia carries rules for how you can shape gender and sexuality, and Fable II, carries rules for how you should shape it.

Denna uppsats tar sin början i ett intresse av att studera ungdomars konstituerande av identitet. Vi valde att utföra vår studie i Rädda Barnens projekt Ellen & allan som arrangerar samtalsgrupper med en normkritisk agenda för ungdomar i 14-års ålder. Syftet är att genom en kvalitativ studie skapa förståelse för hur ungdomarna som deltar i Ellen & allan konstituerar en maskulin respektive feminin identitet, samt betydelsen av ungdomarnas sociala relationer för detta konstituerande.  Studiens omfattning utgörs av tre intervjuer med projektledare och samtalsledare för projektet och av sex timmars observation vid fyra separata tillfällen i en Ellengrupp och i en allangrupp. Intervjuerna bidrog till kunskap om projektet som förberedde oss och skapade ett tydligt fokus inför vårt möte med fältet. Intervjuerna var utformade på ett sådant sätt att de kom att generera material som korrelerade med våra observationsdata.  Från vår analys av intervjuer och observationer drar vi slutsatsen att ungdomarnas behov av att skapa och upprätthålla sociala relationer leder till en konformitet inom samtalsgrupperna som bidrar till att ungdomarnas konstituerande av maskulin respektive feminin identitet görs med ursprung i en maskulin heterosexuell hegemoni. I denna hegemoni förknippas den maskulina identiteten med överordning och makt medan den feminina identiteten är passiv och underordnad och anses vara den maskulina identitetens motsats. / The notion of this study initially started taking shape through our interest in studying the constitution of identity in young adolescent people. The study was carried out in the Save the Children project Ellen & allan which organizes discussion groups with a norm-critical agenda for young people in the age of 14. The purpose of this study was to analyze how young people participating in Ellen & allan constitutes a masculine and feminine identity, and the importance of young people's social relationships for this constituent.  The study consists of three interviews with project managers and discussion leaders of the project, and of six hours of observation on four separate occasions in an Ellen-group and in an allan-group. The interviews contributed to an understanding of the project which prepared us and created a clear focus for our meeting with the field. The interviews were also designed in such a way that they came to produce data that could be correlated with our observation data.  From our analysis of the interviews and observations, we conclude that young people’s need to create and maintain social relationships lead to conformity within the discussion groups, contributing to adolescents constituting a masculine and feminine identity that originates from a masculine heterosexual hegemony. In such hegemony the masculine identity consists of attributes of agency and power, whereas the feminine identity is passive and subordinate and is considered being the opposite of a masculine identity.

This thesis seeks to explore how young, educated and seemingly liberated women construct their identities and make sense of their futures around their heterosexual relationships. Using the experiences of eight women participants engaged in long-term heterosexual relationships, combined with relevant secondary literature, issues of sexuality, identity, power and intimacy are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the implications of their identity construction and how they 'perform' their roles as women in society. How their sexual stories reflect their positioning in society is premised by the phrase, 'the personal is political' . Through analysis of the participants' experiences mixed with theoretical arguments, this thesis finds that young women are apparently sexually, economically and intellectually liberated but locked into discourses that provide highly unequal, limiting, disempowering and oppressive understandings of masculinity, femininity and sexuality. They live and experience a reality which is far from liberated.

The purpose of this dissertation is to utilize an intersectional approach to determine what external factors (social, political, and economic) contribute to the health challenges of black heterosexual women and black queer women in the American South. The dissertation made a comparison between black heterosexual women and black queer women to explore whether their health challenges result from their social, political, and economic experiences. The research further examined how the daily experiences of these black women impact their health. This dissertation found that the daily lives of black heterosexual and black queer women associated with their social, economic, and political experiences create vulnerability in the health challenges of these populations. The dissertation also found that black queer women appear to become a sub-population whose health is poorer than their black heterosexual female counterparts because they suffer additional challenges, in the form of isolation and stigmatization, resulting from their sexual orientation in the American South.

La transmission hétérosexuelle de HIV de l’homme vers la femme est le principal mode de contamination dans le monde. Il implique la mise en contact du sperme infecté avec la muqueuse génitale féminine saine, puis le passage du virus libre ou associé aux cellules à travers la muqueuse. Les mécanismes impliqués dans la transmission de HIV de l’homme vers la femme ainsi que l’impact du plasma séminal sur la transmission sélective des virus à tropisme R5 sont encore mal connus. Au cours de mon séjour doctoral nous avons visualisé le passage du virus associé aux cellules ainsi que du virus libre à travers la muqueuse génitale endocervicale. Dans un premier temps l’étude s’est focalisée sur la transmigration de cellules immunitaires infectées par HIV à travers un modèle in vitro de muqueuse endocervicale reconstruite, ainsi que sur le rôle du plasma séminal dans la transmission de HIV et la sélection des virus à tropisme R5. Par la suite, un virus chimérique fluorescent, réplicatif et infectieux, permettant sa détection par microscopie confocale sur plusieurs cycles de réplication, a été développé. Après mise en contact de ce virus chimérique, à tropisme X4 ou R5, avec la muqueuse endocervicale, nous avons visualisé par microscopie confocale l’infection des cellules épithéliales endocervicales et la transmission de HIV à des cellules immunitaires disposées au pôle basal. L’utilisation d’un modèle mathématique nous a permis de standardiser et quantifier la détection de cellules infectées dans la muqueuse. Mes travaux de thèse décrivent dans un premier temps l’importance du passage de HIV associé aux cellules dans la transmission hétérosexuelle, ainsi que l’implication du plasma séminal dans la sélection des virus à tropisme R5. De plus, le modèle virologique développé permet de visualiser directement la transmission hétérosexuelle de HIV à travers la muqueuse génitale féminine. J’ai ainsi démontré qu’il est possible de visualiser directement, de localiser et de quantifier la présence du virus au sein de la muqueuse. Cet outil virologique permettra d’approfondir les connaissances et la compréhension des mécanismes impliqués dans la transmission hétérosexuelle de HIV et dans la sélection des virus à tropisme R5 / Heterosexual transmission of HIV from men to women is the main route of contamination by this agent worldwide. This mode of transmission involves the contact between infected semen and healthy female genital mucosa, and then the crossing of cell-free or cell-associated viruses through the mucosa. The mechanisms involved in HIV transmission from men to women as well as the role of seminal plasma in selective transmission of R5-tropic viruses stay partially unknown. During the course of my PhD we visualized the crossing of cell-associated and cell-free virus through the endocervical genital mucosa. Initially, the study focused on the transmigration of infected immune cells through an in vitro model of endocervical mucosa, as well as on the role of seminal plasma in HIV transmission and selection of R5-tropic strains. Afterwards, we developed a fluorescent, replicative competent, infectious chimeric virus allowing its detection by confocal microscopy after several replication cycles. After contact of the endocervical mucosa with X4- or R5-tropic chimeric viruses, we visualized by confocal microscopy the infection of endocervical epithelial cells and the transmission of HIV to immune cells placed in the basal compartment. The use of a mathematical model allowed standardizing and quantifying the detection of infected cells in the mucosa. My PhD work describes as a first step the importance of the crossing of cell-associated HIV particles in the heterosexual transmission, as well as the involvement of seminal plasma in the selection of R5-tropic strains. Moreover, the virological model developed herein allows the direct visualization of HIV transmission through the female genital mucosa. I have thus demonstrated that it is possible to localize and quantify viral particles within the mucosa. This virological tool help to better understand the mechanisms involved in HIV heterosexual transmission and the selection of R5-tropic strains

No description available.

This essay examines how trans people experience Swedish public libraries, as well as how the library can be an integral part of their trans identity work. The data sample was collected through semi-structured phenomenological interviews with five trans and non-binary library users. The analysis of the interview data was done using the method of thematic analysis (TA), following an inductive approach. The theoretical framework focuses on five different, but connecting, concepts. Mainly, theories about intersectionality; whiteness; the heterosexual matrix; orientation; and categorization. The results of this study show that trans people use and experience the library in a myriad of different ways. It is clear, however, that all the informants look to libraries to provide them with material that they can see themselves represented in, to get a sense of validation for their gender identity. Even though the library provides this in some ways, other aspects connected to libraries function to hinder trans people in their identity work. There are several ways that libraries can improve on their services toward trans patrons, and one of these are to better facilitate meetings between different trans people through more activities catering towards this group. In short, libraries need to be mindful about this specific group both when it comes to the services they offer, as well as the physical layout of the library space. These are all aspects which affect and influence trans people and their ability to construct and express their gender identity. / Den här uppsatsen undersöker hur transpersoner upplever Svenska folkbibliotek, och dessutom hur biblioteken kan fungera som en viktig faktor i deras identitetsarbete. Dataansatsen samlades in via semi-strukturerade fenomenologiska intervjuer med fem trans- och icke-binära biblioteksanvändare. Analysen denna intervjudata gjordes med hjälp av metoden tematisk analys (TA), utifrån en induktiv ansats. Det teoretiska ramverket fokuserar på fem olika, men integrerade, koncept. Detta baserat på teorier kring intersektionalitet; vithet; den heterosexuella matrisen; orientering; och kategorisering.  Resultatet av denna studie visar att transpersoner använder och upplever bibliotek på en rad olika sätt. Det framgår dock tydligt att informanterna alla ser till biblioteken för att erhålla material de kan se sig själva representerade i för att få en känsla av erkännande av deras genusidentitet. Även om biblioteken lyckas erbjuda detta i vissa fall lyckas andra apsekter av biblioteken fungera för att hindra dem i deras identitetsarbete som transpersoner. Det finns flera sätt som biblioteken kan förbättra deras tjänster gentemot sina användare som är trans, ett av sätten vilket relaterar till att arbeta mer mot att skapa mötesrum för transpersoner genom att erbjuda mer aktiviteter som riktar sig mot denna grupp. I korthet kan man säga att bibliotek måste vara medvetna kring hur de vänder sig mot den här användargruppen, både när det kommer till vilka tjänster de erbjuder samt hur biblioteket som fysisk plats utformas. Dessa är alla aspekter som påverkar och har en inverkan på transpersoners möjlighet att konstruera och uttrycka sin genusidentitet.

No description available.

Syftet med den föreliggande studien var att undersöka könsskillnader i motiv och tillvägagångssätt hos förövare av dödligt partnervåld i heterosexuella parrelationer. En kvantitativ forskningsmetod användes i denna icke-experimentella tvärsnittsstudie, där data samlades in från ett urval av svenska domstolars domar, det vill säga tingsrätter, hovrätter och Högsta domstolens domar publicerade i en juridisk databas. Ett urval av N = 49 domar granskades med hjälp av ett kodschema, varav n = 30 domar hade en manlig förövare och n = 19 domar en kvinnlig förövare. De erhållna datan analyserades genom ett chi2-test for independence. Resultaten indikerar att kön hos förövare av dödligt partnervåld var signifikant relaterat till motiv till det dödliga våldet där tidigare utsatthet för partnervåld skiljde sig åt signifikant mellan män och kvinnor, men inte till tillvägagångssätt i det dödliga våldet. Slutsatser som drogs av denna studie var att motiv till dödligt partnervåld skiljer sig åt med anledning av förövarens könstillhörighet, medan tillvägagångssätt i dödligt partnervåld var samma oavsett könstillhörighet. / The purpose of the present study was to examine gender differences in motives and methods among perpetrators of lethal partner violence in heterosexual relationships. A quantitative design was used in this non-experimental cross-sectional study, in which data were collected from a sample of the legal cases of Swedish courts, also the legal cases of district courts, courts of appeal and the Supreme Court published in a judicial database. A sample of N = 49 legal cases were examined by means of a coding scheme, including n = 30 legal cases consisting of male perpetrators and n = 19 legal cases of female perpetrators. The obtained data were analyzed by using a chi-square test for independence. The results indicate that the gender of perpetrators in lethal partner violence was significantly related to motives for the lethal violence, in which prior exposure to intimate partner violence differed significantly between men and women, but not to methods of the lethal violence. Conclusions drawn from this study were that the motives for lethal partner violence differed because of the perpetrator's gender, while the methods of lethal partner violence were the same regardless of gender.