Previous research indicates that gay men‟s relationships with their mothers are generally more warm, supportive, and emotional than their relationships with their fathers, and that fathers are less likely to be told, less likely to be told first, and more likely to react negatively to disclosure than mothers would. Most of these findings are derived from asking sons to report on their parental relationships. As such, very little is known about the nature of the father-son relationship before, during, and after disclosure, from the father‟s perspective. The aim of this thesis, therefore, is to uncover and explore first-hand accounts of the experiences and taken-for-granted meanings that potentially shape heterosexual fathers‟ relationships with their gay sons. A sample comprising six Afrikaans-speaking, white fathers, between the ages of 53 and 61 years, from a middle to upper-middle income bracket, and residing in Gauteng, South Africa, were selected purposively through the use of opportunistic or convenience sampling. Utilising an interpretivist approach located within the qualitative research paradigm, an individual in-depth interview strategy was adopted as a means of gathering data. A brief questionnaire probing demographic characteristics was also utilised to further contextualise the data obtained in the interviews. All the interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed for later coding and analysis. Through the use of thematic network analysis, eight organising themes were uncovered, including (a) subliminal awareness prior to coming out; (b) epistemic rupture of internal system of beliefs; (c) personal paradigmatic shifts; (d) acceptance as a complex and ongoing dialectical and reconciliatory process; (e) ambiguous loss; (f) persistent history of thought; (f) wrestling with the reason why; and (g) coming out as a dual experience. Each organising theme contained several basic themes. On the whole, the themes support the view that most parents are neither totally rejecting nor fully accepting of their gay sons. The fathers are seen to navigate their way through a plethora of experiences and meanings that are not only likely to inform the development of their multidimensional identities as men and fathers, but also shape their unique relationships with their gay sons. While the fathers may have attained a level of “loving denial” in their relationships with their gay sons, most continue to struggle with the meaning and expression of same-sex sexuality, and appear to wrestle with the challenge of integrating their understanding of same-sex sexuality with their constructions of traditional Afrikaner masculinity, as well as their meanings associated with having a gay son. However, unlike prior reports of a poor father-son dyad, the fathers reported a general improvement in their relationship with their gay son after he came out. This discrepancy may be attributed to the possibility that the particular group of fathers who volunteered to discuss their father-son relationships willingly were further along in the acceptance process. Recommendations for future research, includes an exploration of the dynamic interaction between heterosexual and gay constructions of masculinity within the father-son dyad before, during and after disclosure, examining the role that mothers play in influencing the quality of the father-son relationship before, during and after disclosure, uncovering the intra- and inter-personal variables that may facilitate the adaptive adjustment processes among fathers over the longer term, and exploring the contexts and processes associated with transitions within fatherhood across the life course of fathers of gay sons. / Heterosexual fathers' relationships with their gay sons / Psychology / D. Phil.

This qualitative exploratory and descriptive study explored and described the experiences of HIV sero-discordant couples post diagnosis at the Perinatal HIV Research Unit in Soweto, Gauteng Province. Data was collected using in-depth interviews with each individual from seven HIV sero-discordant couples. Following thematic analysis, four themes emerged: immediate response to HIV sero-discordant results; challenges in relation to disclosure of HIV sero-status; limited information on HIV sero-discordant; and the impact of HIV sero-discordant on the couples. All these were mainly linked to poor counselling and inadequate support to HIV sero-discordant couples. The findings of this study have both clinical and policy development implications. Recommendations have been put forward for development of contextual relevant HIV Sero-discordant Couple Counselling and support guidelines focusing of enhancing knowledge and skills of health care professionals responsible for counselling and supporting HIV sero-discordant couples. / Health Studies / M. A. (Public Health)

No description available.

In this thesis I explore the social construction of sexuality and sexual dysfunction. Interviews were undertaken with 20 sex therapists practising in Aotearoa/New Zealand in order to elicit accounts of contemporary sex therapy practice in the local context. Using a feminist poststructuralist lens, I explicate and critically examine the dominant discourses informing the construction of sex therapy, and heterosexual sexual relations, and what these discourses enable and constrain. I draw attention to some of the assumptions embedded in the construction of the sexual dysfunctions in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR, APA, 2000), and in accounts of sex therapy practice, examining the ways in which these are based on taken-for-granted norms of (hetero)sexuality and highlighting the differently enabled gendered sexual subjectivities they (re)produce. Although there are nine sexual dysfunctions identified in the DSM-IV-TR, all of which I briefly outline in Chapter Four, I restrict my focus in the analytical chapters to the conceptualisation and treatment of vaginismus, orgasm difficulties in women, discrepancies in desire and, relatedly, the gendering of desire through powerful sociocultural discourses and representations. I pay particular attention to the implications of these for heterosexual women’s sexuality. I also explore some of the generic concepts that dominate the construction of therapy at a broader level than that of sex therapy alone, arguing that while these offer some useful ways of framing therapy they also constrain therapy practice in important ways. Through a critical review of the sex therapy literature and accounts of practice from those interviewed, I contend that contemporary sex therapy tends to reify dominant cultural and sexological norms rather than challenge them. My analyses show that the dominant discourses informing constructions of sex therapy and heterosexual sexual relations produce particular types of sex as normal whilst marginalizing sexual acts or practices that fall outside of such restrictive parameters. In particular, I argue that the genital-coital-orgasm construct that is hegemonic within sex therapy restricts possibilities for alternative erotic pleasures and possibilities amongst heterosexuals whilst contributing to the invisibilization of sexual identities other than heterosexual. Accounts of sex therapy practice that were able to contest such framings are also highlighted. Because these came from sex therapists drawing on radical feminist or feminist poststructuralist discourses, I suggest that these discourses offer important possibilities for a deconstructive (sex) therapy practice that is able to challenge an often inequitable sexual status quo. Attention is also drawn to the significant constraints which act to restrict clients’ choices and possibilities for sex therapists to practise in more critically questioning ways. I conclude this thesis with an ‘invitation to reflection’ where I briefly discuss some deconstructive approaches that I have found useful for developing ongoing reflexive analysis of my own taken-for-granted assumptions in the area of sexuality, and for aiding my thinking about therapeutic practices that support my political and theoretical commitments and that attend to some of the issues outlined in this thesis. / Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.

<p>Mot bakgrund av att asexualitet på senare år formulerats som en möjlig sexuell identitet, orientering eller preferens är syftet med uppsatsen att teoretisera den asexuella positionen – här definierat som ”frånvaro av lust till sexuell praktik”. Detta görs genom en nära läsning av fyra texter som varit centrala inom feministisk och queer teoribildning, med intentionen att undersöka hur asexualitet positioneras i relation till dessa teorier. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna hämtas från feministiska och konstruktivistiska teorier om kön, sexualitet, makt och subjektstatus, främst Michel Foucault (1976)och Judith Butler (1990). Mina läsningar visar att i Gayle Rubins sexuella värdehierarki (1984) tilldelas positioner utifrån sexuellt aktörskap, och det är således sexuella subjekt som kan emanciperas. I Adrienne Rich’s text om obligatorisk heterosexualitet (1980) tillskrivs även den icke-sexuella kvinnan aktörskapet att undkomma tvångsheterosexualisering - Rich’s införande av ett lesbiskt kontinuum kan ses som en dekonstruktion av en sexuell kategori. I min läsning av Michael Warner (1993) frågar jag huruvida den queera metoden även kan användas till att ifrågasätta normer om att vara sexuell, och i min läsning av Butler (1990) diskuterar jag frånvaro av begär i relation till möjliga subjektspositioner inom ramen för en heterosexuell matris. I min slutdiskussion återknyter jag till Foucault, och problematiserar (a)sexualitet ur ett könsmaktsperspektiv. Jag avslutar med att problematisera den gränsdragning mellan sexuellt och icke-sexuellt vi alla ständigt avkrävs att göra.</p>

Mot bakgrund av att asexualitet på senare år formulerats som en möjlig sexuell identitet, orientering eller preferens är syftet med uppsatsen att teoretisera den asexuella positionen – här definierat som ”frånvaro av lust till sexuell praktik”. Detta görs genom en nära läsning av fyra texter som varit centrala inom feministisk och queer teoribildning, med intentionen att undersöka hur asexualitet positioneras i relation till dessa teorier. De teoretiska utgångspunkterna hämtas från feministiska och konstruktivistiska teorier om kön, sexualitet, makt och subjektstatus, främst Michel Foucault (1976)och Judith Butler (1990). Mina läsningar visar att i Gayle Rubins sexuella värdehierarki (1984) tilldelas positioner utifrån sexuellt aktörskap, och det är således sexuella subjekt som kan emanciperas. I Adrienne Rich’s text om obligatorisk heterosexualitet (1980) tillskrivs även den icke-sexuella kvinnan aktörskapet att undkomma tvångsheterosexualisering - Rich’s införande av ett lesbiskt kontinuum kan ses som en dekonstruktion av en sexuell kategori. I min läsning av Michael Warner (1993) frågar jag huruvida den queera metoden även kan användas till att ifrågasätta normer om att vara sexuell, och i min läsning av Butler (1990) diskuterar jag frånvaro av begär i relation till möjliga subjektspositioner inom ramen för en heterosexuell matris. I min slutdiskussion återknyter jag till Foucault, och problematiserar (a)sexualitet ur ett könsmaktsperspektiv. Jag avslutar med att problematisera den gränsdragning mellan sexuellt och icke-sexuellt vi alla ständigt avkrävs att göra.

This paper aims to examine the heteronormativity that is present in John Galsworthy’s The Forsyte Saga. This is achieved by performing a queer reading of the text with the help of Swedish Queer theorists Fanny Ambjörnsson and Tiina Rosenberg. I study the norm and how it is enforced by law, society and family. To get a complete image of the heteronormativity I also need to analyze the gender presented in the saga. For that task I use Judith Butler’s definitions of gender identity and the heterosexual matrix. I conclude that there is only a slight gender variation in the saga, mostly concerning the woman. Meanwhile the norms are broken repeatedly by different people and for different reasons. Generally all the non-normative behavior that is out of the public eye gets included and silenced by the family who acts as the norm. / Den här uppsatsen behandlar genus och heteronormativitet i romansviten Forsytesagan, hur dessa tar sig uttryck och vilken inverkan de har på romanfigurerna. Detta görs genom en queerläsning fokuserad på vad som sägs och än mer inte sägs i sagan. Det som analyseras är relationerna mellan människor, kraven som ställs på dem och deras begär till makt över egendom och över varandra. Vidare diskuteras hur heteronormen förändras under romanens gång, hur romanfigurerna bär sig åt för att hålla sig inom normen och vad som händer med dem som bryter mot normen. Slutsatsen blir att sagan behandlar förvånansvärt många frågor som än idag är aktuella, vissa av dem inlindade för att kunna tas upp i en sekelskiftsroman. Dessutom visas hur både genus och heteronorm förändrats under romanens gång, både i samhället i stort och inom familjen. Inte minst ges exempel på hur familjen agerar som norm och inkluderar alla avvikelser så länge som dessa sköts privat.

In this thesis I explore the social construction of sexuality and sexual dysfunction. Interviews were undertaken with 20 sex therapists practising in Aotearoa/New Zealand in order to elicit accounts of contemporary sex therapy practice in the local context. Using a feminist poststructuralist lens, I explicate and critically examine the dominant discourses informing the construction of sex therapy, and heterosexual sexual relations, and what these discourses enable and constrain. I draw attention to some of the assumptions embedded in the construction of the sexual dysfunctions in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR, APA, 2000), and in accounts of sex therapy practice, examining the ways in which these are based on taken-for-granted norms of (hetero)sexuality and highlighting the differently enabled gendered sexual subjectivities they (re)produce. Although there are nine sexual dysfunctions identified in the DSM-IV-TR, all of which I briefly outline in Chapter Four, I restrict my focus in the analytical chapters to the conceptualisation and treatment of vaginismus, orgasm difficulties in women, discrepancies in desire and, relatedly, the gendering of desire through powerful sociocultural discourses and representations. I pay particular attention to the implications of these for heterosexual women’s sexuality. I also explore some of the generic concepts that dominate the construction of therapy at a broader level than that of sex therapy alone, arguing that while these offer some useful ways of framing therapy they also constrain therapy practice in important ways. Through a critical review of the sex therapy literature and accounts of practice from those interviewed, I contend that contemporary sex therapy tends to reify dominant cultural and sexological norms rather than challenge them. My analyses show that the dominant discourses informing constructions of sex therapy and heterosexual sexual relations produce particular types of sex as normal whilst marginalizing sexual acts or practices that fall outside of such restrictive parameters. In particular, I argue that the genital-coital-orgasm construct that is hegemonic within sex therapy restricts possibilities for alternative erotic pleasures and possibilities amongst heterosexuals whilst contributing to the invisibilization of sexual identities other than heterosexual. Accounts of sex therapy practice that were able to contest such framings are also highlighted. Because these came from sex therapists drawing on radical feminist or feminist poststructuralist discourses, I suggest that these discourses offer important possibilities for a deconstructive (sex) therapy practice that is able to challenge an often inequitable sexual status quo. Attention is also drawn to the significant constraints which act to restrict clients’ choices and possibilities for sex therapists to practise in more critically questioning ways. I conclude this thesis with an ‘invitation to reflection’ where I briefly discuss some deconstructive approaches that I have found useful for developing ongoing reflexive analysis of my own taken-for-granted assumptions in the area of sexuality, and for aiding my thinking about therapeutic practices that support my political and theoretical commitments and that attend to some of the issues outlined in this thesis. / Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.

In this thesis I explore the social construction of sexuality and sexual dysfunction. Interviews were undertaken with 20 sex therapists practising in Aotearoa/New Zealand in order to elicit accounts of contemporary sex therapy practice in the local context. Using a feminist poststructuralist lens, I explicate and critically examine the dominant discourses informing the construction of sex therapy, and heterosexual sexual relations, and what these discourses enable and constrain. I draw attention to some of the assumptions embedded in the construction of the sexual dysfunctions in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR, APA, 2000), and in accounts of sex therapy practice, examining the ways in which these are based on taken-for-granted norms of (hetero)sexuality and highlighting the differently enabled gendered sexual subjectivities they (re)produce. Although there are nine sexual dysfunctions identified in the DSM-IV-TR, all of which I briefly outline in Chapter Four, I restrict my focus in the analytical chapters to the conceptualisation and treatment of vaginismus, orgasm difficulties in women, discrepancies in desire and, relatedly, the gendering of desire through powerful sociocultural discourses and representations. I pay particular attention to the implications of these for heterosexual women’s sexuality. I also explore some of the generic concepts that dominate the construction of therapy at a broader level than that of sex therapy alone, arguing that while these offer some useful ways of framing therapy they also constrain therapy practice in important ways. Through a critical review of the sex therapy literature and accounts of practice from those interviewed, I contend that contemporary sex therapy tends to reify dominant cultural and sexological norms rather than challenge them. My analyses show that the dominant discourses informing constructions of sex therapy and heterosexual sexual relations produce particular types of sex as normal whilst marginalizing sexual acts or practices that fall outside of such restrictive parameters. In particular, I argue that the genital-coital-orgasm construct that is hegemonic within sex therapy restricts possibilities for alternative erotic pleasures and possibilities amongst heterosexuals whilst contributing to the invisibilization of sexual identities other than heterosexual. Accounts of sex therapy practice that were able to contest such framings are also highlighted. Because these came from sex therapists drawing on radical feminist or feminist poststructuralist discourses, I suggest that these discourses offer important possibilities for a deconstructive (sex) therapy practice that is able to challenge an often inequitable sexual status quo. Attention is also drawn to the significant constraints which act to restrict clients’ choices and possibilities for sex therapists to practise in more critically questioning ways. I conclude this thesis with an ‘invitation to reflection’ where I briefly discuss some deconstructive approaches that I have found useful for developing ongoing reflexive analysis of my own taken-for-granted assumptions in the area of sexuality, and for aiding my thinking about therapeutic practices that support my political and theoretical commitments and that attend to some of the issues outlined in this thesis. / Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.

In this thesis I explore the social construction of sexuality and sexual dysfunction. Interviews were undertaken with 20 sex therapists practising in Aotearoa/New Zealand in order to elicit accounts of contemporary sex therapy practice in the local context. Using a feminist poststructuralist lens, I explicate and critically examine the dominant discourses informing the construction of sex therapy, and heterosexual sexual relations, and what these discourses enable and constrain. I draw attention to some of the assumptions embedded in the construction of the sexual dysfunctions in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR, APA, 2000), and in accounts of sex therapy practice, examining the ways in which these are based on taken-for-granted norms of (hetero)sexuality and highlighting the differently enabled gendered sexual subjectivities they (re)produce. Although there are nine sexual dysfunctions identified in the DSM-IV-TR, all of which I briefly outline in Chapter Four, I restrict my focus in the analytical chapters to the conceptualisation and treatment of vaginismus, orgasm difficulties in women, discrepancies in desire and, relatedly, the gendering of desire through powerful sociocultural discourses and representations. I pay particular attention to the implications of these for heterosexual women’s sexuality. I also explore some of the generic concepts that dominate the construction of therapy at a broader level than that of sex therapy alone, arguing that while these offer some useful ways of framing therapy they also constrain therapy practice in important ways. Through a critical review of the sex therapy literature and accounts of practice from those interviewed, I contend that contemporary sex therapy tends to reify dominant cultural and sexological norms rather than challenge them. My analyses show that the dominant discourses informing constructions of sex therapy and heterosexual sexual relations produce particular types of sex as normal whilst marginalizing sexual acts or practices that fall outside of such restrictive parameters. In particular, I argue that the genital-coital-orgasm construct that is hegemonic within sex therapy restricts possibilities for alternative erotic pleasures and possibilities amongst heterosexuals whilst contributing to the invisibilization of sexual identities other than heterosexual. Accounts of sex therapy practice that were able to contest such framings are also highlighted. Because these came from sex therapists drawing on radical feminist or feminist poststructuralist discourses, I suggest that these discourses offer important possibilities for a deconstructive (sex) therapy practice that is able to challenge an often inequitable sexual status quo. Attention is also drawn to the significant constraints which act to restrict clients’ choices and possibilities for sex therapists to practise in more critically questioning ways. I conclude this thesis with an ‘invitation to reflection’ where I briefly discuss some deconstructive approaches that I have found useful for developing ongoing reflexive analysis of my own taken-for-granted assumptions in the area of sexuality, and for aiding my thinking about therapeutic practices that support my political and theoretical commitments and that attend to some of the issues outlined in this thesis. / Whole document restricted, but available by request, use the feedback form to request access.