Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Although research has shown that alcohol abuse in the Western Cape is amongst the highest in South Africa, lesbian-identified women have largely been ignored in this area of research. International literature has identified alcohol abuse amongst lesbian-identified women as a significant problem, with alcohol consumption rates considerably higher than their heterosexual counterparts. This interpretative phenomenological analysis explored lesbian-identified women’s lived experiences (n = 25) with alcohol abuse through in-depth semi-structured interviews, in order to gain insight into their motivations for abusing alcohol and the impact this had on their lives and relationships. The core theme that emerged from the analysis of participants’ narratives was that alcohol abuse was related to coping with emotional distress and pain. The emotional distress participants experienced was due to their sexual minority status and encompassed aspects related to internalised homophobia, escaping pain, rejection, discrimination based on sexual orientation, mental health issues, patriarchy, heteronormativity, and homophobia. Results substantiate the need for the development of prevention, intervention, and support strategies, aimed specifically at sexual minority groups, in order to facilitate effective coping with sexual minority stress, mental health issues, and other distresses related to alcohol abuse.

In the UK, as in many western nations, there have been a number of progressive pieces of legislation enacted with the intent to eradicate discrimination on the basis of sexuality in the workplace. The pace and scale of acceptance of gay equality laws has been relatively rapid in recent years. To cite an example, in 2004 gay marriage was only legal in Belgium and Holland, whereas in 2013 it is legal in 11 countries (The Guardian, 2013). Up until this legislation came into force, the focus of previous research probably unsurprisingly has been predominately around two strands; sexual minorities’ experiences of discrimination in the workplace and the issue of disclosure/non-disclosure of a gay identity. There has been little exploration ‘beyond the closet’, in how gay men manage their identity post anti-discrimination laws combined with more liberal attitudes towards homosexuality. In particular, there has been a paucity of research on the ways gay men challenge, negotiate and conform in the two way process of managing their identities; this thesis aims to address this gap. Data were gathered from forty-five semi-structured in-depth interviews with self-identified gay men in a wide range of occupations and ages working in a seaside resort on the South coast of England. A qualitative methodology was used in order to obtain a deeper understanding of the ways gay men manage their gay identity in their interaction with others. Furthermore, by using reflexivity this thesis aims to show how the sample of respondents had modified and changed the ways they presented their gay identity throughout their working lives. In particular, the thesis aims to uncover critical incidents based upon their sexuality that respondents confronted in their interaction with others. The key findings that emerged from the data include; the identification of a range of strategies gay men deployed in how they managed their identity and dealt with discrimination from confrontation to conformity; the multiple constraints and opportunities that impacted upon the ways gay men both managed and disclosed their gay identity; the perceived incongruity around positions of authority, professionalism and a gay identity; and finally how silence was used as a form of exclusion creating significant barriers in the ways gay men could make themselves visible and use their voice within organisations. These findings considerably extend our understanding of the pervasiveness of heteronormativity in the workplace; the impact of contextual influences on managing a gay identity, and gay men’s experiences against a back drop of post-anti-discrimination laws in the U.K. The thesis will aid HR practitioners in giving them a better understanding of the dilemmas gay men face in their interactions with others in the workplace.

How do sex practices get constructed as normal? This research evaluates discussions of pegging, a gender non-conforming sex practice within heterosexual sex whereby women anally penetrate men. Data were collected from the website Reddit and its subreddit r/sex. 3,485 comments posted to 30 discussion threads were analyzed for common themes. Findings suggest that pegging confuses gendered expectations for “having sex”. Additionally, heteronormativity and homophobia were found to structure heterosexual interactions, including the ways in which gender and sexual identities, desire, and bodies are understood. This is illuminated by findings supporting “gender accountability” or the idea that we “do gender” because people anticipate how others will perceive their actions based on gender expectations. Finally, an examination of homophobia reveals ways in which homophobia operates in a hate-free zone. Homophobia was found to encourage heterosexuals’ treatment of homosexuals as distinctly different kinds of people than heterosexuals, including frequent boundary setting between what is gay and straight. Overall this project reveals that pegging is a culturally unintelligible sex act that causes a great deal of confusion, anxiety, and sometimes pleasure for those who partake.

I undersökningen om ungdomars attityder mot homosexuella ochheterosexuella brottsoffer utfördes ett experiment där 151 deltagare fick svara på en enkät. Det fanns fyra olika versioner av enkäter där brottsoffret varierade mellan hetero- och homosexuell man men även orten där brottet tog plats varierade mellan liten ort och stor stad. Resultatet visade ingen skillnad i ungdomars empati beroende på brottsoffrets sexuella läggning, dock visade det sig att unga kvinnor har något mer empati än unga män. Resultatet gav inte heller någon skillnad i ungdomars empati beroende på ort. Dock upptäcktes en interaktionseffekt i empati mellan ort och sexualitet som visade att om brottet tog plats i Stockholm kände deltagarna mer empati för en homosexuell man än en heterosexuell man samt att empatin blev motsatt i en liten ort. Resultaten visade ingen signifikant skillnad på empati mellan deltagarnas etnicitet och brottsoffrets sexualitet. Resultaten kan tillämpas som diskussionsmaterial för exempelvis gymnasieskolor.

This thesis examined the prejudiced attitudes toward homosexuals among university students in Japan, and the relationships of these attitudes with the students' demographic information, contact experiences with homosexuals, attitudes toward men's and women's roles, and living experience in foreign countries. In addition, this thesis compared Japanese and American university students' prejudice toward homosexuals. Survey data were collected from 166 university students in Japan, which is then compared to data on 956 university students in the United States (Baunach and Burgess 2002). The regression results demonstrated that Japanese respondents who had contact with homosexuals and who had relatively egalitarian gender role attitudes were less prejudiced than those who had no contact and who had relatively traditional gender role attitudes. American students expressed more prejudiced attitudes toward homosexuals than Japanese students. Even after controlling for gender, parents' education, gender role attitudes, and contact experiences, American students were more prejudiced than Japanese students.

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Research in the field of bisexuality has identified that bisexuals experience a unique kind of phobia, in that phobic responses to their sexual preferences appear from both mainstream and LGBT communities. However, little research in the UK has been conducted within the arena of sport culture to cater for the particular welfare needs of bisexual athletes. As an additional consequence, there is little theorisation of bisexuality available within the context of sport sociology. This research contributes to debates in the politics of identity by exploring a fairly new landscape within sport culture using a Foucauldian analysis of power. Discourse analyses have been utilised to interpret thirteen semi-structured interviews conducted with British athletes on the topics of bi-invisibility and the general problem of homophobia. This research also contributes to discussions concerning the mobilisation of power through discourse – certain discursive practices function to legitimize normative over non-normative sexualities and queer/fluid/bisexual identities are further stigmatized and othered. The main findings suggest that exclusions are mobilised most effectively, ironically, through sport cultural practices of inclusion, in that they are almost exclusively sexual identity-based. Additionally, this study offers a theoretical explanation for the peripheralisation of bisexuality in sport culture which can shed new light on bisexual theory in mainstream culture. It makes important suggestions as to the new directions future research can take in order to advance the current knowledge bases concerning the effects of bantering. This research proposes that practices of bantering can be just as marginalising as those of bullying. In the resultant climate of covert exclusions, organizational sporting bodies could benefit from paying close attention to the disempowering effects of biphobic and homophobic language, whether humorously intended or otherwise. This is with particular respect to youth footballing academies and spectator communities.

While studies in the social sciences have looked at lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth, few have focused on how they experience school. Sexual orientation is still a taboo subject or only treated cursorily in educational institutions and teacher-training programmes. Research that does look at schools is mitigated by subjects who are at different degrees of being out in their schools, or are treated as a monolith with other LGBT youth, or have been recruited through psychosocial agencies, and by data gathered retrospectively and/or at arms-length through surveys. / This dissertation describes the experience of being gay and out at school for seven male students aged sixteen to eighteen. Data was collected through multiple semistructured interviews with participants recruited through the various urban, suburban, and alternative high schools they attended at the time of this study. / Data was analyzed using a modification of the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method of analyzing phenomenological data (Moustakas, 1994). The theoretical framework undergirding this study is phenomenological research, arts-based research, and queer theory in education. Findings are represented as a literary novel in order to better preserve participants' voices. / Data analysis indicates that the experience of being out in high school is characterized by: (a) managing "the secret" of being gay before and during coming out; (b) seeing being gay as just being yourself; (c) perceiving the school as privately supportive, but publicly indifferent to gay students; (d) emotionally reflecting the school environment; (e) valuing relationships as a positive; (f) seeing harassment, gossip, and gender differences as negatives; (g) ascribing to perpetrators of homophobia and harassment character flaws and anachronistic beliefs; (h) being left on your own to deal with homophobia and harassment as others abdicate their responsibilities; (i) employing escapist, self-protection, and resistance strategies to deal with homophobia and harassment; (j) searching for connectivity to other gays and the LGBT community; (k) facing the silence of information and resources in schools on LGBT issues and people; and (l) advising others to be true to themselves. / This research has implications for teachers, administrators, policy-makers, and those involved in teacher education programmes who are interested in addressing the needs of gay students.

This study explores the phenomenon of gendered harassment in secondary schools from the teachers' perspectives. The few studies that address the biased behaviors that are linked under the concept of gendered harassment (sexual harassment, homophobic harassment, and harassment for gender non-conformity) indicate that teachers are less likely to intervene in these incidents. This dissertation explores how teachers understand and respond to (hetero)sexist and homophobic behaviors when they occur. / Six teachers in one urban school board participated in a series of three open-ended in-depth interviews where they spoke about the many factors that influenced how they saw and intervened in various forms of bullying and harassment in their schools. Interview data were analyzed using contextual and thematic codes to locate similarities, differences, and stories in the data. This study is informed by critical, feminist and queer theories. The findings have been organized in a conceptual framework that emerged from the research. / Findings indicate that there are both external and internal influences that shape how teachers view and respond to gendered harassment in schools. The external factors, also described as school culture, include both structural-formal and structural-informal influences. Formal influences include policies, training, curriculum and contracts. Informal influences refer to leadership style, relationships with colleagues, policy implementation, and community values. Internal influences that shape teachers' perceptions and responses include: educational biography, teaching philosophy, and personal identities. / The implications of this study for research and practice can have impacts on the fields of school policy, teacher education, curriculum, and educational leadership. It provides a framework for understanding how school cultures interact with teachers' identities and shape how policies and curricula are implemented. It also offers suggestions for scholars, advocates, and educational leaders to proactively address the negative impacts of gendered harassment by transforming teacher education, educational leadership programs, and in turn, school cultures.

The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed betweenhomophobic beliefs and rape myth acceptance in undergraduate students who attendedBall State University. In addition, the effect that gender, organizational affiliation, andClass anding had on these beliefs was measured.The project consisted of 242 undergraduate students who lived in Woody/Shalesand Howick/Williams Halls. The project took place during the spring semester of 2004.The findings indicated that rape myth acceptance (RMA) did correlate with homophobia, and that this correlation was significantly higher in males than in females. The findings also indicated that neither class standing nor group affiliation had a significant effect on either RMA or homophobia. / Department of Educational Studies