The purpose of this dissertation study was to explore how traditional gender norms influence the daily experiences of female student-athletes. The following research question framed this study: How do collegiate female basketball players experience traditional gender norm expectations in relation to their sport? A combination of sources focused on gender norms and athletics informed this study, including previous research, mass media publications and documentaries, and the researcher's individual experiences with gender norms in organized athletics. To explore the research question, six National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (D-I) female basketball players were interviewed to provide phenomenological data focused on their individual experiences with gender norms in college basketball. Semi-structured interviews utilizing a feminist phenomenological qualitative design were completed via Skype™. A phenomenological approach was employed to focus on the meaning of events experienced by people in specific situations. The feminist lens ensured that the study framed gender as a fluid concept consisting of multiple intersections. The six participants in the study represented five different teams from a major NCAA conference. Almost all of the participants in the study attended a different major research university in the Midwest (two participants attended the same institution). Three major themes surfaced from data provided by participants. These themes include: (1) the challenge of meeting traditional gender expectations (2) contrasting gender expectations in athletic and non-athletic settings (3) the changing dynamic of gender perceptions in women's basketball. These themes focus on participants' experience of contrasting gender expectations in different settings. In athletic settings participants described rarely thinking about gender dynamics or expectations. Off the court, however, players described a stronger perception of expectations for how they should look and behave. Players described experiencing regular questions and assumptions about their gender identity (i.e. female, male, trans*) and / or sexual orientation (i.e. bisexual, gay, heterosexual, queer) when wearing loose fitting basketball sweats during the day. While players rarely thought about conforming to a gender identity or role on the court, they did describe frustrations with an imbalance of media coverage between men's and women's athletics. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations for higher education practice include (1) providing training and educational opportunities for student-athletes, coaches, and administrators focused on gender socialization and subsequent perceptions of student-athletes (2) developing mentoring programs pairing new recruits with veteran players to help acclimate new student-athletes to the demands of the NCAA season, and to explore the impact of traditional gender norm expectations on student-athletes and (3) developing mass media or social media campaigns to help encourage positive recruiting practices in women's basketball and to discourage recruiters focusing on the gender identity or sexual orientation of players and coaches on other teams as a means of lowering interest in those programs.

Literature has offered insight into aspects of traditional masculine gender norms in shaping expectations of soldiers (Arkin & Dobrofsky, 1978; Green et al., 2010; Johnson, 2010; Lorber & Garcia, 2010; Shawver, 1995), yet there has been little consideration of how these norms affect gay identified servicemen. For centuries, military policies have made efforts to restrict gay individuals from serving openly or at all, leading to inquiry about the effectiveness of these individuals as service members and the impact on unit cohesion (Burrelli, 2012; Parco & Levy, 2010; Shawver, 1995; Zellman, 1996). The current study examines the experiences of gay service men and the impact on the expression of their masculine and gay identity while in the military. The researcher explores the definition of masculinity in the military, its role in the expression of gay sexual identity, experiences of and participation in acts of homophobia by self or others, and participants’ perception of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy repeal, as it relates to their comfort with expressing their gay identity.

The present research, consisting of two studies, was designed to examine the primary health care experiences of gay men in Australia and assess doctors? attitudes and training with regard to gay men and their health care. In the first study, 195 gay men were surveyed regarding their health issues and their primary health care experiences. The most important health concerns of gay men were stress and depression followed by HIV/AIDS, body image disorder and other sexually transmissible infections. Including those participants who were unsure, approximately one-half reported experiencing homophobia and almost one?quarter reported experiencing discrimination in the provision of health care. Despite this, respondents were generally satisfied with their primary health care, although respondents felt that all GPs should receive additional undergraduate medical education regarding gay men?s health. In the second study, 25 doctors (13 gay specialists and 12 non-gay specialists) were surveyed regarding their knowledge of gay men?s health and their comfort working with gay men. Non-gay specialist GPs were less comfortable treating gay men, reported poorer communication and were more homophobic than their gay specialist counterparts. Further, doctors perceived their medical education regarding gay men?s health has been inadequate. Together, the results of the two current studies suggest that disclosure of sexuality is an important issue for both gay men and doctors, and has the potential to impact on the quality of health care that gay men receive. In order to improve the level of disclosure, the pervasiveness of homophobia and discrimination in primary health care must be reduced. Finally, the results indicate that medical education must be updated to reflect current knowledge regarding the health issues of gay men. Failure to address these issues will condemn gay men to continued health inequality.

This dissertation investigates the broad area of social hate discourse. It interrogates the intersections between sexuality and race, and in particular, the intersections between the practices of antisemitism and heterosexism in New South Wales. Using a specifically designed database (Tracking Violence), 1227 complaint files from the NSW Anti-Discrimination Board, the Lesbian and Gay Anti-Violence Project and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry lodged between 1995 and 1999 were analysed for the features common to antisemitic and heterosexist maledictive hate. Of particular interest to this dissertation is the text and context of malediction, and whether the regulation of maledictive hate is an appropriate strategy in the elimination and prevention of hate violence.

This study aims at exposing and challenging the effects of heterosexist assumptions that are prevalent in institutions of higher learning. It (study) further seeks to highlight and address the gaps that exist within the academic literature in South Africa with regards to homosexuality. Five students from an institution of higher learning in the Western Cape Province of South Africa with predominantly Black Students were used for this study. All the participants were Black students aged between 19 and 25 years who openly identify themselves as lesbians. Their participation was voluntary. A narrative approach was utilised as an attempt to afford the participants an opportunity to narrate their histories and personal experiences. This is a qualitative research approach which deals with personal stories that are told to describe human action and make sense of events that surround an individual. It involves getting a story from an individual who is identified as having some knowledge or experience with the topic of study. In an attempt to gain a better understanding and an insightful perspective into the personal narratives that were shared by the participants of this study, all their experiences will be put under the control of the thematic analysis.

Historiskt sett har det frekvent förekommit olika former av diskriminering utav homosexuella såsom kriminalisering och sjukdomsstämpel. Forskning har visat att homosexuella individer får otillfredsställande hälsoinformation och sämre vård. Syftet med litteraturstudien var att belysa om sjukvårdspersonal har ett diskriminerande förhållningssätt  gentemot homosexuella individer och hur detta i så fall tar sig till uttryck. Resultatet visar på att diskriminering av homosexuella män och kvinnor förekommer inom hälso- och sjukvården men kommer till uttryck på olika sätt. Ett diskriminerande förhållningssätt, såsom till exempel ignorans och nedvärderande kommentarer, attityder och handlingar är några exempel på hur vårdmöten kan se ut vilket kan leda till att homosexuella individer upplever känslor av ensamhet och utanförskap. Även närstående till homosexuella patienter uttryckte negativa upplevelser då de blivit exkluderade ur vårdsituationer.  Sjuksköterskeutbildningen bör lägga större fokus på bemötande och förhållningssätt gentemot individer med annan sexuell läggning än heterosexuell. På vårdinrättningar bör ledningsgruppen och cheferna verka för en trygg miljö utan diskriminering. / Historically, there have been several forms of discrimination against homosexuals as criminalization and disorder labeling. Research has shown that homosexual individuals receive inadequate health care and health information. The purpose of the literature survey was to try to find out if the health professionals have a discriminatory attitude towards homosexual individuals and if so how this is expressed. Discrimination in healthcare takes place in different ways against both homosexual men and homosexual women, and manifests itself in different ways. Discriminatory approaches, attitudes and actions are some examples of how health care encounters may appear which may lead to those homosexual individuals experiencing feelings of loneliness and alienation. Also relatives to homosexual patients expressed negative experiences when they had been excluded from care situations. Nursing education should put more focus on response and attitudes towards individuals with other sexual orientation than heterosexual. The directorate in health care settings should operate for a safe environment without discrimination.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Canterbury, 2009. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 193-210). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, 2003. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on May 8, 2006). Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-95).

This study aims at exposing and challenging the effects of heterosexist assumptions that are prevalent in institutions of higher learning. It (study) further seeks to highlight and address the gaps that exist within the academic literature in South Africa with regards to homosexuality. Five students from an institution of higher learning in the Western Cape Province of South Africa with predominantly Black Students were used for this study. All the participants were Black students aged between 19 and 25 years who openly identify themselves as lesbians. Their participation was voluntary. A narrative approach was utilised as an attempt to afford the participants an opportunity to narrate their histories and personal experiences. This is a qualitative research approach which deals with personal stories that are told to describe human action and make sense of events that surround an individual. It involves getting a story from an individual who is identified as having some knowledge or experience with the topic of study. In an attempt to gain a better understanding and an insightful perspective into the personal narratives that were shared by the participants of this study, all their experiences will be put under the control of the thematic analysis.

This study explored the relationship between life events and central need schemas(i.e. basic assumptions about oneself and the world). The hypotheses tested were 1) people who have experienced traumatic stress will have more negative or disrupted schemas in areas of central need than those who haven't experienced traumatic stress, 2) the schemas of lesbian women, gay men, and bisexual men and women who have not experienced significant traumatic stress differ from those of heterosexual men and women who have not experienced significant traumatic stress, and 3) one's sexual identity is a variable in how one responds to traumatic stress. Results did not support the first or third hypotheses. However, support was found for the second hypothesis. Lack of support for two of the hypotheses is believed to be due to the specific data analysis used for the study A discussion of the results and suggestions for future research are then presented. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services