FundaÃÃo de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Cearà / Este trabalho examina representaÃÃes de dramas Ãntimos, do questionamento das mulheres frente Ãs desigualdades de poder, nas relaÃÃes entre os sexos, e, ainda, imagens da busca de autonomia e de liberdade sexual, nos filmes Os cafajestes, A falecida e O desafio, nos anos 1960. Aqui, dramas Ãntimos sÃo definidos como situaÃÃes ou experiÃncias vivenciadas por homens e mulheres, em espaÃos nos quais se circunscrevem suas relaÃÃes afetivas e sexuais. A escolha do cinema para analisar esta temÃtica deve-se ao fato de entendÃ-lo como veÃculo que dialoga com o contexto histÃrico, embora empregue uma linguagem especÃfica para transmitir mensagens - associaÃÃo de imagens, movimento de cÃmera, efeitos de iluminaÃÃo e uso de sons. Assim, a pesquisa se insere dentro de uma perspectiva sociolÃgica que adota como princÃpio bÃsico o estabelecimento de um vÃnculo da obra com o conjunto das relaÃÃes histÃricas, culturais, econÃmicas e polÃticas. Apesar da filmografia do Cinema Novo voltar-se caracterÃsticamente para representaÃÃes dos problemas econÃmicos e polÃticos do paÃs, a pesquisa realizada identificou que cineastas envolvidos com este movimento cultural abordaram, tambÃm, questÃes referentes aos "dramas Ãntimos", construindo novas representaÃÃes do feminino e do masculino. Nos filmes analisados, percebe-se a atribuiÃÃo de valores que contribuem para denegrir as imagens femininas, o que, por sua vez, reforÃa modelos masculinos referendados por padrÃes de atitudes agressivas e violentas contra a mulher. PorÃm, hÃ, simultaneamente, representaÃÃes de mulheres determinadas e decididas, que escolhem os caminhos que querem trilhar e, neste sentido, mantÃm relaÃÃes de poder com os homens. A despeito de emergirem traÃos nÃo unÃvocos no que se refere Ãs prÃticas de homens e mulheres, em Ãltima instÃncia, estÃo presentes representaÃÃes de regras sociais rÃgidas no que concerne a comportamentos de mulheres que ousam enfrentar as determinaÃÃes sociais. / This study examines representations of intimate dramas on the question of women facing the inequality of power, in relationship between the sexes, as well as images of the search for autonomy and sexual liberty in the films Os Cafajestes, A Falecida and O Desafio, which are part of the New Cinema, a cultural movement which arose in the 60s. Here, intimate drama is defined as situations or experiences which men and women have in the space which surrounds their affective and sexual relationships. The choice of cinema to analyze this theme was due to the fact of understanding that cinema is a dialogue with a historical context, even though it uses a specific language to transmit messages ? having an association to images, movement of the camera, the lighting effects and the use of sound. Thus, this study is set in a sociological perspective which adopts the establishment of a link of the work (the film) with the group of historical, cultural, economic and political relationships as a basic principle. In spite of the filmography of the New Cinema being characteristically directed towards the representation of economic and political problems of the county, the study done, identified the movie directors involved with this cultural movement who also approached questions referring to ?intimate dramas? forming new representations of being feminine and of being masculine. In the films analyzed, one perceived the attribution of values which contribute to the denigration of feminine images, which, in turn, reinforces masculine models confirmed by patterns of aggressive, violent attitudes towards women. However, at the same time there are representations of women who are determined and decided, who choose paths which they want to take, and in this way maintain relationships of power with men. Despite emerging traces which are not homogenous in that which refers to the practices of men and women, there are, in summary, representations of continuing strict social rules concerning the behavior of women who dare to face social determinations.

Peer relationships are highly salient during early adolescence, especially during the first year of middle school. As a result, coolness (a facet of peer status) is prioritized and increasingly associated with aggression. Recent research indicates the relationship between peer status (coolness) and aggression is moderated by social goals (popularity, dominance, intimacy) and gender. Leadership among peers is also salient during early adolescence, although it is understudied in comparison to peer status (coolness). Leadership is worth additional investigation, as youth leaders are considered interpersonally competent and possess the social skills necessary to influence peer behavior. Research is needed to examine the extent to which peer status (coolness) and leadership are similar yet distinct constructs and the extent to which peer status and leadership influence subsequent aggression. Research is also needed to determine if the relationship between leadership and aggression is moderated by social goals and gender, as this may have implications for understanding antecedents to aggression. The current study examined the following: (1) the associations among peer-reported leadership and coolness in the fall with peer-reported aggression (overt and relational) in the spring of sixth grade, (2) the extent to which social goals (popularity, dominance, and intimacy) and gender moderate relations of leadership and coolness in the fall with aggression in the spring of sixth grade, (3) and the extent to which mean-level gender differences and study variables change across time. The sample was comprised of sixth-grade students from three middle schools in an urban, ethnically diverse setting (N = 347). Results revealed a significant association across both time points for leadership and coolness. Moreover, social goals and gender moderated the association between coolness, leadership, and aggression.

The purpose of this research was to identify the contributors to optimal sexual experiences. At present, there is a lack of clinical knowledge, research knowledge and in-depth public discourse concerning the nature of healthy sexuality. The theoretical and research literature in this area has focused almost exclusively on defining and conceptualizing sexual dysfunctions with little attention paid to either normal or satisfactory experiences. Very little theory exists on the nature and components of optimal sexuality. To date, no empirical investigations have been done to determine the contributors to optimal sexual experiences. In order to identify the contributors to optimal sexual experiences, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 individuals who reported having experienced “great sex”. A phenomenologically-oriented content analysis was performed on interview transcripts to determine the contributors to optimal sexual experiences. Analysis led to the identification of seven major contributors, two pathways towards optimal sexual experiences and two minor contributors. The major contributors included developmental contributors, individual qualities overall, individual qualities in-the moment, skills, relationship qualities overall, relationship qualities in-the-moment and environmental, situational and preparatory contributors. Each of these larger themes was also characterized by a variety of more specific themes. The two pathways that led to optimal sexual experiences included individual qualities that facilitated relationship qualities and relationship qualities that facilitated individual qualities. Finally, the minor contributors consisted of personal proclivities and miscellaneous contributors. Noteworthy findings of this investigation are discussed and then compared and contrasted with existing research and theory. The implications of this work for the general public, sex therapy, sex education, theory and research are considered as well as the strengths and limitations of this study.

This thesis explores the psychosocial dynamics of sexual risk-taking in men who have sex with men, with particular focus on the dilemmas that gay men face in establishing trust in themselves and reasonable trust and intimacy with their sexual partners. As well, the practical function of this study is to analyze past and current social marketing efforts aimed at reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS, and to offer suggestions for how to approach a strategy to reduce HIV incidence in gay men and at the same time bolster efforts to assist men who have sex with men (MSM) in adhering to safer sex guidelines. In part, this thesis uses a sample of participants of the Vanguard Project cohort (St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia), in order to explore the social meanings attributed by MSM towards sex, risk, intimacy, and attitudes toward HIV/AIDS. Through the use of first-person narratives, this thesis examines the concordance or discordance of MSM beliefs and behaviour with long-standing theoretical models of harm reduction methods concerning sexual risk. The study reveals that, in great measure, due to past life course events, many gay men suffer from a lack of trust in themselves, which results in a tendency to make irrational or unreasonable decisions concerning their long-term sexual health, and a lack of trust in other gay men. As welL through the misguided and often untruthful health models that advocate fewer sexual partners and rely upon the false assumption that all potential sex partners are carriers of contagion, the sense of mistrust has been reinforced. The lack of confidence in self and others further translates into a suspicion of the motives and/or efficacy of social institutions entrusted with community health development and maintenance, rendering their efforts even less effective. Moreover, traditional harm reduction messages, especially 'fear campaigns', often act as a deterrent, rather than as an incentive, to harm reduction. Of more appeal are supportive harm reduction messages delivered by someone whom the recipient trusts, especially when the social meanings of sex, risk, trust and intimacy are, for many gay men, less fixed and more contingent than for the population at large. This means that attempts to modify risky behaviour must acknowledge and negotiate multiple meanings, shifting values and changing social climates, as well as routine epidemiological concerns. The research identifies four key themes within a problematic of trust, risk and intimacy, and delineates the harm reduction social complexities experienced by gay men in the study group; these recurring themes deal with family and early sociahzation, internalized homophobia, contingency and instability of meanings of risk, trust and sex, and the toistworthiness of the messengers of harm reduction strategies. Out of these recurring themes come a number of recommendations for remedial programs aimed at both mid- and long-term reductions in HIV incidence. The recommendations are grounded in the recognition that homophobic and/or dysfunctional social conditions are, to a great extent, implicated in sexual risk behaviour, and therefore must be eliminated or ameliorated before meaningful harm reduction gains can be realized. The discussions with the gay men in the study reveal their need for positive role models and communal social support in their efforts to combat HIV infection, suggesting a need to rethink the meanings of what it is to be gay, a need to redevelop and revitalize what was once a vibrant and cohesive corrimunity, and bearing in mind the lessons of the past, a need to re-approach the task of sternming the tide of HIV infection in ways that are sensitive to the factors that adduce high-risk sexual behaviour. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

Issues of body image and ability to achieve intimacy are connected to body weight, yet remain largely unexplored and have not been evaluated by gender. The underlying purpose of this research was to determine if avoidant attitudes and perceptions of one’s body may hold implications toward its use in intimate interactions, and if an above average body weight would tend to increase this avoidance. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES, 1999-2002) finds that 64.5% of US adults are overweight, with 61.9% of women and 67.2% of men. The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in men and women shows no reverse trend, nor have prevention and treatment proven effective in the long term. The researcher gathered self-reported age, gender, height and weight data from 55 male and 58 female subjects (determined by a prospective power analysis with a desired medium effect size (r =.30) to determine body mass index (BMI), determining a mean age of 21.6 years and mean BMI of 25.6. Survey instruments consisted of two scales that are germane to the variables being examined. They were (1) Descutner and Thelen of the University of Missouri’s (1991) Fear-of-Intimacy scale and (2) Rosen, Srebnik, Saltzberg, and Wendt’s (1991) Body Image Avoidance Questionnaire. Results indicated that as body mass index increases, fear of intimacy increases (p<0.05) and that as body mass index increases, body image avoidance increases (p<0.05). The relationship that as body image avoidance increases, fear of intimacy increases was not supported, but approached significance at (p<0.07). No differences in these relationships were determined between gender groups. For age, the only observed relationship was that of a difference between scores for age groups [18 to 22 (group 1) and ages 23 to 34 (group 2)] for the relationship of body image avoidance and fear of intimacy (p<0.02). The results suggest that the relationship of body image avoidance and fear of intimacy, as well as age, bear consideration toward the escalating prevalence of overweight and obesity. An integrative approach to body weight that addresses issues of body image and intimacy may prove effective in prevention and treatment.

abstract: A sense of closeness (or intimacy) is important in nearly every relationship in life, whether it is within friendships, family, or romantic relationships. In the current thesis, intimacy is measured within four specific dimensions: emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual. Research shows that intimate relationships have been linked to mental and physical health outcomes. In addition, there is a novel explanation for the link between intimacy and health through rumination and sleep quality. The current study examined 2 primary aims: 1) to examine the relationship between intimacy and depression ; 2) to assess the role of intimacy, rumination and sleep quality on mental and on physical health. Results for Aim 1 suggest that there is a link between intimacy and both depression and physical health; where the higher the intimacy the lower the depression and the better physical health. For Aim 2, results indicated that there was a significant serial relationship between intimacy, rumination, sleep quality and both depression and physical health; where in the first model, higher intimacy predicted less rumination, better sleep quality, and lower depression; and, in the second model higher intimacy predicted less rumination, better sleep quality and higher physical health. The current study suggests that intimacy does have its own distinct contributions to health outcomes and that rumination and sleep quality do have a implication on intimate relationships. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2020

The relationship between female undergraduate students’ (n = 151) reports of parental emotion coaching in childhood and their reports of emotion regulation, romantic attachment, and romantic intimacy in young adulthood was investigated. The female undergraduate students completed additional questionnaires about their mood, personality characteristics, and relationship satisfaction in young adulthood, and parental warmth in childhood. Remembered supportive emotion coaching (comprised of Emotion-Focused Reactions, Problem-Focused Reactions and Expressive Encouragement) was significantly and positively correlated with healthier emotion regulation (reappraisal), and was significantly and negatively correlated with less healthy emotion regulation (suppression). Remembered unsupportive emotion coaching (comprised of Minimizing Reactions, Punitive Reactions, and Distress Reactions) was significantly and positively correlated with romantic avoidant and anxious attachment. Romantic intimacy was not significantly correlated with remembered supportive or unsupportive emotion coaching. Emotion regulation mediated the relationship between remembered emotion coaching and avoidant and anxious attachment, but not romantic intimacy. Emotion regulation continued to mediate the relationship between remembered emotion coaching and avoidant attachment after mood, personality characteristics, relationship satisfaction, and parental warmth were entered into the model as covariates, but emotion regulation did not continue to mediate the relationship after covariates were entered into the model when anxious attachment was the predicted variable.

Magister Artium - MA / The purpose of this study is to explore how “queerness” is both represented and suppressed in select South African fiction. The study will investigate to what extent a post-colonial form of education reinforces the colonial and apartheid traditions of South African normative masculinities in same-sex, educational environments. These aspects will be explored and investigated in John Van de Ruit‟s Spud: A wickedly funny novel (2005), Spud: The madness continues… (2007), Spud: Learning to Fly (2010), and will be complemented with an investigation of the recent South African film, Inxeba (2017). The series of novels and films demonstrate how the contestation between queerness and traditional masculinity threatens heteronormativity and how various forms of violence try to enforce a dominant South African masculinity.

Frances has recently survived a near-fatal car accident, and a period of convalescence in which she was cared for by her eccentric mother. Now, with the help of her friend, Jane, she’s landed a job at an AIDS Service Organization where she has the opportunity to slowly come back to life. Touching on themes of female friendship, marriage, and intimacy through technology, and with undertones of capitalism, racism, and patriarchy, We Are Not Supposed to Be Happy is a love story in every direction.

Prior research suggests a gender difference in friendship intimacy where men repeatedly report less intimacy. While several studies have identified a gender difference, others have raised alternative possibilities to explain the gender difference, such as measurement error, or that men’s friendships function differently from women’s friendships. Our qualitative study explored the possibility that men’s friendships are different than what is described in the literature using an inductive and anonymous online survey. The collected data from 64 self-identified men in emerging adulthood (19-25 years) was thematically analyzed to present a thematic map of their perception of intimacy in close friendship. Findings indicated that the participants valued their close friendships highly and that the generated themes showed an overall high degree of similarity with earlier studies. However, the themes confrontational honesty, flow, and timeless connection diverged from prior research and are discussed. We provide suggestions for future research that can advance the understanding of the divergent themes, and further the understanding of intimacy in men’s close same-gender friendships.