Background: Brands have started paying attention to brand authenticity since consumer demand for authenticity is increasing. Especially Gen Z is constantly seeking for authentic, inclusive, and diverse brands as they are the first generation to choose brands based on authenticity. Especially the LGBTQ community’s representation in advertising is often perceived as inauthentic and superficial. Since Gen Z is not only a big consumer of fast fashion but also the first to include fast fashion as part of their everyday life, the fast fashion industry is required to be more authentic in its use of LGBTQ in advertising. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how Gen Z perceives LGBTQ images in fast fashion advertising and how this impacts brand authenticity. Method: For this study, an exploratory research design with a qualitative approach was applied. Using an abductive approach, existing literature was used as a basis to create the conceptual model of this study. Further, a fictional fast fashion brand including five advertisements were created and presented to twenty informants during semi-structured interviews to gain a more in-depth understanding of the research problem. Conclusion: The study found that Gen Z’s perceptions of LGBTQ images in fast fashion advertising can be classified into three categories: positive, neutral, and negative perceptions. Informants with a positive perception perceived the brand to be authentic whilst informants with a negative perception the opposite. Since informants with a neutral perception sometimes had similar perceptions as the informants with a positive or negative perception, no clear answer on their perception of brand authenticity can be given.

La pandémie de la COVID-19 s'est caractérisée par la mise en œuvre de contraintes sanitaires imposant la fermeture des lieux de rencontres, la distanciation sociale et le maintien à domicile par un couvre-feu imposé à toute la population. Toutefois, ces méthodes de restrictions sociales ont pu engager des enjeux spécifiques aux populations des jeunes hommes gais et bisexuels qui présentaient par le passé des vulnérabilités en termes de santé mentale et d’isolation sociale. L'objectif de cette étude est d'élargir la compréhension de l'expérience sociale et romantique des jeunes hommes gais et bisexuels de 18 à 26 ans de Montréal en période de COVID-19. L’étude s’est faite à l’aide d’un devis qualitatif interprétatif descriptif. Des entrevues semi-dirigées ont été conduites avec 14 participants habitant à Montréal. Une analyse thématique a permis de faire ressortir trois thèmes répondant à l'impact de la COVID-19 sur la vie sociale et romantique des participants : 1) Un effritement social marqueur d’une solitude progressive importante; 2) Une injustice perçue par une jeunesse qui se sent sacrifiée et infantilisée par les mesures sanitaires; 3) Surmonter la crainte pour se socialiser en période pandémique. Les résultats révèlent la souffrance et le caractère d'injustice perçus par les jeunes hommes gais et bisexuels en raison des fortes contraintes ayant provoqué un éloignement social et l'abandon d'une vie romantique spontanée. Des propositions d'amélioration et de suivi sont élaborées afin de réduire les méfaits en santé sur le long terme. / The COVID-19 pandemic was characterized by the implementation of health restraints that required the closure of social venues, social distancing, and keeping people at home through a curfew imposed on the entire population. However, these social distancing measures may have negatively impacted young gay and bisexual men who have historically exhibited mental health and social isolation vulnerabilities. The purpose of this study is to broaden understandings of the social and romantic experiences of gay and bisexual men aged 18 to 26 years in Montreal during COVID-19. The study adopted an interpretative descriptive qualitative design. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 participants. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis and revealed three themes that address the impacts of COVID-19 on the social and romantic lives of the participants: 1) Social erosion as a marker of significant progressive loneliness; 2) A sense of injustice experienced by youth who feel sacrificed and infantilized by health measures; 3) Overcoming fear to socialize during the pandemic. The results reveal the suffering and the injustice perceived by young gay and bisexual men due to the strong constraints that have caused them to become socially distant and to abandon a spontaneous romantic life. Suggestions for improvement and follow-up are developed to reduce health harms over the long term.

The aim of this paper is to analyse how future art teachers talk about gender identity and sexuality in the context of an image analysis. In order to gather the empirical data used for this paper we sent out a questionnaire to student teachers with art as their primary subject. This questionnaire contained both closed and open-ended questions where they were instructed to analyse and describe four pictures of individuals that could be perceived as queer-coded, as well as answer questions regarding the core content of visual arts in the Swedish curricula for grade 7-9. The answers were then looked at through a queer theroetical lens using critical discourse analysis as our method. Based on the answers of the questionnaire we concluded that future art teachers use a politically correct and norm critical approach when speaking about gender identity and sexuality. We could however also see some confusion in the answers that possibly stems from a lack of knowledge and experience on the subject of gender identity and sexuality.

Purpose - This thesis investigates how London art museums work to deconstruct heteronormative filters. The aim is to study how museums relate to LGBTQ content, and the influence of internal power structures. I have chosen to focus on the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Wallace Collection, and the British Museum.  Method - To answer my questions, I interview eight individuals who work with LGBTQ content in museums. I am also doing some activity-based observations during several LGBT History month events. Analysis - The qualitative data collected through interviews and observations will be analyzed and presented in case studies. I apply an intersectional perspective, and a critical theoretical method, encompassing queer theory. Findings - The findings show that museums are slowly incorporating more LGBTQ content and perspectives. This may be due to changing social norms as well as a conscious effort to address various target audiences to diversify visitor demographics. The current focus is on visibility. Ideally, this will encourage updating terminol- ogy in databases and galleries, staff training, policies explicitly supporting LGBTQ content and LGBTQ staff, increased online presence, publications, and community co-creation, to name some aspects. Museums still think of LGBTQ interpretation as optional. People often work with these efforts in their spare time. Increasingly, the legacy of these events is being evaluated, as well as how museum terminology can become more inclusive. There are no coordinated efforts shared by the museums, but they often look to each other for inspiration.  Originality/value - Previous research on LGBTQ museum projects has not evaluated their legacy. There hasn't been any particular focus on LGBTQ perspectives in art museums. I am taking into account aspects of gender and queer theory, discussing the act of labelling as a means to exercise power through language. Paper type - Two years master's thesis in Archive, Library and Museum studies. / Syfte - Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka och jämföra de insatser som tre konstmuseum i London, Stor- britannien, gör för att dekonstruera heteronormativa filter. Målet är att observera hur olika museum jobbar med HBTQ som tema och innehåll. Jag studerar vem det är som initierar normkritiska projekt på museerna, samt de maktstrukturer som projekten anpassar sig efter. Metod - Jag intervjuar åtta individer som på olika sätt jobbar med HBTQ på museum. Därtill företar jag mig ett antal aktivitetsbaserade observationer. Analys - De kvalitativa data som insamlats genom intervjuer och observationer analyseras utifrån ett intersek- tionellt perspektiv. Teori och metod inspireras även av kritisk kulturteori samt queerteori. Resultat - Resultaten visar bland annat att samhälleliga förändringar och besökarfokus öppnar upp för HBTQ- teman på museer. Synlighet ligger för närvarande i fokus. Detta kan utvecklas till arbete med t.ex. normkritisk personalutbildning, uppdaterade museipolicydokument som inkluderar HBTQ-fokus och skyddar HBTQ- personal, mer inklusiva etiketter och databaser, samt medskapande i dialog med olika sociokulturella grupper.  Värde - Tidigare forskning fokuserar på teoretiska utgångspunkter, och har sällan utvärderat existerande HBTQ- museumprojekt. Konstmuseum och HBTQ har inte heller specifikt utvärderats utifrån ett normkri- tiskt/intersektionellt perspektiv som involverar kritisk teori och queerteoretiska aspekter. Typ av uppsats - Tvåårig masteruppsats inom Arkiv-, biblioteks-, samt musei- och kulturarvsvetenskap.

This master thesis in Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies is written as part of the final examination of the Master Program in Archive, Library and Museum and Cultural Heritage Studies at Uppsala university. The study is also done within the framework of the Kulturarvet som högskolepedagogisk resurs vid Uppsala universitet project at Uppsala university.The thesis focus on the university museums in Uppsala and their relationships to LGBTQ. The main theoretical framework consists of queer theory and critical cultural heritage theory. The qualitative methods used are interviews and close reading. The study aims to analyze the way the Uppsala university museum managers talk about museums and LGBTQ and study the legal framework and the political climate in Sweden in regards to LGBTQ-issues at university museums.A central conclusion is a problematic framework surrounding the university museums and LGBTQ. The university museums exist in a gray area between being museums and parts of the university. This means specific laws, regulations, recommendations and guidelines about LGBTQ-issues at museums and universities are hard to apply at the university museums. The Uppsala university museum managers give voice to a situation where the museums lack the recourses and the incentive to deal with the complex issue of LGBTQ representation and perspectives. The close relationship between specific academic fields and the university museums also reflects in the way the museums deal with LGBTQ. This affects the way the museums interact with the university and the public since the museums unintentionally reproduce old heteronormative narratives. / I takt med att föreställningar och attityder i samhället förändras händer även något med museers verksamhet. Både sett till vad museer väljer att fokusera på och vad samhället förväntar sig av verksamheterna. Hbtq har kommit att bli allt mer aktuellt för de svenska museerna under de senaste åren. Denna studie har tittat på hur Uppsala universitetsmuseer förhåller sig till hbtq-perspektiv och -frågor. Studien utgår från kvalitativa intervjuer med museichefer från de fyra universitetsmuseerna som finns i Uppsala. De berörda museerna är Evolutions-museet, Museum Gustavianum, Uppsala linneanska trädgårdar och Medicin-historiska museet. Vad museicheferna berättar och hur de resonerar kring hbtq i relation till sina respektive verksamheter studeras. Likaså omfattar studien en närläsning av Uppsala universitets policydokument och verksamhetsmål, relevant lagstiftning samt kultur- och utbildningspolitiska dokument. I grunden finns ett teoretiskt perspektiv som tar utgång ur queerteori och kritiska kulturarvsstudier. Ett återkommande tema är den komplexa kontexten universitetsmuseerna befinner sig i. Bristen på direktiv och applicerbar lagstiftning innebär att hbtq inte integrerats i universitetsmuseernas verksamhet. Trots att museicheferna visade intresse för frågorna gav de även uttryck för upplevda svårigheter med att integrera och arbeta med hbtq i verksamheterna, vilket återspeglas i avsaknaden av satsningar. Detta kan ses som ett resultat av bortprioritering av frågorna inom Uppsala universitetet bl.a. som följd av en heteronormativt syn inom akademiska fält. Problematiken i relation till detta är att det påverkar vad museerna förmedlar till allmänheten och studenter samt vilka möjligheter det finns att inkludera universitetsmuseer i Uppsala universitets undervisning och forskning. / Kulturarvet som högskolepedagogisk resurs på Uppsala universitet

For decades LGBTQ rights have been approached purely by a legal strategy, in particular advocating for the legalization of same-sex marriage. However, discrimination and violence against the LGBTQ community continues to be a major issue in Latin America because of cultural values such as Catholicism and machismo that uphold a standard of and, in turn, have control over people’s sexuality. Using a human rights approach towards the politics of sexuality, LGBTI activists in Costa Rican and Nicaragua have been successful in transforming public opinion about sexuality and more importantly, sexual diversity. As a result of their egalitarian framework and efforts to educate people about sexual diversity, they have made great advancements toward achieving acceptance and equality for LGBTI people. This study focuses on how Costa Rican and Nicaraguan LGBTI activists have worked around traditional cultural values such as Catholicism and machismo that prevent people from accepting and tolerating LGBTI people. The examples of LGBTI activists in these two countries have important implications for other LGBTI activists and the strategies they use to try to achieve full equality (social and legal) for people whose sexual identity differs from the conventional.

Adolescents are coming to high school counselors to talk about sexuality for various reasons and the purpose of this study is to gain an enhanced understanding of how adolescents in high school talk regarding sexuality and LGBTQ. The empirical material is assembled on eight narrative interviews with high school counselors. The school counselors have through their experiences in meeting adolescents, submitted stories about the adolescents´ conversations regarding sexuality to us. The empirical data were analyzed by a standard critical perspective and with the help of heteronormativity it made norms about what is normal and abnormal visible and problematized. The result demonstrates that adolescents are influenced by norms of society, the media, family and friends. The main discussion areas of sexuality and LGBTQ, as seen in this study, are the media, social context plus norms and values. Adolescents express themselves in various ways and they are generally described as up-front, in case of discussing sexuality. To get a deeper insight into the empirical material we have used a narrative analysis that contributed reconstructions based on specific themes of the school counselors stories. The study's main findings is that adolescents surroundings, self-identity and self-esteem are the underlying factors of why adolescents talk with school counselors about sexuality. These three factors influence how adolescents talk about sexuality and what the conversations with the school counselors contains. / Ungdomar vänder sig till gymnasiekuratorn av olika anledningar för att prata om sexualitet och studiens syfte är att få en ökad förståelse för hur gymnasieungdomar samtalar om sexualitet och HBTQ med kuratorer. Det empiriska materialet grundar sig på åtta narrativa intervjuer med gymnasiekuratorer. Kuratorerna har genom sina erfarenheter av att möta ungdomar, berättat för oss om ungdomars samtal gällande sexualitet. Empirin har analyserats genom ett normkritiskt perspektiv och med hjälp av heteronormativitet har vi synliggjort och problematiserat normer om vad som anses normalt och avvikande. Resultatet visar att ungdomar påverkas av normer från samhället, media, familj och vänner. De främsta samtalsområdena inom sexualitet och HBTQ är media, social kontext och normer samt värderingar. Ungdomar uttrycker sig på olika sätt vid samtalen och de är överlag öppna kring att samtala om sexualitet. För att få en fördjupad insikt i det empiriska materialet har vi använt en narrativ analys som bidragit till rekonstruktioner av kuratorernas berättelser utifrån särskilda teman. Studiens viktigaste resultat är att ungdomars omgivning, självidentitet och självkänsla är bakomliggande faktorer till varför ungdomar samtalar med gymnasiekuratorer om sexualitet. Dessa tre faktorer påverkar hur ungdomar pratar om sexualitet och vad samtalen med kuratorn handlar om.

In this dissertation I engage in life writing and literary métissage (Chambers, Hasebe-Ludt, Leggo, & Sinner, 2012; Hasebe-Ludt, Chambers, & Leggo, 2009) to explore and exemplify mindful, aesthetic, and compassionate practices for working through moments of crisis (Kumashiro, 2010) in teaching and learning. The dissertation is designed as a four-strand braid and organized around the active verb “practising” to dig deep into the dynamic, and often difficult, processes of teaching and learning: (1) Practising Vulnerability; (2) Practising Discomfort; (3) Practising Mindfulness; and (4) Practising Compassion. Each strand is composed of different genres of life writing: theoretical and analytical introductions, letter writing, journal pieces, comics, photos, poetry, creative non-fiction, collages, scenes from a play, and an alphabet book. The multimodal life writing pieces are worked examples (Gee, 2010) of contemplative practices and pedagogical praxis. Life writing offers concrete ways to practise mindfulness, reflection, and reflexivity, which, in turn, invite a more awakened, critical, and compassionate stance as an educator. If teachers want to move beyond simply promoting the importance of reflective practice, wellbeing, self-actualization, and compassion to their students then we need to show more teachers (and teacher educators) the messy process of doing so themselves. Reading life writing is a starting point for teachers at all stages in their careers to imagine how they could, or already do, engage in similar processes and invite them to cultivate compassion and self-compassion as a grounding stance for their life projects as teachers, learners, and human beings. My autoethnographic teacher inquiry (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009) was prompted when I encountered “troubling” (Kumashiro, 2009) tensions when first teaching about homophobia and transphobia to teacher education students at a faculty of education on the Canadian prairies. I began to explore the vulnerability and discomfort of this teaching moment from an experimental (Davies, 2011), multimodal (Kress & Street, 2006; Pahl & Roswell, 2006), critical literacy stance (Janks, 2010; Vasquez, Tate, & Harste, 2013). My inquiry shifted after a diagnosis of breast cancer, which became an opportunity for me to awaken to more mindful, empathetic, and compassionate ways of being, living, teaching, and researching. / February 2017

A link between binge drinking, negative sexual health outcomes, and sexual victimization among university populations is well established in the research literature (Messman-Moore et al., 2013; PHAC, 2016; Smith et al., 2009). Despite these known risks, young people often hold beliefs that alcohol consumption can enhance or facilitate their sexual experiences, however, less is known about the role of alcohol in young women’s consensual sexual experiences. In this qualitative study, I used a feminist perspective to explore young women’s perceptions and experiences of the role of alcohol in their sexual agency – the ability to communicate and fulfill their sexual desires and boundaries – and the social norms that influence this relationship. I collected data through interviews with 14 young university women between the ages of 19 and 25 who identified as heterosexual, lesbian, bisexual, or queer. Participants identified heteronormative sexuality norms that influence the role of alcohol in their sexual agency, namely the prioritization of women’s sexual inexperience, female sexual fidelity, and women’s attractiveness. Participants perceived that alcohol influenced their sexual agency at an individual and social level. In their individual experiences, participants discussed the dis-inhibitory effects of alcohol as a “tool” to alleviate feelings of shame associated with sexual expression and negative body image. At a social level, participants used alcohol as a means to deflect social stigma associated sexual expression as they could “blame the alcohol” as their motivation for engaging in sexual activity. These findings suggest that young women’s motivations for drinking may be linked to sexuality norms that discourage young women’s sexual agency, which could be relevant to consider in health promotion and harm reduction efforts. / Graduate / 0573 / 0453 / 0733 / 0758 / eecusack@gmail.com

Bakgrund Forskning visar att hälso- och sjukvården har ett övervägande heteronormativt synsätt och brister i bemötandet av personer utsatta för samkönat partnervåld. Betydligt fler HBTQ-personer som utsatts för partnervåld skulle enligt forskning sökt vård om de kunde förvissas om att bli bemötta på ett adekvat sätt baserat på kunskap om deras livsvillkor. Därför är det av stor vikt att genom djupintervjuer av våldsutsatta HBTQ-personer belysa hur de upplever bemötandet och hur de själva velat bli bemötta av hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal. Syfte Syftet var att belysa HBTQ-personers upplevelser av hälso- och sjukvårdens bemötande när de sökt vård på grund av samkönat partnervåld. Metod Enfallsdesign (Single Case Study Design). En (1) semistrukturerad djupintervju genomfördes och intervjun analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys med induktiv ansats. Resultat Studien visar på åsidosättande av adekvat behandlings- och undersökningsmetodik och att råd och föreslagen behandling endast gavs i enlighet med den egna begränsade kompetensen. Studien visar även på bristande kunskaper om vad som särskiljer det samkönade partnervåldet gentemot heterosexuellt partnervåld hos hälso- och sjukvårdspersonalen. Vidare saknades anpassning av adekvata behandlingsåtgärder lämpade för situationen och okunskap kring remitteringsvägar. En osynlighet avseende hur initial och vidare kontakt upprättas framträdde och så även okunskap om vart personer utsatta för samkönat partnervåld kan vända sig för hjälp och stöd. Dessa brister i bemötandet ledde till personliga upplevelser av frustration, ambivalens, missförstånd, hopplöshet och osynlighet hos personer som söker vård på grund av samkönat partnervåld. Slutsats Det finns brister hos hälso- och sjukvården avseende bemötandet gentemot en person utsatt för samkönat partnervåld. Ökade kunskaper hos hälso- och sjukvårdspersonalen kring HBTQ-personers livsvillkor och det samkönade relationsvåldets praktik skulle förhoppningsvis leda till bättre bemötande och en personcentrerad vård och därmed ökad patientsäkerhet. / Background Previous research has shown that health care is permeated with heteronormative ideals resulting in sub optimal encounters with victims of same-sex domestic violence. According to previous studies, victims of same-sex domestic violence would be far more likely to approach health care services if they felt secure in health care service's knowledge and experience concerning LGBTQ-specific circumstances. It is therefore of upmost importance to highlight/report, through in-depth interviews, LGBTQ persons subjected to domestic violence, encounters with health care services.Aim The aim of this study was to highlight LGBTQ domestic violence victims’ experiences of encounters with health care services. Method Single Case Study Design. One semi structured in-depth interview was conducted with interviews analyzed through qualitative content analysis. Results Results of this study showed a lack of adequate treatment and examination methods as well. In addition, professional recommendations for treatment to the LGBTQ victims of domestic partner violence tended to be based primarily on the health care provider's own limited competence and knowledge of LGBTQ subject matter. Furthermore, health care providers' lack of knowledge concerning discrepancies between same-sex domestic violence and heterosexual domestic violence was identified. Additionally, there was an inability to adapt situation-appropriate treatment measures as well as a lack of knowledge concerning referral management. An apparent imperceptible lack of guidelines for facilitating initial and follow-up contact emerged as well as a lack of awareness concerning avenues of help and support for LGBTQ domestic violence victims. These shortcomings of professional treatment of LGBTQ persons resulted in feelings of frustration, ambivilance, confusion, despair, and a feeling of invisibility among LGBTQ persons seeking care for domestic violence. Conclusion There are deficiencies among health care personnel's ability to adequately treat a person subjected to same-sex domestic violence. Improved knowledge among health care providers concerning LGBTQ person's social determinants would hopefully lead to improved encounters and treatment with a person centered care, resulting in reinforced patient safety.