CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeiÃoamento de NÃvel Superior / No contexto epidemiolÃgico da aids, os homens que fazem sexo com homens tem sido uma categoria prioritÃria para aÃÃes de prevenÃÃo, devido à adoÃÃo de prÃticas sexuais desprotegidas, à aquisiÃÃo de comportamentos de risco e ao estigma e à discriminaÃÃo. Assim, uma polÃtica de prevenÃÃo efetiva para este subgrupo deve estar focada na perspectiva da minimizaÃÃo da vulnerabilidade dos grupos, por meio da aÃÃo sobre os diversos aspectos individuais, sociais e programÃticos. O estudo tem como objetivo analisar a vulnerabilidade ao HIV/aids dos homens que fazem sexo com homens a partir das prÃticas sexuais. Estudo quantitativo, transversal e correlacional, realizado em dois locais de sociabilidade gay, localizados na regiÃo central da cidade de Fortaleza, CearÃ. A populaÃÃo compreendeu os homens que fazem sexo com homens que frequentam a cena gay de Fortaleza. A amostra do estudo foi obtida por conveniÃncia e compreendeu 257 indivÃduos. O instrumento utilizado foi submetido à validaÃÃo de face e conteÃdo por 03 juÃzes e consistiu em um formulÃrio estruturado em quatro partes distintas: identificaÃÃo, identidade sexual, histÃrico sexual e prÃticas sexuais. Foram investigadas associaÃÃes entre as variÃveis dependentes e independentes do estudo. Realizou-se anÃlise bivariada usando o teste qui-quadrado de Pearson com um nÃvel de significÃncia menor que 0,05, para investigaÃÃo de associaÃÃo entre as variÃveis. A anÃlise comparativa das mÃdias foi realizada pelo ANOVA e pelo teste t de Student. Os resultados evidenciaram que quanto a caracterizaÃÃo sociodemogrÃfica, a faixa etÃria de 18 a 24 anos apresentou 45,5% (117), mÃdia 27,19 anos, 89,2% (229) eram alfabetizados, com, no mÃnimo, ensino mÃdio completo, solteiros 86,4% (222), catÃlicos 52,9% (136) e 57,6% (148) pardos. Nos dados da identidade sexual, predominou a preferÃncia pelo termo homossexual, com 44,7% (115) e o apoio familiar foi referido por 43,6% (112). A maioria dos respondentes relatou a realizaÃÃo do sexo oral, representando 95,7% (246). Enquanto, 44% (113) responderam ânÃo usoâ o preservativo no sexo oral. Quanto ao sexo anal, quase a totalidade dos sujeitos referiu a prÃtica do sexo anal, que representou 98,4% (253). Revelou-se, que 73,5% (189) dos indivÃduos assumiam o papel ativo e passivo na relaÃÃo e que 71,6% (184) dos entrevistados referiu o uso do preservativo âsempreâ. O envolvimento em relaÃÃo sexual desprotegida apresentou diferenÃa estatisticamente significante quando associado a possuir parceria fixa (p=0,000), utilizaÃÃo do preservativo no sexo oral (p=0,000) e no sexo anal (0,004). Constata-se a influÃncia marcante da vulnerabilidade individual e social na determinaÃÃo das situaÃÃes de suscetibilidades do grupo estudado frente ao HIV/aids, como a alta prevalÃncia de realizaÃÃo de sexo oral desprotegido e a associaÃÃo significativa da prÃtica sexual desprotegida com a parceria fixa. Recomenda-se uma abordagem especÃfica desses fatores para uma melhor compreensÃo da epidemia de aids nesse segmento. Conclui-se que a suscetibilidade do subgrupo de homens que fazem sexo com homens e a compreensÃo de suas particularidades constituem, ainda, um grande desafio a ser enfrentado em todos os espaÃos em que condiÃÃes de risco para aquisiÃÃo do HIV/aids estejam presentes. / In the epidemiological context of AIDS, men who have sex with men has been a priority category for prevention, due to the adoption of unprotected sexual practices, the acquisition of risk behaviors and stigma and discrimination. Thus, a policy of effective prevention for this subgroup should be focused on the perspective of minimizing the vulnerability of groups, through action on the various individual, social and programmatic aspects. The study aims to analyze the vulnerability to HIV / AIDS in men who have sex with men from sexual practices. Cross-sectional and correlational study, conducted at two sites of gay sociability, located in the central region of the city of Fortaleza, Cearà . The study population consisted of men who have sex with men attending gay scene Fortaleza. The study sample was obtained by convenience and included 257 individuals. The instrument used was subjected to face validity and content by 03 judges and consisted of a structured form into four distinct parts: identification , sexual identity and history of sexual practices and sexual practices . Data collection took place during the months of December 2010 to March 2011. Associations between the dependent and independent variables of the study were investigated. We conducted bivariate analysis using the chi- square test with a significance level less than 0.05, to investigate the association between variables. The comparative analysis of means was performed by ANOVA and the Student t test. The results showed that as sociodemographics , age range 18-24 years, had 45.5 % (117), average 27.19 years, 89.2% (229) were literate, with at least completed high school singles, 86.4% (222), Catholic 52.9%(136) and 57.6% (148) browns. The facts of sexual identity, homosexual predominant preference for the term, with 44.7% (115) and family support was reported by 43.6% (112). The majority of respondents reported performing oral sex, accounting for 95.7 % (246). While 44 % (113) answered "do not use " condoms in oral sex . As for anal sex, almost all of the subjects reported practicing anal sex, which represented 98.4 % (253). It was revealed that 73.5% (189) of the subjects assumed the active and passive role in the relationship and that 71.6 %(184) of respondents reported using condoms " always ". Engaging in unprotected sexual intercourse statistically significant difference when associated with having a regular partner (p = 0.000), use of condoms in oral sex (p = 0.000) and anal sex (0.004). Notably, there is a remarkable influence of individual and social vulnerability in the determination of situations susceptibilities of the study group on HIV / AIDS, as the high rate of performing unprotected oral sex and significant association of unprotected sexual act with a regular partner. We recommend a specific approach to these factors for a better understanding of the AIDS epidemic in this segment. It is concluded that the susceptibility of the subgroup of men who have sex with men and the understanding of their specificities, still constitute a major challenge to be faced in all areas where hazardous conditions for the acquisition of HIV / AIDS are present.

published_or_final_version / Comparative Literature / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy / Following on the proposition that the history of Western thought is importantly constituted by a discourse of male-male pedagogic or pederastic relations stretching in narrative form, according to Allan Bloom, from the Phaedrus to Death in Venice, the deconstructive project of reading 'against the visible grain' has been mobilised in the interests of interrogating and unsettling what can only be defined as homophobic misreadings of Martin Boyd. Critical discursive practice, by the near-uniform imposition of a tacit censorship, has refused by means of erasure, silence and repression to reflect on Boyd from the perspective of sexual definition or same-sex love and desire, presumably in the belief that there are no interpretive consequences. In the process, an hypothesis of Boyd as himself mounting an act of social criticism by surreptitiously contesting conventional and hierarchical typologies of masculinity in the margins of institutionalised and popular hegemonic culture, seems to have escaped inscription in the canonical records. Martin Boyd's 'dividedness', 'doubleness', ambivalences and dichotomies point to a complexity that is not ultimately or ontologically resolvable. The Derridean 'de-sedimentation' modus operandi used here makes no claim to a relevatory hermeneutics of Hegelian essence. It does, however, utilise the various tropes of ambivalence, uncertainty, anxiety and incoherence — aspects of Boyd which may be correlated, perhaps, with his sense of the unheimlich or not being at home with himself or his environment — to reposition him in terms of his psychosexual constitution. In the process, the advocacy of aestheticism and pleasure for which he is recognised is found to be tempered and/or subverted by an overt recourse to the transgressive and 'decadent', elements irretrievably linked to his fetishization of the beautiful male body and his obsessive redeployment of the Hellenic ideal of manly love. The interpretive frameworks applied in the reclamation of the 'different' sensibility Boyd articulates by means of an alternately subtilized and strenuous challenge to sex/gender identity and behavioural norms encompass a field ranging from late nineteenth century theoretical discourse on homosexuality through to the intertextual influences of cultural innovators like Pater and Wilde. It includes reference to the literary strategies devised by Sedgwick to uncover deviance and 'erotic pathways'; it surveys the psychoanalytic hypotheses of Freud and Adler as relevant; and it pays heed to an aesthetics of the religio-erotic.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Apr. 29, 2006). Advisor: William J. Tyler, Dept. of East Asian Language and Literatures. Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 376-400).

Boys‘love (BL) is originated from the Japanese comics. The phrase ―”boy‘s love” first appeared as a proper noun in the comics at an approximate time of 1966 in Japan. Most BL comics depicted hopeless love of boys. Then, the 1990s saw the emergence of new type of BL comics, namely 耽美 (Tanbi). Tanbi is a Japanese word, it can be attributed the same meaning as aestheticism. Tanbi comics showed a perfect scene to audiences within beautiful boys’ love, pleasure stories also end up with a comedy. The boys‘ love or nature love between boys is different from the circle of gay. BL is a kind of emotion always can only be seen in literary output due to its strict conditions. BL ought to be explained like this, a beautiful boy is falling love with somebody else, by coincidence, it is a beautiful boy. BL is more like a Platonic love, BL always give a picture of spiritual experiences of boys‘love but fewer sex. In other word, BL is just a kind of comic form. The researchers in Japanese comics always concentrated on its social influences, characteristics, conditions, etc. There is scarce any research touching on the comic forms. BL comics are a special component of the comics, and this form demonstrates a series of phenomenon in sociology. With an informal research, BL comics is now turning into a common fashionable comic form among the Asia regions. However, with great exchanges with other areas, there also exists a large number of BL comic fans in Mainland China, and most of them are young ladies. Given this background, BL is treated as an exclusive form to the young ladies, and it largely reflects values and tastes of these ladies. The findings of this thesis might provide insights into a desire understanding males and an expectation of a fathfully lover. Undeniably, Japanese people attain amazing achievements in many fields, the success of circulating BL products is one of them. To some extent, researching the circulation and consumption patterns of BL comics may reveal the great achievement of Japan in culture transmission. / published_or_final_version / Modern Languages and Cultures / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Japanese Studies / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Doctor of Philosophy / Following on the proposition that the history of Western thought is importantly constituted by a discourse of male-male pedagogic or pederastic relations stretching in narrative form, according to Allan Bloom, from the Phaedrus to Death in Venice, the deconstructive project of reading 'against the visible grain' has been mobilised in the interests of interrogating and unsettling what can only be defined as homophobic misreadings of Martin Boyd. Critical discursive practice, by the near-uniform imposition of a tacit censorship, has refused by means of erasure, silence and repression to reflect on Boyd from the perspective of sexual definition or same-sex love and desire, presumably in the belief that there are no interpretive consequences. In the process, an hypothesis of Boyd as himself mounting an act of social criticism by surreptitiously contesting conventional and hierarchical typologies of masculinity in the margins of institutionalised and popular hegemonic culture, seems to have escaped inscription in the canonical records. Martin Boyd's 'dividedness', 'doubleness', ambivalences and dichotomies point to a complexity that is not ultimately or ontologically resolvable. The Derridean 'de-sedimentation' modus operandi used here makes no claim to a relevatory hermeneutics of Hegelian essence. It does, however, utilise the various tropes of ambivalence, uncertainty, anxiety and incoherence — aspects of Boyd which may be correlated, perhaps, with his sense of the unheimlich or not being at home with himself or his environment — to reposition him in terms of his psychosexual constitution. In the process, the advocacy of aestheticism and pleasure for which he is recognised is found to be tempered and/or subverted by an overt recourse to the transgressive and 'decadent', elements irretrievably linked to his fetishization of the beautiful male body and his obsessive redeployment of the Hellenic ideal of manly love. The interpretive frameworks applied in the reclamation of the 'different' sensibility Boyd articulates by means of an alternately subtilized and strenuous challenge to sex/gender identity and behavioural norms encompass a field ranging from late nineteenth century theoretical discourse on homosexuality through to the intertextual influences of cultural innovators like Pater and Wilde. It includes reference to the literary strategies devised by Sedgwick to uncover deviance and 'erotic pathways'; it surveys the psychoanalytic hypotheses of Freud and Adler as relevant; and it pays heed to an aesthetics of the religio-erotic.

Thesis supervisor: John Westefeld. Includes bibliographical references (p. 48-52).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of Western Ontario, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-47).

M. Tech. / Since year zero of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, homosexuality has been linked to HIV/AIDS (Hooper; 2000). HIV positive homosexual individuals, therefore, are exposed to double stigmatisation; that of being homosexual and of being infected with HIV/AIDS. Taking into account the link between psyche, neural and immunological function, the above statement directly impacts the pathophysiology and prognosis of HIV/AIDS (Forrest and Kanbus; 2004) (De Kooker; 2002). This study examines the psychological and emotional states of the subjects, which are influenced, not only by their disease state but also by social stigmatisation. The aim of the study is to obtain a comprehensive homoeopathic symptom picture of HIV positive homosexual males within a South African context, compare this to existing homoeopathic symptom pictures, discuss HIV/AIDS in terms of miasmatic theory and consider possible homoeopathic treatment options for HIV/AIDS. This is a qualitative pilot study. Fourteen HIV positive homosexual males, of varying race, were recruited through Caritas Care and interviewed in Gauteng. The participants were between the ages of twenty and fifty and in stage one to three of HIV infection. Six of the participants were on antiretroviral therapy, eight not. The participants were interviewed using set questionnaires and underwent a physical examination. The interview transcripts were analysed and compared to each other then commonalities extracted to obtain a composite symptom picture. The composite symptom picture was compared to existing genus epidemicus symptom pictures and existing nosode proving pictures. The composite symptom picture was analysed using Cara Pro computerized repertorisation to determine possible treatment options. This computer programme affords the user access to multiple repertories simultaneously for rubric selection, and then analyses the case allowing for the use of different strategies. The composite symptom picture was also analysed in terms of miasmatic characteristics. The study concludes that the composite symptom picture partially matches existing HIV/AIDS genus epidemicus symptom pictures and nosode proving pictures. The composite symptom picture exhibits prominent themes of mental and emotional restlessness, generalized weakness, rebelliousness, desire for control and a desire for warmth. Possible treatment options are indicated. The include the remedies Sepia, Apis mellifica, Bryonia alba, Iodium and Natrum carbonicum but particularly of the Flouratum mineral group remedies such as Calcarea fluorica and Acidum flouricum. The study indicates that HIV/AIDS is emerging as a new miasm exhibiting characteristics of the Sycotic and Tuberculinic miasms. / Dr. L. Solomon Dr. T. Blake