Reparative Rhetorics intervenes on the occasion of a long and tumultuous history wherein the public expression of women's pleasure is regulated, policed, and disciplined. Working firmly at the intersection of rhetorical theory/criticism and feminist theory/criticism, the project makes use of some of these humanistic legacies to excavate moments whereby women articulate themselves in public despite the structures of power that have historically sought to constrain these expressions. I argue that when women elaborate their pleasures in public, we are given a glimmer of things as otherwise--futures others than capitalist and patriarchal formulas of meaning. The dissertation critically maps these moments in public culture in the reparative mode. Informed by the work of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, reparative reading strategies seek to "repair" the exclusively negative, bleak state of critical affairs. That is, while feminist and rhetorical scholarship often concludes its findings with the necessary (debilitating) effect of cultural ideologies, like patriarchy and capitalism, reparative criticism, instead, invests itself with the everyday, on-the-ground rhetorical enactments of individuals actually living, breathing, surviving, and thriving in culture. By moving from structure to the everyday within that structure, we are better able to attend to moments of human invention and agency. The dissertation carries with it three scholarly commitments. First, through each case-study chapter, I aim to expand that which "counts" as a matter of public concern. As is well-known, not all sexual practices enjoy the same level of public comfort. The dissertation queries where we might expand the scope of these public/private demarcations within contexts like sadomasochism practices, women's magazines, discussions about women's orgasm, and body visibilities. Second, the dissertation examines the ethics that undergird the expression of pleasure in public. Each chapter contributes to this discussion by asking to what extent holding the question of sexual ethics open is (im)possible. Third, the project aims to reinvest women with sexual agency by engaging in scholarship that does justice to their agential enactments. While much of the scholarly terrain remains committed to explicating how women are blindly trapped in an oppressive structure of control, this project instead, turns to moments wherein women voice themselves despite or because of those vectors of control. To animate this recognition, I draw from both cultural productions firmly at the normative center and the marginal periphery to critically map the effectivities of these constitutive articulations unto sexual-cultural meaning-making practices. In particular, the dissertation analyzes sexual publics forged around mainstream texts such as Fifty Shades of Grey (chapter two) and Cosmopolitan magazine (chapter one) in an effort to rescue these cultures from exclusively paranoid judgments and, instead, ask what a reparative reading strategy might offer these discourses of pleasure. Additionally, I also look to the marked margins, wherein sexual publics are born out of political discussions about women's orgasms (chapter four) and the (in)visibilities of women's bodies (chapter three) to imagine what kinds of sexual avenues are made possible therein. The three contributions emphasize the tremendous importance of attuning ourselves to context while critically preparing for the provisionality of cultural assessments. Taken together, the case-studies approximate that end and seek to highlight the multivocality of productive pleasure expressions in our everyday lives. The mode in which I engage these commitments serves a critical purpose often overlooked when scholars, teachers, and activists begin assessing women's relationships to sex, pleasure, and desire. A now oft-repeated trope in approaching these problematics surfaces as the question: is this liberating or oppressive? Are women, in this instance, hapless victims or transgressive agents? Reparative Rhetorics elucidates the naivety of such questions because lived realities are surely more complex than either/or explanatory logics. To ask if women are hapless victims or transgressive agents in this or that socio-political moment predestines the critical process to simplistic rhetorical assessments so inflexible, their relevance to the production of humanistic theories, classrooms, and future research falters. The project concludes by proposing that sharing pleasure knowledges in public builds productive resources for navigating our social-sexual worlds.

O principal objetivo desta dissertação é investigar a função argumentativa que as demonstrações hedônicas ao final do Livro IX (580d-583a; 583b-588a), formuladas por Sócrates como provas de que a vida justa é melhor que a injusta, desempenham no escopo filosófico geral do diálogo. Como estratégia argumentativa para suportar a tese de que desempenham papel fundamental em sua doutrina ética, proponho que há em A República a formulação de um problema relativo ao prazer irracional. Este problema diz respeito às implicações psicológicas, epistemológicas e ontológicas inerentes à experiência hedônica irracional, e que concernem não apenas as doutrinas da alma, do conhecimento e da realidade formuladas no diálogo, mas, mais basicamente, sua doutrina ética. Ao final, argumento que, em virtude deste problema, as demonstrações hedônicas se fazem valer como partes fundamentais da doutrina ética de A República, e que não seria possível uma compreensão adequada de seu sentido total caso a questão do prazer fosse desconsiderada: as demonstrações, especialmente a última, estipulam um argumento que toca no âmago do problema concernente ao valor da injustiça, sendo capaz de provar, por meio da proposição de uma forma depurada de hedonismo, que chamo aqui hedonismo racional ou filosófico, que a crença fundamental de que a injustiça é valorsa pois prazerosa é falsa. / The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the argumentative function that the hedonic demonstrations at the end of Book IX (580d-583a, 583b-588a), formulated by Socrates as proofs that a just life is better than an unjust one, perform in the general philosophical scope of the dialogue. As an argumentative strategy to support the thesis that they play a fundamental role in its ethical doctrine, I propose that there is in the Republic the formulation of a problem related to irrational pleasure. This problem concerns the psychological, epistemological, and ontological implications inherent in the irrational hedonic experience, which concern not only the doctrines of soul, knowledge, and reality formulated in the dialogue but, more fundamentally, its ethical doctrine. In the end, I argue that by virtue of this problem, the hedonic demonstrations assert themselves as fundamental parts of the Republic\'s ethical doctrine, and that a proper understanding of its full meaning would not be possible if the question of pleasure were disregarded: the demonstrations, especially the latter, stipulate an argument that touches the heart of the problem concerning the value of injustice, and is able to prove, by proposing a refined form of hedonism, which I call here of rational or philosophical hedonism, that the fundamental belief that injustice is valuable because pleasurable is false.

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 essay attempts to examine whether it is possible to find a mutual understanding of the concept of drive between Spinoza’s philosophy and Freud’s psychoanalytical theory. Former texts on this subject have given a variety of conclusions: from a radical separation between the two authors to a complete identification between the two. The drive, or the desire which is the term Spinoza uses, has in Spinoza’s philosophy its foundation in the concept of conatus. Conatus is every thing’s strive to persevere in its being and is the expression of God’s, or the only substance’s, force and action in a here and a now. In the Freudian theory the term trieb, drive, is defined by it’s variation regarding object, source and aim. The late Freudian theory of drives separates the life drive, also called Eros, from the death drive. Eros is the strive of every being to maintain life but also to procreate and create stronger unities of life. It is, as the strive of conatus, a persevering strive. However, in examining the strive of conatus to persevere in its being, which could be said to strive by the guidance of a principle of joy, the distinction between the concept of conatus and the Freudian Eros is made visible through the comparison to the Freudian pleasure principle.

The largest age group in western society, the baby boomers, was born between 1943 and 1964, considering different definitions for the time span. All these people have an age between 62 and 48 years old. The life expectancy of these people is the highest in history and they will be more and more willing to stay independent as long as possible. The core of independence is being able to provide and take care of oneself. In order to do that, the instruments that surround the person have to be adjusted to the needs of the person and aid as much as possible. This is the report of a Bachelor Degree Project that has the intention to develop a kitchen accessible for all people, both people with full ability and people with limited capabilities, using the inclusive design toolkit. At the same time it has to be appealing enough that people without limited capabilities also enjoy the use of this kitchen, this will be pursued by applying the pleasure design methodology. Apart from the objective to come up with a kitchen concept, attention will be given to study, compare and discuss the relation and compatibility between different methods and design philosophies.   The project resulted in a conceptual kitchen aimed to be suitable for nearly all people. The design was approached through various angles to obtain a broad variety of solutions, which was combined into one kitchen concept, to comply with the demands that a future user may have. The main aspects taken upon are the layout, storage solutions that require minimum effort and a stove and sink solution. The kitchen concept complies with the predetermined requirements set forth in the project specifications. Extra attention was put into the storage methods. Not necessarily in the amount, although most space was taken advantage of, but in the ways the user can use the storage spaces. The stove and sink are located on a height-adjustable platform for maximum comfort and adaptation to the user. The layout was determined according to the space needed for mobility, storage and function.

As a new communication technology, Internet makes users play the role both as audiences and producers of messages. After Youtube published, the trend of amateurs¡¦ works quickly sprung up. Amateurs produce original creations and derivative works, and sharing their ideas by Youtube to hold a carnival in the cyber world. Some experienced amateurs become the favorite of news media, and even get the chance to communicate with professional movie makers. The purpose of this research is to provide Youtube video creators some success examples and key elements to follow. Based on the amateurs¡¦ point of views, this research studied on the ¡§play¡¨ experiences and the communication pleasure of experiences amateurs. By observing Youtube website, this research also found out the carnival of amateur videos. This research takes two qualitative approaches. First, by conducting five interviews, the ¡§play¡¨ experiences and the communication pleasure of experienced amateurs are discussed. To develop an understanding of the carnival of Youtube videos, researcher observed the contents, click rates, and discussions of users. The findings of this research are that the experienced amateurs have long-term accumulations of video making which combine entertaining and learning. Their communication pleasures come from the behavior of creation, and the interaction with online fans and offline friends. As the main strategy of Bakhtin¡¦ carnival theory, parody also becomes a welcomed idea of Youtube videos. But the experienced amateurs emphasized that there lays more serious core ideas in the videos, and those are the main issues should be known.

This paper provides an account of how a normative male gaze is produced and upheld even in a video game famed for its inclusive nature, Dragon Age: Inquisition. The analysis originates in content studies concerning the portrayal of gender in video games in relation to in-game physical gender portrayal. It is followed by a contextualization of specific video sequences and certain game mechanics in relation to Laura Mulvey’s feminist film theory about the Male Gaze. Mulvey’s film theory approach, while useful as an intellectual tool, is not developed to be applied to video games and thus it is also necessary to consider any implications related to the interactivity of the game. As characters are subjected to a gendered male gaze in relation to both their physical appearance and attributes they are made to uphold the normative status quo. The Gaze is evident in how characters are portrayed, how the main character becomes a default male character regardless of actual gender and in the construction of women as something other. But most importantly, in the actual game mechanics through which all characters become objects for the player to use either in combat or to own in the guise of offering romance to the narrative.

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The Ironman triathlon began in 1978, according to popular accounts the result of an argument among a group of athletes about who was the fittest. Thirty years later, participation in the Ironman has grown exponentially despite the physical and mental demands of the sport. In my dissertation I examine the ways different types of pain and pleasure function in the production of bodies and selves within this sporting practice and how these understandings of pain and pleasure intersect with neoliberal discourses. My study adds to an important body of literature in the sociology of sport that has explored pain and injury. This literature has revealed the normalization of pain and injury in sport, at the expense of athletes’ short and long-term health. Exploring pain and pleasure in a recreational sport and fitness practice and in light of neoliberal governmentality offers new insights. I conducted semi-structured interviews with 19 recreational Ironman triathletes and incorporated my own Ironman experiences into the project. Mediated representations of the sport helped to contextualize the interview and autobiographical materials. I subjected the information that I gathered to a critical discourse analysis informed by the theoretical perspectives of Michel Foucault. My findings reveal that there are multiple ways that people construct their experiences of pain and pleasure in the Ironman context. Athletes strive to negotiate “positive” and “negative” kinds of pain in an effort to produce skilled, disciplined bodies, capable of finishing the event and claiming an “Ironman identity.” Pleasure in this sport seems mostly connected to ideas of challenge, achievement, rewards, and recognition. The constructions of pain and pleasure largely reify dominant sport and exercise discourses which promote discipline, toughness, and achievement. Considering the Ironman in light of neoliberalism, it was evident that values of health, self-esteem, the use of pain, and the primary use of non-work/leisure time for training and racing were intricately connected to ideas about individual responsibility. I argue that as the “Ironman identity” becomes more normalized, our understandings of bodies and health shift in problematic way. This reinforces neoliberal ideologies of self-responsibility and makes diminished State responsibility for citizens more insidious than it is already. / Thesis (Ph.D, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-12-22 11:37:39.876

This thesis utilizes a qualitative method to investigate recreational sex among teenagers as recounted by current college-aged students. As defined for the purposes of this thesis, recreational sex is any consensual sexual activity undertaken for the purpose of pleasure and can encompass a variety of sexual activities. Questions were focused on attitudes and feelings about experiences and were formulated based on reminiscence methods. Studies that discuss teen sexuality in terms of pleasure are important for acknowledging sexual agency and self-efficacy among teens and for addressing the inherent risk involved in sexual activity. The first part of this thesis focuses on recreational sex in a more traditional recreational context. In other words, how do teens discuss and view recreation and recreational sex? Findings suggest that it is often hard to define sexual activity in terms usually associated with other recreational activities but that there are parallels upon further discussion. In addition, partners, past experience, and use of contraception play a role in shaping current experiences. The second part of this thesis examines the gendered contexts of teenage sexual pleasure. Findings show that the pursuance of pleasure is problematic for females in the same way that other sexual activities are. Participants suggest that sexual pleasure is assumed for males but criticized for females and that females often must negotiate the social landscape carefully to project a particular desirable image. In addition, many female participants described being the victims of sexual assault as part of their sexual experiences. Taken together, these pieces provide a contextual picture of teenage recreational sex. Rather than investigate more traditional aspects of teen sexual behavior (i.e. contraception, alcohol and drug use), this thesis approaches sexual activity in terms of pleasure. This gives credence to the idea that teens not only experience sexual pleasure but also that they actively seek it.