Over the past decade, scholarly works have examined the plurality and diversity of men in relation to social practices of Arab cultures, while also examining discourses of violence, militarization and hegemonic masculinity in times of war and conflict. However, there has been little discussion and critical literature concerning non- heterosexual (or queer) representations of masculinities in the Arab world. Within such context, this dissertation addresses the emerging and shifting visual representations of ‘queer’ masculinities as they are artistically performed in the contemporary lens-based artworks of internationally recognized Lebanese artist Akram Zaatari. Much of the research on queerness in the Arab region risks falling into a colonialist and liberatory framework that seeks to discover an ‘authentic’ queer identity. Contrary to such approaches, I argue for the fluidity of a local queer Arab model of disidentification underpinning Zaatari’s artworks, which questions our perceived realities of both queerness and hegemonic masculinity in Post-Civil War Lebanon. Taking an interdisciplinary approach that integrates cross-cultural comparative and queer visual analysis, I locate Zaatari’s artworks within a larger sociocultural context, as well as within and in tension with existing feminist and contemporary art discourses on the body, identity, and performativity. By examining visual and textual representations of local queer masculinities, this dissertation engages in dynamic discussions on the process of masculinization and elaborates on its future cultural and artistic trends both in the Arab world and in Western countries.

Using autoethnography, this dissertation explores the relationship between my experiences through the treatment of papillary thyroid carcinoma and crip-queer theory. This dissertation seeks to bridge queer theory, disability studies, and medical discourse through personal experience. Additionally, by employing autoethnography, this study creates nuanced narratives of living with chronic illness at the intersections of disability and queerness. In Chapter One I provide a rationale and provide a cursory explanation of crip-queer theory. In my second chapter I employ Robert McRuer’s notion of the origin story to chart the development of crip-queer theory by looking to the similar activist histories of disability and sexuality within the United States. In Chapter Three I examine my solo performance Orphan Annie Eyes: Overcoming Narratives of Cancer and Loss, arguing that the performance challenges common narrative tropes surrounding disability. In my fourth chapter I use autoethnography to explore my experiences going through cancer treatment. Finally, my fifth chapter explores the implications of this dissertation and seeks to identify future research studies using crip-queer theory.

Dissertation (MTech(Tourism and Hospitality Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2011 / Cape Town, which is known as the Mother City of South Africa, is regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world: ‘heaven at the tip of Africa’, and was voted by the premier gay travel guide, Spartacus International Gay Guide, as one of the top five gay travel destinations in the world. The well-publicised myth of gays as DINKs who need somewhere to spend their above average disposable income has led to the vigorous courting of the gay niche by a variety of organisations that seek new markets. However, South Africa, an emerging destination, is merely beginning to understand niche markets. The research was motivated by limited market intelligence about the economic impact and changes in inbound niche markets, especially with regard to the gay market in Cape Town. In order for Cape Town to remain successful in attracting the international gay market, Cape Town’s tourism planners, marketers and local community should be continuously reminded about the economic worth of gay tourists, as a weak rand relative to other major world currencies, and high standard of gay facilities make the City attractive for gay visitors who bring foreign currencies. Understanding the economic impact of gay tourism by using the 2009 MCQP as a case in reference is, therefore, of paramount importance for Cape Town marketers to ensure that they target the gay market effectively at present and in future. The purpose of the study was to analyse the economic impact of the 2009 MCQP on the local economy by translating the total sales effect obtained by multiplying direct sales with appropriate multipliers, into an analytical framework, namely the ‘System of equations for estimating local economic impact.’

Broadly, this thesis is a project about queerness and its relationship to Twilight. This thesis seeks to recuperate the queer in the Twilight series. Using discourse analysis, I explore both common and uncommon representations of queerness and the popular and unpopular discourses of Twilight. While both Chapter 1 and 2 offer paranoid readings of the Twilight series and its relationship to queerness, Chapter 3 presents a reparative reading of the text. I argue that Meyer’s tame and conservative vampire, conventionally represented as being either sexually ambiguous or outside the norm, is symptomatic of a modern culture that is becoming more accepting of odd, strange, and/or queer individuals. I maintain, however, that the normalization of specific "ways of being" still comes at the expense of the constitutive “other”. Furthermore, I understand this process of normalizing a monster to be representative of a seemingly apolitical, yet violent, Faludian backlash toward queers.

Orientador: Wiliam Siqueira Peres / Banca: Roberta Stubs Parpinelli / Banca: Leonardo Lemos de Souza / Resumo: O objetivo desta pesquisa foi acompanhar o Coletivo ElityTrans, grupo formado por travestis e transexuais da cidade de Londrina (PR), nos processos de experimentação teatral vividos por meio de oficinas compartilhadas entre participantes do coletivo e pesquisador, que resultou na criação da Cia. Translúcidas de Teatro. Procuramos no método da cartografia caminhos para acompanhar as linhas de subjetivação que atravessavam xs participantes e que indicavam problematizações sobre temas suscitados. Estes temas se transversalizaram e encontraram no termo "vivências trans" diferentes sentidos que foram explorados teoricamente: expressões de travestilidades e transexualidades; formas mais potentes de abordar tais expressões, como as perspectivas queer; experimentações artísticas através da prática teatral, e experiências coletivas que permitiram o exercício do teatro e da pesquisa, colocando o próprio sentido de experiência em questão. Esta pesquisa acompanhou a montagem de uma peça teatral realizada junto com xs participantes do coletivo e elaborada como um dispositivo de luta política e emancipatória, que se inscreve no cenário de violências contra expressões de gêneros dissidentes. Este dispositivo interessou-se por das condições de "ver" e "falar" que estavam entre os desejos das pessoas envoltas ao projeto que confluíram na necessidade ética de garantir às pessoas trans e travestis, o direito fundamental à existência / Abstract: The purpose of this research was to accompany the ElityTrans Collective, a group formed by transvestites and transsexuals from Londrina (PR), in the processes of theatrical experimentation lived through workshops realized with participants of the collective and researcher. We found in the method of cartography ways to follow the lines of subjectivation that crossed participants and indicated problematizations on issues raised. These themes were transversalized and found in the term "trans experiences" different meanings that were explored theoretically: expressions of travestilities and transsexualities; more potent ways of addressing such expressions, such as queer perspectives; artistic experiments through theatrical practice, and collective experiences that allowed the exercise of theater and research, putting the very meaning of experience in question. This research followed the construction of a theatrical play performed together with participants from the collective and elaborated as a device of political and emancipatory struggle, which is part of the scenario of violence against expressions of dissenting genres. This device was interested in the conditions of "seeing" and "talking" that were among the wishes of the people involved in the project that came together in the ethical need to guarantee trans people and transvestites the fundamental right to existence / Mestre

This project is an invitation for lesbians within Metropolitan Community Churches to speak the truth of their lived experiences, describe their experiences and encounters with God, and through that, create a lesbian theology. This author has observed that even in welcoming faith communities such as Metropolitan Community Churches, lesbian voices are missing from theological conversation. By critically engaging with various feminist, women’s, and queer theologies, this project envisions the modification of a Holy Conversations resource created by Metropolitan Community Churches that will consider how lesbians encounter God in various aspects of their lives. This author hopes that the creation of a lesbian theological resource will encourage other marginalized communities to speak of their God experiences and to create theologies that will connect them with God and with others.

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A collection of found poems using the Edwardian text “Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens” by J.M. Barrie. This thesis explores themes of gender, mental health, and queer belonging while theorizing about the materiality of poetry.