Australia had the world’s first gay film festival at the Sydney Filmmakers Co-op in June 1976, part of a larger commemoration of the Stonewall Riots in New York City of 1969. In 1994, South Africa became the first country in the world to prohibit discrimination in its constitution on the basis of sexual orientation, whilst allowing for positive discrimination to benefit persons disadvantaged by unfair discrimination. South Africa and Australia, both ex-British colonies, are used in this analysis to explore the way local Queer Cinematic Cultures have negotiated and continue to negotiate dominant social forces in post-colonial settings. It is rare to have analyses of Queer Cinematic Cultures and even rarer to have texts dealing with cultures outside those of Euro-America. This study offers a unique window into the formations of Queer Cinematic Cultures of two nations of the ‘South’. It reveals important new information on how sexual minorities from nations outside the Euro-American sphere have dealt with and continue to deal with longstanding Queer cinematic oppressions. A pro-active relationship between Queer representation in film and social-political action is considered by academics such as Dennis Altman to be essential for significant social and judicial change. The existence of Queer and other independent films in Sydney from the 1960s onward, impacted directly on sexuality, race and gender activism. In South Africa, the first major Queer film festival, The Out In Africa Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in 1994, was instrumental in developing and maintaining a post-Apartheid Queer public sphere which fostered further legal change. Given the significant histories of activism through Queer Cinematic Cultures in both Australia and South Africa, I propose in this thesis the existence of a new genus of cinema, which I term Fifth Cinema. Fifth Cinema includes Feminist Cinema, Queer Cinema and Immigrant/Multicultural Cinema and deals with the oppressions which cultures engage with within their own cultural boundaries. It can be informed by First Cinema (classical, Hollywood), Second Cinema (Art House or dual national cinemas), Third and Fourth Cinema (cinemas dealing with the decolonisation of Third World and Fourth World people), but it develops its unique characteristics by countering internal cultural colonisation. Fifth Cinema functions as a heterognosis, where multi-dimensional representations around sexuality, race and gender are used to assist in broader cultural liberation.

Australia had the world’s first gay film festival at the Sydney Filmmakers Co-op in June 1976, part of a larger commemoration of the Stonewall Riots in New York City of 1969. In 1994, South Africa became the first country in the world to prohibit discrimination in its constitution on the basis of sexual orientation, whilst allowing for positive discrimination to benefit persons disadvantaged by unfair discrimination. South Africa and Australia, both ex-British colonies, are used in this analysis to explore the way local Queer Cinematic Cultures have negotiated and continue to negotiate dominant social forces in post-colonial settings. It is rare to have analyses of Queer Cinematic Cultures and even rarer to have texts dealing with cultures outside those of Euro-America. This study offers a unique window into the formations of Queer Cinematic Cultures of two nations of the ‘South’. It reveals important new information on how sexual minorities from nations outside the Euro-American sphere have dealt with and continue to deal with longstanding Queer cinematic oppressions. A pro-active relationship between Queer representation in film and social-political action is considered by academics such as Dennis Altman to be essential for significant social and judicial change. The existence of Queer and other independent films in Sydney from the 1960s onward, impacted directly on sexuality, race and gender activism. In South Africa, the first major Queer film festival, The Out In Africa Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in 1994, was instrumental in developing and maintaining a post-Apartheid Queer public sphere which fostered further legal change. Given the significant histories of activism through Queer Cinematic Cultures in both Australia and South Africa, I propose in this thesis the existence of a new genus of cinema, which I term Fifth Cinema. Fifth Cinema includes Feminist Cinema, Queer Cinema and Immigrant/Multicultural Cinema and deals with the oppressions which cultures engage with within their own cultural boundaries. It can be informed by First Cinema (classical, Hollywood), Second Cinema (Art House or dual national cinemas), Third and Fourth Cinema (cinemas dealing with the decolonisation of Third World and Fourth World people), but it develops its unique characteristics by countering internal cultural colonisation. Fifth Cinema functions as a heterognosis, where multi-dimensional representations around sexuality, race and gender are used to assist in broader cultural liberation.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Com a profusão de imagens fotográficas do mundo capitalista e o incentivo para que todos sejamos produtores, o modo de fruição das fotografias e a nossa relação com esses simulacros vão se alterando. A necessidade que a web traz de nos apresentarmos em imagens faz com que tenhamos que fabricá-las e através delas passamos a nos relacionar de maneira narcísica. Com o projeto artístico Rhiz'hommes vão se discutindo as construções desses avatares nos sites de relacionamento e a (des)construção da figura masculina heteronormativa como observadora ideal, ponto de fuga para onde deveriam convergir todas as representações. Junto à queda do homem cartesiano, a autoria e a originalidade artística foram se transformando e cedendo espaço a práticas mais permissivas e abrangentes. Essa diluição de fronteiras é o epíteto de tempos pós-orgânicos de relações telemáticas e rizomas de subjetividades / With the profusion of photographic images in the capitalist world and with the incentive for all of us to become photographic producers, the enjoyment of photography and our relations with it keep changing. The virtual need that web brings to present ourselves as images leads us to make them and is through then that we will relate to each other in a narcisistic way. With the artistic project called Rhiz'hommes it will be discussed the construction of avatars on social networking websites and the (de)construction of the heteronormative male figure as the ideal observer, the vanishing point where all representations should converge. After the fall of cartesian man, the authorship and the artistic originality will be changed, making room for more permissives and broad pratices. This boundaries dissolution is the epitet of post-organic times with telematic relations and subjectivities rhizomes

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Com a profusão de imagens fotográficas do mundo capitalista e o incentivo para que todos sejamos produtores, o modo de fruição das fotografias e a nossa relação com esses simulacros vão se alterando. A necessidade que a web traz de nos apresentarmos em imagens faz com que tenhamos que fabricá-las e através delas passamos a nos relacionar de maneira narcísica. Com o projeto artístico Rhiz'hommes vão se discutindo as construções desses avatares nos sites de relacionamento e a (des)construção da figura masculina heteronormativa como observadora ideal, ponto de fuga para onde deveriam convergir todas as representações. Junto à queda do homem cartesiano, a autoria e a originalidade artística foram se transformando e cedendo espaço a práticas mais permissivas e abrangentes. Essa diluição de fronteiras é o epíteto de tempos pós-orgânicos de relações telemáticas e rizomas de subjetividades / With the profusion of photographic images in the capitalist world and with the incentive for all of us to become photographic producers, the enjoyment of photography and our relations with it keep changing. The virtual need that web brings to present ourselves as images leads us to make them and is through then that we will relate to each other in a narcisistic way. With the artistic project called Rhiz'hommes it will be discussed the construction of avatars on social networking websites and the (de)construction of the heteronormative male figure as the ideal observer, the vanishing point where all representations should converge. After the fall of cartesian man, the authorship and the artistic originality will be changed, making room for more permissives and broad pratices. This boundaries dissolution is the epitet of post-organic times with telematic relations and subjectivities rhizomes

I argue that Xing hun (Contract marriage)” and “Coming out with Chinese characteristics” are creative and feasible approaches for Chinese Tongzhi (queer) from the perspective of vertical historical development. My study is a critical intercultural examination of the western-centric in dominant queer discourse. I discussed the non-confrontational communication practices which are different from the western confrontational practices (visibility & sexuality identity). / Transnational forces in the processes of globalization have determined the identities of the Chinese queer population. This thesis aims to explore how global capitalism, information and communication technology, and international collaboration in dealing with HIV and AIDS have facilitated the spread of western queer discourses and ideologies to China, and how these forces have influenced the construction of Chinese Tongzhi/queer identities. I use the discourse analysis to argue that the western norms of queer “coming out” and “declaring identity” can be an action accompanied by risk in the Chinese social, cultural, and political contexts, given that homosexual desires have challenged the institutions--not just sexuality but also marriage and family-- of heteronormativity. Chinese Tongzhi have to deal with the tension between Chinese traditional norms and western queer culture by negotiating some complex and dynamic strategies for defining their sexual identities. These strategies include “keeping silent about one’s sexual identity, or not coming out” and “having xinghun (contract and fake marriages with opposite-sex individuals.)” as a compromise between their traditional family obligations and homosexual desires in order to be able to live a “tolerable” queer life. I conclude that the strategies of the Chinese Tongzhi illustrate the agency of Chinese queers in creating a feasible space in which to live with their sexual identities and the process of globalized queer culture in a specifically Chinese context. / Thesis / Master of Social Work (MSW) / This thesis aims to explore how global capitalism, information and communication technology, and international collaboration in dealing with HIV and AIDS have facilitated the spread of western queer discourses and ideologies to China, and how these forces have influenced the construction of Chinese Tongzhi/queer identities.Chinese Tongzhi has to deal with the tension between traditional Chinese norms and western queer culture by negotiating some complex and dynamic strategies for defining their sexual identities.

Navigating the process of coming out led to feelings of isolation, depression, and a loss of self-worth that were compounded by a period filled with negative social media and mainstream messaging. This thesis explores how an understanding of the systems and processes of nature as well as physical exposure to nature offered a place of healing and an avenue for understanding my identity as a Gay man: from identity confusion all the way through to identity synthesis. Using Scholarly Personal Narrative Methodology, I will interweave poetry and counter narrative storytelling to illustrate the significance of nature during my identity development. Sexual orientation is scrutinized and vilified through social media platforms, advertisements, and daily life under the basis of cultural ideology and social construction. This disregards the larger contextual importance of other species that exhibit similar behaviors. I maintain that a connection with nature can provide individuals with a broader and more balanced perspective of sexual orientation--whilst navigating through the coming out process leading to a confluent sense of identity with reduced internalized conflict.

The diploma thesis The Role of Travesty Show in Media Culture is concerned with a question if we can find some similarities between the way how media presents travesty show and the way how people think and talk about this kind of entertainment. As a research method I chose qualitative content analysis and questionnaire. Theoretical part focuses on explanation of technical terms, history of homosexuality, queer culture, queer theory, travesty show and history. In practical part I will create concrete codes from qualitative content analysis and from these codes I will make categories. Part of practical part is also a questionnaire. In the end of this thesis I will compare the codes from qualitative content analysis with the answers from the questionnaire. And based on this comparison I will find out if there exist any similarities between the way how media presents travesty show and the way how people think and talk about this kind of entertainment.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This study provides a social-text analysis of advertising images in queer publications which represent the new millennium up until 2008 in order to explore gaze theory in a queer context by answering the research question, “How have queer men represented themselves to themselves in the new millennium through the queer male gaze?” Inspired by Jean Kilbourne’s study of the image of women in advertising, this research project examines queer, millennial visual advertising images to explore the creation of normative queer behavior, identity, representation and the possible effects of those images on queer male consumers. A brief examination of previous work concerning male gaze as well as visual culture studies and their connection to Kilbourne’s work is addressed within the study. Further, this study discusses the concept of a bi-textual existence for the queer consumer in which identity is constructed from both an out-group (heteronormative) and in-group (homonormative) milieu. The theoretical foundation establishes that the queer male is placed in a hostile visual position—one where he is the dominating and dominated visual signifier in queer culture. Utilizing a stratified random sampling method, 293 images were coded to explore the research objective of constructing what the millennial queer gaze consisted of within full page advertisements in the queer specific publications of Gay Times, Genre, Instinct, and The Advocate. The results of the analysis construct a toxic visual world for the queer consumer dominated by narrow representations, sexual discourse, discriminating ideologies, and a dangerous repetition of heteronormative, hierarchical social structure found in the patriarchal gaze.

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<p>Drag Cuisines is an interdisciplinary study of the cultural, social, and historical interconnectedness of veganism, queerness, and animality. To interrogate these links requires mixed methods such as the collection of oral histories with self-identified queer vegans, analysis of animal themes in queer film and literature, social media analysis, and analysis of food cultures and restaurant rhetorics. Following work by prominent American Studies scholars, this project posits that the practice of veganism embodies queer performativity in how queerness and animality are ontologically linked.</p>