This dissertation explores the relationship between transsexuality, autobiography and ideas of sexual difference in the United Kingdom and the United States of America between the years 1950 and 2000. This dissertation argues that rather than viewing sex and gender in hierarchic fashion, transsexual autobiography allows us to see their relationship as mutually legitimating. Both biological sex and psychological gender acted as historically contingent ‘sex signs’ which worked to show the autobiographer as man or woman, despite having been born in the opposite sex. I argue that far from biology dictating gender, or gender defining sex, both were used equally and strategically by transsexuals in order to fluently speak a language of sexual difference which their ‘audiences’ – be they medical professionals, legal scholars, newspaper journalists, or close friends and family members – could understand. This fluency permitted belief in them as the men or women they knew themselves to be. At some times, and in some company, genital sex signs were the most appropriate way of signifying sexual difference, whist in a different place and with different people, certain gender traits were more useful. Always, though, was the transsexual’s signification of him- or her-self as man or woman delimited by public discourses of sexual difference which impacted upon ‘non-transsexuals’ also. In closely reading transsexual autobiographies we are better able to see the construction, and naturalisation, of sexual difference in the second half of the twentieth century. By looking both at the strategic uses of transsexual autobiographies and the wider public reactions to such life stories (and the individuals who tell them), this dissertation shows how the languages of sexual difference, of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ were in a constant state of flux during the period in question.

This research study explores young women's accounts of becoming mothers below the age of 21 and in adverse circumstances. The findings are based on five group interviews and twenty-eight individual interviews. All participants were living in areas of social deprivation, and just over two-thirds had been in care. The meanings the young women give to motherhood are used in negotiating their social worlds. The key dimensions of these processes of negotiation are: the validation of heterosexual femininity and of a 'caring' identity; the negotiation of their class position, including their position in relation to the labour market, the education system and the care system. Motherhood also gives them agency and control when patriarchy, capitalism and surveillance constrain their opportunities to actively shape their lives in other ways. The young women's own discourses of motherhood and mothering allow them to resist hegemonic discourses of teenage mothers as irresponsible, promiscuous and as seeking economical dependency. Much of their own discourse of motherhood is positive, and they often employ a discourse in which they have reformed and 'grown up' through motherhood. They argue that it is responsibility, rather than age, which is the key determinant of adequate mothering. However, these positive meanings are in tension with the difficulties and losses. All the young women found that their lives are constrained in some way by motherhood and that, ideally, that would have postponed motherhood until they were more settled. The young women assert that there is a mismatch between their own views and professional responses. It is argued that a shift is required, in the framing of policy and practice, away from viewing vulnerable young people in terms of 'risk assessment', towards an approach based on their strength and resilience, and on a recognition that, given support, young women can be good enough mothers.

This thesis explores the meaning and significance of sibling and peer relationships for young people looked after by local authorities, from their own perspectives. A sociological approach to research with young people is employed, drawing on additional post structural and feminist insights. It is argued that hegemonic ideas concerning the nature of development have resulted in a concentration on adult and adult-child relationships, from adult perspectives. Accordingly, children‟s perspectives on the contribution of their interrelationships to their well-being, support networks, and sense of social inclusion have not been adequately theorised. It is concluded that this has had particular implications for looked after children, as the process of becoming and remaining looked after can result in considerable losses within their sibling and peer relationships. A participatory methodology was developed in order to address issues of power, agency and choice within the research process. Qualitative interviews were undertaken with eighteen young people, aged between twelve and nineteen, who were, or had previously been, looked after. Sibling and peer relationships were found to make significant contributions to the young people‟s emotional and physical well-being, and sense of individual and familial identity, as well as providing emotional and practical support into adulthood. Accordingly, the loss of significant relationships, particularly those with siblings, could affect them deeply. While living in care, the young people were often optimistic about the ease of negotiating relationships with siblings and friends after leaving care. However, in reality, living independently could amplify problems within sibling and peer relationships, placing young people at risk of homelessness, violence, and social isolation. This thesis contributes greater understanding of the importance of a wide variety of sibling and peer relationships to the lives of looked after children, from their own perspectives. It also informs as to the complex challenges they face both during and after leaving care in negotiating their sibling and peer relationships in the interests of their emotional and physical well-being.

This study is set in the context of an increasing awareness of the need for and importance of quality play learning experience for pre-school children owing to its crucial role and great contributions to various aspects of child development. The main aim of this study is to examine teachers' and parents' perspectives on play and their understanding of the role of play in relation to children's learning particularly in pre­school practice. Teachers' perceptions of play were described and analysed with respect to their definition of play, roles and values of play in relation to children's learning, and the use of play in teaching. Parents' understandings of the concept of play were examined through their perception on play as pedagogical tools and their preference for pre-school learning activities. The findings of the study imply that: (i) There was a mismatch between teachers' understanding of the word play in child development and play in relation to educational program of the children. (ii) Only few parents considered play to be the appropriate way of children's learning. Most of them preferred a formal learning environment for their children's pre-school activities. (iii) Play activities tended not to provide learning experiences of acceptable quality in most of the settings and many pre-school teachers taught children in a very formal way. (iv) There was no evidence of systematic differences between the philosophy and type of settings in respect to play understanding. The differences are the level of the teachers' knowledge, professional training and academic qualifications. (v) Mainly there were four main factors concluded as impeding the progress of deploying play in Malaysian pre-school practice: conceptual barriers, attitudinal barriers, structural barriers and functional barriers. As a result of the findings, some implications have been advocated concerning the need for rethinking the practice in Malaysian pre-schools for improving the approach to educating young children by giving play its central role in children's learning and free from academic stress.

This thesis explores the discourses and organisations through which girls' development towards adult womanhood was framed and managed during the inter-war period. It examines how contemporary perceptions of social change following the First World War resulted in widespread scrutiny of girls' circumstances and behaviour, particularly their sexual conduct. It argues that representations and responses to girls were increasingly underpinned by the conceptualisation of adolescence as a critical period of change and instability. This understanding of adolescence pervaded both medical and lay discourses. It was interpreted through the prisms of gender and class, and served to legitimise increasing levels of intervention into girls' lives, mainly on the basis of their sexual behaviour or perceived exposure to sexual risk. Adolescence was also represented as the period in which individuals developed moral agency. This study examines the increased importance ascribed to the moral training of the adolescent, in the context of widespread agreement of the need to express traditional moral values in ways that took account of social change. This was seen as particularly important for girls, not only because of their changing circumstances, but because of women's new status as enfranchised citizens. The thesis explores the work of the Girl Guides Association and the Young Women's Christian Association in some detail. These organisations drew upon the discourse of social change, adolescence and citizenship to claim an enhanced role in shaping the development of young women. While histories of girls' youth organisations have tended to portray them as conservative movements intent on socialising girls into their future role as wives and mothers, this study highlights these organisations' commitment to preparing girls to understand and exercise their future responsibilities as citizens, and argues that such organisations were more complex in their purposes, and more varied in their approaches, than has previously been recognised.

This thesis is a qualitative study based in in-depth semi-structured interviews with fourteen female to male transsexuals, concerned with the social and discursive processes through which female to male transsexuals construct their new 'male' gendered social identities and the ways in which their bodies may be seen to impact upon these processes across a variety of personal and social relationships. Chapter One provides an overview and critique of key and competing perspectives concerning the relationships between transsexual subjectivity and embodiment, and the hegemonic discourses/discursive practices of heterosexuality, sex and gender, and medicine. Chapter Two establishes the epistemological and innovative methodological framework of the thesis, moving from the analysis of representations of transsexuality to a sociologically informed analysis. Dealing with issues of experience, voice, power, agency and representation through contemporary work in feminism and the sociology of health and illness, the Chapter adapts the multidisciplinary methodologies and methods of 'narrative analysis' to the study of female to male transsexual identity in social interaction. Chapter Three engages with existing perspectives on written transsexual autobiography within feminist, literary, cultural and transgender theory and, through rigorous and detailed narrative analysis addresses the significance and specificity of 'oral autobiography' where constraints and opportunities for the construction of an 'authentic' transsexual selfhood are produced in a dynamic, interactional context. In Chapter Four personal narratives are examined to extend the issue of transsexual 'authenticity' into the broader area of relationships with parents, siblings, partners, children, friends and work colleagues. It deals with the ways in which past and present knowledge of the interviewees as particularly embodied and gendered individuals by these 'knowing' others impacted upon their recognition and acceptance of them as men. The thesis concludes that taking this analytic approach which moves 'beyond the text' into social and interactional contexts reveals complex negotiations of 'traditional' stories, the significance of others' past knowledge and investments in sexed/gendered embodiment and the interviewees' own active management of their embodied gendered selves which earlier work has overlooked or not fully addressed. Finally it identifies fruitful areas for further research suggested through this study.

This thesis is based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in Agincourt, South Africa, between 2009 and 2010. It examines social relations of care involving young people in the context of the country's AIDS epidemic and increasing economic inequality. The thesis focuses on three sets of care relations, which constitute gift exchanges involving young (orphaned and non-orphaned) people: 1) children's labour for guardian care; 2) girls' labour and sex for support from boys and men; and 3) the local manufacturing of 'orphans' for charitable gifts from tourist-philanthropists. The thesis further examines how the contested constructions of orphanhood, childhood and care are expressed through these three sets of relations. It theorises how Western and local constructions of care, childhood and orphanhood meet on the ground through orphan-targeted assistance. Evidence derives from ethnographic fieldwork carried out with two non-profit organisations serving 'Orphans and Vulnerable Children' (OVCs) in two separate villages, as well as with 14 households connected to the OVC organisations. Ongoing, semi-structured interviews were carried out with young people and significant adult caregivers from participant households. Participatory exercises, including a photography project and a 'Girls Club,' were also carried out with young participants. Interviews with key stakeholders involved in the OVC care scene were conducted. Stakeholders included local government workers and officials, faith-based leaders and staff from private tourist game lodges conducting community development projects involving young people in Agincourt. This thesis develops the concept of the 'materiality of care' to address the dearth of ethnographically informed theorisations of care involving young peopled affected by AIDS and poverty. It argues that understandings of care for and by young (orphaned) people must be placed within local, emic perspectives and practices of care, as well as within the broader, historical and political economic context shaping relations of care. Findings have implications for policies and interventions for young people people affected by AIDS and poverty. The thesis contributes to the growing body of evidence that is critical of orphan-targeted interventions in sub-Saharan Africa; interventions which fail to recognise the familial context of parentless children and the broader context of poverty and hardships caused by AIDS that cut across the lives of orphaned and non-orphaned young people.

This local study of single-sex organisations in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire is an attempt to redress some of the imbalanced coverage given to this area of history thus far. A chronological study, it examines the role, importance and, to some extent, impact of a wide range of women's organisations in the local context. Some were local branches of national organisations, others were specifically concerned with local issues. The local focus allows a challenge to be made to much current thought as to the strength of a "women's movement" in the years between the suffrage movement and the emergence of a more radical form of feminism in the 1970s. The strength of feminist issues and campaigning is studied in three periods -- the inter-war period, the Second World War and its immediate aftermath, and the 1950s and 1960s. The first two periods have previously been studied on a national level but, until recently, the post-Second World war era has been written off as overwhelmingly domestic and therefore unconstructive to the achievement of any feminist aims. This study suggests that, at a local level, this is not the case and that other conclusions reached about twentieth century feminism at a national level are not always applicable to the local context. The study also goes further than attempting to track interest in equality feminism in the mid years of the century by discussing the importance of citizenship campaigns and the social dimension of membership of women's organisations. The former has been introduced into the academic arena by Caitriona Beaumont and her ideas are assessed and expanded upon. As a result the thesis makes strong claims that citizenship activity was of vital importance to the empowerment of British women in the twentieth century. The importance of a single-sex social sphere in allowing women to develop as individuals, is also recognised in each of the three periods.

Within the UK recent research has suggested that a belief in gender equality is becoming increasingly prevalent. Women are frequently framed as empowered individuals who are now enjoying a freedom to choose in every aspect of their lives, placing them on equal terms with men. From this perspective, feminism is consequently viewed as outdated and redundant. Such ideas have been labelled as ‘post-feminist’ by feminists and cultural theorists. However, as many feminists have argued, whilst considerable advances have been made, women in the UK are in fact far from experiencing ‘true’ gender equality. This study focuses on UK journalism, examining the impact of post-feminism on the experiences and beliefs of women working in an industry that has been identified as contributing to upholding post-feminist ideas through its cultural products. In 2002, the most recent large-scale survey of UK journalists revealed that this traditionally male-dominated industry was now one of the few occupations with almost equal numbers of men and women. However, despite this numerical equality, more women in journalism are clustered in lower status roles and in less prestigious areas than their male counterparts. It is possible that female journalists may thus be experiencing sustained workplace inequalities of a type not acknowledged by post-feminism. This research aims to provide an insight into the experiences of women working in the UK journalism industry through 49 semi-structured interviews with female journalists from newspapers and women’s magazines. There has been little previous research in this area; earlier work suggests however that female journalists’ experiences may be uniquely shaped by the existence of an individualistic occupational culture. This study consequently looks from a feminist perspective at the beliefs that female journalists hold about gender (in)equality, to reveal the way/s they interpret their working lives, investigating a possible affinity between journalistic work culture/s and post-feminist ideas.

The thesis was basically exploratory in nature. A staged life cycle model, with three key stages, was developed which jointly incorporated women's work and motherhood roles. The chosen stages led to a focus on white middle-class women. This was therefore the target group from which the samples were drawn and the focus of any generalisation from these studies. The primary focus of the work was on the decision-making processes that women go through in making the transition from one stage to the next. This was looked at in terms of a cost/benefit model that incorporated meaning through an exploration of the stresses and satisfactions that women experienced at the three identified stages. This allowed the initial decision-making model to be 'unpacked', and the relevant factors to be identified. These were considered in detail and looked at in the context of the relevant literature. One factor, role conflict, was explored further in a separate survey where roles were found to be potential sources of support as well as of demands. In looking at the decision to return to work, five factors were found to be particularly important to the women, and these were successfully checked for reliability in a separate study. The research was started in 1986, and the surveys were undertaken in 1987 and 1988. Results also allowed the formulation of a stress/satisfaction model, and when looked at in relation to the decision-making processes, it was postulated that decision-making would be easier if certain criteria were met. The decision-making model was used to explore the implications for women's training in general, and the training of women returners in particular. In relation to the latter, it was found that women anticipating the return to work expected it to be more stressful than did those women actually experiencing that stage, suggesting that women may overestimate the size of the problem at the post-break stage, and thus delay returning to the labour market. The strengths and weaknesses of the models were recognized and certain recommendations for further research were made.