This thesis reports on a small scale qualitative research project located in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The objective of the research was to understand how lesbian teachers disrupt heteronormativity in early childhood settings. The literature was reviewed nationally and internationally. It argues that heteronormativity is the main barrier preventing teachers speaking about lesbian and gay issues. Heteronormativity is a discourse that works to maintain heterosexual hegemony. As a result of this dominance, acceptance of lesbian and gay issues is still a contentious issue within Aotearoa/New Zealand early childhood settings. This study provided an opportunity for heteronormativity to be viewed solely from a lesbian teacher’s paradigm. My intention was to also examine the strategies that participants used to challenge heteronormative dominance. Participants negotiated risks to ensure that both children and adults were aware of the hegemonic view point enforced by heteronormativity. A feminist post-structuralist and queer theory paradigm was used to frame the analytical approach.

The purpose of this study was to examine how the intersection of gender scripts, gender identity, and sexual orientation impact perceived narratives and power hierarchies in sexual relationships. To drive participants to verbalize their underlying views about sexual scripts, two highly sexualized and controversial sexual cultures will be examined: casual sex and pornography. Feminist academics and advocates have long argued for a restructuring of sexual politics by implementing feminist principles into personal relations and public life (Connell, 1997). Therefore, competing feminist ideologies will also be assessed to gauge the campus’s feminist climate regarding self-identified feminists’ views on the exploitation and/or the empowerment of women within pornography. Findings from this study indicated that respondents view women’s participation in hookups or pornographic situations similar to how they viewed men’s participation. However, internalized homophobic messages were discovered, particularly from male respondents. The findings also suggest that feminists in this sample were generally accepting of pornography, but that feminism did not play a key role in shaping respondents beliefs.