Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2016-11-17T11:25:21Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Redson dos Santos Silva.pdf: 977507 bytes, checksum: 8cc8d092143a01de594d74b5cef4b20b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-11-17T11:25:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Redson dos Santos Silva.pdf: 977507 bytes, checksum: 8cc8d092143a01de594d74b5cef4b20b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-09-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Having as central focus of analyze cases of hospitalized homosexuals in Pinel (Pirituba/SP) under diagnose of sexual reversal in 1920 to 1940. This research tries to understand the representation and differentiating factors wrought to medical discourse and criminologist about practise and homosexual body, classifying them, indicating standards of conduct and deny them of a freedom in their sexual lives. The medical and criminal sources checked can be found in the public archives of State. They are patients records, some cases od hospital admission in Pinel Sanatorium. They were researched in detailed way and revealed the expressions and contexts of that time, however still introduce continuity contemporaneity. The criminal law came from european theory circulated and inspered the brazilians interpretations in this period of time. In spotlight we have some interpretations done by Cesar and Lombroso about fhysical of the criminal person. In 1920, from that date increased in relevance thelegal medicine. The change of the focus in order to achieve the notion of homeland cleaning emphasizing the privilege in a pedagogical behaviour into their citizens. The homosexuality was faced as deviating in your biological and ethical aspects. Without to highlight the religian speech which controled and effected several questions of moral order. Representing the homosexuality as a grave sin of sodomia. The new context increased the interpretations came up with professionals of the medicine that started up to find explanations to the homosexuality, a behaviour considered deviating, abnormal, degrading in social meaning, following this conceptions; the homosexuality was disease, consequently looked for treatments aiming the heal. Primarily, they prioritized the biological causes before of disease to be discussed what the more efficient treatment to heal the homosexuals. Some of this could besince confinament to reeducation or push the carater as issue to being sort out. (Pinel was a institution among others with the only aim is heal this kind of disease). Including injections of insulin, electrical shockes / Tendo como foco central de análise casos de homossexuais internados no Pinel (Pirituba/SP) sob o diagnóstico de inversão sexual nos anos de 1920 a 1940, esta pesquisa busca compreender as representações e diferenciações forjadas pelos discursos médico e criminologista sobre a prática e o corpo do homossexual, classificando-o, indicando condutas de normatização e privando-o de uma vida sexual livre. As fontes médicas e criminais consultadas encontram-se no Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo, são os prontuários de casos de internação do Sanatório Pinel, que, estudados de forma detalhada, revelam as expressões e contextos de uma época, embora ainda se apresentem permanências na contemporaneidade. As teorias europeias do direito criminal circulavam e inspiravam as interpretações brasileiras do período, com destaque para Cesare Lombroso, com suas explicações sobre o físico do indivíduo criminoso. A partir dos anos 1920, cresceu em importância a medicina legal, mudando o foco com vistas a alcançar a noção de higienização da pátria, privilegiando um comportamento pedagógico em relação aos cidadãos. A homossexualidade foi encarada como desviante em seus aspectos morais e biológicos. Sem descartar o discurso religioso, que controlava e influenciava as questões de ordem moral, representando a homossexualidade como pecado grave de sodomia. No novo contexto, cresceram as interpretações dos profissionais da medicina, que passavam a buscar explicações para a homossexualidade, um comportamento considerado desviante, anormal e degradante no sentido social. Desse modo, a homossexualidade foi identificada como doença e, como tal, buscavam-se tratamentos visando a cura. Priorizando as causas biologizantes da doença, discutia-se qual o tratamento mais eficaz para curar os homossexuais, desde o confinamento para a reeducação e moldagem do caráter (o Pinel foi uma das instituições existentes para esse fim), incluindo injeções de insulina, choques e aplicação de sucos de vários órgãos de animais

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T20:20:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Elcio Nogueira dos Santos.pdf: 2404956 bytes, checksum: c6c1b4914385b1cb86da5957204d613c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-01 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / This text questions the hegemonic masculinities concept and subordinate variants of these masculinities. It has as a hypothesis that hegemonic masculinities and their subordinate variants depend of the historical time and the culture they are inserted in. In other words, there is not a universal and ahistorical model of hegemonic masculinity. It takes as analysis focus the relations established between a group of men who buy sex from sex workers and the sellers, here denominated boys, male prostitutes and sex workers, in enclosed spaces, or male prostitutes bathhouses in the city of São Paulo, places which offer the service of these professionals. It was used as method of research participant observation and semi-structured and in depth interviews with sex workers and their clients. It became possible through the study of this group of men to discuss that hegemonic masculinities and their subordinate variants are in frequent contest for the power and hegemony of the groups, whether it is the group of the clients, whether it is the group of sex workers. It also questioned this group s desire, affection and its intergenerational relations. It proposes that the relations between sex workers and clients are originated from the partners desire and, in some relations, deepen, then constituting new affectivities between the same partners. It brings to discussion the social markers of difference that exist in male prostitutes bathhouses and that configure hegemonies and subordinate between masculinities. It also discusses the relations of power between these groups / Este texto interroga o conceito de masculinidades hegemônica e variantes subalternas destas masculinidades. Tem como hipótese que masculinidades hegemônicas e suas variantes subalternas dependem de época histórica e da cultura nas quais estão inseridas. Ou seja, não há um modelo de masculinidade hegemônica universal e a- histórica. Toma como foco de análise as relações que se estabelecem entre um grupo de homens que compram sexo de profissionais do sexo e os vendedores, neste texto denominados boys, michês e profissionais do sexo, em espaços fechados na cidade de São Paulo, ou as saunas de michê, locais que oferecem os serviços destes profissionais. Utilizou-se como método de pesquisa observação participante e entrevistas semiestruturadas e em profundidade com profissionais do sexo e clientes destes profissionais. A partir do estudo deste grupo de homens tornou-se possível discutirmos que masculinidades hegemônicas e suas variantes subalternas encontram-se em constante disputa pelo poder e pela hegemonia dos grupos, seja o de clientes dos profissionais do sexo, seja o do grupo de michês. Questionou também o desejo e a afetividade deste grupo e as relações intergeracionais. Propõe que as relações entre michês e clientes nascem do desejo dos parceiros e, algumas relações, se aprofundam, constituindo então, novas afetividades entre os mesmos parceiros. Traz à discussão os marcadores sociais de diferença que existem nas saunas de michê e que configuram hegemonias e subalternidades entre as masculinidades. Discute ainda as relações de poder entre estes grupos

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T14:53:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Elcio Nogueira dos Santos.pdf: 2404956 bytes, checksum: c6c1b4914385b1cb86da5957204d613c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-06-01 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / This text questions the hegemonic masculinities concept and subordinate variants of these masculinities. It has as a hypothesis that hegemonic masculinities and their subordinate variants depend of the historical time and the culture they are inserted in. In other words, there is not a universal and ahistorical model of hegemonic masculinity. It takes as analysis focus the relations established between a group of men who buy sex from sex workers and the sellers, here denominated boys, male prostitutes and sex workers, in enclosed spaces, or male prostitutes bathhouses in the city of São Paulo, places which offer the service of these professionals. It was used as method of research participant observation and semi-structured and in depth interviews with sex workers and their clients. It became possible through the study of this group of men to discuss that hegemonic masculinities and their subordinate variants are in frequent contest for the power and hegemony of the groups, whether it is the group of the clients, whether it is the group of sex workers. It also questioned this group s desire, affection and its intergenerational relations. It proposes that the relations between sex workers and clients are originated from the partners desire and, in some relations, deepen, then constituting new affectivities between the same partners. It brings to discussion the social markers of difference that exist in male prostitutes bathhouses and that configure hegemonies and subordinate between masculinities. It also discusses the relations of power between these groups / Este texto interroga o conceito de masculinidades hegemônica e variantes subalternas destas masculinidades. Tem como hipótese que masculinidades hegemônicas e suas variantes subalternas dependem de época histórica e da cultura nas quais estão inseridas. Ou seja, não há um modelo de masculinidade hegemônica universal e a- histórica. Toma como foco de análise as relações que se estabelecem entre um grupo de homens que compram sexo de profissionais do sexo e os vendedores, neste texto denominados boys, michês e profissionais do sexo, em espaços fechados na cidade de São Paulo, ou as saunas de michê, locais que oferecem os serviços destes profissionais. Utilizou-se como método de pesquisa observação participante e entrevistas semiestruturadas e em profundidade com profissionais do sexo e clientes destes profissionais. A partir do estudo deste grupo de homens tornou-se possível discutirmos que masculinidades hegemônicas e suas variantes subalternas encontram-se em constante disputa pelo poder e pela hegemonia dos grupos, seja o de clientes dos profissionais do sexo, seja o do grupo de michês. Questionou também o desejo e a afetividade deste grupo e as relações intergeracionais. Propõe que as relações entre michês e clientes nascem do desejo dos parceiros e, algumas relações, se aprofundam, constituindo então, novas afetividades entre os mesmos parceiros. Traz à discussão os marcadores sociais de diferença que existem nas saunas de michê e que configuram hegemonias e subalternidades entre as masculinidades. Discute ainda as relações de poder entre estes grupos

Submitted by Natalie Mendes (nataliermendes@gmail.com) on 2015-07-22T00:52:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 A noite tem mais luzes - considera??es sobre o desejo l?sbico no romance de Cassandra Rios.pdf: 725975 bytes, checksum: 19cc6cfcc8daaa4a2de209717e83c904 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-22T00:52:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 A noite tem mais luzes - considera??es sobre o desejo l?sbico no romance de Cassandra Rios.pdf: 725975 bytes, checksum: 19cc6cfcc8daaa4a2de209717e83c904 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-29 / This study analyzes representations of female homosexuality in the novel A noite tem mais luzes (1968), authored by Cassandra Rios, a writer from S?o Paulo. Cassandra?s literary production is permeated by the lesbian theme?s existence being considered one of the first Brazilian writers to ensure the existence of gay characters as protagonists of her novels. Her work is thus a natural source for us understanding the female homosexual desire?s exposure on Brazilian 1960s. In this meanline, we follow the protagonist?s path Pascale, analyzing lesbian identity that is problematic by character, so we seek to establish a dialogue between theoretical texts and narrative scenes that expose the discourses on lesbian identity in the novel. Here also are investigating whether they are experienced and constructed gender roles perceived as sexually "deviant" on a quest to understanding gender relations? dynamics that underlie these constructs. We seek to further understand what are these subjects? circulation spaces and experiences. The analysis' perspective allows us to place this research in the field of post-structuralist studies, being referenced by theorists like Michel Foucault (1967; 1996; 2012); Judith Butler (2014); Stuart Hall (2003; 2006), among other authors who study identity?s questions. From this work?s analysis we can see the constant changes and mechanisms that underlie identification and visibility?s game, highlighting the conflicts and subjective process such questions and showing it, mainly as a historical building. / Este estudo analisa as representa??es da homossexualidade feminina no romance A noite tem mais luzes (1968), de autoria da escritora paulista Cassandra Rios. A produ??o liter?ria de Cassandra ? permeada pela exist?ncia da tem?tica l?sbica sendo considerada uma das primeiras escritoras brasileiras a garantir a exist?ncia de personagens homossexuais enquanto protagonistas de seus romances. Sua obra se constitui, pois, numa fonte singular para a compreens?o da exposi??o do desejo homossexual feminino no contexto brasileiro da d?cada de 1960. Nesse sentido, acompanhamos a trajet?ria da protagonista Pascale analisando a identidade l?sbica que ? problematizada atrav?s da personagem, buscamos assim estabelecer um di?logo entre textos te?ricos e cenas da narrativa que exp?em os discursos sobre a identidade l?sbica no romance. Aqui, tamb?m se investiga como s?o vivenciados e constru?dos os pap?is sexuais tidos como sexualmente ?desviantes?, numa busca de se entender a din?mica das rela??es de g?nero que perpassam essas constru??es. Busca-se, ainda, perceber quais s?o os espa?os de circula??o e viv?ncia desses sujeitos. A perspectiva de an?lise adotada permite situar a pesquisa no campo dos estudos p?s-estruturalistas, sendo referenciada por te?ricos como Michel Foucault (1967; 1996; 2012); Judith Butler (2014); Stuart Hall (2003; 2006), dentre outros te?ricos que estudam a quest?o da identidade. A partir da an?lise da obra ? poss?vel perceber as constantes trocas e mecanismos que permeiam o jogo da identifica??o e visibilidade, evidenciando os conflitos e questionamentos subjetivos a tal processo e evidenciando-o, sobretudo, enquanto constru??o hist?rica.

Dans les années qui ont suivi l’apparition de l’infection par le VIH, la priorité était donnée à la recherche thérapeutique. Depuis l’introduction des trithérapies antirétrovirales en 1996, la mortalité et la morbidité liées du VIH ont fortement chuté. Cependant, l’épidémie reste très active, notamment chez les hommes ayant des relations sexuelles avec d’autres hommes (HSH), signifiant la nécessité d’un changement de paradigmes en termes de dépistage et de prévention. Cette thèse suit l’évolution d’une partie de la recherche en épidémiologie du VIH dans les pays du Nord, en s’intéressant d’abord à l’efficacité des traitements pour ensuite s’orienter vers les limites et les nouvelles stratégies de dépistage du VIH et enfin aborder le thème de la prévention. Elle regroupe cinq études épidémiologiques conduites en France.La première étude, conduite chez 175 patients infectés par le VIH-1 et naïfs de traitement antirétroviral, a montré que le lopinavir/ritonavir était efficace quelques soient les polymorphismes portés par la protéase virale. La seconde étude, basée sur un modèle économique prenant en compte l’évolution des pratiques médicales et l’impact des nouveaux traitements a montré que le coût des soins relatifs au VIH est 535000€ par patient (coût actualisé : 320700€) pour une espérance de vie de 26,5 ans dans les conditions actuelles de prise en charge. Elle met en évidence que le coût annuel d’un patient est d’autant plus élevé qu’il débute la prise en charge à un stade avancé de la maladie (21600€/an s’il accède aux soins en stade sida ou avec un taux de CD4<200/mm3 vs. 19400€ avec un taux de CD4>500/mm3, coûts non actualisés). La troisième étude portant sur 1008 patients VIH nouvellement diagnostiqués, a montré que 93% des patients avaient consulté un médecin généraliste dans les trois années qui précèdent le diagnostic de VIH et que 82% des patients inclus qui consultaient pour des symptômes associés au VIH durant cette période avaient une opportunité manquée de proposition de dépistage du VIH. De même, 55% des HSH qui mentionnaient à une structure de soins leur appartenance à ce groupe à risque, avaient une opportunité manquée de dépistage. La quatrième étude a évalué un dépistage communautaire du VIH auprès des HSH (532 HSH ont été testés dans le cadre de l’étude). Ce dépistage a atteint des personnes à risque d’acquisition du VIH dont un tiers se dépistait peu dans les autres structures de dépistage. Parmi les 15 hommes testés positif (2,8%), 12 (80%) ont reçu la confirmation de leur séropositivité pour le VIH et ont été liés aux soins (médiane des CD4 =550/mm3). La cinquième étude, basée sur un design cas-témoins et menée chez les HSH dans le Nord (53 cas de syphilis précoce et 90 témoins) a mis en évidence la fellation réceptive sans préservatif et l’utilisation de jouets sexuels anaux comme principaux facteurs de risque de la syphilis. Nos résultats montrent les limites des stratégies actuelles de dépistage et sont en faveur d’un dépistage systématique du VIH en routine dans les structures de soins primaires, d’une extension de l’offre de dépistage pour les populations à risque spécifique et d’une prévention renforcée axée sur les mesures de réduction des risques du VIH mais aussi des IST. A l’ère des traitements antirétroviraux efficaces, bien tolérés, mais coûteux, le dépistage et la prévention sont des enjeux de poids dans la maitrise de l’épidémie. / In years following the onset of HIV infection, priority was given to therapeutic research. Since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy in 1996, mortality and morbidity related to HIV have decreased dramatically. However, the epidemic remains active, especially among men who have sex with men (MSM), highlighting the need for changes in testing and prevention policies. This thesis presents the evolution of a part of research in epidemiology of HIV in Northern countries, focusing first on HIV treatments effectiveness then moving toward to limitations of current HIV testing strategies, new strategies of HIV testing, and finally addressing prevention. This Ph.D thesis contains five epidemiological studies conducted in France.The first study, conducted in 175 HIV-1 infected antiretroviral-naive patients, showed that lopinavir/ritonavir was efficient regardless to polymorphisms carried by the viral protease.The second study, based on an economic model accounting changes in medical practices and the impact of new drugs, showed that lifetime cost associated with HIV care is €535,000/patient (€320,700 discounted) for a life expectancy of 26.5 years under current conditions. Moreover, it highlighted that annual cost of care increases with late access to care (€21,600/year if AIDS or CD4 count <200 cells/mm3 at HIV care initiation, vs. €19,400 if CD4 count >500 cells/mm3, undiscounted costs).The third study conducted in 1,008 HIV-infected patients newly diagnosed, showed that 93% of patients had seen a general practitioner within 3-year period prior to HIV diagnosis. Of patients enrolled, 82 who sought care for HIV-related symptoms within this period had a missed opportunity for HIV testing proposition. Similarly, 55% of MSM who notified to a healthcare setting that they belonged to this risk group had a missed opportunity for HIV testing proposition. The fourth study assessed a community-based HIV testing strategy targeting MSM (532 MSM tested into the program studied). This HIV testing reached people at high risk of HIV, on third of these was little or not tested in other testing facilities. Among the 15 patients who tested positive (2.8%), 12 (80%) received confirmation and linked to care (median CD4 count =550 cells/mm3). The fifth study, a case-control study conducted in MSM in northern France (53 cases of early syphilis and 90 controls) showed receptive oral sex without a condom and anal sex toy use as the main risk factors for syphilis acquisition. Our results highlight limitations of current HIV testing strategies. They show the importance of promoting routine HIV testing in primary care settings, and extension of testing facilities that target populations with specific risk. In addition, they enhanced prevention for risk reduction measures for HIV and STIs. In the era of effective and well tolerated but expensive antiretroviral therapy, testing and prevention are significant issues in the control of the HIV epidemic.

This thesis examines Malay identity construction by focusing on the complex processes of self-identification among queer-identified Malays living in Malaysia and beyond. By analysing representations of queer Malays in the works of contemporary Malaysian Malay writers, scholars, and filmmakers, as well as queer Malays on the internet and in the diaspora, the thesis demonstrates how self-identifying gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Malays create and express their identities, and the ways in which hegemonic Malay culture, religion, and the state affect their creation and expression. This is especially true when queer-identified Malays are officially conflated with being “un-Malay” and “un-Islamic” because queer sexualities contravene Malay cultural and religious values. This thesis begins by discussing the politics of Malay identity, particularly the tension between “authority-defined” and “everyday-defined” notions of being Malay that opens up a space for queer-identified Malays to formulate narratives of Malayness marked by sexual difference. The thesis then discusses how queer-identified Malays specifically construct their identities via various strategies, including strategic renegotiations of ethnicity, religiosity, and queer sexuality, and selective reappropriations of local and western forms of queerness. The ways in which “gay Melayu” identity is a hybrid cultural construction, produced through transnational and transcultural interactions between local and western forms of gayness under current conditions of globalization is also examined, as well as the material articulation of queer narratives of Malayness and its diverse implications on queer-identified Malays' everyday lives and sense of belonging. The thesis concludes with a critical reflection on the possibilities and limitations of queerness in the context of queer Malay identity creation. Such reflection is crucial in thinking about the future directions for research on queerness and the politics of queer Malay identity. It is hoped that this study will show that queer-identified Malays reshape and transform received ideas about “Malayness” and “queerness” through their own invention of new and more nuanced ways of being “queer” and “Malay.” This study also fills up the lacunae in the scholarship on Malay identity and queer Malays by addressing the productions of Malay ethnicity and sexual identity among queer-identified Malays within and beyond Malaysia's borders.

This thesis examines feminist and queer actors emerging in highly mediated environments and the forms of political organisation and critical knowledge production they engage in. It indicates that older debates around gender and sexuality are being reformulated in digital networks and identifies alternative understandings which are being developed. The study foregrounds a performative conceptualisation and argues that political realities are produced in dynamic configurations of communication media, discourses and bodies. It suggests that network technologies constitute sources of vulnerability and anxiety for feminists and stresses the significance of registering how embodied subjectivities emerge from these experiences. To achieve its aims and to map activity happening across different spaces and scales, the project attended to context-specific processes of mediation at the intersections of online and offline settings. It employed ethnographic methods, internet visualisation, in-depth interviewing and textual analysis to produce the following key outcomes: it registered changing understandings of the political in relation to new media amongst a network of women's organisations in London; it investigated the centrality of social media and global connections in the shaping of local queer political communities in Brighton; it complicated ideas of control, labour and affect to analyse emerging sexual identities in online spaces like nofauxx.com, and offline postporn events; finally, it traced feminist actors gathering around new reproductive technologies, at the crossing fields of grassroots activism and the academy. Today, women's groups and queer activists increasingly use networked communication for mobilisation and information-sharing. In a climate of widespread scepticism towards both representational politics and traditional media, questions about the role of digital networks in enabling or limiting political engagement are being raised. This thesis aims to contribute to these debates by accounting for the ways in which feminist and queer activists in digital networks reformulate the relationship between communication media and politics.

This thesis offers an insight into a section of the lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender community that has been consistently under-represented in research. Based on data gathered from some 400 lesbians over 60, this study presents the findings of the first comprehensive survey of older lesbian life to be undertaken in the UK. It complements existing LGBT ageing research (Heaphy, Yip and Thompson, 2003; Cronin and King, 2010; Archibald, 2010; Stonewall, 2011), which has focussed more on men than women; and provides substantial data about a population which has frequently been referred to as ‘invisible' and ‘hard to reach' (Berger, 1982; Kehoe, 1986; Deevey, 1990; Heaphy et al., 2003. etc.). As well as providing a detailed picture of older lesbian life in the UK at the beginning of the 21st century, the thesis specifically addresses the following questions:  just how ‘invisible' are older lesbians? To what extent do they feel able to respond to the more liberal legal and social climate of the early 21st century by ‘coming out of the closet,' even if they have not done so before? What might be their reasons for staying hidden?  do older lesbians conform to the ‘old, sad and alone' stereotype of the ageing homosexual (Dorfman et al., 1995), or to the contrasting view that older non-heterosexuals have built strong support networks (Kehoe, 1988) and offer positive alternative models for ageing (Weeks, Heaphy and Donovan, 2001)?  considering that most LGBT ageing research is based on samples containing more men than women, are there aspects of personal history and ontology specific to older lesbians, which have been obscured by research with a more general ‘LGBT' focus?  given the wide social, political and economic diversity of the research sample and the variety of their life experiences as revealed by the data, do older lesbians really have anything in common other than their sexual orientation? How useful is the term ‘older lesbian' as an identity category?

The 1951 Refugee Convention aims to provide international legal protection to all asylum seekers. Individuals making asylum claims based on persecution which relates to their sexual orientation however are not explicitly represented in Article 1A (2) of the Convention. As a consequence, cases based on sexual orientation are usually argued under the ‘membership of a particular social group' category, a classification which has long remained the most contested of the Refugee Convention grounds for granting asylum. This thesis focuses on the experiences of lesbian women as they navigate the UK asylum process. The research explores how sexuality is constructed and performed as women seek asylum as well as how this impacts upon their social and sexual identity. A theoretical framework for the study is principally (though not exclusively) drawn from the works of Judith Butler (1990, 2004, 2006) and Michel Foucault (1978, 1979), as well as Ken Plummer's (1995) ‘telling sexual stories'. The research draws upon in-depth, repeat interviews with eleven lesbian asylum seekers and refugees in the UK. These women all reported to have experienced physical and sexual violence in their home countries as a consequence of their homosexuality and all had sought international protection in the UK on the basis of their sexuality. The analysis presented in this thesis reveals that the experience of going through the UK asylum process was, for the women in this study, an emotionally challenging and confusing experience. As a consequence of women's traumatic experiences in their home countries, they were often over familiar with secrecy which added to the difficulties of self-identifying as a lesbian in the UK. The legal requirement to evidence and ‘prove' one's sexual orientation was considered problematic and frequently left women feeling compelled to ‘perform' their sexual identity in order to be believed as a credible lesbian. In addition the analysis presented demonstrates that the requirement to share intimate narratives on demand and in an open and public way had a range of significant implications on women themselves. This included how women felt that their sexuality was persistently judged and the devastating impact of not being believed. This thesis also shows how navigating complex legal procedures impacts upon women's social and sexual identity. The study demonstrates that living in limbo, without permanency and stability exacerbated women's experiences of social isolation and rejection and left them occupying a distinct social space, excluded from British, asylum seeking and migrant groups. Despite these struggles however, the data presented in the thesis also reveals women's ability to recognise, fight and campaign for their legal citizenship and to enjoy the freedom to express their sexual identity and sexual self-esteem. The desire to create a safe space, to understand their sexuality and to re-construct a sense of belonging was paramount as women fought for their sexual entitlements.

Contemporary theories of gender conceptualise masculinity as a socially constructed, pluralistic and action-oriented entity. Hegemonic masculinity is the dominant masculinity discourse in many Anglophone societies. Heterosexuality is the bedrock of hegemonic masculinity, and heterosexual expressions of masculinity are more socially desirable than gay masculinities. Although gay men are unable to embody hegemonic masculinity, prior research suggests that their behaviour may nevertheless be guided by its mandates. This may include gay men's sexual positioning behaviour in anal intercourse – previous research has demonstrated that gay sexual positions are steeped in gender role stereotypes. The mixed-methods programme of studies presented in this dissertation provides a greater understanding of the components of “gay masculinities”, and how positioning in relation to masculinity discourses is associated with how gay men experience their masculinity, including in anal intercourse. A discursive qualitative approach used in Study 1 identified how gay men could “compensate” for their homosexuality by displaying attributes associated with hegemonic masculinity (e.g., muscularity). It was also found that gay masculinities were notable for their diversity (Chapter 3). Using quantitative methods, Study 2 demonstrated that gay men who are anally-insertive in anal intercourse were perceived as more masculine than those who are receptive, although muscularity and a deep voice were more strongly associated with perceptions of gay men's masculinity than sexual positioning (Chapter 4). In Study 3, an experiential qualitative approach identified how gay men's beliefs about masculinity were associated with their gendered perceptions and experiences of anal intercourse (Chapter 5). Insight was also provided into the range of beliefs that gay men have about masculinity, and how these beliefs are related to how gay men negotiate their masculine and gay identities against the dominance of the hegemonic masculinity discourse (Chapters 6 and 7).