Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2006. / Title from title page screen, viewed on April 27, 2007. Dissertation Committee: C. Anita Tarr (chair), Roberta Seelinger Trites, Jan Christopher Susina. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 197-208) and abstract. Also available in print.

The aim of this study was to describe the experiences and thoughts among midwives when encountering same sex couples at the maternity ward. Further, the aim was to explore the midwives attitudes towards education about special needs among same sex couples and their thoughts about contents and design of such education. The study had a descriptive design using a qualitative method. The data was collected through interviews with 10 midwives in February 2009. The midwives worked at two different maternity wards. At ward A the midwives had participated in education about special needs among same sex couples while the midwives at ward B worked according to traditional manners. The overall result of the study showed that the midwives from both wards had experiences of positive nature when encountering same sex couples. They also had a positive attitude towards education and thoughts about contents and design of such education. Despite their positive experiences the midwives reported several difficulties when encountering same sex couples and also differences between these couples and heterosexual couples. Mainly the midwives at ward A expressed specific difficulties and differences. The difficulties were experienced in the interaction between the midwife and the couple and concerned communication as well as difficulties during examinations. Due to the specific difficulties and differences the midwives at ward A were of the opinion that the care should be adapted to the needs of same sex couples, in order to optimize the overall care. / Syftet med studien var att undersöka barnmorskors upplevelser av och tankar kring att bemöta samkönade par på förlossningsavdelning. Vidare syftade studien till att undersöka barnmorskors inställning till utbildning i homokompetens samt vad de önskade att en sådan utbildning skulle innehålla och hur den skulle utformas. Studien hade en kvalitativ ansats med deskriptiv design. Datainsamling har skett genom intervjuer med tio barnmorskor från två olika förlossningsavdelningar under februari 2009. Barnmorskorna på avd. A hade genom utbildning fått homokompetens och arbetade efter särskilda rutiner för att bemöta samkönade par medan de på avd. B hade ett traditionellt arbetssätt. Sammanfattningsvis visade resultatet att barnmorskorna från såväl avd. A och avd. B generellt hade positiva upplevelser av att bemöta samkönade par. Samtidigt hade de en positiv inställning till utbildning och även tankar kring hur en sådan utbildning skulle utformas. Resultatet visade också att barnmorskorna upplevde svårigheter i bemötandet och skillnader mellan samkönade och heterosexuella par. Framförallt lyfte barnmorskorna på avd. A fram specifika svårigheter och skillnader. Svårigheterna upplevdes finnas på flera olika plan i interaktionen mellan barnmorskan och paret och rörde såväl kommunikation som svårigheter vid undersökningar. Barnmorskorna på avd. A ansåg mot bakgrund av de upplevda svårigheterna och skillnaderna att vården särskilt borde anpassas för att optimera bemötandet.

Syftet med detta examensarbete har varit att försöka förstå varför så få homosexuella ungdomar väljer att komma ut offentligt med sin homo-bisexualitet i gymnasieskolan. Min frågeställning löd ”Av vilka anledningar väljer så få gymnasieelever att öppet visa sin homo-bisexualitet”. Metoden jag använt består i tre kvalitativa intervjuer med två lärare och en rektor. Intervjuerna spelades in på band. Tre gymnasieklasser svarade också på en enkät bestående av tio frågor, sammanlagt deltog trettiotvå elever. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att lärare och rektor inte har någon erfarenhet av öppet homo-bisexuella elever, och därmed inte känner sig insatta i problemet. De anser inte heller att homofobiska skällsord är vanligt förekommande i skolan. Majoriteten av eleverna känner heller inget obehag inför homo-bisexuella personer men anser att homofobiska skällsord är vanligt förekommande i skolan. Litteraturen och samtliga informanter är ense. Rädslan är stor för allmänhetens förlöjligande och fördömande av öppet homo-bisexuella personer. / The purpose of this examination work has been to understand why so few high school students choose to come out with their homo/bi sexuality. The question at issue were “Why are so few high school students open with their homo/bi sexuality?” The methods being used were three quality interviews with two teachers and one principal. The interviews were recorded on tape. Three high school classes answered a questionnaire, containing ten questions, in all there were thirty three students participating. The result of the survey shows that teachers and principals don’t know how to handle situations with openly homo/bisexual youth because of lack of experience. Their view is also that homophobic foul language isn’t commonly occurring in school. The majority of students don’t fell any discomfort in present of homo/bisexual students but consider that homophobic foul language is commonly used in school. Both the literature and all other sources are in agreement. Homosexual youth are afraid of people’s reactions and for them to condemn their sexual aptitude.

Within this essay a study is made of an LGBTQ-orientated Christian service in Stockholm called Queer Service. The following questions seek to be answered: What reasons does an individual set for his/hers participation in Queer Service? Which aspects of a queer service highlight the participants as important to them? As a method to answer these questions, the author has observed a number of queer church services in autumn of 2012. Moreover communication within the group of the assembly on the social media page Facebook has been followed and five individuals from the Queer Service congregation have been interviewed. As a background to the study, the European religious climate seen from Grace Davies eyes is depicted.  The reader also learns of how the Swedish church has handled questions about homosexuality and bisexuality and what liberation theology is. An (incomplete) section on other existing services with LGBTQ orientation in Sweden and the USA has been added as well as background information on Queer Service. The results from the gathering of material and the analysis of it show that the interviewees perceive themselves in need of a safe place free of harassment or suspicion linked to sexual orientation or gender identity. Several interviewees also experienced a conflict between Christian faith and an LGBTQ personality - a conflict the service could help solve. Participation in the service was also motivated as a way to resist structures that confirmed heterosexuality as a norm. Another aspect important to the interviewees is Queer Service's emphasis on internal authority and its lack of a clear hierarchy.

This project report analyzes the emergence of categories of sexual deviancy as they appear in selected medical treatises from the eighteenth century. Terms such as homosexual or lesbian were not yet available in medical or public discourse but the early modern writers did use a variety of other references to establish the existence of such categories. For instance, one might label deviants as hermaphrodites, eunuchs, sodomites, or monsters to describe what were perceived as unnatural forms of sexual expression which ostensibly posed a threat to the social order largely because they were not procreative, but also because of the fear that they might produce children of the same ilk. Moreover, the sudden explosion in scientific and medical knowledge during the Enlightenment created a need for the organization and classification of such knowledge, as well as a fascination with anomalies and how they might be cured. My argument is that four of these deviant categoriesthe chronic masturbator, tribades or hermaphrodites, mollies (or effeminate male homosexuals), and eunuchswere considered unnatural because they fell outside normative prescriptions of acceptable sexual conduct that was based primarily on pro-natal and pro-nutpial ideologies. I rely on experts in eighteenth-century scholarship, such as Rictor Norton, Randolph Trumbach, Thomas Laqueur, Robert Darby, Thomas A. King, and George Rousseau, to inform my discussion of writings from this period. Although contemporary scholars in this field have made significant contributions to our knowledge of early modern understandings of sexual deviancy, relatively few of them seem to have investigated how medical treatises on generation provided a scientific basis for the marginalization of specific types of people. By identifying these types under the larger category of generation, I argue that these medical texts and popular sexologies function as vehicles of social control by emphasizing that the only legitimate form of sexual expression was within the context of marriage and that its sole purpose was for reproduction.

The effects of knowing or not knowing the satirical nature of a piece of humor were examined and compared to the effects of disparaging humor. One hundred and twenty-six heterosexual undergraduate students (male: n = 43; female: n = 83) were randomly assigned a satirical or an offensive comic about gay men. Some of those who read the satirical piece were told of the satirical intentions of the author. Some of the predicted hypotheses were partially supported. Low SDO participants found the satirical comic, regardless of whether the author’s satirical intentions were explicitly told or not, less humorous and more offensive than high SDO participants. On the other hand, high SDO participants found the disparaging comic to be more humorous and less offensive than low SDO participants. The implications of these findings as well as the difficulties with measuring the effects of satire are addressed.

This essay provides some insight into how the representation of masculinity, homosocial bonds and homosexuality in two novels has changed during the last century. The essay analyzes the novels, Maurice (E.M Forster) and Dream Boy (Jim Grimsley). The main focus lies on how Maurice and Dream Boy handle certain topics; social behavior in private and public among the male protagonists and the role of the father figure. The essay points out similarities and differences between how each topic is being handled in the respective novels. The main theoretical concept focuses on masculinity, homosocial bonds and the perception of homosexuality and how it is constructed in the two novels. The representations of masculinity seem to change over time only to take the same shape as before. The same kinds of masculinities are represented in both Maurice and Dream Boy. The fact that young men have learned that their bodies can be used as instruments of power makes it difficult for them to allow intimacy within homophobic cultures which might threaten their male identities and therefore influence the way their homosocial bonds.

This project report analyzes the emergence of categories of sexual deviancy as they appear in selected medical treatises from the eighteenth century. Terms such as homosexual or lesbian were not yet available in medical or public discourse but the early modern writers did use a variety of other references to establish the existence of such categories. For instance, one might label deviants as hermaphrodites, eunuchs, sodomites, or monsters to describe what were perceived as unnatural forms of sexual expression which ostensibly posed a threat to the social order largely because they were not procreative, but also because of the fear that they might produce children of the same ilk. Moreover, the sudden explosion in scientific and medical knowledge during the Enlightenment created a need for the organization and classification of such knowledge, as well as a fascination with anomalies and how they might be cured. My argument is that four of these deviant categoriesthe chronic masturbator, tribades or hermaphrodites, mollies (or effeminate male homosexuals), and eunuchswere considered unnatural because they fell outside normative prescriptions of acceptable sexual conduct that was based primarily on pro-natal and pro-nutpial ideologies. I rely on experts in eighteenth-century scholarship, such as Rictor Norton, Randolph Trumbach, Thomas Laqueur, Robert Darby, Thomas A. King, and George Rousseau, to inform my discussion of writings from this period. Although contemporary scholars in this field have made significant contributions to our knowledge of early modern understandings of sexual deviancy, relatively few of them seem to have investigated how medical treatises on generation provided a scientific basis for the marginalization of specific types of people. By identifying these types under the larger category of generation, I argue that these medical texts and popular sexologies function as vehicles of social control by emphasizing that the only legitimate form of sexual expression was within the context of marriage and that its sole purpose was for reproduction.

Uppsatsen undersöker skildringen av den kvinnliga samkönade sexualiteten i Agnes von Krusenstjernas romanserie Fröknarna von Pahlen. Den utgår från den queerteoretiska tanken att identiteter är uppbyggda på motsatser och att heterosexualitet behöver homosexualitet för att definiera sig själv. Således är homosexualitetens funktion att vara allt det som heterosexualiteten inte är. Det finns en diskrepans mellan samkönat begär och den homosexuella identiteten, och den homosexuella identitetens uppgift är att hålla den heterosexuella identiteten ren. Jag fokuserar den gräns som Krusenstjerna drar mellan lärarinnan Bell von Wendens homosexuella identitet och hennes elev Angela von Pahlens samkönade begär, samt hur Angelas sexuella identitet, trots hennes samkönade begär, hålls ren genom skildringen av Bells homosexuella identitet. Den gräns som dras mellan Bells homosexuella identitet och Angelas samkönade begär är emellertid inte rigid. Därför är det inte alltid tydligt när Angelas samkönade relationer till Bell, Stanny Landborg och Agda af Sauss går från att vara vänskapsrelationer till att bli kärleksrelationer. Jag anser att det är häri Krusenstjernas subversiva potential ligger.

Our society is based on a heterosexual norm. This may lead to the fact that LGBT-persons have a poorer health status than the heterosexual population. The nurse education lacks information and courses that highlights sexual identity. This is defective since healthcare staff needs knowledge on the subject to be able to treat patients in a professional and respectful manner. The purpose of this study was to illustrate how heteronormativity influences the treatment of patients within a healthcare context. This paper is a survey of literature based on 12 articles and one dissertation. The results showed that the healthcare staff and the healthcare students had both positive and negative attitudes towards non heterosexual patients. The majority had positive attitudes. It is thus important to highlight the negative attitudes and derive them to heteronormative ways in a healthcare context. The non heterosexual patients experienced problems dealing with homophobia, the issue of coming out or not and poor heteronormative communication. The healthcare staff needs to get accurate education regarding heteronormativity and sexual identities. The negative attitudes towards non heterosexual patients would thus lessen and the treatment towards these persons would improve. More research on the subject of nursing and heteronormativity is needed. Research focusing only on the nurse’s work and how it is influenced by heteronormativity is wanted. / Vårt samhälle är heteronormativt och detta kan vara en orsak till att HBT-personer har sämre hälsa än den övriga heterosexuella befolkningen. Sjuksköterskeutbildningar runt om i Sverige saknar till stor del kurser som belyser sexuell identitet. Detta är bristfälligt då vårdpersonal behöver kunskap kring ämnet för att kunna bemöta patienter på ett professionellt och respektfullt sätt. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att synliggöra hur heteronormativiteten påverkar bemötandet av patienter inom vården. Studien är utförd som en litteraturstudie baserad på 12 artiklar samt en avhandling.Resultaten visade att det fanns både positiva och negativa attityder hos vårdpersonal och vårdstudenter gentemot icke heterosexuella patienter. Majoriteten hade positiva attityder. Det är dock viktigt att belysa de negativa attityderna och härleda dessa till heteronormativa förhållningssätt inom vården. Icke heterosexuella patienterna upplevde problematik kring homofobi, att komma ut eller inte, samt bristfällig och heteronormativ kommunikation. Vårdpersonal behöver få aktuell utbildning angående heteronormativitet och sexuella identiteter. De negativa attityderna gentemot icke heterosexuella patienter skulle på så sätt minskas och bemötandet gentemot dessa förbättras.Det behövs vidare forskning inom området omvårdnad och heteronormativitet. Forskning som enbart fokuserar på sjuksköterskans arbete och hur det präglas av heteronormativitet efterlyses.