The plays of Oscar Wilde hold more than just sharp wit and likable characters; they also contain examinations of aspects of the playwright's own personality and explorations of possible life choices. Through the use of Performance Studies theory, this thesis seeks to shed light on how Wilde saw himself versus how he presented himself at different points in his life. The texts analyzed within are Wilde's 1891 dramatic religious retelling, Salomé, and his 1894 domestic comedy, The Importance of Being Ernest. Within each are clues to the interior desires of their author: Salomé offers an investigation of a strong female personality in a repressive male society, while The Importance of Being Earnest expands on the feminine taking control over destiny.

University of Macau / Faculty of Law

This essay is an exploration of the debate between John Finnis and Stephen Macedo on the value of homosexuality. In “Is Natural Law Theory Compatible with Limited Government?” Finnis, a natural law theorist, rejects value-neutralist arguments, stating that the political community can and should make value judgments about its members’ life-choices and that such normative evaluations are compatible with liberalism. Particularly, Finnis argues that homosexuality is in its essence always harmful and degrading, thus unable to participate in the basic human goods it imitates. Furthermore, he argues that the political community in liberal democratic societies is justified in discouraging homosexual conduct as a viable way of life. Macedo, while also rejecting pure value-neutralist liberalism, carefully considers but rejects Finnis’s argument, which rests on an unrealistic description of value and ends of human sexual activity.

The aim of this study is to examine the media coverage of gender-neutral marriage from an intersectional perspective – with particular regard to gender, sexual orientation and religion. By focusing on the spokespeople who appears in the articles we have made an attempt to answer questions regarding who was heard in the debate on gender-neutral marriage and how the homosexual couples are portrayed in relation to the above criteria. The collected material consists of 89 articles, published in 2009, in Swedish newspapers which have been analysed by using quantitative content analysis. Ten articles have also been selected for a critical discourse analysis based on Norman Fairclough’s approach. The study is based on a social constructionist perspective and the assumption that language is of crucial importance when it comes to the creation and maintenance of social categorisation. Theories of gender/queer and intersectionality have furthermore been used to enable us to look at the topic from a multidimensional point of view. The quantitative analysis of the texts shows a great predominance of male spokespersons. Moreover, it appears that religions other than Christianity are largely underrepresented. The same pattern applies to people with homosexual orientation, whom are rarely heard on the issue of gender-neutral marriage. Furthermore, the results show that bisexuals and trans-gendered are almost completely excluded from the debate. The qualitative part of the study points in the same direction. A membership in The Church of Sweden is presented as a natural norm in the case of homosexuality and gender-neutral marriage, and homosexuals with another religion are made invisible or represented as divergent. The texts reveal a tolerance and openness towards homosexuality, but also strong assimilation ideals. The results show that same-sex relationships are portrayed as something the society is expected to accept, but only on condition that they are formed in accordance with the heterosexual norms concerning marriage and relationships, and also follow norms regarding gender and religion.

In our study we examined recurrent patterns and changes in the representation of homosexual persons in Swedish daily newspapers 1987, 1997 and 2007. We analysed articles about HIV-infected persons and articles with a view to portray the life conditions of gay and lesbian persons from the three different years. We chose to only analyze news articles that intend to represent real human beings, which mean that we did not analyze reports that only reproduce abstract knowledge from authorities. With analytical tools from semiotics and discourse analysis we identified some recurrent patterns in the representation of homosexual people. We found that a recurrent pattern in that when homosexual people are seen as groups, they are described as deviant, discriminated and some times as a threat. When portrayed as individuals the nonanonymous persons appear in articles and pictures as normal, strong and healthy. Lesbian women are not represented in the articles from 1987, but in articles from 1997 and 2007 they appear as unhappy when single and happy in a relationship. The results also showed some interesting differences in news representation of homosexual persons between the three investigated years. One example of this is that the media stopped referring to homosexual men as a ‘hazard group’ in terms of HIV at some point after the year 1987. We recognize this as an important change in the news medias perspective on both HIV and love between men.

The aim of our study was to examine how homosexual and heterosexual men and women are represented in the Swedish magazine QX, a magazine for gay, bisexual and transgender people. We wanted to find out what kind of roles the persons in QX appears in, and inquire the relationships that exist between them. We analyzed the texts in twelve magazines, from December 2008 to November 2009, in order to get the most current results as possible. We used a discourse analysis, with focus on identities, relationships and the representation of the world. Representations, gender, hegemonic masculinity and stereotypes have been significant theories to analyze our results. The results showed that the successful gay man is the most important person in QX. He is the perfect masculine macho fagot, who is highest in rank. Something we found remarkable is that the gay women are subordinate to men, despite that QX is a magazine for both parts. The results also showed that homosexual women are represented more stereotyped than the homosexual men. The heterosexual men are represented as the homosexual men’s supporter, while heterosexual women are represented very queer and argues that a human’s gender, is not primarily in focus when it comes to relations. In our results, we could also see that, generally, there is a more sexistic tone in texts about men than in texts about women.

Thesis (M.A.)--North Carolina State University, 2002. / Title from PDF title page (viewed Apr. 2, 2005). Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 86-88).

In this dissertation I investigate how individuals group others into sexual orientation (SO) categories based on a target's known sexual behaviors and romantic interests. I hypothesize that individuals known to have any non-heterosexual sexual or romantic interests are more likely to be perceived as "gay" (and not "straight") even when there is clear evidence of heterosexual interests and behaviors as well. This phenomenon has been termed "heterosexual exclusivity" in this work. In the process, I examine relevant writings and research on SO, including works related to SO in history, the conceptualization and measurement of SO, determinants of and influences on SO, the essentialism and social constructionism debate with regard to SO, innate bisexuality, and bisexual erasure. Additionally, I give specific focus to how and why men are affected by, as well as perpetuate heterosexual exclusivity. In doing so, I examine writings and research on the role and construction of masculinity as well as homophobia and the overlap of the two. I hypothesize that adherence to traditional masculinity and increased homophobia are predictive of increased heterosexual exclusivity in men. I also hypothesize that men are more likely to be the primary agents and targets of heterosexual [exclusivity]. The results supported most of these hypotheses. / text

Lesbian, gay, bisexual & transgender young people face a landscape of prejudice and intolerance when first coming to terms with their identities. In these moments of confusion, they often turn to their parents for support, yet parents often lack the information and resources necessary to support their LGBT child. The outcomes project interviews LGBT people about their "coming out" experience, and presents their video interviews a multi-platform website. The interviews appear alongside written accounts that highlight common themes encountered in research. The website also links to well-sourced resources for parents coming to terms with a child's disclosure. By telling these stories in a context that encourages an empathetic response, The outcomes project aims to give parents the information and understanding they need to support their LGBT child. / text

Στην παρούσα εργασία παρουσιάζεται η ποιοτική προσέγγιση των συνεντεύξεων, τριών Ελλήνων ομοφυλόφιλων ατόμων, που ζουν και εργάζονται στην Ελλάδα, της 29χρονης Kacy, του 28χρονου Μανόλη και της 32χρονης Μάρθας. Η έρευνά μας εστιάζει στο αν οι νέοι ομοφυλόφιλοι στην Ελλάδα, αντιμετωπίζουν συμπεριφορές και στάσεις διάκρισης στον εκπαιδευτικό, τον επαγγελματικό χώρο καθώς και την κοινωνική ζωή και πώς αυτή η κατάσταση είναι σε θέση να επηρεάσει την ταυτότητα και τη ζωή αυτών των ατόμων. Τα αποτελέσματα των συνεντεύξεων αναλύονται και περιγράφονται σε έξι βασικές ενότητες με σκοπό την πιο σαφή και εύστοχη επεξεργασία των δεδομένων καθώς και την πιο κατάλληλη τοποθέτησή τους στο χώρο και το χρόνο: 1. Συνειδητοποίηση διαφορετικότητας-η εμπειρία της οικογένειας, 2. διαμόρφωση προσωπικότητας -η εμπειρία του σχολείου, 3. Πρώτες ερωτικές σχέσεις-η εμπειρία του πανεπιστημίου, 4. Η επίδραση της ομοφυλοφιλίας στο μορφωτικό επίπεδο και τις επαγγελματικές επιλογές, 5. Επαγγελματική σταδιοδρομία-η εμπειρία διάκρισης στην εργασία και 6. Η «ιδανική» ζωή. Η επεξεργασία των απαντήσεων των τριών συμμετεχόντων ακολουθεί χρονικά την πορεία της ζωής τους (παιδί, έφηβος, ενήλικας), γιατί θεωρήσαμε σημαντικό να φανεί πώς η διαφοροποίηση της αλληλεπίδρασης στη σχέση του εκάστοτε εξωγενούς περιβάλλοντος με την εκάστοτε ηλικιακή φάση του κάθε ομοφυλόφιλου ατόμου, επηρέασε τα στάδια ωρίμανσής του, καθώς και όλες τις πτυχές της προσωπικής και κοινωνικής ζωής τους. / This paper presents a qualitative approach of the interviews of three Greeks homosexuals, living and working in Greece, 29 year old Kacy, 28 year old Manolis and 32 year old Martha. Our research focuses on whether the young homosexuals in Greece, face anti-gay behaviors and attitudes in education, the workplace and social life and how this state is able to influence the identity and lives of these people. The results of the interviews were categorized into the following basic six sections for a more explicit and targeted processing data and a more appropriate position in space and time: 1. Awareness of diversity-the family experience, 2. Personality shaping- experience of school, 3. Raw sexual relations-the experience of university, 4. The effect of homosexuality in educational attainment and occupational choices, 5. Career experience-discrimination at work and 6. The “ideal” life. The processing of the responses of three participants follows the course of their life (child, teen, adult), because we considered important to reflect on how the modulation of the interaction in the relationship of each exogenous environment with their particular age phase of every gay person, influenced the stages of maturation, as well as all aspects of personal and social life.