Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Karen Myers-Bowman / The overarching research question addressed by this qualitative dissertation is “What are the meanings, structures, and essences of the lived experiences of the coming out process for professional women who are African American lesbians (PAALs)?” The study was designed to 1) fill an existing gap in the literature by examining the coming out processes of PAALs, 2) gain an understanding of the challenges and stressors associated with the intersection of gender, race, and sexual orientation, and 3) explore the diversity of experiences that PAALs may have when coming out to family, friends, and colleagues. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit 10 women between the ages of 25 and 65. Each participant completed a face-to-face interview. Data analysis yielded 21 codes that were then aggregated into five themes and several subthemes that serve as the basis of a 5-level model for describing their coming out process: Confusion, Suppression, The Turning Point, Disclosure, and Proving Self. These levels are progressive but may overlap depending on where the individual is in the coming out process. The findings show that the experiences of PAALs demonstrated the influences of culture, race, and gender in the personal and professional lives of lesbians who have come out, or who are in the process of disclosing their sexual orientation. Additionally, some PAALs are motivated to disclose their sexual identity in order to inspire other young lesbians to come out and express their true sexual orientation.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:29:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-11-27Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:37:50Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 toledo_lg_me_assis.pdf: 1138376 bytes, checksum: f5617b61ed338d61b753f1552b6b18b7 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Este estudo aborda o modo como estigmas e estereótipos a respeito das lesbianidades influenciam, na esfera da sexualidade, a vida de mulheres que se autodenominam lésbicas. Primeiramente, realizei uma retomada crítica sobre a história da construção desses estigmas e estereótipos para apreender as relações de poder que os sustentam até o presente. Entre estas, estão o machismo, fruto do viriarcado, e seus referentes de sustentabilidade, a saber, a heteronormatividade e o heterossexismo, enquanto formas de relação de poder que, independentemente do vínculo entre as pessoas, regulam a construção de suas identidades de gênero, sexuais e políticas a partir dos estigmas e estereótipos a elas aplicados. O estudo aponta que, em um contexto social machista, as mulheres que se relacionam eróticoafetivamente com outras mulheres permaneceram invisíveis, o que possibilitou a perpetuação de discursos homofóbicos a seu respeito, os quais se apresentam como inteligíveis para os padrões heteronormativos de relações entre as pessoas. Em um segundo momento, entrevistei cinco mulheres lésbicas (três de 18 a 25 anos e duas de 40 a 50 anos, residentes em Assis, interior do Estado de São Paulo, de classe média, de formação educacional até o ensino médio, sendo uma “mulata” e quatro brancas) com o objetivo de compreender como estigmas e estereótipos sobre as lesbianidades influenciam o discurso dessas mulheres no que diz respeito à construção de suas subjetivações. Os resultados apontam que essas mulheres foram (e ainda são) atravessadas pelos estigmas e estereótipos abordados e que há variações no modo como essas influências se deram, em razão da questão geracional e do modo como elaboram o luto da heterossexualidade. Espera-se que este trabalho possa... / This study approaches the ways that stigmas and stereotypes of lesbianity influence the sexuality realm of the lives of women who define themselves as lesbians. The study intended to understand how stigmas and stereotypes of lesbianity influence women's discourse regarding the construction of their subjectivations. I begin with a critical review of the history of the construction of those stigmas and stereotypes, so as to access the power relationships that perpetuate them to the present. Amongst these relationships, I found that the machismo, a result of the viriarcal system, is supported by heteronormativity and heterosexism. Independently of people's bonds and of the form of power relationships, both regulate the construction of these women's gender, sexual and political identities by means of the stigmas and stereotypes that are applied to them. My study suggests that, within a macho social context, women that relate to other women erotically and affectively remain invisible. Such invisibility not only perpetuates homophobic discourses, but it also makes heteronormativist pattern of relationships among people possible and intelligible. The study is grounded on the data collected by means of interviews with five middle class, high school graduated lesbians. Three of them were aged between 18 to 25, and two aged from 40 to 50 years old. Four were white and one was mulatto. The results suggest that these women's discourses are crossed by those stigmas and stereotypes. There are also variations in these influences due to generational issues and the ways they elaborate the mourning of their heterosexuality. The results of this study are... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Embora a maternidade lésbica não seja novidade, nos últimos anos sua visibilidade vem aumentando. A ampliação da procura e acesso aos serviços de medicina reprodutiva por casais de mulheres acrescenta novos ingredientes a este cenário, que desperta crescente interesse social. Tão bem arraigada às construções de gênero, a maternidade figura como elemento de fundamental importância em nossa sociedade. Pretendendo tensionar como casais de mulheres que desejam ser mães a partir do acesso às técnicas de reprodução assistida se relacionam com a maternidade e com o serviço de saúde, realizamos entrevistas com cinco casais de mulheres residentes de cidades do Rio de Janeiro e de São Paulo, bem como com seis profissionais de saúde de um centro de medicina reprodutiva localizado na cidade do Rio de Janeiro. Mesmo o processo tendo sido longo e dispendioso para muitas, parece a maternidade autorizar manipulações e intervenções profissionais. Ainda que os profissionais entrevistados recebam casais lésbicos e prestem atendimento, as desconfianças sobre a legitimidade desta composição familiar não são poucas. A maternidade ressignificou a vida dessas mulheres, acrescentando novas dinâmicas às relações familiares e conjugais. Todavia, sob olhares que desconfiam e tolhidas de direitos, estas famílias enfrentam lutas judiciais e se articulam para responder as desconfianças. / Although lesbian motherhood is not new, in recent years its visibility has increased. The increase in demand and access to reproductive health services for female couples adds new ingredients to this scenario, which arouses growing social interest. So well entrenched in the constructions of gender, motherhood appears an element of fundamental importance in our society. Aiming to tension how couples of women who want to be mothers using assisted reproduction techniques are related to motherhood and the health service, we conducted interviews with five pairs of women living in cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and six health professionals from a reproductive medicine center located in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Although the process has been long and expensive for many women, it seems that motherhood allows professional interventions and manipulations. Although the respondents receive and provide care to lesbian couples, there are many suspicions about the legitimacy of this family composition. Motherhood re-signified the lives of these women, adding new dynamics to their family and marital relationships. However, under suspicious eyes and with curtailed rights, these families face judicial struggles and articulate themselves to respond to suspicions.

O objetivo desta pesquisa de doutorado é compreender os distintos significados do que é ser uma professora lésbica no ambiente escolar. Trata-se de uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa, e de perspectiva sociológica, que dialoga com estudos nacionais e internacionais já realizados sobre o tema, com base no debate sobre gênero, sexualidades e heteronormatividade. Foram entrevistadas seis professoras da rede pública (estadual ou municipal) de São Paulo, estando elas em atividade em três cidades: São Paulo, Diadema e Praia Grande. A partir de um roteiro semiestruturado, a pesquisa teve por objetivo compreender como essas docentes lidam com essa informação de suas vidas pessoais no ambiente escolar e quais seus principais obstáculos e medos. Os resultados da investigação mostram que, no lugar de uma invisibilidade suposta inicialmente, ganhou destaque a busca de uma visibilidade pedagógica, ou de uma tentativa consciente de construir uma possibilidade de existência legítima no ambiente escolar. Trata-se de um ser e estar na escola como docente que, por si só, traz uma aspiração e uma realização pedagógicas: a de construir uma visibilidade que garanta legitimidade para a existência lésbica. / The purpose of this doctoral research is to understand the different meanings of being a lesbian teacher in the school environment. It is a qualitative research and, of a sociological perspective, it dialogues with national and international studies already carried out on the subject, based on the debate on gender, sexualities and heteronormativity. Six public school teachers (state or municipal) from São Paulo were interviewed while they were teaching in three cities: São Paulo, Diadema and Praia Grande. From a semi-structured script, the research aimed to understand how these teachers deal with this information of their personal lives in the school environment and what your obstacles and fears would be. The results of the research show that, instead of an invisibility, initially supposed, the search for a pedagogical visibility, or a conscious attempt to construct a legitimate possibility of existence in the school environment, was highlighted. Wich means that being in a school as a teatcher, brings, itself, a pedagogical aspiration and a accomplishment: building a visibility that guarantees legitimacy for the lesbian existence.

A literatura, instrumento de representação e questionamento dos comportamentos sociais, tanto pode induzir a discussão de papéis de gênero e sociais, como sugerir a adoção de ideias e condutas. A representação da afetividade de personagens lésbicas, em sua relativamente recente e modesta emergência na história da literatura, recebe o peso das delimitações femininas em face de um cânone falogocêntrico. As características comportamentais impostas às subjetividades das mulheres, de tão largamente utilizadas, são naturalizadas nos e pelos discursos da cultura ocidental, tornando-se assim uma espécie de manual de regulação da performance amorosa. Tal normatização incide inclusive na representação de casais homoafetivos, o que muitas vezes reforça estereótipos num viés hierarquizante e heteronormativo de diferenciação e valoração sexista. Assim, o objetivo do presente trabalho é, por meio da Crítica Literária Feminista e dos Estudos de Gênero, sobretudo com base nas obras de Judith Butler, Michel Foucault, Adrienne Rich e Monique Wittig, estabelecer a comparação entre as personagens das obras O Corpo, de Clarice Lispector (1974), Eu sou uma Lésbica, de Cassandra Rios (1982) e Azul é a Cor mais Quente, de Julie Maroh (2013), para analisar a representação da afetividade lésbica e a incidência da heteronormatividade nestas personagens em ascensão na literatura das últimas décadas do século XX e início do século XXI. Para isso se faz necessário considerar as diferenças entre os três gêneros literários do corpus (conto, romance e novela gráfica) e seus respectivos suportes que apontam para uma popularização deste tipo de protagonismo, bem como sua recepção pela crítica e pelo público. / The literature, instrument of representation and inquiry to social behaviors, can induce the discussion about gender and social roles and also suggest the adoption of ideas and attitudes. The representation of lesbian characters affectivity, in its relatively recent and modest occurance in the story of Literature, receives the importance of the feminine delimitations against the falogocentric canon. The behavioral characteristics imposed to the womens subjectivities are so widely applied that are also natural in the occidental culture speeches, becoming a kind of regulation guide of the loving performance. Such normativity still focuses on the representation of homoaffective relations, what many times reinforces stereotypes in a hierarchical and heteronormative tendency of sexist differentiation and valuation. So, the objective of this dissertation is to establish the differences among the characters from the texts O Corpo, by Clarice Lispector (1974), Eu sou uma Lésbica, by Cassandra Rios (1982) and Azul é a Cor mais Quente, by Julie Maroh (2013) to analyze the lesbian affectivity representation and the heteronormativity incidence in these rising characters in the literature of the last decades of the XX century and the beginning of the XXI century using as an theorical apparatus the Feminist Literary Criticism and the Genre Studies above all based on Judith Butler, Michel Foucault, Adrienne Rich and Monique Wittigs works,. For this, it is necessary to take into consideration the differences among the three literary genres from the corpus and their respective supports which indicate a popularization of this type of protagonism, as well as its reception by critics and the public.

Atualmente, presenciamos múltiplos tipos de família, como: famílias nucleares, monoparentais, reconstituídas, com filhos biológicos e/ou adotivos, dentre as quais encontramos famílias homossexuais. Há uma escassez de trabalhos sobre essas famílias e percebe-se a forte presença de preconceito e discriminação nos mais diversos segmentos e contextos sociais, em especial, no que diz respeito às questões homossexuais e de gênero e de como isso influenciaria na educação das crianças. Esse estudo visa compreender como homossexuais entre 20 e 55 anos, vivenciam a paternidade, a maternidade e/ou parentalidade e que significados lhe atribuem. A fenomenologia ancorada à filosofia do diálogo de Buber foi o referencial teórico-metodológico adotado nesta pesquisa para alcançarmos o objetivo proposto. Foram entrevistados seis homens e nove mulheres homossexuais com filho(a)(s) biológicos e/ou adotivos que formaram famílias monoparentais, adotivas, reconstituídas ou nucleares. Os resultados apontam um maior preparo psíquico e socioeconômico para a chegada de uma criança, em especial quando o desejo de ter filhos ocorre após a tomada de consciência da homossexualidade e/ou formação do vínculo conjugal homossexual. As funções parentais são exercidas pelos(a)s colaboradore(a)s os com nuances da relação intersubjetiva EU-TU. Foram relatadas situações de preconceito quanto ao exercício da parentalidade e/ou à expressão da homossexualidade, nas famílias de origem, no trabalho e entre os amigos, os quais puderam ser diminuídos por intermédio da convivência e conhecimento das situações vivenciadas. Alguns do(as)s colaboredore(a)s deixaram entrever uma homofobia internalizada, principalmente em relação à sua própria homossexualidade, que os aproxima das palavras princípio EU-ISSO. O modelo heterocêntrico de família é recorrente nos discursos assim como a falta de referenciais de famílias homossexuais. / At present, we are witnessing multiple family forms such as nuclear families, single parent families, and reconstructed families with biological and/or adopted children. Among these we find homosexual families. There is a shortage of works about those families. We strongly perceive the presence of prejudice and discrimination concerning homosexual questions with respect to more diverse segments and social contexts, especially about the homosexuality issue and how it would influence in the children?s education. Our goal is to understand how homosexuals between 20 and 55 years experience fatherhood, motherhood, and/or kinship and what meanings they attribute to these. The phenomenology anchored in the philosophy of of Buber\'s dialogue was the theoretical-methodology referential referred to and adopted in this research to reach the proposed goal. Six men and nine homosexual women, with biological and/or adopted children, who formed single parent, adopted, rebuilt or nuclear families were interviewed. The results aim towards a greater socio-economic and psychological preparation for the arrival of an infant, especially when the wish to have a child occurs after consciousness of the homosexuality and/or the formation of the conjugal homosexual link. The parental function is exercised by both, with nuances from the intersubjective relationship of ME-YOU. Situations of prejudice, especially as regards the sexual papers examined for this research are also related, as well as the expression of homosexuality, in the families of origin, at work among friends, in which could be decreased through the experience and knowing of the situations experienced. Some of the collaborators showed during the study an internalized homophobia, mainly in relation to his/her own homosexuality, which approach them to the principle ME-IT. The heterocentric model of family appears in the speech as well as the lack of homosexual families references.

D.Phil. (Sport Science) / Socialisation is an interactive reciprocal process that shapes the way individuals think, act and make decisions. Through the sport socialisation process, over time individuals acquire beliefs and behaviours that affect other areas of their life, including education, family relations and peer interactions. Socialisation affects the lives of the participant’s significant others and socialising agents, who demonstrate changes in the way they view women’s football, interact with the player and assist with domestic duties. These processes occur in the public and private spheres and are closely associated with cultural perspectives of masculine and feminine gender identity construction. Four theories underpin the research, namely figurational theory, critical feminism, interactionism and cognitive development theory. This thesis examines the effects of female football participation in family dynamics, school and community relations, as well as individual identity formation and the challenges and benefits related to participation. For this comprehensive case study approach mixed methods were used (i.e. interviews, focus groups and questionnaires). The study focused on 21 cases of female football players in two South African locations, Johannesburg and Cape Town. Interviews were conducted with 21 players that played in leagues organised by the South African Football Association. In each location there was a senior team that played in the provincial leagues and an under-15 team that played in the regional leagues. Interviews were conducted with 48 significant others (individuals who influence the self-esteem, emotions and behaviour of a person, including mothers, fathers, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents), four coaches, seven administrators, and eleven school representatives. Focus groups took place at four schools in each location in which 258 students participated. Questionnaires were conducted in the communities around each of the selected schools, incorporating the perspectives of 169 respondents. The data was analysed with the assistance of Atlas.ti 6.2 and SPSS 20. Football in South Africa occurs within a context of poverty with the legacy of apartheid remaining in terms of limited access to resources, poor provision of sports facilities, unemployment, fragmented families, and lack of educational opportunities. These factors continued to affect the prospects of sport participation. Understanding hegemonic masculinity as the dominant ideology in the townships provides a background to analyse how men control the limited physical resources and public sport spaces, requiring girls to gain access through a male proxy or gatekeeper. Once females acquire access they are able to gain acceptable and legitimacy through demonstrating their competencies and success in competitions. Socialisation through sport occurs as girls are occupied in safe, controlled spaces with adult supervision rather than become involved in deviant behaviours. In these settings female footballers acquired positive behaviours and improved attributes such as time management, discipline, respect and self-efficacy. Their participation resulted in a reduction of social distance between them and their teacher-coaches, which improved the learning climate fostering trusting relationships. As the girls were socialised into football, some adopted masculine behaviours and appearance. In some cases tomboy behaviour merged into homosexuality (lesbianism) with the rejection of feminine role identification of ‘mother’ and ‘wife’. The team in the Cape Town setting openly promoted heterosexuality compared to the team in Johannesburg, where coach and players were accepting and receptive towards players who expressed a variety of sexualities. This resulted in four individuals identifying as lesbian or bisexual within the research participants. The responses by their family members were complex and varied. Siblings encouraged the acceptability for other family members, whereas fathers were absent or oblivious and mothers were highly critical based on their religious and cultural traditions. Mothers experienced failure of not socialising their daughters into the social role that is perceived to encapsulate womanhood (as wife and mother). Perceptions regarding women’s football are changing in the public discourse to become more supportive. This is informed by a democratic South African consciousness and human justice framework that encourages greater acceptance of women’s roles in positions of power. Increased resource allocation through sponsorships and government programmes affords additional opportunities for female participation as well as encouragement for participants. Recommendations emerging from this thesis are useful to maintain the growth and support of women’s football. Structural adjustments are necessary within South African football in terms of increasing the amount of leagues and tournaments available for women and girls, leadership opportunities and long-term athlete development plans. Changes in practices that are vital to women’s football include equality of resource allocation, stakeholder engagement and media exposure. These changes require government and SAFA support to materialise, as well as continued alterations in individual, family and community attitudes, behaviours and practices. As women’s football in South African continues to grow and develop the opportunities for forthcoming research are plentiful. Utilising a mixed method comprehensive case study approach, becoming intimately involved in the research context, and providing opportunities for local voices to be heard can meaningfully inform future policies and practices.

This thesis considers how the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered communities of Plymouth have performed and signified their own culture and identities during the period 1950 to 2012. Its source materials were largely generated by conducting oral history interviews with members of Plymouth’s LGB and T communities. This resulted in the creation of an archive which included thirty-seven interviews conducted with twenty-four individuals. These interviews, in conjunction with other uncovered archival memorabilia, now form a specific LGBT collection with Plymouth and West Devon Record Office. This PhD thesis interrogates this newly created community archive accession, using theories of performance as a tool, to consider how differing narratives and histories have been constructed, reproduced, contested and maintained. Pride, as a political concept in LGBT culture, is linked to the belief that individuals should maintain and display a sense of dignity in relation to their sexual orientation or gender role as a response to the stigmatisation traditionally associated with being LGB or T. This study tests the relevance of the concept of pride for the lived experience of LGBT communities in Plymouth, concluding that it needs to be understood within personal narratives rather than as primarily manifested in outward-facing forms of performance (such as a parade or a public event). Particularly significant in this regard is the “coming out narrative”. The thesis identifies spaces which, for various reasons, came to be accepted as safe places to accommodate sexual and gender differences in Plymouth in the 1950s and 60s. These strongly reflect Plymouth's location as a port, in combination with the fact that it has played host to each of the armed forces. It considers the impact of international public displays of gay pride from the Stonewall riots in the US through to performances as protest employed by groups such as Outrage! and legislation as Section 28 of the Local Government Act in the UK. The thesis concludes by considering the author’s role in, and wider impact of, the “Pride in Our Past” exhibition, which took place at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery (April-June 2012) as part of this research project.

This essay will make a close reading of a selection of poems written by the poet and essayist Marilyn Hacker which explores the relationship between motherhood and lesbianism. The poetry is analyzed from a lesbian feminist view that uncovers how lesbianism can be used to politicize the construct of motherhood. The four poems that will be read contain passages where the poet relates to her experiences of motherhood with a lesbian sensibility. The analysis accounts for the political subject positions that lesbians can take account of in their writing. The study has found that in the poems, lesbianism becomes a creative force that can deconstruct the patriarchal hegemony of motherhood.

Summary: The goal of this thesis is to monitor legal rights available to homosexual couples in order to establish a family. In the first part, I am trying to clarify what kind of social unit is currently considered to be called a family. Further in the first part I am analysing the most common means of getting an offspring available for homosexual couples. I also analyse the way those means are regulated in Czech Republic, prospectively I am presenting influence of the Strasbourg court on the evolution of subject legal frame in Europe. The main mean of gay couples to obtain a descendant, for the purpose of this thesis, is the artificial insemination method, which is analyzed in detail in the second part. I am both concerned about the historical evolution of it and its social picture and acceptation. Further I narrow my focus to application of this method for lesbian couples and I present studies to show how families with two mothers are working. Presented studies are held in both psychological and sociological point of view and they show, if and how the child is affected with growing up with homosexually oriented parents. In the third part I analyze artificial insemination from the legal point of view. First I introduce legal regulation in liberal European countries which I consequently compare with the...