While sorting through my experiences as a student teacher, my research question has shifted from “How can teacher education be improved?” to “How is teacher education represented?” I am interested in the juxtaposition of these two inquiries, and use them not to suggest pedagogical rules, but to draw attention to the kinds of spaces such a juxtaposition opens up. The shift in my research question is influenced by the discursive turn—the movement from social justice theories to poststructuralist theories, from theories based on experience to theories based on discourse. Questions of representation are the focus not only of poststructuralist theories but also of psychoanalytic theories, or theories of the unconscious, and both theories acknowledge that representations of reality are excessive: they contain more and less than that which they represent (Orner et al., 2005). The concept of excess enables me to make sense of moments in my teacher education program that could not be contained by dominant educational discourses of knowledge, reflection, and inclusion. The excessiveness of a teaching strategy called the Six Thinking Hats troubles the theory/practice binary in discourses of knowledge. The excessiveness of an assignment about philosophies of teaching, and a class discussion in response to the film Submission trouble the enlightenment/ignorance binary in discourses of reflection. And, the excessiveness of my attempt to question curricular content troubles the normal/exceptional binary in discourses of inclusion. I use excessive moments from my teacher education program to question existing discourses, and to suggest that we need to change the stories we tell ourselves about education (King, 2003). Our current educational discourses perpetuate histories of violence that we have inherited, and I suggest that social justice, poststructuralist, and psychoanalytic theories will enable us to more effectively heal from these inherited histories. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2007-12-04 16:19:40.676 / This work was funded in part by a Canadian Graduate Scholarship granted by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (766-2006-0775).

This thesis is a queer masculinity reading of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story collection The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1894). The analysis focuses on the dissonances, tensions and queerness that reside within the text itself. This has been done from my problem statement: How is Sherlock Holmes and John Watson’s sexuality and masculinity portrayed within the boundary of the text? What is being said, what is hidden, and what is dealt with silently? To reveal these queer parts this analysis has been focused around five themes: the late Victorian male, the Woman, countertypes and decadence, the homosocial sphere and sexuality. The thesis has two major theoretical perspectives: masculinity theory, and queer theory. For the masculine analysis I have used Jørgen Lorentzen and Claes Ekenstam’s concept of manly/unmanly, character, and the citizen from the book Män i Norden: Manlighet och modernitet 1840-1940 and George L. Mosse’s countertype. For the queer theoretical I have used a queer resistant reading combined with Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s concept of homosexual panic, and Judith Butler’s gender melancholia. Professor Joseph A. Kestner’s Sherlock’s Men has guided the reading of the short story collection. This thesis aims at showing that the improbable might well reside within the text, not least in the relationship between the two main characters Holmes and Watson. At first glimpse this world of Holmes’s seems devoid of desire, but in a closer reading cracks appear. There are silences, and unnecessary explanations, which have little to do with the adventures themselves, not to mention silent looks, and the association with the domestic. These threaten to effeminize their masculinity, especially Holmes who is a bachelor and suffers from repeated nervousness. Disease of the nerves was associated with effeminacy and homosexuality during the Victorian era. Also, the relationship between Holmes and Watson do at times parody the heterosexual. It’s hard however to find any conclusive evidence of any sexuality in the text, least of all homoerotic, which is hardly surprising considering the forbidding laws that were in place.

The construction of an identity among lesbian women during 1950-­‐1965 is in focus in this master ́s thesis. My starting point is that identity, such as lesbian or any other identity, is formed in relation to other people and groups, as well as society. This thesis will also examine how lesbian women met and formed bonds with like-­minded, and whether these aspects changed, during the defined time period. The empirics is made up by letters written by women to Riksförbundet för sexuellt likaberättigande (a Swedish organisation for lesbian and gays) as well as an interview with two lesbian women who were born in 1938 and 1940. The theoretical approach is queer theory and phenomenology. In summary: I have found that women in this study to a great extent formed their identity in relation to prevailing scientific ideas that claimed to explicate homosexuality. Disappointments in marriage and personal failures were stressed by the women writers in order to explain their lesbian desires. Some of them also put equal weight on the relationship between a high sexual drive/nymphomania and homosexuality. Among many lesbians outside Stockholm in the 1950’s personal ads played a major role in order for them to meet with like-­minded women. The women in this study travelled long distances with the aim to visit pen friends in other parts of Sweden. Through those penfriends they were also introduced to other lesbian women, showing how lesbian networks emerged and grew.

This dissertation analyses the use of the word “religion” in Canadian law and theorises the consequences of its use for the legal protection of religious movements in Canada. Chapter One establishes the problems of the word “religion” in academic discourse by providing an overview of work in the field of critical religion. This dissertation considers whether the critiques of the term “religion” by scholars working within critical religion are equally relevant when considering the role of religion in human rights law. Chapter Two turns an investigative eye toward Canadian case law using the word “religion”, from Chaput v Romain (1959) to Alberta v Hutterian Brethren of Wilson Colony (2009). The analysis highlights how the use of “religion” in Canadian law does indeed reflect academic concerns. Chapter Three uses queer theory to speculate the consequences of an unstable concept of religion for the protection of religious freedom, especially as it pertains to new religious movements. Judith Butler’s notions of performativity and drag are applied to theorise the performance of “religion” and its outcomes. Some suggestions for how to proceed conclude the dissertation.

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Through an intersectional feminist lens using Critical Discourse Analysis, this thesis investigates the representations of four prominent women, their embodiments and their sexualities in the lyrics of their songs.

Mohammad Khordadian is a gay, Iranian American dancer and entertainer who immigrated to the United States from Iran shortly after the 1979 revolution. Since his arrival to the United States, Khordadian has produced countless instructional and presentational dance videos which garnered enormous popularity among diasporic Iranians and Iranians in Iran alike. I locate a tension between his adoration by the public and the immense anxiety that male Iranian dancers can induce in other Iranians. Khordadian invokes the historical evolution of the archetypal Iranian male dancer/entertainers written about in Persian literature and poetry --the 12 to 16-year-old, handsome boys with older lovers. As Orientalists linked these sinful relationships to male homosociality and sexual repression in Islam, the memory of the male dancer has been repressed out of an Iranian desire to fold into the pale of Western modernity. Khordadian, with his over-the-top gestures (what I will call “queer gestures”), the transnational circulation of these gestures through instructional videos, and his lived experience as a gay Iranian man, transgresses the boundaries set by heteronormativity and Orientalism. However, this is not without a myriad of complications.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:48:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 3 71050100666.pdf.jpg: 20494 bytes, checksum: 8333bd3ae66ca7fad9f78cef2e970df2 (MD5) 71050100666.pdf: 1238997 bytes, checksum: 1e4b53f618cae75498567a1134e4105d (MD5) 71050100666.pdf.txt: 745247 bytes, checksum: 60d372a039a05439ca15e410a03a0c70 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-09-05T00:00:00Z / The object of this research is to understand the impact of the multiple sexual orientations on the organizations and how this diversity is perceived by the homo, bi and heterosexual employees. Ontologically, this study uses the critical postmodernism, specifically the Queer Theory, which deconstructs all conventional categories of sexuality and gender. The field research consisted of four visits to 13 large companies, in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, between July 2005 and November 2007, as well as 95 interviews, divided in four groups. The first one was composed of heterosexual and the second of homo and bisexual individuals, who were informed of the real object of this research. As a discrepancy of what the heterosexuals said during the interviews and their attitudes in the work environment as well as their comments to other heterosexuals was observed, a control-research was also carried out. Two othe groups – one of heterosexuals and the other of homo and bisexuals – were interviewed; nevertheless, they were informed that the object of the research was to study health in the workplace. The fieldnotes as well as the interviews were transcripted and submitted to discourse and conversational analyses. The findings were presented in five sections: the individual dimension, the social dimension, the workplace environment itself, the psychosomatic costs and, finally, the outcome of the research on health at the workplace. This study revealed that, when questioned about discrimination at the workplace, gays, lesbians and bisexuals tend to recognize the existence of such practices, as well as advocate that they also have been a victim of such. On the other hands, the heterosexuals tend to minimize the existence of such practices, as well as deliver a politically-correct speech. Notwithstanding, it was clear that the heterosexuals have introjected the masculine hegemonic paradigm, which was been built historically through social practices and, discriminatory attitudes and comments are disguised by the Brazilian sense of humour and informality. On the other hand, the research that was guided by the investigative question on health at the workplace revealed that, as the were not being confronted directly, the heterosexuals felt more at ease to express themselves, using homophobic expressions and referring to discriminatory practices. Yet, the homo and bisexuals attained to the question of health itself and, rarely, did they refer or mention discriminatory practices in the workplace. At the bottom line this study confirmed that the sexual orientation per se is only a component of an individual’s personality and, although it may be the ground for prejudice and discrimination, these practices are also caused due other factors such as gender, race, and social status. / Este estudo tem por objetivo apreender como a diversidade de orientação sexual se manifesta e é percebida nas organizações brasileiras. Ontologicamente, o mesmo se valeu da pós-modernidade crítica, especificamente da Queer Theory, a qual traz no seu bojo a desconstrução de todas as categorias convencionais de sexualidade e gênero. A pesquisa de campo se dividiu em 4 visitas a treze grandes empresas, no Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo, entre julho de 2005 e novembro de 2007, e a entrevistas com 95 indivíduos hétero, homo e bissexuais, divididos em quatro grupos. O primeiro foi composto por heterossexuais e o segundo por homo e bissexuais, que foram informados sobre o real objeto da pesquisa. Como foram observadas discrepâncias entre o que os heterossexuais declararam na entrevista e seus comportamentos no ambiente de trabalho, bem como comentários em grupo, foram trabalhados dois grupos de controle. O primeiro, composto por heterossexuais e o segundo, por homo e bissexuais, aos quais foram informados que o objetivo da pesquisa era a questão da saúde no ambiente de trabalho. As anotações de campo e as entrevistas foram transcritas e submetidas à análise do discurso e análise conversacional. As revelações da pesquisa de campo foram apresentadas em 5 partes: a dimensão individual, na qual se analisou o que significa não ser heterossexual; a dimensão social; o ambiente de trabalho em si; a estratégia de não assumir publicamente a orientação sexual e, finalmente, os resultados da pesquisa-controle feita tendo a saúde organizacional como pergunta investigativa. Este estudo revelou que, quando perguntados sobre práticas discriminatórias em função da orientação sexual, os homo e bissexuais masculinos e femininos, em sua maioria, confirmaram a existência das mesmas na sociedade e no ambiente de trabalho,bem como afirmaram já terem sido vítimas. Já os heterossexuais apresentaram um discurso politicamente correto e minimizaram a existência das mesmas. No entanto, ficou evidente que este último grupo, reproduzindo a lógica da hegemonia masculina, introjetou os estereótipos dos homossexuais, os quais foram construídos socialmente. Não raramente, esta discriminação é mascarada pelo senso de humor. Por outro lado, na pesquisa que teve como questão investigativa a saúde no ambiente de trabalho, os heterossexuais não hesitaram em externar mais sua visào heterocêntrica; os homo e bissexuais, por sua vez, não focaram as suas falas em práticas discriminatórias. No limite, em comum, ficou patente que a orientação sexual de um indivíduo, por si só, é apenas um dado categórico, que não necessariamente é fator isolado de discriminação, já que esta também abrange questões como gênero, etnia, classe social e senso estético.

x, 197 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This dissertation investigates the cultural importance of the "monstrous Other" in postmodern literature, including novels from Sweden, Finland, and the United States. While the theoretical concept of "the Other" is in wide circulation in the humanities and social sciences, the concept has only recently been modified with the adjective "monstrous" to highlight a special case of the Other that plays an important role in the formation of human subjectivity. In order to better understand the representational legacy of the monstrous Other, I explore some of the principal venues in which it has appeared in western literature, philosophy, folklore, and politics. Using a Foucauldian archaeological approach in my literature survey allows me to trace the tradition of the monstrous Other in such sources as medieval bestiaries, the wild man motif in folklore and popular culture, and the medicalization of intersexual embodiment. In all cases, the monstrous Other is a complex phenomenon with broad implications for the politics of subjectivity and the future of social and political justice. Moreover, the monstrous Other poses significant challenges for the ongoing tenability of normative notions of the human, including such primary human traits as sexuality and a gendered, "natural" embodiment. Given the complexities of the monstrous Other and the ways in which it both upholds and intervenes in normative human identities, no single theoretical approach is adequate to the task of examining its functioning. Instead, the project calls for an approach that blends the methodologies of (post)psychoanalytic and queer theory while retaining a critical awareness of both the representational nature of subjectivity and its material effects. By employing both strains of theory, I am able to "read" the monstrous Other as both a necessary condition of subjectivity and a model of intersubjectivity that could provide an alternative to the positivism and binarism of normative subjectivity. The texts that I examine here reveal the ways in which postmodern reconfigurations of the monstrous Other challenge the (hetero)normativity of human subjectivity and its hierarchical forms of differentiation. My reading of these texts locates the possibilities for a hybridized, cyborgian existence beyond the outermost limits of positivistic, western subjectivity. / Committee in charge: Ellen Rees, Chairperson, German and Scandinavian; Daniel Wojcik, Member, English; Jenifer Presto, Member, Comparative Literature; Aletta Biersack, Outside Member, Anthropology

Nesta tese problematizo os processos de (hetero)normalização dos corpos na Educação Física escolar. Para isso, discuto e analiso como e quais processos de normalização do gênero e da sexualidade são postos em movimento no discurso pedagógico de professores/as que atuam na disciplina de Educação Física no Vale do Jiquiriçá/BA, tomando como referências teórico-metodológicas e políticas os estudos feministas, a teoria queer e os estudos foucaultianos pós-estruturalistas. Para compor o corpus da pesquisa, conduzi o trabalho de campo articulando alguns procedimentos metodológicos. Prioritariamente, realizei a pesquisa com docentes que ministravam aulas de Educação Física nas escolas públicas localizadas nos diversos municípios da região investigada. Desse modo, apliquei 28 questionários, organizei um grupo focal com sete participantes e realizei sete entrevistas. De forma complementar, analisei os projetos político-pedagógicos das duas escolas que disponibilizaram o documento. As linhas conceituais definidoras das noções de ‘norma’, ‘gênero’ e ‘heteronormatividade’ foram privilegiadas para explorar os materiais empíricos produzidos. Organizei as análises subsequentes a partir da díade saber-poder, investindo na sua potência organizativa e explicativa para compreender como a (hetero)norma funciona. Argumentei que os discursos biológico-reprodutivos e da educação em saúde circunscrevem o limite do pensável sobre sexualidade na escola a partir de uma lógica preventivo-informativa. Além disso, abordei as músicas do tipo ‘pagode baiano’ como pedagogias culturais que, em conflito com o discurso biológico-etário, visibilizavam conhecimentos ‘avançados’ sobre a sexualidade. No plano estratégico, analisei as feiras e/ou seminários interdisciplinares anuais como pedagogias que operam com ênfase na saúde sexual e reprodutiva de forma articulada ao silenciamento das experiências de desejo dos sujeitos não heterossexuais. Discuti como o gênero binário, em articulação com os discursos regionais, faz funcionar o enunciado “prendam suas bezerras que o meu garrote tá solto”, expresso no rechaço dos meninos ao toque em outros meninos e na naturalização das manifestações de desejo ‘atrevidas’ de meninos em relação às meninas nas aulas de Educação Física. A investigação realizada permite dizer que a heterossexualidade é assumida como medida do conhecimento e o investimento em pedagogias com base no sexo (e no gênero binário) conforma o sujeito (ir)reconhecível e (im)possível da Educação Física escolar. / In this thesis I problematize the processes of (hetero)normalization of bodies in school Physical Education. For this, I discuss and analyze how and which processes of gender and sexual normalization are set in the pedagogical discourse of teachers who work in the discipline of Physical Education in Vale do Jequiriçá/Bahia, taking as theoretical, methodological and politic references the feminist studies, the queer theory and poststructuralist Foucauldian studies. To build the research corpus, I conducted the fieldwork articulating some methodological procedures. Primarily, I made a research with teachers who taught Physical Education classes in public schools located in different municipalities of the region investigated. Thus, I applied 28 questionnaires, organized a focus group with seven participants, and performed seven interviews. Complementarily, I analyzed the political-pedagogical projects of two schools which provided the documents. The conceptual lines that define the notions of ‘norm’, ‘gender’ and ‘heteronormativity’ were privileged to explore the empirical material produced. The subsequent analysis were organized from the dyad knowledge-power, investing in its organizational and explanatory power for understanding how the (hetero)norm works. I argued that biological-reproductive and health education discourses circumscribe the limits of the thinkable about sexuality in school from a preventive-informative logical. In addition, I discussed songs from ‘pagode baiano’ style as cultural pedagogies that, conflicting with biological-age discourse, make visible ‘advanced’ knowledge about sexuality. In the strategic plan, I observed the annual interdisciplinary fairs and/or seminars as pedagogies that operate with emphasis on sexual and reproductive health articulated to the silencing of the desire experiences of non-heterosexual individuals. I discussed how binary gender, in conjunction with regional discourses, runs the statement “arrest your calves because my bull calf is loose”, expressed in the rejection of boys to touch other boys and in the naturalization of ‘daring’ desire manifestations from boys to girls in Physical Education classes. The performed investigation allows to say that heterosexuality is taken as a measure of knowledge and the investment in pedagogies based in sex (and in binary gender) form the subject (un)recognizable and (im)possible of school Physical Education. / En esta tesis problematizo los procesos de (hetero)normalización de los cuerpos en la Educación Física escolar. Para eso, discuto y analizo cómo y cuáles procesos de normalización de género y de la sexualidad son puestos en movimiento en el discurso pedagógico de profesores/as que actúan en la disciplina de Educación Física en el Vale do Jiquiriçá/BA, tomando como referencias teórico-metodológicas y políticas los estudios feministas, la teoría queer y los estudos foucaultianos pos-estructuralistas. Para componer el corpus de la investigación, conducí el trabajo de campo articulando algunos procedimientos metodológicos. Prioritariamente, realicé la investigación con docentes que ministraban clases de Educación Física en las escuelas públicas localizadas en los diversos municípios de la región investigada. De ese modo, aplique 28 cuestionarios, organicé un grupo focal con siete participantes y realicé siete entrevistas. De forma complementar, analicé los proyectos político-pedagógicos de las dos escuelas que disponibilizaron el documento. Las líneas conceptuales definidoras de las nociones de ‘norma’, ‘género’ y ‘heteronormatividad’ fueron privilegiadas para explorar los materiales empíricos producidos. Organicé los análisis subsecuentes a partir de la díade saber-poder, invirtiendo en su potencia organizativa y explicativa para compreender como la (hetero)norma funciona. Argumenté que los discursos biológico-reproductivos y de la educación en salud circunscriben el limite de lo pensable sobre sexualidad en la escuela a partir de una lógica preventivo-informativa. Además de eso, aborde las músicas del tipo ‘pagode baiano’ como pedagogías culturales que, en conflicto con el discurso biológico-etário, visibilizaban conocimientos ‘avanzados’ sobre la sexualidad. En el plano estratégico, analicé las ferias y/o seminarios interdisciplinares anuales como pedagogías que operan con énfasis en la salud sexual y reproductiva de forma articulada al silenciamiento de las experiencias de deseo de los sujetos no heterosexuales. Discutí como el género binario, en articulación con los discursos regionales, hace funcionar el enunciado “prendan sus vacas que mi garrote está suelto”, expreso en el rechazo de los niños al toque en otros niños y en la naturalización de las manifestaciones de deseo ‘atrevidas’ de niños en relación a las niñas en las clases de Educación Física. La investigación realizada permite decir que la heterosexualidad es asumida como medida del conocimiento y la inversión en pedagogías con base en el sexo (y en el género binario) conforman el sujeto (ir)reconocible e (im)posible de la Educación Física escolar.