In this thesis I first aim to describe the way in which the decline of the respectability of reparative therapy in the United States created a need for Evangelicals to come up with another political defense against same sex marriage. I argue that this political defense is gradually becoming what I call the “spiritual friendship movement:” an emerging group of gay thinkers and writers who expand the notion of Christian celibacy to include same sex relationships that would be called “romantic” by modern categories. Because this concept is both so new and so complex, in this thesis I will spend time attempting to paint a picture of the implicit logical and theoretical assumptions made by the writers in “spiritual friendship movement” through their most popular books and blog posts and speaking engagements at key “gate-keeper” evangelical organizations.

This thesis offers a critical analysis of psychopathological discourses (sexology, psychoanalysis and psychiatry) and feminist writings that contribute to the construction of representations of heterosexual female masochism and submission. Chapter One examines pseudo-scientific ideas about ‘women’ and ‘masochism’ developed in the works of sexologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing and psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. This chapter provides the necessary historical context with which to understand the Anglo-American iterations of discourses of heterosexual female masochism and submission from the 1970s to the present day, which form the case studies in Chapters Two to Four. Chapter Two complexifies and nuances polarised feminist arguments of the 1970s and ’80s (the so-called ‘Sex Wars’) regarding the political status of heterosexual female masochism and submission. This chapter considers the radical and liberal feminist conceptions of fantasy, sexual orientation and sadomasochism (SM), which are examined in relation to two fictional texts: Jenny Diski’s Nothing Natural and Pat Califia’s Macho Sluts. Chapter Three examines the relationship between self-injury and masochism using Steven Shainberg’s film Secretary as a case study. This chapter explores Secretary’s relation to the generic conventions of romantic comedy; demonstrates how the film borrows from normalising and mainstreaming discourses about SM; and finally shows that it engages implicitly and briefly, with notions of SM as a radical challenge to the prevalent cultural narrative of ‘health and harm’. Chapter Four examines the discursive construction of heterosexual female masochism and submission in contemporary sex blogs. This chapter brings together many of the currents that run through the thesis to highlight specific ways that blogging as a medium affects representations of these phenomena. It also examines ways that bloggers have begun to use the medium as a form of ‘confessional’ to co-opt the gay ‘coming out’ narrative for their own ‘kinky’ ends. The thesis concludes by examining some reasons why the complex political position that heterosexual female masochism and submission occupied when they were first coined in Western modernity persists to the present, postmodern day.

The aim of this master’s thesis is to study in what ways an audience who does not identify as heterosexual reflect over the Norwegian TV-show SKAM’s non-heterosexual representations. The research was carried out through five focus group interviews with thirteen people and used theories on identification, stereotypes and the media together with queer theory and intersectional theories. The study’s interviews show that SKAM gives different opportunities for identification. The respondents all identifies with ways the show deals with coming out and how the process is shaped by subtle forms homophobia. The show’s focus on heteronormativity and internalized homophobia is also strongly identified with and considered to be skilfully told. How Isak and Even’s relationship is portrayed is appreciated as well, which was a source for positive identification. The character Eskild was also brought up as a clever way to show how stereotypical representations can be used in a positive and inspiring way. The show’s general lack of non-heterosexual characters and their portrayal as all white, cis, middle class men was critiqued, as well as how the show handled fetishzation of non-heterosexual relationships. It becomes clear from the interviews how the respondents negotiate the non-heterosexual representations in SKAM in order to find identification, which helps them validate their own sexual identities. Moreover, the study also shows how representations, how they affect and regulate people’s social lives and identities, can be better understood by favouring not only the media but the viewers as well.

This essay explores modern queer readings of The Awakening and Ruth Hall, with an emphasis on feeling, time, femininity, and maternity.

Are we witnessing the emergence of queer community? To answer this question, I interviewed self-identified queer people living in Atlanta, Georgia. During one-on-one and relational interviews, 31 participants reflected on how they understand and live queer, as well as socialize with other queers. An intention of this study is to advance theory; as such, this analysis inspected tenets asserted by “first wave” theoreticians and activists of the 1980s and 1990s. To test theory, I attend to queer as fluid, non-normative and diverse. The participants viewed their queerness in sexuality, gender, and political terms congruent with a first-wave framework. On the whole, participants supported the emergence of queer community, yet offered a cautionary tale as to whether collective queer will be able to achieve its political goals. “Still here, still queer” extends theory in the direction of shared identity and code for conduct, essential dynamics of community.

This thesis details the production process of a video documentary that describes the coming out processes of gay men who identify with the Bear subculture of the gay community and some of the conflicts and consequences that they face due to this action. The aim of this production was to portray with dignity and compassion the recorded feelings and personal histories of the subjects interviewed. Chapters are devoted to the development, pre-production, production and post-production phased of this documentary. A detailed script, transcripts, shot list, and other examples and illustrations are included to give a better understanding of the entire production. This thesis also includes other necessary documentation such as a detailed budget and copies of performance releas

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Art (Digital Art), September 2017 / The aim of the research report is to establish a link between the field/practice of queer theory and the field/practice of animation. I propose that the linking factor between these two bodies of theory and practice is fantasy. the purpose of exploring this link s to understand how formal elements of the animated medium can be used to articulate queer scenarios of desire: [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / XL2018

ABSTRACT This dissertation explores identity as its central theme. There are three components to the dissertation. The first is the academic essay which explores identity through the perspective of queer theory and proposes a three-dimensional conception of an “identity cloud”. The second component is the creative essay which consists of ten chapters towards a final novella entitled “troll”. The creative component’s central theme is the lead protagonist’s struggle in assimilating the identities of “gay” and “addict” after receiving a liver transplant. The third and final component is an essay detailing the manner in which the creative and academic created and informed one another.

Orientador: Aparecido Donizete Rossi / Banca: Jorge Vicente Valentim / Banca: Rodrigo Valverde Denubila / Resumo: Ainda hoje, a transexualidade encontra-se assombrada pelo espectro da subalternidade e da marginalidade, uma vez que essa condição ainda remete áreas das ciências médicas a formas e modos de patologização, que surgem como herança da concepção moderna, falocêntrica e positivista do corpo, que refletiu em diversas áreas de conhecimento, mesmo na dos estudos literários, que tratam temáticas como essa a partir do viés da subalternidade. Com o desenvolvimento dos estudos culturais nos anos 1960, tornaram-se possíveis leituras queer de obras literárias sob a perspectiva da desconstrução, termo originado a partir dos escritos do filósofo francês Jacques Derrida, e, com o posterior nascimento do pós-estruturalismo, abriram-se as possibilidades de refutação a leituras fixas dos cânones literários, bem como a negação a uma versão fixa, teleológica e falogocêntrica acerca da história da literatura. Os romances Orlando (1928), de Virginia Woolf, e Orlanda (1996), de Jacqueline Harpman, remetem a performances literárias de identidades trans (aqui englobando as manifestações da transexualidade, transgeneridade, travestilidade e intersexualidades) sob o prisma de diferentes nacionalidades, contextos políticos, socioeconômicos e posicionamentos artísticos circunscritos às suas autoras quando na data de publicação. Partindo de uma análise comparada das duas obras pretende-se encontrar pontos comuns e divergentes entre seus projetos literários e traçar uma arqueologia de romances trans do sécu... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Until the present days, transexuality finds itself haunted by the spectrum of subalternity and marginality, since medical sciences still treat this subjectivity as a type of pathology and mental illness. The phallocentric and positivist vision of the body is a heritage from Modernity that reflects in many areas of knowledge, even within the literary studies. With the development of the cultural studies during the 1960s, it became possible to bring queer perspectives on literary works with the help of deconstruction, a term originated from the reception of French philosopher Jacques Derrida, which later caused the birth of poststrucuturalism, it opened some possibilities to refute fixed readings of the literary cannon, as well as a denial of a fixed, teleological and phallocentric version of literary history. The novels Orlando (1928), by Virginia Woolf, and Orlanda (1996), by Jacqueline Harpman, offer literary performances of trans identities (comprehending manifestations of transsexuality, transgender, travesty and intersexualities) from the point of view of different nationalities, political contexts, socioeconomical and artistical positions circumscribed to their authors within the date of publishing. Departing from a compared analysis of the two works, we intend to find both common and parting points between their literary projects and trace an archeology of trans novels from the 20th century, assessing how the transcendence to heteronormativity allows the literary revisi... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

This dissertation examines how gender and temporality are co-constitutive of one another and what temporalities underlie the actuality of gendered life. I weave together the insights of feminist phenomenology and feminist poststructuralism in order to argue that temporality produces and constrains the actuality of lived gender as racialized, heterosexist, and cissexist. More specifically, I argue that this is done through sexual violence. Ultimately, I suggest that the temporality of sexual violence is encrusted into the dominant configurations of gender and into the bodily life of gendered subjects solidifying what gendered subjectivity can become. / 10000-01-01