Hiding Behind the Closet Door: Representations of the Homosexual Experience in A Streetcar Named Desire

Themes related to homosexuality and the homosexual experience are interwoven in many layers throughout Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire. This research paper analyzes contemporary commentary on homosexuality from the 1940s and ‘50s, Blanche’s experiences with light and perception, and moments of homosociality between the male poker players, to interpret how the homosexual experience is represented and exposed on stage through the two main characters in the play, Blanche and Stanley. Williams uses a heteronormative context to portray the homosexual experience, thus mirroring the way gay men had to navigate life in the closet while presenting to the public a façade that mimicked that of the hetero-norm. Ultimately, Williams uses illusions to make a comment on the greater society’s attitudes towards homosexuals. Homosexuals were forced to present themselves in illusory manners to be accepted within society; they had to navigate the world inside and outside “the closet”. Thus, Williams uses this theme of illusion and perception in various instances in the play to showcase this type of mentality. Also explored is the concept of the homosexual v. homosocial. The Poker Night scene exemplifies the concept of the homosocial and serves as another avenue through which the homosexual experience is evoked. We see, through Blanche and Stanley, the way homosexual themes were incorporated from small lighting details to a larger scope present within male relationships in the play. Undoubtedly, there is so much more to do with homosexuality in Streetcar than readers may originally realize, and this paper only dips our toes into a newer lens through which Streetcar can be viewed and analyzed

Early access and use of housing: care leavers and other young people in difficulty

This paper presents findings from a study of how care leavers access and use housing services, and what they said had helped them to do so. The sample comprised 80 care leavers, and, for comparison, a group of 59 young people (termed 'in difficulty') who met certain criteria of disadvantage. Care leavers were found to have fewer crisis transitions and less experience of homelessness, together with a much higher level of autonomy and support in their first accommodation, relative to other young people in difficulty. Several factors are identified that, from the care leavers' point of view, contributed to their better access and use of housing services, including having family and friends to turn to, and leaving care teams that negotiated on their behalf with housing services. The paper concludes that care leavers had more positive housing experiences than other young people in difficulty, helped by the improved preparation for independence and ongoing support available to them from leaving care teams. © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Endangered oral literature genres in Punan Tubu (East Kalimantan)

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Viral pneumonia in adults and older children in sub-Saharan Africa — epidemiology, aetiology, diagnosis and management

Community-acquired pneumonia causes substantial morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa with an estimated 131 million new cases each year. Viruses — such as influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus and parainfluenza virus — are now recognised as important causes of respiratory disease in older children and adults in the developed world following the emergence of sensitive molecular diagnostic tests, recent severe viral epidemics, and the discovery of novel viruses. Few studies have comprehensively evaluated the viral aetiology of adult pneumonia in Africa, but it is likely to differ from Western settings due to varying seasonality and the high proportion of patients with immunosuppression and co-morbidities. Emerging data suggest a high prevalence of viral pathogens, as well as multiple viral and viral/bacterial infections in African adults with pneumonia. However, the interpretation of positive results from highly sensitive polymerase chain reaction tests can be challenging. Therapeutic and preventative options against viral respiratory infections are currently limited in the African setting. This review summarises the current state of the epidemiology, aetiology, diagnosis and management of viral pneumonia in sub-Saharan Africa

Old age, retirement villages and New Zealand society : a critical narrative analysis of the experiences of retirement village residents : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

There is a paucity of critical research that examines the experiences of retirement village residents in New Zealand. The research objective was to critically analyse how retirement village residents in New Zealand made sense of their experience of living in a retirement village and to locate these experiences within the wider socio-political context. Multiple interviews were carried out individually with fourteen retirement village residents from one retirement village in Auckland, New Zealand. Their personal narratives, about their experience of moving to and living in a retirement village, were analysed using a critical narrative analytical approach, based on a social constructionist perspective. The way that the participants made sense of old age drew on ageist societal narratives that depict old age as a time of physical decline and loss of ability, mobility, social supports, independence and autonomy. These loss narratives devalue older adults and so undermined the participants’ ability to locate themselves positively in the interview. Consequently, they drew on a young-old subject position in order to resist loss narratives. This research considers the socially constructed nature of loss narratives, by discussing the Western cultural values and assumptions that underpin them. The participants made sense of their move to the retirement village as a solution to decline and loss in old age. Analysis of the solutions that the participants sought at the village highlights that societal practices in New Zealand contribute to losses in old age. Yet, the participants indicated that the retirement village did not always provide the solutions they had hoped for and presented them with additional problems. Therefore, the retirement village represents an imperfect solution to problems in old age that are partly created by current societal practices. This study explores how retirement villages are a culturally specific solution that reflects dominant political ideologies, cultural values, and societal narratives that exist in New Zealand society. Overall, this study argues that alternative societal narratives that ascribe value to the ageing process will better promote the interests of older people. Furthermore, the problems that older adults face will be better solved by directly addressing the societal practices that create them

Nanoparticulate sol-gel pretreatments as barrier coatings and adhesion promoters for metallic corrosion protection

The Spanish University Carlos III de Madrid has developed sol-gel coatings for the corrosion protection of alloys. Sol-gel coatings represent a physical barrier between the metallic substrate and the aggressive environment of exposition and act as adhesion promoters through interfacial bonding. Optimization of the coating’s properties may be easily achivied by changing the processing parameters and formulation of the layer. Interest in licensing the applied patent or technical cooperation with companies that would like to incorporate this technology