‘Cake is not an attack on democracy’: Moving beyond carceral Pride and building queer coalitions in post–22/7 Norway

The pieing of a far-right politician at the 2016 Oslo Pride parade was met with condemnation from the media and within Norway’s LGBT movement. The pie-thrower, a member of the European queer-anarchist band Cistem Failure, was charged with committing an “attack on democracy,” a part of the criminal code strengthened after the 22/7 terrorist attacks in 2011 and sentenced to imprisonment followed by deportation. This article reflects critically on the dominant narratives of this event as well as Pride politics more generally, and places them in context with Norway’s increasing mainstreaming of right-wing populism and liberal LGBT organizations’ dependence on state protection and inclusion policies. Drawing on Emma Russell’s critical historical and queer optic, Jin Haritaworn’s regenerative analytic, and Cistem Failure’s alter-narratives, I argue that Norway’s growing “security governance” promotes a divisive othering and obscures the violent exclusion of “undeserving” queers; this presents a deeply disturbing challenge to the democratic right to protest and public dissent. In turn, I advocate for the urgency of a transformative, coalitional politics of radical care - unafraid of confrontation and refusal, committed to the everyday acts of leaving nobody behind and to envisioning a world otherwise.submittedVersio

Lesbian identity and community projects in Beijing: notes from the field on studying and theorising same-sex cultures in the age of globalisation

"This paper is based on ongoing ethnographic fieldwork for my PhD in Anthropology, and is a research project that investigates same-sex desire and cultures among women in Mainland urban China, mainly in Beijing and on the Internet. The ambitions with this project are for one to contribute knowledge about the variations and similarities in human sexuality and culture, by way of studying a rarely prioritised category of people (lesbian-identified women) in a relatively seldom studied locale (urban China). And second, I hope to connect ideologies about sexual identity to wider social and cultural economies of change and inter-exchange in this particular moment in history often referred to as an age of ‘globalisation’."AsiaPacifiQueer Network, Australian National Universit

Love in a big city: Sexuality, kinship, and citizenship amongst lala ('lesbian') women in Beijing.

This thesis is a critical analysis of individual and collective aspects of same-sex sexuality between women in post-millennial Beijing. I argue that sexual subjectivity ('lala'), rather than being a stable core constituent of self, is continually being produced by, and produces, social aspects of personhood, including bonds of kinship and national belonging. In particular, the fundamental interrelationship between gender and sexual difference in producing subjectivity is probed. I argue that transformations in gender norms in the domain of family, marriage, and alongside national socio-economic development, have enabled lala subjectivity to emerge. I demonstrate the Chinese-specific anchoring of lala, and thereby I critique globalization, sexuality, and China scholarship that predict inevitable Westernization and progress-oriented modernity, including Western-like queer life. My thesis is based on twenty months' anthropological fieldwork, mainly utilizing the methods of participant observation, semi-structured and informal conversations. The core group of informants numbers ninety-five. Chapters 1 and 2 develop an ethnographically informed theoretical framework for the study of sexuality and gender in China. Chapters 3 and 4 present social geographies and narratives to demonstrate the interrelationship between gendered sexual subjectivity and social factors that together constitute selfhood, including age/generation, socio-economic background, marital status, motherhood, and residency. Chapters 5 and 6 discuss the enduring importance of kinship and marriage, and present ethnographies of marital strategies including same-sex, lala-gay contract marriages, 'conventional' marriages, and resistance. Chapter 7 discusses lala community and social activism. It compares post-millennial initiatives with those in the 1990s, and with regional and global activism. The extensive ethnographic material and critical analysis of kinship, marriage, relationships, and community demonstrate that non-normative sexuality is not inherently transgressive. Conforming is a strongly felt personal desire, not simply an imposed duty. Strategies which ensure the appearance of hetero-feminine and marital conformity and normative national belonging ('Chineseness') are being creatively and continually combined with growing possibilities for lala ways of life in Beijing

Infant feeding modalities addressed in two different ways in Eastern Uganda

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Durations of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) and predominant breastfeeding (PBF) from two different assessments, among the same mother-infant population, were investigated to determine the degree to which the assessments yielded overlapping results.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Thirty Ugandan mother-infant pairs were followed up weekly from birth to three months of age with weekly short-time feeding recall: the 24-hour recall asked prior to the 1-week recall. In addition, at week 6 and 12 dietary recalls since-birth were conducted. Variables for the duration of EBF and PBF were created from the short-time feeding recalls and the dietary recalls since-birth, respectively. Mean durations of EBF and PBF from the two assessments were compared with Kaplan Meier analysis at week 6 and 12. Reproducibility of dietary recall instruments was also assessed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At six weeks postpartum the mean durations of EBF were 0.50 weeks (95% CI: 0, 1.02) according to the weekly short-time recalls and 1.51 weeks (95% CI: 0.66, 2.35) according to the recall since-birth (Mantel-Cox test, p = 0.049). The mean durations of PBF were 4.07 weeks (95% CI: 3.38, 4.77) according to the frequent short-time recalls and 4.50 weeks (95% CI: 3.93, 5.07) according to the recall since-birth, (Mantel-Cox-test, p = 0.82). At twelve weeks the mean durations of EBF were 0.5 weeks (95% CI: 0, 1.1) according to the weekly short-time recalls and 1.4 weeks (95% CI: 0.1, 2.7) according to the recall since-birth (Mantel-Cox-test, p = 0.15). The mean durations of PBF were 5.2 weeks (95% CI: 3.9, 6.5) according to the weekly short-time recalls and 6.6 weeks (95% CI: 5.4, 7.8) according to recall since-birth (Mantel-Cox-test, p = 0.20). Reports of feeding categories and early feeding practices showed high reproducibility.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Comparing duration of EBF and PBF in this group of mother-infant pairs showed overlapping results from the weekly short-time assessment and the recall since-birth at twelve weeks, with the latter yielding slightly longer duration of the respective feeding modalities. The retrospective recall since-birth could be assessed as a cost-reducing tool compared to the frequent follow-up addressing duration of respective infant feeding modalities for evaluation of programmes promoting safer infant feeding practices.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>The study was part of formative studies for the ongoing study PROMISE EBF registered at <url>http://clinicaltrials.gov</url>, NCT00397150.</p

Introduction: anthropology's queer sensibilities

This special issue addresses vital epistemological, methodological, ethical and political issues at the intersections of queer theory and anthropology as they speak to the study of sexual and gender diversity in the contemporary world. The special issue centres on explorations of anthropology’s queer sensibilities, that is, experimental thinking in ethnographically informed investigations of gender and sexual difference, and related connections, disjunctures and tensions in their situated and abstract dimensions. The articles consider the possibilities and challenges of anthropology’s queer sensibilities that anthropologise queer theory whilst queering anthropology in ethnographically informed analyses. Contributors focus on anthropologising queer theory in research on same-sex desire in the Congo; LGBT migrant and asylum experience in the UK and France; same-sex intimacies within opposite gender oriented sexualities in Kenya and Ghana; secret and ambiguous intimacies and sensibilities beyond an identifiable ‘queer subject’ of rights and recognition in India; migrant imaginings of home in Indonesian lesbian relationships in Hong Kong; and cross-generational perspectives on ‘coming out’ in Taiwan and their implications for theories of kinship and relatedness. An extensive interview with Esther Newton, the prominent figure in gay and lesbian and queer anthropology concludes the collection

Cyberspace and gay rights in a digital China: queer documentary filmmaking under state censorship

Owing to China’s austere censorship regulations on film media, directors of films and documentaries engaging with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender themes have struggled to bring their work to domestic attention. Working outside of the state-funded Chinese film industry has become necessary for these directors to commit their narratives to film, but without approval of China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, these artists have had little chance of achieving widespread domestic distribution of their work. However, advancements in new media technology and Web 2.0, ranging from digital video formats to Internet-based distribution via social media networks and video-hosting platforms, provide opportunities for Chinese audiences to access films and documentaries dealing with LGBT themes. This empirical study assesses how production, promotion and consumption of queer documentary films are influenced by the development of social media within Chinese cyberspace. Through close readings of microblogs from Sina Weibo this study combines analysis of contemporary research with digital social rights activism to illustrate contemporary discourse regarding film-based LGBT representation in China. Finally, the study comments on the role that documentary filmmaking plays in China’s gay rights movement, and discusses the rewards (and challenges) associated with increased levels of visibility within society

Adolescent and adult first time mothers' health seeking practices during pregnancy and early motherhood in Wakiso district, central Uganda

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Maternal health services have a potentially critical role in the improvement of reproductive health. In order to get a better understanding of adolescent mothers'needs we compared health seeking practices of first time adolescent and adult mothers during pregnancy and early motherhood in Wakiso district, Uganda.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a cross-sectional study conducted between May and August, 2007 in Wakiso district. A total of 762 women (442 adolescents and 320 adult) were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. We calculated odds ratios with their 95% CI for antenatal and postnatal health care seeking, stigmatisation and violence experienced from parents comparing adolescents to adult first time mothers. STATA V.8 was used for data analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Adolescent mothers were significantly more disadvantaged in terms of health care seeking for reproductive health services and faced more challenges during pregnancy and early motherhood compared to adult mothers. Adolescent mothers were more likely to have dropped out of school due to pregnancy (OR = 3.61, 95% CI: 2.40–5.44), less likely to earn a salary (OR = 0.43, 95%CI: 0.24–0.76), and more likely to attend antenatal care visits less than four times compared to adult mothers (OR = 1.52, 95%CI: 1.12–2.07). Adolescents were also more likely to experience violence from parents (OR = 2.07, 95%CI: 1.39–3.08) and to be stigmatized by the community (CI = 1.58, 95%CI: 1.09–2.59). In early motherhood, adolescent mothers were less likely to seek for second and third vaccine doses for their infants [Polio2 (OR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.55–0.98), Polio3 (OR = 0.70: 95% CI: 0.51–0.95), DPT2 (OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.53–0.96), DPT3 (OR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.50–0.92)] compared to adult mothers. These results are compelling and call for urgent adolescent focused interventions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Adolescents showed poorer health care seeking behaviour for themselves and their children, and experienced increased community stigmatization and violence, suggesting bigger challenges to the adolescent mothers in terms of social support. Adolescent friendly interventions such as pregnancy groups targeting to empower pregnant adolescents providing information on pregnancy, delivery and early childhood care need to be introduced and implemented.</p

Going public: Transnational Pride politics and queer grassroots activism in China

This paper reflects on queer grassroots activism in China, in the context of globally travelling queer and gender theory, politics and culture.[2] In particular, the importance and meaning of public visibility in activist struggles for rights and equality is examined in lieu of China’s unpredictable political and social environment, and with a focus on exploring the creative and tacit strategies that are employed in order to (attempt to) circumvent official censorship. To illustrate, I draw on three public Pride events that took place in different decades and different cities. Whereas these events are not representative of broader changes in any straightforward way, I suggest that they illustrate shifting articulations of local agencies, transnational connections, and the structural limits posed by political authorities in China, and therefore serve as a counterpoint to scholarly literature and activist discourse taking democratic civil societies as starting point for analysing queer activism and Pride politics