131 research outputs found
Fatally Flawed? : Discursive Evidence from the Movement to Establish Lesbian Studies Programs
While related areas such as Queer Studies and Sexuality Studies have become established as disciplinary formations in North American and British universities, Lesbian Studies has not. This article reports on an analysis of key publications by critics and advocates of Lesbian Studies to explore the possibility that Lesbian Studies was flawed in ways that account for its non-emergence. Charges against Lesbian Studies include naĂŻve essentialism, white middle-classness, separatism, and paranoia. Discourse analysis of books by Lesbian Studies advocates examines evidence of each of these qualities and concludes that Lesbian Studies was above all too lesbian to be successfully integrated into the enduringly heteropatriarchal institution of universities.University of Winnipeghttp://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/095935351037018
'Against the World': Michael Field, female marriage and the aura of amateurism'
This article considers the case of Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper, an aunt and niece who lived and wrote together as âMichael Fieldâ in the fin-de-siĂšcle Aesthetic movement. Bradleyâs bold statement that she and Cooper were âcloser marriedâ than the Brownings forms the basis for a discussion of their partnership in terms of a âfemale marriageâ, a union that is reflected, as I will argue, in the pages of their writings. However, Michael Fieldâs exclusively collaborative output, though extensive, was no guarantee for success. On the contrary, their case illustrates the notion, valid for most products of co-authorship, that the jointly written work is always surrounded by an aura of amateurism. Since collaboration defied the ingrained notion of the author as the solitary producer of his or her work, critics and readers have time and again attempted to âparseâ the collaboration by dissecting the co-authored work into its constituent halves, a treatment that the Fields too failed to escape
Trans men and friendships: A Foucauldian discourse analysis
While research focusing on friendships of sexual minority individuals has increased over the last two decades, studies of transgender personsâ friendships have been largely absent. Yet, within mainstream literature it has been demonstrated that friendships are central both to identity formation and as support in terms of psychological need and distress. Given that trans people face important identity challenges and may well be disenfranchised within society the role of friendships warrants study. Research which has occurred has largely focussed on trans women, yet trans men face particular issues in terms of their relationships with lesbian women and being positioned as joining patriarchy. This study explored this gap in the literature and used Foucauldian discourse analysis to explore friendship and gender identity. Dominant discourses identified included âfriends as familyâ, âromanceâ and discursive practices of âdisowning male privilegeâ, âeffeminate heterosexual maleâ and âgender fluidityâ which counter hegemonic (trans) male re-positioning within friendships. The results indicate that trans men elevate the status of friends to those of other culturally dominant relationships (e.g. family or sexual partner). Furthermore, their friendships, in particular friendships with lesbian women, can become complex platforms from which to contest privilege and power associated with their (trans) masculinities. Conceptual and research implications are discussed
V. Clothes maketh the queer? Dress, appearance and the construction of Lesbian, gay and bisexual identities
Is bisexuality invisible? A review of sexualities scholarship 1970â2015
This article provides a review of sexualities scholarship within the social sciences between 1970 and 2015. It takes an innovative approach by focusing on the way in which bisexuality is addressed in this body of literature. The article reveals the marginalisation, under-representation and invisibility of bisexuality within and across the social sciences in relation to both bisexual experience and identity. Reasons for this varied across the different eras, including the heterosexist nature of the literature, the impact of gay and lesbian-focused identity politics, and queer deconstructionism. In addition, patterns of bisexual erasure and invisibility were uneven, with some scholarship taking inclusive approaches or criticising prejudice against bisexuality. The initial findings of the review were enriched by critical commentary from key relevant sociologists and political scientists. The article concludes that future sexualities scholarship could be enhanced by greater consideration of bisexuality
Black swan, white masks: Contesting cosmopolitanism and double misrecognition in a gay tourist town
This article discusses the effects that constructions of lesbianism â generated and circulated widely throughout Anglo-American media â had on normative discourses of gender and sexuality amongst British migrants, living in the affluent coastal tourist town of Sitges, in Spain. Marketed as a cosmopolitan location par excellence, Sitgesâ identity is built largely on its reputation for playing host to an internationally diverse gay community, subsequently understood to evince an atmosphere of openness and tolerance. And yet drawing on the work of Frantz Fanon (1952/1967) and Kelly Oliver (2001), I suggest that the visibility of feminine lesbianism in this context was resignified through those media images, constituting a âdouble misrecognitionâ, which saw all female homosexuality paradoxically become invisible at the exact moment representation was explicitly deemed to have been achieved. Far from elaborating a cosmopolitan âopenness towards differenceâ, I argue that the resulting double misrecognition actually substantiated highly conservative gender norms, even as it masqueraded as the opposite
The politics of age and generation at the GAZE International LGBT Film Festival in Dublin
Despite their global proliferation, queer film festivals, like film festivals more broadly, are somewhat understudied within the social sciences. This is despite scholarship within film studies that argues that they are significant sites of queer collectivity and sociality. This article examines queer film festivals as sites for the production of community and queer bonds. The authors argue that questions of age, temporality and intergenerationality are central to discourses of community mobilized by festival organizers. The article draws on empirical material from a qualitative study of the GAZE International LGBT Festival in Dublin â which formed part of a larger comparative study of the cultural activist politics of queer film festivals in Europe. Ken Plummer has argued for a greater appreciation of the role of time and generation within sexuality studies. Age, temporality and intergenerationality emerged as important issues within interviews conducted with organizers and volunteers at the festival. The analysis of these issues focuses on three key themes: (1) GAZE as a site of intergenerational community; (2) GAZE as a site of remembrance; and (3) demography and the sustainability of the festival. The article argues that the festival provides a distinctive site of intergenerational queer bonds; and that despite the creation of transnational spaces and discourses, references to the nation and national identity remain central to bonding experiences at the festival
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