A very British carnival: women, sex and transgression in Fiesta magazine

This article addresses the claim that pornography’s theme is ‘male power’ and the recent counter-claim that pornography may embody transgressive potential. It pursues the apparent contradictions in these claims by focussing on a specific pornographic text, the British downmarket softcore magazine, Fiesta, and locating it in relation to other forms of sexual and non-sexual representation. In considering the text’s relation to other ‘mass’ and ‘low’ texts, ‘bawdy’ and ‘carnivalesque’ sensibilities, it becomes possible to establish its particularly British and vulgar representation of sexuality which relies not only on its sexual content, but on a ‘dirty style’ in which notions of sexual propriety are self-consciously transgressed. The analysis of Fiesta plays particular attention to the role of women’s bodies and a mode of ‘dirty talk’ as key elements in its representation of sexuality which illuminate the rather abstract claims made about pornography’s structures of dominance and transgression.</p

”Other” or “one of us”?: the porn user in public and academic discourse

The consumption of sexually explicit media has long been a matter of public and political concern. It has also been a topic of academic interest. In both these arenas a predominantly behaviourist model of effects and regulation has worked to cast the examination of sexually explicit texts and their consumption as a debate about harm. The broader area of investigation remains extraordinarily undeveloped. Sexually explicit media is a focus of interest for academics because of the way it ‘speaks’ sex and sexuality for its culture. In this paper I examine existing and emerging figures of the porn consumer, their relation to ways of thinking and speaking about pornography, and the implications of these for future work on porn consumption. </p

Reading porn: the paradigm shift in pornography research

This paper examines the paradigm shift in pornography theory and research from a focus on 'texts and effects' through to work emerging from the late 1980's onwards. The paper considers the reconceptualisation of pornography as a category, the location of pornography in relation to cultural hierarchy and form, the changing status of pornography in relation to mainstream representations, the significance of developing technologies and the movement towards more situated accounts of pornographic texts and their audiences as a series of attempts to contextualise the question 'what is pornography?'</p

Inside out: men on the Home Front

This paper examines the representation of men as domestic experts in British lifestyle television programmes. It considers contemporary representations of the home, locating these in relation to changes in British primetime programming where a movement towards hybrid TV forms appears to rearticulate the mission to ‘inform, educate and entertain’ and to transform private matters into public spectacle. The paper examines the ways in which contemporary representations of the male domestic expert struggle to negotiate perceived boundaries between the ‘inside’ of private space and the ‘outside’ of the public sphere and between the categories of femininity and masculinity. It argues that in the homes and gardens series, Home Front, the figure of the designer provides a significant contemporary rearticulation of the male dandy, and aestheticism and camp become key strategies for the redefinition of the home and of masculinity as matters of lifestyle.</p

Pornography and objectification: re-reading “the picture that divided Britain”

This paper examines the significance of the terms objectification and pornography in three key approaches to analysing pornographic texts; an anti-pornography feminist approach, an historical approach focused on pornography and regulation, and an approach which details pornography’s aesthetic transgressiveness. It suggests that while all three approaches continue to be productive for the analysis of sexual representations, their usefulness is limited by a tendency towards essentialism. A discussion of the public controversy around an advert for Opium perfume in 2000 is used to argue that an attentiveness to the context of particular images, and to the variety of reactions they provoke, provides a useful way of developing the analysis of sexual representations and their contemporary significance.</p

Beginner teacher preparedness for inclusion : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Psychology

The exclusion of students who experience disability is a social justice issue that persists in New Zealand despite efforts to establish a fully inclusive education system. Although there has been some research into the teaching of inclusive practice in initial teacher education (ITE) in New Zealand, little research examining beginner teachers’ feelings of preparedness for inclusion has been undertaken. This mixed-methods study investigated the role of ITE in preparing beginner, secondary school teachers for including diverse groups of learners by capturing their experiences of ITE and early career. Phase one involved an online questionnaire to secondary school teachers in the first three years of their career. Phase two involved conducting four follow-up interviews exploring salient findings from the questionnaire. The findings of this study suggest that while ITE recognises the diversity of the classroom, it falls short when it comes to the pragmatic implications for teaching and learning. The vast majority of participants felt their ITE did little or nothing to help them develop their knowledge of legislation and policy as it relates to inclusion. Two-thirds of participants felt that their ITE did little or nothing to help them develop their knowledge of supports available for students who experience disability while the majority had little to no experience teaching such students on practicum. Teachers’ sense of preparedness to include learners varied significantly according to their personal connection with a person with a disability. Several key themes which align with literature in the field of teacher education for inclusion emerged, namely: knowledge about, and understanding of inclusive pedagogy; lack of focus on legislation, policy and human rights; lack of focus on collaborative practice; and beginner teachers not identifying as lifelong learners. Research-driven practices that are beneficial in preparing teachers to make sociallyjust decisions are discussed in light of the themes. These include: (1) critical reflection about experiences gained during practicum and service-learning opportunities; (2) explicit teaching of human rights; (3) explicit teaching about effective collaboration with professionals, teacher aides and whānau

'tits and ass and porn and fighting': male heterosexuality in magazines for men

This paper examines the presentation of male heterosexuality in British soft core pornographic and men’s lifestyle magazines, looking across these formats at the range of conventions and discourses they share. It maps out the key features of male heterosexuality in these publications, focusing on a sample of British magazines collected in June 2003 across both soft core and lifestyle formats, and on the new men’s weeklies, Nuts and Zoo Weekly, launched in January 2004. The depiction of the male body and its relation to sexual pleasure and the presentation and investigation of heterosexual activity are set in the broader historical context of men’s print media and the current socio-cultural context of sex and gender representation.</p

Phase-lock loop frequency control and the dropout problem

Technique automatically sets the frequency of narrow band phase-lock loops within automatic lock-in-range. It presets a phase-lock loop to a desired center frequency with a closed loop electronic frequency discriminator and holds the phase-lock loop to that center frequency until lock is achieved