Negotiating desire and sexual subjectivity: Narratives of young Lesbian Avengers

This paper examines the negotiation and interpretation of first experiences of sexual desire in a group of 8 young women who identify as Lesbian Avengers, using in depth narrative interviews. Accounts of desire and its relationship to sexual subjectivity were organised under 4 broad themes: Is this lesbian desire? describes the difficulty in categorising first experiences of desire towards another woman as sexual; My desire makes me a dyke examines desire leading to sudden self-identification as a lesbian; or conversely, to the repression of desire and avoidance of lesbian identity; Lesbian desire is dangerous considers the negative representation of lesbian desire as perverse, sex being seen as central to lesbian identity, and the experience of being subjected to condemnation and abuse; Dealing with dangerous desire looks at the main strategies adopted in response to the above: the positioning of self as outsider, but strong because of it; embracing a transformation of self through becoming lesbian; or remaining in the closet. Key words: Desire; Lesbian; Subjectivity; Sexuality; Narrative

Young lesbians and mental health: The closet is a depressing place to be

In this chapter we examine mental health issues in young lesbians, drawing on a recent interview study conducted with a group of Lesbian Avengers. Some of the difficulties that these young women experienced included rejection and hostility from family and friends, social isolation, and being positioned as lecherous because of being lesbian. However, we argue that mental health problems were not the inevitable result, as a number of strategies of resistance and coping were adopted. These include the positive adoption of a lesbian identity, support from other lesbians, and defiance of negative representations of lesbian sexuality

Sex as commodity: Single and partnered men’s subjectification as heterosexual men

Drawing on a discursive analysis of individual and group interviews with heterosexual men, this paper examines how men take up and resist discourses of sexuality and gender to (re)produce a recognisable heterosexual subjectivity. We being by exploring the commodification of sex in men’s accounts, and the various practices men undertake to obtain sex. We then draw on differences that emerged between single men and partnered men’s accounts, to argue that the contexts in which men (re)produce sexual subjectivity have significant implications for how they negotiate the discursive positions available to them. Three themes are explored in this section. In ‘just sex’, single men work to fix the meaning of the sex they are pursuing/having, thus resisting alternative meanings offered by women. In ‘more than just sex’, single men articulate a romantic discourse where sex is part of an emotional relationship. Finally, in ‘accounting for the lack of sex’ partnered men undertook work to remain recognisable as heterosexual men in the absence of sex. This paper explores the difficulties, dilemmas and ambivalences produced by the project of subjection, and how men resolve or accommodate them. Keywords: men, heterosexuality, subjectification, relationships, discourse analysis

A complex negotiation: Women’s experiences of naming and not naming premenstrual distress in couple relationships

Recent research has demonstrated the importance of family relationships in women’s experience of premenstrual changes, and their construction of these changes as ‘PMS’. However, the discursive process by which women take up the subject position of ‘PMS’ sufferer through the explicit naming of ‘PMS’ to an intimate partner has received little research attention. Drawing on 60 individual interviews with Australian women, conducted between 2004 and 2006, we examined accounts of naming ‘PMS’ in intimate relationships, women’s explanations for naming or not naming, and their experiences of their partner naming them as premenstrual. The analysis process identified an overarching theme of naming ‘PMS’, which was made up of three themes: naming to explain; ‘PMS’ becoming the only explanation for distress; and ‘PMS’ as not a legitimate explanation for distress. The findings suggest that clinicians need to be aware of women’s complex, and often ambivalent, experiences of naming ‘PMS’ within their relationships, when working with women, and couples, seeking treatment or support for premenstrual distress. Premenstrual distress; PMS; relationships; cultural construction; Positioning Theor

The Experience and Positioning of Affect in the Context of Intersubjectivity: The Case of Premenstrual Syndrome

The experience and positioning of affect is a material-discursive-intrapsychic experience, which can be interrogated through the examination of the intersubjective realm. This paper examines ways in which women experience and negotiate premenstrual change in affect, positioned as premenstrual syndrome (PMS), drawing on in-depth interviews conducted with 58 women. All of the women interviewed described premenstrual changes in affect in a similar manner, as being characterised by intolerance, irritation, emotional sensitivity, feeling more negative towards others, and feeling overwhelmed in the face of life’s demands. Without exception, women expressed a desire to be alone premenstrually, in order to escape relational demands and responsibilities, to reduce stimulation, or to avoid conflict. The way that these premenstrual changes and the woman’s desire to be alone were positioned by the woman’s partner, and dealt with within relationships, provided the material and discursive context for the woman’s experience and negotiation of PMS. Women whose partners were accepting and supportive were more likely to take up a position of awareness, acceptance and self-care in relation to premenstrual change, whilst women whose partners were unsupportive were more likely to engage in self-castigation and self-pathologization. This suggests that intersubjectivity, the examination of subjectivity and affect in the context of relatedness, will be a fruitful avenue of exploration for critical psychologists, as well as for researchers interested in the complexity of women’s premenstrual experiences

Introducing a new breed of wine yeast: interspecific hybridisation between a commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine yeast and Saccharomyces mikatae

Interspecific hybrids are commonplace in agriculture and horticulture; bread wheat and grapefruit are but two examples. The benefits derived from interspecific hybridisation include the potential of generating advantageous transgressive phenotypes. This paper describes the generation of a new breed of wine yeast by interspecific hybridisation between a commercial Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine yeast strain and Saccharomyces mikatae, a species hitherto not associated with industrial fermentation environs. While commercially available wine yeast strains provide consistent and reliable fermentations, wines produced using single inocula are thought to lack the sensory complexity and rounded palate structure obtained from spontaneous fermentations. In contrast, interspecific yeast hybrids have the potential to deliver increased complexity to wine sensory properties and alternative wine styles through the formation of novel, and wider ranging, yeast volatile fermentation metabolite profiles, whilst maintaining the robustness of the wine yeast parent. Screening of newly generated hybrids from a cross between a S. cerevisiae wine yeast and S. mikatae (closely-related but ecologically distant members of the Saccharomyces sensu stricto clade), has identified progeny with robust fermentation properties and winemaking potential. Chemical analysis showed that, relative to the S. cerevisiae wine yeast parent, hybrids produced wines with different concentrations of volatile metabolites that are known to contribute to wine flavour and aroma, including flavour compounds associated with non-Saccharomyces species. The new S. cerevisiae x S. mikatae hybrids have the potential to produce complex wines akin to products of spontaneous fermentation while giving winemakers the safeguard of an inoculated ferment.Jennifer R. Bellon, Frank Schmid, Dimitra L. Capone, Barbara L. Dunn, Paul J. Chamber

New directions in cellular therapy of cancer: a summary of the summit on cellular therapy for cancer

A summit on cellular therapy for cancer discussed and presented advances related to the use of adoptive cellular therapy for melanoma and other cancers. The summit revealed that this field is advancing rapidly. Conventional cellular therapies, such as tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), are becoming more effective and more available. Gene therapy is becoming an important tool in adoptive cell therapy. Lymphocytes are being engineered to express high affinity T cell receptors (TCRs), chimeric antibody-T cell receptors (CARs) and cytokines. T cell subsets with more naïve and stem cell-like characteristics have been shown in pre-clinical models to be more effective than unselected populations and it is now possible to reprogram T cells and to produce T cells with stem cell characteristics. In the future, combinations of adoptive transfer of T cells and specific vaccination against the cognate antigen can be envisaged to further enhance the effectiveness of these therapies