Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Postmodern Poetry And Queer Medievalisms: Time Mechanics, David Hadbawnik

New Queer Medievalisms

This volume builds on recent scholarship on contemporary poetry in relation to medieval literature, focusing on postmodern poets who work with the medieval in a variety of ways. Such recent projects invert or “queer” the usual transactional nature of engagements with older forms of literature, in which readers are asked to exchange some small measure of bewilderment at archaic language or forms for a sense of having experienced a medieval text. The poets under consideration in this volume demand that readers grapple with the ways in which we are still “medieval” – in other words, the ways in which the …

Medieval Futurity: Essays For The Future Of A Queer Medieval Studies, Will Rogers, Christopher Michael Roman

New Queer Medievalisms

This collection of essays asks contributors to take the capaciousness of the word "queer" to heart in order to think about what medieval queers would have looked like and how they may have existed on the margins and borders of dominant, normative sexuality and desire. The contributors work with recent trends in queer medieval studies, blending together modern concepts of sexuality and desire with the queer configurations of eroticism, desire, and materiality as they might have existed for medieval audiences.

Gower´S Queer Poetics In The Mirour De L'Omme, María Bullón-Fernández

Accessus

Gower's Queer Poetics in the Mirour de l'Omme

In the Mirour de l’Omme John Gower describes the allegorical Sins as both deceitful and “hermafrodrite” and later confesses to having engaged in queer practices in his earlier courtly poetry. Gower’s confession and his association of the Sins with intersexuality, I will argue, do not entail ultimately a rejection of queer poetics. In his Life of the Virgin Mary, the final part of the Mirour, Gower deploys a different kind of queer poetics, one that acknowledges the indeterminacies of language but still seeks to stabilize meaning, while intertwining male and female.

Undiagnosing Iphis: How The Lack Of Trauma In John Gower’S “Iphis And Iante” Reinforces A Subversive Trans Narrative, C Janecek

Accessus

Trauma has long played a role in queer narratives, including Ovid’s “Iphis and Ianthe”, which many scholars have interpreted as reinforcing heteronormativity through Iphis’s transformation into a man in order to marry Ianthe. However, I argue that John Gower’s rendition of this tale reframes Iphis as a trans man and allows us to understand the poem as a subversive trans narrative that revolts against cisnormative conceptions of gender. Utilizing Judith Butler’s writing on the medicalization of gender, I explore the relationship between trauma, performance, and gender within the Ovidian and Gowerian versions of Iphis.

Imperatrix, Domina, Rex: Conceptualizing The Female King In Twelfth-Century England, Coral Lumbley

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

This article draws on methods from transgender theory, historicist literary studies, and visual analysis of medieval sealing practices to show that Empress Matilda of England was controversially styled as a female king during her career in the early to mid twelfth century. While the chronicle Gesta Stephani castigates Matilda’s failure to engage in sanctioned gendered behaviors as she waged civil war to claim her inherited throne, Matilda’s seal harnesses both masculine and feminine signifiers in order to proclaim herself both king and queen. While Matilda’s transgressive gender position was targeted by her detractors during her lifetime, the obstinately transgender object …

Repression And Resistance: A Social History Of The Gay Social Movement Of Tijuana, México 1980-1993, Jesse Anguiano

Dissertations

Social movements are shaped by the historical context in which they emerge and provide a window to understand how collective action develops. The literature on social movements suggests that macro factors such as political climate and dominant social scripts affect the direction of a social movement. However, examining solely the macro perspectives on a movement reveals only part of how and why groups mobilize. This dissertation uses historical and archival resources to document the social history of Gay men living in Tijuana, México. This research is guided by a main research question: What explains the successful and ongoing mobilization of …

Intersex And The Pardoner’S Body, Kim Zarins

Accessus

Most scholars today have retreated from reading into the Pardoner's body in favor of more figurative readings that emphasize his lack of masculinity, and such lack is then linked to his dejection and despair. Other, more affirming readings center the Pardoner's performance, which allows him to model any sort of body desired through figuration. While such positions dominate and older theories like Beryl Rowland's proposal of an intersex Pardoner are dismissed, in fact, an intersex reading might be a more life-affirming interpretation, not only in terms of reframing the Pardoner's body as manifesting variation as opposed to lack, but also …

Lgbt Microaggressions In Counselor Education Programs, Sarah Bryan

Dissertations

Many lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people report they experience microaggressions, small daily insults and indignities that affect their well-being. For LGBT students, microaggressions have been shown to affect well-being and academic engagement. In order to serve LGBT students and model affirming behaviors, counselor educators must be able to recognize and address LGBT microaggressions when they occur; however, there is currently a paucity of research on LGBT microaggressions in counselor education programs. Most studies on attitudes toward LGBT people in such programs neglect the experiences of LGBT students. Moreover, the few existing studies of the experiences of LGBT …

Fighting For Inclusion: The Origin Of Gay Liberation At The University Of Michigan, Eric Denby

Masters Theses

The 1960s and 1970s were decades of turbulence, militancy, and unrest in America. The post-World War II boom in consumerism and consumption made way for a new post-materialist societal ethos, one that looked past the American dream of home ownership and material wealth. Many citizens were now concerned with social and economic equality, justice for all people of the world, and a restructuring of the capitalist system itself. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan was a hotbed of student activism. As an early headquarters for the Students for a Democratic Society, a …

Looking For Mr. Right Or Mr. Right-Now: A Content Analysis Of Gay Men’S Personals, Matt Reid

Masters Theses

Personal advertisements have long been valued by researchers for evaluating norms relating to love and romance in any given societal context. Using thematic, directed content analysis on ads placed on a popular online dating website, this exploratory study seeks to uncover the various ways by which gay and straight men craft an image of the ideal self.

Results largely diverge from previous studies, most of which were conducted prior to the advent of online dating and at a time in a society where homosexuality was more taboo. The current study found that gay men, more often than straight men, employ …

Writing The Wrongs: How Gay And Lesbian Playwrights Use The Paranormal In Autobiographical Writing, George William Zorn

Dissertations

Playwrights have been using ghost and spirit-characters in stage works since the classical era. From their beginnings as speechless, vengeful catalysts and informational narrators, the ghost-character has evolved to something that would not be recognizable to Greek playwrights. This is no more evident than in the works of contemporary gay and lesbian dramatists. Examining the selected works of playwrights Claudia Allen, Larry Kramer and Victor Bumbalo will illuminate the use of ghosts and the paranormal by these playwrights as a way to overcome personal trauma by either creating closure with autobiographical scenes or by using the absence of these characters …

Continuums: Sexual Orientation And Gender Identity Leadership Program, Jacob Smallegan

Honors Theses

In 2011, Western Michigan University was one of three Michigan universities to be ranked in the Top 25 Gay Friendly Universities according to Newsweek and the Daily Beast. This is not surprising considering WMU’s current 4.5 out of 5 score on the Campus Pride Index. The Campus Pride Index lists 362 universities and WMU is one of 22 with a score of 4.5. In the LGBT-Friendly Campus Report, there are only eight areas identified that are not currently in place at WMU, one of which is an LGBT studies program. I decided, given my interest in the Student Affairs …

Transgender People On University Campuses: A Policy Discourse Analysis, Doris Andrea Dirks

Dissertations

The goal of this study is to examine the language used to discuss transgender people on university campuses. My main research question was: What do university reports describe as problems and solutions for transgender people in universities? The primary data for this study consists of 16 reports issued at four Big Ten schools from 1992-2010. These reports address the inclusion of gender identity and expression in nondiscrimination policies, the status of transgender people on university campuses, or both. This study employs policy discourse analysis, a hybrid methodology that analyzes written documents using feminist, critical, and poststructural theories in order to …

“A Highly Ambiguous Condition”: The Transgender Subject, Experimental Narrative And Trans-Reading Identity In The Fiction Of Virginia Woolf, Angela Carter, And Jeanette Winterson, Jennifer A. Smith

Dissertations

This dissertation examines how the constantly evolving gender identity o f a text’s transgender subject relates to the text’s narrative structure and shapes the orientation o f the reader to the text. Accordingly, this project examines how these transgender narratives deploy experimental stylistic techniques that enhance the reader’s experience of ceaseless transitioning by revealing gender as a constant process that never solidifies onto a body and by highlighting the text’s own status as process rather than finalized product. Further, this project examines how a transgender subject and his/her relationship to the body, culture, and narrative is involved in the re-vision …

Review Of Queer Wars: The New Gay Right And Its Critics. Paul Robinson. Reviewed By Greg Mallon., Gerald P. Mallon

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Paul Robinson, Queer Wars: The New Gay Right and Its Critics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005. $25.00 hardcover.

Review Of The Course Of Gay And Lesbian Lives: Social And Psychoanalytical Perspectives. Betram J. Cohler And Robert M. Galatzer-Levy. Reviewed By Ronald J. Mancoske 215 The Gender Division Of Welfare: The Impact Of British, Ronald J. Mancoske

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Bertram J. Cohler and Robert M. Galatzer-Levy, The Course of Gay and Lesbian Lives: Social and Psychoanalytical Perspectives. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. $50.00 hardcover.

Review Of The Politics Of Gay Rights. Craig A. Rimmerman, Kenneth D. Wald, Clyde Wilcox (Eds.). Review By John F. Longres, John F. Longres

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Craig A. Rimmerman, Kenneth D. Wald, Clyde Wilcox (Eds.), The Politics of Gay Rights. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000. $68.00 hardcover, $19.00 papercover.

Review Of The Global Emergence Of Gay And Lesbian Politics: National Imprints Of A Worldwide Movement. Barry D. Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak And Andre Krouwel (Eds.). Reviewed By Carol T. Tully, Tulane University., Carol T. Tully

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Barry D. Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak and Andre Krouwel (Eds.), The Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics: National Imprints of a Worldwide Movement. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1999. $59.95 hardcover, $22.95 papercover.

Rural Gays And Lesbians: Building On The Strengths Of Communities. James D. Smith And Ronald J. Mancoske (Eds.).

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book note for James D. Smith and Ronald J. Mancoske (Eds.), Rural Gays and Lesbians: Building on the Strengths of Communities. New York: Haworth Press, 1998. $ 29.95 hardcover, $ 14.95 papercover.

Review Of Queer Science: The Use And Abuse Of Research Into Homosexuality. Simon Levay. Reviewed By Carol Tully, Tulane University., Carol Tully

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Simon LeVay, Queer Science: The Use and Abuse of Research into Homosexuality. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1996, 364 pages, $25.00 hardcover.

Conceiving Identity: Bisexual, Lesbian And Gay Parents Consider Their Children's Sexual Orientations, Carrie Yang Costello

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

This study demonstrates the inadequacy of the traditional theory of childhood socialization and identity formation, which holds that children are socialized to internalize the key parameters of their parents' identities. The lesbian, gay and bisexual parents studied were willing actively to foster a sexual identity different from their own in their children. This illustrates that parents may seek to shape the process of internalization so that their children are able to develop identities fundamentally different from their own. The implication for social work is that adoptive or birth parents may successfully instill identities in their children which differ from their …

Gay And Lesbian Adoptions: A Theoretical Examination Of Policy-Making And Organizational Decision Making, Thom Reilly

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Most of the inquiry into gay and lesbian adoptions has focused on the rights of this population toadopt, the constitutional issues surrounding gay and lesbian parenting, and the outcomes of children raised by homosexual parents. There has been scant focus at the policy-making or organizational level on this issue. Why have public adoption agencies failed to provide either regulation or written policy on the topic of adoption of children by gays and lesbians?

This article pursues a theoretical examination of policy-making and organizational decision making to explore this issue. Additionally, a survey was distributed to adoption officials in each of …

Lesbian Identity Development And Career Experiences, Mary Jo Thiel

Dissertations

This study used a qualitative research design to explore the experiences of lesbian women with respect to identity development and career issues.

Using the Stage Allocation Measure (SAM) (Cass, 1984), twenty lesbian women who were in the Synthesis Stage (Stage 6) of identity development were identified. In face-to-face, one and a half to two hour interviews, using a semi-structured interview guide developed by the researcher, respondents were asked open-ended questions about their coming out process and their career development .

Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed and the transcripts were analyzed using grounded theory coding techniques. Themes and patterns were …

Social Support Networks Of Gay Men, Raymond M. Berger, David Mallon

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Although social workers and other helping professionals frequently stress the importance of social networks among gay men, there has been little empirical research to describe these networks. In the present study, the authors analyze data on perceived social support from 166 gay men recruited through gay community groups and social networks. Most gay men were found to have large and diverse social networks. Frequent communication occurs between respondents and network members, most of whom know of respondents' homosexuality. The most frequent and supportive network member was a close friend, and the most common type of support received was emotional. Those …