Browsing by Subject "Gay"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Common ground: performing gay shame, solidarity and social change
    (2015-02) Winn-Lenetsky, Jonah Ari
    This dissertation examines Gay Shame activism of the late 1990s and early 2000s through case studies of three distinct performance sites: Gay Shame San Francisco, Kvisa Shchora, a Tel Aviv based collective, and Euroshame (London). Analyzing the performance work and self-articulations of these three groups, I demonstrate how their performative and rhetorical use of shame attempts to both critique the "pride" of mainstream LGBT groups and to forge solidarity between queer communities and others marginalized by neoliberal economies and nationalist rhetoric through what I refer to as "hyperidentification". These performances can, at their best, be aesthetically challenging and creative interventions that reimagine and place queer identities in ideological and, at times, actionable alliance with marginalized others; while at their worst they imagine themselves in solidarity with other communities, but ignore or fail to account for the perspectives, agendas and values of those communities. My exploration of these sites examines the limits of solidarity and empathy and investigates the contributions of queer activist performance to debates regarding the ethics and efficacy of political performance within the disciplines of Theatre and Performance Studies.
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    An exploration of aging lesbians on the North Shore of Lake Superior
    (2013-04) Nichols, Angela Christine
    This ethnographic study explored the lived experiences of aging lesbians on the North Shore of Lake Superior uniting the demographics of age, rural residence, and sexual orientation. Research methods included semi-structured interviews, grand tour, participant observation, field notes, photography, and group discussion. The analytical framework was biography and used participants' life stories to understand their lived experiences. The results reveal how participants learned to adapt to climate, culture, and community in a unique, isolated place. The study also uncovered emergent themes that reveal how aging lesbians feel supported and unsupported by their community. This study reveals the importance of class status in studies about aging lesbians in rural areas and their own perceptions of acceptance and assimilation. Participants' rural location, social environment, and migration are discussed, along with the uniqueness of place, culture and class status.
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    LGBT students and allies participating in a school-based support program: School performance, connectedness, and perceptions of school climate.
    (2008-07) Hansen, Anastasia
    Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth are frequently thought to be at-risk in terms of school achievement and socio-emotional variables such as connection to school. Recent research has demonstrated potential of school-based interventions to improve outcomes for LGBT youth. This study compared achievement and school connectedness for a group of high school students participating in a school-based support program for LGBT youth and allies with a group of their peers. Results indicated that no significant differences between groups were found in terms of GPA, attendance rate, or school connectedness. Furthermore, significant differences based upon frequency of participation in program activities were not observed. These results stand in contrast to the majority of previous research. Focus group data indicated that students continue to experience verbal harassment at school, but that they value the support they receive from Gay-Straight Alliance meetings and participants.
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    Medical Socialization & Its Discontents: Heteronormativity in US Medical Schools & Its Impact on Student Psychological Distress
    (2019-05) Przedworski, Julia
    Every year, over twenty thousand individuals enter US medical schools, beginning their transformation from laypeople to medical doctors. As part of this transformation, alongside acquiring the clinical knowledge and skills necessary to the practice of medicine, medical students are socialized into the culture of medicine, i.e., the values and norms of the profession. While this professional culture is often construed as neutral or even beneficent, in actuality it is permeated by normative cultural standards that reproduce broader social systems of oppression. A number of scholars have acknowledged and problematized these normative standards that pervade medical education in the US, however, much of the cultural reproduction implicit within medical socialization has yet to be uncovered and destabilized. In this dissertation, I set out to make visible and critically evaluate medical socialization’s reproduction of heteronormativity, a dominant cultural standard that privileges those who conform to the heterosexual norm, while marginalizing those who depart from it by virtue of their identities, behaviors, or characteristics. To accomplish this, I conducted three studies designed to assess the prevalence of heteronormativity in US medical schools, along with its concomitant impact on medical students and their well-being. In the first, previously published baseline study, I evaluated the psychological distress of first year medical students who enrolled in a national sample of US medical schools. I found that sexual minority students commenced their medical education while contending with a higher burden of depression and anxiety than their heterosexual peers. The second study reexamined these students four years later, as they were completing medical school. In it, I evaluated students’ exposure to heteronormative socialization, as well as the impact of such exposures on students’ psychological distress. I found that fully three-quarters of heterosexual students and nearly all sexual minority students were exposed to some level of heteronormative socialization while pursuing their medical education. Moreover, being exposed to heteronormative socialization predicted greater psychological distress among all students, regardless of their sexual minority status. In the third, mixed-method study, I triangulated quantitative and qualitative methods to conduct an in-depth investigation of the extent of heteronormativity within medical education. Centering the voices of sexual minority students enabled a deeper understanding of the marginalization they experienced as a result of their socialization to a heteronormative cultural standard. I found that sexual minority students were exposed to heteronormativity across the formal, informal, and hidden curricula of medical school, effectively precluding them from participating fully and authentically in their medical education. My findings paint a distressing picture of medical education that is pervaded by a heteronormative cultural standard that not only marginalizes sexual minority students, but is detrimental to the psychological well-being of all students, regardless of their sexual identity. If medical schools are sincere in their efforts to prepare diverse and culturally competent physicians who can meet the evolving health needs of all patients, they must do the hard work of confronting and destabilizing the heteronormative cultural standard that is currently characteristic of medical education.
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    A phenomenological study of the coming out experiences of gay and lesbian Hmong.
    (2008-12) Yang, Pahoua K.
    The issue of sexual orientation remains a taboo one in the Hmong community, but one that must be addressed, particularly as more Hmong Americans continue to negotiate multiple identities, including sexual orientation. This study explored some of the internal and external processes involved with the coming out experiences of gay and lesbian Hmong. The aims of this study were to provide space for Hmong lesbians and gay men to tell their stories, to provide gay and lesbian Hmong examples of coming out, and to provide clinicians with an understanding of the unique and common issues with which Hmong lesbians and gay men must contend. Eleven participants, five men and six women, were interviewed using a structured interview guide. Ten of the interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a modified CQR method. Nine domains and 34 themes emerged. The domains that emerged were: meaning-making, language, coming out, family, gender role expectations, the role of religion, intra/inter cultural experiences, life-changing lessons, and hopes. Implications and recommendations based on the findings are also made.