1,720,973 research outputs found
The (de)professionalisation of the gay male academic identity: locking the closet door on South African university campuses
No full textEnter any additional information or requests for the Library here.Considered as a principal method in organising forms of sexual orientation, the heterosexual/homosexual binary emphasises the centrality of heteronormativity in the everyday lives of social and sexual actors; thus, homosexuality is not only differentiated from heterosexuality, but potentially also rendered subordinate to its heterosexual counterpart. Using this as a point of departure, this article focuses on a critical qualitative sociological study undertaken into the influence of a binary logic on gay male academics on South African university campuses. The primary emphasis was on these men's choice either to professionalise or deprofessionalise their gay male identity on their respective university campuses through engaging the contemporary research on the experiences of self-identified homosexual academics as well as the seminal contributions of Erving Goffman (1971) and George Herbert Mead (1962). It was evident from the findings that the participants conform to heteronormativity on their respective university campuses through consciously reflecting on the expectations of their generalised other
South African gay fathers' parenting practices: from pathology to 'normalisation
Full text linkDie ouerskapspraktyke van Suid-Afrikaanse gay vaders: van patologie tot 'normalisering' Die artikel bied die bevindinge van 'n kwalitatiewe sosiologiese studie waarin in-diepte onderhoude en self-voltooide vraelyste met gay vaders gebruik is. Die artikel het ten doel om die realisering van die beginsels van generatiewe vaderskap in die ouerskapspraktyke van gay vaders uit te lig en om te fokus op die wyse waarop patologiese sienings van gay mans in die algemeen 'n invloed op die ouerskapspraktyke van gay vaders uitgeoefen het. Faktore soos die gay mans se eie sosialisering, ouerskapsvaardighede en ondersteuning van hul huweliks- of lewensmaats het 'n groter invloed op hul rol as vaders gehad.South African gay fathers' parenting practices: from pathology to 'normalisation' The article reflects the findings of a qualitative sociological study in which in-depth interviews and self-administered questionnaires were employed with gay fathers. The article highlights the realisation of the principles of generative fathering in the parenting practices of the fathers and the manner in which pathological views of gay men, in general, influenced these practices of the fathers. One of the findings underscored this objective by emphasising that sexual orientation played a minimal role in the parenting practices of gay fathers. Factors associated with the gay men's own socialisation, parenting skills and support from their marital or life partners proved to be more influential in terms of their role as parents
The role of selfreflexivity on the part of gay male academics on South African university campuses
Full text linkThe article reports on the findings of a qualitative sociologicalstudy conducted between June and December 2012 with 17 self-identified gay male academics on their experiences in South African tertiary education. Adopting a queer theoretical critique of the process of self-reflexivity, the research focused on how the participants experience homophobia and its influence on their choice to remain in the closet or to disclose their homosexuality. Based on the views of the 15 in-depth interviews and two self-administered questionnaires, three themes associated with gay male academic reflexivity emerged: assimilation, segregation and dualistic transgression. Assimilation assumes the subordination of homosexuality in relation to heterosexuality, segregation the distinction between hetero- and homosexuality, whereas dualistic transgression underlines the reciprocal interplay between the first two themes
'Doing' and 'using' sexual orientation: the role of gay male pornographic film in the identity construction of gay men
No full textThe taken-for-granted dominance of heteronormativity in contemporary society has been well
documented and critiqued in several social science studies. Acutely aware of its fragility and
vulnerability (Butler 1991), its proponents constantly seek to reinforce its hegemonic influence
through ritualised performances associated with ‘doing’, ‘using’ and performing gender and sexual
orientation. The article will provide a theoretical contemplation on whether both the proscriptive
and negotiable nature of gender roles can be applied to themes associated with gay male identity
in South Africa. This will be done by emphasising the manner in which gay men may possibly ‘do’
and ‘use’ their sexual orientation (cf. Dowsett et al. 2008) through viewing pornography produced
in predominantly the United States as well as South Africa. It will be argued that this mirroring of
‘doing’ and ‘using’ sexual orientation facilitated through gay male pornography is evident in three
interrelated dimensions of the construction of gay men’s gendered and/or sexual self – these being
intrapsychic, interpersonal and culturalhttp://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rssr20/currenthttp://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/21528586.2013.817048DOI: 10.1080/21528586.2013.81704
'Send in the (gay) clowns': Will & Grace and Modern Family as 'sensibly queer'
Full text linkInitial representation of sexual minorities reified gay lifestyle as synonymous with deviancy (Seidman 1996: 6), courtesy of news programmes or documentaries. Several depictions, whether comical or dramatic, led to an outcry from conservative and gay groups alike, protesting the stereotypical depiction of gay men as “a joke” (Burgess 2011: 178), a theme which would continue until the present day. This article provides a queer theoretical critique of two situation comedies, Will & Grace (Kohan & Mutchnick 1998) and Modern Family (Levitan & Lloyd 2009a), and their representation of gay men. Primary emphasis is placed on the dualistic use of comedic satire to either reinforce heteronormativity or exemplify the permeable nature of the supposed rigidity of the heterosexual/homosexual binary logic (Fuss 1991; Namaste 1996
A social constructionist approach to resilience for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and/or questioning academics and students in South African universities
Full text linkThis article provides a theoretical contemplation on how reciprocation of an assimilationist, liberationist and/or transgressive approach by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and/or questioning (LGBTIQ+) individuals on university campuses may encourage transformation initiatives in South African universities. The author ascribe to the contributions of previous research studies on a social constructionist approach to resilience to debate how individuals potentially navigate the disparity between sexual structure and agency within their ideological and physical construction and enactment of their academic and student persona. A theoretical basis is provided for the influence of social resilience to emphasise the localised, intersectional and plural experiences of LGBTIQ+ individuals as opposed to a monolithic and universal ‘either/or’ account of their being solely docile victims or free agents in a heteronormative context
A sociological exploration of the need for safe spaces for lesbian and gay students on a South African university campus
Full text linkBackground: The role of safe spaces on university campuses for gay and lesbian students
remains a contested issue. This is attributed to the fact that the visibility of these students on
university campuses presents a duality: On the one hand, the creation of such spaces provides
a sense of communal belonging, safety and visibility for these students which could contribute
to de-mystifying stereotypes. On the other hand, such increased visibility may further
exacerbate a backlash to those who disclose their sexual identity, which manifests in verbal
and/or physical homophobia.
Aim: The article reports on an explorative sociological study on the need for such safe spaces
for lesbian and gay students on North-West University’s Potchefstroom campus.
Setting: The focus of the research was to explore the need for safe spaces on the North-West
University’s Potchefstroom campus. The aim was to investigate the perceptions of selfidentified
gay and lesbian students on the importance of providing such spaces.
Methods: A qualitative research design, informed by the meta-theoretical principles of social
constructionism, interpretivism and queer theory, was applied. Probability and snowball
sampling methods were used along with 20 semi-structured interviews with 10 self-identified
gay and 10 self-identified lesbian students. Thematic analysis was used to code the data.
Results: Participants expressed dualistic narratives regarding their experiences on campus.
Some indicated that they did not experience any discrimination whereas others recalled
particular incidences of homophobia. These differences notwithstanding, participants
provided particular definitions of such spaces, identified its preferred formations and reasons
for being in favour of and against its implementation.
Conclusion: Findings suggest that the introduction of formal policies is essential in deciding
on whether safe spaces are necessary and to inform the decisions of students require this to
disclose their identities
‘Othering’ non-normative sexualities through objectification of ‘the homosexual’: discursive discrimination by pre-service teachers
No full textHeterosexuality is associated with normative, ‘normal’ or ‘natural’ social and sexual relations. Concomitantly, those
who do not conform to heterosexual standards are ‘othered’. Conforming to normativity creates the “heterosexual
imaginary” (Ingraham, 1996) and perpetuates heteronormativity. This article focuses on the dangers of institutionalised
heterosexuality, particularly the objectifying of non-normative sexual and gender diversities as anti-humanist.
Snowball sampling was used to select 39 fourth-year pre-service teachers from three public South African
universities, and focus group discussions revealed that the responses of many of these have heterosexist and
homophobic undertones. The three main themes that emerged are objectification of ‘the homosexual’, conflation of
‘the homosexual’ and accommodation of ‘the homosexual’. In response to these findings, objectification and
discursive discrimination highlight the way in which language reinforces a binary logic and further perpetuates
heteronormativity. Possible ways of addressing discursive discrimination are suggested
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
- …
