Mapping Queer Bioethics: Space,Place, and Locality

ABSTRACT

This article, which introduces the special issue of the Journal of Homosexuality on “Mapping Queer Bioethics,” begins by offering an overview of the analytical scope of the issue. Specifically, the first half of this essay raises critical questions central to the concept of a space-related queer bioethics, such as: How do we appreciate and understand the special needs of queer parties given the constraints of location, space, and geography? The second half of this article describes each feature article in the issue, as well as the subsequent special sections on the ethics of reading literal, health-related maps (“Cartographies”) and scrutinizing the history of this journal as concerns LGBT health (“Mapping the Journal of Homosexuality”).     

Reshaping Time: Recommendations for Suicide Prevention in LBGT Populations

ABSTRACT

This article serves as one of the supplementary pieces of this special issue on “Mapping Queer Bioethics,” in which we take a solipsistic turn to “map” the Journal of Homosexuality itself. Here, the author examines the journal’s 2011 consensus recommendations for the prevention of LGBT suicide. Invoking the axiom approach of Eve Kosovsky Sedgwick’s seminal Epistemology of the Closet, the author argues that merely offering practical guidelines at the level of the demonstrative and the instructive may not be sufficient models to address the urgency of suicide rates in LGBTQ youth populations.     

Inventing the Pedophile in the Journal of Homosexuality

ABSTRACT

This article serves as one of the supplementary pieces of this special issue on “Mapping Queer Bioethics,” in which we take a solipsistic turn to “map” the Journal of Homosexuality itself. Here, the author examines one of the most controversial moments in the history of the journal, whereby a contributor was subject to governmental and popular rebuke for his scholarship on pederasty, pedophilia, and underage queer sexuality. In a chronological and intellectual appraisal of this pedophilia-themed text, the author asks us to recalibrate the disquietude we posit when same-sex affection, youthful sexuality, and sexual abuse are in close proximity.     

“Requestioning” AIDS: An Ethical Reflection From 1993 to Today

ABSTRACT

This article serves as one of the supplementary pieces of this special issue on “Mapping Queer Bioethics,” in which we take a solipsistic turn to “map” the Journal of Homosexuality itself. Here, the author examines the first feature-length article to address the relationship between HIV status and homosexuality. Lingering on both the temporal gap between the dawn of AIDS in American discourse and its inclusion in this journal, the author asks us to consider (in hindsight) such a delay bearing in mind queer theoretical projects of the present such as gay shame, stigma, and queer biopolitics.     

25 Years On: The State and Continuing Development of LGBTQ Studies Programs

ABSTRACT

This article serves as the introduction to “25 Years On: The State and Continuing Development of LGBTQ Studies Programs.” It begins by placing the current issue in a commemorative context: marking the anniversary of a 1993 special issue of the Journal of Homosexuality dedicated to the emergence of “Gay and Lesbian Studies” and edited by Howard L. Minton. The introduction continues by providing an overview of early phases of academic transformations, primarily in the United States, with notes on particular legacies. This is followed by a brief survey of scholarship published since 1993 that pays particular attention to curricular and pedagogical concerns. It concludes by identifying themes articulated by the essays selected for this issue as well as commentary on their individual, yet richly interrelated, contributions.     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: “It’s Like Birth Control for HIV”: Communication and Stigma for Gay Men on PrEP

Statement of Retraction

We, the Editors and Publishers of Journal of Homosexuality, have retracted the following article:

Grimm, J., & Schwartz, J. “It’s Like Birth Control for HIV”: Communication and Stigma for Gay Men on PrEP. Journal of Homosexuality, 66, 9, (2019), 1179–1197. doi:10.1080/00918369.2018.1495978

We are now cognizant of a substantially similar version of this article which was submitted to, and published in Health Communications.

We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions.

The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as “Retracted”.     

Television crime series,women police,and fuddy-duddy feminism

This essay argues that Prime Suspect has become a canonical text for feminist television studies and that Helen Mirren's performance of Lynda La Plante's creation has provided an influential template for television, and the broader culture, to imagine what a senior female police officer is like. So Jane Tennison is important not only within the depicted world of the “canteen culture” of the police in Prime Suspect, but also within the broader context of television production where she has demonstrated that crime shows with female leads can be extremely successful. Juxtaposing Prime Suspect with two later “girly” British TV police series, I ask how we might approach the “daughters of Jane Tennison” found in series such as Ghost Squad (2005) and Murder in Suburbia (2004–2006). Are these “postfeminist” shows? I argue that attention to these programmes can productively inform our understanding of what is entailed for women in not being “fuddy-duddy,” and my comments thus engage, in the continuing debate about the utility and periodisation of the notion of “postfeminism.”     

Love,Lust, and Loss in the Early Age of AIDS: The Discourse in the Body Politic From 1981 to 1987

ABSTRACT

This article explores the idea that the AIDS epidemic constituted a defining moment for the Canadian gay rights movement and illuminates the intricate power dynamics of the development of a community identity. Using grounded theory inductive and deductive content analysis, and interviews with activists from the Body Politic magazine, this article considers notions of health “from above” and “from below” by examining relations between the community and government and their confrontation with medicalization and the medical profession. I also examine how the magazine reported and negotiated issues related to the community’s self-policing and “self-managed oppression” through efforts to promote safer sex and risk reduction.     

Same-Sex Marriage and the Assimilationist Dilemma: A Research Agenda on Marriage Equality and the Future of LGBTQ Activism,Politics, Communities,and Identities

ABSTRACT

This special issue of the Journal of Homosexuality, examines the impact of the marriage equality movement and the resulting landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) that legalized same-sex marriage in the U.S., on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) activism, politics, communities, and identities. The articles in this issue examine the complicated ways in which the discourse used in same-sex marriage court cases is related to heteronormative discursive frames; the lived reality of married same-sex couples and the complex ways in which they think about marriage and heteronormativity; the ways that heteronormativity is racialized, which affects how African Americans perceive the impact of same-sex marriage on their lives; how same-sex marriage has influenced public opinion and the likelihood of anti-gay backlash; and the impact of same-sex marriage on family law. In this article, I draw on the empirical research from these articles to develop a theoretical framework that expands a multi-institutional (MIP) approach to understanding social movements and legal change. I build on and develop three conceptual tools: the assimilationist dilemma, discursive integration and cooptation, and truth regime. I conclude by laying out an agenda for future research on the impact of same-sex marriage on LGBTQ movements, politics, identities, and communities.     

Epidurals during normal labour and birth — Midwives’ attitudes and experiences

BackgroundMidwives have their own beliefs and values regarding pain during childbirth. Their preferences concerning labour pain management may influence women’s choices.AimTo gain a deeper understanding of midwives’ attitudes and experiences regarding the use of an epidural during normal labour.MethodsA qualitative approach was chosen for data collection. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted with midwives working in three different obstetric units in Norway. The transcribed interviews were analysed using Malterud’s systematic text condensation.FindingsThe analysis provided two main themes: “Normal childbirth as the goal” and “Challenges to the practice, knowledge, philosophy and experience of midwives”. Distinctive differences in experiences and attitudes were found. The workplace culture in the obstetric units affected the midwives’ attitudes and their midwifery practice. How they attended to women with epidural also differed. An epidural was often used as a substitute for continuous support when the obstetric unit was busy.DiscussionMidwives estimate labour pain differently, and this might impact the midwifery care. However, midwives’ interests and preferences concerning labour pain management should not influence women’s choices. Midwives are affected by the setting where they work, and research highlights that an epidural might lead to a focus on medical procedures instead of the normality of labour.ConclusionMidwives should be aware of how powerful their position is and how the workplace culture might influence their attitudes. The focus should be on “working with” women to promote a normal birth process, even with an epidural.     

Patriarchy,Power, and Female Masculinity

ABSTRACT

This article examines the place of “butch” within the women's movement. The political potentials of butch in both her refusal of patriarchal constructs of femininity and her transmutation of masculinity will be explored. It will be argued that the butch lesbian threatens male power by severing the naturalized connection between masculinity and male bodies, by causing masculinity to appear “queer,” and by usurping men's roles. However, for “butch” to truly have feminist potential, it also needs to be accompanied by a feminist awareness and a rejection of aspects of masculinity that are oppressive to women. Hence, “butch feminist” need not be an oxymoron, but a strategy for challenging male domination and power.     

Chicks,Dicks, and Contradictions

This essay examines Playgirl as a rich, yet overlooked, archive in the history of American pornography. Although the magazine often is dismissed as the token attempt of a masculinist industry to equalize its representational politics, I argue instead that a significant synergy exists between Playgirl and entwined debates over pornography, gender, and commercialized sexuality in 1970s America. Employing established conventions of the women's magazine, Playgirl utilized that form toward granting women access to explicit images. Yet given its “better lifestyling” advice on how the sexually liberated woman might find empowerment by viewing male nudes, Playgirl's reluctance to display full-frontal nudity until the midpoint of its first year fashioned an initially compromised aesthetic. Not only were women interpolated as untutored viewers within this regime of genital obstruction, but models also were all but emasculated. Consequently, the degree of male exposure that could be handled by both viewers and models was questioned, critiqued, and debated across Playgirl's letters to the editor section, aptly entitled “In-ter-course.” As an artifact of sexual media history, Playgirl is invaluable because readers are able to trace throughout its pages the ways in which changing tides of gendered power began to problematize pornography's routine dichotomy between masculine subjectivity and female objectification.     

Walt Whitman,Our Great Gay Poet?

ABSTRACT

This article surveys the critical debates around Walt Whitman's “Calamus” cluster, arguing that a “queer” reading of Whitman—one that does not see him as, for example, a closeted homosexual who censored his work for fear of being “outed”—is both historically accurate and politically efficacious. While previous efforts to reclaim Whitman as “our great gay poet” are understandable—particularly given critical readings of Whitman that denied the homoeroticism of his poems—today, a reading of Whitman as homosexual threatens to simplify our understanding of the history of homosexuality and to blunt the power of Whitman's poetry to continue to “queer” normative understandings of sex and gender identity categories and their relationship to politics.     

Hearing “That’s So Gay” and “No Homo” on Campus and Substance Use Among Sexual Minority College Students

ABSTRACT

Sexual orientation microaggressions are common on college campuses and can contribute to negative outcomes; yet little is known about their relationship with substance use outcomes. Among a convenience sample of cisgender sexual minority college students (n= 574; 57.0% female, 24.9% people of color, 50.7% gay/lesbian; 72.4% public school) from 37 states (67.8% Midwest), this analysis investigates the association between hearing “that’s so gay” and “no homo” on campus and hazardous alcohol use and the frequency of illicit drug use. Using multivariable regression analyses, the commonly heard phrases “that’s so gay” and “no homo” were each found to significantly increase the risk for hazardous drinking and the frequency of drug use among students. Efforts should be made to create more welcoming campus climates for sexual minority students by reducing the use of these microaggressions and, in the meantime, offering supports to mitigate their harmful effects.     

Iranian obstetricians’ views about the factors that influence pregnant women's choice of delivery method: A qualitative study

BackgroundCaesarean section is a commonly performed childbirth procedure. While caesarean section is undeniably a lifesaving procedure for some mothers and babies, it can also be an unnecessary procedure for others. Different factors may be involved in the rate of birth by caesarean section.QuestionThis qualitative study was conducted in Kashan city, Iran, to explore obstetrician's views of what might influence pregnant women's choice of delivery method.MethodsObstetricians’ views and experiences were collected using semi-structured interviews. Interviews were conducted in a clinic or hospital, based on the preference of the 18 physicians who agreed to participate in the study. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Participants were asked key questions, including: “Why do some women prefer caesarean section?”; “What kind of delivery did you have and why?”; “What kind of delivery would you recommend to pregnant women and why?” Inductive qualitative content analysis was undertaken using the method described by Morreti with 120 initial codes categorized into six categories.FindingsThe six categories developed from the initial codes were: factors relating to women, obstetricians, delivery conditions, complications, society's beliefs and the health system.ConclusionA qualitative study conducted in Iran showed that most of the factors identified by participants facilitated the choice of caesarean section. Vaginal birth was anticipated as a painful and lengthy process, with low cultural acceptance and resulting in less income for obstetricians.     

“There is a Massacre of Women”: Violence Against Women,Feminist Activism,and Hashtags in Turkey

Abstract

In academic and popular debates about sexualisation, the “mainstreaming of sex in the West” is a common catchphrase. As noted by post-colonial and critical race scholars, categories such as “the West” remain powerful discursive ideas shaping how both researchers and researched border and construct race, difference, and sexuality. However, there is very little research that employs a post-colonial analysis of young people’s negotiations of sexualised media, most particularly studies that elucidate how the oppositional frameworks of colonial discourse sets up normative and “othered” subjectivities. In order to address this gap, I turn to Stuart Hall’s classic paper The West and the Rest to reflect on a project undertaken in South Australia with young people from a broad range of cultural backgrounds. In a fascinating set of reflections, the young people present a powerful set of challenges to the binary of the West and the Rest through their narratives on sexualised media. Taken together, these complex and sometimes contradictory narratives remind us of the problems associated with talking in generalised and universalising ways about “sexualisation in the West.”     

The quiver is full: metonymy and affiliation in 19 Kids and Counting’s depiction of pregnancy loss in advanced maternal age

Abstract

This investigation into the cultural dynamics of gendered, aging bodies attends to a mediated representation of what contemporary biomedicine defines as pregnancy in “advanced maternal age” (AMA). We offer a feminist rhetorical analysis of an episode of TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting entitled “A Duggar Loss,” where 45-year-old matriarch Michelle Duggar experiences pregnancy loss. In the episode, age is reconfigured in discussions of AMA pregnancy through a metonymic substitution and slippage of risk discourses, pre-natal self-care, and technological interaction. Moreover, “A Duggar Loss” mobilizes strategies of expansive affiliation around and through reproductive choice, which appears to align with feminist principles of reproductive autonomy despite the family’s ties to the Quiverfull Movement. This work contributes to feminist studies of aging bodies by suggesting that representations of advanced maternal age pregnancy remain a central, yet undertheorized subject in formulating powerful trans-ideological affiliations that can undermine progressive reproductive politics.     

The effect of “hands on” techniques on obstetric perineal laceration: A structured review of the literature

ObjectiveThe purpose of this structured review was to review current evidence of “hands on” and “hands off” techniques as it relates to rates of perineal laceration in order to provide direction for future research in this important area of midwifery practice.MethodA structured literature search using all identified keywords and index terms was undertaken in MEDLINE, EMBASE Joanna Briggs Institute, CINAHL, TRIP, and OVID nursing database.FindingsA total of 24 papers were identified from the initial searches as potentially relevant to the review questions. Of these a total of nine papers were considered relevant for this review. These nine included one systematic review with meta-analysis, four randomised controlled trials (RCTs), one quasi-experimental study and three cohort studies.Conclusion“Hands on” techniques have been traditionally used but not been well defined in the literature, therefore it is currently unclear as to whether or not “hands on” technique can reduce perineal laceration. More studies are required to test the effectiveness of a standardised “hands on” technique and also to determine what part other factors such as maternal position, visualisation and use of water might play in perineal laceration rates.