The Interactive Impacts of High School Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) on College Student Attitudes Toward LGBT Individuals: An Investigation of High School Characteristics

Although gay-straight alliances (GSAs) are becoming more popular in high schools across the U.S., empirical studies investigating GSAs and their impact are sparse. Utilizing a sample of college students drawn from a large Southern university (N = 805; 78% White; 61% female; average age 22), the current study investigates the ways that the presence of high school GSAs affect college student attitudes toward LGBT individuals and how these relationships may vary by high school GSA location (South vs. non-South), town type (rural/small town, suburban, large city), and high school student population size. Overall, results from the current study show that the presence of a GSA in high school is a robust positive predictor of supportive attitudes toward LGBT individuals, even when considering many control variables. Such results suggest that the presence of GSAs in high schools may have significant positive and potentially long-lasting effects on college students’ attitudes toward LGBT individuals.     

批判性借鉴:美国进步主义运动中的行政变革

简述了美国进步主义运动中行政变革的内容。分析了其行政变革特点:社会各阶层合力推动行政变革;行政变革的方式整体上比较理性有序;行政变革适应了经济社会转型的需要;行政变革是对基本宪政框架的调整和完善。最后强调美国进步主义行政变革的成功经验可以给我们以有益启发或借鉴,但中美两国国情有根本性的差别,必须批判性的借鉴其成功经验。     

网络逆袭与文化断裂：阶层对抗的错位异动

当今网络空间里充斥着反智、反精英、反权贵的话语体系和因此带来的狂欢情绪。生活中受到挫败的弱势群体在虚拟世界里却表现得异常活跃，其现实生存空间受到挤压转而以网络为宣泄出口，借此表达维权意图和对于优势阶层的愤懑不满，虽偏于情绪化却折射出底层参与范式的转换新取向：体制内途径不可靠时，可选择的体制外途径除了以命相搏的“传统”抗争方式外，开始借重网络公共平台这个“阿基米德支点”结成“意见同盟”以实现其网络逆袭。阶层撕裂代替了个体原子化的抗争趋势，虚实、强弱之间的错位增加了阶层对抗的烈度和复杂度，也导致了阶层对抗的异动，即文化断裂危机的浮现与加深。     

Historical Role of the International Communist Movement during the World Anti-fascist War

The relationship between the international Communist movement and the world anti- fascist war constitutes a major historical theme of our times. As a positive force for democracy and peace, the international Communist movement became a solid political cornerstone of the anti-fascist war. Its enormous sacrifices and contributions made it one of the final forces terminating the fascist political order, and its humanity provided mankind with a just direction in the struggle against war terrorism and for peace idealism. It thus became a major force in effectively advancing the development of democracy and peace. Based on the logic of condemnation, the critical reflections upon fascism made by the Communist movement have provided a value dimension for the building of today’s international security system. Based on the logic of construction, the international peace ethics followed by the international Communist movement offer an ideological foundation for the building of the new international order. And based on the logic of development, the new paradigm of world civilization pursued by the international Communist movement has become a political exemplar for the current pursuit of international peace. The political force of the Communist Party of China (CPC), as China’s political backbone and advance guard, cannot be overlooked: it influenced the anti-fascist war, the postwar international Communist movement and the democratization of world order. Of course, both the Soviet Union and the Comintern also offered many historical lessons during the anti-fascist war, lessons that merit profound reflection and consideration.     

Gay Men and Lesbian Women Who Become Parents in the Context of a Former Heterosexual Relationship: An Explorative Study in Italy

In Italy, homosexual people are not allowed to perform donor insemination/surrogacy or adoption, thus they become parents mainly in the context of previous heterosexual relationships. The current study examines the experiences of 34 gay fathers and 32 lesbian mothers with children from a heterosexual relationship. Data on homosexuality awareness, reasons for marriage and parenthood, and the coming-out process to children were collected. Most participants reported not being aware of their homosexuality when they married and became parents. The most common reasons for marriage were “love” and “social expectancy,” whereas parenthood was motivated mainly by the “desire for children and family.” Most participants came out to at least one child and reported a positive reaction. The most cited benefit of coming out was “openness/not hiding anymore.” The results suggest that the lives of gay and lesbian parents are shaped by their sexual minority status as well as by societal heterosexism.     

Male Escorts' Construction of the Boyfriend Experience: How Escorts Please Their Clients

The current study examines the ways that male escorts provide highly desired services for male clients. Building on the “girlfriend experience” identified in the female prostitution literature, the authors discuss the corollary experience of the “boyfriend experience” and identify and examine the components of the boyfriend experience that are central to the social construction of the experience. Data is drawn from 627 online reviews of male escorts written between 2015 and 2016. Following data collection, analytic induction, using a 3-step coding process, is used to identify themes. The authors argue that the boyfriend experience is constructed out of perceptions of companionship, authenticity, and passion in both social and sexual interactions. Reviews emphasize the importance of intimacy, socialization, and emotional connections experienced between customer/escort and show that such are commonly more important and valued than sexual gratification.     

Decompensation: A Novel Approach to Accounting for Stress Arising From the Effects of Ideology and Social Norms

To date, research that has drawn on Meyer’s (2003) minority stress model has largely taken for granted the premises underpinning it. In this article we provide a close reading of how “stress” is conceptualized in the model and suggest that aspects of the model do not attend to the institutionalized nature of stressors experienced by people with marginalized identities, particularly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals. As a counter to this, we highlight the importance of a focus on the effects of ideology and social norms in terms of stress, and we argue why an intersectional approach is necessary to ensure recognition of multiple axes of marginalization and privilege. The article then outlines the concept of decompensation and suggests that it may offer one way to reconsider the effects of ideology and social norms. The decompensation approach centers on the need for social change rather than solely relying on individuals to be resilient.     

Performing the Bakla in The Care Divas: Crossdressing,Affective Labor,and the Glimpse of the Cosmopolitan

This essay is a close reading of The Care Divas, a Filipino musical revolving around the struggle of five Filipino caregivers in Israel who also struggle with their sexual identities as bakla (Filipino homosexual). The analysis is both an affirmation and a critique of the performance. In the affirmation, the musical is argued to present a social reality that is intended for and in need of interrogation: the Filipino bakla. The musical implicitly features the bakla as a cosmopolitan. At the outset, this cosmopolitan disposition comes from the fact that the characters are migrant workers (caregivers). But more importantly, the cosmopolitan character is from a responsibility toward the other anchored within a genuine caring as implicated in the affective labor of these caregiver characters. In the critique, the essay marks some problematic limitations in the treatment of the bakla. In doing so, the musical, despite its attempt to present a social reality, is a problem play, a social drama touching social issues—realistic in approach, but the representation seems like an editorial. In the final analysis, The Care Divas is argued to seemingly fail because artists are not able to see the complexity of their chosen subject in a bigger picture.     

冷战后尼泊尔共产主义运动的分野

冷战后的尼泊尔共运存在"人民多党民主"与"新民主主义革命"两条道路。出现这种分野的原因是经济社会发展不平衡所导致的结构性矛盾。对两条道路进行比较,要根据时代发展客观看待尼共(联合马列)与尼联共(毛)两党的性质;从历史贡献来看,"新民主主义革命"更胜一筹;从革命目标来看,两种革命都不彻底;从革命进程来看,两条革命道路都存在各自的局限性。尼泊尔共运的分野在未来相当长时期内仍将存在,尼共(联合马列)亟待扩大本党的阶级基础,创新原有的路线,尼联共(毛)则面临关键抉择。     

A Systematic Review of Sexual Dysfunction Measures for Gay Men: How Do Current Measures Measure Up?

The measurement of subjective components of sexual functioning is of increasing importance in clinical research and practice. Differences have been reported in prevalence rates and experiences of sexual difficulties between heterosexual and gay men. The aim of this article is to identify reliable and valid measures of sexual dysfunction suitable for use with gay men. Seven measures were reviewed; details about item development, dimensionality, reliability, and validity are provided. Heteronormative and heterosexist wording were evident throughout. Several areas of concern emerged in relation to psychometric properties (e.g., questionable validity). No psychometrically robust sexual function measure was identified for use with gay populations.