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Title: Celebrities, Fans, and Queering Gender Norms: A Critical Examination of Lady Gaga's, Nicki Minaj's, and Fans' Use of Instagram.
Creator: Dieterle, Brandy, Vie, Stephanie, Brenckle, Martha, Salter, Anastasia, Pigg, Stacey, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This dissertation used queer rhetoric as a lens for studying queering gender norms on Instagram by using Lady Gaga's, Nicki Minaj's, and fan posts as case studies. The research considers how celebrities may use social media, like Instagram, for queering gender norms, and what this might look like. This research also aimed to better understand if and how fans may take up celebrities' efforts at queering gender norms and, in turn, queer gender norms in their own Instagram posts where they tag...
Show moreThis dissertation used queer rhetoric as a lens for studying queering gender norms on Instagram by using Lady Gaga's, Nicki Minaj's, and fan posts as case studies. The research considers how celebrities may use social media, like Instagram, for queering gender norms, and what this might look like. This research also aimed to better understand if and how fans may take up celebrities' efforts at queering gender norms and, in turn, queer gender norms in their own Instagram posts where they tag Gaga or Minaj. To conduct this research, I took a multimodal methodological approach and collected and coded 1,000 posts from Gaga and Minaj, respectively, and 1,000 posts that used the hashtag Gaga and another 1,000 posts that used the hashtag Minaj. My findings suggested that Gaga and Minaj do not engage in the queering of gender norms as frequently as anticipated, and when they do it is often in relation to their public, staged performances as musicians. Furthermore, Gaga also spoke on issues relating to gender and marriage equality whereas Minaj also spoke on issues relating to racial equality. The data collected on fans was inconclusive in part because of the large number of spam posts and also because, without interviewing fans, it was difficult to discern whether they were taking up celebrity messages in their posts given information shared in the photo and in the caption. However, I was able to note that, most often, fans were engaging with celebrities by expressing admiration. This research is useful for considering how gender performance manifests on Instagram, and possible ways celebrities can utilize Instagram to queer gender norms as well as promote other messages. With regard to fan posts, I argue for continued research in ways to support fans becoming critical rather than passive consumers of celebrity culture.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0006996, ucf:51623
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006996

Title: THE WOW FACTOR: LESBIAN REPRESENTATION AND IMPACT IN LATE-20TH CENTURY THEATRE.
Creator: Maginness, Brenna L, Wood, Vandy, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The intent of this thesis is to investigate the influence of 1980's and 1990's lesbian playwrights on modern queer representation in theatre. By analyzing the successful works of troupes and artists born out of the Women's One World (WOW) Cafe, it became apparent that the greatest changes in lesbian portrayal on stage came from queer and feminist authorship. Additionally, WOW Cafe became the common denominator in the success of many lesbian playwrights due to the freedom it gave its writers...
Show moreThe intent of this thesis is to investigate the influence of 1980's and 1990's lesbian playwrights on modern queer representation in theatre. By analyzing the successful works of troupes and artists born out of the Women's One World (WOW) Cafe, it became apparent that the greatest changes in lesbian portrayal on stage came from queer and feminist authorship. Additionally, WOW Cafe became the common denominator in the success of many lesbian playwrights due to the freedom it gave its writers and performers. As an independent theatre, WOW allowed its members to experiment with few rules, and offered a stage to pieces too experimental, feminist, or queer to see commercial Broadway success. Thesis discussion includes analysis of historically homophobic theatre, the techniques and topics conveyed in the work of The Five Lesbian Brothers and Split Britches, and the importance of WOW as a stepping stone for the success of plays like Lisa Kron's Well. Lesbian-centric work is often left out of theatre history in classrooms even today, and by diving deeper into the important history of queer women in drama, the intent of this thesis is to add to the academia in a way that helps future lesbian artists, performers, and students recognize themselves in the narrative.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFH2000483, ucf:45787
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000483

Title: "TRULY AN AWESOME SPECTACLE": GENDER PERFORMATIVITY AND THE ALIENATION EFFECT IN ANGELS IN AMERICA.
Creator: Gorney, Allen, Campbell, James, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Tony Kushner's two-part play Angels in America uses stereotypical depictions of gay men to deconstruct traditional gender dichotomies. In this thesis, I argue that Kushner has created a continuum of gender performativity to deconstruct these traditional gender dichotomies, thereby empowering the effeminate and disempowering the masculine. I closely examine Kushner's use of Brechtian and Aristotelian tenets in the first Broadway production of the play to demonstrate that Kushner sought to...
Show moreTony Kushner's two-part play Angels in America uses stereotypical depictions of gay men to deconstruct traditional gender dichotomies. In this thesis, I argue that Kushner has created a continuum of gender performativity to deconstruct these traditional gender dichotomies, thereby empowering the effeminate and disempowering the masculine. I closely examine Kushner's use of Brechtian and Aristotelian tenets in the first Broadway production of the play to demonstrate that Kushner sought to induce social awareness of gay male oppression, contingent on the audience's perception of Kushner's deconstruction of the traditional gender dichotomy. I also scrutinize the role of the closet and its implications in the play, primarily analyzed with Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's theoretical framework, suggesting Kushner's partiality to openly gay men who can actively participate in the cessation of gay male oppression.
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Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: CFE0000901, ucf:46731
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000901

Title: The Knitting Witch.
Creator: Ervin, Katherine, Hicks, Micah, Peynado, Brenda, Pugh, William, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Dangerous, magical women live in a world which explores queerness and antagonistic female relationships against the backdrop of Midwestern crafting culture. Craft magic is beauty and cruelty entwined, a perfect tool for witches to use against each other.After her mother is murdered, the eponymous knitting witch inherits a kidnapping and extortion ring, the victims sewn into enchanted quilts and hidden. With her mother dead, political squabbles consume the knitting witch's coven and rival...
Show moreDangerous, magical women live in a world which explores queerness and antagonistic female relationships against the backdrop of Midwestern crafting culture. Craft magic is beauty and cruelty entwined, a perfect tool for witches to use against each other.After her mother is murdered, the eponymous knitting witch inherits a kidnapping and extortion ring, the victims sewn into enchanted quilts and hidden. With her mother dead, political squabbles consume the knitting witch's coven and rival magical families put pressure on her to give up the quilts, including the dangerous Ma family, whose daughter the knitting witch loves. The knitting witch must navigate a forbidden romance, master her magical craft, and fend off her mother's many enemies, all while searching for the hidden quilts. Once she finds the quilts, will she use them as her mother did to take power in the magical city of witches? Or will she find another way to survive, choosing love over power?The stories of queer women are unusual in the fantasy genre, bisexual stories even more so. This work hopes to amplify queer female narratives and draw attention specifically to the issues that bisexual women face in their family and romantic relationships. This thesis explores the question of how and why we love people who hurt us.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007453, ucf:52692
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007453

Title: BEYOND PERFORMANCE: PORTRAYING A GAY CHARACTER TRUTHFULLY AND EFFECTIVELY.
Creator: Fucci, Bryan, Ingram, Katherine, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Queer culture is finding an ever-increasing voice in the arts. Plays like The Laramie Project, Rent, and Angels in America have contributed to making queer identity a very present voice in popular culture. In this thesis, I investigate the excitement and complexity of a straight actor becoming a gay character on stage. Using my interpretation of "Jack" in Debbie Lamedman's new play, Triangle Logic, as a case study, I catalogue a three-month journey towards the effective embrace of...
Show moreQueer culture is finding an ever-increasing voice in the arts. Plays like The Laramie Project, Rent, and Angels in America have contributed to making queer identity a very present voice in popular culture. In this thesis, I investigate the excitement and complexity of a straight actor becoming a gay character on stage. Using my interpretation of "Jack" in Debbie Lamedman's new play, Triangle Logic, as a case study, I catalogue a three-month journey towards the effective embrace of truthfulness on stage. I expand the idea that actors must not layer on possibly offensive stereotypes to convey sexuality, but, instead, focus on telling the story through honest character relationships.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0003626, ucf:48892
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003626

Title: SOCIAL NORMS AND COLLEGE DATING VIOLENCE AMONG GAY BISEXUAL TRANSGENDER AND QUEER (GBTQ) STUDENTS.
Creator: Rivera, LaShawn, Jasinski, Jana, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: There is minimal research on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (GBTQ) dating violence on college campuses. This qualitative study was facilitated using focus groups that included students that identified as being GBTQ at the University of Central Florida (UCF). The focus group questions were open ended in a discussion format. Participants were recruited from student organizations like the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Student Union (GLBSU) and Knight Allies on campus. There were a total...
Show moreThere is minimal research on Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (GBTQ) dating violence on college campuses. This qualitative study was facilitated using focus groups that included students that identified as being GBTQ at the University of Central Florida (UCF). The focus group questions were open ended in a discussion format. Participants were recruited from student organizations like the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Student Union (GLBSU) and Knight Allies on campus. There were a total of 10 students that participated in 2 different focus group sessions. Student's attitudes, thoughts and opinions about dating violence on college campuses in GBTQ relationships were collected. Additionally, participants provided their own definitions of the term dating violence. The students were most comfortable discussing dating violence among heterosexual couples, but did provide their thoughts about this issue in the GBTQ community. The results show that students had differing ideas on what constitutes a dating relationship, and behaviors that are positive and acceptable in GBTQ relationships, but are not considered socially acceptable. One example of this was public displays of affection. In addition, students identified negative behaviors in violent relationships that seem to follow some of the common themes that were found in the current literature. Participants were not aware of current efforts at UCF to address college campus dating violence from a prevention standpoint, but were familiar with intervention services offered on campus. They provided ideas on social messages that would be effective on campus to raise awareness about dating violence in the GBTQ community.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002937, ucf:47974
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002937

Title: SILENT OUTSIDERS: SEARCHING FOR QUEER IDENTITY IN COMPOSITION READERS.
Creator: Duncan, Travis, Wallace, David, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: ABSTRACT This study searches twenty composition readers' table of contents for the degree of inclusivity of queer people and issues. Four means of erasure are labeled as possible erasing of queer identity: presuming heteronormativity, overt homophobia, perpetuating tokenism, and pathologizing queer identity. The presence of other differences are compared to the number of times that queer identity is referenced in the table of contents. The final portion of the analysis examines the two...
Show moreABSTRACT This study searches twenty composition readers' table of contents for the degree of inclusivity of queer people and issues. Four means of erasure are labeled as possible erasing of queer identity: presuming heteronormativity, overt homophobia, perpetuating tokenism, and pathologizing queer identity. The presence of other differences are compared to the number of times that queer identity is referenced in the table of contents. The final portion of the analysis examines the two most inclusive composition readers to understand more clearly how the readers present queer individuals and issues. In a sense, I want to explore the question of how often queer people are discussed or addressed and in what forms within these composition readers. My hope is to develop a means for instructors and students to investigate whether or not, and in what ways a composition reader prescribes presence for the queer individual.
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: CFE0001413, ucf:47051
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001413

Title: THE EDGE OF THINGS.
Creator: Koman, Robin, Hubbard, Susan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: ABSTRACT The Edge of Things is what I like to call a love song to the dispossessed. Each of the eight stories in the collection is an examination of the lives of women who are exiled from modern American consumer culture, whether by circumstance or by choice. This separation brings them heartache, risk, and sometimes even hope. The collection is fueled by the landscape of Florida, observed at its most beautiful and most corrupted, from highways, landfills, and trailer parks to housing...
Show moreABSTRACT The Edge of Things is what I like to call a love song to the dispossessed. Each of the eight stories in the collection is an examination of the lives of women who are exiled from modern American consumer culture, whether by circumstance or by choice. This separation brings them heartache, risk, and sometimes even hope. The collection is fueled by the landscape of Florida, observed at its most beautiful and most corrupted, from highways, landfills, and trailer parks to housing developments, gardens, and secret forests. Setting is a constant source of revelation, the external landscape offering insight into the internal struggles of the characters. Regardless of age, race, or sexual orientation, the women of The Edge of Things find themselves moving toward, or just past, incredible changes in their lives. In "Seed of the Golden Mango", "Raising the Dead", and "The Girl Who Loved Bugs", young women deal with the loss of loved ones. The women of "Zyczenie", "It Cannot Hold", and "Wasp Honey" must deal with old losses in order to survive the realities of the outside world that they have long ignored. "The Edge of Things" and "The Secret Letters" both deal with love, and the consequences of an inability to communicate. In each of these tales I hope to present unforgettable characters, women whose journeys will haunt, reminding readers that on some level, the love song of the dispossessed calls to us all.
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Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: CFE0002024, ucf:47615
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002024

Title: REIMAGINING DESIRE: QUEER TIME, LIMINAL SPACE, AND NARRATIVE ANXIETY.
Creator: Mitchell, Aidan, Jones, Anna Maria, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Media shapes and supports certain ideas about how we view ourselves and others. The narratives that we consume train us to desire a particular formula of what critic Lauren Berlant calls "the good life": growing up, becoming a man or a woman, getting married, having children, and retiring. People who fail to fit into these narratives are often punished and excluded from society. However, queer theorist Jack Halberstam asks us to reconsider failure as a means of resistance. The texts that I...
Show moreMedia shapes and supports certain ideas about how we view ourselves and others. The narratives that we consume train us to desire a particular formula of what critic Lauren Berlant calls "the good life": growing up, becoming a man or a woman, getting married, having children, and retiring. People who fail to fit into these narratives are often punished and excluded from society. However, queer theorist Jack Halberstam asks us to reconsider failure as a means of resistance. The texts that I examine fail to conform to narrative expectations or to fit formulae that are easily consumable or defined. They present queer characters and relationships that exceed social norms and generic conventions. These characters and relationships encourage us to reconsider the models of desire given to us, and to embrace a more nebulous state of anxiety found in liminal space. In Chapter 1, I discuss Argentine-Spanish-French film XXY (2007), which follows the story of Alex, an intersex teen who refuses to fit within the binary of male or female. In Chapter 2, I argue that Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) lays the groundwork for the visual representation of anxiety and desire in the Japanese manga Aku no Hana (Flowers of Evil ), which explores non-monogamous relationships structured around sadistic voyeurism. In the conclusion I turn briefly to children's cartoons Steven Universe and Adventure Time, in which failure has been reimagined as queer utopia. By focusing on media that resist heteronormative conventions we can start to reimagine models for more empathetic and compassionate communities.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: CFH0004847, ucf:45437
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004847

Title: SEX EDUCATION OR SELF EDUCATION? LGBT+ EXPERIENCES WITH EXCLUSIONARY CURRICULA.
Creator: Reeves, Karli, Mishtal, Joanna, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Though much research exists on LGBT+ exclusion from school-based sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education, the strategies used by LGBT+ individuals during their search for knowledge regarding the subject are not as widely documented. Using the ethnographic research method of semi-structured interviews, this research explores the experiences of young LGBT+ adults with formal sexual and reproductive health education and examines the self-education methods employed by this population in...
Show moreThough much research exists on LGBT+ exclusion from school-based sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education, the strategies used by LGBT+ individuals during their search for knowledge regarding the subject are not as widely documented. Using the ethnographic research method of semi-structured interviews, this research explores the experiences of young LGBT+ adults with formal sexual and reproductive health education and examines the self-education methods employed by this population in the context of exclusionary and cisheteronormative curricula. This project also functions to contribute to existing literature in the field of anthropology and other social sciences regarding the subject of SRH education, particularly LGBT+ SRH education. Furthermore, this study supports the need for additional research through the use of applied anthropology concerning interactions between institutions, policy and individual experiences of health.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFH2000500, ucf:45692
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000500

Title: OUT: A SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF COMING OUT.
Creator: Guittar, Nicholas, Grauerholz, Liz, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This study uses a constructivist grounded theory approach to investigate the meaning of "coming out" for LGBQ individuals. Analysis of open-ended interviews with 30 LGBQ persons revealed three main themes. First, coming out does not have a universal meaning among LGBQ persons; rather, it varies on the basis of an individual's experiences, social environment, and personal beliefs and values. Coming out is a transformative process, and an important element in identity formation and maintenance....
Show moreThis study uses a constructivist grounded theory approach to investigate the meaning of "coming out" for LGBQ individuals. Analysis of open-ended interviews with 30 LGBQ persons revealed three main themes. First, coming out does not have a universal meaning among LGBQ persons; rather, it varies on the basis of an individual's experiences, social environment, and personal beliefs and values. Coming out is a transformative process, and an important element in identity formation and maintenance. Second, despite being attracted only to members of the same sex, ten interviewees engaged in a queer apologetic, a kind of identity compromise whereby individuals disclose a bisexual identity that they believe satisfies their personal attractions for only members of the same sex and society's expectation that they be attracted to members of the opposite sex. Third, both gender conformity (e.g., female=feminine) and gender non-conformity (e.g., female=masculine) present unique challenges to coming out. Because they are assumed to be straight, gender conformists must make a more concerted effort to come out. Gender non-conformists may experience greater ease coming out broadly because they are "assumed gay," but they also experience greater opposition from family and friends who resist gender non-conformity. This study provides important insight into the meaning of coming out as well the influences of heteronormativity and gender presentation on coming out. Implication and recommendations for future research are included.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0003911, ucf:48754
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003911

Title: Stories I Told Myself: A Memoir.
Creator: Crimmins, Brian, Neal, Mary, Roney, Lisa, Uttich, Laurie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Stories I Told Myself: A Memoir explores the experience of growing up gay in the 1980s. It is one boy's journey toward self-acceptance set against the conservative backdrop of a rural community on California's central coast. The story illuminates the hunger for a life different than the one being lived, and the ever-present sense of being different exacerbated by bullying and unrequited love. It is a narrative of evolving identity, and includes cultural insights and societal context of the...
Show moreStories I Told Myself: A Memoir explores the experience of growing up gay in the 1980s. It is one boy's journey toward self-acceptance set against the conservative backdrop of a rural community on California's central coast. The story illuminates the hunger for a life different than the one being lived, and the ever-present sense of being different exacerbated by bullying and unrequited love. It is a narrative of evolving identity, and includes cultural insights and societal context of the time period. The author poses a fundamental question, (")How did I make it out of the 80's alive?(") and he explores the answer with poignant humor and self-examination. Mr. Crimmins shows that, beyond the constraints of time and place, the process of coming out remains an important and consistent element of the queer experience.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005152, ucf:50710
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005152

Title: interACTionZ: Engaging LGBTQ+ Youth Using Theatre For Social Change.
Creator: Jackson, Jonathan, Weaver, Earl, StClaire, Sybil, Scott, Hubert, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Theatre for social change is a term used to describe a wide range of theatre-based techniques and methods. Through implementation of performance techniques, participants are encouraged to creatively explore and communicate various ideas with the specific intention of eliciting a societal or political shift within a given community. Through this thesis, I will explore the impact of applying theatre for social change in a youth-centered environment. I will discuss my journey as creator,...
Show moreTheatre for social change is a term used to describe a wide range of theatre-based techniques and methods. Through implementation of performance techniques, participants are encouraged to creatively explore and communicate various ideas with the specific intention of eliciting a societal or political shift within a given community. Through this thesis, I will explore the impact of applying theatre for social change in a youth-centered environment. I will discuss my journey as creator, facilitator, and project director of interACTionZ, a queer youth theatre program in Orlando, FL formed through a partnership between Theatre UCF at the University of Central Florida and the Zebra Coalition(&)#174;. I will give specific focus throughout this project to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ+) youth and straight advocates for the LGBTQ+ community.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFE0005007, ucf:49989
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005007

Title: BITE ME: SADOMASOCHISTIC GENDER RELATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY VAMPIRE LITERATURE.
Creator: Nathanson, Shelby, Oliver, Kathleen, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: While the term sadomasochism might conjure cursory images of whips, chains, and leather-clad fetishists, this thesis delves deeper into sadomasochistic theory to analyze dynamics of power and powerlessness represented by a chosen sample of literary relationships. Using two contemporary works of vampire literatureï¿½Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight seriesï¿½I examine how power is structured by and between male and female characters (and vampires and...
Show moreWhile the term sadomasochism might conjure cursory images of whips, chains, and leather-clad fetishists, this thesis delves deeper into sadomasochistic theory to analyze dynamics of power and powerlessness represented by a chosen sample of literary relationships. Using two contemporary works of vampire literatureï¿½Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight seriesï¿½I examine how power is structured by and between male and female characters (and vampires and humans), and particularly emphasize the patriarchal messages these works' regressive sexual politics engender. Psychoanalysis and feminist theory are employed to support my overarching argument following the gendered dynamics of male sadism and female masochism (and vampire sadism and human masochism), as this dyad reflects men's and women's "normalized" roles of power and powerlessness, respectively, in today's society. Sadomasochistic relationships as depicted in this literature are created through mutual contracts or, what I refer to as, sociocultural sadomasochism to reflect the gendered power imbalances inherent in patriarchy. By concluding with readers' responses to these franchises, this thesis further attempts to determine why such unequal and oppressive relationships are desirable. Since vampires as Gothic figures embody what specific cultures dread yet desire, this literature possesses frightening implicationsï¿½gender roles are conservative and masculinity is privileged in fiction and, by extension, in twenty-first-century American culture.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFH0004548, ucf:45204
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004548

Title: STORY LINES: MOVING THROUGH THE MULTIPLE IMAGINED COMMUNITIES OF AN ASIAN-/AMERICAN-/FEMINIST BODY.
Creator: Choudhury, Athia, Park, Shelley, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: We all have stories to share, to build, to pass around, to inherit, and to create. This story - the one I piece together now - is about a Thai-/Bengali-/Muslim-/American-/Feminist looking for home, looking to manage the tension and conflict of wanting to belong to her family and to her feminist community. This thesis focuses on the seemingly conflicting obligations to kinship on the one hand and to feminist practice on the other, a conflict where being a good scholar or activist is directly...
Show moreWe all have stories to share, to build, to pass around, to inherit, and to create. This story - the one I piece together now - is about a Thai-/Bengali-/Muslim-/American-/Feminist looking for home, looking to manage the tension and conflict of wanting to belong to her family and to her feminist community. This thesis focuses on the seemingly conflicting obligations to kinship on the one hand and to feminist practice on the other, a conflict where being a good scholar or activist is directly in opposition to being a good Asian daughter. In order to understand how and why these communities appear at odds with one another, I examine how the material spaces and psychological realities inhabited by specific hyphenated, fragmented subjects are represented (and misrepresented) in both popular culture and practical politics, arguing against images of the hybrid body that bracket its lived tensions. I argue that fantasies of home as an unconditional site of belonging and comfort distract us from the multiple communities to which hyphenated subjects must move between. Hyphenated Asian-/American bodies often find ourselves torn between nativism and assimilationism - having to neutralize, forsake, or discard parts of our identities. Thus, I reduce complicated, difficult ideas of being to the size of a thimble, to a question of loyalty between my Asian-/American history and my American-/feminist future, between my familial background and the issues that have become foregrounded for me during college, between the home from which I originate and the new home to which I wish to belong. To move with fluidity, I must - in collaboration with others - invent new stories of identity and belonging.
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Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFH0004200, ucf:44974
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004200

Title: GAYME: The development, design and testing of an auto-ethnographic, documentary game about quarely wandering urban/suburban spaces in Central Florida.
Creator: Moran, David, Moshell, Jack, Santana, Maria, Kim, Si Jung, McDaniel, Thomas, Vie, Stephanie, Pugh, William, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: GAYME is a transmedia story-telling world that I have created to conceptually explore the dynamics of queering game design through the development of varying game prototypes. The final iteration of GAYME is @deadquarewalking*. It is a documentary game and a performance art installation that documents a carless, gay/queer/quare man's journey on Halloween to get to and from one of Orlando's most well-known gay clubs - the Parliament House Resort. "The art of cruising" city streets to seek out...
Show moreGAYME is a transmedia story-telling world that I have created to conceptually explore the dynamics of queering game design through the development of varying game prototypes. The final iteration of GAYME is @deadquarewalking*. It is a documentary game and a performance art installation that documents a carless, gay/queer/quare man's journey on Halloween to get to and from one of Orlando's most well-known gay clubs - the Parliament House Resort. "The art of cruising" city streets to seek out queer/quare companionship particularly amongst gay, male culture(s) is well-documented in densely, populated cities like New York, San Francisco and London, but not so much in car-centric, urban environments like Orlando that are less oriented towards pedestrians. Cruising has been and continues to be risky even in pedestrian-friendly cities but in Orlando cruising takes on a whole other dimension of danger. In 2011-2012, The Advocate magazine named Orlando one of the gayest cities in America (Breen, 2012). Transportation for America (2011) also named the Orlando metropolitan region the most dangerous city in the country for pedestrians. Living in Orlando without a car can be deadly as well as a significant barrier to connecting with other people, especially queer/quare people, because of Orlando's car-centric design. In Orlando, cars are sexy. At the same time, the increasing prevalence in gay, male culture(s) of geo-social, mobile phone applications using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and location aware services, such as Grindr (Grindr, LLC., 2009) and even FourSquare (Crowley and Selvadurai, 2009) and Instagram (Systrom and Krieger, 2010), is shifting the way gay/queer/quare Orlandoans co-create social and sexual networks both online and offline. Urban and sub-urban landscapes have transformed into hybrid "techno-scapes" overlaying "the electronic, the emotional and the social with the geographic and the physical" (Hjorth, 2011). With or without a car, gay men can still geo-socially cruise Orlando's car-centric, street life with mobile devices. As such emerging media has become more pervasive, it has created new opportunities to quarely visualize Orlando's "technoscape" through phone photography and hashtag metadata while also blurring lines between the artist and the curator, the player and the game designer.This project particularly has evolved to employ game design as an exhibition tool for the visualization of geo-social photography through hashtag play. Using hashtags as a game mechanic generates metadata that potentially identifies patterns of play and "ways of seeing" across player experiences as they attempt to make meaning of the images they encounter in the game. @deadquarewalking also demonstrates the potential of game design and geo-social, photo-sharing applications to illuminate new ways of documenting and witnessing the urban landscapes that we both collectively and uniquely inhabit.*In Irish culture, (")quare(") can mean (")very(") or (")extremely(") or it can be a spelling of the rural or Southern pronunciation of the word (")queer.(") Living in the American Southeast, I personally relate more to the term (")quare(") versus (")queer.(") Cultural theorist E. Patrick Johnson (2001) also argues for (")quareness(") as a way to question the subjective bias of whiteness in queer studies that risks discounting the lived experiences and material realities of people of color. Though I do not identify as a person of color and would be categorized as white or European American, (")quareness(") has an important critical application for considering how Orlando's urban design is intersectionally racialized, gendered and classed.
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Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005214, ucf:50641
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005214

queer theory (6)	+ -
queer (5)	+ -
gay (4)	+ -
gender (4)	+ -
bisexual (3)	+ -

lesbian (3)	+ -
LGBTQ (2)	+ -
Queer (2)	+ -
feminism (2)	+ -
sexuality (2)	+ -
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