Navigating southern spaces: queer narratives from below the Mason Dixon

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Caitlin A. Armer (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Sarah Daynes

Abstract: The southern United States is known for being historically and contemporarily religious and conservative. This study seeks to investigate the many ways that queer individuals navigate and degrees of safety individuals feel when embodying their identities in these spaces. Temporary pockets of safe space can be created by individuals in various geographic locations to serve as a means of feeling like a valid human being while inhabiting a minority status. It is hypothesized in this paper that these spaces are vital to the continued living, working, and learning of individuals as they provide temporary relief of dichotomous pressure of dominate society while allowing the individual to embody their identities as they deem appropriate. This study encompasses narratives from three queer people living in North Carolina and uses the narratives in combination with social theory to illuminate queer lives in the southern United States.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2016
Keywords
LGBTQ, North Carolina, Queer, Queer Theory, Safety, Southern United States
Subjects
Sexual minorities $z North Carolina $x Social conditions
Sexual minorities $x Social networks $z North Carolina
Sexual minorities $x Identity
Queer theory

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