Search the site

The University of Manchester Library

In April 2016 Manchester eScholar was replaced by the University of Manchester’s new Research Information Management System, Pure. In the autumn the University’s research outputs will be available to search and browse via a new Research Portal. Until then the University’s full publication record can be accessed via a temporary portal and the old eScholar content is available to search and browse via this archive.

Disabled Gay Men and Manchester's Gay Village: The Sociallly and Spatially Constituted Gay Body

Blyth, C

[Thesis].University of Manchester ;2009.

Access to files

Full-text and supplementary files are not available from Manchester eScholar. Use our list of Related resources to find this item elsewhere. Alternatively, request a copy from the Library's Document supply service.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to critically examine the experiences of disabled gay men who have accessed Manchester???s commercial gay space known locally as the ???Village???.The thesis provides an initial exploration of how, in recent years, there has been an increasing rejection of the dominant medical and deficit based conceptualisation of disability. Many academics researching in this area have proposed a model of ???thinking??? about disability that explicitly rejects the notion that it arises from any essentialist biological origin and have sought to highlight how it is society that disables people and not their bodies. This change of focus from the body to society has led to the development of the specific academic discipline that is today called ???Disability Studies???. Concentrating on this discipline, the thesis critically explores the dominant model for understanding disability; ???the social model of disability??? and suggests that, in relation to disabled gay men, this model may only provide limited conceptual usefulness. Following on from this, an alternative conceptualisation of disability is provided that seeks to ???propose an embodied, rather than disembodied, notion of disability??? (Hughes and Patterson 1997:326).Adopting such an approach, the research, through an interpretative analysis of narratives provided by 12 disabled gay men who have spent time in Manchester???s commercial gay space, explores how the participants have come to understand the space and their positions within in it. The findings of the research indicate that these men viewed the Village as a space that they are both explicitly and implicitly denied access to. The participants discuss what they see as the bodily attributes that men are required to possess in order to gain access to the space. They go on to describe how a form of ???gay obsession??? with bodily perfection, youthfulness, physical prowess and sexual imagery all act as regulatory agents enforcing what many perceived to be the unattainable ???entry requirements??? of the space.

Keyword(s)

Disability; Sexuality; Space

Bibliographic metadata

Type of resource:
Content type:
Thesis
Type of thesis:
Traditional format
Thesis title:
Disabled Gay Men and Manchester's Gay Village: The Sociallly and Spatially Constituted Gay Body
Author(s) list:
Blyth, C.
Degree type:
EdD
Publication date:
2009
Institution:
University of Manchester
Total pages:
234
Table of contents:
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Overview of the Study 1.2 The Study Site: Manchester's Gay Village 1.3 Origins and Rationale of the Study 1.4 Locating the Self: Taking Sides 1.5 Problematising the Self 1.6 Research-based Selves 1.7 Brought Selves 1.8 Discourse and Reflexivity 1.9 Outline and Structure of the Study CHAPTER TWO: DISABILITY STUDIES 2.1 Overview of the Chapter 2.2 The Historical View of Disability 2.3 The Disability Rights Movement 2.4 The Development of Disability Studies 2.5 The Social Model of Disability 2.6 Disability Studies and the Social Model: Expanding the Horizon? 2.7 Summary CHAPTER THREE: THE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK: BREACHING BORDERS 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The Body and Commercial Gay Space 3.3 Disability, the Body and Post-structuralism 3.4 Disability and Sexuality: The Foucaultian Gaze 3.5 Reconciling the Social Model and Post-structuralism 3.6 The Conceptual Framework CHAPTER FOUR: METHODOLOGY 4.1 Overview of the Chapter 4.2 A Social Constructionist Approach 4.3 Sampling 4.4 Data Collection Methods 4.5 Narrative 4.6 Validity, Reliability, Authenticity and Ethical and Considerations 6.1 Fairness 6.2 Ontological Authenticity 6.3 Educative Authenticity 6.4 Catalytic Authenticity 6.5 Tactical Authenticity 4.7 Data Analysis 4.8 Summary CHAPTER FIVE: (RE)PRESENTING DISABLED GAY MEN 5.1 Introduction 5.2 The Participants CHAPTER SIX: PRESENTATION OF DATA AND INITIAL DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Heterosexual Space: Home and Family Life 6.2.1 Motivation to Access Gay Space 6.2.2 Summary 6.3 Imagining Commercial Gay Space 6.3.1 Summary 6.4 Entering the Village: Physical Access 6.4.1 Summary 6.5 Commercial Gay Space and the Role of the Body 6.5.1 Gay Embodiment 6.5.2 Bodily Difference: Participants Perspectives 6.5.3 Social and Spatial Relations 6.5.4 Summary 6.6 Responding to Regulatory Regimes 6.6.1 Passing 6.6.2 Alternative Gay Spaces: On the Outskirts 6.6.3 Resistance 6.6.4 Summary 6.7 Summary of Findings: Discourse and Power CHAPTER SEVEN: FURTHER DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS 7.1 Introduction 7.1.1 Research Question One 7.1.2 Research Questions Two and Three 7.1.3 Research Question Four 7.1.4 Research Question Five 7.2 Methodological Reflections 7.2.1 The Personal Ads: Gay Researcher Seeks Other 7.3 Areas for Future Research 7.4 Dissemination of Finding
Abstract:
The aim of this study is to critically examine the experiences of disabled gay men who have accessed Manchester???s commercial gay space known locally as the ???Village???.The thesis provides an initial exploration of how, in recent years, there has been an increasing rejection of the dominant medical and deficit based conceptualisation of disability. Many academics researching in this area have proposed a model of ???thinking??? about disability that explicitly rejects the notion that it arises from any essentialist biological origin and have sought to highlight how it is society that disables people and not their bodies. This change of focus from the body to society has led to the development of the specific academic discipline that is today called ???Disability Studies???. Concentrating on this discipline, the thesis critically explores the dominant model for understanding disability; ???the social model of disability??? and suggests that, in relation to disabled gay men, this model may only provide limited conceptual usefulness. Following on from this, an alternative conceptualisation of disability is provided that seeks to ???propose an embodied, rather than disembodied, notion of disability??? (Hughes and Patterson 1997:326).Adopting such an approach, the research, through an interpretative analysis of narratives provided by 12 disabled gay men who have spent time in Manchester???s commercial gay space, explores how the participants have come to understand the space and their positions within in it. The findings of the research indicate that these men viewed the Village as a space that they are both explicitly and implicitly denied access to. The participants discuss what they see as the bodily attributes that men are required to possess in order to gain access to the space. They go on to describe how a form of ???gay obsession??? with bodily perfection, youthfulness, physical prowess and sexual imagery all act as regulatory agents enforcing what many perceived to be the unattainable ???entry requirements??? of the space.
Keyword(s):

Institutional metadata

University researcher(s):
Academic department(s):

Record metadata

Manchester eScholar ID:
uk-ac-man-scw:78259
Created by:
Blyth, Craig
Created:
29th March, 2010, 14:19:43
Last modified by:
Blyth, Craig
Last modified:
2nd August, 2013, 21:02:59

Can we help?

The library chat service will be available from 11am-3pm Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays). You can also email your enquiry to us.