Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington
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Queer Youth and Everyday Spaces in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand: A Photovoice Project

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posted on 2021-12-08, 08:04 authored by Scott, Matt

Queer people are often ‘othered’ in everyday spaces because of the assumptions, practices, and beliefs that reinforce heterosexuality and cis-gendered bodies as normal and natural. For queer youth, these experiences are further exacerbated by their age and agency. Yet there has been little explicit geographic scholarship focused on understanding how queer youth navigate heteronormativity and practice their subjectivities in different everyday spaces.  In this thesis, I draw on the work of queer theory and geographies of sexuality literature to consider how subjectivities are constructed, controlled, and experienced by some queer youth in everyday spaces of Wellington, Aotearoa-New Zealand. I work within a transformative epistemology, and use photovoice as my research method to present the reflective engagements of six queer youth aged between sixteen and twenty-two through their photographs and accompanying narratives. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis to examine the participants’ visual and verbal texts yields contradicting and varying experiences of heteronormativity.  Processes of subjectivity negotiation, queering space, conforming strategies, and gender performance influence how queer youth are placed within their everyday spaces. Safe spaces, like nature, the stage, and queer youth groups provide queer youth with the ability to be self-expressive, escape from the pressures of everyday life, and be surrounded with other queer people. Such spaces can be enhanced through activism, queer representation, and with the presence of animals and friends. This research contributes academically to research within geographies of sexualities and works towards disseminating these findings through a collaborative zine to support efforts to counter some of the dominating effects of heteronormativity identified by the queer youth.

History

Copyright Date

2019-01-01

Date of Award

2019-01-01

Publisher

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington

Rights License

Author Retains Copyright

Degree Discipline

Geography

Degree Grantor

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington

Degree Level

Masters

Degree Name

Master of Science

ANZSRC Type Of Activity code

1 PURE BASIC RESEARCH

Victoria University of Wellington Item Type

Awarded Research Masters Thesis

Language

en_NZ

Victoria University of Wellington School

School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences

Advisors

Kindon, Sara