‘Whether you are gay or straight,I don’t like to see effeminate dancing’: effeminophobia in performance-level ballroom dance

This article discusses recent responses to performances of same-sex male ballroom dancing in order to consider the subtle difference which can exist between homophobia and effeminophobia. Given that the world of performance-level ballroom dancing is a gay-friendly environment, in which many participants are openly gay identified, this article will argue that a discourse of effeminophobia, rather than homophobia, underpins the world of performance-level ballroom dance. Performance-level ballroom dance is often read as camp not only because it represents exaggerated gender roles but because its official technique requires that the male dancer synthesise codes of masculinity and femininity in his dancing. What protects the gender-dissident male ballroom dancer from being read as effeminate is that he is paired with a female body performing excessive femininity. Without the foil of the hyper-feminine female partner, the same-sex couple draws attention to the fact that the male ballroom dancer is not dancing as a man but in accordance with ballroom’s queer construction of masculinity. Given that performance-level dance has struggled for so many years to be viewed as masculine sport, practitioners may, quite understandably, be anxious about any representation which suggests that ballroom dance may be an effeminate activity.     

Government, Interest Groups and Policy Change

Much of the British and European literature on the role of interest groups in the policy process focuses on their participation in policy networks of various types. Possibly reflecting the original development of the policy community and policy network 'models' in the late 1970s, these approaches tend to emphasize stability and continuity – of both networks and policies. However, the 1980s and 1990s have witnessed much policy change and instability in most Western European states. In particular, some governments have adopted a more impositional policy style, and interest groups have learned to exploit the opportunities presented by a policy process which is increasingly characterized by multiple opportunity structures. This is especially the case following Europeanization of many policy sectors within the fifteen EU member states. The article focuses on the possible causes of policy change, including the importance of state power; changes in the behaviour of interest groups as they adjust to and exploit the opportunities presented by multi-arena policy-making; the impact of new policy fashions, reflecting knowledge and ideas which can act as a virus-like threat to existing policy communities.     

Lesbian,Gay and Bisexual Populations: The Role of English Local Government

Abstract

The role of local government has recently come under debate, in the context of state retrenchment, public sector cuts and the marketisation of welfare. Recent discussions have centred on local authorities as leaders, on enterprise and on democracy, but there has been little discussion of local authorities in relation to equalities issues and minority groups. This article examines the role of local government in relation to one minority grouping, Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) people, drawing on empirical material gathered from 2007 to 2010 as part of a large Economic and Social Research Council research project. It describes the importance of equalities legislation and related implementation mechanisms in driving forward the LGB equalities agenda, explores aspects of welfare delivery to LGB people and addresses democratic processes. The article suggests that a collision of different forces is currently taking place: the legislation supports the protection of the LGB communities, but this support is undermined by the recession-related and ideologically driven public sector cuts. In addition, aggregate approaches to local democracy may override the interests of minority groups such as LGB people.     

Poems: The swimmer; Aphrodite,your curly hair; Wedding dress; The frog prince

On or About December 1910: Early Bloomsbury and Its Intimate World, by Peter Stansky. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1996.

Beyond the Homefront: Women's Autobiographical Writing of the Two World Wars, edited by Yvonne M. Klein. London: Macmillan Press, 1997.

From Acting to Performance: Essays in Modernism and Postmodernism, by Philip Auslander. New York: Routledge, 1997.

Writing as Resistance: Four Women Confronting the Holocaust, by Rachel Feldhay Brenner. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997.

The Culture of Wilderness: Agriculture as Colonization in the American West, by Frieda Knobloch. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1996.

Postmodern Fairy Tales: Gender and Narrative Strategies, by Cristina Bacchilega. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.

Sex, Nation, and Dissent in Irish Writing, edited by Eibhear Walshe. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997.

Beauty's Body: Femininity and Representation in British Aestheticism, by Kathy Alexis Psomiades. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997.

Sexualities in Victorian Britain, edited by Andrew H. Miller and James Eli Adams. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997.

The Literary Biography: Problems and Solutions, edited by Dale Salwak. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1996.     

Contact,welfare and children in care: revisiting the significance of birth family relationships after finding significant harm

The focus of this paper is the issue of continuing birth family involvement in the child’s life once the child is living in care. Drawing on a psychosocial study and free association narrative interviews with care leavers it focuses on the harm to a young woman called Frances, caused by direct contact with her birth family and the cessation of such contact. The paper addresses the tension between these two types of harm, in particular the role of contact in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children in care. It presents an argument for the child’s care plan to emphasise the need for ongoing review of the role and impact of the child’s close relationships and contact with their birth family once the child is in care. This includes ongoing consideration of the child’s changing relationship with the birth mother and siblings with a view to reconciliation in young adulthood.     

Co-producing a post-trafficking agenda: collaborating on transforming citizenship in Nepal

This article discusses how a new agenda on post-trafficking is gaining momentum through academic and activist anti-trafficking collaborations focused on co-producing knowledge with women who have returned from trafficking situations. Co-production of this nature is important as the issues raised by post-trafficking scenarios are largely ignored in anti-trafficking strategies, and the stigmatisation and poverty which women in these circumstances encounter means they rarely have a voice in policy-making. Drawing on research in Nepal, we present four types of co-produced data around transforming citizenship post-trafficking, and reflect on the strategies for generating and using them for advocacy purposes.     

Lewin on Trusts

Lewin on Trusts has long been an important resource for lawyersengaged in advising or litigating about trusts. Having beenresurrected in 2000 after a gap of 36 years by John Mowbrayand his team with the 17th edition, it now emerges in its 18thedition this year in a yet more comprehensive and expanded form.As anyone who has written any part of any legal text will readilybe able to discern, a very great deal of time and attentionhas clearly been devoted to it by its authors for which manyof us with less energy and application can only be grateful. As the authors’ preface to the new edition makes clear,they have not merely brought the new edition up to date withlegal developments over the last 8 years, substantial work thougheven that has