Burnham, Jessica. Queer and gender-nonconforming partnership in the United States and implications for intimate possibility. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-pn0m-6x23
DescriptionThis thesis addresses the omission of queer and gender-nonconforming relationship scripts by examining the relationship practices of a subset of queer and gender-nonconforming individuals in the U.S. Using a grounded theory approach, semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 queer and/or gender non-conforming participants to learn about their approaches to intimacy. The thesis applies a framework of expansivity and flux to describe how individuals and relationships exceed rigid categorical boundaries, and how individuals and relationships fluctuate over time. It elaborates on gender, sexual, and racial identity; gender expression and embodiment; monogamous and non-monogamous relationship forms; and practices of sensual and sexual intimacy. In the final chapter, the thesis explores how participants render themselves strategically legible; and how they simultaneously resist and compromise while navigating regulatory systems.