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NARRATIVES – AND WHY THEY
MATTERDr David Mair
Head of Counselling
University of Birmingham
WHO AM I? WHAT AM I? WHO ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU?
We make sense of our lives through the narratives that are available to us at the time and place in history into which we have been ‘thrown’.
Our tales are spun – but for the most part we don’t spin them, they spin us.
K. Gergen
1978University of Newcastle upon
Tyne
Me - 18 YEARS OLDSexuality: unknown
DON’T BE COYJOIN
GAYSOC
THE MOST BASIC NARRATIVE IN WESTERN SOCIETY…
The “Heterosexual Assumption”
the notion that “…every adolescent will find a partner of the opposite sex, settle down, get married, ultimately procreate and raise children” (K Plummer, 1981)
THE HETEROSEXUAL ASSUMPTION
NARRATIVES ABOUT IDENTITY CHANGE OVER HISTORICAL TIME
There is nothing ‘fixed’ about our identity narratives
Think about how narratives have changed and are continuing to change about…
150 YEARS AGO THERE WERE NO GAY PEOPLE…
So sexuality as a basis for identity = modern phenomenon
BUT…NARRATIVES CLASH AND COLLIDE
SICKPERVERTED
NATURAL VARIETY
EQUAL OPPS
INDIFFERENCE
BEING TRUE TO YOURSELF
CONFORMING
SINFUL
NARRATIVES CAN ‘CLASH’ Western liberal narratives of sexuality v
Religious/Other cultural narratives of sexuality
Essentialist narratives of masculinity/femininity, homo/heterosexuality clash with queer narratives of identity
Clashes are increasingly common in a globalised society
Can lead to huge internal distress for individuals
WHAT IS YOUR INSTITUTIONAL NARRATIVE AROUND SEXUAL MINORITIES?
Indifferent? Supportive? Proactive? Reactive?
Any ‘space’ for s.m. students? How are they ‘mirrored’ and welcomed?
How do we – should we? – affirm life narratives of sexual minority students?
DON’T BE COYJOIN GAYSOC