Patrick R. Grzanka
- Courses2
- Reviews6
- School: University of Tennessee
- Campus: Knoxville
- Department: Psychology
- Email address: Join to see
- Phone: Join to see
-
Location:
Knoxville, TN - 37996 - Dates at University of Tennessee: January 2015 - November 2017
- Office Hours: Join to see
Political Leanings:
| Liberal | Conservative |
Biography
University of Tennessee Knoxville - Psychology
Associate Professor of Psychology at University of Tennessee
Higher Education
Patrick
Grzanka
Knoxville, Tennessee
My research and teaching broadly investigates the interplay of emotions, attitudes, and identities at the nexus of intersecting inequalities, namely race, gender, and sexuality. My work explores the social life of emotions: how our feelings influence our sense of identity and our relationships with other people and institutions. This work is elaborated in two interrelated strands of my qualitative and quantitative research: 1) culture and emotions, and 2) mental health and society.
My scholarship has appeared in leading journals including Symbolic Interaction, Journal of Counseling Psychology, Sexualities, Sexuality Research and Social Policy, and American Journal of Bioethics: Neuroscience. I am the Principal Investigator (w/ Joe Miles, University of Tennessee) on a National Science Foundation grant-funded project to explore how psychologists understand and use the concept of "sexual orientation" in psychotherapy. My first book, Intersectionality: A Foundations and Frontiers Reader, was published by Westview Press in February 2014. I was also co-Principal Investigator on a seed grant project funded by Arizona State University's Institute for Humanities Research called "Happy Place: The Emotional Life of Cities" to explore the construction, measurement, and visualization of data about affect in urban spaces. I collaborate across disciplinary boundaries and institutions, and am always looking for new colleagues with whom to develop projects.
Specialties: emotions; intersectionality; the psychosocial dimensions of race and racism; lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues and psychotherapy; mental health and society; multicultural feminist theories and research practices; science and technology studies; mixed methods research; survey methodology.
Experience
University of Maryland
Associate Director, Honors Humanities Program
Directed 120-student interdisciplinary humanities program in the Honors College. Taught sections of all courses, coordinated admissions/recruitment, designed curriculum and co-curricular programming.
University of Maryland
Lecturer
Taught courses in the Department of American Studies, Honors Humanities Program and the Honors College in popular culture studies, social theory, science and technology studies (STS) and media studies.
University of Tennessee
Assistant Professor
Patrick worked at University of Tennessee as a Assistant Professor
Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity
Communications Coordinator
Developed and maintained all of CRGE's public outreach initiatives, including Web site, listserv and newsletter. Co-organized events for graduate student training and networking. Served as lead project coordinator for the Intersectional Research Database, the first online searchable database of intersectional scholarship.
Arizona State University
Honors Faculty Fellow
I taught interdisciplinary honors seminars in Barrett, the Honors College, developed curriculum, supervised and directed undergraduate research. I was also affiliate faculty of the Center for Biology & Society at ASU.
Education
University of Maryland College Park
Ph.D.
American Studies, Psychology, Sociology
University of Maryland College Park
Bachelor of Arts
Journalism
University of Maryland
Associate Director, Honors Humanities Program
Directed 120-student interdisciplinary humanities program in the Honors College. Taught sections of all courses, coordinated admissions/recruitment, designed curriculum and co-curricular programming.University of Maryland
Lecturer
Taught courses in the Department of American Studies, Honors Humanities Program and the Honors College in popular culture studies, social theory, science and technology studies (STS) and media studies.
Dissertation, defended December 2009.
Publications
White Guilt: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Emergent Racism in the Contemporary United States
University of Maryland
Dissertation, defended December 2009.
White Guilt: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Emergent Racism in the Contemporary United States
University of Maryland
Dissertation, defended December 2009.
White Guilt: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Emergent Racism in the Contemporary United States
University of Maryland
Dissertation, defended December 2009.
White Guilt: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Emergent Racism in the Contemporary United States
University of Maryland
Dissertation, defended December 2009.
White Guilt: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Emergent Racism in the Contemporary United States
University of Maryland
Dissertation, defended December 2009.
Essentialism, constructionism and why I like plaid.
Gender Across Borders
Guest column for the series "Born this Way" at Gender Across Borders
White Guilt: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Emergent Racism in the Contemporary United States
University of Maryland
Dissertation, defended December 2009.
Essentialism, constructionism and why I like plaid.
Gender Across Borders
Guest column for the series "Born this Way" at Gender Across Borders
Different, Like Everyone Else: "Stuff White People Like" and the Marketplace of Diversity
Symbolic Interaction
This article explores Stuff White People Like (SWPL), a popular blog that has lampooned the cultural practices of a certain kind of bourgeoisie-bohemian White person since its inception in early 2008. The overwhelmingly positive reception of the blog motivated the authors to explore the complexities of this commercial humor project in the context of the twenty-first century multicultural neoliberalism in the United States. Through analysis of both the blog entries and online audience response, they ultimately claim that SWPL is limited in its potential for antiracist cultural work because it fails to challenge the logic of neoliberalism—indeed, it operates firmly within it—and defers a radical critique of White privilege. Moreover, SWPL facilitates gleeful celebration of essentialized White idiosyncrasies by incorporating a form of White “ethnicity” in the twenty-first century neoliberal marketplace of diversity.
White Guilt: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Emergent Racism in the Contemporary United States
University of Maryland
Dissertation, defended December 2009.
Essentialism, constructionism and why I like plaid.
Gender Across Borders
Guest column for the series "Born this Way" at Gender Across Borders
Different, Like Everyone Else: "Stuff White People Like" and the Marketplace of Diversity
Symbolic Interaction
This article explores Stuff White People Like (SWPL), a popular blog that has lampooned the cultural practices of a certain kind of bourgeoisie-bohemian White person since its inception in early 2008. The overwhelmingly positive reception of the blog motivated the authors to explore the complexities of this commercial humor project in the context of the twenty-first century multicultural neoliberalism in the United States. Through analysis of both the blog entries and online audience response, they ultimately claim that SWPL is limited in its potential for antiracist cultural work because it fails to challenge the logic of neoliberalism—indeed, it operates firmly within it—and defers a radical critique of White privilege. Moreover, SWPL facilitates gleeful celebration of essentialized White idiosyncrasies by incorporating a form of White “ethnicity” in the twenty-first century neoliberal marketplace of diversity.
The Machine in the Garden of Desire
American Journal of Bioethics: Neuroscience
The machine is not invading the garden, as Leo Marx (1964/2000) famously pondered—the machine built the garden. Today, the line between technologies of sexual- ity and sexuality itself is a nostalgic fiction. Whether or not biomedical researchers should take up social constructionist perspectives on SO is another debate, but these perspectives are nonetheless necessary for a comprehensive ethical con- sideration of the consequences of SO change efforts, which always possess the capacity to dramatically affect the lives of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people whose perspectives are often elided in the debates about their sexual futures.
White Guilt: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Emergent Racism in the Contemporary United States
University of Maryland
Dissertation, defended December 2009.
Essentialism, constructionism and why I like plaid.
Gender Across Borders
Guest column for the series "Born this Way" at Gender Across Borders
Different, Like Everyone Else: "Stuff White People Like" and the Marketplace of Diversity
Symbolic Interaction
This article explores Stuff White People Like (SWPL), a popular blog that has lampooned the cultural practices of a certain kind of bourgeoisie-bohemian White person since its inception in early 2008. The overwhelmingly positive reception of the blog motivated the authors to explore the complexities of this commercial humor project in the context of the twenty-first century multicultural neoliberalism in the United States. Through analysis of both the blog entries and online audience response, they ultimately claim that SWPL is limited in its potential for antiracist cultural work because it fails to challenge the logic of neoliberalism—indeed, it operates firmly within it—and defers a radical critique of White privilege. Moreover, SWPL facilitates gleeful celebration of essentialized White idiosyncrasies by incorporating a form of White “ethnicity” in the twenty-first century neoliberal marketplace of diversity.
The Machine in the Garden of Desire
American Journal of Bioethics: Neuroscience
The machine is not invading the garden, as Leo Marx (1964/2000) famously pondered—the machine built the garden. Today, the line between technologies of sexual- ity and sexuality itself is a nostalgic fiction. Whether or not biomedical researchers should take up social constructionist perspectives on SO is another debate, but these perspectives are nonetheless necessary for a comprehensive ethical con- sideration of the consequences of SO change efforts, which always possess the capacity to dramatically affect the lives of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people whose perspectives are often elided in the debates about their sexual futures.
Making Up Allies: The Identity Choreography of Straight LGBT Activism
Sexuality Research and Social Policy
This qualitative study investigates the contemporary landscape of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) politics and activism, specifically the concept and identities of “straight allies.” Through in-depth interviews with 13 individuals who identify as straight allies, we explore how these heterosexuals engage in LGBT politics and activist cultures. We take a grounded theory approach to data analysis, through which the concept of “passive” and “active” activism emerges as a framework to understand these allies’ meaning-making practices, as well as how they negotiate the emotional, interpersonal, life-historical, and mass-mediated complexities of being straight allies when interacting with LGBT communities and engaging in pro-LGBT politics. We draw upon Thompson’s (2005) theory of ontological choreography to posit “identity choreography” as way to describe and make sense of the heterogeneous knowledges and experiences our participants use to constitute their straight ally identities and to evaluate others’ ally identities and activisms. Implications for future research on LGBT politics and straight allies, particularly in terms of education, attitude change, and activism, are discussed.
White Guilt: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Emergent Racism in the Contemporary United States
University of Maryland
Dissertation, defended December 2009.
Essentialism, constructionism and why I like plaid.
Gender Across Borders
Guest column for the series "Born this Way" at Gender Across Borders
Different, Like Everyone Else: "Stuff White People Like" and the Marketplace of Diversity
Symbolic Interaction
This article explores Stuff White People Like (SWPL), a popular blog that has lampooned the cultural practices of a certain kind of bourgeoisie-bohemian White person since its inception in early 2008. The overwhelmingly positive reception of the blog motivated the authors to explore the complexities of this commercial humor project in the context of the twenty-first century multicultural neoliberalism in the United States. Through analysis of both the blog entries and online audience response, they ultimately claim that SWPL is limited in its potential for antiracist cultural work because it fails to challenge the logic of neoliberalism—indeed, it operates firmly within it—and defers a radical critique of White privilege. Moreover, SWPL facilitates gleeful celebration of essentialized White idiosyncrasies by incorporating a form of White “ethnicity” in the twenty-first century neoliberal marketplace of diversity.
The Machine in the Garden of Desire
American Journal of Bioethics: Neuroscience
The machine is not invading the garden, as Leo Marx (1964/2000) famously pondered—the machine built the garden. Today, the line between technologies of sexual- ity and sexuality itself is a nostalgic fiction. Whether or not biomedical researchers should take up social constructionist perspectives on SO is another debate, but these perspectives are nonetheless necessary for a comprehensive ethical con- sideration of the consequences of SO change efforts, which always possess the capacity to dramatically affect the lives of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people whose perspectives are often elided in the debates about their sexual futures.
Making Up Allies: The Identity Choreography of Straight LGBT Activism
Sexuality Research and Social Policy
This qualitative study investigates the contemporary landscape of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) politics and activism, specifically the concept and identities of “straight allies.” Through in-depth interviews with 13 individuals who identify as straight allies, we explore how these heterosexuals engage in LGBT politics and activist cultures. We take a grounded theory approach to data analysis, through which the concept of “passive” and “active” activism emerges as a framework to understand these allies’ meaning-making practices, as well as how they negotiate the emotional, interpersonal, life-historical, and mass-mediated complexities of being straight allies when interacting with LGBT communities and engaging in pro-LGBT politics. We draw upon Thompson’s (2005) theory of ontological choreography to posit “identity choreography” as way to describe and make sense of the heterogeneous knowledges and experiences our participants use to constitute their straight ally identities and to evaluate others’ ally identities and activisms. Implications for future research on LGBT politics and straight allies, particularly in terms of education, attitude change, and activism, are discussed.
Development and Initial Validation of the Sexual Orientation Beliefs Scale (SOBS)
Journal of Counseling Psychology
The purpose of these studies was to develop and validate a measure of beliefs about sexual orientation (SO) that incorporates essentialist, social constructionist, and constructivist themes. The Sexual Orientation Beliefs Scale (SOBS) is offered as a multidimensional instrument with which to assess a broad range of beliefs about SO, which evidence suggests are highly correlated with positive and negative attitudes about sexual minorities. An initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted in the general population with a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-identified (LGBT) sample (n = 323) and suggested a 4-factor structure of naturalness (α = .86), discreetness (α = .82), entitativity (α = .75), and personal and social importance (α = .68); this 4-factor structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with an independent LGBT sample (n = 330; “Form 1”). Additional EFA (n = 183) and CFA (n = 201) in a college student, mostly heterosexual-identified population suggest a slightly different factor structure, whereby group homogeneity (α = .84) and informativeness (α = .77) are salient themes (“Form 2”), and this structure was replicated across SO groups. Finally, a study of test–retest reliability in an undergraduate, mostly heterosexual-identified sample (n = 45) demonstrated strong temporal stability for the SOBS.
White Guilt: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Emergent Racism in the Contemporary United States
University of Maryland
Dissertation, defended December 2009.
Essentialism, constructionism and why I like plaid.
Gender Across Borders
Guest column for the series "Born this Way" at Gender Across Borders
Different, Like Everyone Else: "Stuff White People Like" and the Marketplace of Diversity
Symbolic Interaction
This article explores Stuff White People Like (SWPL), a popular blog that has lampooned the cultural practices of a certain kind of bourgeoisie-bohemian White person since its inception in early 2008. The overwhelmingly positive reception of the blog motivated the authors to explore the complexities of this commercial humor project in the context of the twenty-first century multicultural neoliberalism in the United States. Through analysis of both the blog entries and online audience response, they ultimately claim that SWPL is limited in its potential for antiracist cultural work because it fails to challenge the logic of neoliberalism—indeed, it operates firmly within it—and defers a radical critique of White privilege. Moreover, SWPL facilitates gleeful celebration of essentialized White idiosyncrasies by incorporating a form of White “ethnicity” in the twenty-first century neoliberal marketplace of diversity.
The Machine in the Garden of Desire
American Journal of Bioethics: Neuroscience
The machine is not invading the garden, as Leo Marx (1964/2000) famously pondered—the machine built the garden. Today, the line between technologies of sexual- ity and sexuality itself is a nostalgic fiction. Whether or not biomedical researchers should take up social constructionist perspectives on SO is another debate, but these perspectives are nonetheless necessary for a comprehensive ethical con- sideration of the consequences of SO change efforts, which always possess the capacity to dramatically affect the lives of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people whose perspectives are often elided in the debates about their sexual futures.
Making Up Allies: The Identity Choreography of Straight LGBT Activism
Sexuality Research and Social Policy
This qualitative study investigates the contemporary landscape of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) politics and activism, specifically the concept and identities of “straight allies.” Through in-depth interviews with 13 individuals who identify as straight allies, we explore how these heterosexuals engage in LGBT politics and activist cultures. We take a grounded theory approach to data analysis, through which the concept of “passive” and “active” activism emerges as a framework to understand these allies’ meaning-making practices, as well as how they negotiate the emotional, interpersonal, life-historical, and mass-mediated complexities of being straight allies when interacting with LGBT communities and engaging in pro-LGBT politics. We draw upon Thompson’s (2005) theory of ontological choreography to posit “identity choreography” as way to describe and make sense of the heterogeneous knowledges and experiences our participants use to constitute their straight ally identities and to evaluate others’ ally identities and activisms. Implications for future research on LGBT politics and straight allies, particularly in terms of education, attitude change, and activism, are discussed.
Development and Initial Validation of the Sexual Orientation Beliefs Scale (SOBS)
Journal of Counseling Psychology
The purpose of these studies was to develop and validate a measure of beliefs about sexual orientation (SO) that incorporates essentialist, social constructionist, and constructivist themes. The Sexual Orientation Beliefs Scale (SOBS) is offered as a multidimensional instrument with which to assess a broad range of beliefs about SO, which evidence suggests are highly correlated with positive and negative attitudes about sexual minorities. An initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted in the general population with a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-identified (LGBT) sample (n = 323) and suggested a 4-factor structure of naturalness (α = .86), discreetness (α = .82), entitativity (α = .75), and personal and social importance (α = .68); this 4-factor structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with an independent LGBT sample (n = 330; “Form 1”). Additional EFA (n = 183) and CFA (n = 201) in a college student, mostly heterosexual-identified population suggest a slightly different factor structure, whereby group homogeneity (α = .84) and informativeness (α = .77) are salient themes (“Form 2”), and this structure was replicated across SO groups. Finally, a study of test–retest reliability in an undergraduate, mostly heterosexual-identified sample (n = 45) demonstrated strong temporal stability for the SOBS.
Intersectionality: A Foundations and Frontiers Reader
Westview Press/Perseus Books
Intersectionality: A Foundations and Frontiers Reader is an accessible, primary-source driven exploration of intersectionality in sociology and related fields. The book maps the origins of the concept, particularly in Black feminist thought and sociology, opens the discourse to challenges and applications across disciplines and outside academia, and explores the leading edges of scholarship to reveal important new directions for inquiry and activism. Charting the development of intersectionality as an intellectual and political movement, Patrick R. Grzanka brings together in one text both foundational readings and emerging classics. Original material includes: Grzanka’s nuanced introduction which provides broad context and poses guiding questions; thematic unit introductions; author biographies and suggestions for further reading to ground each excerpt; and a conclusion by Bonnie Thornton Dill reflecting on the past, present, and future of intersectionality. With its balanced mix of analytical, applied, and original content, Intersectionality is an essential component of any course on race, class, and gender, feminist theory, or social inequalities. Publishes February 2014.
White Guilt: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Emergent Racism in the Contemporary United States
University of Maryland
Dissertation, defended December 2009.
Essentialism, constructionism and why I like plaid.
Gender Across Borders
Guest column for the series "Born this Way" at Gender Across Borders
Different, Like Everyone Else: "Stuff White People Like" and the Marketplace of Diversity
Symbolic Interaction
This article explores Stuff White People Like (SWPL), a popular blog that has lampooned the cultural practices of a certain kind of bourgeoisie-bohemian White person since its inception in early 2008. The overwhelmingly positive reception of the blog motivated the authors to explore the complexities of this commercial humor project in the context of the twenty-first century multicultural neoliberalism in the United States. Through analysis of both the blog entries and online audience response, they ultimately claim that SWPL is limited in its potential for antiracist cultural work because it fails to challenge the logic of neoliberalism—indeed, it operates firmly within it—and defers a radical critique of White privilege. Moreover, SWPL facilitates gleeful celebration of essentialized White idiosyncrasies by incorporating a form of White “ethnicity” in the twenty-first century neoliberal marketplace of diversity.
The Machine in the Garden of Desire
American Journal of Bioethics: Neuroscience
The machine is not invading the garden, as Leo Marx (1964/2000) famously pondered—the machine built the garden. Today, the line between technologies of sexual- ity and sexuality itself is a nostalgic fiction. Whether or not biomedical researchers should take up social constructionist perspectives on SO is another debate, but these perspectives are nonetheless necessary for a comprehensive ethical con- sideration of the consequences of SO change efforts, which always possess the capacity to dramatically affect the lives of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people whose perspectives are often elided in the debates about their sexual futures.
Making Up Allies: The Identity Choreography of Straight LGBT Activism
Sexuality Research and Social Policy
This qualitative study investigates the contemporary landscape of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) politics and activism, specifically the concept and identities of “straight allies.” Through in-depth interviews with 13 individuals who identify as straight allies, we explore how these heterosexuals engage in LGBT politics and activist cultures. We take a grounded theory approach to data analysis, through which the concept of “passive” and “active” activism emerges as a framework to understand these allies’ meaning-making practices, as well as how they negotiate the emotional, interpersonal, life-historical, and mass-mediated complexities of being straight allies when interacting with LGBT communities and engaging in pro-LGBT politics. We draw upon Thompson’s (2005) theory of ontological choreography to posit “identity choreography” as way to describe and make sense of the heterogeneous knowledges and experiences our participants use to constitute their straight ally identities and to evaluate others’ ally identities and activisms. Implications for future research on LGBT politics and straight allies, particularly in terms of education, attitude change, and activism, are discussed.
Development and Initial Validation of the Sexual Orientation Beliefs Scale (SOBS)
Journal of Counseling Psychology
The purpose of these studies was to develop and validate a measure of beliefs about sexual orientation (SO) that incorporates essentialist, social constructionist, and constructivist themes. The Sexual Orientation Beliefs Scale (SOBS) is offered as a multidimensional instrument with which to assess a broad range of beliefs about SO, which evidence suggests are highly correlated with positive and negative attitudes about sexual minorities. An initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted in the general population with a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-identified (LGBT) sample (n = 323) and suggested a 4-factor structure of naturalness (α = .86), discreetness (α = .82), entitativity (α = .75), and personal and social importance (α = .68); this 4-factor structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with an independent LGBT sample (n = 330; “Form 1”). Additional EFA (n = 183) and CFA (n = 201) in a college student, mostly heterosexual-identified population suggest a slightly different factor structure, whereby group homogeneity (α = .84) and informativeness (α = .77) are salient themes (“Form 2”), and this structure was replicated across SO groups. Finally, a study of test–retest reliability in an undergraduate, mostly heterosexual-identified sample (n = 45) demonstrated strong temporal stability for the SOBS.
Intersectionality: A Foundations and Frontiers Reader
Westview Press/Perseus Books
Intersectionality: A Foundations and Frontiers Reader is an accessible, primary-source driven exploration of intersectionality in sociology and related fields. The book maps the origins of the concept, particularly in Black feminist thought and sociology, opens the discourse to challenges and applications across disciplines and outside academia, and explores the leading edges of scholarship to reveal important new directions for inquiry and activism. Charting the development of intersectionality as an intellectual and political movement, Patrick R. Grzanka brings together in one text both foundational readings and emerging classics. Original material includes: Grzanka’s nuanced introduction which provides broad context and poses guiding questions; thematic unit introductions; author biographies and suggestions for further reading to ground each excerpt; and a conclusion by Bonnie Thornton Dill reflecting on the past, present, and future of intersectionality. With its balanced mix of analytical, applied, and original content, Intersectionality is an essential component of any course on race, class, and gender, feminist theory, or social inequalities. Publishes February 2014.
Feeling Whiteness: Racism, Affect and Intersectionality
Consortium on Race, Gender & Ethnicity: Research Connections
Research report on the interdisciplinary study of White racial affect (e.g., White guilt and shame) in contemporary American culture.
White Guilt: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Emergent Racism in the Contemporary United States
University of Maryland
Dissertation, defended December 2009.
Essentialism, constructionism and why I like plaid.
Gender Across Borders
Guest column for the series "Born this Way" at Gender Across Borders
Different, Like Everyone Else: "Stuff White People Like" and the Marketplace of Diversity
Symbolic Interaction
This article explores Stuff White People Like (SWPL), a popular blog that has lampooned the cultural practices of a certain kind of bourgeoisie-bohemian White person since its inception in early 2008. The overwhelmingly positive reception of the blog motivated the authors to explore the complexities of this commercial humor project in the context of the twenty-first century multicultural neoliberalism in the United States. Through analysis of both the blog entries and online audience response, they ultimately claim that SWPL is limited in its potential for antiracist cultural work because it fails to challenge the logic of neoliberalism—indeed, it operates firmly within it—and defers a radical critique of White privilege. Moreover, SWPL facilitates gleeful celebration of essentialized White idiosyncrasies by incorporating a form of White “ethnicity” in the twenty-first century neoliberal marketplace of diversity.
The Machine in the Garden of Desire
American Journal of Bioethics: Neuroscience
The machine is not invading the garden, as Leo Marx (1964/2000) famously pondered—the machine built the garden. Today, the line between technologies of sexual- ity and sexuality itself is a nostalgic fiction. Whether or not biomedical researchers should take up social constructionist perspectives on SO is another debate, but these perspectives are nonetheless necessary for a comprehensive ethical con- sideration of the consequences of SO change efforts, which always possess the capacity to dramatically affect the lives of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people whose perspectives are often elided in the debates about their sexual futures.
Making Up Allies: The Identity Choreography of Straight LGBT Activism
Sexuality Research and Social Policy
This qualitative study investigates the contemporary landscape of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) politics and activism, specifically the concept and identities of “straight allies.” Through in-depth interviews with 13 individuals who identify as straight allies, we explore how these heterosexuals engage in LGBT politics and activist cultures. We take a grounded theory approach to data analysis, through which the concept of “passive” and “active” activism emerges as a framework to understand these allies’ meaning-making practices, as well as how they negotiate the emotional, interpersonal, life-historical, and mass-mediated complexities of being straight allies when interacting with LGBT communities and engaging in pro-LGBT politics. We draw upon Thompson’s (2005) theory of ontological choreography to posit “identity choreography” as way to describe and make sense of the heterogeneous knowledges and experiences our participants use to constitute their straight ally identities and to evaluate others’ ally identities and activisms. Implications for future research on LGBT politics and straight allies, particularly in terms of education, attitude change, and activism, are discussed.
Development and Initial Validation of the Sexual Orientation Beliefs Scale (SOBS)
Journal of Counseling Psychology
The purpose of these studies was to develop and validate a measure of beliefs about sexual orientation (SO) that incorporates essentialist, social constructionist, and constructivist themes. The Sexual Orientation Beliefs Scale (SOBS) is offered as a multidimensional instrument with which to assess a broad range of beliefs about SO, which evidence suggests are highly correlated with positive and negative attitudes about sexual minorities. An initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted in the general population with a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-identified (LGBT) sample (n = 323) and suggested a 4-factor structure of naturalness (α = .86), discreetness (α = .82), entitativity (α = .75), and personal and social importance (α = .68); this 4-factor structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with an independent LGBT sample (n = 330; “Form 1”). Additional EFA (n = 183) and CFA (n = 201) in a college student, mostly heterosexual-identified population suggest a slightly different factor structure, whereby group homogeneity (α = .84) and informativeness (α = .77) are salient themes (“Form 2”), and this structure was replicated across SO groups. Finally, a study of test–retest reliability in an undergraduate, mostly heterosexual-identified sample (n = 45) demonstrated strong temporal stability for the SOBS.
Intersectionality: A Foundations and Frontiers Reader
Westview Press/Perseus Books
Intersectionality: A Foundations and Frontiers Reader is an accessible, primary-source driven exploration of intersectionality in sociology and related fields. The book maps the origins of the concept, particularly in Black feminist thought and sociology, opens the discourse to challenges and applications across disciplines and outside academia, and explores the leading edges of scholarship to reveal important new directions for inquiry and activism. Charting the development of intersectionality as an intellectual and political movement, Patrick R. Grzanka brings together in one text both foundational readings and emerging classics. Original material includes: Grzanka’s nuanced introduction which provides broad context and poses guiding questions; thematic unit introductions; author biographies and suggestions for further reading to ground each excerpt; and a conclusion by Bonnie Thornton Dill reflecting on the past, present, and future of intersectionality. With its balanced mix of analytical, applied, and original content, Intersectionality is an essential component of any course on race, class, and gender, feminist theory, or social inequalities. Publishes February 2014.
Feeling Whiteness: Racism, Affect and Intersectionality
Consortium on Race, Gender & Ethnicity: Research Connections
Research report on the interdisciplinary study of White racial affect (e.g., White guilt and shame) in contemporary American culture.
Queer Youth Suicide and the Psychopolitics of "It Gets Better"
Sexualities
This article investigates a mass-mediated campaign against a perceived increase in suicides among gay (or presumed-to-be-gay) youth in the United States since September 2010. “It Gets Better” (IGB) became a rallying cry for “anti-bullying” activists, politicians, celebrities and ordinary people who created YouTube videos addressed to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth who might be considering suicide. A critical discourse analysis of a sample of IGB videos reveals a neoliberal frame that places the burden of a “better” life onto the emotional lives of LGBT youth, who are instructed to endure suffering in the interest of inevitable happiness. Drawing on Foucault and Orr’s work on the construction and management of mental illness, we use the concept of “psychopower” to explore how these IGB videos render queer youth suicide both a psychological disorder and a sociological crisis for which the only viable solution is “homonormative” subjectivity.
White Guilt: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Emergent Racism in the Contemporary United States
University of Maryland
Dissertation, defended December 2009.
Essentialism, constructionism and why I like plaid.
Gender Across Borders
Guest column for the series "Born this Way" at Gender Across Borders
Different, Like Everyone Else: "Stuff White People Like" and the Marketplace of Diversity
Symbolic Interaction
This article explores Stuff White People Like (SWPL), a popular blog that has lampooned the cultural practices of a certain kind of bourgeoisie-bohemian White person since its inception in early 2008. The overwhelmingly positive reception of the blog motivated the authors to explore the complexities of this commercial humor project in the context of the twenty-first century multicultural neoliberalism in the United States. Through analysis of both the blog entries and online audience response, they ultimately claim that SWPL is limited in its potential for antiracist cultural work because it fails to challenge the logic of neoliberalism—indeed, it operates firmly within it—and defers a radical critique of White privilege. Moreover, SWPL facilitates gleeful celebration of essentialized White idiosyncrasies by incorporating a form of White “ethnicity” in the twenty-first century neoliberal marketplace of diversity.
The Machine in the Garden of Desire
American Journal of Bioethics: Neuroscience
The machine is not invading the garden, as Leo Marx (1964/2000) famously pondered—the machine built the garden. Today, the line between technologies of sexual- ity and sexuality itself is a nostalgic fiction. Whether or not biomedical researchers should take up social constructionist perspectives on SO is another debate, but these perspectives are nonetheless necessary for a comprehensive ethical con- sideration of the consequences of SO change efforts, which always possess the capacity to dramatically affect the lives of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people whose perspectives are often elided in the debates about their sexual futures.
Making Up Allies: The Identity Choreography of Straight LGBT Activism
Sexuality Research and Social Policy
This qualitative study investigates the contemporary landscape of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) politics and activism, specifically the concept and identities of “straight allies.” Through in-depth interviews with 13 individuals who identify as straight allies, we explore how these heterosexuals engage in LGBT politics and activist cultures. We take a grounded theory approach to data analysis, through which the concept of “passive” and “active” activism emerges as a framework to understand these allies’ meaning-making practices, as well as how they negotiate the emotional, interpersonal, life-historical, and mass-mediated complexities of being straight allies when interacting with LGBT communities and engaging in pro-LGBT politics. We draw upon Thompson’s (2005) theory of ontological choreography to posit “identity choreography” as way to describe and make sense of the heterogeneous knowledges and experiences our participants use to constitute their straight ally identities and to evaluate others’ ally identities and activisms. Implications for future research on LGBT politics and straight allies, particularly in terms of education, attitude change, and activism, are discussed.
Development and Initial Validation of the Sexual Orientation Beliefs Scale (SOBS)
Journal of Counseling Psychology
The purpose of these studies was to develop and validate a measure of beliefs about sexual orientation (SO) that incorporates essentialist, social constructionist, and constructivist themes. The Sexual Orientation Beliefs Scale (SOBS) is offered as a multidimensional instrument with which to assess a broad range of beliefs about SO, which evidence suggests are highly correlated with positive and negative attitudes about sexual minorities. An initial exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted in the general population with a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender-identified (LGBT) sample (n = 323) and suggested a 4-factor structure of naturalness (α = .86), discreetness (α = .82), entitativity (α = .75), and personal and social importance (α = .68); this 4-factor structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with an independent LGBT sample (n = 330; “Form 1”). Additional EFA (n = 183) and CFA (n = 201) in a college student, mostly heterosexual-identified population suggest a slightly different factor structure, whereby group homogeneity (α = .84) and informativeness (α = .77) are salient themes (“Form 2”), and this structure was replicated across SO groups. Finally, a study of test–retest reliability in an undergraduate, mostly heterosexual-identified sample (n = 45) demonstrated strong temporal stability for the SOBS.
Intersectionality: A Foundations and Frontiers Reader
Westview Press/Perseus Books
Intersectionality: A Foundations and Frontiers Reader is an accessible, primary-source driven exploration of intersectionality in sociology and related fields. The book maps the origins of the concept, particularly in Black feminist thought and sociology, opens the discourse to challenges and applications across disciplines and outside academia, and explores the leading edges of scholarship to reveal important new directions for inquiry and activism. Charting the development of intersectionality as an intellectual and political movement, Patrick R. Grzanka brings together in one text both foundational readings and emerging classics. Original material includes: Grzanka’s nuanced introduction which provides broad context and poses guiding questions; thematic unit introductions; author biographies and suggestions for further reading to ground each excerpt; and a conclusion by Bonnie Thornton Dill reflecting on the past, present, and future of intersectionality. With its balanced mix of analytical, applied, and original content, Intersectionality is an essential component of any course on race, class, and gender, feminist theory, or social inequalities. Publishes February 2014.
Feeling Whiteness: Racism, Affect and Intersectionality
Consortium on Race, Gender & Ethnicity: Research Connections
Research report on the interdisciplinary study of White racial affect (e.g., White guilt and shame) in contemporary American culture.
Queer Youth Suicide and the Psychopolitics of "It Gets Better"
Sexualities
This article investigates a mass-mediated campaign against a perceived increase in suicides among gay (or presumed-to-be-gay) youth in the United States since September 2010. “It Gets Better” (IGB) became a rallying cry for “anti-bullying” activists, politicians, celebrities and ordinary people who created YouTube videos addressed to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) youth who might be considering suicide. A critical discourse analysis of a sample of IGB videos reveals a neoliberal frame that places the burden of a “better” life onto the emotional lives of LGBT youth, who are instructed to endure suffering in the interest of inevitable happiness. Drawing on Foucault and Orr’s work on the construction and management of mental illness, we use the concept of “psychopower” to explore how these IGB videos render queer youth suicide both a psychological disorder and a sociological crisis for which the only viable solution is “homonormative” subjectivity.
10 Rules for Being a Feminist Man
TEDWomen/TEDxBarrettHonorsCollege
TEDx lecture on men and feminism, delivered Dec 1, 2011 at Barrett Honors College, Arizona State University.
