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“I’M SORRY TO HAVE TO ASK YOU THIS…” HETEROSEXISM AND INSTITUTIONALIZED HOMOPHOBIA IN TISSUE DONATION

Flatt, Michael
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1438720432

Abstract Details

2015, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Sociology.
Homosexuality has long been viewed as a deviant identity, replete with the social stigmatization that comes along with such an identity. This dissertation traces the sociology of homosexuality and its treatment under the medical gaze in order to demonstrate the ways in which the legacy of pathology and association with disease is manifested in contemporary policies and procedures of tissue donation within the United States. Specifically, this dissertation asks whether there are subtle ways in which homophobia survives in the policies and practice of tissue donation in spite of putative efforts to neutralize it. These analyses are conducted to address a gap in the knowledge of the manner in which heterosexist assumptions and homophobic stereotypes are disseminated indirectly through institutionalized health policies. This project uses two sources of data: federal policy documents on blood, and audio recordings of tissue requests collected from ten Tissue Procurement Organizations. Using content analysis and critical discourse analysis, this study presents evidence to show that under the guise of value-freedom, these guidelines reinforce heterosexist assumptions providing an unintentional rationale for homophobic beliefs, behaviors and policies within medicine. This categorization and subsequent discrimination against men who have sex with men offers evidence for the ways in which the institution of medicine continues to treat based on dangerous stereotypes and statistically unsound presumptions. Tissue donation x policies offer a case study through which to better understand the enduring, embattled relationship that homosexuals have had with medical professionals, and illustrate that institutionalized homophobia remains entrenched despite several decades of political, medical and social progress. This research examines the social effects of current policy, testing the hypothesis that it results in the creation, maintenance and reproduction of heterosexist assumptions and institutionalized homophobia within the medical field.
Brian Gran (Committee Chair)
Todd Oakley (Advisor)
Dale Dannefer (Advisor)
Susan Hinze (Advisor)
278 p.
Sociology
Homophobia; Heterosexism; Medical Policy; Institutionalized homophobia; Medical sociology; Organ donation; Tissue donation; FDA policy

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Flatt, M. (2015). “I’M SORRY TO HAVE TO ASK YOU THIS…” HETEROSEXISM AND INSTITUTIONALIZED HOMOPHOBIA IN TISSUE DONATION [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1438720432

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Flatt, Michael. “I’M SORRY TO HAVE TO ASK YOU THIS…” HETEROSEXISM AND INSTITUTIONALIZED HOMOPHOBIA IN TISSUE DONATION. 2015. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1438720432.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Flatt, Michael. "“I’M SORRY TO HAVE TO ASK YOU THIS…” HETEROSEXISM AND INSTITUTIONALIZED HOMOPHOBIA IN TISSUE DONATION." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1438720432

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

case1438720432
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© 2015, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License “I’M SORRY TO HAVE TO ASK YOU THIS…” HETEROSEXISM AND INSTITUTIONALIZED HOMOPHOBIA IN TISSUE DONATION by Michael Flatt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies and OhioLINK.