Aoife Neary
Biographic Data
| ID | 658623 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Aoife Neary |
| GIVEN NAMES | Aoife |
| FAMILY NAME | Neary |
| SIGNATURE | NEARY A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Limerick |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1196-6487 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 73 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 16 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Daring to be ordinary: The potential of ‘ordinariness’ for LGBTQ+ lives in schools
In recent times, many contexts have seen an increase in de-humanizing discourses related to LGBTQ+ lives, spilling over into primary schools. This paper explores how families with LGBTQ+ children (Aged 10–13), and families with LGBTQ+ parents/guardians are navigating primary schools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2022/2023 with 21 families as part of a larger mixed-methods study entitled Belong To Primary. A thematic analysis yield…
Interrogating the promise of ‘inclusivity’ for LGBTQ+ lives in primary schools
Intersections of age and agency as trans and gender diverse children navigate primary school: Listening to children in (re)considering the potential of sexuality education
The adult-centric concept of ‘age-appropriateness’ is an arbitrary signifier and yet it commands a powerful common-sense appeal in governing the shape of sexuality education. The visibility of LGBTQ+ lives in primary schools is deeply impacted by the cis-heteronormative ways in which age-appropriateness is commonly understood and mobilised; very often resulting in silence and delay. The concept of age-appropriateness also becomes entangled with m…
Up Schitt’s Creek ? Comedy as a Slantwise Pedagogical Encounter with Queerness
Background: Pedagogical approaches to learning about LGBTQI+ themes and experiences remain a largely understudied topic in teacher education. This is partly due to anxieties around exploring these themes in nuanced and sensitive ways, with many teacher educators feeling ill-equipped to navigate the complexities of exploring so-called “difficult knowledge.” Purpose: In response to this, the purpose of this paper is to offer reflections on the peda…
Preparing to research LGBTQI+ lives with children: An imaginary conversation with Kathleen Quinlivan about failure, art and hope
At this juncture, I find myself orientating towards the unruliness of doing arts-based praxis-oriented research with primary school-aged children (aged 5–12) on the topic of LGBTQI+ lives. As I prepare for what feel like disruptive research directions that will chart what many still consider to be forbidden territory with children, I attempt to connect with, remember and think with Kathleen Quinlivan. In a sense, this article is an imaginary conv…
Laughing ourselves out of the closet’: Comedy as a queer pedagogical form
This paper explores comedy as a queer pedagogical form that subverts problematic representational tropes of queerness pervading mainstream depictions of queer experience. Articulating ‘form’ less as a fixed arrangement of characters, images, objects, and ideas, and more as a kind of formation that positions these in dynamic relation to the wider context in which comedies are encountered, we mobilise the idea of queer pedagogical forms to capture …
Beyond inclusion: Trans and gender diverse young people’s experiences of PE and school sport
There is a dearth of research with LGBTQI+ youth in PE and school sport, with particularly deep silences in relation to trans youth. Drawing from a qualitative study with trans and gender diverse youth in second-level schools in Ireland, this paper explores how trans and gender diverse young people are negotiating PE and school sport. A total of nineteen trans and gender diverse young people participated in this study; thirteen young people parti…
Trans children and the necessity to complicate gender in primary schools
The full text of this article will not be available in ULIR until the embargo expires on the 09/08/2022
Trans and gender diverse youth resisting cisnormativity in school
In this article, we demonstrate how the theory of vulnerability-in-resistance is manifest in the school experiences of trans youth in Ireland. Despite rapidly changing cultural attitudes towards gender and sexuality diversity and increasing visibility of LGBTI+ youth, we show that trans youth in Ireland continue to be vulnerable to marginalisation, discrimination, and violence within school settings because of institutionalised cisnormativity. We…
Marriage Equality Time: Entanglements of sexual progress and childhood innocence in Irish primary schools
Ireland is a majority-Catholic country that has, in recent times, been held up as a model of sexual progress internationally. We employ the term Marriage Equality Time (MET) to signify the tensions related to temporality, sexuality and children that emerged as Marriage Equality (ME) was introduced in Ireland. Drawing on a study with six primary schools during the ME referendum, this article captures MET in its emergent state, exploring how parent…
Complicating constructions: Middle-class parents of transgender and gender-diverse children
Recent years have seen an increase in the visibility of transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) children in the public sphere. Jack Halberstam [(2018). Trans: A Quick and Quirky Account of Gender Variability (Vol. 3). University of California Press] is very critical of middle-class parents of TGD children, arguing that much of their activism is based on a normalizing model of individual rights as opposed to a more transformative activism that might …
New trans* visibilities: Working the limits and possibilities of gender at school
In many contexts, there has been a rapid increase in the visibility of trans* lives in the public sphere. Much educational research has focused on how to make life better for trans* children and young people in schools. This paper moves sideways from this concern to explore how public discourses around trans* lives and the individual labour of bodies are changing the shape of gender in schools and society. Ireland offers an insightful site for th…
Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual teachers' negotiations of civil partnership and schools: Ambivalent Attachments to Religion and Secularism
As legal structures for same-sex relationships are introduced in many contexts, the politics of sexuality are negotiated along religious/secular lines. Religious and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBT-Q) rights are pitted against one another such that LGBT-Q lives often assumed to be secular. Schools are crucibles of intermingling religious, secular and equality discourses and this complexity is carefully negotiated by LGBT-Q teache…
Civil Partnership and marriage: LGBT-Q political pragmatism and the normalization imperative
The last decade has seen significant change in LGBT-Q politics in many (neo)liberal democracies. In Ireland, Civil Partnership (CP) was signed into law in 2010. While LGBT-Q advocacy groups had been divided over the terms of CP, they presented a united front in favour of marriage and in May 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to vote in favour of same-sex marriage in a constitutional referendum. This article begins from a personal…
A queer politics of emotion: Reimagining sexualities and schooling
This paper draws together [Hochschild's (1979) Emotion Work, Feeling Rules and Social Structure.” American Journal of Sociology 85: 551–575; (1983) The Managed Heart: Commercialisation of Human Feeling. London: University of California Press] concepts of emotional labour and feeling rules with Ahmed's affective economies [(2004a) The Cultural Politics of Emotion. New York: Routledge; (2004b) “Affective Economies.” Social Text 22 (2): 117–139; (20…
Lesbian and gay teachers’ experiences of ‘coming out’ in Irish schools
Lesbian, gay and bisexual teachers have struggled with managing their sexual identities in contexts where heteronormative policing has resulted in deep silences and misrepresentation. However, many teachers have tried to counter this by ‘coming out’ or engaging with a process of disclosure. This paper draws on qualitative research with eight self-identified lesbian and gay teachers in primary and second-level schools in Ireland. Findings suggest …
Trans and gender diverse youth resisting cisnormativity in school
In this article, we demonstrate how the theory of vulnerability-in-resistance is manifest in the school experiences of trans youth in Ireland. Despite rapidly changing cultural attitudes towards gender and sexuality diversity and increasing visibility of LGBTI+ youth, we show that trans youth in Ireland continue to be vulnerable to marginalisation, discrimination, and violence within school settings because of institutionalised cisnormativity. We…
Lesbian and gay teachers’ experiences of ‘coming out’ in Irish schools
Lesbian, gay and bisexual teachers have struggled with managing their sexual identities in contexts where heteronormative policing has resulted in deep silences and misrepresentation. However, many teachers have tried to counter this by ‘coming out’ or engaging with a process of disclosure. This paper draws on qualitative research with eight self-identified lesbian and gay teachers in primary and second-level schools in Ireland. Findings suggest …
Beyond inclusion: Trans and gender diverse young people’s experiences of PE and school sport
There is a dearth of research with LGBTQI+ youth in PE and school sport, with particularly deep silences in relation to trans youth. Drawing from a qualitative study with trans and gender diverse youth in second-level schools in Ireland, this paper explores how trans and gender diverse young people are negotiating PE and school sport. A total of nineteen trans and gender diverse young people participated in this study; thirteen young people parti…
Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual teachers' negotiations of civil partnership and schools: Ambivalent Attachments to Religion and Secularism
As legal structures for same-sex relationships are introduced in many contexts, the politics of sexuality are negotiated along religious/secular lines. Religious and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBT-Q) rights are pitted against one another such that LGBT-Q lives often assumed to be secular. Schools are crucibles of intermingling religious, secular and equality discourses and this complexity is carefully negotiated by LGBT-Q teache…
Trans children and the necessity to complicate gender in primary schools
The full text of this article will not be available in ULIR until the embargo expires on the 09/08/2022
Complicating constructions: Middle-class parents of transgender and gender-diverse children
Recent years have seen an increase in the visibility of transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) children in the public sphere. Jack Halberstam [(2018). Trans: A Quick and Quirky Account of Gender Variability (Vol. 3). University of California Press] is very critical of middle-class parents of TGD children, arguing that much of their activism is based on a normalizing model of individual rights as opposed to a more transformative activism that might …
A queer politics of emotion: Reimagining sexualities and schooling
This paper draws together [Hochschild's (1979) Emotion Work, Feeling Rules and Social Structure.” American Journal of Sociology 85: 551–575; (1983) The Managed Heart: Commercialisation of Human Feeling. London: University of California Press] concepts of emotional labour and feeling rules with Ahmed's affective economies [(2004a) The Cultural Politics of Emotion. New York: Routledge; (2004b) “Affective Economies.” Social Text 22 (2): 117–139; (20…
Lesbian and gay teachers’ experiences of ‘coming out’ in Irish schools
Lesbian, gay and bisexual teachers have struggled with managing their sexual identities in contexts where heteronormative policing has resulted in deep silences and misrepresentation. However, many teachers have tried to counter this by ‘coming out’ or engaging with a process of disclosure. This paper draws on qualitative research with eight self-identified lesbian and gay teachers in primary and second-level schools in Ireland. Findings suggest …
A queer politics of emotion: Reimagining sexualities and schooling
This paper draws together [Hochschild's (1979) Emotion Work, Feeling Rules and Social Structure.” American Journal of Sociology 85: 551–575; (1983) The Managed Heart: Commercialisation of Human Feeling. London: University of California Press] concepts of emotional labour and feeling rules with Ahmed's affective economies [(2004a) The Cultural Politics of Emotion. New York: Routledge; (2004b) “Affective Economies.” Social Text 22 (2): 117–139; (20…
Civil Partnership and marriage: LGBT-Q political pragmatism and the normalization imperative
The last decade has seen significant change in LGBT-Q politics in many (neo)liberal democracies. In Ireland, Civil Partnership (CP) was signed into law in 2010. While LGBT-Q advocacy groups had been divided over the terms of CP, they presented a united front in favour of marriage and in May 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to vote in favour of same-sex marriage in a constitutional referendum. This article begins from a personal…
New trans* visibilities: Working the limits and possibilities of gender at school
In many contexts, there has been a rapid increase in the visibility of trans* lives in the public sphere. Much educational research has focused on how to make life better for trans* children and young people in schools. This paper moves sideways from this concern to explore how public discourses around trans* lives and the individual labour of bodies are changing the shape of gender in schools and society. Ireland offers an insightful site for th…
Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual teachers' negotiations of civil partnership and schools: Ambivalent Attachments to Religion and Secularism
As legal structures for same-sex relationships are introduced in many contexts, the politics of sexuality are negotiated along religious/secular lines. Religious and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBT-Q) rights are pitted against one another such that LGBT-Q lives often assumed to be secular. Schools are crucibles of intermingling religious, secular and equality discourses and this complexity is carefully negotiated by LGBT-Q teache…
Marriage Equality Time: Entanglements of sexual progress and childhood innocence in Irish primary schools
Ireland is a majority-Catholic country that has, in recent times, been held up as a model of sexual progress internationally. We employ the term Marriage Equality Time (MET) to signify the tensions related to temporality, sexuality and children that emerged as Marriage Equality (ME) was introduced in Ireland. Drawing on a study with six primary schools during the ME referendum, this article captures MET in its emergent state, exploring how parent…
Complicating constructions: Middle-class parents of transgender and gender-diverse children
Recent years have seen an increase in the visibility of transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) children in the public sphere. Jack Halberstam [(2018). Trans: A Quick and Quirky Account of Gender Variability (Vol. 3). University of California Press] is very critical of middle-class parents of TGD children, arguing that much of their activism is based on a normalizing model of individual rights as opposed to a more transformative activism that might …
Beyond inclusion: Trans and gender diverse young people’s experiences of PE and school sport
There is a dearth of research with LGBTQI+ youth in PE and school sport, with particularly deep silences in relation to trans youth. Drawing from a qualitative study with trans and gender diverse youth in second-level schools in Ireland, this paper explores how trans and gender diverse young people are negotiating PE and school sport. A total of nineteen trans and gender diverse young people participated in this study; thirteen young people parti…
Trans children and the necessity to complicate gender in primary schools
The full text of this article will not be available in ULIR until the embargo expires on the 09/08/2022
Trans and gender diverse youth resisting cisnormativity in school
In this article, we demonstrate how the theory of vulnerability-in-resistance is manifest in the school experiences of trans youth in Ireland. Despite rapidly changing cultural attitudes towards gender and sexuality diversity and increasing visibility of LGBTI+ youth, we show that trans youth in Ireland continue to be vulnerable to marginalisation, discrimination, and violence within school settings because of institutionalised cisnormativity. We…
Up Schitt’s Creek ? Comedy as a Slantwise Pedagogical Encounter with Queerness
Background: Pedagogical approaches to learning about LGBTQI+ themes and experiences remain a largely understudied topic in teacher education. This is partly due to anxieties around exploring these themes in nuanced and sensitive ways, with many teacher educators feeling ill-equipped to navigate the complexities of exploring so-called “difficult knowledge.” Purpose: In response to this, the purpose of this paper is to offer reflections on the peda…
Preparing to research LGBTQI+ lives with children: An imaginary conversation with Kathleen Quinlivan about failure, art and hope
At this juncture, I find myself orientating towards the unruliness of doing arts-based praxis-oriented research with primary school-aged children (aged 5–12) on the topic of LGBTQI+ lives. As I prepare for what feel like disruptive research directions that will chart what many still consider to be forbidden territory with children, I attempt to connect with, remember and think with Kathleen Quinlivan. In a sense, this article is an imaginary conv…
Laughing ourselves out of the closet’: Comedy as a queer pedagogical form
This paper explores comedy as a queer pedagogical form that subverts problematic representational tropes of queerness pervading mainstream depictions of queer experience. Articulating ‘form’ less as a fixed arrangement of characters, images, objects, and ideas, and more as a kind of formation that positions these in dynamic relation to the wider context in which comedies are encountered, we mobilise the idea of queer pedagogical forms to capture …
Intersections of age and agency as trans and gender diverse children navigate primary school: Listening to children in (re)considering the potential of sexuality education
The adult-centric concept of ‘age-appropriateness’ is an arbitrary signifier and yet it commands a powerful common-sense appeal in governing the shape of sexuality education. The visibility of LGBTQ+ lives in primary schools is deeply impacted by the cis-heteronormative ways in which age-appropriateness is commonly understood and mobilised; very often resulting in silence and delay. The concept of age-appropriateness also becomes entangled with m…
Interrogating the promise of ‘inclusivity’ for LGBTQ+ lives in primary schools
Daring to be ordinary: The potential of ‘ordinariness’ for LGBTQ+ lives in schools
In recent times, many contexts have seen an increase in de-humanizing discourses related to LGBTQ+ lives, spilling over into primary schools. This paper explores how families with LGBTQ+ children (Aged 10–13), and families with LGBTQ+ parents/guardians are navigating primary schools. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in 2022/2023 with 21 families as part of a larger mixed-methods study entitled Belong To Primary. A thematic analysis yield…
Sociology (15 works) · Gender Studies (14 works) · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy (10 works) · Gender Roles and Identity Studies (9 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Gender Studies (8 works) · Political science (7 works) · Gender, Feminism, and Media (6 works) · Human sexuality (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works)