Sexualities, Ahead of Print.

Current Sociology, Ahead of Print.
This article explores women’s temporal experiences of using Assisted Reproductive Technology. The demand for such treatment has increased since the first in vitro fertilisation birth. Assisted Reproductive Technology involves invasive procedures in women’s bodies, uncertain outcomes and temporal challenges. A sample of 11 professional women was drawn from a larger sample recruited for interviews from online infertility forums. Analysis was carried out using a biographical life course approach to draw out the temporal elements of experiences. Four themes were identified: biographical timing and temporalities of fertility treatment; biographical timing and a/synchronicity with friends; temporalities of everyday life when using Assisted Reproductive Technology; and ‘public issue’ or ‘private trouble’ in relation to silences around Assisted Reproductive Technology. Undergoing Assisted Reproductive Technology treatment sets these women apart from friends who conceive without treatment, and they faced challenges for the rhythms of everyday life during this period. Using Assisted Reproductive Technology highlighted public taboos about women’s bodies. Thus for many, this critical phase had to be kept secret. Understanding women’s temporal experiences of using Assisted Reproductive Technology and the challenges involved are important for developing context sensitive theories and concepts that can contribute to deeper insight into the intersecting temporalities of reproductive processes in general and using Assisted Reproductive Technology in particular.

Sexualities, Ahead of Print.

Sexualities, Ahead of Print.
Sexualities scholars have developed the idea of erotic capital, that is the characteristics that make someone sexually desirable in specific contexts. While much of the literature focuses on those who either possess or lack erotic capital, and how erotic capital manifests within sexual and dating situations, few studies pursue what happens after erotic capital is used to attract a partner or how individuals feel about others’ interpretations of their erotic capital. Therefore, we advance the literature by developing the concept “erotic dividends,” which we conceptualize as the yield or outcome generated from erotic capital. By exploring erotic dividends, we highlight the importance of recognizing that erotic capital is highly situational/dependent and we complicate assumptions that erotic capital routinely engenders beneficial sexual experiences. To explore erotic dividends, we draw on in-depth interview research on the development of sexual selves with samples of straight-identifying U.S. men and women in their 20s–60s conducted with straight men and women in the United States. We suggest that while some might possess erotic capital, this does not automatically guarantee they will produce benefits, and may ultimately reinforce broader structural inequalities, particularly those related to gender and race. Overall, we argue that the concept of erotic dividends helps to clarify how power, desirability, and inequalities operate within sexual situations.

Current Sociology, Ahead of Print.
This article asks why some memories of the Stalinist Gulag are shared while others are not. Considering remembering as a social act, we argue that who engages in acts of remembering, to whom, when and how helps explain what is remembered. The article draws on family memories shared by participants of 16 focus groups in four research sites in Russia. We find that mnemonic actors – most often grandmothers – remember victimhood in veiled ways, structured by life-scripts that focus on the positive: they couch the bad in the good of the Soviet past, particularly focusing on evasive action and near misses which highlight the stoicism and cunning of family members who narrowly avoided repression. We suppose these narratives emerge in families and are shared within the focus groups due to perceived social appropriateness. The study adds to the literature on entangled memory and argues for the use of focus groups as a method for exploring the social patterning of remembering.

Current Sociology, Ahead of Print.
This study addresses the significant gap in the entrepreneurship literature concerning the experiences of sexual minority groups, particularly Taiwanese lesbian entrepreneurs. The prevailing focus on heterosexual men has overshadowed the distinct motivations and dynamics in queer entrepreneurship. Drawing on Zelizer’s concept of relational work and incorporating feminist perspectives, this investigation explores how Taiwanese lesbian couples engage in entrepreneurial pursuits in unique local gender culture. Taiwan’s gender cultural context, mainly shaped by Confucianism and Taoism, contributes to the relative acceptance of lesbian relationships and marriages, reducing social criticism. By skillfully utilizing the cultural repertoire of filial piety, lesbian entrepreneurs strengthen their bonds with parents, facilitating both their business endeavors and intimate relationships. In addition, lesbian entrepreneurship is often overlooked and subsumed under gay entrepreneurship, leading to the assumption of ‘gay ordinariness’. The study highlights a significant difference between Taiwanese lesbian entrepreneurs and gay counterparts; the former perform intimate relational work and prioritize emotional ties in entrepreneurial pursuits, while the latter emphasize rational economic outlook. The findings underscore that entrepreneurial motivations are multifaceted, encompassing liberation, empowerment, family bonding, and self-identity construction. Taiwanese lesbian entrepreneurs exemplify the importance of intimate relational work, challenging the dominant masculine economic orientation in entrepreneurship. This research contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of queer entrepreneurship and calls for greater recognition of diverse motivations and dynamics in entrepreneurial pursuits.

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