Shades of digital deception: Self-presentation among men seeking men on locative dating apps.

In recent years, location-based real-time dating apps like Grindr and Tinder have assumed an increasingly pivotal role in brokering socio-sexual relations between men seeking men and have proven to be fertile ground for the study of identity negotiation and impression management. However, current research has given insufficient consideration to how various contextual elements of technology use interact with one another to shape self-presentation behaviour. Through analysis of interview data, we found impression construction on these apps reflects tensions between authentic depiction of the self-concept and self-enhancement via deception. Whether and the extent to which one engages in deception depends on how a number of technological affordances, platform-specific community norms and userbase characteristics interact with each other. Self-presentational choices were a result of a combination of deception facilitators, for example, belief in the normalcy of lying, and constraining determinants, for example, the expectation of brokering physical connection. Impression construction determinants also interact in ways where the influence of any one element is dependent on others. This was most plainly evidenced in the interactions between stigma management concerns, the affordances of audience visibility/control and locatability and common ground reinforcing social hierarchy.

Building community, one swipe at a time: hook-up apps and the production of intimate publics between women.

Hook-up apps are an increasingly popular way for women to meet other people for sex, dating, relationships, and more. As a mundane and habitual form of media, the multiple uses of hook-up apps allow for the production of intimacy in surprising and complex ways. This paper draws on narrative interviews with 15 self-identifying women to explore how dating and hook-up apps help produce 'intimate publics' for women. The field of intimate publics available to women users of hook-up apps is broader than those afforded by in-app interactions; there is an entire network of intimacy, sociality, and publicity that forms around hook-up apps. Our findings show that while both queer and straight women use hook-up apps to find sex, hook-ups, dates, and relationships, they are also central to building community, friendship, and sociality between women.

The "patient patient": the trauma of waiting and the power of resistance for people living with cancer.

In Canada's health care system today, cancer patients are expected to endure long, often painful wait times. In this study we explored whether Gilda's Club (an organization that supports people affected by cancer) might increase opportunities to resist the role of the "patient patient," consequently providing a better understanding of how cancer patients cope with the long wait times in Canada's time-crunched health care system. The research presented here provides examples of the painful waiting experience for cancer patients. Yet, this research also provides examples of patients refusing to be patient. We argue that organizations like Gilda's Club can provide a space that facilitates resistance and allows patients to become more informed and more participatory in decision-making processes. We conclude that these findings reflect a gap in cancer care in Canada that might be addressed through integrating organizations like Gilda's Club into standard medical practice for cancer patients.

A third place in the everyday lives of people living with cancer: functions of Gilda's Club of Greater Toronto.

The purpose of this paper was to examine the therapeutic functions of Gilda's Club of Greater Toronto in the everyday lives of people living with cancer. Gilda's Club is a non-institutional setting, where people living with cancer join together to build physical, social, and emotional support as a supplement to medical care. Findings reveal members regarded Gilda's Club as an escape from the stressors of home and hospital, a place where they could meet others living with cancer, and a social environment in which they could confront or distance themselves from their health problems. The paper demonstrates the significance of "third places" for health and calls on researchers to afford such places greater attention.

"We wanted a birth experience, not a medical experience": exploring Canadian women's use of midwifery.

In this study I explore Canadian women's use of midwifery to examine whether their choice represents a resistance to the medicalization of pregnancy/childbirth. Through my analysis of the data I identified eight ways the women's deliberate decision to pursue midwifery care represented resistance to medicalization. In so doing, I demonstrate how women actively assert their agency over reproduction thus shaping their own reproductive health experiences. The outcome of their resistance and resultant use of midwifery was empowerment. Theoretically the research contributes to understanding the intentionality of resistance and a continuum of resistant behavior.

The contribution of dragon boat racing to women's health and breast cancer survivorship.

Survivorship is one of the least studied and thus least understood aspects of a breast cancer experience. Defined as a life-long, dynamic process, survivorship begins when people have completed medical treatment for breast cancer, yet live with the memories of their treatment and the possibility of a cancer reoccurrence. The numbers of women surviving breast cancer are growing, which means research on survivorship is imperative. In this article, I examine dragon boat racing (DBR) for breast cancer survivors. DBR has been adapted to a woman-centered, community-based leisure pursuit focused on life after medical treatment for breast cancer. Active interviews with 11 participants revealed that DBR contributes to women's social, emotional, physical, spiritual, and mental health. In turn, feeling healthy in these five dimensions enhanced the women's survivorship of breast cancer. The findings demonstrate the roles of leisure in the health and well-being of women who are breast cancer survivors.