| This dissertation focuses on the life experiences of gay men who grew up in rural areas in the American Midwest and in France. It looks at how the intersection of gender, sexuality, and rurality produces specific subjectivities and real life experiences among rural gay men. Also this dissertation questions the persistence of a rural culture in two postindustrial societies and its potential influence on gay men's life chance and sexual identity.;Because the main goal of this research is to understand gay men's experience from their own view point, life story interviews were chosen to collect data in France and in the American Midwest. A grounded theory approach was used to generate the data.;Results show that (1) rural gay men's life experience is not homogeneous but diversified, and that (2) a complex a rural culture is still persistent both in France and in the US, but with differences between and within countries, therefore emphasizing the importance of place/location in gay men's lives. |
