Digital Commons Network^™

Counter Stories In Counterpublics: Exploring Documentary As A Form Of Activist Media To Counter Reinforced Stereotypes About The Criminalization Of Black Men, Tirrea S. Billings

Masters Theses

A story told can change the world. Storytelling has been around since the inception of human communication and has been used as a tool to educate, preserve cultural values, and make meaning of our existence. More recently, storytelling has been used in activist and social change movements. One approach to social justice storytelling is through filmmaking: creating films as a tool to disrupt, interrupt, amplify, organize, shift power and create lasting, transformative change in communities. Specifically, social justice-oriented documentary film and media can be used as a vehicle for those who are in counterpublic spaces to argue against mainstream discourses …

Sexual Coercion: The Role Of Communication And Heteronormative Beliefs, Brianna Lindley Forbis

Dissertations

Sexual assault is a pervasive issue on college campuses, with large numbers of students experiencing sexual assault during their college careers (Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 2000). Sexual assault is often perpetrated by a known offender, which has brought increased attention to forms of sexual assault that do not necessarily include violence or the direct threat of violence. Sexual coercion is one such construct that has received increased attention in the literature, with several studies finding associations between heteronormative beliefs and sexual coercion (Eaton & Matamala 2014; Haworth- Hoeppner, 1998; Vanwesenbeek, 1998). Aims of the current study included further exploring the …

Confidential Publics: Digital Reconciliation And Queer Muslim Identities, Mariam Mustafa

Masters Theses

In this paper, I trouble constructions of community through exploring temporal spatial configurations of support for queer-identified Muslims living in America. I assert that when community is not something one can physically access, use of the internet to create temporary spaces of community is critical in assessing identity reconciliation between intersectional conflicting identity. As it relates to queer Muslims, where there is a distinct lack of public community, the level of crisis some individuals face is explored through their use of online vehicles to establish social support systems that would otherwise not be available. My paper provides a framework in …

Cultivation In An On-Demand Era: Television Consumption, Explicit And Implicit Attitudes Toward Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Individuals, Jasmine M. Labine

Masters Theses

Past research in media effects suggests that the media we consume influences our daily lives. More specifically, Cultivation Theory suggests that television collectively contributes to our worldviews. In this study, cultivation was applied at both macro- and micro-levels. Macrolevel cultivation, or traditional cultivation, involves analysis of television as a collective medium and the way that it affects attitudes. Micro-level cultivation refers to the idea that certain types of programs influence specific attitudes.

Attitudes toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals were analyzed in relation to a number of variables. Few statistically significant results were found relating demographics and general television …

The Role Of Sexual Self-Disclosure In Partner Relational Satisfaction And Uncertainty, Riley Richards

Masters Theses

Sexual communication and sexual self-disclosure (SSD) are often viewed as taboo and uncomfortable when discussed between sexual partners. Prior research has demonstrated a strong connection between SSD and other relational factors in current dating and married partners. To that end, this study uses an Actor-Partner Independence Model (APIM) with current cross-sex sexual and romantic partners to understand how emergent adults experience SSD and the role it plays in their relational satisfaction and uncertainty. Social Penetration Theory (Altman & Taylor, 1973) undergirds this study as a theoretical foundation in fleshing out the ways emergent adults self-disclose about their sexual lives to …

Of Tribes, Wars, And Jungles: A Study Of U.S.College Students’ Perceptions Of Africa And Africans, Seseer P. Mou

Masters Theses

This study examined American college students’ perceptions of Africans. Knowledge Gap and Systems Theory were applied to creating and discussing the research questions. Systems Theory addresses processes and levels of information transfer (Westley & Maclean, 1965). It requires an understanding of the sources, channels, messages, and the people who receive information in a communication encounter. Knowledge Gap Theory, on the other hand, states that when information circulates in a system, gaps in knowledge are formed and these gaps increase as more information enters the system (Tichenor, Donohue, & Olien, 1970). The results showed that consumption of radio and newspaper news, …

"Make Over Your Body": Conflicting Messages In Women's Fitness Magazines, Joy Zoodsma

Masters Theses

SHAPE Magazine is a women's fitness magazine that has been consistently popular since its initial publication in 1981. This study explores how the messages of health and beauty in this publication have evolved over the last three decades, especially in response to the cultural imperatives of consumerism and feminism. It critically analyzes the visual and textual messages on SHAPE Magazine covers and in letters from the editor, which offer important examples of the ways in which SHAPE attempts to “hail” readers – to draw them in, to convince them that what the magazine has to offer is relevant to their …

I'M The Same Me: Communication And Renegotiation Of Identity In The Weight-Loss Surgery Experiences Of Women, Heather D. Schild

Masters Theses

Adult obesity rates are on the rise in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control (2009) which has led to an increase in obesity-related illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease. Weight-loss surgery (WLS) has become accepted as a "cure" for obesity by the medical community. There has been a dramatic increase in the number of obese individuals electing to undergo WLS every year; 82% of these individuals are women (AHRQ, 2007). More women may be electing to undergo these procedures than men due to the pressures women face in American culture to achieve social standards of …

Sweetness And Strength: Codes Of Femininity And Body Image In Branded Social-Networking Messages And Consumer Responses, Anne M. Holcomb

Masters Theses

This study critically analyzes visual and text updates posted by two clothing brands to the social-networking site Facebook.com, including consumers' interaction with these marketing messages. A semiological textual analysis was conducted using Facebook updates by the Victoria's Secret PINK and Nike Women apparel brands, and the responses of fans who subscribed to these updates. Advertising aimed at women in print media has previously been analyzed in this way, revealing patterns of sexualization and objectification that can be harmful to women and men alike. My analysis builds on this tradition. Social-networking sites such as Facebook allow individual users unprecedented access to …

Intersections Of Race, Identity, And Co-Cultural Practices: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of A 'White Black Woman', Tammy Lynn Jeffries

Masters Theses

Notes of a White Black Woman by Judy Scales-Trent (1995) was the text used for this analysis and offered insight to the process of identity development, and the co-cultural communication practices of an African American woman whom others mistake as European American-a 'White Black Woman.' The basis for this body of research was embedded in the premise that co-cultural communication practices are intrinsically linked to the normal communication of the White Black person's identity development negotiation process. The initial exploration of this study began with explaining Kich's (1992) bi-racial identity model from a mono-racial perspective allowing for new interpretations of …

An African American Cultural Critique Of Weight, Race, Gender And Class Using A Semiotic Analysis Of Queen Latifah’ S Film Roles, Angela Denise Prater

Masters Theses

This project examined the interconnectedness of race, gender, class and the physical body as interrelated marginalization factors in media representations. Using the feminist body image literature, critical/cultural theory and Black feminist thought this study examined the significance of weight as a marginalization variable interdependent with race, gender and class. The motion picture character portrayals of the iconic figure Queen Latifah are subjected to a semiotics analysis, a traditional method in critical cultural studies to examine media representations. This analysis is informed by the cultural standpoint of the author as an overweight African American female. This study revealed that Queen Latifah's …

Dialectics In Mother-Child Relationships Among First-Generation Asian Indian Women In The United States, Chitra Akkoor

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of Asian Indian immigrant women raising children in the U.S. as value contradictions between Asian Indian culture and U.S. culture. Relational dialectics in parent-child relationships among Asian Indian immigrant women and their children was also explored using the dialectcial perspective. Participants for the study were 20 Asian Indian women chosen randomly from the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek (MI) AI community who participated in one-one-interviews. Results of the study showed that participants experienced value contradictions in child-rearing. All four contradictions addressed in research on relational dialectics were also discovered in the context of …

Involvement Of Females As Authors, Editors, And Participants In Journals Concerned With Mental Retardation And Related Topics, Cari L. Porter

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Perceived Importance Of Selected Nonverbal Cues In An Initial Encounter, Loretta L. Richter

Masters Theses

This study attempts to identify nonverbal cues which individuals are aware of using in an initial encounter and to identify the importance of those cues. It also a d dresses possible differences between men and women in nonverbal cue importance and possible differences based on the sex of the participant’s partner. Sixty-two male and female undergraduate students enrolled in communication courses interacted with a stranger and completed questionnaires which pertained to their partner's nonverbal behaviors. Results showed that the most important nonverbal cue for all participants was the amount of eye contact; the least important was body shape. Cues found …

An Investigation Of The Instructional Communicator Style Expectations Of Nontraditional And Traditional Male And Female Undergraduate Students, Chryl Irvine Snyder

Masters Theses

Increasing numbers of nontraditional students, many of them women, are enrolling in college and university classes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the instructional communicator style expectations of nontraditional and traditional male and female undergraduate students. Students were asked to rate their own preferences on a variety of items designed to reflect instructional communicator styles. The researcher looked for differences in student expectations of their "ideal teachers" based on age and sex.

Nontraditional students rated the precise style of instructional communication higher than the traditional students who gave higher ratings to the friendly, open, dominant, and contentious styles. …