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Decoding Literary Aids: A Study On Issues Of The Body, Masculinity, And Self Identity In U.S. Aids Literature From 1984-2011, Alexander Shimon Abrams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rather than waiting decades to respond, novelists of nearly every literary genre began conceptualizing the AIDS epidemic shortly after the first documented case of the virus in the United States in 1981. Writers, feeling a sense of urgency, wasted little time constructing didactic texts that differ from much historical fiction in that they were written as the tragedy they are commenting on occurred. However, AIDS literature has changed as the disease has spread well beyond the gay communities of San Francisco and New York, causing people to reexamine their longstanding beliefs on masculinity, sexuality, and body politics.

My Master's thesis …

And Baby Makes Three: A Content Analysis Of Adolescent Romantic Relationships As Portrayed On Reality Television, Erin Shealy

All Theses

Although teenage pregnancy and birth rates have been on the decline, the United States still has rates higher than any industrialized country. With several negative consequences associated with teenage childbearing for teen mothers and their children as well as for society, teen pregnancy is a social problem. Much of the existing literature focuses on the deleterious effects of pregnancy on teen mothers, but very few studies consider the effect that the transition to parenthood has on adolescent romantic relationships. The present study seeks to fill this gap by analyzing the content of popular television series, namely 16 and Pregnant and …

Comic Book Fandom And Stigma Consciousness, Dennis R. Gagliardo

Masters Theses

This research project explores the concept of stigma consciousness as applied to the subculture of comic book fandom. Integrating the disciplines of social psychology and cultural studies, this study examines the dynamic and socially constructed nature of the stigma process as applied to the specific cultural form of the American comic book, while identifying and measuring several variables of potential influence on perceptions of the hierarchy of American cultural values. The purpose is to address an existing gap in the academic literature of fan studies in regards to the marginalization and stigmatization of fan cultures as experienced by the members …

How Modern Family And Parenthood Represent Equal Parenting: A Feminist Discourse, Samantha B. Coffin

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Within recent discourses about parenting, the concept of equal parenting and fathering is a prominent theme. I have chosen two popular television shows that portray families to see if they represent ideas about equal parenting. I have identified three prominent themes that researchers agree comprise equal parenting: parents' equal power in decision-making, fathers challenging masculine gender expectations by actively nurturing children, and fathers sharing household duties. The findings of this thesis conclude that the television shows Parenthood and Modern Family are contradictory in their representations of equal parenting themes. Parenthood has strong examples of equal parenting, but remains more conservative …