Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Representing Autistic Masculinity: Hegemonic Gender Performances In Contemporary Autism Films, James Samuel Kizer Jan 2016

Representing Autistic Masculinity: Hegemonic Gender Performances In Contemporary Autism Films, James Samuel Kizer

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

While longstanding notions of autism have conceptualized it as medicalized disability, recent scholarship has advanced theories of autism as cultural production; in other words, autism may be better understood as a synthesis of medical science, media portrayals, and societal attitudes rather than the product of any of these arenas individually. Academic inquiry into the intersection of autism and gender, though, remains largely underdeveloped. Work has been done theorizing how autistic people understand their gender but little exists regarding how cultural apparatuses actually produce it. My study, then, addresses this gap through examining media representations of autism, specifically autistic masculinity in …


Examining Early Childhood Gender Socialization Through Children’S Picture Books, Kendra Leigh Pospisil Jan 2016

Examining Early Childhood Gender Socialization Through Children’S Picture Books, Kendra Leigh Pospisil

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This analysis examines gender representations found in children’s picture books through a symbolic interactionist perspective, employing conceptual ideas produced by West and Zimmerman (1987) and West and Fenstermaker 1995). Through a qualitative content analysis of 20 picture books from the past 15 years, I examine how gender is portrayed through both human and animal characters. I find that children’s picture books reflect our patriarchal society as they are male-centered, male-dominated, and male-identified (Johnson 2014). Children’s picture books depict patriarchal gender portrayals and provide children with examples of gender performances that satisfy patriarchal gender norms. This research has implications beyond books; …


Are They Listening?: Revisiting Male Privilege And Defensive Learning In A Feminist Classroom, Cameron A. Tyrrell Jan 2016

Are They Listening?: Revisiting Male Privilege And Defensive Learning In A Feminist Classroom, Cameron A. Tyrrell

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Privileged students, particularly male-identified students, in women’s studies classrooms have been a population of study previously. Many feminist educators have encountered resistance from a male-identified student in their classroom. Scholarship has been done that analyzes the discourses around how male privilege is invoked by men in women’s studies classrooms. This study defined defensive learning with specific acts of disengagement that hinder privileged students, particularly male-identified students in Gender and Women’s Studies, from taking classes that are considered “feminist,” and from learning about systems of privilege. A series of semi-structured interviews with six male-identified students who were enrolled in women’s studies …