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Feminist Perspectives On Liberation And Exploitation: A Phenomenological Study Of Performance, Nicole D. Troxell

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This paper describes the experiences of exploitation and liberation for neo burlesque performers using feminist theory as the context for analysis. The project had the following goals: to identify using phenomenology, the essence of new burlesque participant experiences, to analyze those experiences using feminist theories of exploitation and liberation regarding sex work, to compare burlesque to stripping, and to compare new burlesque to classic burlesque for understanding how burlesque is different today. To obtain these goals, participant observations were done of neo burlesque shows and neo burlesque performers agreed to an interview in which questions were asked that highlight their …

A Virginia Woolf Of One's Own: Consequences Of Adaptation In Michael Cunningham's The Hours, Brooke Leora Grant

Theses and Dissertations

With a rising interest in visual media in academia, studies have overlapped at literary and film scholars' interest in adaptation. This interest has mainly focused on the examination of issues regarding adaptation of novel to novel or novel to film. Here I discuss both: Michael Cunningham's novel The Hours, which is an adaptation of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, and the 2002 film adaptation of Cunningham's novel. However, my thesis also investigates a different kind of adaptation: the adaptation of a literary and historical figure. By including in The Hours a fictionalization of Virginia Woolf, Cunningham entrenches his adaptation with Virginia …

U.S. Newspaper Representation Of Muslim And Arab Women Post 9/11., Nahed Mohamed Atef Eltantawy

Communication Dissertations

This study examines U.S. newspaper representation of Muslim-Arab women post 9/11 with an aim of better understanding how women are portrayed in relation to religion, society, politics and the economy. Through a discourse analysis, I examined local articles from across the nation, in addition to international articles, that examine various aspects of Muslim-Arab women’s lives between 9/11/2001 and 9/11/2005. With the increasing focus on the Muslim world in general, and Muslim women in particular, it is necessary to determine how women are portrayed. Muslim-Arab women have increasingly been on the face covers of magazines and front pages of newspapers since …

Pre-Service Art Teachers And The Use Of Feminist Curriculum And Pedagogy In The Art Classroom, Sahirah Fatin Wade Bussey

Art and Design Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine answers to several research questions: 1.) What do pre-service teachers know about feminist pedagogy or teaching in ways that are culturally responsive? 2.) In what ways are pre-service teachers prepared to use feminist pedagogy? 3.) How is a lesson constructed utilizing a feminist curriculum? All participating pre-service Art Education students completed a Survey of Art History, a questionnaire of their background in Art History, a questionnaire on their ideas of feminist pedagogy, and completed a group brainstorming of lesson plans. Data was analyzed from student responses. Results support the need for teaching …

A Paradox Of Diversity: Billions Invested, But Women Still Leave, Rebekah S. Heppner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2005, women made up 46.4 percent of the United States labor force but only 1.6 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs (Catalyst 2006). Although gains have been made since the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, there is clearly something stopping women from equal representation at the top. Since the late 1980s, businesses have spent billions of dollars on initiatives designed to assist them in dealing with the anticipated increase in the "diversity" of their workplaces (Lubove 1997; Stodghill II 1996; Johnston and Packer 1987). Is there potential for diversity initiatives to help women conquer the "glass ceiling?" …

Mission Propaganda: A Study Of Form, Colonial Attitudes, And Feminism In Maria Theresia Ledóchowska's Newspaper Publication, Jakob N. Jarvis

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines Mission Propaganda, a newspaper-style publication distributed by the St. Peter Claver Sodalität, an association of nuns, lay-members, and subscribers founded by Maria Theresia Ledóchowska in 1894. The “sodality” was dedicated to supporting Catholic missionary work in Africa, and advocated for the liberation of African slaves. Ledóchowska used Mission Propaganda to encourage Europeans to support the African missions. She also used it to inform Europeans about African culture. She attempted to create a connection between the need for Catholic missionary work in Africa and the need for reform in Europe. She believed Europeans needed moral, religious, and social …

Ecological Art: Ruth Wallen And Cultural Activism, Susan Birchler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Twentieth century modernity has provoked multiple problems ranging from environmental degradation to human rights violations. Globally, diverse communities of people have organized to promote, not just reactive reforms, but a fundamental alteration of the foundational worldview underlying these issues. Radical activists committed their work to promoting an alternative ethos based on egalitarian, democratic, and ecologically-wise concepts. An array of methodologies emerged from these endeavors. More radical political groups focused on cultural tools to engage people in the construction of an alternative worldview. Radical activists utilized two forms of cultural politics: prefigurative politics, the physical presentation of an envisioned future and …

Women's Athletics And The Athletic Patriarchy, Cynthia Jane Lynes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research is a qualitative, case study of five women who have successful careers in the male dominated field of athletics. An interview was done with each woman to determine whether her professional/personal life had been affected in any way by the athletic patriarchy and how their experiences were similar or different. The purpose of this research was to examine the influences of the athletic patriarchy on women's athletics and to explore issues of power and gender within these influences. Research questions asked were: How has the construction of gender identity by the athletic patriarchy affected women's athletics? What part …

The Conundrum Of Women’S Studies As Institutional: New Niches, Undergraduate Concerns, And The Move Towards Contemporary Feminist Theory And Action, Rebecca K. Willman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I address current debates on the perceived lack of contemporary feminist activism and concerns of Women's Studies as existing within university institutions. I propose that Women's Studies programs and departments serve as locations useful for feminists interested in participating in feminist activism in and beyond the university. By viewing Women's Studies programs and departments as contemporary abeyance structures in feminist movements, I revisit the ways in which debates on differences between second and third wave feminisms have contributed to social change. In doing so, I highlight how the feminist movement maintains itself between upsurges in mass-based visible …

The Constructions Of Fay Weldon, Woman Of Letters, Harriet Blymiller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary British novelist Fay Weldon negotiates the postmodern "culture industry" as the self-conscious heir to a traditon of women writers dating back to the Middle Ages. Like her predecessors, Weldon defensively and offensively negotiates ideological constructions of womanhood, including injunctions to chastity, modesty, and silence; prohibitions against formal education for women; disdain for the literary production and commercial success of women writers; and the application of double standards in the critical reception of their works. Modernizing the strategies traditionally deployed by women writers, Weldon engages with the advertising industry and the mass-oriented literature of radio and television, using them to …

Dossier: Truth, Jasna Bogdanovska

Theses

This thesis examines two very different themes. The first one is a historical look on the change of female roles in society shown through very well known symbols, and the second one is the search for truth in times of war. I used mythology as a bridge from our ancestors to understand historical and present roles of women in society. Through my artwork I was asking questions about female identity: How are women portrayed in society? Do we make decisions about our lives or do we live by preset traditional rules? Is anatomy defining our destiny; Or we are just …

Palabra Inédita Género, Raza, E Identidad: Estrategias De La Memoria Cultural En La Poesía De Georgina Herrera, Nancy Morejón, Y Excilia Saldaña, Lissette Corsa

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

En esta tesis analizaré en la poesía de Georgina Herrera, Nancy Morejón y Excilia

Saldaña

1 los conceptos de género y raza y cómo han sido apropiados del esquema

patriarcal y redefinidos en la elaboración de identidad y nación a través de lo que Flora

González Mandri y Catherine Davies han llamado la memoria cultural.

Mi propósito es demostrar como dichas poetas han subvertido, a través de la

palabra, un discurso historicamente maniqueísta que ha servido para reafirmar la doble

subyugación de raza y género, como también exploro los resortes de auto-inscripción y el

imaginario mítico-cultural que cada poeta emplea …

Reflections: A Theatrical Journey Into The Lives Of Adolescent Girls, Leah Page

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adolescence is a difficult time for young women. Their bodies are changing and they are being asked to conform to a new set of feminine standards if they are to be accepted (Pipher 39). Studies have found that girls experience a decrease in self-esteem during this time. They are less likely to speak their minds openly and honestly, which can lead to depression and a feeling of falseness. As young women attempt to comprehend this turbulent time in their lives, they often find strength through positive relationships with others as well as from their own knowledge and self-awareness. Reflections is …

Postmodern Feminism, Hypertext, And The Rhetoric Of Cooking Websites, Heather Eaton Mcgrane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the ways cookbooks and their rhetorical dimensions have been re-imagined using hypertext and Web technology. Using the tenets of postmodern feminist rhetoric and Web design theory, the study considers how commercial cooking hypertexts construct users' identities. Although hypertext is a potentially empowering technology, democratizing rhetoric and knowledge making practices, commercial hypertext often circumscribes agency formation and prohibits participation. Participatory, constructive hypertexts are difficult to design and costly to maintain. Of the three sites studied, Epicurious.com, BettyCrocker.com, and FoodNetwork.com, only Epicurious.com encourages meaningful communication between users and between users and designers. In many ways, Epicurious.com conceives of its …

Roles And Attitudes Of Males And Females In The Anarchist Punk Community, Donna M. Manion

Theses and Dissertations

Sexism is a widespread social problem that exists throughout the world today. It persists within the dominant culture, as well as in various subcultures, including the punk subculture (Daugherty 2002; Leblanc 1999; McRobbie 1991; Rosenberg and Garofalo 1998). Nijole Benokraitis and Joe Feagin's (1995) theory of sexism posits that subtle sexism is the unequal and harmful treatment of women that is typically less visible than blatant sex discrimination. This particular type of sexism may often go unnoticed, as society has internalized subtle sexist behaviors. Empirical research on subtle sexism has been conducted in various settings, such as the employment, academic, …

A Fugitive Sea, Marian Brunn Smith

Theses and Dissertations

I make images that are fragmented like ominous dreams. Described with sensuous marks of paint, they demand intimacy but reveal vulnerability as they threaten to break apart before the eyes. This thesis examines my journey over the past two years at VCU and describes my artistic beliefs and visions.

Disrupted Conventions: Gender Roles In Mildred Walker's The Curlew's Cry And Winter Wheat, Pandora Andre-Beatty

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this thesis, I discuss the significance of gender in Mildred Walker’s novels The Curlew’s Cry and Winter Wheat. Walker wrote and situates both narratives in Montana, supporting my argument that literature of the American West remains a productive area for examining gender roles. The Curlew’s Cry is set at the closing of the American frontier in the early 20th century, while Winter Wheat is set during the settled agricultural era of the 1940s. I argue that instead of re-enforcing gender stereotypes commonly found in novels set in the American West during and after the white settlement of the plains, …