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

Digital Commons Network

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

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Empowering Senior Females By Utilizing Each Female Person's Voice To Create Desired Lifestyle Options, Icydor Aldale Mohabier Dec 2006

Empowering Senior Females By Utilizing Each Female Person's Voice To Create Desired Lifestyle Options, Icydor Aldale Mohabier

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Theses

Interviews of senior females ranging in age from 55 through 72 were conducted between September 2004 and April 2005, in order to determine what lifestyle options this group would like made available to them. The participants represented a sample of senior females who had different backgrounds, including culture, education level, and economic circumstance. Although all the participants had very different lifestyles at the time of their interviews, most were satisfied with their current lifestyles but wanted to change something about it. The research results indicate that there are three desired lifestyle options that senior females want: socializing, improving their health, …


The Negotiation Of Gender And Athleticism By Women Athletes, Erica Nicolien Kitchen Aug 2006

The Negotiation Of Gender And Athleticism By Women Athletes, Erica Nicolien Kitchen

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Theses

Despite significant improvements in the last thirty years, the sporting world remains a masculine domain. Women athletes continue to face inequalities and criticism for crossing traditional gender lines. This study, which was grounded in Foucauldian, postmodern and social constructionist theories and a third wave feminist perspective, examines how women athletes understand gender and how gender, athleticism and body image intersect for them. Eleven women in various stages of their athletic careers participated in in-depth interviews. Women and girls are influenced to participate in sport by family and friends, have local role models, and value the social aspect of sport. They …


A Manifest Cyborg: Laurie Anderson And Technology, Julie Malinda Goolsby Aug 2006

A Manifest Cyborg: Laurie Anderson And Technology, Julie Malinda Goolsby

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Theses

This thesis seeks to demonstrate that although Laurie Anderson’s performance works are technologically driven and often involve gender play, seemingly transgressing the gender binary, ultimately she reinscribes traditional gender norms. On the one hand, Anderson has been a pioneer in the use of electronic technology, which is significant considering she is a woman and electronics is a male-dominated arena; on the other hand, her ambiguously- gendered cyborg persona, which does often raise awareness about gender stereotypes, ultimately reinscribes traditional gender norms. Although I consider these issues as they pertain specifically to Anderson, the significance of this project lies in the …


"Mother May I? Food, Power And Control In Mothers And Daughters", Lisa Joy Borello Aug 2006

"Mother May I? Food, Power And Control In Mothers And Daughters", Lisa Joy Borello

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Theses

Fourteen women in the United States were interviewed to determine the role mothers played in shaping their daughters’ attitudes toward their bodies and eating, and the extent to which women negotiated the messages they received from their family and larger culture concerning weight and appearance. Results of this study complicated existing theories concerning the factors that most influence women’s self-esteem and body image. The results demonstrated that the women within this sample engaged in a variety of disordered eating patterns, but did not recognize their own actions as out-of-the-ordinary; rather they re-produced familial and cultural messages about women’s “normative body …


Spirituality: A Womanist Reading Of Amy Tan's "The Bonesetter's Daughter", Xiumei Pu Jul 2006

Spirituality: A Womanist Reading Of Amy Tan's "The Bonesetter's Daughter", Xiumei Pu

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Theses

This thesis investigates the womanist theme of spirituality in Amy Tan’s novel, The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Spirituality unfolds in five linked themes: ghosts, ghostwriting, nature, bones, and memory. In structure, the thesis is composed of four parts. The Introduction proposes spirituality as a womanist way of reading The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Chapter one investigates how the spirit of Gu Liu Xin, the Chinese grandmother, plays a critical role in developing the psychological integrity of Ruth Luyi Young, the American-born Chinese granddaughter. The second chapter examines how Gu Liu Xin’s ghost helps to guide LuLing Liu Young, Liu Xin’s daughter and Ruth’s mother, …


I'M Not Loud Enough To Be Heard: Rock 'N' Roll Camp For Girls And Feminist Quests For Equity, Community, And Cultural Production, Stacey Lynn Singer Jul 2006

I'M Not Loud Enough To Be Heard: Rock 'N' Roll Camp For Girls And Feminist Quests For Equity, Community, And Cultural Production, Stacey Lynn Singer

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Theses

Because of what I perceive to be important contributions to female youth empowerment and the construction of culture and community, I chose to conduct a qualitative case study that explores the methods utilized in the performance of Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls, as well as the experiences of camp administrators, participants, and volunteers, in order to identify feminist constructs, aims, and outcomes of Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls. My interests lie in the feminist and activist approaches in the construction and production of Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls, as well as in the quest for equity, community …


Andalusia, Julia Clare Peteet Jul 2006

Andalusia, Julia Clare Peteet

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Theses

This is a creative thesis in the form of a screenplay titled “Andalusia” in which a woman, Katherine, searches for meaning in her life. After suffering through a childhood wrought with tragedy, disappointment, and chaos, Katherine strives to create a healthy reality in which she can thrive. After failing miserably at this once, she takes a different path and finds herself hidden away in her dead father’s house writing about the Mississippi Delta town of Andalusia.


Third Wave Feminist History And The Politics Of Being Visible And Being Real, Robbin Hillary Vannewkirk Jun 2006

Third Wave Feminist History And The Politics Of Being Visible And Being Real, Robbin Hillary Vannewkirk

Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Theses

This project works to illuminate some of the main theoretical claims that writers of the third wave make in order to understand these claims as rhetorical devices used to make themselves visible and real. Being visible is a common theme in third wave texts and realness is a site that is both contested and embraced. Being Visible and being real work together to situate third wave actors in a U.S. feminist continuum that is sprinkled with contradiction and ambiguity. This thesis will examine the contextual development of third wave feminism, and then using examples of realness and visibility in the …