Digital Commons Network^™

A Dance Of Resistance: The Puerto Rican Bomba As A Means To Challenge Intersections Of Discrimination On The Island, Daniel Loving

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis examines the Puerto Rican Bomba as a multifaceted cultural and political phenomenon, focusing on its pivotal role in challenging and subverting the enduring issues of racial and gender discrimination on the Island. Drawing from an interdisciplinary framework that encompasses cultural studies, anthropology, history, performance and film studies, this research elucidates the complex interplay between Bomba's rhythmic and choreographic elements, its historical evolution, and its contemporary significance in the context of Puerto Rico's sociopolitical landscape. By analyzing Bomba's historical roots in African and indigenous traditions, its adaptation during colonial and post-colonial eras, and its ongoing relevance in the struggle …

Navigating Political Discussions Online: The Role Safe Spaces Play In Women's Political Participation On Twitter, Ayla Oden

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study analyzes how women navigate political discussions online. Social media breeds high-conflict spaces where threats and incivility are more likely to persist. To avoid ad hominem attacks or harassment from online, male users, women may be more likely to use “safe spaces” online, including stereotypically feminine conversations regarding “women’s issues.” The purpose of this study is to analyze how women discuss politics online and whether there are differences in the issues discussed by men and women on Twitter. Using three studies, I examined these differences and their relationship to the threats women face online and their political behavior offline. …

Magpies, Bridge And Goddess: Unearthing The Hidden Symbols And Rediscovering The Lost Goddess In Chinese Qiqiao Festival, Juan Wu

Comparative Woman

The Qiqiao Festival, also known as the Qixi Festival, or Chinese valentine’s day, is a festival celebrating the annual meeting of the Cowherd and Weaver Maid in mythology. The most influential version focuses on the romance or love theme; however, it ignores its underlying historical context, gender tension and mythical belief. This paper takes the texts, rituals and materials related to the Qiqiao festival to investigate its origin and evolution. First, it takes the anthological case of the Qiqiao festival in Xihe county to explore its core image of the holy bridge and Goddess Qiao. Second, it traces the bridge …

Poems On Gender, Sexuality, And Kinship, Elisa Subin

Comparative Woman

The attached poems are a series thematically linked through gender, sexuality, and kinship.

Us Agricultural University Students' Mental Well-Being And Resilience During The First Wave Of Covid-19: Discordant Expectations And Experiences Across Genders, Mariah D. Ehmke, Bhagyashree Katare, Kristin Kiesel, Jason S. Bergtold, Jerrod M. Penn, Kathryn A. Boys

Faculty Publications

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic's first wave led to declining mental health and life satisfaction outcomes for college students, especially women. While women in undergraduate agricultural programs outperformed men academically prior to and during the pandemic, the achievement may have come at personal cost, especially for those women with fewer personal and environmental resiliency resources. Our research objective was to expand on personal, social, and environmental factors linked with lower mental health and life satisfaction scores for students in agriculture during the pandemic. We measured the influence of such factors across gender-based mental health and life satisfaction outcomes. Our …

The Lived Experiences Of Migrant Domestic Workers In Taiwan, Li-Yu Liao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The constantly increasing demand of domestic workers in developed and newly industrialized countries had prompted many women of less developed countries migrating to engage in transnational domestic work. Among these newly industrialized countries (NICs) in Asia, Taiwan is one of them with burgeoning market of domestic work. In 2019, Taiwan accommodated 261,457 foreign domestic workers. Indonesian, Filipino, and Vietnamese women constitute the three major groups of the population. Compare to their counterparts in other host countries in Asia such as Hong Kong and Singapore, migrant domestic workers in Taiwan were understudied. This research was committed to explore the experiences of …

A Systematic Review And Reflection On The Dimensions Of Diversity Represented In Behavior Analytic Research, Jodie Waits

LSU Master's Theses

The United States continues to transition towards a majority-minority composition and this trend has most rapidly emerged for school-aged children. Work with diverse populations calls for specialized skills and training experiences, but these are not strongly reflected in most training programs in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). The present review was conducted to evaluate the scope and range of the dimensions of diversity included in Behavior Analytic research (e.g. race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, etc.), as well as to compile recommendations related to culturally responsive practice in ABA. The search revealed a total of 50 publications featuring a dimension of diversity. These works …

Consumers' Preferred Body Scanning Technology: A Comparison, Saiful Islam

LSU Master's Theses

Poor fit of apparel products has been troublesome for both the consumers and manufacturers for many years. The acquisition of a correct set of body measurements is crucially important for achieving proper fitting apparel. Three-dimensional body scanning technology has been recognized as a promising alternative to the traditional measuring tape method of obtaining body measurements. Three-dimensional body scanners are quick, efficient, highly reproducible, and largely free of error related to human intervention.

The purpose of this study was to investigate consumers’ preferred type of body scanning technology. Three types of body scanners (traditional body scanner, suit-based body scanner, and mobile-based …

Social Justice Through Social Media: The Use Of Twitter As A Tool For Activism In The #Metoo #Blacklivesmatter Era, Laura L. Coleman

LSU Master's Theses

This study focuses on social justice and how people on Twitter chose to talk about it. The rise of social media has allowed Twitter users to speak more freely in more spaces than one. The study compared two different sexual assault cases between Judge Brett Kavanaugh and Professor Christine Blasey; and Virginia’s Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax and Vanessa Tyson. Applying the social responsibility theory, which allows free press without any censorship, I then can see the tone of which Black Twitter users have when talking about two separate sexual assault cases. This study compares the use of the #BlackTwitter hashtag …

Exploring The Role Of Gender And Race In Salary Negotiations, Chelsea D. Hightower

LSU Master's Theses

Research findings from the negotiation literature have revealed significant differences in the negotiation behaviors of men and women, specifically that women do not negotiate as often or as successfully as men do. This difference has been cited as one of many factors contributing to the persistence of the gender wage gap. A possible explanation for the differences is that men and women are treated differently when they negotiate. Thus, there is evidence that women negotiators tend to receive multiple forms of social and economic punishment (i.e., backlash) for engaging in behavior that is inconsistent with stereotype-based expectations of women in …

My Big Fat Catholic Queer Wedding, Kourtney Baker

Comparative Woman

No abstract provided.

Bending Gender In French Literature, Jacey Flatte

LSU Master's Theses

This paper looks at French literature that defies binary and heteronormative gender roles and identities. The literature spans from the seventeenth- to the nineteenth-century. My goal is not only to bring these pieces of literature to light, proving that non-binary genders have existed long before the recent liberal LGBTQIA+ movement, but also to help modernize these identities from the past. In doing this, I aim to explain that contemporary gender identities are not new, but timeless. The experiences seen in this literature are strikingly similar to how people experience gender today. As a result, I hope that readers will be …

Rape Myths And Hookup Culture: An Exploratory Study Of U.S. College Students' Perceptions, Timothy T. Reling, Michael S. Barton, Sarah Anna Becker, Matthew A. Valasik

Faculty Publications

The present study provides the first known systematic examination of the association of hookup culture endorsement and rape myth acceptance. Multivariate regression analysis was conducted to test the primary hypothesis that hookup culture endorsement would be the primary predictor of rape myth acceptance levels among a sample of 422 U.S. college students. Findings indicated the existence of a complex relationship in which rape myth acceptance increases or decreases based upon the form of hookup culture endorsement examined. Beliefs that hookups are harmless and elevate social status increased rape myth acceptance, whereas beliefs that hookups express sexual freedom decreased rape myth …

Gender Beyond Birth: Gender Non-Conforming Students Lived Experiences Residing On-Campus In The Southeast, Tiffany Marlene Shierling

LSU Master's Theses

In this study, using a qualitative approach, gender non-conforming students lived experience living on campus in the south is being investigated. “Trans* students remain largely invisible through college records as no data is collected consistently on their enrollment” (Nicolazzo, 2016 p. 539). Although this is true of all gender non-conforming students, it is even more relevant to those that attend universities in the Southeast. Gender non-conforming students are attending universities in higher numbers than every reported before and yet, student affairs still does not have a theory that relates to these students when teaching their graduate students. The psychological literature …

Fuckstutter, Anthony Francis Ramstetter

LSU Master's Theses

This manuscript is my Master thesis, which I have compiled to fulfill the requirements of a creative writing examination in poetry. It collects various pathways of poetry in terms of both form & content into professional & publishable finality. The thesis presents sections (untitled) which include subsequent themes & variations that qualifies, consolidates, & measures the poet’s work during this program of writing herein.

The Mnemonic Maid: Joan Of Arc In Public Memory, Tara Beth Smithson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the relationship between Joan of Arc, postcolonial identity, and public memory. Since her repopularization in the nineteenth century, Joan of Arc has become one of the most emblematic figures of French history. Commemorated in public statuary, celebrated by writers, and championed by politicians, la Pucelle’s story is tantamount to national myth. While Joan of Arc’s centrality to France’s iconic imagining of itself during the spread of its empire has received much critical attention, her postcolonial afterlife remains understudied. This project offers a counterpoint to the prevailing assumption that Joan of Arc has few implications for postcolonial studies …

Glue Sticks And Gaffs: Disassembling The Drag Queening Body, Ray Siebenkittel

LSU Master's Theses

Drag queening men, typically gay men who perform femininities for entertainment, use makeup, padding, injections and other tools to change their bodies for performance. I focus on the backstage activities of drag performers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, rather than conventional observations from the audience, to explore the negotiation, construction and implications of these bodies, both physically and discursively. Through autoethnographic accounts and participating in my own drag performance, I highlight the often unseen, less frequently discussed aspects of drag queening in order to lessen the distance between the efforts of performers and the stage. Drag queening men’s bodies are a …

Three Essays On Land Ownership, Gender, And Agricultural Productivity In The Case Of Developing Countries, Krishna H. Koirala

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation set out to evaluate the impact of land ownership and role of gender to the Filipino farmers and to investigate gender difference in agricultural productivity and technical efficiency of Malawian rural households. The first essay investigates the impact of land ownership on the productivity and technical efficiency of rice farmers in the Philippines. We use a 2007-2012 Loop Survey from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and analyzed it by using a stochastic frontier function method. Results show that land ownership has a significant impact on technical efficiency. In particular, counter to the theory, the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform …

Visual Representations Of Gender In Engineering Trade Journals Of Professional Societies During 1998-2012: A Content Analysis Of Hierarchy And Stereotypes, Tracy Ettel Morris

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Recruiting and retaining women in engineering have stagnated since the mid-1990's partially due to the marginalization of women in education and the workforce. This research analyzed the quality and quantity of representation of women and men in visual images of professional science and engineering trade journals to illuminate the marginalizing climate of engineering. A mixed methods approach using visual content analysis was performed for a 15-year period during 1998-2012 of three different trade journals of professional societies representing various disciplines of engineering: the first has a low percentage of women, the second has a higher percentage of women, and the …

What Female Candidates Need To Know: Current Research On Gender Effects In Campaigns And Elections, Lauren Michele Leist

LSU Master's Theses

Studies show that the vast majority of people have no problem voting for a woman and that when women run they win as often as men, yet female representation remains startlingly low in the U.S. Women are 50.8 percent of the U.S. population, but they account for merely 19.4% of the 535 seats in Congress, 24.5% of statewide executive positions, 24.2% of state legislatures, and 17.6% of mayors in cities with populations over 30,000 (Center for American Women and Politics 2015). There is certainly much research dedicated to gender and politics. But what is missing from current literature is an …

Essays On Corruption, Chandan Kumar Jha

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Corruption is a global concern and requires attention because of its detrimental effects on economic growth and development. This dissertation includes three different essays that identify some of the instruments that can be used to fight corruption. The first essay investigates whether women's presence in economic and political arenas can have a significant impact on corruption. It finds evidence that while women's presence in parliament does reduce corruption other measures of female participation in economic activities are shown to have no effect. The second essay shows that internet and Facebook have an adverse effect on corruption. Finally, in a theoretical …

Paradoxical Agency: The Ethics Of Women's Rhetoric In Shakespeare's Rome, Catherine Riley Godbold

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this project, I address the problems of ethics and agency for women’s speech in Shakepseare’s Roman plays—Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Titus Andronicus, and Coriolanus—and the narrative poem The Rape of Lucrece. Regardless of their rhetorical skill, virtue, or agency, it seems that the Roman women in these works are doomed to fail: either their lives become unlivable or they lose the people most important to them. This prompts the project’s initiating question: why do Shakespeare’s Roman women speak if their words have no long-term effect? For these characters, rhetorical success in Shakespeare’s Rome is dependent upon a particular …

"Me Getting Plastered And Her Provoking My Eyes": Young People’S Attribution Of Blame For Sexual Aggression In Public Drinking Spaces, Sarah Becker, Justine Tinkler

Faculty Publications

Barroom sexual aggression—especially unwanted groping, kissing, and touching—is ubiquitous and largely unregulated. While research explicates how alcohol interacts with other precipitating factors to cause incidents like fistfights, the causes of less serious forms of sexual aggression remain understudied. Normalization of non-consensual sexual contact in bars means much of it goes unnoticed and is difficult to quantify or predict using conventional statistical methods. We use 126 young people’s narratives about experiences with barroom aggression to explore how/when it is tolerated or socially sanctioned. We find that alcohol, context, and gender shape attributions for sexual aggression in public drinking settings.

With Xavier, However, There Will Be This Distinction: Mapping The Educational Philosophy Of Saint Katharine Drexel In The Intellectual Tradition Of Black Higher Education In New Orleans, Louisiana, Berlisha Roketa Morton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Historical studies on higher education often utilize traditional historical methods. This practice has produced a body of literature, both historical and contemporary, which has a particular focus on (a) the histories and mythologies of institutions, (b) the individuals who function within the system at the administrative or student levels, and (c) the individuals who have been excluded from the system. In this research, I connected the foundational histories of Southern University and Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana by telling institutional narratives through people instead of telling the narratives of people through institutions. Therefore, using Southern Womanism as a theoretical …

L'Envers De L'Histoire De Jacques Collin: On A New Approach To Balzac's Most Infamous Criminal Mastermind, Lauren Elise Pendas

LSU Master's Theses

Scholarship has failed to explore adequately how Honoré de Balzac evokes the human condition’s universal elements through his most infamous criminal mastermind: Jacques Collin, alias Vautrin. Unlike analyses of Collin that I have encountered, this thesis takes all three novels and the obscure play in which Collin appears into account, challenges the transparency of his statements and the narration’s descriptions of him, explores the conservative position framing Balzac’s critique of early nineteenth-century Paris, and actively focuses on evidence of Collin’s typical subjectivity (i.e. his insatiable desire and fallibility). Consequently, this reading does not evaluate Collin’s significance solely through his apparent …

Exploring Influences On Gender Equality In Photojournalism: Is The Field Picture-Perfect?, Andrea Briscoe

LSU Master's Theses

America prides itself on having a free press. Ideally, this free press would look like the communities in which they cover. However, research shows that gender discrepancies are quite common in newsrooms (Anderson 2014; Briscoe 2012; Norris 1997; Willnat and Weaver 2014). Women often have a marginal presence in newsrooms, and this is troublesome, because scholars have noted that men and women approach newsgathering and reporting differently (Beam and Cicco 2010; Briscoe 2012; Grabe et al. 2011; Weaver 1997). While research has focused on gender discrepancies in various types of media, little to no research has looked at the field …

The Moderating Effect Of Gender On The Relationship Between Socialization And Internalizing Problems In Early Childhood, Hilary Lynn Adams

LSU Master's Theses

Researchers in the field of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have confirmed that comorbidities are a common problem among diagnosed individuals. Current estimates suggest that more than two thirds meet criteria for an additional diagnosis of psychopathology. In particular, rates of several internalizing problems (i.e., anxiety, depression) appear to be greater for individuals with ASD than their typically developing counterparts. However, little research has been conducted examining factors apart from autism symptomatology that could influence this prevalence difference. Additionally, it is well established that anxiety and depression are more common in females than males in the general population. However, few studies …

Administrator Perceptions Of Intramural Coed Flag Football Modifications: A Qualitative Analysis, Zacharias Wood

LSU Master's Theses

Coed sport environments can be paradoxical settings where pre-existing gender biases influence participants’ enjoyment and success. Furthermore, gendered messages and stereotypes as well as low expectations for females within coed sports can create participation barriers by reducing feelings of confidence and performance. Within Campus Recreation, intramural sport administrators have a significant role in determining participation opportunities and experiences. This investigation examined administrators’ perspectives about coed intramural flag football gender modifications. Specifically, three research questions guided this study: (a) how do intramural administrators view coed flag football gender modifications?; (b) to what extent do intramural administrators perceive gender modifications to impact …

Perceptions Of The Motivational Climate And Gender Class Structure In Physical Education, Lauren E. Delgado

LSU Master's Theses

Many children do not engage in the recommended levels of physical activity, and they ten to become even less active during adolescence. Girls are less active then boys, and it is important to explore ways that physical education teachers can foster girls’ motivation to be more physically active. The specific research questions for this study were: (a) How does gender class structure affect girls’ perception of the motivational climate?; and (b) How do girls’ views of the motivation climate in different gender class structures relate to intentions to participate in physical activity outside of physical education? A phenomenological framework guided …

Burn, Boil & Eat : An Intersection Analysis Of Stereotypes In The Most Influential Films Of All Time, Roslyn M. Satchel

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research builds upon the work of Entman & Rojecki (2001) in examining the ways the most influential movies use racial stereotypes in media frames. The results of this study contribute to the rather limited mass media research and body of knowledge regarding the media content that attracts the largest and most enduring audiences in the new media landscape. As ten of the films that have generated the most revenue, the movies in this sample constitute a genre of movies that are also a prime feature of on-going publishing, cable, internet, digital gaming, DVD, and movie sequel franchises. If, as …