Digital Commons Network^™

Challenging The Master Narrative Of Holocaust Victimhood: Examining The Holocaust Through A Gendered Lens, Annabella Blowers

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Women are severely unrepresented in the master narrative that has come to define what it means to be a Holocaust victim. Although men and women were subjected to different forms of victimization, women’s unique experiences of suffering have been marginalized and subsumed within the male-dominated master narrative. Examining the Holocaust through a gendered lens challenges this existing narrative of Holocaust victimhood. Conducting a gender analysis of the Holocaust is essential to fully incorporate women’s experiences into Holocaust history and the grossly inadequate narrative society uses to define Holocaust victimhood.

An analysis of fifty Holocaust fiction novels revealed that literature’s depiction …

Are Women The Silver Bullet? Understanding Women’S Perceptions Of Gun Reform And Red Flag Laws In The United States, Emmeline Farwell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines women’s perceptions of gun reform policies and how they can be used as a measure to predict how women could potentially view specific gun reform policies like red flag laws. Specific policies like the assault weapons ban and red flag laws are becoming increasingly common, practical measures to reduce gun violence, but little academic research has been done on them. Using data from the 2022 Congressional Election Survey conducted by the University of Texas at Austin University, I use several linear regressions to ascertain how one’s gender affects feelings or support for gun reform generally and for …

Lds Women And The Teton Dam Disaster Of 1976, Emily Willis

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

June 5, 1976, started like any other spring day in southeastern Idaho. After the cold winter, most of the residents of the numerous farming towns that lie throughout the Upper Snake River Valley found the beautiful Saturday ideal for farm work, gardening, or spring cleaning. About twenty miles northeast of Rexburg, the largest town in the area, the Teton Dam neared completion. A Bureau of Reclamation project, the dam promised to stop the annual flooding that so often decimated portions of farmers' fields along the Teton River. Around 11 o'clock that morning, however, came a terrifying report: the Teton Dam …

Power And Participation: Women's Participation In The Arab Spring And Its Impact On Women's Empowerment, Mary Harris

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Middle Eastern governments typically score at or near the bottom of indices measuring women’s rights and political participation. The Middle East also contains a large percentile of authoritarian regimes. The Arab Spring challenged these regimes' gender structures as they included vast female participation, but there is little existing research to understand the Spring's impact on opinions of women's participation and empowerment in the region. This study aims to add to existing research on this topic by analyzing Arab Barometer data from 4 questions dealing with opinions of women’s participation in society gathered before, during, and after the Arab Spring. I …

From Congregations To Candidates: How Religion Explains The Partisan Gender Gap In State Legislatures, Ashlan Gruwell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

While much has been said about both the gender gap and partisan gender gap in representation in Congress and state legislatures, most of this research ignores the critical role of religion as an explanatory variable. I propose a new theory where the presence of a high proportion of evangelical Protestants in the electorate explains both the gender gap in representation that has long existed as well as the emergence of a partisan gap among women in state legislatures. As evangelical Protestants became politicized and flocked to the Republican Party in the 1980s and 1990s, more Democratic women were elected and …

Women And Gender In Mountaineering And Climbing, Natalie Gunn

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines how gender and ideas about gender affected early female mountaineers and rock climbers. The study focuses on female dress standards in the Victorian era, the relative equity of accomplishment between male and female mountaineers and climbers, the portrayal of female climbers in the media, and the misrepresentation of female motivations for climbing. By analyzing primary sources from female climbers and mountaineers, this paper uncovers how women challenged traditional gender roles and navigated the complexities of the male-dominated climbing community.

Havens And Covens: Pregnancy, Witchcraft, And Female Power In Cotton Mather’S “Retired Elizabeth”, Brittney A. Hatchett

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

Over the decades, scholars have been holding two adjacent conversations about witchcraft and gender in Cotton Mather’s works that surprisingly have not been put in dialogue. On the one hand, they have examined Mather’s witchcraft ideology and motivations for involving himself in the Salem witch trials. On the other hand, scholars have discussed how Mather seeks to exert control over women spiritually and physically. However, no one has yet explored how these conversations might converge. I suggest that we can see how Mather intertwines discourses of witchcraft and gender in the section titled “Retired Elizabeth” in The Angel of Bethesda. …

A Refuge And A Bridge: Native American Women's Tribal College Experiences, Morgan Duffy

Theses and Dissertations

This study, which focuses on the experiences of Native women attending a tribal college of the Northern Cheyenne Nation, responds to the call by Baird-Olson and Ward (2000) and Almeida (1997) for research that allows Native women, or the "hidden half," to tell their stories. Scant research has examined the value of tribal schools for Native American women and the experiences they have had in relation to their reservation and college lives. Providing narratives of women's experiences can illuminate how higher education in tribal college settings holds multiple values for Native women students as it acts as a refuge and …

Latter-Day Saint Women And Leadership In Higher Education: An Intrinsic Case Study, Elizabeth J. Darger

Theses and Dissertations

There are few women in the highest levels of leadership in most industries, including higher education. This intrinsic case study provides insight into the leadership journeys of 15 female leaders at Brigham Young University, which is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Four prevalent themes emerged about their leadership journeys. First, a leadership role was not part of the participant's life plan. The remaining three themes related to acceptance of a leadership role. Participants reported feeling nudged to consider a leadership role, feeling a sense of relational responsibility in accepting a leadership role, and receiving a …

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Hakimas And “Enlightened” British Men: Female Medical Professionals In Midcentury Great Britain And Egypt, Izzy Maire

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Elizabeth Garrett Anderson’s pursuit of a medical education and career in Great Britain in the 1860s sharply contrasts with the rise of a class of female medical practitioners or “hakimas,” in Egypt in the 1830s. The two stories are especially noteworthy when examined together since Great Britain colonized Egypt in the 1880s, severely limiting opportunities for women in medicine in the now-occupied nation. Elizabeth and women in Egypt, were both negatively impacted by British attitudes toward women, despite Great Britain’s image of itself as a modern, enlightened nation. Drawing on a range of primary sources, including the personal correspondence of …

Women's Power In Hospital-Based Nursing: A Critical Qualitative Study, Kaitlyn C. George, Bret Lyman, Andy Pilarte Alcantara, Maya Stephenson

Faculty Publications

Aim: To understand the factors that affect power in hospital-based nursing and reveal how the female gender affects an individual's ability to feel empowered.

Design: Critical qualitative research design.

Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nurses working in inpatient hospital settings in Utah and New Mexico. Data were collected from February to March 2022. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results: Sixteen participants were interviewed. Six themes were identified from the data, four of which related to nurses' power at work, and two of which specifically related to how gender affects a nurse's ability to use power and feel empowered. …

Madwoman On The Screen: Streaming Forms Of Feminine Power, Kassandra I. Schreiber

Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores how the formal aspects of streaming platforms create a female inheritance that helps foster multiple representations of femininity and womanhood which empowers women. Building off of Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar's Madwoman in the Attic, the paper argues that because streaming platforms produce original content, are a space for multiplicity and interconnection, and act as a type of archive, they can build a female inheritance. The combination of these attributes offer a widespread emergence of multiple stories that valorize women and what is socially coded as feminine, creating a creative network that improves the representation of women …

"This Is The Way": Gender Representation In Disney's The Mandalorian, Brooke Solorio

Theses and Dissertations

When Disney released The Mandalorian, it quickly became the top show on its highly popular streaming platform. As with all media wielding this level of exposure, it is important to closely examine its content for depictions of peoples including females. In accordance with Sandra Bem's gender schema theory, the implicit messaging in this series can influence the formation of people's mental shortcuts about what it means to be female. This study employs content analysis to illuminate the portrayal of physical and non-physical attributes of the women present in the two seasons existing at the time of this study. Results reveal …

Women Of Life, Micaela Cors

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Watercolor

Attempting Cohesion, Angela Werner

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Acrylic, 18” x 24”

Wearable Activity Trackers For Women: Motivating Factors For Increasing Physical Activity, Danielle A. Bate

Theses and Dissertations

Half of American women do not sustain recommended levels of physical activity (PA). Wearable activity trackers (WATs) may increase both awareness of, and PA if worn daily. Thus, WATs should include features and designs that encourage daily use. This study aimed to determine WAT features and designs most appealing to women and the motivational effects of various WATs. For this mixed-method pilot study, 15 women each trialed three WATs; documented daily PA levels; and rated their satisfaction with each device's comfort, features, and motivational effect. Additionally, participants shared experiences and feedback in focus groups. Features that promote adoption of WATs …

Women's Response To Spousal Pornography Use: A Grounded Theory, Misha Duncan Crawford

Theses and Dissertations

Empirical research suggests that married women may more commonly experience spousal pornography use as a relational attachment threat and are more likely to experience negatively associated relational outcomes such as distress and loss of trust. The purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory of women’s response to concealed spousal pornography use. This study included the experiences of 30 women who reported spousal pornography use as a threat to relational attachment and demonstrated evidence of individual and relational healing thereafter. The research question, “How do women describe the experience of learning of their spouse’s pornography use and the …

Inadequate Maternal Health Care For Women In The United States, Rebecca Stull Zundel

Ballard Brief

Although insufficient maternal health care has seen improvements in most developed countries, it is still a rising issue in the United States. This insufficiency may partly be due to the accessibility barriers that both rural and urban women face in reaching adequate care. Additionally, the expenses of maternal care or gender discrimination within medical establishments may dissuade women from seeking the care that they need. Women who receive inadequate care are at a higher risk for maternal mortality, the death of their unborn or newly born infant, and having a low-birth weight child, which comes with many issues of its …

Postpartum Depression Among Adolescent Mothers In The United States, Susan May

Ballard Brief

Adolescent mothers are twice as likely to suffer from postpartum depression than adult mothers. In addition. teen moms are more likely to experience social stigma associated with teenage pregnancy and motherhood. Adolescent mothers also abuse substances at a higher rate than adult mothers, and teen dads are less likely to be involved in parenting responsibilities than adult fathers. These factors associated with teenage mothers cause an increased likelihood of teen moms developing postpartum depression. When mothers suffer from postpartum depression, their children are more at risk for child development problems. fathers are more likely to suffer from depression, and parents …

The Investment Gap: An Exploration Of Why So Few Women Study Finance At Brigham Young University, Elizabeth Anne Pearson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis explores the root cause of the systemic underrepresentation of women in the finance industry by investigating why so few women choose to study finance in college. It looks in depth at why there is a low percentage of women that graduate in finance from Brigham Young University each year by analyzing the survey responses of women in business majors across the Marriott School. The thesis discusses three areas of solutions for greater mentorship, transparency, and exposure that can be implemented through five actionable steps to help shift the dynamic of representation. While I do not aim to make …

Bending The Arc Of Politics Toward Zion Voices From Mormon Women For Ethical Government, Jennifer Walker Thomas, Emma Petty Addams

BYU Studies Quarterly

At the conclusion of the Montgomery bus boycott in 1956, Martin Luther King Jr. paraphrased the words of Theodore Parker to situate small battles for justice within a larger movement toward God’s ideal

world. Parker, a Boston abolitionist, beautifully described the ache of discipleship that results when spirits reach for worlds they cannot quite see: “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience.

And from what I …

Violence Against Refugee Women In The Mena Region, Genevieve Cole, Harriet Huang

Ballard Brief

Refugee women of the Middle East North Africa (MENA) Region are exposed to violence in a variety of ways along their refugee journey. Once within refugee camps, refugee women face high risk spaces for violence, inhibited privacy, as well as unequal gender based power relations between themselves and predominantly male staff. Outside of refugee camps, lack of and improper implementation of cross-border policies allow trafficking networks, authority figures, and other perpetrators of GBV to harm refugee women without fear of repercussions. Victims of GBV can experience a variety of short and long term physical and mental health concerns that can …

Lack Of Access To Maternal Healthcare In Sub-Saharan Africa, Sierra Flake

Ballard Brief

Maternal healthcare provides essential care to keep women and newborns healthy during pre-birth visits, delivery, and after birth. In Sub-Saharan Africa, factors inhibiting women from receiving quality maternal care include distance, poverty, quality of maternal healthcare, family dynamics, and cultural beliefs. Lack of access to maternal healthcare has led to severe maternal and neonatal mortality, morbidity, and lack of family planning in Sub-Saharan Africa. Though lack of maternal healthcare is still an issue, significant improvement has been made since 2000 due to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Midwifery and mobile outreach services for family planning are prime examples of practices …

Intimate Partner Violence Against Women In Uganda, Mary Claire Eyre

Ballard Brief

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major issue in sub-Saharan Africa. particularly in the country of Uganda. Three major types of IPV have been identified in Uganda: intimate partner physical violence. intimate partner emotional violence. and intimate partner sexual violence. Sixty-five percent of women in Uganda report experiencing at least one of these types of IPV. The major contributing factors to IPV in Uganda include cultural attitudes about violence among both women and men and patriarchal behaviors among men. Bride price, or the exchange of goods for a bride. and male alcohol abuse also raise rates of IPV among women. …

An Investigation Of The Impact Gender-Specific Course Grouping Has On Female Middle-School Students' Concept Of And Interests Toward Technology And Engineering, Thomas Broderick Walsh

Theses and Dissertations

Attempts to improve retention, interest, and enrollment of females in Technology & Engineering Education courses have included a variety of approaches including female-only classes. However, the implications of such courses have not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, an investigation of female-only classes was undertaken; the findings revealed that the overall enrollment of females went up in the course and in subsequent classes, these students maintained their interests and attitudes towards Technology and Engineering, their perceptions of an engineer's gender changed from that of mostly male to mostly female, and their concepts of what an engineer does changed from mostly building or …

Balance In Diversity: Increasing Women In The Workplace, Megan Mcdonnell

Marriott Student Review

Businesses need women. Companies with women in leadership are more productive and profitable. No path is easy, but experts have found a few key ways to attract—and keep—women. The first step is to create a culture of diversity at the company. But this alone is not enough; the company must present this culture when attracting new talent. Then, a company can better maintain this culture by increasing the number of women in leadership roles. By focusing on these steps to change the culture both in practice and in image, companies are ensuring a successful future ahead.

Lack Of Female Representation In Peace Processes In The Mena Region, Mckenna Swindle

Ballard Brief

Peace negotiations are used throughout the world to resolve interstate conflict and have been heralded as the most effective way to address armed conflict between countries. However, in the MENA region, women have sparsely been included in most peace processes. The cultural attitudes toward women in the region and their minor representation in both the political and workplace spheres hinder their involvement in these processes. Without women's inclusion. it is likely that the process of negotiation will be stalled, the agreements will be less effectively implemented, and the provisions will be less inclusive of women and other minority groups. Local …

Lack Of Menstrual Hygiene Management Among Women And Girls In East Africa, Lizzie Kearon

Ballard Brief

Women and girls in East Africa, as well as many other parts of the world, live in a culture where menstruation and reproductive health are not discussed. This is because menstruation and anything related to it is considered taboo. Both women and girls often do not understand the reproductive cycle of their bodies or know how to manage their menstruation. Girls commonly miss or drop out of school because they do not understand what is happening to them or are unaware of how to hygienically manage their natural cycle. The issue is perpetuated by menstrual hygiene products being expensive and …

Teaching Premodern Women And Gender, Lucy C. Barnhouse

Quidditas

In her influential History Matters: Patriarchy and the Challenge of Feminism, Judith Bennett asked “Who’s afraid of the distant past?” Fifteen years after this book’s publication, the question remains relevant. Teaching the history of women and gender in the premodern world presents linked pedagogical challenges. Most students enter college with little to no background in premodern history. Many find premodern primary sources, when taught with the same pedagogical scaffolding as modern sources, inaccessible due to real or perceived strangeness. These challenges can be compounded by the challenges of teaching women’s and/or gender history. This roundtable addresses strategies for productive …

Visualizing Women: Teaching Modern Images And Medieval Texts About Pre-Modern Women, Esther Liberman Cuenca

Quidditas

This paper examines two visual texts for teaching a course called “Saints, Wives and Witches” at the University of Houston-Victoria: Jennifer A. Rea’s graphic novel Perpetua’s Journey (Oxford, 2018), which illustrates the eponymous North African martyr’s third-century prison diary, and the film Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen (2009), directed by Margarethe von Trotta, who drew on feminist readings of Hildegard of Bingen’s writings for the purposes of dramatization. The course itself followed a chronology that took students from antiquity to the early modern period and was divided into thematic units that highlighted women’s intersecting identities with regards …