Digital Commons Network^™

Memento Mori And Other Stories, Abigail Arnold

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Memento Mori and Other Stories follows historical characters straining against societal norms and pushing back against gender roles as they struggle for personal independence.

Unequal And Unfair: Free Riding In One-Shot Interactions, Mary Kathryn Mcdougal

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

According to social psychologists, we as a species are inequity averse. We prefer conditions that foster fairness and reject injustice against common good. At the same time, however, unequal power and status hierarchies color almost every aspect of our lives. Advantages are distributed asymmetrically based on hierarchical status processes. Life, in other words, is systematically unfair in addition to being populated by free riders. Are the outcomes of potential free riders correlated with status as well? Does status affect the individual’s ability to successfully free ride? Are higher status actors typically granted a greater degree of social leniency than lower …

Happy Trails, Elizabeth A. Derby

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

My work uses hair as both a subject depicted in drawings, paintings, and prints; as well as a medium for sculpture, installation, and video created with synthetic hair pieces and wigs. I am interested in deconstructing gendered codes of appearance, and visions of the ideal woman and man as objects. I remove all identifiable traits from my characters, apart from their hair which appears to be consuming or erasing them. In doing so, I force the people viewing my work to rely on cultural stereotypes associated with hair to identify my characters. My work is heavily influenced by Drag culture …

"It's No Life Being A Steer": Violence, Masculinity, And Gender Performance In The Sun Also Rises And In Our Time, Brock J. Thibodaux

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Nearly all discussions of Hemingway and his work touch on the theme of masculinity, a recurrent theme in all of his works. Examinations of Hemingway and his relationship to masculinity have almost unanimously treated the author as a misogynist and a champion of violent masculinity. However, since the posthumous publication of The Garden of Eden in 1986, there has been much discussion of Hemingway’s uncharacteristic use of androgynous characters in the novel. Critics have taken this as a clue that Hemingway possessed a complex attitude regarding gender fluidity, but have failed to examine the constructions of gender and identity in …

E To Em, Elizabeth M. Hogan

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

A poetry thesis exploring subjects of gender identity, sexuality, socialization, writing, and craft, and including a preface that credits Emily Dickinson and Adrienne Rich as primary influences. One-third of the manuscript features epistolary prose poems in conversation with Dickinson, while the remaining portion contains poetry written in either free verse, traditional poetic form, or field composition.

Crescent City Nightingales: Gender, Race, Class And The Professionalization Of Nursing For Women In New Orleans, Louisiana, 1881-1950, Paula A. Fortier

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Through the examination of primary sources largely overlooked by historians, this dissertation traces the professionalization of nursing in New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1881 to 1950 while placing this localized history within the context of national trends. In the late nineteenth century, nursing developed into a middle class profession for women inspired by the careers of Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton. This dissertation investigates the process by which women became professional nurses while a complex intersection of issues related to gender, race, and class at times advanced, and at other times, hindered their progress towards professionalization. New Orleans serves as a …

Gender Perceptions Of Administrative Team Members Regarding Secondary Principals' Leadership Actions And Behaviors In Managing Change, Shannon L. Verrett

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

This cross-sectional survey study investigated middle and high school administrative team members’ leadership classifications and perceptions of secondary principals’ leadership actions and behaviors in the context of change and to what extent these perceptions are gender specific. In addition to gender, the study also examined the impact of race/ethnicity, age, campus level, length of employment in the district, length of time working with the principal, and closeness to the principals on leadership actions and behaviors. The results of the study are intended to highlight the importance and value of feminine-inspired leadership approaches and administrative team members’ perspectives of leadership …

“'They Was Things Past The Tellin’: A Reconsideration Of Sexuality And Memory In The Ex-Slave Narratives Of The Federal Writers’ Project", Lynn Cowles Wartberg

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In 1936, Federal Writers’ Project (FWP) employees began interviewing formerly enslaved men and women, allowing them to speak publicly of their experiences under slavery. Defying racism and the repressions of Jim Crow, ex-slaves discussed intimate details of their lives. Many researchers considered these interviews unreliable, but if viewed through the lens of gender and analyzed using recent scholarship on slavery and sexuality, FWP interviews offer new insights into the lives of enslaved men and women. Using a small number of ex-slave interviews, most of them drawn from Louisiana, this thesis demonstrates the value of these oral histories for understanding the …

“Bury Your Head Between My Knees And Seek Pardon”: Gender, Sexuality, And National Conflict In John Okada’S No-No Boy, Patricia A. Thomas

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In “‘Bury Your Head Between My Knees and Seek Pardon’: Gender, Sexuality, and National Conflict in John Okada’s 1957 novel, No-No Boy,” I analyze the ways in which the complexities of gendered sexuality expressed by protagonist Ichiro Yamada intersect with post-World War II and Internment-era national identifications for American nisei. I demonstrate that this apparent story of one man’s pursuit to resolve his conflict over national identity is, in reality, a tour de force of literary subversion that not only destabilizes the subterfuge that surrounded internment but also—in its deliberate failure to resolve questions of national conflict on the …

Racial Reproductive Control Logics And The Reproductive Justice Movement, Nicole Jolly

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The reproductive justice movement gives a voice and representation to women of color whose experience of reproductive control is impacted by intersecting layers of oppression. This thesis uses an intersectional approach to develop the concept of racial reproductive control logics, which describes the relationship between racial logics and racial patterns of reproductive control. The study uses qualitative interviews and content analysis of organizational material to explore how the reproductive justice movement is influenced by racial reproductive control logics.

"Against My Destiny": Reading An Italian Immigrant's Memoir In The Early 20th-Century South, Bethany Santucci

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Giuseppe Emilio Rocconi's life narrative, The Story of My Life (1958), represents the hardships of immigration and assimilation through meditations on home, family, and religion. I read his narrative in contrast with white elite narratives that express nostalgia for sharecropping and the segregation era. I see his narrative as a reflection upon the costs of integrating into the white patriarchal economy and his sense of being neither fully Italian nor fully American.

An Enlarging Influence: Women Of New Orleans, Julia Ward Howe, And The Woman's Department At The Cotton Centennial Exposition, 1884-1885, Miki Pfeffer

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the first Woman's Department at a World's Fair in the Deep South. It documents conflicts and reconciliations and the reassessments that post-bellum women made during the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition in New Orleans, the region's foremost but atypical city. It traces local women's resistance to the appointment of northern abolitionist and suffragist, Julia Ward Howe, for this “New South” event of 1884-1885. It also notes their increasing receptivity to national causes that Susan B. Anthony, Frances E. Willard, and others brought to the South, sometimes for the first time. This dissertation assesses the historical forces …

Perceptions Of The Glass Ceiling Effect In Community Colleges, Cheryl Myers

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the existence of a glass ceiling effect within community colleges by examining faculty, staff and administrator's perceptions of a glass ceiling as it relates to the advancement of women at their institutions. This was done by using a cross-sectional survey administered electronically to faculty, staff and administrators in community colleges in the United States who were members of the American Association of Community Colleges. Four hundred fifty seven participants provided responses for the study. Results of ANOVA of perceptions of facilitators and barriers to advancement revealed there was a significant difference in …

An Examination Of Faculty Satisfaction At Two-Year Higher Education Institutions, Nancy Kinchen

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Part-time faculty members represent the majority of faculty at public two-year postsecondary institutions. Utilizing part-time faculty enables two-year institutions to control their instructional costs and maintain scheduling flexibility. However, part-time faculty are diverse in regards to their employment preference, some prefer part-time employment while others would prefer a full-time position. Since retaining and attracting qualified and experienced part-time faculty members is essential, it is imperative that their satisfaction be understood. This study uses the 2004 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF: 04) to study faculty satisfaction. Faculty was disaggregated according to employment preference into full-time, involuntary part-time, and voluntary part-time …

The Feminine Representation Of Booker T. Washington And W.E.B. Dubois In Langston Hughes' Not Without Laughter, Matthew Mosley

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Langston Hughes' novel Not Without Laughter works within the historically narrow framework of African American uplift ideology. Hughes implies Booker T. Washington's racial uplift ideology from Up From Slavery within Aunt Hager Williams. In addition, Hughes implies W.E.B. DuBois' racial uplift ideology from Souls of Black Folk within Tempy Siles. In both characters, he criticizes the ideologies. In addition, the ideologies work toward an initial construction of masculinity for Sandy, the protagonist, and ultimately undermine an argument for gender equality.

Everyday Lived-Experiences And The Domain Of The Sexual As Explored By Four Physically Disabled Women, Ashley Maria Volion

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an exploratory study of the everyday lives of four women with various physical disabilities and how these women came to view themselves as sexual beings. Using an intersectional analysis and in-depth interviews, it examines these women's perceptions of expectations of normalcy in regard to life style, body image, and sexual practices, especially the expectations of their able-bodied family members and friends. It also explores how these disabled women deal with the stigmas they encounter in their everyday lives. Special attention is focused on how disabled people are often viewed as asexual or without sexual desires. By contrast, …

Gender At Work: The Role Of Habitus And Gender-Performance In Service Industry Occupations, Laura Dean-Shapiro

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between gender roles and habitus in service industry occupations. It draws primarily from the works of Pierre Bourdieu and Judith Butler. Data includes an exploratory focus group, non-participant observations and interviews with women currently or formerly employed as bartenders, bar backs, servers, or hostesses. The main themes that emerged included how habitus is affected by views of employment, drug and alcohol use, the naturalization of gender roles, and the effect of appearance standards. This study supports previous feminist works that posit that gender as a performance, not a biological trait. Further this performance is used …

Redefining Responsibility: Welfare Reform, Low-Income African American Mothers, And Children With Disabilities, Michelle Magee Balot

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Mothers of children with disabilities face a variety of problems compared to other mothers, but their experiences are not universal. This thesis provides a critical analysis of caregiving and disability by examining the experiences of a group of low-income African American mothers with children with disabilities. It explores the impacts of race, class, gender, and disability on mothers' experiences in the context of conflicting employment and caregiving demands for poor women. Drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with ten low-income African American mothers of children with disabilities, I illustrate how the struggles of raising a child with a disability are amplified …

Stigma, Surgery And Social Identity: Attitudes Towards Cosmetic And Sexual Reassignment Surgeries, Cheryl Mayeux

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses a combination of vignettes and interviews to explore social approval of cosmetic and sexual reassignment surgeries as a means of studying sex and gender in contemporary society. It draws from poststructuralist, queer, symbolic interactionist and intersectionality theories. This study found that social approval was higher for normative surgeries than for non-normative surgeries. The main themes that emerged in regard to social approval were respondents‘ religious beliefs, their social distance from a person undergoing surgery, their concerns with possible risks or complications, and their views on an individual‘s right to control their own body. Underlying the vast majority …

Maternity Leave Policy In U.S. Police Departments And School Districts: The Impact Of Descriptive And Social Group Representation In A Context Of Gendered Institutions, Corina S. Schulze

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

United States federal law regulating leaves of absence for maternity-related purposes pales in comparison to other nations' policies, an observation only recently receiving attention from political scientists. Providing an understanding of how maternity leave is handled by individual organizations in the United States only, a quantitative study is conducted that examines local variation in policy formulation. Employee leave due to maternity is primarily a women's issue and its treatment will vary depending on the socio-political context that the policy dictating the leave is found in. Three main determinants of a policy's level of comprehensiveness are identified as being the political …

Gendered Representations Of Jazz Vocal Artists: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Cd And Performance Reviews, And Interviews, Miroslava Jichova

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study of contemporary jazz discourse and gender applies the techniques of critical discourse analysis, inspired by M.A.K. Halliday's systemic functional linguistics and Norman Fairclough's qualitative critical discourse analysis, to explicate the unequal distribution of power in society as represented by the institutions of jazz and mass media, in discourse about jazz vocal artists. Specifically, the study focuses on the way the genres of jazz CD review, jazz performance review, and interviews with jazz artists – disseminated via the institutions JazzTimes and Live New Orleans – represent the artists' identities, roles, achievements and skills. Following Norman Fairclough and the feminist …

Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales: Rhetoric And Gender In Marriage, Andrea Marcotte

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In the Middle Ages, marriage represented a shift in the balance of power for both men and women. Struggling to define what constitutes the ideal marriage in medieval society, the marriage group of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales attempts to reconcile the ongoing battle for sovereignty between husband and wife. Existing hierarchies restricted women; therefore, marriage fittingly presented more obstacles for women. Chaucer creates the dynamic personalities of the Wife of Bath, the Clerk and the Merchant to debate marriage intelligently while citing their experiences within marriage in their prologues. The rhetorical device of ethos plays a significant role for …

Exploration Of The Socialization Process Of Female Leaders In Counselor Education, Lea Randle Flowers

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Higher education literature, has several contributions that pertain to mentoring styles in academia, female faculty, gender and leadership, and recruitment and retention of women and minorities in academia. However, specific references that lend voice to the experiences of female counselor educators in the context of their career paths and patterns are scant(Hill, Leinbaugh, Bradley,& Hazler, 2005). This qualitative investigation explored the socialization process of 8 female leaders in counselor education from throughout the United States utilizing grounded theory methods. The primary theme of socialization was organized into three main categories, (a) childhood socialization, (b) anticipatory socialization (Van Mannen, 1976), and …

Race And Gender Differences In Two Sanctioning Strategies For Juvenile Offenders, Chantrelle Varnado

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests that decision-makers often use demographic characteristics for the purpose of influencing the sanctioning strategy allocated. The research study examines the extent to which the sanctioning strategies allocated are influenced by race and gender. The research is based on data gathered from Jefferson Parish Juvenile Services Department of Probation used to examine how race and gender influence juvenile sanctioning strategy allocation. The results from the discriminant analysis offers support for the argument that due to stereotypical perceptions on the part of decision makers, members of minority groups, in particular females may receive differential treatment than their white male counterparts. …