Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

“Nothing To Do But Be Borne And Steered”: Unpacking Feminist Scripts In Elana Arnold’S Damsel, Jenna Spiering, Nicole Ann Amato

Faculty Publications

Feminism in novels marketed for young adults often reflects the values of a popular feminism that relies on individual and personal means of empowerment, rather than critiquing or seeking to dismantle systems of domination. In this paper, we illumminate frameworks and methods for engaging students in careful readings and evaluations of texts marketed as feminist, through an analysis of Elana Arnold’s feminist fairy tale, Damsel (2018). Drawing on theoretical frameworks of popular feminism, feral feminism, and theories of becoming, the authors use Critical Content Anlaysis to explore several tenets in contemporary feminist thought in order to analyze Arnold’s text and …

‘Access Necessitates Being Seen’: Queer Visibility And Intersectional Embodiment Within The Health Information Practices Of Queer Community Leaders, Travis L. Wagner, Vanessa Kitzie

Faculty Publications

Navigating healthcare infrastructures is particularly challenging for queer-identifying individuals, with significant barriers emerging around stigma and practitioner ignorance. Further intersecting, historically marginalised identities such as one’s race, age or ability exacerbate such engagement with healthcare, particularly the access to and use of reliable and appropriate health information. We explore the salience of one’s queer identity relative to other embodied identities when navigating health information and care for themselves and their communities. Thirty semi-structured interviews with queer community leaders from South Carolina inform our discussion of the role one’s queer visibility plays relational to the visibility of other identities. We find …

Ugandan Adolescents’ Descriptive Gender Stereotypes About Domestic And Recreational Activities, And Attitudes About Women, Flora Farago, Natalie Eggum-Wilkens, Linlin Zhang

Faculty Publications

In Eastern Uganda, 201 adolescents aged 11- to 17-years old (48% girls; M_age = 14.62) answered close- and open-ended questions about gender stereotypes of domestic and recreational activities and gender-role attitudes about women’s behavior, rights, and roles. Adolescents answered questions such as “who is more likely to . . .?” assessing descriptive stereotypes (i.e., stereotype knowledge) and questions such as “is it ok for women to . . .?” assessing prescriptive stereotypes (i.e., stereotype endorsement) about gender roles. Data were analyzed via descriptive statistics, correlations, and thematic coding. Findings indicate that Ugandan adolescents were fairly egalitarian in some domains …

“When Someone Sees Me, I Am Nothing Of The Norm”: Examining The Discursive Role Power Plays In Shaping Lgbtq+ Health Information Practices, Vanessa L. Kitzie, Travis L. Wagner, A. Nick Vera

Faculty Publications

This paper examines how discursive power shapes LGBTQ+ community health information practices. Informed by analysis of 10 information world maps drawn by SC LGBTQ+ community leaders, our findings indicate that while community can be a valuable construct to reject mainstream discourses of regulation and correction, it inevitably is fraught and not representative of all LGBTQ+ individuals. Findings can inform strategies for community leaders to facilitate more equitable information flow among members by identifying key structural elements impeding this flow at the community level.

Ugandan Adolescents’ Gender Stereotype Knowledge About Jobs, Flora Farago, Natalie D. Eggum-Wilkens, Linlin Zhang

Faculty Publications

Ugandan adolescents ages 11- to 17-years-old (N = 201; 48% girls; M _age = 14.62) answered closed- and open-ended questions about occupational gender segregation, allowing researchers to assess their gender stereotype knowledge. Adolescents answered 38 closed-ended questions such as ‘who is more likely to be a doctor?’ and were asked to list masculine, feminine, and gender-neutral jobs. Data were analyzed via descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, t-tests, and thematic coding. Findings indicated that adolescents were fairly egalitarian about jobs and there were no differences in occupational stereotype knowledge between males and females. Findings present reasons for hope and for continued …

It's Complicated: The Impact Of Marriage Legalization Among Sexual Minority Women And Gender Diverse Individuals In The United States, Laurie Drabble, Angie Wootton, Cindy Veldhuis, Ellen Perry, Ellen Riggle, Karen Trocki, Tonda Hughes

Faculty Publications

This mixed-methods study explored perceptions of the impact of marriage legalization in all U.S.states among sexual minority women and gender diverse individuals. Survey data were collectedfrom a nonprobability sample of individuals 18 years or older who identified as lesbian, bisexual,queer, same-sex attracted or something other than exclusively heterosexual—as well asindividuals who identified as transgender or gender nonbinary (for example, genderqueer, transwoman, trans man, nonbinary, or gender non-conforming). The analytic sample included 418participants in an online survey who responded to open-ended questions about the perceivedimpact of marriage legalization. Qualitative analyses revealed perceptions of marriagelegalization that situated individual meanings in the context …

“In The Beginning, It Was Little Whispers...Now, We’Re Almost A Roar”: Conceptualizing A Model For Community And Self In Lgbtq+ Health Information Practices, Vanessa Kitzie, Travis L. Wagner, Alexander N. Vera

Faculty Publications

Although LGBTQ+ populations experience significant health challenges, little research exists that investigates their health from an informational perspective. Our study addresses this gap by exploring the health information practices of LGBTQ+ communities in South Carolina, focusing on how sociocultural context shapes these practices. Thirty semi-structured interviews with South Carolina LGBTQ+ community leaders analyzed using open qualitative coding informed the development of a conceptual framework describing their information practices. Findings show that participants engaged in two broad types of practices – protective and defensive – as responses to risks and barriers experienced, which are in turn produced by social and structural …

Making Herstory: Cherokee Women's Stickball, Natalie M. Welch, Jessica Siegele, Zachary T. Smith, Robin Hardin

Faculty Publications

Cherokee stickball amongst the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is a sporting tradition that precedes written records. Historical and academic texts have focused on men’s participation in the sport. However, Cherokee women participated in their own stickball games as recent as a decade ago, and stories exist of women playing stickball in the late nineteenth century. Many in the community believe stickball should not be played by women and doubt evidence of women playing historically. Researchers sought to understand the intersectionality of gender and ethnic identity for female stickball players who took the field to play stickball at the turn …

Book Review: Abortion Rights: For And Against, Michelle Oberman, Julia D. Hejduk

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Resituating Public Library Values To Leverage The Health Information Practices Of South Carolina Lgbtq+ Communities, Vanessa Kitzie, Travis L. Wagner, Alexander N. Vera, Valerie A. Lookingbill

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

We Try To Find Something For Whatever Obstacle Might Be In Our Way": Understanding The Health Information Practices Of South Carolina Lgbtq+ Communities, Vanessa Kitzie, Travis L. Wagner, Valerie A. Lookingbill, Alexander N. Vera

Faculty Publications

Title: “We Try to Find Something for Whatever Obstacle Might be in Our Way”: Understanding the Health Information Practices of South Carolina LGBTQ+ Communities Objective: LGBTQ+ people experience health disparities compared to heterosexual, cisgender peers. Individual and systemic barriers produe these disparities. One barrier is informational, as LGBTQ+ people experience challenges when learning about their health needs, navigating the healthcare system, and overcoming obstacles to care. This paper investigates the future of libraries and the health sciences by exploring how they can address these informational barriers. Methods: This paper reports on ~30 ongoing interviews with LGBTQ+ community leaders from South …

"Like Two Beach Umbrellas Put Together": Investigating The Health Information Practices Of South Carolina Lgbtq+ Communities, Vanessa Kitzie, Travis L. Wagner, Valerie A. Lookingbill, Alexander N. Vera

Faculty Publications

This poster presents initial findings from an exploratory, qualitative study investigating the health information practices of LGBTQ+ communities in South Carolina (SC). Significant health disparities exist between LGBTQ+ people and their cisgender, heterosexual counterparts. An important but under-researched barrier producing disparities is informational, as LGBTQ+ people face challenges in learning about their healthcare needs, navigating the healthcare system, and overcoming barriers to care. This study addresses research gaps via the following questions: 1) How do LGBTQ+ communities create, seek, share, and use health information?, and 2) What social and structural factors affect these health-related information practices?Findings are informed by ~30 …

The Hidden History Of 'Oklahoma!', Daniel Pollack-Pelzner

Faculty Publications

Daniel Pollack-Pelzner explains that contemporary reinterpretations of the classic American musical Oklahoma! may be getting back to its root: it's based on a play by a gay Cherokee man.

The Role Of Hypermasculinity, Token Resistance, Rape Myth, And Assertive Sexual Consent Communication Among College Men, Autumn Shafer, Rebecca R. Ortiz, Bailey Thompson, Jennifer, Huemmer

Faculty Publications

Purpose

A greater understanding of how college men's gendered beliefs and communication styles relate to their sexual consent attitudes and intentions is essential within the shifting context of negative to affirmative consent policies on college campuses. The results of this study can be used to help design more effective sexual consent interventions.

Stories Of Scribbling Women: Hands-On Research In Book History With Women's Studies Students, Maggie Kopp

Faculty Publications

BYU Special Collections curators taught an Honors Western Civilization survey course with our collections for over two decades, but after a reboot of the Honors curriculum the course was dropped. A new opportunity arose in 2014 when the Women’s Studies program wanted to expand their offerings. But the course needed a major overhaul. This poster describes some of the changes that were made.

Addressing The Needs Of Transgender Military Veterans: Better Access And More Comprehensive Care, Michelle Dietert, Dianne Dentice, Zander Keig

Faculty Publications

Purpose: There is a gap in social science literature addressing issues of access and quality of care for transgender military veterans. Psychologists, medical doctors, and other health professionals are beginning to address some of the barriers present in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) system that affect veterans who are also transgender and intersex. Over a 7-year period, between 2006 and 2013, 2600 transgender veterans were served by the VA. Data from several surveys revealed that most transgender veterans perceive the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to be less than accommodating for their special needs. The goal of this study …

Relationship Of Religiosity And Spirituality To Hazardous Drinking, Drug Use, And Depression Among Sexual Minority Women, Laurie Drabble, Cindy Veldhuis, Barth Riley, Sharon Rostosky, Tonda Hughes

Faculty Publications

Using data from Wave 3 of the Chicago Health and Life Experiences of Women (CHLEW) study (N = 699), we explored whether religiosity and spirituality were associated with risk of hazardous drinking, drug use, and depression among sexual minority women (SMW; i.e., lesbian, bisexual) and possible differences by race/ethnicity. Participants were more likely to endorse spirituality than religiosity, and endorsement of each was highest among African American SMW. We found no protective effect of religiosity or spirituality for hazardous drinking or drug use. An association initially found between identifying as very spiritual and past-year depression disappeared when controlling for help-seeking. …

Post-Feminism For Children: Feminism ‘Repackaged’ In The Bratz Films, Sarah Anna Becker, Danielle Thomas, Michael R. Cope

Faculty Publications

After their release in 2001, Bratz dolls carved into Barbie’s previously monopolistic share of teen doll sales. Amidst their growing popularity, cultural critics expressed a host of concerns about Bratz dolls, especially over how they sexualize youth, but the line grew to include a host of products like costumes, makeup kits, games, books, clothing, and movies. It also inspired new, similar doll lines from other toy companies. In this article, we situate the Bratz’s popularity in a specific cultural moment tied to the history of modern feminism. We use a content analysis of the Bratz movie series to explore the …

Arts: Fiction And Fiction Writers: The Americas, Rachel Norman

Faculty Publications

This essay by Rachel Norman, which originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures, discusses contemporary Muslim fiction published in the United States with a particular focus on three novels: Mojha Kahf's The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf, Laila Halaby's Once in a Promised Land, and Randa Jarrar's A Map of Home.

Androgyny/Hermaphroditism: Hebrew Bible, Jennifer J. Williams

Faculty Publications

The Hebrew Bible lacks a term for androgyny or hermaphroditism. The term tumtumim, which identifies persons of indeterminate or “hidden” sex, appears later in rabbinic texts. Nevertheless, sexual fluidity, ambiguity, intersexed persons, and persons with a combination of masculine and feminine characteristics appear in the Genesis creation stories and prophetic texts. While gender transgression is relevant to the general discussion, this entry from The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Gender Studies: Oxford Biblical Studies Online focuses primarily on ancient understandings, namely those presented in the Hebrew Bible, of those of “both sexes.”

The Transgender Military Experience: Their Battle For Workplace Rights, Michelle Dietert, Dianne Dentice

Faculty Publications

Although there have been studies that focus on the experiences of the gay and lesbian population serving in the United States military, few have focused on the experience of active duty transgender service members. Transgender individuals transgress the binary conception of gender by deviating from societal gender norms associated with assigned sex at birth. The Department of Defense has set policies and standards that reflect a binary conception of gender, with a focus on conformity. We argue that able-bodied gender variant service personnel are just as capable of serving their country as anyone else. Because of the repercussions associated with …

Friendship As Method, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

“Friendship as Method,” appendix of the book In Solidarity: Friendship, Family, and Activism Beyond Gay and Straight (Routledge 2015), overviews the author's approach to and philosophy of research. She defines friendship, posits it as a kind of fieldwork, and lays the methodological foundations of friendship as method. After arguing that friendship as method involves researching with the practices, at the pace, and in the natural contexts of friendship, the author describes this approach’s strengths and considerations for both researcher and participants. To learn more, visit the book's website: http://www.insolidaritybook.com.

In Solidarity: Collaborations In Lgbtq+ Activism, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D., Kathryn L. Norsworthy

Faculty Publications

What follows is a fictional account. Our “characters” bear our real names; the other eight are composites of students we have taught and from whom we have learned; activists with whom we have worked; and staff, faculty, and administrators we have trained in venues such as Safe Zone. We portray our ally (Lisa)-lesbian (Kathryn) relationship this way for two reasons: one, we had not secured permission from real students, colleagues, or community members to represent their lives and experiences, and two, we seek a way to show our partnership, both personal and professional since 2000, in action. To each of …

In Solidarity Epilogue, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This piece offers a postscript to the book In Solidarity: Friendship, Family, and Activism Beyond Gay and Straight (Routledge, 2015).

Internationalization, Internalization, And Intersectionality Of Identity: A Critical Race Feminist Re-Images Curriculum, Theodorea Regina Berry

Faculty Publications

This poetry/paper article is a re-accounting, a poetic counterstory in curriculum, of the praxis of an African American female teacher-educator working against internalized notions of curriculum as standards by re-imagining curriculum through the lives of third grade students and her teacher education colleagues. Using critical race feminism (Berry, 2010; Berry & Mizelle, 2006; Wing, 2003) as her framework, the author will describe how she moves curriculum from internalized to connected, collective, and introspective. The author will provide her rationale for the necessity of such movements in curriculum and will conclude the paper with a discussion about the possibilities that exist …

A Prison For Others—A Burden To One's Self, Anne Collins Smith, Owen M. Smith

Faculty Publications

Women have come a long way since the mid-1960's, both in the real world and in the world of philosophy. Given the advances in society and the developments within feminism that took place between that decade and the first decade of the 21st century, we might reasonably expect the new Prisonerseries to present a more contemporary perspective on women than the original. Such is most emphatically not the case. If we compare the original Village to the new one, it looks as if those pennyfarthing wheels are spinning backwards instead of forwards.

Strengthening Services For Lgbtq Clients: Best Practice Recommendations For Rural Low-Income Service Providers, Elizabeth Holman, Ramona Oswald, Dina Izenstark, Shawn Mendez, Kimberly Greder

Faculty Publications

People who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer (LGBTQ), are more likely to be poor than heterosexualpeople. While they face the same general risk factors for poverty as others, LGBTQ people may experienceadditional discrimination in hiring, employment, and compensation, as well as face rejection from friends and family members who potentially could provide financial support in times of need. For LGBTQ people who live outside of large cities, the risk for poverty is even greater7. Thus, it is important that low-income service providers in rural communities provide culturally competent services to sexual minorities and their families.The purpose of this …

Summer Of Shrew, Part 4: Which End’S Up?, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner

Faculty Publications

In the last of a four-part series on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner explores how expanding the range of the titular Shrew to include male characters is actually a return to its original meaning. Pollack-Pelzner focuses on a long-forgotten Renaissance sequel to Shrew (John Fletcher's The Tamer Tamed) that takes the taming of men even further and turns its gender roles upside down.

Summer Of Shrew, Part 2: Tamed? Really?, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner

Faculty Publications

In the second of a four-part series on Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, Daniel Pollack-Pelzner argues that Shakespeare’s play raises challenging questions about the way we define gender roles, and the answers aren’t as obvious as they might seem.

Alcohol In The Life Narratives Of Women: Commonalities And Differences By Sexual Orientation, Laurie A. Drabble, K. Trocki

Faculty Publications

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore social representations of alcohol use among women, with a focus on possible differences between sexual minority and heterosexual women. Methods: This qualitative study was part of a larger study examining mediators of heavier drinking among sexual minority women (lesbian identified, bisexual identified, and heterosexual identified with same sex partners) compared to heterosexual women based on the National Alcohol Survey. Qualitative in-depth life history interviews were conducted over the telephone with 48 women who had participated in the 2009–2010 National Alcohol Survey, including respondents representing different sexual orientation groups. Questions explored the …