Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Voices Made (M)Other, Lizbett Benge

MAIS Projects and Theses

Voices Made (M)other is a theatrical project I created consisting of two original short plays, Momologues and ILL. This interdisciplinary project combines motherhood studies, feminist studies, whiteness studies, and theatre. One cannot have political change without revolutionizing each individual; and so I am sharing the process behind creating ILL, an autobiographical play tracing events throughout my motherline, to demonstrate the ways in which this project has helped create a more nuanced version of motherhood that incorporates mental illness, maternal abuse, and healing from trauma. This project builds upon the theory of empowered mothering (O’Reilly, 2006) by which society begins looking …

To Hell... And Back? An Examination Feminism And Its Consequences, Kaylee Mahaffey

Senior Theses

The goal of this thesis is to give an in depth analysis of the feminist movement and the effects it has had on society and the family unit. The first portion of the thesis will be allotted to a historical account of the feminist movement and the various feminist theories that it spawned throughout the three waves of the movement. After the account of the movement itself, a description of the four categories of feminist ideologies will be explained and mildly critiqued. Once the historical stage has been set, a thorough criticism feminism will be performed and particular emphasis will …

Feminist Stereotypes: Communal Vs. Agentic, Emily R. Lindburg

Scripps Senior Theses

This study examined relationships between facial appearance, gender-linked traits, and feminist stereotypes. Naïve college students rated traits based on facial appearance of female CEO's whose companies appeared in the Forbes 1000 list. The photos of each female CEO (n=35) were randomly combined with two descriptive identifiers; an occupation (n=9) and an interest area (n=9), including 'feminist'. Participants then rated the head shots of the CEO's on a 7 point Likert scale of communal (expected feminine) traits like attractiveness, warmth, compassion and cooperativeness, and on agentic (expected masculine) traits like ambition, leadership ability and intelligence. If college students hold negative stereotypes …

“I’M A Jesus Feminist”: Understandings Of Faith, Gender, And Feminism Among Christian Women, Megan Pritchett

Scripps Senior Theses

The emergence of the Christian Right and the feminist movement in the mid-to-late 20th century have had a significant impact on the political, psychological, and social landscape of the U.S., and this is especially true for Christian women who sit at the cross-roads of these movements. To understand the context surrounding this group, I examine different areas of sociological literature: the primacy of gender and religion in identity formation, Christian marriage and gender roles, the “culture wars” of the Christian Right, and a brief overview of feminist theory. Utilizing qualitative research methods, I interviewed 13 self-identified Christian women to learn …

An Autoethnographical Tapestry Of Feminist Reflection On My Journey Of A Fitness Model Physique, Stephanie A. Paplinskie

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Weight training and fitness competitions are increasingly popular activities for many women seeking an aesthetically fit body. This thesis entails a critical reflection of the various factors surrounding my personal decision to partake in body sculpting, examining how these factors parallel the experience of other women in the fitness industry. Using a feminist theoretical framework and autoethnography, a history of feminist theory is incorporated to demonstrate some of the various perspectives surrounding women bodies. Two challenges for women are discussed in this paper: i) the fear of fat, and how it is connected to a woman’s initial decision to attend …

Claiming Citizenship: Las Vegas' Conventional Women's Organizations Establishing Citizenship Through Civic Engagement, Cynthia Cicero

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many historians of American women portray women's organized civic engagement and work to attain social, economic, and legal equality as feminism. American feminism has been expanded and applied in scholarship. The American feminists of the 1960s wanted to alter the male power structure and redefine conventional notions of womanhood. However, many middle-class women who participated in community and civic organizations valued their roles as wives, mothers, and homemakers, expressing their citizenship and community work as an extension of these roles. Their motivation in pursuing equality was to gain full citizenship status.

In this thesis, I argue that viewing women's civic …

Gay Emerging Adult Dating In College: A Feminist Grounded Theory Exploration, Kathryn Alexandra Conrad

Masters Theses

Research on intimate relationships has mushroomed as the definitions, practices, and contexts for dating change across generations. As an often overlooked population, sexual minorities (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered individuals) have received increased scholarly attention within the social and family science research. Whereas this increased attention is warranted, still a lack of research exists regarding dating and romantic relationships among sexual minorities, particularly during emerging adulthood (ages 18-25). The purpose of this study was to explore the definitions, processes, and contexts for dating among a small, same-sex oriented sample of emerging adults (aged 18-25) currently enrolled in a large southeastern university …

A Historical And Analytical Study Of Feminization In The Field Of Public Relations, Taylor U. (Flumerfelt) Beatty

Selected Honors Theses

The origin of the public relations field can be traced back more than 1,000 years. The use of its basic concepts can be seen throughout history, and increased in the 19th and 20th centuries. Until the mid-1900s, the field was largely comprised of men. World War II spurred the beginning of the feminization process, which caused public relations to experience a large influx of women. The number of female practitioners has since continued to increase. Even though feminization occurred and the field is now largely female-dominated, female practitioners experience a wide variety of gender inequalities in social, professional and economic …

We Came! We Stripped! We Conquered! The Sextremist Feminists Of Femen In Ukrainian Historical Context And Contemporary Controversy, Jayeon Kim

Honors Theses

In 2008, Anna Hutsol, an economist by training, founded feminist organization FEMEN (Megginson 2011). Comprised mostly of university-educated women, FEMEN has received international media coverage, encountered controversy, and received death threats for their topless protests. For their activism, French magazine Madame Figaro ranked one of the founding members Inna Schevchenko on the 13^th position in their list of Women of the Year (Madame Figaro 2012). They have delivered lectures on their movement at international forums and universities. FEMEN now has chapters in Brazil, Tunisia, France and Germany. FEMEN activists attribute their visibility to “sextremism,” their tactic of using the …

"Nudge A Mexican And She Or He Will Break Out With A Story": Complicating Mexican Immigrant Masculinities Through Counternarrative Storytelling, Berenice Villela

Scripps Senior Theses

In this thesis, I explore Latino masculinities and contest their uniformity through transforming an oral history conducted with my father into a collection of short stories. Following storytelling traditions of Latino/Mexican culture, I converted an oral history interviews with my dad into a collection of short stories. From these short stories I extracted themes relating to the micro and macro manifestations of gender policing. Drawing from Judith Butler's Theory of performativity and Gloria Anzaldua's theory of Borderland identities, I rethink masculinity and offer Jose Esteban Munoz's theory of disidentification. With these theories in conversation, I analyze the themes of the …

Flowers In The Trenches : The Experiences Of Women In The Landscaping Profession, Paul E. Calarco, Jr.

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This research project aims to provide an in-depth analysis of women in the landscaping field. It is important to expand on the literature on nontraditional blue-collar occupations, as more women are moving into these jobs in this 21st century. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (2001), the landscape and horticultural services industry is ranked 11th in the top twenty fastest growing service industries, almost two times the average for job growth. This occupation represents a significant, viable and fruitful arena for sociological investigation, as well a fantastic occupational option for women.

Uncertain Surrenders: The Coexistence Of Beauty And Menace In The Maternal Bond And Photography, Toni Wilkinson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This creative inquiry is grounded in my maternal experiences and situated within a feminist approach to photography that develops a discussion of maternal passion and acknowledges the conflicting dynamics of the maternal relationship. The research includes a book of photographs of my children, Georgia and Henry, titled Uncertain surrenders, and a written component explicating the theoretical imperatives that motivated the project. I suggest that the coexistence of beauty and menace within the photographic portraits exquisitely represents the complexity of maternal passion. Julia Kristeva (2005) says, “we lack a reflection on maternal passion” in Western culture because it is an ambiguous …

For The Benefit Of Others: Harriet Martineau: Feminist, Abolitionist And Travel Writer, Laura J. Labovitz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

One of the distinctive and remarkable traits of Harriet Martineau was her need to publish information that she believed would benefit society. Her publications - Illustrations of Political Economy (1832), Society in America (1837) and Retrospect of Western Travel (1838) - have the distinct characteristic of being published with the intent to inform and educate the British public. Scholars have focused on her later 1848 publication, Eastern Life: Present and Past, as her most important publication. Yet I will argue that it was her earlier works which set the stage for this later, better known book. Her travel to the …

Sexually Explicit, Socially Empowered: Sexual Liberation And Feminist Discourse In 1960s Playboy And Cosmopolitan, Lina Salete Chaves

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I provide an analysis of 1960s American popular culture by examining Playboy, "The Playboy Philosophy," Cosmopolitan, and Sex and the Single Girl. These cultural artifacts furthered the feminist movement by challenging gender structures and sexuality. I discuss how these publications focused on the advancement of the individual through careerism, consumerism and sexuality. These publications assisted in challenging and breaking down various aspects of gender and sexual boundaries and assisted in reworking social limitations that kept women from advancing themselves outside of the pre-set gender roles of domesticity. Regardless of the traditional feminist critique of …

Family Choices For The Career Woman In The Twenty-First Century, Gianna M. Koné

Theses and Graduate Projects

This study poses the question, "ls it possible for the twenty-first century woman to successfully integrate career and family, and if so, how?" Feminine identity, role, and fulfillment are changing and continue to transform in modern society. Today the twenty-first century woman struggles to integrate career, family, and home successfully while understanding the passion or driving force in her life. This research explores gender roles in order to understand, update, and find order in a chaotic world. Feminist thought and chaos theory are examined to see whether or not it is possible to integrate family and career in the new …

Survival Feminists: Identifying War’S Impact On The Roles Of Vietnamese Refugee Women, W. Cory Albertson

Sociology Theses

Although the Vietnam War has long passed, it still defines the lives of many Vietnamese refugee women who endured its aftermath. This thesis examines how war and the refugee process has shaped the memories and changed the roles of Vietnamese refugee women age 55 and older. Based on 10 life history interviews with Vietnamese women living in Atlanta, this study finds they structured their narratives by awarding the period after the Vietnam War with the most prominence. Also, the research shows the greatest amount of role change and role strain occurred during this time. With the absence of their husbands …

The Quest For Identity: Human Rights In The Aftermath Of El Proceso In Argentina, Jennifer F. Dalenta

Honors Theses

My thesis involves an analytical study of the Madres and the Abuelas of the Plaza de Mayo and a documentary on these two human rights groups framed around the issues of identity and human rights and their importance for all individuals in both a political and personal respect. Through my research, I concluded that the Madres must be conceptualized as a revolutionary organization that combines both feminine and feminist elements in order to achieve its ultimate goals. I argue that the Madres must be interpreted and understood as a combination of these two frameworks, and that due to the complexity …

Academic Libraries As Feminine And Feminist Models Of Organization., Marie F. Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Because academic libraries are primarily staffed by women and are relatively autonomous entities in colleges and universities, they offer a unique model of workplace gendering and feminism. This qualitative, ethnographic study examined 3 small college libraries in 3 regions of the United States and explored issues of bureaucracy and gendering in these libraries. Feminist challenges to bureaucracy emerged in the areas of hierarchy, division of labor, competition and collaboration, decision-making, and communication. Feminine practice in the libraries reflected private sphere attitudes toward work (values of community, emotionality, and caring) and an affirmation of feminine roles in the workplace. The organizational …

Family In The Church Latter-Day Saint Doctrine Regarding Family And Gender, Amber Jean Seidel

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

To discover the compatibility of traditional Christianity and mainstream feminism, a content analysis was performed on confirmed sources of doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Through systematic reading and identifying themes of God and the Bible, gender role separation, patriarchy, or domestic violence, an analysis of pertinent feminist criticisms was performed. Latter-day Saint doctrine of family includes the following statements: (1) there is a Heavenly Mother as a divine partner to Heavenly Father, (2) the Bible contains errors regarding respect toward women, (3) women need to be active in education, home, and community, (4) men should …

Opting Out Of Oppositionality : Toward An Informed And Engaged "Third Wave" Feminism, Amanda Ashman

Senior Scholar Papers

I begin by citing a definition of "third wave" from the glossary in Turbo Chicks: Talking Young Feminisms at length because it communicates several key issues that I develop in this project. The definition introduces a tension within "third wave" feminism of building and differentiating itself from second wave feminism, the newness of the term "third wave," its association with "young" women, complexity of contemporary feminisms, and attention to multiple identities and oppressions. Uncovering explanations of "third wave" feminism that go beyond, like this one, generational associations, is not an easy task. Authors consistently group new feminist voices together by …

The Content And Process Of Women’S Decision-Making Viewed Through The Lenses Of Feminine/Feminist Ethics And Roman Catholicism, Nancy Parent Bancroft

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to expand the understanding of ethical decision-making by contributing women’s experiences and thoughts to the issue. Fifty women shared a decision that they had made or were in the process of making having to do with their health or reproductive life. The research method of phenomenology was used with the women in the semi-structured interviews in an attempt to capture the meaning that they gave both to what they paid attention to and to the process that they used in arriving at their decisions. After researchers gained as clear a rendering as possible of …

Feminist Social Research: Epistemological And Methodological Implications, Molly Moloney

Honors Papers

In this paper I examine some of the primary debates in feminist epistemology, with a particular emphasis on postmodern epistemological positions, asking what these mean for doing research. One central question I ask is 'what role should the concept of objectivity have in feminist sociological research?' I argue for a reformulation of the concept of objectivity that, sympathetic with feminist postmodernism, rejects the ideal of value-neutrality in research, but that also rejects relativism and subjectivism. Keeping these debates in mind, I will examine debates regarding feminist methodology and the question of whether or not there is a specific feminist method …

Christian Feminist Publications And Structures Of Constraint: A Comparison Of Daughters Of Sarah And Exponent Ii Within The Contexts Of Neo-Evangelicalism And Mormonism, Sasha S. Cluff

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses content analysis to compare two conservative Christian feminist publications: Daughters of Sarah, produced by neo-evangelical feminists, and Exponent II, produced by Mormon feminists. Findings are based on insights from three main theories: Debra Minkoff's organization-environment perspective, Nancy Folbre's model of collective action based on structures of constraint, and the church-sect typology from the sociology of religion literature. Although both organizations similarly endeavor to integrate feminist and religious identities, the loose boundaries of evangelicalism allow Daughters of Sarah to explore a more liberal feminist agenda and interact with broader feminist sources while still remaining within the …

Differences Between Feminists And Traditionalists In Sexual Communication, Attitudes, And Practices, Elizabeth L. Evans

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Variables Affecting Married Women's Attitudes Toward The Women's Movement, Stephanie Obarr

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Moral Development And The Women's Liberation Movement, Sidney Goodman

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

The Women's Liberation Movement And Identity Change : An Urban Pilot Study, Molly M. Doeneka

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if participation in Women's Liberation results in identity change in the individual participants. As a pilot study, it examines the characteristic experiences of a study group of twenty-six local participants and compares the effects of their participation with a theoretical model of identity change process proposed by Ward H. Goodenough in Cooperation in Change. According to this model the process of identity change is a consequence of specific kinds of realizations fostered by a series of definable stages which are: 1) achieving a desire for identity change, 2) making a commitment to …