Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Adding Women To The Conversation On Safe Consumption Sites: A Qualitative Interview Study With Poor And Marginalized Women Who Use Illicit Substances, Kaitlin Waechter

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Women’s erasure from discourses pertaining to substance use and safe consumption sites (SCSs) means harm reduction efforts are developed through the male lens. This research seeks to discover why women do (or do not) access SCSs so as to determine if and how SCSs address the unique gendered needs of women who use illicit substances. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 14 women-identified individuals who use illicit substances. Participants were recruited from a non-profit organization that offers harm reduction, but is not itself a SCS in order to capture a full range of perspectives on the SCS in their community. …

Biyyaa Baanus Biyyi Nu Keessaa Hinbaatu: Changing Gender Norms And Traditional Mediation Impacts On Marriage Among Ethiopian Immigrants In Three Southwestern Ontario Cities, Dinku Korsa

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract Immigrant spouses face culture shock in the host countries because they are disconnected from their social fabric and, at the same time, must adhere to the host countries' lifestyles. One of the immigrants' spouses' challenges is the marital conflicts that arise because of changing gender norms in the host countries and the absence of family support to solve their conflicts. The purpose of this study is to examine changing gender norms and traditional meditation's impact on marriage among Ethiopian immigrants living in Kitchener, Waterloo and Guelph. The study asks overarching research question: what is the impact of changing gender …

From Tajikistan To Russia And Back: Understanding Changes In Gender Relations Through The Lived Experiences Of Tajik Migrant Workers In Russia, Tahmina Shokirova

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation is the story of Tajik migrant workers who have lived and worked in Russia. It examines how gender relations of power change in the context of labour migration through the lived experiences of the migrants. The study asks the overarching research question: How do gender relations change in the context of Tajik labour migration to Russia? Following the social constructionist epistemology, gender is framed through the lens of post-structural, intersectional, and transnational feminist theories. The study employs a conceptual framework that integrates the following into a coherent whole: feminist theories of gender relations, the general context of international …

Bridging The Gaps In Bringing In The Bystander: An Intersectional Approach To Campus-Based Sexual Violence Prevention, Anne E. Rudzinski

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This paper draws upon pilot-test data from an intersectional approach to a sexual violence prevention program on university campuses. While many programs have been created to address the sexual violence epidemic, many focus heavily on white, heterosexual, and cisgender scenarios. This research utilizes the Bringing in the Bystander® workshop, a community-based prevention initiative focused on preventing sexual violence through inspiring students to intervene in pro-social ways. In this analysis, the program maintained the same pedagogical structure, but contained a wider variety of narratives designed to include stories and scenarios about contexts relevant to the experiences of LGBTQ+ and racialized students. …

Newcomer Women And The Workforce: A Critical Policy Analysis Of Employment And Labour Legislation In Ontario, Anuja Jeeva

Social Justice and Community Engagement

This research aims to explore the potential impact of changes in Ontario labour legislation on newcomer women in the workforce, particularly with the changes to both the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and the Labour Relations Act, 1995, under the 2017 legislation of the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act (Bill 148). The research stems from the concern that newcomer women are overrepresented in low wage, temporary, precarious employment, and is informed by studies about the issues newcomer women face in finding stable, secure employment, and the societal forces involved in shaping policy intended to address those issues. The purpose of the …

A Discourse Analysis Of Gender Perceptions, Twitter, The 2018 Progressive Convervative Leadership Race, And The 2018 Provincial Election, Mary E. Chamberlain

Social Justice and Community Engagement

The research seeks to bring awareness to how online discourse on Twitter can contribute to the reinforcement of unequal power relations against female electoral candidates. This project is a discourse analysis of gender perceptions of the 2018 Progressive Conservative Leadership Race and the 2018 provincial election as portrayed on Twitter. Using understandings of Liberal Feminism and Intersectionality, this project demonstrates the struggle of gender discrimination against women in political life and attempts to recognize the efforts of women attempting to shatter the glass ceiling. The findings suggest female candidates experienced Twitter as a gendered and bullying platform, while male candidates …

Not Just Biology: Socio-Cultural Perspectives Of The Female Orgasm, Sarah Best

The Partisan

No abstract provided.

Animals In Irish Literature And Culture Edited By Kathryn Kirkpatrick And Borbála Faragó, Geneviève Pigeon

The Goose

Review of Kathryn Kirkpatrick and Borbála Faragó's Animals in Irish Literature and Culture.

Twerking, Alcohol, And Fame: The Construction Of Disney Celebrities In The Media, Carla R. López

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The mass media expanded intrusion of cameras into the public and private lives of celebrities has contributed to the public's fascination with Hollywood celebrities. Specifically, this cultural obsession has been increasingly centered on female celebrity's increased deviancy and criminal behaviours. Although numerous studies have been completed discussing the cultural fixation of Hollywood celebrity culture and the audience’s attachment to these celebrities, few have provided insight into the media construction of cultural narratives surrounding Disney celebrities. To fill the gap in the literature, I will assess how female celebrity deviance and sexuality is constructed in the media by examining the media …

Sugar For Sale: Constructions Of Intimacy In The Sugar Bowl, Emily Zimmermann

The Partisan

No abstract provided.

Journey With No Maps: A Life Of P.K. Page By Sandra Djwa, Mckay Mcfadden

The Goose

Review of Journey With No Maps: A Life of P.K. Page by Sandra Djwa.

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend: An Autoethnographic Analysis Of Softball's Empowering Potential, Erin Lowe

Social Justice and Community Engagement

Due to dominant gender ideology, the body has become a site for personal and political power struggles and many everyday practices maintain the current power dynamics and the dominant ideology regarding gender hierarchy. These occurrences help to sustain an ideology that positions men and women in opposition, with the male role representing superiority and strength, and the female role representing inferiority and weakness. It is of interest to discover whether participation in certain sports can influence a larger ideological shift by empowering girls to reclaim control over their own bodies and view them as shining examples of their own competence …

Negotiating Masculinity: How Infertility Impacts Hegemonic Masculinity, Myscha Burton

The Partisan

No abstract provided.

Pro-Anorexia/Bulimia Interactions Online: Problematizing Complex Cultural Phenomena, Nicole D. Schott

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In the West, and increasingly globally, individuals, particularly women, are fixated on weight loss, driven by the goal of achieving a culturally-desired, and aggressively marketed, "skinny" female physique. There are online forums where individuals refer to themselves or their eating disorders as "pro-ana" and "pro-mia". Individuals who post on these sites both align with, and challenge, what medical and mental health professionals define as serious mental health problems that result in severe, sometimes fatal, medical complications. This thesis specifically focuses on interactions with, and within, the pro-ana/mia culture on the social media websites Tumblr and YouTube. Over sixteen months, and …

The “Reproductive Destiny” Of Women: Constructing Women Solely As Reproductive Entities In Oral Contraceptive Medical Texts, Andrea Carson

Cultural Analysis and Social Theory Major Research Papers

This major research paper analyzes the representation of women and sexual reproduction in Western oral contraceptive medical texts. Drawing on previous feminist and sociological literature on the medicalization of women’s sexuality and reproduction, I suggest that these texts draw upon a particular discourse that confines/restricts the social construction of women as reproductive entities. This study is based on a discourse analysis of 10 oral contraceptive medical texts, published between 1965 and 2007. Drawing upon the theoretical frameworks of feminism and medicalization, I interrogate how womanhood and motherhood become inexplicably linked and how women are homogenised based on their reproductive capacities. …

Reconstructing Sex: Women Having Sex With Women, Alixandra Holtby

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study examines the experience of exclusion from the dominant understandings of sex for women who have sex with women, including queer, pansexual, bisexual, and lesbian women. Using ideas of the constructed nature of sex, particularly the use of sexual scripts (Simon & Gagnon, 1973), as well as the (hetero)sexist context in which these scripts are formed, qualitative interviews with 11 queer, pansexual, bisexual, and lesbian women were analyzed regarding their development of their understandings of what constitutes sex, their expectations and experiences of sex, their negotiation of desire and sexual identity, and their perspectives on sex between women and …

'No Woman No Cry': An Examination Of The Use Of Feminist Ideology In Shelters For Abused Women When Working With Caribbean-Canadian Women, Tenniel Melisa Hanson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

While abused women shelters using feminist interventions make up the majority of services being provided to all abused women, very little research has focused on the efficacy of using feminist ideology with abused minority women. As an initial step in evaluating the aforementioned area, this study identified the major needs and concerns of abused Caribbean-Canadian women staying in feminist abused women shelters. It also identified the benefits and barriers of using a feminist ideology with these women, as expressed by support staff who have worked with Caribbean-Canadian women. Information was gathered in interviews with 6 female staff who work in …

'The Aids Is Coming And There Is Nowhere To Run...': Culture, Gender, And The Politics Of Kisongo Maasai Women And Girls' Vulnerability To Hiv/Aids (Immune Deficiency, Tanzania), V. Corey Wright

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis outlines the research findings and implications for practice generated from the, “A Gender Issue: Reducing the Vulnerability of Kisongo Maasai Girls to HIV/AIDS” project, which was a participatory action research (PAR) study in collaboration with the Kisongo Maasai in Northern Tanzania. The objectives of the study were to explore the factors that may contribute to girls’ vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, and develop a culturally-specific framework that may contribute to effective design and administration of program and policy-level interventions. The findings of this study illustrate the ‘politics of health’ that determine girls’ vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. It presents a cultural analysis …

Women's Agency In The Development Of Hybrid Social Spaces: The Trials Of Sarah Ballenden And Maria Thomas In Canada's Red River Colony, 1850 And 1863 (Manitoba), Sharron A. Fitzgerald

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In 1850 and 1863, the British Hudson's Bay Company's Red River colony (current day Winnipeg) witnessed two sensationalized lawsuits. These lawsuits focused on two women of mixed First Nations and British extraction, namely Sarah Ballenden and Maria Thomas. Using these legal cases as a backdrop, this study aims to destabilize the notion that British claims to power and authority in the "contact zones" in the Red River colony were "fixed" and that women were the passive victims of history. I argue that British women developed defensive strategies based on their situated knowledges of social and spatial relations in that place. …

Changing Landscapes: Stories Of Five Women Farming Ecologically, Sherri Joy Van De Hoef

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Community and the natural environment have always played an important role in my life. I have had the opportunity in the past few years to explore these areas in more depth. My introduction to Community Psychology during my undergraduate degree exposed me to agricultural initiatives that emphasized community and respect for the environment. I explore these initiatives further by conducting a study (van de Hoef, 1998) of Ontario couples who live self-reliantly (that is, they grow their own food, build their own homes, live off the electricity grid, and find supports in their local communities). Subsequent to that study I …

Single Mothers, Income, And Health: An Analysis Of Risk And Protective Factors, Melanie Quickfall

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study examined the relationships between single mothers, income and health, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The purpose of the study was to determine the effects that certain risk factors (low income, stress, public housing, financial stress, education, home satisfaction, single parenting) and protective factors (neighbourhood satisfaction, social support, program participation, community integration) had on both the physical and mental health of single mothers. In the quantitative component, statistical analyses (a series of two-way mixed ANOVA’s and linear regressions) were conducted on interview data from 276 mothers who were involved in the Better Beginnings, Better Futures project in Highfield-Etobicoke, …

Women's Experiences In The Community After Leaving A Shelter, Susan Elizabeth Gadbois

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

No abstract provided.

The Invisible Weavers: Women Volunteers Creating Community Fabric, Lorie Anne Fioze

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In this study I examined women's caring in community volunteer work in the context of a neighbourhood community centre. More specifically I studied what women's volunteer experience at the Chandler-Mowat Community Centre (CMCC) revealed about: (1) Motivators what motivated women to participate in community volunteer work, (2) Facilitators what personal, family organizational, community and social factors facilitated women's involvement in volunteer work, (3) Barriers what personal, family, organizational, community and social factors inhibited women's involvement in community volunteer work, (4) Positive and Negative Impacts what the positive and negative impacts of women's volunteer involvement on the women themselves, their families, …

Behavioral Manifestations Of Women Who Have A Liberated Or Traditionalist View Toward Their Role In Contemporary Society, Shirley A. Clark

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this study was two-fold. Part one was to develop an attitude questionnaire which could be used to discriminate between women with a traditionalist or liberated attitude toward toward their role in society. Part two was to choose Ss on the basis of their responses to the questionnaire and find behavioral manifestations of these attitudes. The assumption was made that the underlying difference between the two attitudes was the acceptance or rejection of male superiority.

Eight groups of female Ss, 4 traditionalist and 4 liberated, participated in a physiological experiment in which their systolic blood pressure responses following …