Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

The Experiences Of The Transgender And Gender Diverse Community On Coming Out At The University Of Arkansas, Taylor Hubbard

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Researching the experiences of the TGD community can help better understand the unique struggles this community may face, specifically regarding the unique experiences southeastern United States TGD individuals have encountered. We draw on previous studies regarding the entire LGBTQ+ community and the minimal research on the TGD community. There is minimal research looking specifically at the experiences college TGD students have when coming out in different aspects and the perceptions TGD individuals have about themselves as a result of their experiences coming out. We conducted a survey with 37 respondents as well as 4 qualitative interviews. We present interviews conducted …

"Death Can't Touch Them Now": Aids Response And Memorialization In Louisville, Kentucky, 1982-1992., Olivia A. Beutel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims to address the role of the queer community in Louisville, Kentucky during the AIDS epidemic. Beginning with the first reported AIDS death in the city in 1983 throughout the 1980s, dialogue focused on those living with AIDS, specifically on education for prevention and aid to those afflicted by the disease. Individuals in the queer community—gay men, lesbians, bisexual men and women, transgender men and women, and others—created resources that were not being provided by the larger city government. Then, in the 1990s, national attention to the AIDS Memorial Quilt encouraged people to participate in rituals of commemoration, …

“Hysteria Abated”: Forster’S Treatment Of Women’S Mental Health In Howards End, Rosemary Pauley

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

In Howards End, Forster’s female characters are written off multiple times as having ‘hysteria’ or simply being foolish, sensitive women, which was a common attitude towards mental illness in Edwardian society. This essay investigates the concept of hysteria and Forster’s use of mental health with his female characters, using these factors to enhance the understanding of the characters, particularly the struggles or judgments that the three leading ladies, Helen, Margaret, and Ruth, face. The initial inspiration was drawn from Margaret’s jumping out of the carriage, as well as the neglect of Ruth’s dying wish; both women are deemed hysterical. While …

Reconsidering Scales And The Binary In Forensic Anthropology: A Critical Analysis Of Morphoscopic Data Utilized In Sex Estimation Standards., Bailey N. Watson

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

This research explores sex estimation standards used in forensic anthropology in an effort to further the conversation about forensic anthropology's binary-focused language and methods. Discussions regarding sex estimation methodology are important in light of gender variance in the general population. Presently, there is minimal published research on the identification of gender non-conforming individuals in forensic anthropology.

Two researchers individually assigned scores to features associated with sexual dimorphism in the os coxae according to existing methods for 253 individuals, equally represented by self- reported males and females. These data were statistically analyzed for correlation and overlap between features.

Results mainly point …

Examining Difference In Social Perceptions Between Women Using Hormonal Contraceptives And Naturally Cycling Women, Caroline B. Johnson

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

The term “stress” refers to a person’s psychological and physiological response to the demands and pressures of the world around them (Farlex, 2021). Past research has shown that stress can have negative side effects on a person’s well-being (Aneshensel et al., 1991; Wunsch et al., 2017; Michie, 2002). Although people experience stress, some people perceive more stress than others. Perceptions are important because the way one understands certain conditions can elicit distinct emotional and physiological responses (Kemeny, 2003). An important factor that has not received a lot of attention is women’s use of hormonal contraceptives. In the United States, 24.4% …

The Effects Of Hormonal Contraceptive Use On Perceptions Of Social Stress In Women, Ashton Jones

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Hormonal contraceptives are widely used due to their efficiency in preventing pregnancy. Although women are often informed of the physical effects of hormonal contraceptives, there is little emphasis on mental effects, such as increased rates of depression and changes in social perception. The current study examined perceptions of social stress among women before beginning hormonal contraceptives, and two months after using hormonal contraceptives. I hypothesized that women would experience increased social stress after beginning hormonal contraceptives, compared to a control group of women who were also assessed twice. Results did not support this hypothesis; there was no difference in interpersonal …

The Need For Specialized Substance Abuse Treatment For Gay Men In The United States, Sarah Nance

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Substance misuse and abuse is a global public health issue that affects sexual minority populations at a higher rate than the heterosexual population. Many popular gay socialization strategies include gay bars and chemsex, or sexualized drug use, in which substance use is common in both. The Minority Stress Model provides an explanation as to how stigma embedded in a society and within a person can act as a stressor and manifest into a substance abuse disorder. This stigma acts for many as a barrier to seeking healthcare out of fear of discrimination, causing many to hide their identity when seeking …

Stigma Towards Sex Workers In The Clinical Setting: Sixteen Guidelines For Therapists To Improve Their Practice And Provide Ethical Mental Health Services To Sex Workers, Alessandra Lanti

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study qualitatively investigates therapists’ attitudes toward their clients who work in the sex industry and assesses sex workers’ perception of these attitudes in therapy. Two separate surveys are used to assess attitudes. One is distributed to mental health professionals, and it uses clinical vignettes to evaluate the approaches used in therapy where the variable of “profession” is manipulated. The second survey is distributed to sex workers to evaluate their experiences in therapy. Then, indicators of persistent attitudes in the narrative responses are identified, organized into groups, and surveys are compared. Results suggest that participants in the survey distributed to …

In The Image Of… Towards A Trans Talmud, Laurence Myers Reese

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the Image of... (towards a Trans Talmud) is a body of work by artist Laurence Myers Reese that works to examine Jewish paradigms of gender through the transgender lens. Reading the archive diagonally, he examines historical Jewish writings, from poet and Rabbi Kalonymous Ben Kalonymous to “false Messiah” Shabbatai Tzvi. Contextualizing contemporary Jewish with notable exhibitions from the Jewish Museum New York and Spertus Museum, Chicago, In the Image of… draws from artists, writers, and Rabbis who use a gendered lens to interrogate Judaism. These include Yael Kanarek, who has worked to re-gender the entire Torah, Rena Yehuda Newman, …

Exploring Women’S Sizing Chart: A View Into Psychosizing, Patience Billingsley

Apparel Merchandising and Product Development Undergraduate Honors Theses

The apparel industry lacks a universal sizing system and has created tactics to group consumers under a few generic sizes. The inconsistency in sizing has led to a struggle of consumers trying to find pieces of clothing that are not only their size but fit their measurements as well. An analysis of the sizing charts of 5 different women’s clothing private labels ranging from sizes 0-16 within two major department stores was assessed. The sizing charts within each individual store were evaluated, and then compared to one another. After calculating the sizing differences, an average of both store A and …

Decolonizing Female Archetypes: Creating An Oppositional Consciousness In Contemporary Chicana And Iraqi Women’S Fiction, Semah Salih Hussein

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In dominant imperialist discourses, women, such as Iraqi women and Chicanas, have been marginalized in political, social and economic structures and have been manipulated to maintain imperialist exploitation and processes. They have been frozen within certain archetypal configurations. Iraqi women have been misrepresented as victims of their culture and traditions, and Chicanas have been represented in derogatory terms or excluded from mainstream hierarchies of representation. This study examines some counternarratives and oppositional subjectivities/ consciousnesses provided by Iraqi and Chicana women writers through their utilization of the legacy of a number of fictional and historical female figures. The primary texts analyzed …

Coming Out As A Queer Latinx, Giselle Barajas

Audre Lorde Prize

This paper explores the feminist theories post-colonialism and gender theory to better understand the coming out experience for the queer latinx community. The latinx community face unique hurdles when coming out including battling cultural values, colonialism, language barriers, and identity. In order to better understand the coming out journey of queer latinxs and create safe queer spaces I propose that we reimagine familismo to emphasize love and acceptance over colonial ideas of machismo and marianismo. We can also decolonize both feminist theory and language.

Authentically (Un)Real Assessing Vh!'S Basketball Wives And Its Violent & Colorist Portrayals Of Black Women., Wilma Denae Powell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Does reality television serve as solely a form of entertainment, or could reality television also be maintaining hegemonic beliefs and reinforcing biased views of Black women? Since 2010, Vh1’s Basketball Wives has given audiences the opportunities to entertain themselves by watching women who are/were married to, dating, or are the mothers of children fathered by professional basketball players. Despite the show’s name, few members of the cast are currently married and audiences only get mere glimpses of the cast in motherly or marital interactions. So, what does Basketball Wives offer audiences who tune in to watch Black women for entertainment? …

The Glass Coffin: Gothic Adaptations And The Formation Of Sexual Subjectivity., Colton T. Wilson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is now an almost foregone conclusion that classic depictions of vampirism resonate with contemporary queer audiences. A sympathetic response to the monster’s persecution is often the key factor in these arguments, yet little attention is paid to the textual details that prompt such a process of identification. This study posits that the iconography used to establish a connection between monstrosity and non-normative sexuality has its origins in Victorian Gothic fiction, whose descriptions of vampirism were assimilated into the discourse of the fin-de-siècle medical field known as sexology. Theories that defined homosexuality as an illness with physical and psychological symptoms …

135th Street Branch: Librarianship And The Passing Fictions Of Regina Anderson Andrews And Nella Larsen, Caitlin Matheis

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this thesis, I examine how two writer-librarians that worked in the 135^th Street Branch of the New York Public Library in the 1920's, Regina Anderson Andrews and Nella Larsen, grappled in their fiction writing with questions of classification, information, and knowledge that encompassed their daily work in the library. I begin by contextualizing the branch within the Harlem Renaissance and Arturo A. Schomburg's call for the preservation of Black history and literature at a time when the field of librarianship was being professionalized by implementing library schools and classification standards. I then provide readings of Andrews's one-act play …

“And We’Re Happy, So Happy, To Be Modern Women”: Dissociative Feminism On Screen And In Literature, Michaela Elizabeth Flaherty

Honors Scholar Theses

On-screen and literary works have increasingly represented a new, digital-age wave of postfeminism: dissociative feminism, which rejects happy-go-lucky, sex-positive fourth-wave feminism, instead embracing nihilism. Fleabag, the titular character of the hit BBC miniseries Fleabag (2016–9), embodies dissociative feminism, though she ultimately comes to reject this darkly relatable perspective. However, social media largely ignores this latter, essential aspect of her character arc and has taken to romanticizing Fleabag’s feminist ideology, effectively constructing a harmful and dangerous virtual echo chamber of dissociative feminism. Participants in this online discourse should instead turn to the HBO limited series I May Destroy You (2020) for …

Mary Julia Workman: Catholic Progressivism In Los Angeles (1900-1920), Jose Castro

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Mary Julia Workman was a social activist in the early twentieth century. She was the founder of the Brownson Settlement House in Los Angeles. By the 1900s. during the Progressive Era, Mary Julia Workman, a Catholic activist, led a group of women to help the immigrants that were segregated and discriminated in the growing city of Los Angeles. Although Catholic activism was influenced by the Protestant Progressive ideology, Mary Julia Workman provided social justice to the marginalized. Her Americanization methodology would be focused to learn from the foreigner culture and adapted it to our society. Meanwhile, the Americanization efforts promoted …

Pognalysis: An Analysis Of Gender And Language On Twitch.Tv, Julia Michelle Cardillo

Honors College Theses

With the success of the video game and eSports industries, comes the rise of Twitch.tv (also known as Twitch), the most popular live-streaming platform today. Being that the most popular activity to stream on Twitch.tv is video games, there is a lot of overlap between those who play video games or are avid eSports fans and those who watch Twitch. However, these communities are notorious for their hostility towards women. The goal of this study is to assess, if any, the differences in atmosphere, as well as the differences in the presence of gendered language/harassment, profanity, and non-gaming/non-activity related words …

Ecologies Of (Domestic) Trauma, Ecologies Of (Domestic) Violence: A Rhetorical Procession Toward Mourning, Charlotte E. Lucke

All Dissertations

In this dissertation, I posit that intimate partner violence is entrenched in an often-overlooked historical and rhetorical legacy of patriarchal cultural, structural, and direct violences. Many scholars in and outside of rhetorical studies have analyzed and critiqued public representations of trauma and violence, including intimate partner violence. Joining this conversation, I focus on the limitations in the ways influential rhetorical domains both represent and respond to people who abuse their intimate partners. Often, mass media represents people who abuse their intimate partners as individuals void of contexts. Similarly, the criminal justice system holds individuals responsible through law enforcement and incarceration. …

Love And Romance In Early Modern British Literature, Sophia Szeneitas

Senior Honors Projects

This paper seeks to describe and analyze the way in which themes of love and romance were presented in literature in early modern Britain, and how those may differ from or be similar to romantic themes in the media of today. The works being analyzed include plays by William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, as well as some of Shakespeare’s sonnets. A few different lenses will be explored, including the interaction that love could have with the societal power structure and hierarchy present within the literature (such as the ways in which someone being the lover of a powerful person might …