Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Exploring Kindergartners' Understandings Of Gender : Responding To Picture Book Read Alouds With A Focus On Fairy Tales, Karen Marie Maher

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation explores four of my kindergartners’ understandings of gender across one academic year with an in-depth study of responses to a series of picture book read alouds including Cinderella variants. Critical literacy offered opportunities for these young students to critique inequities within social practices (Au & Raphael, 2000; Vasquez, 2014, 2017); whereas, poststructuralist feminism framed the inquiries into the locations of deeply ingrained gender identities (Blackburn, 2005, 2006; Blaise, 2005a, 2005b, 2014; Villaverde, 2008). This critical analysis of literature provided a means for the kindergartners to uncover underlying messages of power and inequity by interrogating whose voices were heard …

Beyond Litigation : The Behavior Of Cause Lawyering Organizations In The Lgbtq Movement, David Lawrence Trowbridge

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Scholarship tells us that cause lawyers, including those in the LGBTQ movement, are likely to avoid non-litigation tactics in favor of court-centered strategies (Klarman 2005; Rosenberg 2008; Scheingold 1974). Other research suggests that lawyers are likely to steer the LGBTQ movement’s agenda away from both grassroots interests and its more radical agenda (Leachman 2014; Levitsky 2006). However, more recent scholarship shows an increased reliance on non-litigation tactics in the LGBTQ movement and publicly available evidence indicates cause lawyers are working on diverse sets of issues within the movement (Cummings and NeJaime 2010; Marshall 2006).

Examining The Utilization Of Hiv Preventive Services In The Transgender Population Compared To The Cisgender Population Of New York State : Results From The New York State Aids Institute Information Reporting System (Airs) Data From 2014 To 2016, Zohra Afzal

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

ABSTRACT

"A Meruelous Thinge!": Elizabeth Of Spalbeek, Christina The Astonishing, And Performative Self-Abjection In Oxford, Bodleian Library, Ms Douce 114, Murrielle Michaud

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Contributing to the spirited discussion regarding feminist and pro-feminine readings of Middle English hagiography, this dissertation challenges the tradition of grouping accounts of medieval holy women into a single genre that relies on stereotypes of meekness and obedience. I argue that fifteenth-century England saw a pro-feminine literary movement extolling the virtues of women who engaged in what I term “performative self-abjection,” a form of vicious self-renunciation and grotesque asceticism based on Julia Kristeva's model of the abject. The corollary of women's performative self-abjection is ex-gratia spiritual authority, public recognition, and independence, emphasized in the English corpus of fifteenth-century women’s hagiography. …

Patriarchy In Our Society, Abigail Javier

Nebraska College Preparatory Academy: Senior Capstone Projects

Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple brings up issues women had to endure since women were the largest oppressed minority group as shown today as well. Since most of Walker’s life story was unacceptable in society, she vented about her adventures in her writing. Women were always told they were supposed to be caregivers and meant to stay at home, stereotyped as weak and told that they needed a man by their side to keep them safe. Walker used these stereotypes in her novel and demonstrated how women can be successful without a man telling them what to do and …

The Rape Of Recy Taylor [Film Review], Judith E. Smith

American Studies Faculty Publication Series

Nancy Buirksi’s documentary The Rape of Recy Taylor centers on a brutal sexual assault in Abbeville, Alabama in 1944. A 24-year-old African American wife and mother, coming home from a sanctified church service with a friend and her son, was forced into a car at gunpoint, and gang raped by six young white men. The beating heart of the film is the on-screen testimony of Taylor’s younger brother, Robert Corbitt, and her younger sister, Alma Daniels, who convey the unspeakably cruel and vicious character of the attack: Corbitt repeats the perpetrators’ directions to Recy: “They said they wanted her to …

Discrimination, Mental Health, And Preparedness For Aging In Trans(Gender)/Gender-Nonconforming Adults, Richard S. Henry

Theses and Dissertations

This cross-sectional study examined relationships among discrimination, mental health (i.e., depression and anxiety), preparation for aging (i.e., familiarity and planning), social support, death attitudes, and aging anxiety among TGNC adults (N = 154). Neither discrimination nor mental health predicted preparation for aging familiarity or planning. Discrimination did, however, predict both anxiety and depression, although only the non-affirmation subscale was a unique predictor of both. As discrimination and mental health were not a significant predictor of preparedness for aging in the previous regressions, the hypothesized mediation model and subsequent moderated mediation models were not conducted. Additional exploratory multiple regressions were …

The "A" Word: Women's Abortion Experiences In Georgia, Kendra J. Cooper

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Abortion is a common medical procedure, with twenty-one percent of all American pregnancies ending in induced abortion in 2011. Literature shows that abortion is highly stigmatized in the United States and even more so in the American South. The contentious discourse surrounding the moral and ethical viewpoints, “right” versus “wrong,” often overpowers women’s lived experiences. Although abortion has been studied extensively across multiple disciplines, literature on women’s lived experiences is limited. Previous research has focused on women in the Midwest, West, and Northeastern regions of the United States but the South has not been a significant focus of study. The …

Sacred And Profane Loves: The Renaissance Influence In C.S. Lewis' Till We Have Faces, Kevin Corr

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

C.S. Lewis’ last novel, Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, has often been regarded as his greatest work, but just as often as his most enigmatic work. The purpose of this thesis is to unveil much of the novel’s mystery by considering the impact Renaissance literature had in shaping the novel, most notably Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene. Although it is well-known that Lewis was Professor of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Cambridge, current scholarship on Lewis has overlooked the Renaissance influence in the author’s work, which particularly plays a vital role in Till We Have Faces. …

The Dmz Responds, Seo-Young J. Chu

Publications and Research

Seo-Young Chu’s “The DMZ Responds” appeared in Telos 184 (Fall 2018), a special issue on Korea edited by Haerin Shin.

Blank Pages: The Representation Of Women In High School American History Classes, Brittany Borowski

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this project I analyze the representation of women in high school American history curriculum. with a specials focus on Illinois in particular where this research was completed. While the study of history has evolved greatly, especially in an educational climate that has recently been questioning the best practices to have students successfully engage with the practice and study of history, a gaping whole remains: the representation of women. Women have become a more fundamental part of history at collegiate levels with gender and social history increasing in importance but our high school students are missing out on a history …

La Pena Negra: Mexican Women, Gender, And Labor During The Bracero Program, 1942-1964, Mayra Lizette Avila

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Most research on México and the Bracero Program has centered on the experiences of men. The scholarship details their decision to leave México, their experiences crossing the border and working in the fields, and their return migration home. "La Pena Negra: Woman, Gender, and Labor, During the Bracero Program, 1942-1964" adds to Bracero scholarship by looking at how the Mexican consulate dealt with Bracero treatment and death. However, the program did not only impact male laborers, but their spouses and family who they left behind in México. Women and families' survival depended on the female ability to adapt and negotiate …

"Wommanly Noblesse:" Female Gender Dynamics In Medieval Romance, Mary Elizabeth Shaner

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Exploring systemic, gendered power dynamics and inequalities for women within medieval Matters of Rome, France, and Britain Romances is essential to understanding real-world sociopolitical power structures and female gender roles. Diverging from most previous scholarship in my use of critics as well as in my interpretation of Criseyde and Guinevere as protagonists, my argument examines how scholars would laud the heroic bravery of Geoffrey Chaucer's Criseyde and Sir Thomas Malory's Guinevere if they were male heroes, yet because of the narrative conventions of medieval Romance, Courtly Love, Chivalry, and the Antifeminist Traditions, these fictive women are seen as the destroyers …

The Divine Collaborative Effort: Agency As A Tool For Examining Power And Relationship In The Exodus Narrative, Harley Burgess

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Excerpt from Introduction

The character of Moses as seen within the Old Testament is perhaps the most dynamic and powerful character within the biblical text. Continually throughout the Exodus narrative, Moses faces opportunities for growth and development that lead him toward becoming the archetype for leadership. Moses’ journey is rife with choice. Though many would place Yahweh at the forefront of the narrative, it is truly Moses whom the audience witnesses generating change, making decisions, and even influencing the decisions of his God.

Unending Mazes: Gendered Inequalities, Drug Use, And State Interventions In Rural Appalachia, Lesly-Marie Buer

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

Prescription opioids are associated with rising rates of overdose deaths and hepatitis C and HIV infection in the US, including in rural Central Appalachia. Yet there is a dearth of published ethnographic research examining rural opioid use. The aim of this dissertation is to document the gendered inequalities that situate women’s encounters with substance abuse treatment as well as additional state interventions targeted at women who use drugs. These results are based on ethnographic fieldwork completed from 2013 to 2016 and centered around one county seat in rural Central Appalachia. Data are ascertained through semi-structured interviews with women who have …

Spectators, Sponsors, Or World Travelers? Engaging With Personal Narratives Of Others Through The Afghan Women's Writing Project, Bethany Mannon

English Faculty Publications

This article studies the Afghan Women’s Writing Project and proposes three conceptual tools for examining the ways readers and editors of digital storytelling projects interact with writers and texts. The author advances discussions of personal narrative and the role this form of writing plays in transnational feminism and forms of humanitarian activism that increasingly take place online. Digital storytelling projects effectively circulate these personal accounts, but they benefit from scholarship that advises self-critical approaches to representing their subjects.

Run Hugs, Squeeze Hugs, And Jump Hugs: Playfully Professing Parenthood And The Self-In-Relation, Marc Ouellette

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

He Scores Through A Screen: Mediating Masculinities Through Hockey Video Games, Marc A. Ouellette, Steven Conway

English Faculty Publications

Hockey video games highlight the ways in which the video game medium shapes and conditions the experience of producing and/or performing the sport “in real life.” Indeed, the accumulation of advanced statistics in and through the constant evaluation, measurement, and surveillance which are inherent to video games—and increasingly seen as foundational for sport—reveals important contradictions not only in the way the embodied sport is played and understood, but also in terms of the proofs of masculinity upon which the sport is built. It then becomes clear that the building of masculinity and the empowerment of the character become one and …

Bodylore And Dress, Amy K. Milligan

Women's & Gender Studies Faculty Publications

Bodylore includes the ways in which the body is used as a canvas for inherited and chosen identity. Bodylore considers the symbolic inventory of dress and hair, addressing a range of identities from conservative religious groups like the Amish and the Hasidim to edgy goth and punk devotees. The body is scripted in portrayals of race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, and politics, including such topics as tattoos, piercing, scarification, hair covering and styling, traditional and folk dress, fashion, and body modification. The central bodylore questions are whether individuals choose consciously or subconsciously to engage with their performative body, as well …

A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual And Transgender + Student Support Group Within A Central Florida State College: A Qualitative Study, Remy Ansiello

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For decades, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) + students attending institutions of higher education have been marginalized and have experienced hostility and outright discrimination, causing the need for student support groups for this population on college campuses. Recent laws passed at a national level have brought a greater level of equality to this minority group; however, feelings of marginalization, homophobia, heterosexism, and heteronormative culture persist. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to ask how students participating in an LGBT + support group within a Central Florida public state college perceive their experiences in college. The researcher also asked …