Women's Studies Commons^™

The Effects Of Body Modifications And Dress On Perceived Professionalism And Competency Of A Female Model, Ashley Donell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Through the norms of a society, people must meet certain expectations in order to survive and provide for their family. For example, job expectations driven by human judgment on appearance creates a norm that society must follow. The question is how much appearance attributes such as dress and hair color effect others' interpretation of who a person may be? The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between specific appearance and body modifications (dress and hair color) of a young female professional and perceived competency level as determined by a convenience sample of students in selected senior level …

Performing Literacy: How Women Read The World In The Late Eighteenth-Century British Novel, Amy Hodges

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the intersection of sensibility, Social identity, and literacy practices among representations of women readers in four late eighteenth-century British novels. Through an analysis of the authors' use of identity constructs which shaped and were shaped by reading practices, this study documents the rise of Social identity formation as mutually constitutive with the history of reading. The first chapter reveals how Charlotte Lennox's The Female Quixote uses Arabella's follies as education for readers about the corresponding processes of reading their society and reading novels. The second chapter argues that Frances Burney's Evelina considers women's ability to read others …

Women Under National Socialism: The Case Study Of Melita Maschmann, Lynda Maureen Willett

Graduate Masters Theses

The case study of Melita Maschmann shows that despite the deep manipulation and gender discrimination she was subject to in her youth by National Socialism Maschmann made her own free choices as an adult and chose to zealously absorb its political ideology. The general assumption is that National Socialism, and fascism, were male dominated political ideologies in which women played a passive role, such as that professed by Gertrude Scholtz-Klink. However, many women found National Socialism appealing and became active supporters of its ideals. The purpose of this paper is to explore that appeal and analyze why certain women such …

To Better Serve And Sustain The South: How Nineteenth Century Domestic Novelists Supported Southern Patriarchy Using The "Cult Of True Womanhood" And The Written Word, Daphne V. Wyse

History Theses

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, American women were subjected to restrictive societal expectations, providing them with a well-defined identity and role within the male-dominated culture. For elite southern women, more so than their northern sisters, this identity became integral to southern patriarchy and tradition. As the United States succumbed to sectional tension and eventually civil war, elite white southerners found their way of life threatened as the delicate web of gender, race, and class relations that the Old South was based upon began to crumble. Despite their repressed status in southern society, most elite southern women chose to support …

A Survey Of Women In Sports Media, Holly Sullivan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since 1995 (Miller and Miller), women in sports media (WSM) have been citing the difficulties of balancing their careers and their personal lives, specifically the challenges of family life. Previous research has shown that most WSM are leaving their careers between six to ten years on the job and have cited reasons of work conflicting with their careers (Hardin, Shain and Shultz-Poniatowski, 2008). Work-family conflicts has also been cited a reason for lower job satisfaction (Reindary, 2007). This survey is the first survey to compare work-family conflict to variables of job satisfaction.

The Contradictory Nature Of Natural Mothering: A Discursive Analysis, Britni Lee Ayers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In our contemporary sociopolitical rhetoric breastfeeding is something that is natural and something women ought to do because breast is best. The problem with this contemporary discourse of breastfeeding and motherhood is that the dominant medical, political, technological, and patriarchal discourses surrounding breastfeeding have merged to create an highly unattainable definition of what it means to be a "good mother" (Blum 1993). Moreover, upon a close examination, the most pressing political and Social debates of today surrounding the welfare reform, women's employment, reproductive technologies, and abortion, among many others, construct distinctions between "good mothers" and "bad mothers." However, there has …

Stratifikasi Sosial Warga Binaan Wanita Di Rutan Pondok Bambu, Reni Kartikawati

Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi

Basically, social stratification does not occur in a total institution like detention. If it does, it only occurs between the officers and the convicts. However, social stratification apparently occurs among female convicts in Rutan Pondok Bambu. Based on that fact, this research tried to discover the real image of social stratification in Rutan Pondok Bambu; the factors that form the social stratification, and the people who form that social stratification. By using qualitative approach, this research showed that social stratification does occur among convicts in Rutan Pondok Bambu, which, at some level, is the same with the stratification found in …

Pornography And Rape Myths In Paranormal Romance Novels, Lesley Erin Dennis

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Caudill College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Lesley Erin Dennis in July of 2012.

Ua41 University College Connection, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

Toward A Culture Of Healing: Why Alternative Therapies And A Feminist Framework Are Needed In The Care Of Pregnant Women And Treatment Of Postpartum Mood Disorders, Angela Leonardo

Anthós

Pregnancy, birth, and early motherhood are areas of human development that have systematically migrated away from their roots as a series of natural life events to a highly, and perhaps unnecessarily, medicalized arena. This shift has been detrimental for women, especially for poor, socially isolated, single, and/or ethnic minority women. In this paper, I outline my concerns with the increased medicalization of birth and postpartum care, as well as with the status of mothers in the United States, and critically examine the patriarchal context in which this shift has occurred. My focus is on maternal health and mortality, including depression …

Doing Science Within A Culture Of Machismo And Marianismo, Karen Englander, Carmen Yáñez, Xochitl Barney

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women have been joining the ranks of professional scientists in increasing numbers although international statistics indicate that women‘s participation varies substantially in different regions. Variation in rates of participation can be explained in part by cultural contexts, and in Mexico, dominant cultural ideologies of machismo and marianismo prevail. To understand the impact, if any, of these ideologies on the lives of women scientists in their professional interactions, a case study was conducted at one research institute. The results indicate that the women scientists report different interactions with men and with other women, and interactions vary with the status of the …

Occupational Health And Safety In Small Scale Mining: Focus On Women Workers In The Philippines, Jinky Leilanie Lu

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study highlights women’s participation in small scale mining, and their occupational safety and health conditions. Small scale mining is a significant source of income in many developing countries such as the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Bolivia, Colombia, Indonesia, Mali, and Zimbabwe. In the Philippines, small-scale mining has been the leading occupational group among all mineral industries. However, data show that women face many issues in mining such as double burden of work-home responsibilities, chemical exposure to either cyanide or mercury used in extracting gold, dust from manganese and other minerals, and respiratory and systemic diseases from toxic chemical exposures. …

Dilma Rousseff And The Challenge Of Fighting Patriarchy Through Political Representation In Brazil, Sabrina Fernandes

Journal of International Women's Studies

Dilma Rousseff is the first woman elected head of state of Brazil. Although her election carries symbolism for Brazilian women, claims of women's emancipation through representation must be questioned through an analysis of the Brazilian patriarchal state. This paper examines the claim that Rousseff’s election opens doors for all Brazilian women. The research involves analysis of electoral statistics, media frames, and government documents, which show that, in spite of a woman president, women's representation in Brazilian government is still low in numbers and in the state agenda. The literature suggests that masculine gender hegemony and the presence of a patriarchal …

Book Review: Professional Men, Professional Women: The European Professions From The 19th Century Until Today, Sharonrose Sefora

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Professional Men, Professional Women: The European Professions from the 19th Century until Today by Maria Malatesta.

Changing Aid Policies Through A Gender Lens: An International Perspective And The Case Of The Dutch Development Cooperation, Nathalie Holvoet, Liesbeth Inberg

Journal of International Women's Studies

Since the turn of the century changes in aid policies and modalities have been proposed with the aim to promote aid effectiveness. This article is a study on the ongoing reform processes within partner and donor countries as seen through a gender lens. It explores more closely how changing aid policies unfold opportunities and challenges for gender mainstreaming policies and gender equality objective. The article analyses in particular how donors are handling gender concerns in the realm of the ongoing changes and zooms into the case of Dutch Development Cooperation, one of change champions. Such a gendered analysis of aid …

Between Global Fears And Local Bodies: Toward A Transnational Feminist Analysis Of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence, Susan Dewey, Tonia St. Germain

Journal of International Women's Studies

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) knows no borders. The twentieth and twenty-first centuries have witnessed historically unprecedented levels of violence against non-combatants as well as a concomitant rise in international and local efforts to assist survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. Yet the diversity of cultural contexts in which SGBV occurs challenges us to ask a timely question: what might a transnational feminist analysis of conflict-related sexual violence look like? This is particularly salient because feminist scholar-activists increasingly help shape policy designed to both address sexual violence as a weapon or by-product of war and services to assist its survivors. This …

Unveiling The Veil Ban Dilemma: Turkey And Beyond, Adriana Piatti-Crocker, Laman Tasch

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article examines Turkey’s veil ban policy, which has been in place since the 1980s. The dilemma is whether Muslim-veil bans impinge on the rights of expression and religion at both national and international levels or, whether states may legally justify a ban on the basis of secularism and women’s rights. Even though the idea of freedom “from religion” in Turkey has been closely linked to the European notion of secularism during most of Turkey’s republican history, more recently, secularism and veil bans in Turkey and in the West have been construed quite distinctly. This shows an increasing gap between …

A South African Perspective On The Clash Between Culture And Human Rights, With Particular Reference To Gender-Related Cultural Practices And Traditions, John Cantius Mubangizi

Journal of International Women's Studies

South Africa is infamous for its history of disenfranchising most of its population under the dehumanizing policy of apartheid. A country of almost 50 million people, South Africa has a diverse array of languages, races, religions and ethnic communities, and has faced significant challenges - political, cultural and socio-economic – since the advent of democracy in 1994. The writers of the 1996 Constitution faced the unenviable task of accommodating the diverse viewpoints that inevitably derived from South Africa’s fractured history and society. The Constitution is one of the most progressive in the world, and notably includes a Bill of Rights, …

‘You’D Stand In Line To Buy Potato Peelings’: German Women's Memories Of World War Ii, Gail Hickey

Journal of International Women's Studies

How do U.S. women immigrants remember their experiences of World War II? In what ways do these women choose to transmit their memories to the next generation? These are the questions explored in this study.

Women immigrants have been treated as if they were insignificant actors in history and socialization (Kelson & DeLaet, 1999). Feminist scholarship challenges this portrait of women as insignificant actors, arguing against gender-biased perspectives on the immigration experience. Yet scholarly sources provide little information about the “real life problems” of women immigrants (Barber, 2005).

Immigration research historically has tended toward historical and demographical data compilations, resulting …

“We All Like To Think We’Ve Saved Somebody:” Sex Trafficking In Literature, Donna M. Bickford

Journal of International Women's Studies

This essay considers the potential impact of sex trafficking narratives and their relationship to public perception and social change efforts. It fuses literary criticism and cultural analysis to discuss multiple genres of texts, including mainstream news media reports and two categories of novels about sex trafficking. Finally, it argues for the power of narrative to catalyze and influence actions designed to eradicate sex trafficking.