Women's Studies Commons^™

A Feminist Content Analysis Of Seventeen Magazine, Brittany Marie Trimble

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Over the past two decades, there has been growing concern among researchers, clinicians, and policy makers regarding the sexualization of female adolescents in the media. Developmental psychologists and researchers argue that adolescents are particularly vulnerable to messages presented in the media, as these messages are internalized as real. These messages afflict long-term emotional and physical effects on adolescent girls. Through content analysis and extensive research, The American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force (2010) argued that the sexualization of adolescent girls and women directly effects the psychosocial development of young women, creating self-objectification, negative self-images, anxiety, shame, depression, eating disorders, and …

“To Say Nothing”: Variations On The Theme Of Silence In Selected Works By Sor Juana Inés De La Cruz, Sandra Cisneros, And María Luisa Bombal, Hannah M. Frantz

Student Publications

This paper explores the various ways in which Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz’s La Respuesta, Sandra Cisneros’s “Woman Hollering Creek,” and María Luisa Bombal’s “The Tree” address the theme of silence. It interrogates how the female characters in each of these works are silenced as well as their responses to that oppression. Meaning is subjective, so writing is a safe outlet for the oppressed. These works each identify an oppressor, either a husband or the male dominated church, as well as an oppressed individual, who is the female lead. In La Respuesta, the Catholic church, and specifically …

(Women's) Archival Spaces And Trans Voices? A (Re)Search And Proposal, Jeremy Curtis Main

Master's Theses

Transgender has been silenced, exiled, forgotten, erased, ignored, maltreated, killed, and ultimately, in a major theme of this research project, excluded from histories. Yet, like women, African-Americans, and gay men and lesbians before them, transgender and their allies are working toward inclusion and independence. History, it seems, can no longer ignore them. One of the surest ways to "prove" a history is to have the original items of that history in an archives. So, what representation do we find among various United States' archives concerning transgender people? Unfortunately, like with many other marginalized groups, much work has to be investigated …

Invisible Margin: Marginalization And Activism Of Adivasi Women In Researches In Bangladesh, Aanmona Priyadarshini

Master's Theses

In the context of historical marginalization of indigenous people from diverse ethnic communities in Bangladesh, this study will investigate how mainstream researches and writings, in books, research reports, newspapers, and blogs on indigenous issues have ignored women's relegation by homogenizing women's distinctive problems with communities' marginalization. The research will explore indigenous women's subordinations in diverse sphere of lives and activism against the power structure that mainstream researches have overlooked. The study will also investigate the possible pathways of solidarity to challenge the systems of power that create control over indigenous people's lives. Thus this research will explore following research questions: …

Ritual As Clinical Intervention In Groupwork With African American Women, Kathryn Kristin Berg

Master's Theses

This paper is an exploratory study on the subject of ritual as clinical intervention in groupwork with African American women. It is predicated on the idea that ritual has the potential to foster emotional growth in clients by creating structure and facilitating processes of transition. Ritual has largely been underexplored in the literature as a clinical intervention. However, there is a particular gap in research on ritual in groupwork with African American women. The first half of this paper provides an overview of social work scholarship covering individual branches of the subject, including spirituality in social work, spirituality in the …

Homeless Mothers As Parent Leaders, Dorothy Ann Milligan

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Presents a qualitative study examining the general conditions that lead to single mother homelessness and the impact of being homeless on their ability to parent effectively, based on interviews with mothers who are clients of First Place, a Seattle, Washington, social service agency. The purpose of the study is to identify different paths of life stabilizing strategies and parenting of women who have been in touch with the same agency. The research attempts to determine how the mothers achieved stability amid daily stress through examination of how the stories reflect decisions, initiatives, and commitments that helped them reach a level …

Masculinity, Sexuality, And Soccer: An Exploration Of Three Grassroots Sport-For-Social-Change Organizations In South Africa, Sarah Theresa Mcghee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Programs that utilize soccer as a tool for social change are steadily emerging throughout townships and rural areas in South Africa, the most economically disadvantaged areas of the country. In South Africa, grassroots sport-for-social-change organizations are compensating for failed government policies and programs that seek to help at-risk youth. As a result, program staff are often members of the community who are not versed in academic critiques of the use of sport in development initiatives. Additionally, much of the existing literature on sport-for-social-change champions the advancement of specific projects without asking critical research questions, which should include the appropriateness of …

Women's Leadership In Philanthropy: An Analysis Of Six Giving Circles, Deborah A. Witte

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Women have played an essential role in the development of philanthropy in the United States. While their giving behavior and financial contributions have been studied extensively, other aspects of their philanthropy-namely leadership-have not been documented as completely. The giving circle-a new trend within philanthropy where groups of individuals pool their money, and through educating themselves about issues in their community, decide together where to award their funds-provides an ideal case for this study, as the majority of giving circle members are women. In order to gain a better understanding of women's leadership, focus groups were conducted with more than 35 …

Understanding Social Integration And Student Involvement As Factors Of Self-Reported Gains For African American Undergraduate Women, Edna Jones Miller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Diversity of student populations within higher education has considerably increased, particularly for women and minority populations, which is indicative of greater access to education toward a college degree. However, increased diversity of student populations has introduced a new set of challenges for higher education administrators in that it is becoming increasingly difficult for administrators to maintain current educational methods when considering the changing needs of matriculating students. As a result, higher education institutions are compelled to strategize beyond the "one-size-fits all" approach in the way teaching and support services are delivered in order to provide a more holistic approach to …

Cumberland [Abstract], Megan Gannon

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Set in a fictional town on the coast of Georgia in July of 1972, Cumberland is the story of two fifteen-year-old twin sisters, Ansel and Isabel (“Izzy”) Mackenzie, who have lived with their frugal, eccentric grandmother since the age of eight when their parents were killed in a car accident and Isabel was paralyzed. Over the years, the burden of caring for her sister has fallen increasingly on Ansel. However, as Ansel cultivates a romantic relationship with a local boy, as well as an artistic apprenticeship with a visiting photographer, her growing desires for selfhood and independence compromise her ability …

The Impact Of Cross-Cultural Transition On Intercultural Relationships Using A Strengths-Based Approach, Kristen Naylor Calderon

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the ways in which intercultural relationships are affected by cross-cultural transition through the lens of the female experience. Specifically, this research examined (1) in what ways women felt that cross-cultural transition impacted their relationship, especially with regards to cultural values and male-female role taking; and (2) what kinds of benefits women experienced in their relationships as a result of moving across cultures with their partner. A total of 15 non-Chilean women in intercultural relationships with Chilean men were interviewed; all women had lived with their partners in her home country and then moved together to Chile.

Results …

"Spectacular Opacities": The Hyers Sisters' Performances Of Respectability And Resistance, Jocelyn Buckner

Theatre Faculty Articles and Research

This essay analyzes the Hyers Sisters, a Reconstruction-era African American sister act, and their radical efforts to transcend social limits of gender, class, and race in their early concert careers and three major productions, Out of Bondage and Peculiar Sam, or The Underground Railroad, two slavery-to-freedom epics, and Urlina, the African Princess, the first known African American play set in Africa. At a time when serious, realistic roles and romantic plotlines featuring black actors were nearly nonexistent due to the country’s appetite for stereotypical caricatures, the Hyers Sisters used gender passing to perform opposite one another as heterosexual lovers in …

Problematizing "Autonomy" And "Tradition" With Regard To Veiling: A Response To Seval Yildirim, Anissa Helie

Publications and Research

Debates related to Muslim women’s dress, specifically, often pit religious freedom, individual liberty, and cultural rights against women’s rights and gender equality. Hélie's response to Yildirim (specifically her discussion of national and international legal responses to “headcoverings”) does not focus on legal aspects, but rather on gendered practices and their ideological roots.

Hélie adopts a global lens, recognizing that whilst historical and socio-political specificities are crucial to grasp the nuances of each context, questions related to dress codes in Muslim contexts nevertheless relate to issues affecting our world at large. Hélie discusses two main aspects of Yildirim's argument - namely: …

Disturbing The Power Equilibrium: How Notions Of Private And Public Construct The Lesbian Educator In The American School System, Lillian Petrovich Brandt

Dissertations

Educational institutions are places permeated with the dominant social ideology and are sites for social reproduction; that is, the American school socially reproduces the white, male heteronormativity of the American public life. These dominant institutions perpetuate privilege for some, but not for others who are not represented in the dominant discourse. At times rendered invisible and private inside the school, a lesbian educator, may, in fact, be visible and public outside the school. There is a paucity of research on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) educators, yet queer educators exist in the school setting in which a "don't ask …

Mother Of Three Drowns Children And Other Stories, Laura L. Stubbins

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A collection of short stories depicting fictional characters facing what is absent from their lives.

The Gastonia Novels And Ecofeminism: Rereading The Works Of Fielding Burke Grace Lumpkin And Myra Page., Amanda Leigh Aubrey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Fielding Burke's Call Home the Heart, Grace Lumpkin's To Make My Bread, and Myra Page's Gathering Storm through the lens of ecofeminism, an interdisciplinary theory that contributes the necessary insight into the link between the abuse of power on personal, political, and economic levels that underlies the human oppression and environmental exploitation experienced by the novels' characters and communities. A resurrection of the Gastonia novels through the framework of ecofeminism will contribute to the scholarly discourse regarding this maturing theory as well as intensify the critical body of work concerning the Gastonia novels themselves.

This …

Irish Culinary Manuscripts And Printed Books: A Discussion, Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire, Dorothy Cashman

Articles

This paper provides a discussion of Irish Culinary Manuscripts and Printed Cookbooks. It covers Gaelic hospitality and aristocratic hospitality, setting the background for the Anglo-Irish households from which many manuscripts emerge. It charts the growing sources of information on Irish culinary history. It outlines Barbara Wheaton's framework for reading historic cookbooks and discusses the growing manuscript cookbook collection in the National Library of Ireland.

Diversification Or Cotton Recovery In The Malian Cotton Zone: Effects On Households And Women, Jeanne Yekeleya Coulibaly

INTSORMIL Scientific Publications

This dissertation investigates income diversification alternatives from the cotton economy and compares those initiatives with present policy measures to restore the cotton sector in Mali. It also derives the welfare implications for women of these various policy measures.

During the decade preceding 2011, farmers’ incomes in the cotton zone of Mali have been significantly affected by the downturn of the cotton economy explained by many factors including the low farm gate cotton price, the declining cotton yields and soil fertility concerns. In 2011, the Malian government substantially increased the farm gate cotton price as a result of the world cotton …

Media Portrayal Of The Feminist Movement: The Seattle Times Coverage From 1970 To 1979, Kelly Patricia Darrah

Communication & Leadership Dissertations and Theses

This research examines how feminism has been covered by mass media in general, and specifically how The Seattle Times portrayed the women’s movement in the 1970s. The fight for women’s suffrage in the early 20th century marks the beginning of the modern women’s movement for equal rights. Most young women today agree with many of the feminist ideals but reject the label. Because media have been proven to have a strong influence on public opinion, the question arises as to whether agenda-setting and negative media coverage are reasons for this disconnect. Using content analysis, this study analyzes print news media …

Single Mothers In College: The Effect Of Selected Variables, Rickey Booker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Single parent mothers who are currently in poverty may find it difficult to find routes out of poverty and/or even to enrolling in college. Little empirical research has been conducted on low-income single parent mothers who attempt to enroll, persist and graduate college. The current research has shown that single parents are at a high risk of dropping out of college because of many barriers including poverty related issues. This study examined women who had at least one child or dependent, were in poverty, and were first time beginners in college. The purpose for conducting this study was to identify …