Digital Commons Network^™

Gender Identity Construction Through Talk About Video Games, Sara M. Cole

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In her article "Gender Identity Construction through Talk about Video Games" Sara Cole discusses the construction of gender identity in terms of experiences of digital media and interactive play. Digital literacy expresses, shares, and reaffirms gendered self-identification through experiences of video game play with narratives that either confirm or deny stereotypical biases. In-depth interviews were used to explore the effects of play practices on conceptions of masculinity and personal identity in males who grew up in the 1980s by focusing on a linguistic analysis of the pragmatics of their shared thoughts on play, fantasy, use of digital media, and violence. …

How Toni Morrison's Facebook Page Re(Con)Figures Race And Gender, Beatriz Revelles-Benavente

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In her article "How Toni Morrison's Facebook Page Re(con)figures Race and Gender" Beatriz Revelles-Benavente explores Morrison's Facebook page and comments on it. In 2010, Morrison opened a Facebook page where she received a large amount of comments and created debates and Revelles-Benavente analyses how these comments navigate questions of race and gender. Based on theoretical considerations about issues of race and gender in cyberculture and applied to the narratives posted on Morrison's Facebook page, Revelles-Benavente argues that the problematics of race and gender are relational and the question needs to be centered on the object of study as the relation …

Crescent City Nightingales: Gender, Race, Class And The Professionalization Of Nursing For Women In New Orleans, Louisiana, 1881-1950, Paula A. Fortier

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Through the examination of primary sources largely overlooked by historians, this dissertation traces the professionalization of nursing in New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1881 to 1950 while placing this localized history within the context of national trends. In the late nineteenth century, nursing developed into a middle class profession for women inspired by the careers of Florence Nightingale and Clara Barton. This dissertation investigates the process by which women became professional nurses while a complex intersection of issues related to gender, race, and class at times advanced, and at other times, hindered their progress towards professionalization. New Orleans serves as a …

School-Based Sexuality Education, Gender, And Relationship Self-Efficacy: A Moderated-Mediation Analysis Of Sexual Behavior In First-Year College Students, Sara C. Schmidt

Theses and Dissertations

While the effectiveness at abstinence-only versus comprehensive sexuality education in preventing adolescent risky sexual behavior is widely researched, little is known about whether material learned in secondary school sexuality education classes impacts emerging adult sexual behavior in the college environment. Furthermore, research suggests that self-efficacy – or beliefs in one’s abilities to organize and execute actions – may be more critical than knowledge or skills in terms of how individuals enact behavior. We hypothesized a moderated-mediation effect by which the causal impact of type of sexuality education on four different sexual behaviors during the first year in college is transmitted …

Gender, Smoking And Tobacco Reduction And Cessation: A Scoping Review, Joan L. Bottorff, Rebecca Haines-Saah, Mary T. Kelly, John L. Oliffe, Iris Torchalla, Nancy Poole, Lorraine Greaves, Carole A. Robinson, Mary H. H. Ensom, Chizimuzo T.C. Okoli, J. Craig Phillips

Nursing Faculty Publications

Considerations of how gender-related factors influence smoking first appeared over 20 years ago in the work of critical and feminist scholars. This scholarship highlighted the need to consider the social and cultural context of women's tobacco use and the relationships between smoking and gender inequity. Parallel research on men's smoking and masculinities has only recently emerged with some attention being given to gender influences on men's tobacco use. Since that time, a multidisciplinary literature addressing women and men's tobacco use has spanned the social, psychological and medical sciences. To incorporate these gender-related factors into tobacco reduction and cessation interventions, our …

Beyond The Economic: The Freedoms, Capabilities, And Social Capital Of Latin American Women Entrepreneurs In San Francisco, Melia M. Vilain

Master's Theses

In light of the scholarly debate surrounding the goals and mixed effects of development programs, particularly in recent years in relation to microfinance, this study investigates the effects of economic development programs on Latin American women entrepreneurs in San Francisco’s Mission District. It demonstrates that microfinance, when combined with education, can provide important non-economic benefits that contribute to increased freedoms and capabilities for immigrant women entrepreneurs. Drawing on qualitative interviews with ten business owners, as well as a review of the existing literature surrounding development, immigration, and gender, this research argues that owning a business in the US can produce …

Pre-Service Teachers: A Study Of Self-Theories Of Intelligence And Attitudes About Web 2.0, Lee Ann Smith

Dissertations

This study examined the relationship of pre-service teachers’ self-theories of intelligence (mindset) and their attitudes about Web 2.0. The research questions evaluate: (a) Whether a significant correlation exists between pre-service teachers’ mindsets and attitudes about Web 2.0 (social media), and (b) Whether significant differences exist between demographic groups (e.g., age, certification area, gender) and their attitudes about Web 2.0 (social media). Results of the study indicate that a weak correlation between pre-service teachers’ perceived mindsets and perceived attitudes about Web 2.0 was statistically significant. In addition, significant differences were found based upon certification area, gender, and age with the sample’s …

Sexual Decision Making In The Context Of Hookup Culture; A Mixed-Method Examination, Rachel Kalish

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

This dissertation is a multi-method study of college students' sexual decision-making. It relies on interviews and focus groups to examine how college students make decisions within the context of the " hook-up culture" (Heldman and Wade 2010) prominent on American campuses. Patterns in the qualitative data are examined quantitatively using the Online College Life Survey. To understand how students make decisions in hookup culture, I examine their views of relationships, how they enact relationships, and the effects of hooking up on relationships. I that students envision relationships in their future, and choose not to expend time on them during their …

Finding Place: The Art Of Wangechi Mutu, Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons And Ingridmwangiroberthutter, Eva Susanne Hericks-Bares

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

This dissertation examines the issue of " place" in the lives and works of three contemporary women artists of the African Diaspora: Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, IngridMwangiRobertHutter, and Wangechi Mutu. Place as a location is a core challenge of globalism: though fundamental to our existence, it has ceased to be permanent or definite. However, place is more than location--it is cultural, gendered, historical, interactive, personal and social, among other things--and can only be fully understood in considering several of these different facets. Each of the artists in this dissertation has had to navigate through instances of bias (such as racism and …

Representations Of Gender In Young Adult (Ya) Literature, 1960-2010, Maria I. Cipriani

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

This dissertation focuses the lens of queer studies and trauma studies on YA literature published in the United States between 1960 and 2010 to demonstrate that authors embed cultural messages in YA texts. Those messages for YA readers intend to model behavior considered appropriate and teach about normative sex and gender roles. Individuals between the ages of 10 and 20 comprise YA readership, and the means of teaching these readers cultural norms include imagery and cautionary tales. The content of the literature inculcates views of acceptable behaviors with respect to sexuality and gender roles and generally conflates sex and gender. …

Voices Raised, Issue 45, University Of Dayton. Women's Center

Women’s Center Newsletter

Included in this issue: It’s All About Us (It’s All About You); Women’s Center Welcomes Three New Staff Members; Health Center services; Women’s and Gender Studies: Join the Discussion; The Online Presence of the Women’s Center.

Diffusion Of The Lnternet And Its Effect On Gender Attitudes: A Cross-National Approach, Robert Roznowski

Masters Theses

The rapid diffusion of the Internet worldwide generates discussion about the social implications of the Internet. To explore the effect of Internet diffusion worldwide, this study examines changes in reported gender attitudes since the introduction of the Internet. I propose that the diffusion of the Internet fosters egalitarian changes in gender attitudes. Using cross-national data from forty countries over a time span of nearly twenty years, I successfully implement an alternative analysis technique, the slope-slope model, to examine the relationship between rates of Internet diffusion and changes in gender attitudes in the economic, political, and education domains. Internet diffusion affects …

A Game Of Skill: Video Game Enthusiasm And Confidence With Computers, Rebecca L. Sevin

Masters Theses

This study explores the relationship between recreational involvement with video games and an interest in computer science as well as confidence with computers. Multiple works have acknowledged that the content in video games and the video game culture is presently very hostile towards women. Simultaneously, the number of women pursuing computer science has been decreasing since the 1980s. Past studies have suggested that playing video games can increase confidence with computers and may lead to an interest in computer science. Using data collected from 1,124 college students, this study addresses this issue by using a variety of measures to gauge …

Gender Similarities And Differences In Experiences Of Public School Administrators, Marcia D. Fawver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of study was to examine similarities and differences in experiences between male and female high school principals and district administrators in addition to similarities and differences in leadership style and skills. This was an in-depth study with participants working in the same district and matched with descriptors such as age, similar position, and time served. Therefore the statement of the problem for the present study is what similarities and differences in experiences exist between male and female high school principals and district administrators in addition to similarities and differences in leadership style and skills.

Two male high school …

Cross-Gender Casting As Feminist Interventions In The Staging Of Early Modern Plays, Gemma Miller

Journal of International Women's Studies

This essay explores cross-gender casting of Renaissance canonical texts in modern British theatrical institutions as an act of feminist activism. Reversing early modern all-male theatrical practices, female-male re-gendering can not only interrogate the misogyny immanent in the works themselves, but also expose the ideological structures that continue to collude with these values on the contemporary stage and in society more generally. Through a comparative analysis of all-female productions such as Julius Caesar (dir. by Phyllida Lloyd, Donmar Warehouse, 2012-13) and selective cross-gendering, as exemplified in Edward II, (dir. by Joe Hill-Gibbins, The National Theatre, 2013), I argue that cross-gender …

Human Papillomavirus And The Gardasil Vaccine: Medicalization And The Gendering Of Bodies And Bodily Risk, Lauren Camara

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.

Doctor Who And The Creation Of A Non-Gendered Hero Archetype, Alessandra J. Pelusi

Theses and Dissertations

This project investigates the ways in which the television program Doctor Who creates a new, non-gendered hero archetype.

Christina Nelson - Applying John Hagan’S Power-Control Theory To Gender Differences With Drug Abuse, Christina Nelson

Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program 2014

Previous work has indicated that young men and women engage in drug use in different ways and for different reasons. This research tests Hagan’s Power-Control Theory to examine gender differences in adolescent drug use. This study analyzes randomly selected subsample of data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). Questions that led this study were: Do patterns of drug abuse differ by gender? To what extent can Hagan’s Power-Control Theory explain this? Control variables looked at gender, age and race. All adolescents were from the ages of 12-17. Dependent variables looked at drug use (ever, yearly, monthly). …

Brazen (Fall 2014), Hollins University

Brazen - Gender & Women's Studies Department Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Women In The Crowd Of Corporate Directors: Following, Walking Alone, And Meaningfully Contributing, Joan Macleod Heminway

Scholarly Works

With the thought that new perspectives often can be helpful in addressing long-standing unresolved questions, this article approaches an analysis of women’s roles on corporate boards of directors from the standpoint of crowd theory. Crowd theory — in reality, a group of theories — explains the behavior of people in crowds. Specifically, this article describes theories of the crowd from social psychology and applies them to the literature on female corporate directors, looking at the effects on both women as crowd members and boards as decision-making crowds.

Unfortunately, while the crowd theory perspective provides some insights, they are not altogether …

Mapping Italian Women's Filmmaking: Urban Space In The Cinema Of The New Millennium, Laura Di Bianco

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My dissertation lies at the intersection of Italian studies, film studies, women's studies, and urban studies. Applying gender studies and feminist theoretical perspectives, I trace a thematic map of contemporary Italian women's cinema (2000-2012) that investigates female subjectivity in urban contexts. Examining the works of the filmmakers Marina Spada, Francesca Comencini, Wilma Labate, Roberta Torre, and Alice Rohrwacher, I identify a common tendency to treat locations like characters, apply similar modalities of incorporating city-views into the narration, and recurrently construct parallels between physical journeys through cities and inner journeys of the self. As a prism through which to look at …

Gendered Practices And Conceptions In Korean Drumming: On The Negotiation Of "Femininity" And "Masculinity" By Korean Female Drummers, Yoonjah Choi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Korean drumming, one of the most popular musical practices in South Korea, currently exists in a state of contradiction as drumming, historically performed by men, is increasingly practiced by women. Women drummers who enter this male-dominated realm confront the "masculinization" of the practice, which is naturalized and normalized through the field's discourse and performance. At the same time, they seek a "femininity" that may help them to survive in the field. To examine these gendered conceptions and practices, I draw on the ways in which contemporary Korean traditional drum performers, predominantly professional female drummers, conceptualize, experience, perform, reinforce, and/or resist …

When Wives Migrate And Leave Husbands Behind: A Jamaican Marriage Pattern, Elaine B. Douglas-Harrison

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

For over a hundred years Jamaicans have been migrating to make the proverbial `better life' for themselves and their families. In the early 20th century husbands migrated, leaving wives behind. As economies of the United States and Canada have become more service-oriented, wives migrate leaving husbands behind. The experiences of Jamaican immigrant women are documented in Caribbean migration studies, but the marriages of Jamaican legally-married immigrant wives and their husbands left behind in Jamaica are so far unstudied. The main research question of this study is what maintains these transnational marriages over time, sometimes for decades, when spouses see each …

Discrepancies In Discipline Of Middle School Students By Gender: A Comparison Of Principal Candidates’ Responses To Vignettes, And Teacher Perceptions, Jill Lukefahr-Farrar

Dissertations

Discipline in schools exists so that there are guidelines to ensure safety and learning. Administrators and teachers give students consequences based upon discipline guidelines made by the school districts’ board of education. The discipline administered can be subjective. In a suburban mid-western school district, alarming trends in the amount of discipline referrals of male students both in the primary investigator’s middle school and in the other middle schools within the researched district were recognized. The purpose of this mixed methods study is to analyze and understand if gender discrepancies exist in discipline for middle school students among aspiring administrators, practicing …

Gangstas, Thugs, Vikings, And Drivers: Cinematic Masculine Archetypes And The Demythologization Of Violence In The Films Of Nicolas Winding Refn, Christopher John Olson

College of Communication Theses and Dissertations

This thesis considers how the depictions of masculinity in the films of Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn function as a critique of mainstream Hollywood cinema’s perpetuation of the notion that violent male behavior represents a heroic ideal for men to emulate. In films such as Pusher, Bronson, Valhalla Rising, and Drive, Refn constructs and presents his male characters by drawing upon recurring archetypal figures such as the gangster, the gangsta, the gunslinger, and the samurai. These figures recur throughout popular culture and across genres, and they perpetuate and reinforce a specific version of masculinity that emphasizes individualism, stoicism, and violence. …

The Basis Of Self And Other In Gender Constructed Identity, Julie L. Lemley

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This paper is an extension of previous research projects wherein I applied theories of identity and labeling (Garfinkle), power (French and Raven) and gender (Pearson, West and Turner) to adolescent girls’ identity construction. Using methods of textual criticism, I argued then that the advertising targeting adolescent girls at the crucial transitional period between child identity and adult identity was dominated by patriarchal imagery, the implications of which are sexual violence, low-self esteem and self-objectification by young women. This paper applies the same methodology but to identity formation of adolescent boys, arguing on the basis of Hegel’s master-slave dialectic that adolescent …

Selling Gender: Gender Role Portrayals In Contemporary Magazine Advertisements, Laura Pelletier

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This study presents a content analysis of gender role portrayals and male and female objectification in contemporary magazine advertisements. A total of fifteen magazines were analyzed from a two month period to determine if gender role portrayals have changed or remained the same as earlier studies. The first analysis looks at product categories most and least often advertised by male or female models. The second analysis looks at the sexual portrayals in magazine advertisements and the rate of objectification of male and female models.

Cluster B Personality Disorders Separated By Gender Expectations, Brianna Kloss

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Criticisms of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000), the most widely recognized system for classification of psychological disorders in the U.S., including gender discriminating disorders and diagnoses, have existed for all editions of the DSM. Arguably, gender construction has a profound influence on the standards and evaluation of normal and abnormal behaviors. Concern for the presence of gender bias of personality disorders has been raised within the DSM, in part, by the frequent diagnoses made according to gender stereotypes. The DSM-IV-TR characterizes personality disorders as marked distress and …

"I Came To America, Crying": Rebuilding A Life, Redefining The Self—Ethiopian Women Refugees In Denver (Colorado) (2012–2013), Barbara Guglielminotti Valetta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine the challenges faced by Ethiopian women in the Denver community to reach harmony within their new social and cultural space and to examine what they feel they have lost and gained in their self-identity as a result of their immigration. Refugees face a multitude of dilemmas when they are compelled to relocate from their home countries to a new, foreign-host society. Ethiopian refugees have been arriving in the US since the 1970s and feel the uprootedness of being away from their homeland. Being uprooted is losing one’s culture and ways of life. …

Transmission: Premium Television Characters Outside Of The Gender Binary, Daniel L. Ketchum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Five fictional characters have emerged on the U.S. premium-pay-cable channels that blur the traditional male-or-female gender divide. The basics of queer theory (sex, gender, orientation, and transgender) and critical/cultural studies (encoding, decoding, and reading a text) are explained as a basis for the analysis of the characters, which seeks to answer the research question: does the premium-pay-cable television format offer truly empathetic non-binary transgender characters that challenge the dominant American ideologies about gender identity and expression? If so, how? If not, why not?

Shane McCutcheon from Showtime’s lesbian melodrama The L Word (2004- 2010), Lafayette Reynolds from HBO’s supernatural drama-comedy …