Digital Commons Network^™

Go Lala Go!: Globalization, Consumerism, And Gender In Chinese Romantic Comedy, Morgan Southwell Gurr

Theses & ETDs

This thesis deals with the negotiation of Chinese cultural identity through film. This work is motivated by a desire to understand more about Chinese culture and media. In the first chapter, relevant research related to Chinese film in general is examined, focusing on the topics of transnationality, nationality, gender and genre. Recent economic development in China has created challenges to traditional values. Forces including globalism, language, consumerism, and nationalism come into play as affluent Chinese navigate new identities. Media representations of the modern Chinese, particularly affluent Chinese women portray the complex experience of identity and serve as a site for …

Feminine Wiles: Performance And Embodiment By Webcam Models, Michelle W. Patteson

Theses & ETDs

Prior research on emotional labor and constructions of normatively feminine work identities in the service industry exists, but is limited, especially in terms of a focus on sex work. This study explores emotional labor and performances of femininity by webcam models. Surveys were administered to 43 woman-read1 webcam models. The results indicate that webcam models whose performance is influenced by what they think is desired by clientele are likely to perform emphasized femininity at work, controlling for femininity outside of work. This indicates that many models construct their performance based on their generalized knowledge of cisgender male heterosexual desire, given …

Political Embodiment In The Work Of Magrela; Challenging Power, Space, And Gender In São Paulo, Paula Bettina Garofalo

Theses & ETDs

Magrela (Carol Maciel) is an artist living and working out of São Paulo, Brazil. Her work addresses the female body, and all the political implications that the embodied subject holds. This thesis aims to explicate Magrela’s graffiti practice in relation to gendered inequality in São Paulo. I wish to emphasize Magrela’s multi-faceted approach to challenging gendered oppression through her representation of the female body in public spaces. Through the theoretical combination of abject imagery crossed with a phenomenological approach of feminist embodiment, I suggest how Magrela’s practice is a successful critique and challenge of patriarchal models. There are three main …

No Leg To Stand On: Differences In The Stand-Up Comedy Material Of Successful Male And Female Comedians, Juliana Musheyev

Theses & ETDs

There is a scarcity of high-earning and successful female stand-up comedians performing today, and a substantial amount of popular and academic literature attempting to explore why that is. This is particularly problematic because comedy is a powerful tool used to influence and challenge social norms. You may hear people say that they don’t particularly like “female comedy” but there is very little literature on how exactly female comedians are different from their male counterparts. This study examines the differences within the stand-up comedy material of five successful male comedians and five successful female comedians, selected on the basis of social …

Mental Toughness, Personality, And Benefit Finding, Maiah Taylor

Theses & ETDs

Over the past decades, mental toughness research has become more prevalent but has yet to include non-athletes. The present study was intended to evaluate mental toughness, personality, and benefit finding abilities in non-athletes. The sample consisted of 86 participants, 16 male, 58 female, 5 non-binary, and 7 who did not respond ranging in age from 18 to 69 years (M=22). The findings are discussed in the context of how mental toughness associated with personality, benefit finding and gender. A series of correlations and t-tests were conducted resulting in significant findings regarding the personality profile of those considered to be mentally …

Raising Her Voice, Changing Their Vote: Women’S Substantive Representation And Gender Quotas In India’S Panchayati Raj, Laura Robinson

Theses & ETDs

Women’s exclusion from politics, and consequently government, has continued to undermine equal representation and cause women’s interests to be underrepresented in legislatures worldwide. In an effort to improve women’s representation, India enacted the 74th Constitutional Amendment in 1993, reserving one-third of local government (Panchayati Raj) council seats for women. In order to create lasting change the gender quotas must increase not only women’s numerical representation, but also, in the long-term, their substantive and symbolic representation. This study explores whether substantive representation has been achieved in the Panchayati Raj, and if not, what prevented it. Four key spheres of Panchayati Raj …

Gender Mainstreaming In Journalism Education, Margaretha Geertsema-Sligh

Scholarship and Professional Work - Communication

In a time of swift technological changes in the news media, much of journalism education is focused on preparing students for careers in a new media landscape instead of focusing on gender or other diversity issues. For example, Pavlik (2013, p.213) argued in a recent article that a curriculum that ‘emphasized innovation and digital media entrepreneurship is one of the keys to a robust professional future for the field and students seeking a media career’. Even so, Pavlik (2013, p.217) recognised that most programmes in media education are holding on to an outdated professional model of journalism and mass communication, …

Exercise Can Improve Physical Self Perceptions In Adolescents With Low Motor Competence, Fleur Mcintyre, Paola Chivers, Elizabeth Rose, Beth Hands

Health Sciences Papers and Journal Articles

Adolescents with low motor competence have diminished perceptions of their physical self and tend to avoid physical activities. This study examined the outcomes of an exercise intervention that focused on improving aerobic fitness, strength, and self-perceptions in the physical domain in adolescents with poor motor coordination. The sample included 35 adolescents with low motor competence, comprising boys (n = 25) and girls (n = 10) ranging in age from 13 to 17 years, who attended two sessions per week in the 13 week exercise intervention study (AMP it up). Physical self-perceptions were measured before and after the intervention …

Strategic Deployments Of ‘Sisterhood’ And Questions Of Solidarity At A Women’S Development Project In Janakpur, Nepal, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Journal Articles

Linguistic uses of ‘sisterhood’ provide a window into disparate understandings of relationality among virtual and actual interlocutors in women’s development across vectors of caste, class, ethnicity and nationality. In this essay, I examine the trope of ‘sisterhood’ as it was employed at a women’s development project in Janakpur, Nepal, in the 1990s. I demonstrate that the use of this common signifier of kinship with culturally disparate ‘signifieds’ created a confusion of meaning, and differential readings of the politics of relationality. In my view, ‘sister,’ as used at this project, was a multivalent, strategically deployed, and divergently interpreted term. In particular, …

War And Witness In The Poetry Of H.D., Denise Levertov, And Carolyn Forche, Katelyn Bienas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In my thesis, I focus on the role of the twentieth century female poet in writing about war, looking closely at three poets: H.D., Denise Levertov, and Carolyn Forche. By examining poets from three different points within the century, I question the ways in which the reactions towards these poets evolved alongside society's changing perceptions of women's public responsibilities. Poetry of war is important in documenting events that have a lasting impact upon nations and individuals. However, the role of women poets in writing of these political conflicts is worthy of study because of the questions that arise in terms …

Spectacles Of Reform: Theater And Activism In Nineteenth-Century America By Amy E. Hughes (Review), Jocelyn Buckner

Theatre Faculty Articles and Research

In Spectacles of Reform Amy Hughes advocates for “spectacle as methodology” (4), a means of interpreting spectacle in nineteenth-century melodrama, as well as a wide variety of other media, that rehearses and reforms concepts of citizenship and identity related to race, class, gender, and morality. Through this lens, Hughes seeks to answer the questions “where and how do activist spectacles appear before and beyond the theatrical encounter?” and “why is spectacle kept alive through reinvention, revision, and repetition long after the drama is over?” (5). Hughes traces her theory of the spectacular instant through three popular sensation themes of the …

Sexuality, Gender Roles, And Domestic Violence In South Asia, M.E. Khan, John Townsend, Pertti J. Pelto

Reproductive Health

In the past 15 years, there has been a notable increase in research on and interest in sexuality, masculinity, domestic violence, gender inequities in South Asia, yet the dimensions of men’s and women’s concepts of masculinity and sexuality, changing patterns of gender roles, and the nature of violence remain partly understood.

Focusing mainly on Bangladesh and India, the 16 chapters in this book are designed to deepen our understanding of sexuality, HIV and AIDS, and gender relations in South Asia. The chapters explore topics such as marital and extramarital sexual relations, socioeconomic and sexual security of female garment workers, gender …

Feminism And Romance Novels, Abigail Brennan

Theses & ETDs

Over the past forty years, romance novels have been subject to much debate among feminists about whether they are patriarchal, feminist, or unrelated to gender politics. In this study, qualitative interviews of feminist-identified romance novel readers explore the strategies they use to interpret romance novels in the light of their political beliefs. Three strategies commonly used by readers are discussed: the escapist strategy, which says romance novels are unrelated to gender politics; the critical engagement strategy, which examines and rejects sexist novels; and the actively feminist strategy, which highlights aspects of romance novels considered feminist. In addition, many readers see …

The American Legal Profession In The Twenty-First Century, Stephen M. Sheppard

Faculty Articles

Lawyers in the United States work in public service, private counseling, and dispute resolution, but many also work outside of traditional legal practice. The million-member American bar, second largest in the world, grows more diverse by gender, and ethnicity and older on average. All members of this learned profession must qualify by education or examination and by proof of good character and fitness before taking an oath to serve as an attorney. Thence, there are few limitations on the form of legal practice, though many law firms require an associateship before an attorney becomes an owner of the firm. Economic …

Assessment Of Sex Selection In Bangladesh, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Ubaidur Rob, Forhana Rahman Noor

Reproductive Health

According to UN estimates, the sex ratio at birth (SRB) has persisted at its natural level of 105 male per 100 female newborns for the past half century in Bangladesh. Generally, the SRB becomes skewed in a setting where fertility is declining or low and where son preference exists. Strong son preference compounded by the availability of measures to implement such preference can lead to increased SRB. For example, the increasing availability of prenatal diagnostic technologies, together with declining fertility desires and persistent son preference, has contributed to increased gender-biased sex selection in several Asian countries, including China and India. …

The Practice Of Pinning And Its Production Of Gendered, Idealized Images For Women On College Campus In The 1940s, 50s And 60s, Jon E. Gorgosz

2014

No abstract provided.

La Puerta A Europa: Percepciones De La Inmigración En Andalucía, Kristin Glasheen

Honors Theses

A lo largo de los últimos veinte años, España ha experimentado un incremento tremendo de inmigración, lo que ha contribuido a nombrar España “la puerta a Europa.” Esta tesis examinará la inmigración contemporánea, particularmente en la comunidad autónoma de Andalucía, y el impacto de factores como identidad nacional y regional, género y la actual crisis económica en las percepciones que tienen los españoles de la inmigración. El análisis se basa tanto en entrevistas personales con directores de varias organizaciones no gubernamentales en las ciudades de Córdoba, Sevilla y Almería como en obras literarias y cinemáticas.

Females On The Fringe: Considering Gender In Payday Lending Policy, Amy J. Schmitz

Faculty Publications

Payday lending may provide a much-needed safety net for some consumers in need of quick cash for emergencies. However, data suggest that most payday loan borrowers become repeat users caught in a cycle of high-cost debt. Furthermore, empirical evidence indicates consistent overrepresentation of women, including many single mothers, among payday loan borrowers. This takes a toll not only on these women and their families, but also on society as a whole. Indeed, context matters in payday lending debates. It is thus time to think creatively and consider contextualized programs that aim to increase women’s and all consumers’ safe borrowing options, …

Real Versus Notional Income Splitting: What Canada Should Learn From The Us 'Innocent Spouse' Problem, Lisa Philipps

Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper Series

Canada’s individual tax unit historically has allowed a spouse to report only income over which she or he has legal control. Income splitting therefore typically requires transferring ownership of income earning property in some fashion. I refer to this as ‘real’ income splitting to contrast it with the purely notional assignment of income to a spouse’s tax return, first introduced in 2007 for pension income only. This ‘notional’ income splitting allowed spouses for the first time to shift income between their individual tax returns to achieve a lower tax rate, without any obligation to share the underlying pension entitlement. The …

Feminist Aesthetics And Copyright Law: Genius, Value, And Gendered Visions Of The Creative Self, Carys J. Craig

Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper Series

Copyright law is fundamentally concerned with the value of cultural works — both the recognition and the creation of this value. Yet it is seldom acknowledged that copyright law makes or requires any value judgment in the sense of an aesthetic evaluation of copyright’s subject matter. Indeed, it is often emphasized that copyright protects original works of authorship regardless of their quality or merit. That copyright protection demands the satisfaction of only the most minimal of qualitative standards does not, however, dispose of the larger claim that forms the basis of this chapter: our copyright system is dominated by a …

Defying Mandatory Motherhood: The Social Experiences Of Childfree Women, Braelin E. Settle

Wayne State University Theses

Research suggests motherhood is central to a woman's adult identity. In 2000, however, almost twice as many women ages 40-44 were childless than in 1980. Scholarship points to the social, economic, and attitudinal factors shaping the dramatic increase in the number of childfree women, many of whom are white, educated beyond high school, and upper-middle class. This qualitative case study focuses on the growing social phenomenon of childfree women in the United States. Using in-depth interviews, I examine the reasons behind women's decisions to remain childfree and the experiences of being childfree in their everyday lives. I focus on the …

Challenging Presumed (Im)Morality: A Personal Narrative, Angela Mae Kupenda

Journal Articles

This narrative essay is about presumptions of (im)morality in academic settings. Such biased presumptions affect our abilities, even as educators, to work together and foster a society built on principles of justice that could help us work, live, and play better together. Learning to understand, work with, live near, and care about others are goals to which many of us would say we aspire. As law professors, we consider collegiality to be one of the factors we use in evaluating candidates for hiring and promotion decisions. However, these evaluations may rest not on the worthiness or respected humanity of others, …

Blood, Tears, And Sweat: An Intersectional Excavation Of The Literary Vampire In Neoliberal Discourse, Jessica Elizabeth Birch

Open Access Dissertations

This project engages in a critical examination of the figure of the sympathetic vampire in paranormal romance novels and its relationship to neoliberal individualism, using an analytic frame informed by Valerie Smith's conceptualization of black feminist thinking; it focuses on the portrayal of the neoliberal institutions of nationalism, race, heterosexuality, and motherhood within Jewelle Gomez's The Gilda Stories, L.A. Banks's Minion, and Charlaine Harris's Dead Until Dark. As the ideology of neoliberal individualism has shaped the dominant discourse of the United States, neoliberal individualism has also remade the discourse of monstrosity with regard to vampires. The shifting representation of the …

Plastic Injuries, Anne Bloom

Hofstra Law Review

Perceptions of injuries are culturally mediated, mutable, plastic. In tort litigation, however, the cultural plasticity with which we perceive and experience injuries is often ignored. This Article explores the cultural plasticity with which we perceive injuries through the lens of plastic surgery litigation. It argues that determinations of injury in plastic surgery litigation turn on the culturally biased — and highly mutable — perceptions of medical professionals. More broadly, the Article argues that culture shapes perceptions of injuries in tort litigation as a whole. To make these points, the Article examines a prototypical plastic surgery case and surveys a range …

Trans Enough : Trans/Gender Identities And (Mis)Representation In Social Work, Christopher C. Hamann

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This study critically examines the current discourse in social work on transgender individuals in an attempt to be a starting point for those seeking to gain a better understanding of the ways in which the profession has conceptualized and served this population over the last 25 years. Queer theory and critical discourse analysis were used to analyze a final sample of 30 social work articles that focus on the transgender subject. Analytical focus was aimed at the production and reproduction of social norms, particularly those that function through heteronormativity, as well as forces of power operating within the discourse. Through …

Self-Effacement Of The "Author" To Circulate Texts : Strategies To Construct Authorship In Antebellum America, Rumi Takahashi

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

From the post-Revolutionary days, American print materials and political institutions were interrelated with each other for the purpose of building a new nation. The democratic institutions composed of the president and a sovereign people marked the country's difference from European monarchy, while the book trade served as a means that would disseminate a moral image of an ideal citizen to endorse the national identity. Yet, as drastic changes of industry in the 1820s enabled more people to participate in the economic system, the sovereignty of people turned out to be potentially subversive power of the mob, which required the literary …

Refugee Protection And Assistance : Locating Gender In Refugee Policies, Programs, And Experiences, Mwaka Nachilongo

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

REFUGEE PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE: LOCATING GENDER IN

"I'M Not Good Enough For Anyone" : Legal Status And The Dating Lives Of Undocumented Young Adults, Daniela Jan Torres Pila

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Legal status' impact on romantic relationships has not yet been adequately explored in the literature. Based on video and phone interviews with twenty five undocumented activists from the ages of 18 to 28 years old, this research brings to light how legal status affects the romantic relationships of undocumented women and men. Gender roles are highly prevalent among young adults' accounts and were consistent with stereotypical male and female roles in dating which often attribute more power and responsibility to men. As such, women experienced a slight advantage because traditional notions of courtship did not require them to provide resources, …

Why Aren't More Heathens Eco-Pagan Vegetarians? The Intersection Of Gender, Politics, And Spiritual Environmentalism, Kristen An Horton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Neo-Paganism, a nature-based new religious movement, provides a rich backdrop for the study of spiritual environmentalism. This ethnographic project analyzes the dynamic interconnectedness of neo-paganism and environmentalism, or "eco-paganism," and how Heathenry reframes the natural world using interpretations of Old Norse lore. A Heathen's connection to nature and how this connection is incorporated into his/her daily life supports the idea of environmentalism, yet their patriarchal and conservative political beliefs devalue environmentalism. My focus is on the feminization of the environment and vegetarianism to such a degree that Heathens view these movements as radicalized liberal tree hugging hobbies and how these …

Feminist Identification In Heterosexual Encounters : Exploring The Relationship Betweeen Women's Personal Values And Their Experiences Of Verbal Sexual Coercion, Shawna M. Hershberger

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Verbal Sexual Coercion by men is a common experience for young women that can lead to both physical and psychological harm (Byers and Glenn, 2012; Faulkner, Kolts and Hicks, 2008; Katz and Myhr, 2008). Clinicians who treat these young women may benefit from a deeper understanding of the role that personal values and beliefs about gender plays in the experiences of this common type of sexual coercion. The present study surveyed n=217 women between the ages of 21 to 30 about their gender role ideology, feminist identification and experiences of verbal sexual coercion to determine if there is a relationship …