Digital Commons Network^™

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Wise Warriors In Tolkien, Lewis, And Rowling, Ernelle Fife

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

Discusses the concept of the wise woman warrior, focusing primarily on Éowyn, Orual, and Hermione Granger but bringing in other characters from the works of Tolkien, Lewis, and Rowling as well.

Harassing Women With Power: The Case For Including Contra-Power Harassment Within Title Vii, Ann C. Juliano

Working Paper Series

After overcoming the obstacles to advancement, women who reach managerial positions are still subject to harassment. At times, this harassment comes from subordinates. The incidence of those employees with “lesser” power harassing those with more power presents a dilemma for traditional thinking on sexual harassment and for the developing judicial doctrine of sexual harassment. It is well-established that Title VII protects employees from discrimination because of sex. Yet, it is unclear whether the statute reaches as far as contra-power harassment.

Traditionally, sexual harassment was considered an abuse of power in the workplace. If this is true, how can female supervisors …

Caregivers In The Courtroom: The Growing Trend Of Family Responsibilities Discrimination, Joan C. Williams, Stephanie Bornstein

UF Law Faculty Publications

When people think of sex discrimination, they tend to think of glass-ceiling discrimination and sexual harassment. This article describes and documents a rapidly expanding area of employment discrimination law: family responsibilities discrimination, or "FRD." FRD is employment discrimination against people based on their caregiving responsibilities, whether for children, elderly parents, or ill partners. FRD includes both "maternal wall" discrimination -- the equivalent of the glass ceiling for mothers -- and discrimination against men who participate in childcare or provide care for other family members.

Voices Raised, Issue 13, University Of Dayton. Women's Center

Women’s Center Newsletter

Included in this issue: Hope for Women Survivors of Sexual Abuse; Stop Hate Week; Love Your Body Month; UD Alumna Leads Women's Engineering Program; Students appreciate friendly campus; Love Yourself, Invest in Yourself; Do employers use Facebook to check employees?; When was the last time you offended another member of the UD community?

“Sweeping The Heavens For A Comet”: Women, The Language Of Political Economy, And Higher Education In The United States, Ann Mari May

Department of Economics: Faculty Publications

The importance of increased levels of education in improving the status of women throughout the world is well established. Higher levels of education are associated with lower birth rates, higher incomes, and greater autonomy for women. Yet, women’s struggle to have a voice in higher education has been fraught with difficulties in the US and worldwide, particularly in overcoming widely held perceptions that limit their entrance into certain academic fields, tenured positions, and elite universities. This essay examines the role political economy has played in providing narratives that rationalize women’s limited participation in higher education. By examining the representation of …

The Abortion Rights Of Adolescents Should Be Coextensive With Those Of Adults--A Theoretical Framework, Chad M. Gerson

ExpressO

The aim of this article is to argue that the abortion rights of adolescents should be coextensive with those of adults. The first section of the article reviews research in child development which has demonstrated that adolescents are able to make informed, mature decisions on procreative issues. The second section reviews cases which have defined the contours of adult women’s abortion rights, and argues that the reasoning behind those holdings also applies to adolescents.

“Actions As Words, Words As Actions: Sexual Harassment Law, The First Amendment And Verbal Acts, John F. Wirenius

ExpressO

The article examines the tension between the hostile work environment under the civil rights laws and the First Amendment’s protection of free speech, even when such speech is offensive and even discriminatory. After discussing the tension and its limits, the author examines other rationales proposed to resolve this tension, and rejecting them as unsatisfactory. Noting that hostile work environment doctrine, as a variable standard, employs a less “bright-line” approach than is typical of the First Amendment’s rule, the author nonetheless finds that the “open texture” of all rules, and the requirement that a hostile work environment be systematically pervasive or …

Toward A Feminist Theory Of The Rural, Lisa R. Pruitt

ExpressO

Feminists have often criticized law’s ignorance of women’s practical, lived experiences, even as they have also sought to reveal the variety among those experiences. This article builds on both critiques to argue for greater attentiveness to a neglected aspect of women’s situation: place. Specifically, Professor Pruitt asserts that the hardships and vulnerability that mark the lives of rural women and constrain their moral agency are overlooked or discounted by a contemporary cultural presumption of urbanism.

Professor Pruitt considers judicial responses to the realities of rural women’s lives in relation to three different legal issues: domestic violence, termination of parental rights, …

Economic Well-Being And Intimate Partner Violence: New Findings About The Informal Economy, Loretta Pyles

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between intimatep artnerv iolence (IPV) and women's participationin the informal economy (both legal and illegal) and their impact on economic well-being. This research was part of a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) study that was concerned with women's survival of childhood and adult abuse. For the 285 women that were in this sample, there were positive, medium correlations between IPV and various types of informal economic activity. Illegal informal economic activity, institutionalized informal economic activity, incarceration and physical abuse negatively impacted women's economic well-being.

Jumping On The Mommy Track: A Tax For Working Mothers, Jessica C. Kornberg

ExpressO

“Jumping on the Mommy Track: a Tax for Working Mothers,” was written in response to recent data suggesting that mothers experience a wage penalty unrelated to diminished work productivity or commitment. This Article starts from the assumption that a wage penalty, in combination with already existing disadvantages to working mothers embedded in the tax code, drives women out of the workforce and into less economically efficient activity. The Article proposes remedying this distortion by implementing a targeted regressive tax on working mothers.

Parental Consent And Notification Laws In The Abortion Context: Rejecting The "Maturity" Standard In Judicial Bypass Proceedings, Anna Bonny

ExpressO

The choice to become a parent, to give a baby up for adoption, or to terminate a pregnancy presents a life-altering decision for a minor. The majority of states require minors to engage their parents or legal guardians in their choice to obtain an abortion, but not in decisions to give their babies up for adoption or to become parents. Though the Supreme Court has held that parental consent and notification laws do not infringe on a minor's constitutional rights if judicial bypass options are available, the reality of these judicial proceedings demonstrates a biased and unworkable legal avenue. Even …

Multistable Figures: Sexual Orientation Visibility And Its Effects On The Experiences Of Sexual Minorities In The Courts, Todd Brower

ExpressO

A multistable figure is a cognitive illusion in which a single drawing contains multiple, competing images. On first viewing a person will see one image, but not the other – it usually requires additional information to trigger the viewer’s awareness of the second image. However, once you know about the disparate figures in the illustration, you cannot erase that knowledge from your mind and see a sole image as you did originally. This inability to ignore information and its effect on subsequent experience has parallels in lesbians’ and gay men’s treatment in the courts.

Courts today are deeply involved in …

Domestic Violence And Legal Reforms In Nigeria: Prospects And Challenges, Itoro Eze-Anaba

ExpressO

The article focuses on the challenges for women’s rights activists attempting to provide a better legal regime for victims of domestic violence in Nigeria. It is my desire to provide a resource material on the issue of domestic violence for activists, policy makers, legislators and law reformers who are engaged in providing a better legal framework for the protection and promotion of women’s rights in a developing country like Nigeria. Having worked extensively on this issue, the article documents my experience on law reform advocacy in Nigeria.

The Purpose Of Child Support, Ira M. Ellman

ExpressO

What is the appropriate amount of child support to require in particular cases? How should we take account, if at all, of subsequent events such as either parent’s remarriage? It seems obvious that the answers to such questions ought to turn on our purpose in requiring support payments in the first place. But while fixing the amount of child support can be politically contentious, and has attracted the attention of partisans on both sides of the gender gap, the literature contains no systematic examination of support rules in light of their underlying policy purpose. This article fills that gap. It …

Telling History Through The Stories Of Women: Julia Alvarez's In The Time Of The Butterflies And In The Name Of Salomé, Nicole Marie Carlson

Theses and Dissertations

My thesis discusses the ways in which Julia Alvarez's In the Time of the Butterflies (1994) and In the Name of Salomé (2000) are revolutionary texts contesting traditional, male dominated history and redirecting historical and communal foci to the lives of Dominican women. I employ Walter Benjamin's theories found in his essays "The Storyteller" (1936) and "On the Concept of History" (1940) to assist my exploration of Alvarez's questions concerning the power and effect of storytelling, and the importance of reconstructing various historical voices and images, specifically, the importance of reconstructing female voices in male dominated cultures. I discuss the …

Dependency By Law: Poverty, Identity, And Welfare Privatization, Frank Munger

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Privatization of welfare reflects the political pressure to limit public responsibility for protection of social citizenship. Recent welfare reforms incorporate three classic market-like privatization mechanisms--contracting out services forcing allocation of a limited pool of benefits, and deregulation. Deregulation entails strategic diversion and disqualification of large numbers of would-be applicants who are left without alternatives to the labor market. In this article I discuss an empirical study of the effects of deregulation of welfare on the self-perceptions of recipients. Interviews with recipients and with low-wage health care workers, former recipients, show that, criticisms of welfare notwithstanding, they have embraced welfare reform's …

Superficial Self-Harm Behavior: Helping Young Women Who Hurt Themselves, Katherine D. Ryan

Theses and Dissertations

Roughly 1 to 4% of the population engages in self-harm. Superficial self-harm is reported by more young women, than young men. Appropriate responses from family, friends, and other important individuals are a key ingredient in facilitating recovery. Non-therapists, such as family, friends, and school personnel often wish to assist young women who self-harm, but the problem is complex and they are often unsure of how to respond. Current studies primarily focus on the clinical interventions for self-harm, while very few have investigated the perspectives of the individuals who self-harm. This study investigated the perspectives of young women who self-harm in …

Healthcare Encounters Of Formerly Incarcerated Women: A Grounded Theory Study, Karen Sue Hoyt Phd

Dissertations

The adult correctional population in the United States soared to nearly 7 million people (Bureau of Justice Statistics [BJS], 2005). Over 2 million individuals were housed in prisons or jails in the United States. Nearly 7 percent (6.9%) were women (BJS, 2005). Recent trends in the adult correctional population suggest that there has been a stark increase in the number of formerly incarcerated women in the United States. The purpose of this research was to explore how formerly incarcerated women perceived their healthcare encounters. The aims of this study were to answer the following questions. How did formerly incarcerated women …

Older Single Women In Transition: Moving To A Supportive Retirement Community, Linda L. Hansen-Kyle Phd

Dissertations

This study explored role changes, resilience, social, and health challenges encountered by older women who transitioned to a retirement community that provided social, health, and safety support structures. The aim of this study was to analyze and describe the transition from the viewpoint of the participants. Although previous research has shown transitions lead to psychosocial, emotional, physical, and health changes, the importance of this study stems from the lack of research on older women moving to supportive communities and their unique challenges. A convenience sample of 39 women, aged 70-94, who had been living alone before moving to a church …

Images Of Water And Woman In The Arts, Zdenka Kalnicka

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

Archetypal connection of woman and water is ambiguous: it includes the connection of water and woman with life as well as with death. The paper explores the ways, how two sides of this connection were depicted in the artworks created by women and men artists, focusing on their gender differentiated approach (Albín Brunovsk_ and Germaine Richier, Edward Burne-Jones and Edith Rimmington). As an inspiration for reconsideration of the relationship between Life and Death, the potential of old symbol of the frog as the symbol of birth, death and re-birth is examined (Susan Makov).

The Ladies Of The Water: Iemanjá, Oxum, Oiá And A Living Faith, Cláudia Cerqueira Do Rosario

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

The orishas Iemanjá , Oxum and Oiá are related to the forces of salt and fresh waters, and to the storms, and are objects of living worship not only in Brazil but also in parts of Africa - where they came from - and Americas. Based on their archetypal representations, this paper will be a reflection on the archetypes of the relationship woman/water and its symbolic implications, both in “sacred” and “profane” ways, still alive in contemporary culture.

Tolerated Terror: Mexico's Failure To Punish Gender-Based Violence In Ciudad Juarez And Potential Avenues For Relief Under U.S. Asylum Law, Timothy Atler

Student Thesis Honors (1996-2008)

This paper examines the phenomenon of gender-related violence in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico and surveys what legal mechanisms exist to protect the human rights of the women who are being targeted there. The first section of the paper presents background information regarding the violence in Ciudad Juarez. This section first explores the historical and economic developments in Mexico that led to the migration of thousands of young, rural women to Ciudad Juarez. I then discuss the nature of the violence against these women in Ciudad Juarez as it has been reported by human rights agencies, journalists and scholars. Finally, I survey …

Pregnancy & Policing: Are They Compatible?, Karen J. Kruger

ExpressO

A paper advocating that law enforcement agencies provide adequate accommodations and legal protections to women officers who become pregnant.

Shifting Experiences: The Changing Roles Of Women In The Italian, Lowland, And German Regions Of Western Europe From The Middle Ages To The Early Modern Period, Susan Papino

Senior Honors Projects

As the culture of the Middle Ages declined and Early Modern period characterized by a revival of humanistic ideals of the Renaissance commenced, the society of Western Europe underwent many changes. Different attitudes emerged concerning cultural values, and the medieval feudal way of life that has often been interpreted as being antiquated and obsolete gave way to more modern political, economic, and social systems. The question still remains, however, of exactly how women, an often underrepresented part of society, were affected by these so-called modernizing changes. The scope of this research is to basically address this question and examine the …

Exercise Self-Efficacy, Stages Of Exercise Change, Health Promotion Behaviors, And Physical Activity In Postmenopausal Hispanic Women, Pamela Wolfe Kohlbry Phd

Dissertations

The purpose of this correlational research is to understand the relationships among the variables of exercise self-efficacy, stages of exercise change, health promotion behaviors, body mass index (BMI), health problems, and the level of physical activity in postmenopausal Hispanic women. The significance of this study is to contribute research that enhances the understanding of the relationship of psychosocial and health promotion correlates and physical activity in postmenopausal Hispanic women. On a national level, this is important because Hispanic women make up one of the fastest growing minority populations and they experience the second highest level of obesity. This research is …

The Reluctant Sorority: Stories Of American Wives Of Prisoners Of War And Missing In Action, 1965–1973. Lessons In Exercising Leadership In The Absence Of Power, Steven L. Smith Edd

Dissertations

Increasingly, political action committees and special interest groups dominate the national policy-making process. Critics charge that campaign contributions buy access to and influence with policy makers, and that the differential ability to make such contributions results in disproportional representation. The question then becomes: how do ordinary citizens who are unable to use substantial financial contributions to "purchase" access to power mobilize people to influence public policy. To state the question another way: how can people provide leadership when they possess neither positional power nor the means commonly used to influence those with positional power? This historical study examines these questions …

The Relative Effects Of Education And Cognitive Complexity Of Employment Experience On The Rate Of Cognitive Decline In Elderly Women, Janet M. Lundahl

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis examined the lifetime exposure of women's employment on cognitive functioning and cognitive decline in late life.

From the Cache County Study on Memory, Health, & Aging data, a sample of 2,588 women, aged 65 and older gave retrospective occupational history and were screened using the Modified Mini-Mental State Exam at study entry and approximately 3 years later. Non-demented women were used.

Ordinary least squares regression was used cross-sectionally and longitudinally to test the association between cognitive complexity level of the longest job and baseline cognitive status, and rate of cognitive decline over approximately 3 years.

Cross-sectional analysis revealed …

The Women House Church Leaders Of China: Interviews With A Muted Group, Timothy R. Wommack

Masters Theses

While studying the Bakweri people of Cameroon in the 1960s, Edwin and Shirley
Ardener discovered that it was the men who dominated and controlled the power and language of the group and created the societal understanding and the cultural makeup of their tribe's identity. The men did not allow the women to speak or have a say in the elements of their culture; these women were muted. Throughout history many individuals, especially women, have been muted in any number of ways. These include political, economical, social, cultural constrictions, even to the point of death, to keep them from being represented. …

The Weldon Amendment: The Ongoing Restrictions On A Woman's Right To Choose, John Patton Fortuno

ExpressO

Under the Weldon Amendment, a “physician or other health care professional, a hospital, a provider-sponsored organization, a health maintenance organization, a health insurance plan, or any other kind of health care facility” may refuse abortions, counseling, or referrals, even in cases of rape, incest, or medical emergency.