Digital Commons Network^™

Shamans, Wives, Families: An Isoseño Case Considered Using Turner On Kayapo Dominance And Beauty, Kathleen B. Lowrey

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

In this essay I describe what I have seen elapse over twenty years in the lives (and sometimes deaths) of two shamans and their respective wives in Isoso, an indigenous community of Guarani-speaking people in the Bolivian Chaco. These shamans’ two different kinds of shamanic practice, their two different sorts of marriage, and the two different life-trajectories of their wives resonate with the dual nature of Isoso itself and its historical constitution. The reproduction of a hierarchical Arawakan way of life through feminine submission to a Guarani “egalitarianism” of masculine dominance has been, I suspect, a dynamic of long standing …

“When The Details Are No Longer Too Much”: The Embodied Citizen-Subject In Régine Michelle Jean-Charles’S Conflict Bodies, Alessandra Benedicty-Kokken

Anthurium: A Caribbean Studies Journal

Régine Michelle Jean-Charles’s Conflict Bodies: The Politics of Rape Representation in the Francophone Imaginary (2014) is a stunning first book by a dynamic scholar working at the intersection of Africana Studies, Human Rights Studies, and Feminist Studies, not to mention literary studies in French. Jean-Charles’s title “Conflict Bodies” gestures both to the context of "conflict zones" as identified by human rights institutions, and it also refers to how the body of the victim-survivor is at once one that has survived, but whose survival reinscribes the body with new subjectivities, subjectivities that are informed both by the extremely intimate, and by …

Sexual Behavior And Substance Use Among Women Across The Spectrum Of Sexual Orientation, Margaret M. Wolff

Dissertations and Theses

Background: Compared to non-sexual minority women, sexual minority women are at greater risk for substance use and abuse, sexual risk behaviors, and unplanned teen pregnancy; few studies measure differing associations by sexual orientation (e.g., identity, behavior, attraction) or discordance (e.g., heterosexually-identified women with female partners) components. Minority stress may explain sexual minority women’s health disparities; thus, as U.S. policies evolve to reflect growing acceptance of all sexual minorities, research should examine sexual minority women’s health risk behaviors using multidimensional constructs of sexual orientation.

Methods: Using the female sample of the 2002-2013 National Survey of Family Growth (Aims 1-2 n=25,523; …

I Hope, Mai Trinh

SURGE

As I have gotten older, I have learned that no matter how hard I try, I am never going to be able to repay my mother for everything that she did for me. The blood, sweat, and tears she put into nurturing the sick and troublesome, five-year-old me, the rebellious and lazy fifteen-year-old me, and the clumsy, and sometimes lost me now, are insurmountable. I know she had more trouble raising me than she was supposed to. I know her first five years of being a mother did not include taking me to the park, sitting down on a park …

Toward Equity In Higher Education: Women's Collegiate Decision-Making Processes, Heather D. Maldonado

New York Journal of Student Affairs

This purpose of this study was to better understand women’s collegiate decisions (e.g., opting to pursue a college education, the type of school attended, major choice, and ultimate career goals). Comparative qualitative methodology was utilized and the data were interpreted using Giddens’ (1984) structuration theory. Participants were women at an urban community college and a rural, public liberal arts college. Findings reveal that, while women’s collegiate decision-making processes continue to evolve toward more equitable higher education outcomes, there is still socialized inequity to be addressed. Implications for student affairs practice are discussed.

Bad Girls In Corsets: Women And The Transgressive Body In The Nineteenth Century, Colleen Warwick Green

Open Access Dissertations

Women, and their bodies, posed an increasing anxiety for Victorian society. Culturally and outwardly, the Victorian era strove to maintain a level of decorum that, increasingly, the nineteenth-century woman were, rebelling against. The urge for women to break through social barriers and constraints binding them to the century created a divergence in thought from the traditional mores of the past, in turn affecting the ways in which womens’ bodies were portrayed, displayed and manipulated by the authors and artists of the century.

As women entered actively entered into spaces once closed to them, they furthered the rift of uncertainty and …

A Unicorn's Tale: Examining The Experiences Of Black Women In Engineering Industry, Monique S. Ross

Open Access Dissertations

Black women have recently been identified as the most educated demographic in the United States, and yet they are grossly underrepresented in engineering. They comprise 6.4 % of the U.S. population and only 0.72 % of engineering industry. Meanwhile, engineers have been identified as the key to the United States’ ability to maintain its prominence and leadership in a competitive global economy due to their contribution to maintaining and improving our infrastructures and standard of living. This significance to society has spawned national initiatives geared towards broadening participation in engineering. This research study was designed to explore the experiences of …

Building Bridges: A Comparative Study Of Women Working In The Construction Industry In India And The Us, Susan Moir Scd

Labor Resource Center Publications

In January 2017, a delegation of women construction workers and advocates from the United States will visit India to meet with labour and civic leaders and share stories and experiences with women working in India’s construction industry. The goal of the delegation is to lay a foundation for an international network by and for women construction workers. This article describes the history and background of the delegation and its purpose.

To Write A Life : Three Women In History., Justy Louise Engle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This creative and critical hybrid dissertation explores the spiritual connections between three women in distinctly different time periods: contemporary America, nineteenth century America and early fifteenth century France. The overall dissertation explores the autogenealogobiography, what the author defines as the self-writings of women composed within a specific time period in relation to the current moment and generations of ancestral women. The objective of the creative texts is to record the spiritual journeys of life for the women who will come after for the purpose of encouraging careful observation of history so that women will be able to note and internalize …

French Women In Art: Reclaiming The Body Through Creation/Les Femmes Artistes Françaises : La Réclamation Du Corps À Travers La Création, Liatris Hethcoat

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The research I have conducted for my French Major Senior Thesis is a culmination of my passion for and studies of both French language and culture and the history and practice of Visual Arts. I have examined, across the history of art, the representation of women, and concluded that until the 20^th century, these representations have been tools employed by the makers of history and those at the top of the patriarchal system, used to control women’s images and thus women themselves. I survey these representations, which are largely created by men—until the 20^th century. I discuss pre-historical …

From The Voices Of California Female High School Principals: Examining Barriers And Support Systems In A New Era Of Educational Reform Through The Lens Of Activity Theory, Janice M. Jones

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the perceived barriers and support systems female high school principals experienced, through the lens of activity theory, while attaining and serving in their current position during the newest era of educational reform in a specific geographical region.

Methodology: Semistructured interviews were conducted with current female high school principals to gather data on the barriers and support systems they experienced. The theoretical framework of activity theory was used to analyze the subjects’ interaction with their environment as they sought the outcome of becoming and serving as high school principals. …

A Community Engaged Approach To Address Intimate Partner Violence Among Sexual Minority Women, Rachel Marie Smith

Dissertations and Theses

In response to a dearth of empirical literature concerning the mechanisms underlying female same-sex intimate partner violence (FSSIPV) perpetration, the purpose of this research is to inform intimate partner violence intervention and prevention strategies specific to sexual minority women. The research responds in particular, this research aims to inform a working intersectional model predicting FSSIPV perpetration, and to evaluate the face validity and construct coverage of existing survey measures related to gender, minority stress, and violence. Fourteen lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer women recruited from the greater Portland, Oregon area participated in a series of in-depth, semi-structured, open-ended one-on-one …

Recovery For All? A Snapshot Of Women’S Economic Status In New England, Ann Bookman, Christa Kelleher, Kristin Smith

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

This November 2016 report, based on pre-recession and post-recession earnings data from the American Community Survey, demonstrates that while women’s overall earnings are now higher than pre-recession levels, other key indicators demonstrate a growing wage gap for many women—especially minorities and low-wage workers.

Minority women in New England who are employed full-time, year-round earned 62 percent as much as white men, both before and after the recession. While the gap between minority women’s and white women’s earnings decreased in Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island after the recession, it stayed the same in Massachusetts and widened in Connecticut and Vermont. …

2016-The Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Of Spinifex Press, Kathleen Barry

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Positionality And Feminisms Of Women Within Sufi Brotherhoods Of Senegal, Georgia Collins

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

No abstract provided.

The Integrity Of Women In Re-Making A Nation: The Case Of Guinea-Bissau, Brandon Lundy, Raul Mendes Fernandes Jr., Kezia Lartley

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

This article both acknowledges and celebrates the role of women in re-making the nation of Guinea-Bissau. A gendered perspective and historical and multi-scalar framing demonstrates that women have played integral roles in nation-building over time and space in Guinea-Bissau. How have the women of Guinea-Bissau fashioned their agency? Where are the new forms of agency for women in Guinea-Bissau? An examination of nation-building shows the foundational roles of women, unique aspects of innovative economic enterprise before, during, and after the colonial period, and contemporary political efforts by women toward the production of a successful and inclusive country. Gender has opened …

Women In The Gis Profession, Livia Betancourt-Mazur, Jochen Albrecht

Publications and Research

In many technical professions, women are underrepresented. While a gender imbalance also has been assumed to exist in the realm of professional GIS, no data existed to corroborate it. The original survey presented here was developed by the authors to add both quantitative and qualitative research about the numbers and current experience of women in GIS to address this knowledge gap. A total of 484 women responded to the survey, providing a healthy sample size and a reliable and informative data set.

A key finding is that some 42 percent of women are, overall, not grossly underrepresented in the GIS …

Reconceptualizing Women's Stem Experiences: Building A Theory Of Positive Marginality, Valerie N. Streets

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Since the 1980s, disciplines such as psychology and sociology have discussed the construct of positive marginality. Positive marginality describes the perception that belonging to a non-dominant cultural or demographic group can be advantageous rather than oppressing. To date, research on positive marginality has explored the construct in a qualitative manner across a number of demographic groups (e.g., Jewish women in social sciences, African American women in predominantly Caucasian workplaces). Because women are largely underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, the current research examined positive marginality in a STEM context. This research advances the existing understanding of positive …

Fearless Friday: Tiffany Lane, Tiffany Lane

SURGE

This week, SURGE is highlighting the fearless work of Tiffany Lane, the new director of the Women’s and LGBTQ Resource Center on campus.

Although she is a new addition to the Gettysburg community, Tiffany has been working with issues of systemic injustice for much of her life. Her social justice journey began when she was an undergrad at Michigan State University (MSU), where she began to accept her identity as a queer woman. Tiffany was a student leader and activist at MSU and became so passionate about this work that she decided to make a career out of her activism. …

The "Rib" Of The South? An Analysis Of Feminine Agency Among Southern Elite Women Of The Antebellum Period (1815-1860), Louann Marie Sabatini

Theses

No abstract provided.

¿Dónde Pertenecemos? Narrative Analysis Of Afro-Boricua Women’S Experiences Of Belonging Within And Beyond College, Marie Nubia-Feliciano

Educational Studies Dissertations

Afro-Latinas, Latinas of African descent, exist at the intersections of culture, race, gender, and class, and this position informs how we experience our world. This unique experiential perspective is present when we decide to attend college. It was the goal of this research project to explore the post-secondary educational experiences of Afro-Latinas. One particular group of Afro-Latinas was the subject of the research project: Afro-Boricua women.

The unique relationship that Puerto Rico has with the United States provided a backdrop for these women’s college going experiences. It provided a historical framework of colonialism and racialization that occurred both on the …

What Have We Learned From The Departures Of Female Superintendents?, Kerry Kathleen Robinson

Journal of Women in Educational Leadership

The purpose of this qualitative study of 20 female former superintendents in Virginia was to answer (1) What factors cause women superintendents to move and/or leave the superintendency? and (2) How do the women construct the story of their moving or leaving? Thematic analysis of the interview narratives discerned four major themes in the stories of these women: (1) Expectations of job duties; (2) Exhaustion as Superwoman; (3) Conflict with stakeholders; and (4) Departure on their own terms and timelines. This study contributes to the research on women in the superintendency and suggests implications for research, policy, and practice.

Influences On Self-Care In Women With Heart Failure: A Pilot Study, Joy Corcione

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Background: Heart Failure self-care becomes exceedingly difficult to perform as the disease progresses; therefore social support becomes important in facilitating heart failure self-care. Woman with heart failure represent a significant and growing vulnerable population. Women tend to have lower self-confidence in providing self-care, experience greater negative emotions, decreased social support, experience more adverse psychosocial factors affecting self-care and experience greater psychosocial adversity than do men. Self-care is vital in managing heart failure and social support greatly facilitates self-care behaviors.

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to gain a deeper understanding about the sources of perceived social support and …

Approved For All Audiences: A Longitudinal Content Analysis Of The Portrayal Of Women In Movie Trailers, Brooke S. O’Neil

Masters Theses

Movie trailers are ever present in our society and impactful in the way society constructs views about various aspects of life. Trailers are unique in that they are specifically tailored and edited to entice audiences to buy tickets to the film. Further, prior research has indicated that in various forms of media, women are continuously underrepresented, disproportionately sexualized, stereotyped, and victimized. The present study examines the portrayal of women through a content analysis of 230 of the top grossing trailers across seven decades: 1950-2015. The research focuses on women’s representation, sexualization, gender roles, and violence. The analysis reveals that in …

Women In Gaming: A Study Of Female Players’ Experiences In Online Fps Games, M Allison Mcdaniel

Honors Theses

Existing literature has long been divided over whether the gaming world fosters violence and misogyny or provides a space for people to explore diverse identities. Not enough is known about how women experience videogames, especially the hypermasculine environment of first-person shooter (FPS) games. Competition, violence, and war, are dominant features of these games. The following thesis explores what harassment and discrimination women playing FPS games face, how they respond, and in what ways they find games to be empowering. A survey was distributed online to an international sample of 141 female FPS gamers. This research finds that women who play …

'Your Woman Is A Very Bad Woman': Revisiting Female Deviance In Colonial Fiji, Margaret Mishra

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article sets out to retrieve two accounts of female deviance in colonial Fiji. It will posit rule-breaking behavior as a reaction to colonial and patriarchal efforts to regulate female behavior and sexuality. The article simultaneously aims to undo rigid categorizations of female deviance by relating such acts to historical circumstance. Police records, court proceedings and news items from The National Archives of Fiji are cited to show how indigenous Fijian woman, Davilo, and indentured Indian woman, Sukhrania, transgressed socially constructed paradigms of morality by procuring abortions in 1884 and engaging in prostitution in 1909, respectively. By relabeling these alleged …

Risk-Taking Behaviors That Place Women At Risk For Hiv Across Cultures, Beverly Mae Fray

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Session presented on Saturday, July 23, 2016 and Sunday, July 24, 2016:

The purposeof this poster presentation is to raise awareness among conference attendees that culture intersects with sexual practices all over the world, regardless of language. Second, it attempts to demonstrate that in the majority of cultures across the globe, gender, socioeconomic power dynamics, and social hierarchical structures invariably place women at higher risk for HIV and other STIs when compared to men. Culture and Risk-taking Behaviors among Women: A thorough review of the nursing, public health, anthropology and psychology literature revealed that culture plays a significant and complex …

Providing Care For Women With Disabilities During The Perinatal Period, Lorraine Byrnes

International Nursing Research Congress (INRC)

Session presented on Thursday, July 21, 2016:

Purpose - Women with disabilities account for approximately 12% of the childbearing population and a substantial number intend to have children and experience the role of mother. However there are substantial barriers to achieving this goal for the majority of women with disabilities. Disabilities include physical, intellectual, sensory, and/or developmental. This presentation discusses the impact of disabilities on care during the perinatal period and how midwives and other health care providers can meet this growing and understudied need.

Methods - This evidence-based program was developed from available peer reviewed literature published in healthcare, …

Hispanic Representation In A Longitudinal Birth Cohort Study, Julie Postma, Lisa R. Younglove, Kerry Brooks, Tamara Odom-Maryon, Shirley Beresford, Thomas Burbacher, Phillip Butterfield, Patricia Butterfield, Nicole Cederblom, Kimberly Grant, Elaine M. Faustman

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Background: The purpose of this paper is to report: 1) strategies used to engage Hispanic women and their families in a longitudinal birth cohort study, and 2) comparisons of Hispanic and non-Hispanic groups that received those strategies. This paper augments the current literature by reporting methods and results specific to a subpopulation of Hispanic women, that of self-identified Mexican women. Comparisons between Hispanic and non-Hispanic groups that received those strategies will build the evidence base that supports effective outreach and engagement strategies.

Methods: Cultural responsiveness theory was used to structure outreach and engagement, including: 1) assembling a culturally competent team; …

Self-Defense; An Intervention Technique To Empower Victims Of Domestic Violence, Ashley Mendez Ruiz

Faculty Curated Undergraduate Works

Self-defense plays a significant role in domestic violence cases. In the domestic violence context, self-defense can be defined as a set of survival skills that combine: awareness, verbal confrontation techniques, safety and survival strategies, as well as physical exercises that will enable the victim to escape from a violent situation. An effective self-defense training combines physical and nonphysical strategies to empower the victim. In those cases where a domestic violence victim uses self-defense as a survival technique, a remarkable difference can be noticed regarding the power self-defense gives the victim to overcome the abuse.