Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Our Counter-Life Herstories: The Experiences Of African American Women Faculty In U.S. Computing Education, Shetay Nicole Ashford

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this life history qualitative study was to explore the Counter-Life Herstories of African American women faculty in U.S. Computing Education. Counter-Life Herstories are derived from Counterstories, life histories, and herstories as powerful social justice tools to uncover hidden truths about marginalized groups’ experiences. Through the collection of timelines, counter-life story interviews, and reflective journal writings, I co-constructed and interpreted the Counter-Life Herstories of five participants using an integrative conceptual framework that included critical race theory and Black feminist thought as interpretive frameworks, and Afrocentric feminist epistemology to govern my knowledge validation process. As an emerging African American …

But What Does “It” Mean: An Analysis Of Feminist & Mainstream Pornographies, Alexandra S. Melnick 2225930

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

In this project, I am interested in how we as a culture talk and make stories about heterosexual non-fetish pornography that contains fellatio scenes. Fellatio, being a site of social power and relation, can be conceptualized and portrayed in different ways based on the ideology and intentions of the context a text portraying fellatio it is created in. In this project I reasoned that mainstream pornography and feminist pornography would show fellatio in different ways, revealing the basic differences in each genre’s content and execution. To this effect, I analyzed six films from both feminist and mainstream pornographies and have …

Home V. Hospital: Power And Birth, An Examination Of Control Within Birth Models In The United States, Sarah W. Rosene

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

In this paper I examine why some women in the United States choose midwife attended homebirth over the medical model of birth. Why do women make this decision and what are the outcomes? I examined both qualitative and quantitative data on homebirths and have identified key reasons why women chose to give birth outside of the hospital. I focused on how the mother's feelings of control impacted her satisfaction with the birth experience, and how women’s control is affected in home versus hospitalized birth. My findings reveal that home births allow the woman more agency and an environment in which …

The Archaeology Of Appetites, Molly S. Schonert

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

Through use of examining how food is produced, stored, distributed and consumed, one can take a glimpse into the past, present and even future of this planet–to better understand the complexity of human identity and the social practices or roles that define an individual, community or society. So this begins an exploration of the archaeology of food as a gendered commodity throughout our evolutionary past, emphasizing the infinite ways in which foodway practices exceeds the nutritional value of what our ancestors, family, friends and ourselves consume(d) on a daily basis. Foodways practices is an invaluable tool in any archaeologists’ tool …

The Moral Obligation For Sex Worker Rights, Lori A. Durham

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

The female body is the site of endless controversy, with sex work as one of the most hotly debated issues. Historically viewed as an ethical and moral issue, arguments to criminalize sex work were dominant until the mid-to-late twentieth century when sex workers began to argue for decriminalization of adult “consensual” commercial sex. As one of the most marginalized populations in the world, sex workers are subjected to a multitude of violations against their bodies and their human rights. They routinely face physical and sexual violence, arrest and incarceration, extortion and harassment (frequently by police and other members of law …

Gender As A Socially Constructed Phenomenon, Jamie Smith

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

In the historical and social landscape that currently exists in America, the concept of gender, and especially the concept of women, has been created and enforced through societal expectations. From essentialism in the past, social and psychological theory has evolved to consider the social impact on gender construction. Foucault’s prison theory, Berger’s theory of surveying, and Mulvey’s theory of the Male Gaze can be used to show that gender, though it used to be viewed as inherent to a person’s identity, is actually a process of social conditioning. Women are shaped by society but continue to follow their roles because …

Clever On Sunday: A Visual Artist Interpretation Of The Post-Wwii Persuasion Of Consumer Marketing And The Gender Gap, Courtney L. Starrett

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

The visual arts transform concepts and philosophies into tangible and aesthetic depictions. Women’s studies and gender issues are common sources of inspiration for artists. This paper will unveil the process and development of an installation inspired by gender roles as defined by the post-WWII persuasion of consumer marketing. Clever on Sunday is an installation of custom, hand-cast, and functional silicone doilies. Each doily pattern is generated by sourced data and statistics reflecting selected information to be presented as implied substance for a potential narrative to be rendered by the viewer. The data sets used range from PhDs Earned by Women …

Did The Shrew Tame You: An Exploration Of Sexual Politics In Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew, Marisa Stickel

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

This paper explores the sexual politics present in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, examining the gender roles that influence the relationship between Katherine and Petruccio. By analyzing Petruccio’s attempts at taming Katherine, in comparison to the ending of the play where she is supposedly tamed, I will emphasize Katherine's abilities to manipulate a patriarchal society’s rule over women. While she seems to demonstrate acquiescing full sovereignty to her husband, my argument will pose that Katherine assumes the role of a proper wife to trick Petruccio, allowing her access to marital dominance. By examining the patriarchal society of the time …

Rebuilding A Bridge Burned, Lamonica J. Jones

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

The purpose of this essay is to explore intersectionaility and shine a light on the plight of marginalized groups of women. Much too often are women grouped together in this assumed sisterhood, and people automatically assume that just because we are all women, we are all the same. There are many factors that affect many different women, and the reliance on a common biological make up alone will not change that. A white woman will not experience the same struggle as a black woman; an upper middle-class woman will not experience the same struggles as a working-class woman; and a …

Exploring And Navigating Lgbt Identity In Fandom, Shannon Morrison, Idee Winfield

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

To date, very little qualitative research has been completed and published on how exactly those who identify as LGBT use the internet to explore and define their own identities. My research aims to fill this gap by studying how LGBT members of fan communities explore, navigate, and define their personal identities through their experience in the community and work in the realm of speculative fiction (“fan-fiction”). I will accomplish this through interviewing a number of LGBT-identified members of this community and asking about how their interaction with their community in addition to their personal work affected them in their personal …

Gay Doesn’T Begin To Cover It: Non-Binary Sexuality In Community’S Dean Pelton”, Jessica Mae Harmon

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

In modern media, characters whose sexuality lies outside of binary gender and sexuality representations are few and far between. Most queer characters in mainstream American television are labeled as either gay or lesbian, and in a few rare cases bisexual. Bisexuality, while least visible among sexual minorities that fit within the prescribed LGBT acronym, is most visible outside of the gay/straight dichotomy. Meanwhile the spectrum of non-binary sexualities is largely ignored. In this essay I will examine one character that breaks this mold and forces the modern viewer to consider non-binary sexuality, Dean Craig Pelton of NBC/Yahoo’s Community. The …

Femme-Ing The Fandom: A Cross-Cultural Approach, Lynslei Harris

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

In our ever-global society, fandoms, with their ability to reach and reproduce across cultures, have emerged as an important new media worthy of study. As the participatory practices of fans are explored, it is necessary to also apply the intersection of gender. Although each fandom constitutes a public, female members often participate in ways that allow them to form an artistic counterpublic. While male fans tend to gather data and act as gatekeepers of the fandom, their female counterparts engage in dress up or cosplay (costume play) and produce almost all of current fan fiction. These kinds of participatory practices …

Masks And Performance As Representations Of Gender Oppression And Repression In Edith Wharton’S The House Of Mirth And Nella Larsen’S Passing, Carrie A. Wilson

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

Edith Wharton and Nella Larsen’s literature focus on metaphorically representing gender oppression and repression as masked social performances that result in death being the ultimate release from the drama. Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth depicts the heroine Lily Bart who, in the public social realm, attempts to mask herself as a disturbingly superficial character. Wharton’s masquerade imagery demonstrates the extent to which Lily socially capitalizes her beauty. Lily fixates on "clearness" and "lucidity" in events leading up to her death, which shows how dying releases her from the dishonest social masquerade (260). Nella Larsen’s heroine Irene Redfield similarly uses …

Consumed By The Broken Staccato: A Feminist Reading Of Zelda Fitzgerald’S Save Me The Waltz, Caitlin Mcgraw

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

Zelda Fitzgerald’s Save Me the Waltz is a novel in which art, text, and body intersect to become one. Her writing techniques, though often criticized, preserve the artistic liberation and affective state for which Fitzgerald seems to strive. She eliminates the line between the artist and her work, creating a novel that opens up to aspects of feminist theory. Zelda Fitzgerald’s texts become performative, constructing her own identity through her writing and painting, just as Alabama, the main character of Save Me the Waltz, strives to do so with her dancing. Like Fitzgerald herself, Alabama removes the barrier between …

"Silence Laps Smooth Over Sound': Sound, Gender, And War, In Jacob's Room", Betsy Lawson

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

In A Room of One’s Own, as well as in Three Guineas, Virginia Woolf contends that the devaluing of women and the perpetuating of women’s inferiority facilitate all heroic and violent action (A Room of One’s Own, 36). In this paper, I’ve applied Woolf’s argument to her 1922 novel, Jacob’s Room, and focused on the ways in which certain sounds become gendered as masculine or feminine and devalued accordingly, leading to a masculine society that operates on masculine ideals. In Jacob’s Room, women’s voices are characterized as chatty and empty, where men’s voices exude authority and …

Combatting Intimate Partner Violence (Ipv) In Islam: Muslim Religious Leaders As The Bridge Between Misinterpretation And Resolution, Mediha Salkic

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

This paper provides evidence from initiatives taken by various Islamic religious leaders (imams) in North America to demonstrate their potential in prohibiting the practice of IPV in Muslim communities. In the paper, the foundations for legitimization of IPV in Muslim societies, prevalence of IPV in Muslim communities, the role of the imam in Islam, and the various applicable processes of mediation which imams actualize or are suggested to actualize in engaging in cases of domestic abuse within their communities are explored. Substantial empirical evidence is presented to illustrate the constructive role of imams as the critical link between faltering misinterpretation …

Black Women Matter: Assessing Scales To Examine Minority Stress And Intersectional Microaggression, Vanessa N. Jones

SEWSA 2016 Intersectionality in the New Millennium: An Assessment of Culture, Power, and Society

Greater understanding of minority stress and intersectional microaggression in African American women’s lived experience may contribute to improved health outcomes. To date, there is a scarcity of research exploring intersectionality and psychometric instruments. This review examines purpose, format, psychometric properties, and cultural applicability of seven measurement scales that assess gendered racism and sexual identity. Future research should include diverse samples of African American women to improve external validity. In clinical practice, measurement scales provide an objective tool to evaluate and differentiate minority stress.

The Motivations Behind Westerners’ Obsession With The Islamic Veil, Claire K. Alexander

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

In a world where we are constantly bombarded with countless images of Islamic terrorism, violence, and danger, it is not surprising that we have come to associate all aspects of Islamic society with malevolence. This destructive way of thinking has impacted the way we—as Westerners— think about, portray, and perceive Muslim men and women. While Muslim men are often depicted as hostile, cruel, and savage-like, on the other hand, Muslim women are usually depicted as powerless, obedient, and docile. These stereotypical representations of Muslim men and women have harmful consequences—consequences that not only promote Western ignorance, but also tarnish the …

Gender Roots: Conceptualizing "Honor" Killing And Interpretations Of Women's Gender In Muslim Society, Brittany N. Barry

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

The phenomenon of “honor” killing is one that has formed out of deeply rooted concepts of sexuality and gender roles in Muslim societies. These conceptions have been implemented into everyday life and social infrastructure and have created, in some places, a generally accepted power dynamic that subjugates women and generates conceptualizations about women’s sexuality and their assumed obedience. In recent decades the gender constructions of, predominantly, the Middle East and of other Muslim populations have captured the attention of Western thinkers, especially with regards to feminist thought. The Western gaze has produced a number of responses, some of which have …

Contraception, Abortion And Assisted Fertility Among Muslim Women A Look At Islamic Culture And Policy In Iran And Afghanistan, Hayley Jacobsen

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

Discourse on women's reproductive rights through the lens of Muslim culture. The use of contraception, assisted fertility and abortion, are analyzed in Iran and Afghanistan. The culture surrounding family planning is detailed through a woman’s community, family, religion and the laws that govern the society they live in, which all influence her decision making in these matters. This piece stands as a cultural analysis of women's agency specifically in Middle Eastern Muslim culture, as it stands as a part of a global women's rights movement.

Announcings, Babette Babich

Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections

The Annunciation is often thematized in the critical literature and foremost among these thematizations, recently to be sure, are feminist readings, which matter for this essay although this essay can only refer to these in passing.

The focal concern is personal correspondence and intimate address or intrigue. This essay thus offers a hermeneutic reading less of the presumptive purity of our perception of this painting, as indeed of its reception, involving a distinction to be noted between male and female subjects than it reviews a recollection of the divine inclination to beauty in both pagan, Greek, and Judaeo- Christian traditions. …

Family Affairs Newsletter 2016-04-01, Zack Paakkonen

Family Affairs newsletter (2004-2016)

FAMILY AFFAIRS was a free, twice-a-month, social activities newsletter for the GLBTQI (gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans/queer/intersex) community, sent out around the 1st and 15th of each month. It covered the State of Maine only. The list was begun and maintained for many years by Jean Vermette in Bangor, and later operated by Zack Paakkonen of Portland. Over the years it evolved from a social activities newsletter into a business directory, classified ad service, and community bulletin board.

Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program Spring 2016, Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program, Wright State University

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Newsletter

This is a fifteen page newsletter created by the Wright State University's Women Studies Program documenting current affairs, events, as well as other happenings on campus.

This issue features descriptions of upcoming Special Topics Courses, Program Awards & Scholarships, Student and Faculty Spolights, and more. Also included are courses schedules for 2016 through 2017.

“It’S Not The Pride Parade Model”: Investigating Changes In Queer Activist Practices In Sarajevo After 2008, Matthew Zarenkiewicz

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In 2008, a group of queer activists in Sarajevo organized the Sarajevo Queer Festival in an attempt to raise the visibility of queer people in Sarajevo, but the event resulted in a violent attack on the queer community. Since 2008, the actors and tactics of activists have changed, moving from the single, more radical, Organization Q, to the emergence of more groups with a more moderate approach. My research poses the question how have the tactics of queer activists in Sarajevo changed since the attack on the Sarajevo Queer Festival and the passage of the 2009 anti-discrimination law. Through semi-structured …

Where Women Stand In Rural Electrification Efforts: An Exploratory Study Within Gujarat, Meital Rosenberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since its 2003 village electrification scheme, the state of Gujarat has been acclaimed for providing rural households with 24-hour access and farmers with uninterrupted 8-hour power supply. The Government of India has emphasized goals of providing electricity for all of its citizens yet has been unable to address glaring discrepancies across the country. For those in rural areas, which is approximately 60-70 percent of India’s population, a varying degree of connection exists plagued by frequent outages, transmission losses, unreliable billing practices, and poor infrastructure maintenance. Gujarat has been reported to have overcome these obstacles with its bifurcation of electricity feeders, …

Rhetoric And Feminism In The Americanization Era: The Ywca's Rhetorical Education Program For Immigrant Women, Gracemarie Mike

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation examines the Young Women’s Christian Association’s International Institute movement from an administrative perspective. Founded in the United States during the Americanization Era of the early 20 th century, the International Institute movement developed programs and services for immigrant women. One of the most prominent, and least examined, aspects of the movement was its work in the area of rhetorical education for non-English speaking immigrant women. Using a feminist, administrative historiographic methodology, this project positions the work of the International Institute’s administrators ecologically among other Americanization efforts taking place in this time period. Arguing that the International Institute movement …

El Método Anticonceptivo Implante Subdérmico Para Prevenir La Repetición Del Embarazo Adolescente En La Provincia De Tucumán, Madelaine Hack

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Información Contextual: El método anticonceptivo implante subdérmico se utiliza para prevenir la repetición del embarazo adolescente entre mujeres de 14 a 24 años de edad que no tienen cobertura de salud (es decir, sin cobertura de una obra-social o pre-paga) y que han tenido un evento obstétrico (parto o aborto) en los últimos 12 meses. La prevención del segundo embarazo adolescente es una línea estratégica sumamente importante porque la tasa de embarazo adolescente ha mantenido su valor cercano al 15% por los últimos 20 años. En el caso particular de la provincia de Tucumán, está presenta un contexto interesante lo …

El Uso De Terapias Psicológicas En Mujeres Jóvenes En La Ciudad Autónoma De Buenos Aires (Caba), Argentina, Batsheva Honig

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Información Contextual: Esta investigación se enfoca en el uso de terapia en mujeres jóvenes en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires (CABA), Argentina. Argentina es el líder mundial de psicólogos por habitantes con una gran concentración de psicólogos en CABA (Alonso y Klinar 2014). El uso de terapia no es exclusivo de personas con trastornos mentales. En el ámbito privado son comunes las consultas por cuestiones generales de la vida. La población de este estudio son mujeres jóvenes entre 22 y 32 años. Este periodo es caracterizado como un tiempo de exploración y auto-reflexión. Además, esta franja etaria constituye un gran …

El Fútbol Femenino: Los Implicaciones De Ser Una Futbolista Femenina En Una Cultura Machista, Maya Mccann

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

El objetivo del estudio fue investigar las experiencias de las mujeres del equipo de fútbol femenino de la Universidad de Las Américas (UDLA) con relación a la práctica del fútbol y a la diferencia de género en Quito, Ecuador. El estudio incluye observación participativa, entrevistas abiertas y la consulta de fuentes bibliográfica . La información fue analizada utilizando el marco conceptual del feminismo del deporte y el feminismo transnacional. Esta monografía ha sido diseñada a partir de las historias y experiencias temáticas de las mujeres. En el análisis se concluye que las mujeres de la UDLA experimentan ciertos desafíos con …

“Ellas Miran La Realidad”: La Sequía Y La Gestión De Mujeres En Santa Julia, Nicaragua, Deborah Secular

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Por los últimos dos años, Nicaragua ha experimentado una sequía con efectos drásticos en la población rural. Esta investigación estudió los efectos de la sequía en las mujeres de Santa Julia, una comunidad de 60 familias en El Crucero, Managua que estaba una hacienda monocultivo. Santa Julia fue escogida porque su acceso a agua ha sido limitado mucho tiempo, y porque tiene una cooperativa de mujeres que es activa en su gestión. La investigación involucró alrededor de 40 entrevistas y observaciones continuas como participante durante tres semanas en la comunidad. A través de entrevistas que involucraban las historias de las …