Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Fetishizing Southern Brutality: An Intersectional Analysis Of Animalistic Dehumanization In Interracial Pornography, Shawna Faye Felkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pornography has been a widely debated issue within the feminist movement since the sex wars of the 1970’s. The conversation has shifted to a sex radical position within the third movement, seeking to be “sex positive” in representations of pornography as a potential site of empowerment. This work, however, seeks to complicate the idea that all depictions of sex are empowering by examining the popular genre of interracial pornography through the lens of the southern tropes that are often enacted within them: the jezebel, southern belle, and black brute. By using these historical tropes with the work of Judith Butler …

Documenting The Experiences Of Gay Latinos In Higher Education Through The Use Of Testimonio, Lorenzo Fabian Garcia

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study focuses on the stories of six self-Identified Gay Latinos in a higher education. The participant’s stories are documented using Testimonio. The six men were uniquely situated to give their testimonios about their campus experiences of seeking support in that they were the narrators of the experiences. Key findings indicated a pipeline of support which began with supportive families. Multidimensional identity was well defined by the participants as understanding of being both Latino and Gay. The participants, while exploring campus spaces for support, found themselves navigating through one identity or the other resulting in a process of selective …

How Women’S College Student Involvement Contributes To Their Career Aspirations And Navigation For Success In Technology Startup Organizations, Heather Doshay

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between women’s (co)curricular student involvement in college and their career outcomes in technology startups. This study focused on the ways in which past student involvement shaped women’s future career aspirations and helped them navigate their present career situations to achieve success. The study extended Astin’s Student Involvement Theory by considering how student involvement impacted career outcomes.

The qualitative methodology incorporated nine semi-structured interviews with recent college graduates turned professional women in startups working in the San Francisco Bay Area. The interviews were transcribed and coded for themes and analyzed using …

Similarities And Differences Between Heterosexual And Homosexual Couples Based On Marq Data, Kraig S. Shattuck

Wayne State University Theses

There has been a lack of comparative research on homosexual couples, comparing them to heterosexual couples, which is also grounded in solid theory. In order to remedy this, evolutionary theory is used to make predictions on similarities and differences between heterosexual and homosexual couples within three domains, relationship satisfaction, jealousy, and mate guarding. It was predicted that 1) homosexual couples would not differ from heterosexual couples in relationship satisfaction; 2) some gender differences relating to jealousy would be the same and some would be reversed in homosexual individuals; 3) mate guarding would be present, but lower, in homosexual individuals as …

Communication And Identity: The Paternity Leave Decision, Scott Sellnow-Richmond

Wayne State University Dissertations

Paternity leave has remained an under-studied phenomenon in the United States. The US stands in contrast to countries such as Sweden and Norway, which have a history of government-regulated paid time off for fathers of new children. Therefore new fathers in the US face a unique situation regarding their decision of whether or not to take whatever form of paternity leave may be available to them. This study explores what aspects of new fathers’ identities are salient regarding the paternity leave decision. The Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) is used as a theoretical framework to explore how these identities correspond …

Recalling Anna, Reclaiming Trauma: A Psychoanalytic Approach To Jean Rhys's "Voyage In The Dark", Emily Duffy

English and Creative Writing Independent Study Projects

A psychoanalytic reading of Jean Rhys's Voyage in the Dark, which compares the experiences, dreams and memories of the character Anna with that of Freud's protagonist, Dora, in his Portrait of Dora.

"Nobody Else Knows Me, But The Street Knows Me" - Jean Rhys's Urban Flaneuses: Mapping "Good Morning, Midnight", Emily Duffy

English and Creative Writing Independent Study Projects

My project explores the urban geography of Paris, as depicted by Rhys, through theories of space articulated by Walter Benjamin, Michel de Certeau, and Gaston Bachelard. I will provide some theoretical context to show how approaching this novel from a spatial perspective can help us understand Sasha’s experience. Additionally, I explore how Sasha’s gendered body moves through these spaces, how place and space affect her identity, and how mapping this novel can enrich the experience of the reader, especially a reader who is unfamiliar with interwar Paris.

Treasure Hunt Without A Map: Archival Research At The University Of Pennsylvania, Meghan Strong

English and Creative Writing Independent Study Projects

Under the supervision of Meredith Goldsmith in the English Department, I spent this semester developing archival research projects for lower level students in the humanities. My project corresponded with the aims of the Council for Undergraduate Research, which works to develop undergraduate research skills throughout the disciplines. The Kislak Center is a nearby resource that has the potential to provide students with opportunities to develop crucial research skills while discovering little pieces of history that are hidden away in the archives. The final exercises presented here focus on the subjects of Walt Whitman, Marian Anderson, and Michel de Montaigne.

Women’S Involvement In The Sandinistas And The Farc, Derek Comba

Undergraduate Research Journal

Historically, women have been constantly excluded from combat in war except in times of dire need. Even today women are not allowed in the overwhelming majority of armies from around the world, and the ones that do allow women do not allow them on the front lines. Women have always been seen as not capable of war or as not needing to fight since the men can fight for them. Yet, time and time again it appears that guerrilla, insurgent, and terrorist groups have let women into their ranks. While large numbers of women fought in both the Sandinista National …

Women, Land & Justice In Tanzania (Book Review), Sandra F. Joireman

Political Science Faculty Publications

Among the many debates surrounding land in Africa, one that has endured through both colonization and independence is the argument over the merits of preserving customary land law. Human rights based approaches to property rights in Sub-Saharan Africa note women’s secondary or derivative rights to land under customary law, correctly identifying inequalities in rules and practice. Communitarian approaches, on the other hand, address the adaptability and accessibility of land regimes defined by customary law. This book contributes to the debates on women, land and law and, while it will be frustrating to some as it does not take a side …

"A Compromise To Help The Community": Rural Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Experiences, Rebecca R. Gonnering

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Victims of sexual assault require specialized medical care when they report to hospital emergency departments including physical examination, evidence collection, and emotional support. Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) are medical professionals trained to complete the examination and evidence collection in a prompt and sensitive manner. In fact, where SANE programs exist, emergency room waiting times are shorter, evidence collection improves, and revictimization from untrained staff is reduced. Unfortunately, SANEs are not widely available, particularly in rural areas. This lack of trained examiners employed at local hospitals creates a gap in access to proper care, often resulting in long waits as …

A Matter Of Time: An Exploration Of Gender In Time Magazine Covers Since 1965, Jessica Coutler

Honors Projects

Gender is a concept that influences almost all cultures as we know them. Current literature on this topic argues that gender is not an innate characteristic of society, but rather it is socially constructed and maintained by family, peers, and institutions. The main goal of this study is to illuminate the ways in which the news media maintains the dichotomous gender system by portraying men and women in gender-stereotypical roles. This study contributes to existing literature about gender in the media as it pertains to news media, rather than advertising or media targeted at one gender such as women’s or …

Female Genital Mutilation: A Matter That Must Be Stopped!, Fatouma Idrissa

Honors Projects

I was in high school when I was chosen by the president of my high school to represent my school for a convention dedicated to young girls and women. The main topic was on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and I was very surprised to know that such thing is happening in the world and precisely in my country, Niger. After the convention, I was very uncomfortable the whole time till I got home. My mom asked me how the convention went because she knew how excited I was about representing my school. I just nodded and answered that it was …

Coming Out Coffeehouse (2015), Outfront, Pride

LGBTQIA Archive: Posters

No abstract provided.

From Sex Objects To Human Beings: Masking Sexual Body Parts And Humanization As Moderators To Women’S Objectification, Philippe Bernard, Sarah Gervais, Jill Allen, Alice Delmée, Olivier Klein

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Recent studies have shown that sexualized female bodies are objectified at a cognitive level. Research using the body-inversion recognition task, a robust indicator of configural (vs. analytic processing) within cognitive psychology, shows that for sexualized female bodies, people recognize upright and inverted bodies similarly rather than recognizing upright bodies better than inverted bodies (i.e., an inversion effect). This finding suggests that sexualized female bodies, like objects, are recognized analytically (rather than configurally). Nonetheless, it remains unclear when and why sexualized female bodies are objectified at a basic cognitive level. Grounded in objectification theory, the present experiments examine moderating factors that …

Tweeting Away Our Blues: An Interpretative Phenomenological Approach To Exploring Black Women's Use Of Social Media To Combat Misogynoir, Kelly Macias

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

In the age of social media, many Black women use online platforms and social networks as a means of connecting with other Black women and to share their experiences of social oppression and misogynoir, anti-Black misogyny. Examining the ways that Black women use technology as a tool to actively wage resistance to racial, gender and class oppression is critical for understanding their role in the human struggle for greater peace, beauty, freedom and justice. This study explored the experiences of 12 Black women in the United States and Britain who use social media for storytelling and testimony about their lives …

Exploring The Contribution Of Teaching And Learning Processes : Constructing Students’ Gender Identity In An Early Years Classroom Of A Government Girls Primary School In Pakistan, Amina Bibi Baig

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The construction of gender identity is a complex process which begins at a very early formative age. In these formative years, children begin making sense of how men and women are positioned in society. Schools as important institutions play a significant role in this process particularly with reference to students’ understanding of the gender relationships around them. This article reports on a study which explored how gender identity construction takes place in a single sex (girls) classroom for early years. The study investigated the teacher-student interactions and student-student interactions in the real environment of the classroom. Qualitative research guided the …

Overcoming Gender: The Impact Of The Persian Language On Iranian Women’S Confessional Literature, Farideh Dayanim Goldin

English Faculty Publications

[From the Introduction] The idea that language embodies patriarchal thought processes, severing women writers from the written language and from their own words, was first elaborated by the French feminist theorists Luce Irigaray and Hélène Cixous. Irigaray argues, for example, that language generally denies women a distinct subjectivity, with the result that the voice of women has largely been excluded from mainstream cultural discourse (Donovan). In this chapter, I juxtapose this theory to the obstacles faced by Iranian women writers of life narratives. Is it possible that Persian could have impeded Iranian women’s literary aspirations, especially in the genre of …

Queer Provisionality: Mapping The Generative Failures Of The Transborder Immigrant Tool, Alison R. Reed

English Faculty Publications

Alison Reed investigates the border- and boundary-crossing performance of Electronic Disturbance Theater 2.0’sTransBorder Immigrant Tool (TBT), an incomplete cell phone program that offers GPS, guidance, and poetry to those attempting to cross into the United States across the Mexico/US border. Reed suggests a provocation-based performance of “queer provisionality,” revealing the aesthetics of oppressive power structures by juxtaposing them to social utopias. Interrogating the national neoliberal project of both US liberalism and US conservatism, Reed’s essay is also a transcription of the performances launched around TBT, the social and political machinery set into motion by Electronic Disturbance Theater’s failed utopian project.

Olympe De Gouges (1748—1793), Joan Woolfrey

Philosophy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Interrogating Trans* Identities In The Archives, Liam Oliver Lair

Women's & Gender Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Abortion Is Communism: A Genealogy Of "Abortion Culture", Heather Nicole Bradford

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In the twenty years since the collapse of communism in the Eastern Bloc, various scholars of history, women's studies, sociology, political science, and reproductive rights have studied the occurrence of abortion in these formerly communist countries. Although some have sought to question the notion of "abortion culture," most look to these countries as places where abortion was tragically prevalent and accepted. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the assumed knowledge concerning abortion and how this obscures understandings of abortion in formerly communist countries of Eastern Europe. By creating genealogy of "abortion culture," this research seeks to trace the …

Darlings In Love: A History Of Romance Between Women At Hollins University In The Early 20th Century, Antonia Nagle

Undergraduate Research Awards

This paper and accompanying sources hope to provide a detailed examination of the world of Darlings at Hollins University between the years 1900 and 1921, using primary sources gathered from The Spinster, the university’s yearbook. As a small, single-sex university established in 1843, Hollins has a unique history of romantic relationships between students. Students who participated in these relationships between the years of 1900 and 1921 were called Darlings. These same-sex relationships flourished at Hollins in the early 20th century, and were a well known and accepted part of life at Hollins. For this study, over a hundred primary sources …

The Case For Women In Financial Services, Thao Thanh Nguyen

Undergraduate Research Awards

Finance literature has been studying the gender gap and the roles of women in business and finance. Focusing on mutual fund management, this study revisits the idea by investigating the impact of gender-specific investing styles on the level of volatility involved with the funds. The initial hypothesis is that the performance of funds managed by females is less volatile compared to funds managed by males. If we have statistical evidence to show this hypothesis is valid, gender diversification should be encouraged in asset management. The empirical results show evidence that the participation of women in fund management lowers the ten …

Improving Maternal And Child Health In Bangladesh: The Integration Of Midwives In Conjunction With The United Nations Millenium Development Goals Initiative, Elizabeth Casto

International ResearchScape Journal

As the United Nations Millennium Development Goals initiative comes to a close, it is important to examine what has been effective in combating disparities in developing nations. In this paper I explore the impact midwives have on improving maternal and child health in Bangladesh by focusing on how the United Nations Millennium Development Goals initiative has helped to change societal views on women and birth as midwives become more integrated into improving maternal and child health. It is a quantitative and qualitative approach analyzing the statistics of implementing midwives as these impact cost-effectiveness and change in mortality rates in addition …

For The Love Of Robots: Posthumanism In Latin American Science Fiction Between 1960-1999, Grace A. Martin

Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies

Posthumanism—understood as a symbiotic relationship between humans and technology—is quickly and surely becoming an inextricable part of daily life. In an era where technology can be worn as an extension of—and an enhancement to—our bodies, traditional science fiction tropes such as robots and cyborgs resurface and reformulate questions on critical aspects of human experience: who are we and what do our (imagined) technologies say about our world? Such questions are far more complex than they appear. Their answers should not come from one source alone, as humanness is experienced differently across time and cultural systems. In this sense, it is …

Turning Their Talk: Gendered Conversation In The Nineteenth-Century British Novel, Rebecca Beach

Theses and Dissertations--English

Turning Their Talk investigates the pressures placed upon female characters’ communication styles as they enter the heterosexual market in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion, Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Villette, and George Eliot’s Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda. The title of this dissertation derives from a phrase found in each the six novels I examine--“she turned the conversation”—to suggest the subtle control female characters exercise through speech that allows them to achieve tangible forms of social agency. My dissertation argues that novelistic representations of speech mirror the paradoxical roles women historically faced as they balanced societal …

Living Care-Fully: Labor, Love And Suffering And The Geographies Of Intergenerational Care In Northern Ghana, Kelsey B. Hanrahan

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Care is socially constructed, shaped by expectations embedded within particular relationships and the culturally-specific understandings of what it means to work, love and suffer. In this dissertation, I conceptualize care as a fundamental component of everyday life in which individuals are oriented towards the needs of others. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in a rural Konkomba community in northern Ghana, I explore the geographies of care shaping the everyday experiences of women engaged in intergenerational relationships as they encounter emerging dependencies associated with ageing. Dependencies emerge when an individual requires support and care from another, and in turn the struggles for, …

Angel Outside The House: The New Woman In Brittish Periodicals 1890-1910, Lindsay Rosa

Graduate Thesis Collection

The New Woman described in short fiction and editorial articles in British periodicals not only presented the ideal New Woman to readers, but served to shape the perceptions of the reader depending on the demographic of the targeted reading audience for that specific periodical. The audience for specific British periodicals featuring the New Woman included conservative families whose youth saw the New Woman figure as a role model. The New Woman figure easily connected to readers, particularly young, female middle-class readers, who easily identified with her because she possessed similar socioeconomic characteristics. Just as there were many New Women characters …

Building Feminism, Resisting Porn Culture: Where To From Here, Rebecca Whisnant

Philosophy Faculty Publications

In this chapter, I discuss the key elements that radical feminism can contribute to the rebuilding of a powerful movement for women's liberation in the era of porn culture.

First things first, we need more people, more of the time, out there presenting radical feminist critique. I happen to know, for instance, that many bright and well-intentioned young people are toeing the third wave, sexual libertarian line because it's all they've been taught in their women's studies classes. And, of course, many people outside the academy have very little exposure to feminist critiques of virtually anything. So part of this …