Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Iron Manicures: Sex, Power, And Sedition In Margaret Atwood's Writing, Anna Zarra Aldrich

Honors Scholar Theses

Margaret Atwood has often been criticized as a bad feminist writer for featuring villainous, cruel women. Atwood has combatted this criticism by pointing out that evil women exist in life, so they should in literature as well. Every story requires a villain and a victim, for Atwood these roles are both usually played by women. This thesis will explore the idea of the woman as spectacle in both behavior and body. Women are controlled by the idea that they must care. When they stop caring, they become a threat. At the heart of Atwood’s writing are the relationships between women …

“You Feel Like You Belong Nowhere”: Conflict-Related Sexual Violence And Social Identity In Post-Genocide Rwanda, Myriam Denov, Laura Eramian, Meaghan C. Shevell

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Globally, the systematic use of sexual violence in modern warfare has resulted in the birth of thousands of children. Research has begun to focus on this often invisible group and the obstacles they face, including stigma, discrimination and exclusion based on their birth origins. Although sexual violence during the Rwandan genocide has been documented on a massive scale, little research has focused on the relational dynamics between mothers who experienced genocide rape and the children they bore. This paper explores the post-genocide realities of these two under-explored populations, revealing two key tensions in relation to identity-building and belonging. Drawing upon …

The (In)Visible Woman: A Performative Autoethnographic Exploration Of Queer Femme-Ininity And Queer Isolation, Bri Ozalas

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This thesis is a performative autoethnographic exploration of my experiences existing betwixt-and-between the intersection of queer femme-ininity and isolation. Through a creative, affective rendition of my experiences, I detail and connect the nuances of queerness, femme-ininity, and queer isolation to provide a closer look at understanding queer identity with an absence of connection to the queer community. First, I provide an overview of the main theoretical and methodological approaches, and main concepts I utilize throughout my project. I then provide the intricacies of queer theory, queer intersectionality, and affect theory to provide theoretical explanations of my approach to queer isolation. …

Embracing Écriture Inclusive Students Respond To Gender Inclusivity In The French Language Classroom, Rebecca Lynn Garbe

Honors Program: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

In 2017, the French Academy published a declaration opposing the official integration of écriture inclusive into the French language for fear that it would put it in “péril mortel.” Specifically, the Academy targeted a newly proposed punctuation, le point milieu, or the middot, that would allow those writing in French to express both the masculine and feminine endings of words with a dot between the two. This addition would disrupt traditional gendered interpretations within the language and make space, not only for the goals of French feminists, but also for visibility of non-binary French-speaking people. The Academy argued, however, …

The Fallen Woman: An Exploration Of The Voiceless Women In Victorian England Through Three Plays Of Oscar Wilde, Marco Randazzo

English (MA) Theses

This essay establishes the Christian myth within Wilde’s three plays, calling attention to the gender politics that he fought against in the Victorian era. Through Salomé, A Woman of No Importance, and An Ideal Husband I will prove the Christological myth that each play adopts and establish Wilde’s ability to make the religion “transformational.” Wilde’s productions of characters like Salomé, Mrs. Allonby, Mrs. Arbuthnot, and Hester are examples of the “fallen woman” of Victorian England. The treatment of women by women will illuminate the passiveness of the Victorian Woman and their compliance with the patriarchal norm. This norm continues through …

An Examination Of Non-Traditional Bridal Wear And Its Primary Consumer, Erica Thalmann, Kristina Dimaria

Senior Honors Projects

Bridal wear has traditionally been viewed as big white dresses. But as times change, so do brides’ preferences for bridal wear. Jumpsuits, rompers, short dresses, and other “non-traditional” choices are experiencing an increased demand in the market. Unfortunately, brides who seek these options are often not met with a promising assortment. This study examined primary consumers of non-traditional bridal wear. Specifically, we sought to find out whether women who belong to the LGBTQ community choose to consume more non-traditional bridal wear compared to heterosexual brides. The study also examined through which channels (e.g., online, in store, etc.) consumers predominantly purchase …

Managing The Wear Of Heavy Construction Equipment Steel Track Undercarriage By Soil Sand Content, Frederick Ashburn Rich

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Heavy construction equipment owners and managers have few predictive tools that can estimate wear rate of undercarriage track propulsion systems working in various soil types and changing operational conditions. Managing the timely maintenance of these track systems is critical for they represent over half of the non-fuel operating cost of the equipment fleet. Understanding the major influencing factors that impact undercarriage system wear rate can help determine the most economical time to stop a machine for track maintenance thus positively impacting the equipment’s return on investment (ROI). This research analyzed the population of track type dozers in the eastern half …

Associations Of Sex, Gender, And Gender Role Beliefs With Mental Health Attitudes, Ariel Erazo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mental health stigma is a strong deterrent for individual with mental illness utilizing mental healthcare. Individuals living with a mental illness experience shame and marginalization due to stigma. Stigma is perpetuated through stereotypes created and used by people in the majority. Studies have been done to assess individual’s attitudes toward mental healthcare seeking in regards to gender, age, race, and profession. This study aimed to look at traditional gender role beliefs, sex, and gender expression as predictors of individual’s mental health attitudes and individual’s views of mental health norms. Using a cross-sectional survey, 392 participants completed scales that included the …

Anti-Normative Women And Queer Space In Early Modern Drama, Chelsea Brooks

Theses

The most interesting oddity about the Early Modern English stage is the overwhelming presence of the female form despite the obvious lack of female performers. Male actors performed female characters and sometimes those female characters were subversive and tested the boundaries of their constructed heteronormative society. A common comedic trope followed the crossdressed crossgendered heroine, or the boy actor dressed as women dressed as a man. This trope appears in the plays discussed in this thesis: Thomas Heywood’s Fair Maid of the West, Part 1 and John Lyly’s Gallathea. By adapting Michel de Certeau’s concept of space, wherein space …

Othello As A Domestic Tragedy: Marriage And Moral Extremism, Sophie A. Miller

Global Tides

The dehumanization of female characters in Othello by viewing them through antiquated and dichotomous views of women and female morality is a major factor in the play's tragic ending. These women exist in the context of changing marriage customs that came along with changes in government and religious structures of authority. Through Iago's influence, Othello comes to shift from the more modern companionate view of marriage into an outdated patriarchal model. The play is one of many Early Modern Dramas examining marriage but does not fit in with Patient Griselda plays or with domestic tragedies in which unfaithful wives are …

098— The Misrepresentation Of Native American Women In The Media And Their Social Activism Against Violence And Mistreatment, Emma Meeks, Allison Pajda, Bridget Marshall

GREAT Day Posters

This poster takes a look at the myths and stereotypes surrounding Native American women in media and throughout history. In this poster, we examine the work that Native American women have done in social movements such as #TakingBackTigerLilly and #NotYourMascot, that are working towards dispelling the stereotypes and false impressions surrounding them. This poster also examines the violence that native women are exposed to and their social activism through movements. These movements are meant to show people the truth about the violent acts that affect native women and their communities.

201— American Influence On Japanese Birth Control, Rachel Brooks, Kassidy Schad, Katherine Collins, Katie De Onis

GREAT Day Posters

The birth control pill was legalized in the United States in 1965, and 34 years later, in 1999, the birth control pill was legalized in Japan. For decades, Japan clung to pronatalist ideas for moral and economic reasons; preventing births and abortions were not socially acceptable actions. Furthermore, a decreased birth rate was considered an economic threat, as a smaller workforce would seemingly result in decreased productivity. Despite the negative preconceptions about the effects of birth control being long-held in Japanese society, activists, such as Margaret Sanger and Shidzue Ishimoto, disputed them by opposing the government's censorship policies. Activists sought …

Night Of The Witch: Alternative Spirituality, Identity And Media, Andreana Tarleton

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis works to understand the relationships witches and conjurors have with the film and television depictions of them. Employing the method of film critique, I argue that the witch stands as a cultural symbol in the US of women and femmes with power, and that their stories serve as lessons to these populations about what it means to be an acceptable woman or femme, while simultaneously creating and perpetuating stereotypes of magic practitioners. Then, using the combination of hashtag ethnography, in-person and video interviewing and internet surveys, I argue that #witchblr and #witchesofcolor, as well as the space of …

Role Of Information Literacy In Sexuality Education Among Secondary School Adolescents In Nsukka Local Government Area, Angela Ngozi Nwadike Ph.D, Bartholomew Chinweuba Nwefuru Ph.D

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study tries to understand the significant roles of information literacy in sexuality education among adolescents of secondary schools in Nsukka local government of Enugu State. The rationale was to find a lasting solution to premarital sexual activities/challenges among secondary school students in the study area. The study through scholarly reviews showed that allowing parents, guardians, teachers, and significant individuals in the lives of an adolescent will pave the way for the child to understand the good and bad effects of premarital sex and therefore, prompt positive decisions that would help children’s wards, themselves and the society at large. The …

Wait ‘Til You See It From The Back: Twerking As An Expression Of Sexual Agency, Mariah M. Johnson

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

This paper attempts to examine racism, respectability politics, and its relation to twerking. With the use of research by Gilbert Herdt, Stanley Cohen, Marshall McLuhan, Dr. Tamura Lomax, Patricia Hill-Collins, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham and many others to put the use of Black women as modern day folk devils into perspective.

Trigger Warning: Racism, Sexual Assault

Housework For Revolutionaries: Between Theory And Experience, Megha Summer Pappachen 20

Honor Scholar Theses

No abstract provided.

Masked Marginalization, Moreen Akomea-Ampeh

Audre Lorde Prize

"I was inspired to write this reflective piece after a personal encounter with a close female relative and wanted to demystify the notion that marginalization of women no longer exists. This thoughtful piece presents a vivid description of the objectification of women concerning women's physique in this twenty-first century. Therefore, this piece acts as a wake-up call to our blindness to this 'normalized' issue. It also shows the traumatic experiences of women and the various hurdles they face.

The Bloody Truth, Elizabeth Fulkerson

Audre Lorde Prize

No abstract provided.

Understandings Of Sexual Consent Among Male And Female Zulu South Africans In Masxha, Kwazulu-Natal, Larkin Levine

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Though South Africa has an astonishingly high rate of rape and sexual violence, little research has been conducted on understandings of sexual consent outside of the context of rape and sexual violence in different South African communities. Instead, research has focused on understandings and perceptions of rape and sexual violence alone, ignoring the importance of understanding how individuals approach consent in healthy sexual relationships.

Through conducting semi-structured interviews with sixteen Zulu males and females of different ages, all of whom are residents of Masxha, I hoped to learn how these individuals understand sexual consent and how consent is requested, given, …

Welcome To Gendered Dada, Morgan Drawdy

Georgia College Student Research Events

This paper explores the works of art throughout the Dada art period from three specific artists; Marcel Duchamp, Francis Picabia, and Baroness Else Von Freytag-Loringhoven. It delves deep into the making of the pieces and the influences behind them. The pieces are analyzed through the lens of gender and gender bias that is caused by the changing of societal roles during World War One. Those roles touching on topics such as women entering the work force and the evolution and devolution of the typical masculine role throughout history. The paper is brought together to explore how these societal changes influenced …

The Many Editions Of The Front Page: How Gender Shapes The Story, Nicole Moore

Conspectus Borealis

No abstract provided.

Nancy Drew: A Feminist Icon Or A Problematic Figure Of The Patriarchy And White Privilege, Elizabeth J. Farren

WRIT: Journal of First-Year Writing

In the detective fiction genre, Nancy Drew is one of its most iconic sleuths, and is so cleverly named the “girl detective.” Originally created in 1930, Nancy Drew serves as an inspirational figure for young girls and women across generations, as her intelligence and resourcefulness allowed her to challenge traditional gender roles for women as well as solve complicated mysteries. With the rise of the women’s rights movement and in the 1960s, many aspired to attain Nancy Drew’s independence and subvert the patriarchy, breaking the glass ceiling that held them down in the role of the submissive housewife. The second …

“My Name Is My Identity”: Understanding Conceptualizations Of Gender Identity To Improve Measurement, Sage Volk

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Existing measures of gender identity have some inconsistencies that lead to researchers missing out on the comprehensive image of an individual’s gender. The purpose of the present study was to assess how individuals who do not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth conceptualize their gender identity. To understand which aspects are important to an individual’s gender identity, semi-structured interviews were conducted with four undergraduate students who identified as non-cisgender (e.g., transgender, non-binary, genderqueer, etc.). Results of the qualitative analysis identified two themes within conceptualizations of gender identity: (1) personal and (2) social. The importance of these …

Middle Eastern Women Between Oppression And Resistance: Case Studies Of Iraqi, Palestinian And Kurdish Women Of Turkey, Yasmin Khodary, Noha Salah, Nada Mohsen

Political Science

Wars and conflicts have had a profound impact on women and gender in the Middle East. In this article, we aim to highlight the various ways in which the ongoing oppression and conflict in the Middle East shape the responses of the Iraqi, Palestinian and Kurdish women of Turkey and the object of their struggles. We go beyond the ‘Orientalist’ discourse, which depicts Middle Eastern women in armed conflicts as solely vulnerable and helpless victims, to discuss the resisting roles played by the Iraqi, Palestinian and Kurdish women of Turkey. Middle Eastern women have played and continue to play major …

Evaluation Of Unm's Parental Leave Policy, Julia Fulghum, Karlyn A. Edwards, Charlie Christian, Steven Verney, Lisa A. Marchiondo, Teagan Mullins

ADVANCE Reports

Experiences with UNM’s parental leave policy C215 have been evaluated using the ADVANCE 2018 Main Campus Faculty Climate Survey, a series of junior faculty interviews, and concerns brought to the ADVANCE leadership. Key findings are:

• Women and STEM faculty are more hesitant to use family-leave policies, and perceive greater disadvantage in using them than men and non-STEM faculty
• Sharing of information about, and implementation of, parental leave varies significantly between units
• The attitude of the department chair and senior faculty strongly influence the experience of faculty who use parental leave
• Appropriately implemented, the parental leave policy contributes to faculty recruitment …

Binaural: Trauma And Disability Representation In Cinema, Joshua Grossberg

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the year 2019, the film business is undergoing profound change. Streaming services like Netflix and Amazon have become major distribution outlets, threatening the hegemony of traditional Hollywood studios and altering the kinds of movies that receive a theatrical release. Gone is the middle budget film, replaced by franchises like Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Fast and the Furious and Star Wars based on already popular intellectual property. But that's not all. In the wake of the fallout of the #OscarsSoWhite controversy and the #MeToo Movement, for the first time serious efforts are being made both outside and inside the industry …

Awful Nearness: Rape And The English Novel, 1740–1900, Erin A. Spampinato

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“Awful Nearness: Rape and the History of the English Novel, 1740-1900,” argues that representations of rape and sexual violence have played an unrecognized role in the history of the novel, indeed that such plots epitomize the most important epistemological questions with which the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century novel grappled. This project is both literary historical and presentist; while it describes a new genealogy of the British novel, it also traces how representations of rape have substantively shaped our contemporary understanding and rhetoric of sexual violence.

Drawing on the work of a wide array of feminist thinkers, I argue that novelistic rape …

Breast Dressing: A Critical Review Of Post-Surgical Bras, Adi Sieradzki

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Breast cancer is acknowledged in the United States as a phenomenon. With more than 3 million women either diagnosed or treated for it as of 2019, it is a seminal part of the American healthcare map. However, the market for the kinds of bras and bandages patients have to wear after surgery remains mostly overlooked and outdated. This thesis aims to explore what it means to bandage or dress a breast that has been altered either in combative or cosmetic procedures. Why post-surgical wound care for breasts still mostly looks like a sports bra? How do breast cancer patients rehabilitate …

Research Methods In Psychology: A Feminist Exercise To Facilitate Students’ Understanding Of Operational Definitions, Observation, And Inter-Rater Reliability, Amy C. Moors

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

"As an illustrative example of how I use a feminist-centered approach to teach core research methods concepts, below, I outline the aims and details of how to replicate one of my students’ favorite activities. This activity ties together concepts of operational definitions, observation, and inter-rater reliability through coding of “creepy” behaviors in a Saturday Night Live short video produced by The Lonely Island, featuring Nicki Minaj and John Waters (2011; see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLPZmPaHme0). In the first part of the exercise, students are instructed to code observations of creepy behaviors without an operational definition. In the second part, students …

Urban Contacts: Orientalist Urban Planning And Le Corbusier In French Colonial Algiers, Delaney Tax

Copley Library Undergraduate Research Awards

Algiers, the first French colony in Africa, was conquered in 1830 and gained independence in 1962. During this period, Algiers was constructed into an Orientalist acting ground that was shaped through political, social, economic formations in the built environment. The French colonial fascination with Algiers centered around the casbah, and thus the casbah became a laboratory for ethnographic and urban reflections. The French process of urban planning included military intervention, preservation motivated by exoticism and museology, and superstructure master plans dictated by the present benefit of indigenous communities to the colonial regime. Le Corbusier’s contact with Algiers further expresses the …