Women's Studies Commons^™

Looking Beyond The Medical Model Of Sexuality: Social Factors In Women's Sexual Satisfaction, Cristalle Rae Pronier

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Since the explosive profit of Viagra in 1998, the pharmaceutical giants have been scrambling to develop a similar drug to treat Sexual Dysfunction in women. Female Sexual Dysfunction became an official disorder in 1999 shortly after the release of Viagra. This relatively new disorder has emerged as a prominent example of the medicalization of female sexuality whereby problems are defined, conceptualized, and solved in medical terms.

The inherent problem in medicalization is the denial of social, cultural, and psychological factors in women's sexual issues and concerns. To address this disconnect between the medical and social models of sexuality this study …

The Effects Of Rumination, Hostility, And Distraction On Cardiovascular Reactivity And Recovery From Anger Recall In Healthy Women, Meghan K. Mclain

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Cardiovascular reactivity and recovery following an emotional stressor may play a crucial role in mediating the relation between psychosocial factors (e.g. hostility and anger) and cardiovascular disease. Hostility has been associated with trait rumination. Trait rumination, a tendency to focus attention on negative thoughts and emotions and be prone to feelings of revenge, is not adequately captured in current measures of hostility. The current study examined whether trait rumination, indexed by the Dissipation-Rumination Scale, has an independent effect of increasing cardiovascular reactivity and prolonging cardiovascular recovery from angry events above and beyond hostility as measured by the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale. …

Exploratory Study Of Countries Lacking Data On Female Genital Mutilation In The Middle East And Africa, Nazia Rose Naeem

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the cutting off of female genitals for nonmedical purposes (WHO 2008). FGM is a gender specific practice, which has no health benefits and severe consequences. In addition, the victims of this form of physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional violence are predominantly children between birth and age 15 (WHO 2008). Female genital mutilation is an egregious act, which must be eradicated. This study sought to begin the process of securing preliminary estimates for FGM in countries that lacked data on FGM in the Middle East and Africa, thereby shedding light on this extremely detrimental and oppressive …

Coping With Customer Sexual Harassment: Examining Retaliation As A Coping Strategy And Testing A Contextual Model, Valerie J. Morganson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Research has established that customer sexual harassment (CSH) is a widespread and harmful workplace phenomenon. This dissertation consists of two studies on the topic. The first sought to operationalize a measure of coping with customer sexual harassment. In addition to three traditional factors of sexual harassment coping (i.e., external, internal, and social), Study 1 predicted that worker retaliation toward the customer would constitute an additional form of coping with CSH. The measure of coping was tested using a sample of 200 women customer service workers. Data were analyzed using factor analysis. As expected, retaliation was supported as a coping strategy, …

Female Ph.D. Completion: How Field Of Study Moderates The Predictive Relationships Between Social And Academic Interactions With Faculty, Research Productivity And Degree Completion, Miki Yoshimura

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to seek further understanding of how field of study moderated the predictive relationships between social interactions with faculty, academic interactions with faculty, research productivity, and female Ph.D. students' degree completion. A survey was conducted to collect data on the participants' degree completion, satisfaction with social and academic interactions with faculty, research productivity as well as their field of study. The sample included 412 female former Ph.D. students in various fields at a large, public research university in the mid-Atlantic region who were enrolled between 1993 and 2004.

Logistic regression analyses were conducted to see …

The Influence Of Rape Empathy And Demographic Variables On Counselor Rape Myth Acceptance, Julia M. Forman

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

In 2007, 248,300 individuals were raped (National Crime Victimization Survey [NCVS], 2007). It is likely that counseling professionals will provide services to rape survivors, and they should be aware of their biases towards survivors so that they can provide the most competent care possible. Some biases and attitudes may stem from the acceptance of rape myths. Rape myth acceptance (RMA) can lead to blaming the survivor for an attack (Campbell & Raja, 1999) and other consequences, including the exacerbation of psychological and physical symptoms (Campbell, Ahrens, Sefl, Wasco, & Barnes, 2001). Furthermore, a lack of rape empathy may inflict injury …

Exploration Of Barriers And Solutions For Women In The Pathway To The High School Principalship, Tracy Shook Skinner

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate barriers women face when entering school administration as well as perceptions of the high school principalship held by female high school principals and assistant principals aspiring to the principalship. Work conflicts and job demands for women were explored as well as the significance of mentoring and networking along the pathway to the principalship. The information gathered through a critical feminist approach was used to assess women's barriers to the principalship and describe methods employed to overcome those barriers.

Oppressed, Empowered, Compatriot Woman: Rawa's Online Construction Of Gendered Ideographs, Heather L. Floyd

English Theses & Dissertations

In this paper, I define the ideograph and explain its central role in the strategic communication of two very different entities invested in the advancement of women' sights in Afghanistan: the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), an Afghan feminist organization, and the Bush Administration, during the early years of the war in Afghanistan. I employ the rhetorical conceptions of Lloyd Bitzer (1966) and Richard Vatz (1999) to explore the Bush Administration's and RAWA's intentions by analyzing textual and visual ideographs in the context of the rhetorical situation.

In its mission and goals, RAWA repeatedly champions women as …

Relationships Between Black Female College Students' Relationships With Their Fathers And Adult Romantic Attachment, Nicole A. Dock

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The current study examined the relationships between the quality and quantity of time that young Black female college students spent with their fathers during high school as related to romantic attachment and fear of intimacy. Although researchers have investigated the impact that early attachment bonds to mothers have for later psychosocial development, much less research has examined how attachment to fathers may be associated with psychosocial adjustment in young adulthood. In particular, there is a lack of information on how relationships to one's father or father figure may be associated with adjustment in young women from culturally diverse populations.

To …

Media Exposure And Women's Fear Of Crime, Pamela C. Hooper

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between the media portrayal of women and crime on television and fear of crime among female viewers. Data from the National Opinion Survey of Crime and Justice was used. A weak relationship between media exposure and fear of crime was found. Consistent with previous research, a statistically significant gender difference was revealed. Women reported higher levels of fear overall. When television dramas were examined, women who watched these shows had a lower reported fear of crime. An unexpected inverse relationship emerged between women's age and fear of crime. This finding contradicts a majority of the …

The Ghosts Of Our Mothers: From Oral Tradition To Written Words—A History And Critique Of Jewish Women Writers Of Iranian Heritage, Farideh Goldin

English Faculty Publications

Throughout the 2,000 years of Iranian Jewish history, women usually were either illiterate or silenced. Iranian Jewish women in exile have been making up for their foremothers by creating prose literature at a fast pace in the last two decades. Through their poetry, novels and memoirs, they validate the claim that with financial security, access to education, and freedom of speech—rarely accessible to Iranian women until the twentieth century—they can shine. This article explores the history and background of Jewish women writers of Iranian heritage.

My Iranian Sukkah, Farideh Dayanim Goldin

English Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) Every year after Yorn Kippur, my husband Norman and I try to bring together the pieces of our sukkah, our temporary home for a week, a reminder of our frailty as Jews. Every year we wonder where we had last stored the metal frame, the bamboo roof, and the decorations. Every year we wonder about the weather. Will we have to dodge the raindrops and the wind once again this year for a quick bracha before eating inside? Will our sukkah stand up? Will there be a hurricane?

An Evaluation Of The Long-Term Effectiveness Of A Women's Leadership Development Program, Kirsten S. Ericksen

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the Women's Institute for Leadership Development (W.I.L.D.) program to determine the immediate and long-term impact as defined by the alumni program participants from three cohorts (2008, 2005, 2003). A secondary focus of the career transition decision-making of recent W.I.L.D. participants was also investigated. Qualitative (individual interviews and W.I.L.D. inventory open-ended written responses) and quantitative [Career Transitions Inventory, (CTI), and the W.I.L.D. inventory] results were examined. Within group and between group differences were analyzed using a paired samples t-test, while a grounded theory approach indicated emerging themes for the immediate and long-term …

Female Perspectives Of Professional Identity And Success In The Counseling Field, Amanda C. Healey

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the contextual and definitional qualities of professional identity as well as the perceptions of success as defined by female counseling professionals. The ideals and beliefs related to professional identity were examined in order to determine if they are upheld by females who practice as professional counselors, counseling doctoral students, and tenure-track counselor educators. Findings indicated 16 themes that addressed issues related to personal and professional congruence and the counseling philosophy; particularly with regard to a conflict with the professional success model as it intersected with personal and professional roles. The information gathered …

The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2008, James V. Koch, Vinod Agarwal, John R. Broderick, Grace Chen, Chris Colburn, Vicky Curtis, Steve Daniel, Susan Hughes, Elizabeth Janik, Terry Lindvall, Sharon Lomax, Janet Molinaro, Ken Plum, Gilbert Yochum

Economics Faculty Books

This is Old Dominion University's ninth annual State of the Region report. While it represents the work of many people connected in various ways to the university, the report does not constitute an official viewpoint of Old Dominion or it's president, John R. Broderick. The report maintains the goal of stimulating thought and discussion that ultimately will make Hampton Roads an even better place to live. We are proud of our region's many successes, but realize that it is possible to improve our performance. In order to do so, we must have accurate information about "where we are" and a …

Is There A Perception Of A Glass Ceiling? The Relationship Between Gender And Promotional Opportunities, Cassandra L. Matthews

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This thesis is an exploratory study which examines the perceptions of a glass ceiling for females employed in the field of corrections. Interviews with fourteen women who are or have worked in various job rankings in the correctional field provided the data for this study. Participants described their perceptions of barriers facing women seeking a promotion. Themes identified include the balance between their career and their home life, personal encounters with sexual harassment and the amount of interaction with other males and females while employed in the correctional setting.

This research addresses two central research questions: 1. Is there a …

The Line In The Sand: Understanding Customer Sexual Harassment Through A Psychological Contract Framework, Valerie J. Morganson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Research has demonstrated that customer sexual harassment (CSH) is a frequently occurring phenomenon and an apparent barrier to the career development of women (Gettman & Gelfand, 2007; Morganson & Major, 2008). The current study applies psychological contract theory toward understanding how CSH leads to adverse outcomes, which affect individuals and organizations. A sample of 420 working women including both students and full-time non-student workers from various organizations were recruited to participate in this online study. CSH and perceptions of employer obligation did not interact to predict psychological contract breach. As hypothesized, psychological contract breach and CSH interacted to predict affective …

Art Therapy With Native American Cancer Survivors: An Observation Of Nonverbal Communication Styles, Kathryn Dengler

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

There is a high morbidity rate among Native American women with breast cancer. Research suggests that traditional beliefs in addition to miscommunication within the healthcare setting may affect the treatment Natives receive. This study observed the nonverbal communication patterns of ten Native American cancer survivors participating in an art psychoeducational workshop. Mapping techniques and situational analysis were used to observe nonverbal communication patterns during the workshop. It was hypothesized that Native Americans would use nonverbal cues more readily than verbal communication.

The results of the study supported the hypothesis. Nonverbal cues were the primary means of communication throughout the workshop. …

Female Sport Role Models: A Content Analysis Of Espn.Com, Michelle Lou Redmond

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Opportunities for girls to participate in sports are growing by the minute. However, adolescent girls are dropping out from participating in athletics with many possible explanations. One explanation is the limited and sometimes controversial media attention female athletes receive. How are girls to know there is a sporting world out there for them if they are unable to see positive female athletic role models to emulate?

This study investigated ESPN.com to discover the trends of college basketball reporting during the 2007 NCAA Men's and Women's basketball tournaments. A content analysis was performed on ESPN .com to see if the media …

Gestures Toward Cross-Species Reciprocal Relations In Contemporary Poetics, Mary Newell

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

In this essay, I explore some embodied bases of ethical attitudes toward human/ animal exchanges in the texts of three contemporary authors: Mary Oliver, Heller Levinson, and Adrienne Rich. Since other species share with humans varieties of agency, sentience, and purposive activity, I suggest that reciprocity is a fundamental aim in cross-species relations. Phenomenological philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty depicts the correlation between embodied actions and attitudes, for example, between the hand movement of grasping and an appropriative attitude toward the natural world. His concept of reciprocity, grounded in the experience of one hand touching another, provides a reference for encounters that …

Peddling A Distinguishable Female Form: Late Nineteenth-Century Advertising Of Cosmetics Hair Products And Corsets In British Women's Magazines, Cathleen A. Rhodes

English Theses & Dissertations

This project examines advertisements for cosmetics, hair products, corsets, and various other mechanical and chemical body alteration devices to uncover an emphasis, manifested through the female body, on gendered differences. Beauty products accentuated feminine physical attributes in order to emphasize differences that were much subtler than the discourse on gender would suggest. In essence, to make the bodily difference closer to the differences the discourse on gender proclaimed.

Primary source material includes visual and textual advertisements from women's periodicals from 1870 — 1900. Periodicals have been chosen for popularity in their respective time periods as well as for their varied …

Lynching The White Imagination: Changing The Dynamics Of Lynching And Rewriting The Cult Of True Womanhood In Grimke, Johnson, And Terrell, Melissa L. Antonucci

English Theses & Dissertations

Despite critics'ack and forth argument over the merits, or lack thereof, of a uniquely black theatre experience, black women playwrights, much like their male counterparts, were once wholly invisible to the white community. But what makes their invisibility unique is their absence in the black world and in literary scholarship. Unfortunately, modern scholarship has oftentimes dismissed these exceptionally powerful plays, cataloging them as poorly written and lacking stylistic and formal elements. It was only recently that they were included in a highly male-dominated history of African American theatre and art. The question of their use of sentimentality, however, remains unanswered. …

Eve's Side, Rebecca Lauren Gidjunis

English Theses & Dissertations

Imagine that Eve came to earth one day to tell her side of the creation story. Perhaps she'd say that she came first, not Adam, or tell us that God is actually a matronly woman, with round hips and sagging breasts. Maybe she'd sing of sensuality, body, and female wisdom.

Unfortunately, most of us in Judeo-Christian theology have been privy to only one side—Adam'. By allowing Eve and her daughters to speak, I claim women's stories as essential to our overall understanding of the divine. In Eve 's Side, I allow women to see themselves in God and God …

Oy Science Fiction: On Genre, Criticism, And Alien Love: An Interview With Marleen S. Barr, Marlene S. Barr, Ximena Gallardo C., C. Jason Smith

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph of Abstract]

Marleen S. Barr is a pioneer of feminist science fiction criticism and a leader in the fight against the ghettoizing influences of genre-labeling in literary criticism. While the noteworthy Feminist Fabulation: Space/Postmodern Fiction (University of Iowa Press, 1992) has been praised as Barr's seminal work in feminist science fiction criticism and theory, it is in Genre Fission: A New Discourse Practice for Cultural Studies (U of Iowa P, 2000) where she takes on literary critics' discriminatory practices against genre fiction in general and fantasy and science fiction in particular.

The Link Between Corporal Punishment And Teen Pregnancy, Jennifer M. Hagberg

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This study explored the relationship between corporal punishment and teen pregnancy among women participating in the 2000 survey round of the NLSY Child and Young Adult Surveys. Zero order correlations were used to examine the bivariate relationship between the corporal punishment and teen pregnancy. OLS regression was used to determine if a direct relationship exists between corporal punishment and teen pregnancy after controlling for a host of variables. It was hypothesized that the more frequently a respondent received corporal punishment, the more likely she was to have reported a pregnancy during adolescence, and that this relationship would manifest itself primarily …

A Conceptual Model For Determining Career Choice Of Chrome Alumna Based On Farmer's Conceptual Models, Lisa Simmons Moore

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This qualitative program evaluation examines the career decision-making processes and career choices of nine, African American women who participated in the Cooperating Hampton Roads Organization for Minorities in Engineering (CHROME) and who graduated from urban, rural or suburban high schools in the year 2000. The CHROME program is a nonprofit, pre-college intervention program that encourages underrepresented minority and female students to enter science, technically related, engineering, and math (STEM) career fields. The study describes career choices and decisions made by each participant over a five-year period since high school graduation. Data was collected through an Annual Report, Post High School …

Music Videos And Perceptions Of Women, Shanda Jenkins

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether or not watching sexually explicit music videos will affect how different women are perceived in different situations. There were 301 subjects recruited from Old Dominion University. The mean age was 20.5 and there were 189 women and 111 men. The participants watched two music videos and rated the main performer in the music video. Next, they watched an interview video and rated the person in the interview. The interview video featured one woman who was either African-American or Caucasian, and that woman was interviewing for either a job or a potential …

The Relationship Among Disclosure, Internalized Homophobia, Religiosity, And Psychological Well-Being In A Lesbian Population, Sharon Lyn Clayman

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship among disclosure, internalized homophobia, and religiosity in a lesbian population and how these three variables are related to psychological well-being in order to build upon the scant amount of empirical research on these variables in the lesbian psychological literature. A total of 679 women, 18 to 70 years old, and from all across the country were recruited via the internet to participate in a web-based survey. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, the Lesbian Internalized Homophobia Scale (Szymanski & Chung, 2001), the Outness Inventory (Mohr & Fassinger, 2000), the Behavioral Self-Disclosure Questionnaire (Carroll & Gilroy, 2000), …

Women At Rutgers College: Remembering 1970-1977, Nancy Topping Bazin

Women's & Gender Studies Faculty Publications

My story is about developing women’s studies from 1970 to 1977 at Rutgers College, which was then one of the five separate colleges that made up Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Rutgers College was all-male, but it did not stay that way long. Because it was part of a state university, the Board of Governors decided that the college had to go co-ed the following year to avoid being sued for discrimination. In order not to displace male students, the integration would proceed very slowly by adding a few females to each freshman class. After four years of …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Exposure To Risk, Gender, And Delinquency: An Exploratory Case Study, Rosanne D. Walters

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

This case study explored the interactive relationship between the type and level of risk experienced by males and females entering the Norfolk Juvenile Detention Home in 2000, differences in delinquent behaviors of males and females, and differences in responses to that behavior. The study was an outgrowth of a previous report to the Norfolk Juvenile Detention Home Utilization Task Force suggesting that females experienced a higher level of risk than males and that they were detained for lesser offenses. The study also was motivated by data from the Office on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention indicating that there had been …