Women's Studies Commons^™

Narrative Framing Of U.S. Military Females In Combat: Inclusion Versus Resistance, James Scott Herford

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study utilizes discursive data to examine how the strategic use of narratives inform policies that shape women's participation in military service overall and more specific, the current controversy over exclusion of women from participation in combat roles within the U.S. military. Specifically, I examine popular military newspapers, blogs and the Department of Defense 2012 Report regarding policies and regulations of female service members. In this study, I provide a sociological analysis of current military-cultural narratives and the institutional narrative discussing women's participation in combat roles in order to provide evidence of the current threat to the military form of …

Man To Man: We Can Stop Sexual Violence, James H. Garrett

SURGE

I was lucky enough to grow up with a loving mother who taught me early on to respect every woman and, more so, to never overstep the boundaries between people unless I am invited to do so with full cognizance of the actions of both parties. To be less philosophical, she was always very clear with me that touching no-no parts with any person (in my case, a lady) without express consent is wrong every time and that I would never forgive myself if I forgot that maxim in a flight of “passion.” At no time in my life have …

Las Abuelas E La Memoria, Doris Cristobal

Archives of an Activist: Celebrating the Donations of Rita Arditti to UMass Boston

Viví en Buenos Aires Argentina durante cuatro años y en mi estadía en ese país aprendí mucho acerca de los efectos que les había dejado la Dictadura militar de 1976. Conocí a hijos, familiares, madres y abuelas de los desaparecidos y de su trabajo importante luchando por la vigencia de los derechos humanos en la Argentina. Aprendí también, que existen fuertes lazos de solidaridad entre el pueblo argentino y los pueblos de Latinoamérica; por ejemplo que el pueblo argentino es muy agradecido con mi país porque durante la dictadura muchos exiliados encontraron protección del gobierno peruano, y que en la …

Remarks By Ann Blum About Rita Arditti, The Abuelas, And Latin American Studies, Ann Blum

Archives of an Activist: Celebrating the Donations of Rita Arditti to UMass Boston

From Ann Blum's remarks:

My own area of research is family history. Students and other scholars sometimes ask me why I study the family when there are other far more important, more politicaltopics. Rita’s activism and scholarship provide a ringing rejoinder. The family is political and it is key to our understanding of politics on intimate, national and global scales. Rita’swork with the Grandmothers centered on family. Her study embraced the complex interactions among three generations as family relations were projected onto national and international politics. The Argentine military regime was brutally astute: they made state terrorism a family affair. …

Yolanda Barco's Impact On The Cable Television Industry, Piper L. Peteet-Kilgore

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to take a detailed look into the life of cable television pioneer Yolanda Barco and demonstrate that her achievements in cable telecommunications have directly impacted the success of the cable telecommunications industry.

The daughter of cable television pioneer George Barco, Yolanda Barco worked alongside her father advocating for the rights of cable television during the early years of the industry. Following a biographical story framework, this research follows a timeline of her career discussing her family life, education, how she became involved in the cable television industry, achievements in cable television and the lasting …

Mobile Activism: What Your Profile Picture Says About You, Laura J. Koenig

SURGE

I know you’ve all been seeing this image all of your Facebook news feeds. All of the sudden a few weeks ago it became everyone’s profile picture. People were sharing it, along with other images, explaining why Prop. 8 and the Defense Of Marriage Act should be repealed, and were generally expressing their support of marriage equality. [excerpt]

Finishing The Job: A Partnership For Diversity In The Construction Workforce, Susan Moir, Liz Skidmore, Janet Jones, Brian Doherty

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Policy Group on Tradeswomen’s Issues (PGTI) is a regional collaboration of construction industry stakeholders working together since 2008 to tackle the persistent failure of policies enacted to open up good paying jobs in the construction trades to women. Our focus on women explicitly supports efforts to increase all forms of diversity in the construction industry. Following the publication of our 2011 founding document, Unfinished Business: Building Equality for Women in the Construction Trades, PGTI has focused on the development and implementation of best practices for a diverse construction workforce in public and non-profit construction.

Projectserve, Kenneth Andejeski, Kenyora Johnson, Projectserve, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The mission of Strong Women, Strong Girls is to utilize the lessons learned from strong women throughout history to encourage girls and young women to become strong women themselves. By building communities of women committed to supporting positive social change, Strong Women, Strong Girls works to create cycles of mutual empowerment for women and girls.

Project Serve engages UMass Boston students and community organizations in a variety of civic engagement activities in order to create positive change in Massachusetts. There are many ways to get involved in this program ranging from being a leader, coordinator, or a participant in our …

An Open Letter To Netflix, Elizabeth A. Rupert

SURGE

If there is one thing that I will be absolutely ashamed in admitting to you, it’s that I love television. Love it. Not in a turn-it-on-watch-whatever-all-TV-rocks kind of way, but in an I’m-overly-obsessed-with-15-shows-at-a-time kind of way, to the point where I could say that being able to watch the latest episode of Suits or Community could easily be the highlight of my day (week, year…). [excerpt]

Are Women Ready To Lead?, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

In a world where Sheryl Sandberg and Hilary Clinton regularly steal headlines, it’s easy to think that the world has become a more egalitarian place for women. Not so, says Marina Mahathir, who goes on to speak about lack of opportunities for women in politics.

Women's, Gender, And Sexuality Studies Newsletter Late Spring 2013, Susana Peña

Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Elle Doit S’Épanouir: The Women’S Entrepreneurial Program And Women’S Empowerment In Dschang, Melanie Meisenheimer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper provides a field study of the Women’s Entrepreneurial Program (WEP) in Dschang, Cameroon. It looks at the obstacles that impede women’s involvement in Cameroon’s economic development and that keep them trapped in a cycle of poverty, especially their access to financing and socio-cultural influences. Notions of ‘women’s empowerment’ are discussed and an overview of the WEP’s functions and goals is provided. This study seeks to explore how access to micro-finance in conjunction with entrepreneurial training has impacted the economic situation of WEP participants as well as any corresponding changes in their culturally dictated roles and responsibilities. The gendering …

[Sabbatical Report], Dawn Hall

Sabbatical Reports

Using a feminist and cultural studies perspective, my project discusses the independent film industry and its treatment of women directors and female oriented narratives. It begins with a snapshot of male filmmakers' challenges and opportunities with a focus on Kelly Reichardt's career, definition of success, and specific model of filmmaking, with a brief comparison to other female filmmakers whose definitions are different and who have chosen a more commercial path. In addition to discussing industry data and feminist film theory, the body of the work focuses on Reichardt's feature films (one per chapter) framing each within her larger political statements. …

Ua41 University College Connection, Dennis K. George, Dean, Wendi Kelley, University College, Western Kentucky University

UC Publications

No abstract provided.

Women's, Gender, And Sexuality Studies Newsletter Spring 2013, Susana Peña

Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Navigating Body, Class, And Disability In The Life Of Agnes Burns Wieck, Caroline Waldron Merithew

History Faculty Publications

The concerns expressed in Burns Wieck’s letter to Hapgood typify many of the issues that occupied her during the course of her life. She, like many Americans in the early twentieth century, thought that there were economic disparities as well as great cultural divisions between the working and middle classes in a capitalist system. Burns Wieck worried about how nature and environment shaped physical and emotional existence for her as a woman and as a worker.4 A question she asked about childbirth in her letter—“Why, oh why, can’t they find some way to humanize that experience?”—is one that she might …

A Historical And Analytical Study Of Feminization In The Field Of Public Relations, Taylor U. (Flumerfelt) Beatty

Selected Honors Theses

The origin of the public relations field can be traced back more than 1,000 years. The use of its basic concepts can be seen throughout history, and increased in the 19th and 20th centuries. Until the mid-1900s, the field was largely comprised of men. World War II spurred the beginning of the feminization process, which caused public relations to experience a large influx of women. The number of female practitioners has since continued to increase. Even though feminization occurred and the field is now largely female-dominated, female practitioners experience a wide variety of gender inequalities in social, professional and economic …

Effective And Sustainable Programs Of Change: A Case Study Of Gulu Women’S Economic Development And Globalization (Gwed-G), Kristen Hochreiter

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research explores the concepts of effectiveness and sustainability in the non-governmental organization (NGO) development sector by looking at two of the youth empowerment programs in the case study organization, Gulu Women’s Economic Development and Globalization (GWED-G). GWED-G is a women’s’ rights organization that works in the Amuru, Nwoya, and Gulu districts of northern Uganda and implements various different programs all with vulnerable individuals. The reason that this organization has chosen to work with empowering youth is due to the dismal conditions that these youths faced during their upbringings, which occurred during the 20-year-long conflict that affected much of the …

Oppression, Sexual Violence And Their Effects On Native American Women, Isabella J. Baxter

Student Publications

This paper is a response to the chapter “Sexual Violence as a Tool of Genocide” in Andrea Smith’s book Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide. Smith argues that U.S. colonial culture strategically uses sexual violence against Native women as a weapon to ensure the oppression and marginalization of Native people. This paper details and examines Smith’s argument and also considers the influence of Native Women on White feminism. Despite the great influence Native culture has on White feminism, White Feminists’ perceptions of Native women is often skewed and biased, as a result of the systematic oppression that is utilized …

Femininity, Dependency, And Patriarchy: The Marginalization Of Women With Japanese Encephalitis And Neurological Sequelae In The Northern Terai Region Of Uttar Pradesh, Katherine Ehrenreich

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The present study seeks to determine how girls and women who have suffered from neurological sequelae after a Japanese encephalitis (JE) infection are marginalized in the Northern Terai region of Uttar Pradesh, India. Societal and familial values were studied in comparison to behaviors towards a neurologically disabled girl after a JE infection in order to determine how women infected with JE are excluded from cultural practices and norms. The 4 study was conducted in the Northern Terai region of Uttar Pradesh in the districts of Bahraich and Shrawasti under the guidance of DEHAT and Dr. Jitendra Chaturvedi. Semi-structured interviewing was …

Bringing Back Color, Bringing Back Emotion: Exploring Phenomenological Empathy In The Reclamation Of The Female Nude In Painting, Sophia R. Forman

Scripps Senior Theses

At the nexus of the seemingly disparate art-theoretical topics of color and the female nude is a critical consideration of phenomenology in both one of its most basic senses—as the first-person experience of perceived phenomena—and as a larger philosophical position which, through its abstraction of perception to subject-object relationships, implicates the painted figure. Specifically, this paper conflates the phenomenology of color with the transcendental phenomenology of Edmund Husserl and Maurice Merleau-Ponty in investigating empathy. Structured as a dialectic, it establishes the most prominent views of both color and the female nude—the nude as a symbolic figure, color as perceptual experience—before …

Danger In Deviance: Colonial Imagery And The Power Of Indigenous Female Sexuality In New Spain, Mariel Frechette

Scripps Senior Theses

The primary objective of this work is to understand the importance of the indigenous, female body in early New Spain through the study of visual media from the first two centuries of colonization: specifically looking at illustrations from Book 10 (of 15) in the Florentine Codex and images of indigenous Christian wedding ceremonies such as the painted folding screen Indian Wedding and a Flying Pole (c.1690). I argue through visual, theoretical and historical analysis that regulating indigenous female sexuality was a critical component to in the creation of colonial New Spain and that imagery played an essential role in this …

From Dolores Haze To Dakota Fanning: How Nabokov's Little Girl Went From Being A Victim Of Sexual Assault To A Fashion Icon, Priya Shyam Srivats

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper seeks to establish a critical understanding of issues of sexualization and re-appropriation and how they relate to contemporary fashion advertising that specifically utilizes the Lolita Effect.

The Bollywood Item Number: From Mujra To Modern Day Ramifications, Avantika Saraogi

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis deals with the “item number” genre of Bollywood song and dance sequences. I argue that the item song has evolved from a combination of the historically rich culture of prostitution in old India and the western influence of modern times; and that it contributes highly to the male dominated patriarchal society perpetuated by Hindi films by means of the voyeuristic male gaze and objectification of the female body. In conjunction with this research I choreographed a dance called Item No. 3 that was performed in Scripps Dances 2013. A discussion of the significance and decisions behind the …

Economic Empowerment And Gender-Based Violence: A Practicum Study Of Action Against Hunger In Post-Conflict Northern Uganda, Laura Simmons-Stern

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This project is an exploration with Action Against Hunger (ACF) on gender-based violence and economic empowerment of women in northern Uganda. The two-decade long civil war in northern Uganda has dramatically affected the lives and livelihoods of the population, creating the situation of a basic need for livelihood enhancement. The program that is analyzed utilizes cash transfers for the most vulnerable populations in thirteen sub-counties in the region in order to address the issues of both gender-based violence and lack of reliable economic production. This project realizes the realities of the relationship between gender-based violence and livelihood enhancement and aims …

Fractioned, Fissured, And Framed: Considering Public Versus Private Constructions Of Muslim Women’S Identities In Indian Partition Literature, Mccaulay Singer-Milnes

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This Independent Study Project examines the depiction of Muslim women in Indian Partition literature as a means of understanding the relationship between public and private identity. It analyzes the manners in which female Muslim characters respond to and negotiate modes of categorical identification, namely religion, surrounding Partition. Furthermore, this study juxtaposes these generalized accounts present in literature with individual responses from interviews with Muslim women living in New Delhi today. The women spoke regarding their conceptions of Islam and the manner in which they incorporate faith into their overall negotiation of private identity. The project finds that Partition, one of …

Bhikshunis And Breaking Barriers: The Changing Status Of Women In Monastic Life, Mckenna Leclear

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My research focuses on the recent changes in ideology and policy that have taken place in regards to the status of Tibetan Buddhist nuns and their monastic lives. I chose to focus on the nuns at Dolma Ling nunnery in Dharamsala, India who will be sitting for their geshema degree examinations in a few weeks time. These women are among the first nuns to be taking this examination because it was, until very recently, open only to Buddhist monks. This revolutionary change was accomplished in part by the efforts of the leaders of the Tibetan Nuns Project, who have also …

El Peso Profundo De 9 Millones De Toneladas: Un Análisis De Los Efectos Del Modelo Sojero Paraguayo En Las Vidas De Mujeres Campesinas = The Heavy Weight Of 9 Million Tons: An Analysis Of The Effects Of The Paraguayan Soy Model On The Lives Of Rural Women, Abigayle Dolmseth

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

A partir de los años 50, Paraguay ha tenido como objetivo una forma de desarrollo basada en la exportación de productos agropecuarios. Históricamente, Paraguay ha estado asociado a la imagen de un país “eminentemente agropecuario,” cuyos cultivos principales han variado con la demanda del mercado externo. En los años más recientes, la producción del monocultivo de soja ha llegado a dominar este modelo “agroexportador,” lo que ha causado y continúa causando, junto con el advenimiento de las políticas neoliberales de los años 90, gran cantidad de problemas climáticos y políticos dentro de las comunidades campesinas. Pero los problemas del modelo …

Mujeres Mozonteñas: Liderazgo, Tierra E Identidad En El Pueblo Indígena De Mozonte, Nueva Segovia, Karla Jiménez

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

La desigualdad entre mujeres y hombres es algo contra lo que los movimientos sociales luchan a nivel mundial. En Nicaragua, el machismo es un aspecto que aparenta estar arraigado en la cultura. Sin embargo, algunas mujeres han logrado crear espacios de participación, donde sus derechos e intereses son tomados en cuenta y respetados dentro de una sociedad patriarcal. ¿Cómo se estudia la desigualdad que han tenido las mujeres, junto con la desigualdad que han tenido las personas indígenas, al trabajar con mujeres indígenas? Hay una complejidad que existe al trabajar dentro de un Pueblo Indígena, ya que tienen dos gobiernos …

Moving Beyond "Slaves, Sinners, And Saviors": An Intersectional Feminist Analysis Of Us Sex-Trafficking Discourses, Law And Policy, Carrie N. Baker

Study of Women, Gender, & Sexuality: Faculty Publications

This article analyzes stories and images of sex trafficking in current mainstream US public discourses, including government publications, NGO materials, news media, and popular films. Noting the similarities and differences among these discourses, the first part demonstrates that they often frame sex trafficking using a rescue narrative that reiterates traditional beliefs and values regarding gender, sexuality, and nationality, relying heavily on patriarchal and orientalist tropes. Reflecting this rescue narrative, mainstream public policies focus on criminal justice solutions to trafficking. The second part suggests alternative frameworks that empower rather than rescue trafficked people. The article argues that the dominant criminal justice …