Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Reproductive Rights In Puerto Rico: Sterilization, Contraception, And Reproductive Violence, María Estrella Sotomayor

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS IN PUERTO RICO: STERILIZATION, CONTRACEPTION, AND REPRODUCTIVE VIOLENCE

by

María E. Sotomayor

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2020

Under the Supervision of Professor Merry Wiesner-Hanks

Since the middle of the twentieth century, Puerto Rico has had the highest, or nearly the highest, rate of sterilization in the world. The reasons for this have been examined from many perspectives, but how this has affected Puerto Rican women has rarely been discussed nor have their voices been heard. This study focuses on the long-term effects of female sterilization on Puerto Rican women, and their perception about their options for contraceptive …

Digital Mediation Of Dissent: The Stories Of Unveiled Women From Turkey, Atinc Gurcay

Theses and Dissertations

This research project studies the digital mediation of the politics of communication and everyday life by examining the tweets of Turkish women who voiced their dissent regarding veiling practices during the #10YearChallenge trend in 2019. Like so many places, the question of veiling is central to the politicization of women's bodies in Turkey. The politicization of women’s bodies, in turn, is central to competing secular and conservative visions of the modern Turkish nation-state. By examining the digital dissent in relation to these competing national projects, I map the historical context of modernization and its impact on the contemporary discussion of …

"They're Protecting Whiteness And Their Fragility Is Showing": How Feminist Praxis Disrupts White Supremacy In Neoliberal Predominately White Institutions", Christina Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

Predominately white institutions (PWIs) embody white policies, culture, and ways of educating that disproportionately affect Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). This research addresses the ways in which feminist praxis disrupts white supremist violence in PWIs. Literature highlights the ways in which white supremacy is disguised through the language of diversity, how the university community is able to build community despite barriers in the university, and how each primary player (faculty, staff, and students) navigate institutional violence. This research draws on ten interviews with faculty, staff, and students at a public and private PWI in an urban Midwestern city. Although …

“Being Cute And Hella Gay:" Pokémon Reborn, Fan Labor, And Queering The Pokémon World, David Peter Kocik

Theses and Dissertations

Created in 2012, Pokémon Reborn is a fan game made by and for queer fans of the Pokémon franchise. Featuring an LGBTQ+ development team and multiple queer characters, from pansexual Rival Cain to gender non-binary Gym Leader Adrienn, Pokémon Reborn articulates queer desires in a franchise and gaming industry notorious for ignoring and dehumanizing queer individuals. While most research on independent queer game development focuses on how creators subvert heteronormative gameplay elements, Pokémon Reborn challenges dominant industry practices through its queer characters and stories. The fan game incorporates LGBTQ+ lived experiences and queer temporalities in its narrative, queering the traditional …

The Business Of The Girl: Celebrity And The Professionalization Of Girlhood In Early Twenty-First Century Media Culture, Jessica Elizabeth Johnston

Theses and Dissertations

The achieving “can-do” girl, who thrives in her personal, academic, and aspirational endeavors, emerged in response to self-help crisis literature of the 1990s urging mothers to manage their daughters’ low self-esteem. However, even as media industries have adopted the successful girl subject in popular film, television, and digital marketing campaigns, public conversations of tween and teenage girls still identify rising levels of anxiety and self-doubt that diminish girls’ confidence well into adulthood. Responding to what critics call the “confidence gap,” girl culture of the twenty-first century has organized itself around the affordances of social media and digital celebrity in the …