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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Fostering Inclusivity And Resilience: Challenges To Community-Based Empowerment For Trans Elders In Roanoke, Virginia, Summer Skye Allison Jan 2023

Fostering Inclusivity And Resilience: Challenges To Community-Based Empowerment For Trans Elders In Roanoke, Virginia, Summer Skye Allison

Undergraduate Honors Theses

As popular media disseminates harmful “culture war” rhetoric regarding trans folk it has become increasingly necessary to amplify their voices to give them power over how they are perceived by society. Though political discourse regarding trans children has become a hot-button topic, this paper seeks to explore the overlooked experiences of trans elders as they contend with intersecting instances of ageism and transphobia from individuals and institutions in Roanoke, Virginia. Since community-based organizations like the Roanoke Diversity Center and Ladies and Gents of the Blue Ridge have been instrumental to strengthening the LGBTQ+ community in Roanoke, this research focuses on …


Postcolonial Indian Ruling Texts: The Ramayana, Shuchi Sanyal Jan 2022

Postcolonial Indian Ruling Texts: The Ramayana, Shuchi Sanyal

Undergraduate Honors Theses

I shall be writing about the Ramayana as a ruling text and the post colonial interpretation of Hindu mythology perpetuating gender roles and encourages women to be submissive. The imposition of Western ideals alters the perception of cultural expectations of women and that to behave misogynistically is to be true to traditional Indian values. The Ramayana is a fable recorded in religious text, The Bhagavad Gita, and is taught to children to convey the Hindu objective of human pursuit composed of duties, prosperity, desire, spiritual liberation. The original text consists of nearly twenty four thousand verses in the Shloka meter, …


Inequalities In Heterosexual Sex And How We Can Become Equals, Sophie Bierly Dec 2021

Inequalities In Heterosexual Sex And How We Can Become Equals, Sophie Bierly

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Sexual inequality is well researched in the academic sphere but is absent from the political realm. Previous research has identified that sex is defined for men’s pleasure, that women suffer from an orgasm gap, and that male domination is standard in heterosexual sex. Due to the private nature of sex, sexual inequality is untouched as a personal problem rather than deconstructed as a political injustice. However, the universality of sexual inequality in heterosexual relationships demonstrates that these overlooked personal problems are rooted in widespread cultural misogyny. Sex is one of the primary ways in which we perform gendered socialization, due …


Qualitative Methods For Study Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Among Gay Men Who Have Sex With Men Of Color In The Us: A Review Of The Literature, Gerald Lemmon Jan 2021

Qualitative Methods For Study Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Among Gay Men Who Have Sex With Men Of Color In The Us: A Review Of The Literature, Gerald Lemmon

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective HIV-prevention method that includes HIV-negative individuals taking a daily anti-retroviral medication and regularly visiting a provider. Since 2012, when Truvada was approved, uptake has been increasing but is still low, and disparities exist among gay and other men who have sex with men (GMSM) of color. This review identifies the qualitative methods used in PrEP studies and compares approaches used in studies with samples of white GMSM and GMSM of color to those only sampling GMSM of color. To locate peer-reviewed studies of the social dimensions of PrEP, published between 2010 and 2020, I …


Pre-Professional College Women’S Perceptions Of The Social Implications Of Company Sponsored Fertility Postponement, Jordane Schooley May 2020

Pre-Professional College Women’S Perceptions Of The Social Implications Of Company Sponsored Fertility Postponement, Jordane Schooley

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Large corporations, such as Apple and Google, as well as other tech companies, began incorporating fertility postponement in their health benefits to employees through the form of egg freezing and in-vitro fertilization starting in 2014. While some research exists looking at the implications of this policy for women in the workforce, little attention has been given to the perspective of young women about to enter the workforce. This research examines the perceptions of pre-professional women on the implications of potential future employers offering them egg freezing and IVF benefits, revealing contradictory feelings towards such policies. Since these women are in …


Menstruation Regulation: A Feminist Critique Of Menstrual Product Brands On Instagram, Max Faust May 2020

Menstruation Regulation: A Feminist Critique Of Menstrual Product Brands On Instagram, Max Faust

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Much research about advertisements for menstrual products reveals the ways in which such advertising perpetuates shame and reinforces unrealistic ideals of femininity and womanhood. This study aims to examine the content of Instagram posts by four different menstrual product brands in hopes of understanding how these functions may or may not be carried out by social media posts by these brands as well. Building on the body of research about menstrual shame and advertising, I specifically ask: How do the Instagram pages for four menstrual product brands dissuade individuality; how do they prescribe femininity; and how do these functions differ …


Creative Gender Expression Performativity As A Coping Mechanism For Minority Stress, Emerson A. Todd May 2020

Creative Gender Expression Performativity As A Coping Mechanism For Minority Stress, Emerson A. Todd

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Creative Gender Expression Performativity may be a coping mechanism for dealing with minority stress in sexual and gender minority populations. The current study suggests the creation of a new scale that measures effortful presentation rather than directional presentation. Rather than examining whether someone identifies as masculine or feminine – the proposed model would instead look at how much effort an individual is putting into their gender expression. In this mixed methods study, participants (N = 187) completed a survey based on gender expression, minority stress, and mental health, while 10 participants completed a qualitative post-survey interview via email. Multiple regressions …


The Impact Of Stereotype Threat On Object Location Memory, Samantha A. Boomgarden Dec 2018

The Impact Of Stereotype Threat On Object Location Memory, Samantha A. Boomgarden

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Gender differences have been identified in many tasks, and the male advantage in spatial skills has been well studied and is thought to be robust, especially on mental rotation and spatial perception tasks (e.g., Doyle & Voyer, 2016; Linn & Petersen, 2016; Pansu et al., 2016; Thompson & Voyer, 2014). However, women have been found to do better on tasks that require memorization of where objects are located in the environment (i.e., object location memory tasks; Voyer, Postma, Brake, & lmperato-McGinley, 2007). The purpose of this study was to examine how stereotype threat, elicited in women, would affect their performance …


Single Or Taken: The Effect Of Relationship Status, Gender, And Interaction With The Opposite Sex On Arousal And Spatial Ability, Kylie Mcgee Jan 2018

Single Or Taken: The Effect Of Relationship Status, Gender, And Interaction With The Opposite Sex On Arousal And Spatial Ability, Kylie Mcgee

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this project is to examine the effect that relationship status, gender, and interaction with the opposite sex has on nervous system arousal and spatial ability. In the first experiment, 20 female participants were selected, 10 being in a committed relationship and 10 being single. Spatial ability and heart rate was measured for each participant before and after mixed-sex dyadic interactions. Results showed that a person’s relationship status does indeed have an effect on nervous system arousal after a mixed-sex dyadic interaction. In experiment two, 25 participants were studied, 13 participants were male and 12 were female. 7 …


Drag: Spectacle,Transformance, And The Construction Of Gender Utopia, Tyler J. Henry May 2017

Drag: Spectacle,Transformance, And The Construction Of Gender Utopia, Tyler J. Henry

Undergraduate Honors Theses

We live in a world of constant performance. Simultaneously being performer and audience, we navigate every day situated in the suspension of disbelief due to society’s spectacle. We are continuously enacting, evaluating, providing feedback, and adjusting in order to perform just well enough to be accepted into mainstream society. Gender is often understood and constructed in rigid binaries where performing too much or too little can lead to exclusion from acceptance into society. However, there are some who purposefully perform in order to criticize the binaries and cultivate an area of limbo between masculine and feminine. I am referring to …


Social Support And Well-Being In Lgbt Adults, Jessica D. Brown May 2017

Social Support And Well-Being In Lgbt Adults, Jessica D. Brown

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among positive mental health, well-being, and perceived social support in individuals who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). The participants included 251 individuals from a rural area in the Midwest who completed an online survey; 47 of these individuals identified as LGBT. Well-Being was measured using the Warwick- Edinburg Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS; Stewart-Brown et al., 2002), and perceived social support was evaluated using the Multidimensional Scale for Perceived Social Support (MSPSS; Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet & Farley, 1988). Scores were compared between LGBT and Non-LGBT participants. At an …


In A Bind: The Role Of Transgender Health Care Coverage In Politics, Lucas Johnson Dec 2016

In A Bind: The Role Of Transgender Health Care Coverage In Politics, Lucas Johnson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Personal Roots Of Representation: Applying Burden's Model To Female Leaders In State Legislatures, Lindsey Juszczak May 2014

Personal Roots Of Representation: Applying Burden's Model To Female Leaders In State Legislatures, Lindsey Juszczak

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The role of women in politics is not a new concern in the United States. However, the number of women being elected into leadership positions at all levels of government is growing. Reasons for women's political drive and ambition stem from various aspects of their life. Barry Burden believes that the roots of personal representation like a representative's religion, education, and home life are important factors that drive politicians in their careers. Burden's model can be used to understand why women in leadership roles are motivated in a certain way to represent and respond to constituents. Specifically, this research studies …


Traditional Masculinity & Advertising Image Approval, Danielle W. Kailing, Peggy Cantrell Phd May 2014

Traditional Masculinity & Advertising Image Approval, Danielle W. Kailing, Peggy Cantrell Phd

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This project investigates the relationship between adherence to traditional masculinity and approval of selected advertising images. Because traditional masculinity includes characteristics supportive of aggression and dominance; I hypothesize that an increase in adherence to traditional masculinity will correlate with approval of the violence found in some print advertisements. Participants include 259 men who completed an anonymous, online, survey. Adherence to masculinity is measured using the Male Role Norm Inventory-Revised (MRNI-R) (Levant, et. al, 2007). Each picture is scored on a 5-point Likert Scale. As hypothesized, an increase in total MRNI-R score, is significantly correlated with an increase in the approval …


Perceptions Of Masculinity And Femininity Of Gamers Playing Violent And Non-Violent Video Games, Amanda M. Mangalavite May 2012

Perceptions Of Masculinity And Femininity Of Gamers Playing Violent And Non-Violent Video Games, Amanda M. Mangalavite

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Video games are a popular pastime in today's society for both men and women, as approximately one-half of the United States' population play them. The idea that men and women's masculinity and femininity are perceived differently for the type of video game that they play is a concept that has recently been questioned and confronted in research. In the present study the genre of the video game, skill level, and gender are examined in regards to the ratings of masculinity and femininity of the player. Results found that genre and skill level had no effect, but gender of the player …