Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Oppression, Resistance, And Empowerment: The Power Dynamics Of Naming And Un-Naming In African American Literature, 1794 To 2019, Melissa "Maggie" Romigh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Oppression, Resistance, and Empowerment: The Power Dynamics of Naming and Un-naming in African American Literature, 1794 to 2019 researches and discusses the way African American authors both discuss naming and un-naming in their works and the way they use naming in their works to illustrate the dynamics of power in relationships—racial, familial, gender-related, work-related, etc. Chapter 1 focuses on the earliest forms of African American literature, memoirs in particular, also known as “slave narratives.” In their memoirs, many of those men and women who were formerly enslaved wrote about having their names taken from them and replaced with names chosen …

Racialized Morality: The Logic Of Anti-Trafficking Advocacy, Sophie Elizabeth James

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

How race shapes the lenses that anti-trafficking advocates use to promote client interests is critical to the successful reintegration of survivors and their access to the right resources. Any threat to rapport building can have adverse effects to the recovery of survivors. Cultural oppression (or the denial of racism) when considering micro-level interactions of anti-trafficking advocates and survivors, not only compounds victims’ trauma but creates the reality where black and brown bodies continue to be violated and victimized.

Due to these nuanced tensions at the intersection of race and gender, my thesis research examines whether and to what extent anti-trafficking …

Ethnic Identity As A Protective Factor In Early Adolescent Youth Depression: An Investigation Of Differences By Race And Gender, Leah Bonilla

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adolescent mental illness is a major concern in the Unites States. The adolescent stage is a critical developmental period of physical and mental changes, thus it is important to understand protective factors associated with positive wellbeing. The current study aimed to explore: (a) the associations among race, gender, ethnic identity, and depressive symptoms among eighth grade adolescents, (b) to what extent are there differences in degree of depressive symptoms among youth based on race and gender, and (c) to what extent a strong sense of ethnic identity serves as a protective factor against the development of depression among youth with …

Palatable Shades Of Gender: Status Processes At The Intersections Of Race, Gender, And Team Formation, Jasmón L. Bailey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the importance of studying how race and gender influence partner selection processes of team formation. Stratified social systems influence the choice and decision-making behaviors that shape group and team formation (Hechter 1978). By testing Skvoretz’s and Bailey’s (2016) formal theory of team formation choice processes derived from expectation states theory, the dissertation aims to understand how race and gender influence a person’s choice and decision-making with respect to forming a group of problem-solving teammates. Through a quasi-experimental research design, subjects participate in simulated interactive environments in which they can select and personalize self-represented avatars and then choose …

‘If He Hits Me, Is That Love? I Don’T Think So’: An Ethnographic Investigation Of The Multi-Level Influences Shaping Indigenous Women’S Decision-Making Around Intimate Partner Violence In The Rural Peruvian Andes, Isabella Li Chan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how the intersections of gender, ethnicity, place, and class shape indigenous women’s risks for and experiences of intimate partner violence and related decision-making in Carhuaz province, an underserved, resource-poor setting in the Peruvian Andes. This dissertation applied a mixed-methods, community-based approach to 11 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Peru, which included 82 face-to-face surveys using the World Health Organization’s Multi-Country Study Instrument, 38 semi-structured interviews with survivors, community members, and IPV-related service providers, and 6 participatory action research workshops (n=64).

Through this dissertation, the voices of indigenous women struggling with intimate partner violence illuminate the lived realities …

A Culture Of Resistance: An Ethnography Of Tampa Bay’S Racial Justice Activist Community, Emily Janna Weisenberger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Racial justice activists in Tampa Bay comprise a community and culture structured as a movement of social transformation. Data from eleven interviews and more than 100 hours of participant observation show that activists consist of a diverse array of Tampa Bay residents of varying ages, genders, sexualities, racial/ethnic identities and livelihoods. This community is best described by their beliefs and practices of ideology steeped in intersectionality and anti-capitalism, and are motivated by or empathetic to racial injustices directly experienced by them or those around them. The intention of this paper is to describe activists as they are rather than as …

Race And Gender In (Re)Integration Of Victim-Survivors Of Csec In A Community Advocacy Context, Joshlyn Lawhorn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I use feminist ethnography at a nonprofit organization to analyze the racialized gender in (re)integration of victim-survivors of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). Critical race feminism and intersectionality are the theoretical frameworks to guide the analysis of community advocacy. The analysis considers two themes with various subsections that capture CSEC at the site. The first theme analyzes the definition, challenges, coordination and rhetoric of reintegration at the site. The second theme highlights the site’s racial identity, Black victimhood of victim-survivors of CSEC in the context of community, and racialized gender within reintegration. I discuss the strategic …

Examining Forty Years Of The Social Organization Of Feminisms: Ethnography Of Two Women’S Bookstores In The Us South, Mary Catherine Whitlock

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

At the height of their popularity in the 1990s, there were 140 feminist bookstores in the US and Canada (Onosaka 2006). Today, in 2017, there are thirteen left. Feminist bookstores began opening in the 1970s promoting ideas about lesbian separatism, woman only spaces, and nurturing a feminist community. Although many functioned as for-profit stores, many also operated community centers and non-profit organizations. Feminist bookstores provide an excellent site for scholars view decades of social movement organizing merging theory, practice, activism, and academics. As a social movement organization, feminist bookstores as are the quintessential node of academia and activism. Of the …

Female Incarceration And Prison Social Order: An Examination Of Gender Differences In Prison Misconduct And In-Prison Punishments, Elisa L. Toman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The dramatic increase in the U.S. prison population has renewed scholarly interest in the prison experience. Researchers have built upon and extended classic theories of inmate behavior to better understand the mechanisms that lead to inmate violence and misbehavior. Yet, scholars still consider what happens to inmates inside of prison a “black box,” due to limited systematic assessments of the prison experience. This body of scholarship is also limited by its narrow focus on males, as theories of inmate behavior have been developed around male experiences and, in turn, ignore the possibility that gender may influence prison life. Feminist theory …

Resistance From Within: Domestic Violence And Rape Crisis Centers That Serve Black/African American Populations, Jessica Marie Pinto

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses feminist critical discourse analysis to find and understand the discourses embedded in the mission statements and program documents of three domestic violence and/or rape crisis centers that primarily serve Black/African American populations in three distinct geographic locations in the United States. Existing literature addresses the discourses present in domestic violence and sexual assault service provision, but no literature addresses the discourses present in the mission statements of domestic violence and rape crisis centers, leaving a considerable gap in the literature. This project uses frameworks of feminist understandings of Foucauldian discursive patriarchal power, intersectionality and material feminism to …

"What Are We Doing Here? This Is Not Us": A Critical Discourse Analysis Of The Last Of Us Remastered, Toria Kwan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Video games are often written off as juvenile or frivolous, but they are actually vehicles of socialization and hegemonic ideologies. Because of this, video games are deserving of research and critique. In video games, women are often underrepresented or hypersexualized, while men can be hypermasculinized. Many times, racial and ethnic portrayals in video games paint the person of color as victims of violence, villains, or sports athletes, while white characters take the role of hero or protagonist. Heterosexuality typically goes unmarked and is considered the default sexuality, and homophobic sentiments and slurs are prevalent in the gaming community. Because game …

Situating Migrants In Contemporary Japan: From Public Spaces To Personal Experiences, Milena Urszula Janiec Grygo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Within the broader literature on migration, Japan is often portrayed as straddling two categories, one of a homogenous country and another of a multicultural society. The arguments on both sides are supported through the historical evidence, analysis of media resources, as well as narratives of Japanese residents. This inquiry seeks to highlight voices of migrants within these debates. This dissertation focuses on the urban – rural residential experiences of international migrants in Kanto and Tohoku regions. This inquiry treats international migration processes in terms of moving between the contexts of different countries as well as between urban – rural locations. …

"The Afro That Ate Kentucky": Appalachian Racial Formation, Lived Experience, And Intersectional Feminist Interventions, Sandra Louise Carpenter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines selections of Appalachian women’s personal narrative as well as Affrilachian Poetry written by Kentuckians Bianca Spriggs and Nikki Finney. This project’s goal lies in resisting oppression and erasure of Appalachian culture’s heterogeneity. Contrary to constructions of Appalachians as lazy, complacent, and white, many Appalachians organize communities of resistance from within the region itself. Challenging these representations, I argue that Appalachian feminists as well as Affrilachian poets create countercultures that disrupt monolithic, colonialist, and unquestioned constructions of Appalachia.

The Triumvirate Of Intersectionality: A Case Study On The Mobilization Of Domésticas In Brazil, Kristen Lei Nash

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I look at the mobilization of the domestic workers in Brazil as a social movement. In Brazil, the domestic workers have managed to organize continuously for over eight decades using both informal and formal mechanisms to connect workers all over the country in unique ways. By viewing these women and the ways in which they have organized in the framework of a social movement, we can begin to identify their repertoires of contention and how those repertoires have contributed to the successes of the movement. In order to guide this investigation, I ask, how has the doméstica …