Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons^™

Revisiting Don/Ovan, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

In this piece, the author, a heterosexual woman, travels to her hometown of Lake City, MN to reconnect with Donovan Marshall, a gay man she last saw in 1986. "Revisiting Don/ovan" explores opportunities and challenges of coming out, leaving, and returning to live in a small town.

Wedding Album: An Antiheterosexist Performance Text, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Historical and personal snapshots of weddings become poetic stanzas that advocate for marriage equality and for a social safety net strong enough to protect the human rights and meet the human needs of everyone, regardless of relational—or any other—status

Friendship As Method, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

“Friendship as Method,” appendix of the book In Solidarity: Friendship, Family, and Activism Beyond Gay and Straight (Routledge 2015), overviews the author's approach to and philosophy of research. She defines friendship, posits it as a kind of fieldwork, and lays the methodological foundations of friendship as method. After arguing that friendship as method involves researching with the practices, at the pace, and in the natural contexts of friendship, the author describes this approach’s strengths and considerations for both researcher and participants. To learn more, visit the book's website: http://www.insolidaritybook.com.

Remembering A Cool September, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This ethnographic short story chronicles the author’s emotional journey following September 11, 2001. After weeks of disconnection, she encounters a display of patriotism by two gay male friends, provoking her to process what it means to be both patriotic and gay in contemporary U.S. culture.

Marriage Equality And “It Gets Better”: Neoliberalism And The Absence Of Political Feeling, Kristi Carey

sprinkle: an undergraduate journal of feminist and queer studies

The fight for marriage equality and the “It Gets Better” campaign exist as two activist movements within contemporary gay liberation politics. This paper will understand these iterations of activism as both emanating from and perpetuating our neoliberal and capitalist present. Through striving for the politics of inclusion, both marriage equality and the IGB campaign merely rearrange the societal and rhetorical plane rather than undertake structural change—that which critically questions the very structures that individuals want to be included into. Using Foucault’s (1976) exploration of the repression of sex within marriage, as well as Cvetkovich’s (2012) theories of depression, I ask …

Psychosomatic Disorders In The Queer Community, Tanner Gill

sprinkle: an undergraduate journal of feminist and queer studies

This paper analyzes and evaluates why psychosomatic disorders are present in such higher rates in the queer community than in other communities. To assess this issue, this report supplies research on the intersection amongst various sexual and gender minorities within the community, three psychosomatic disorders (eating, anxiety, and mood disorders), and the heteronormative and homophobic society in which the aforementioned items are positioned. These disorders are linked to the feeling of societal marginalization in communities where heteronormativity and homophobia are prevalent and predominant, and also the bullying, hate, and stigmatization that coincide with such social institutions. To combat the rapid …

Nonconsensual Pornography, Hannah Mcneil

sprinkle: an undergraduate journal of feminist and queer studies

This paper addresses the issue of nonconsensual pornography and its effects on victims; a case study involving an in-depth interview of a participant who offers a personal perspective on the struggle of coping with the damaging aftermath of revenge porn. This research aims to examine how this type of exposure and online sexual harassment is harmful to its victims and seeks to raise awareness for this form of harassment in the digital age.

Rational Emotion, Feminine Professionalism, And Cooperative Success: Women Scientists In Star Trek: Voyager As Challenges To The Dominant Ideology, Kiran Mccloskey

sprinkle: an undergraduate journal of feminist and queer studies

This article considers Star Trek: Voyager’s portrayal of women in the sciences through the lens of Eva Flicker’s 2003 review of scientific women throughout film and television from 1927 to 1999. Two core divergences in Star Trek: Voyager are identified: the absence of constraining dualities such as the rational/emotional and professional/feminine divisions, and the lack of isolation experienced by the female scientists. Such a representation would have positive effects on female viewers according to the sociological interpellation process model, which is supported by testimony and correspondences with multiple fans.

Father's Blessing: Ethnographic Drama, Poetry, And Prose, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Following interpretivist traditions focusing on how individuals make sense of and make meaning from their lived experience, the author, a heterosexual woman, travels with a gay male friend/participant to visit his estranged father, a retired Air Force pilot and elder in the Mormon Church. The work attempts to show the dialogic construction, negotiation, and transformation of identities and relationships.

Diversity Plan: Academic Year 2014/2015 Status Report, Illinois Mathematics And Science Academy

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Resources

- three Race Panels that focused on 1) discussion of individual/institutional diversity concerns and social injustices, 2) historical and biological perspectives of race, and 3) how to resolve educational inequities and social injustices at IMSA,

- three Read-Ins that promoted Women, Latino and Black literature in collaboration with the IRC, English Department and the President’s Office,

- an audit of the racial diversity within IMSA’s Student Organizations,

- conducted the Implicit Association Test with 580 students which demonstrated levels of bias in terms of skin tone, sexual orientation, and gender-science....followed by two diversity interventions and a post Implicit Association Test, …

Where We Have Been And Where We Can Go From Here: Looking To The Future In Research On Media, Race And Ethnicity, Riva Tukachinsky

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

This special issue illuminates the ways in which media portrayals and practices, together, create barriers to inclusion for diverse groups and normalize existing patterns of relegation on and off the screen. Media representations of race and ethnicity have critical consequences for intergroup relationships and for marginalized group members’ self-concept. A synthesis of the research included in this volume demonstrates the significance of these questions across media outlets, their relevancy despite the rise of new technologies, and their application to social contexts outside the U.S.. Finally, this concluding article suggests directions for future research and offers implications for policies that can …

When Actors Don’T Walk The Talk: Parasocial Relationships Moderate The Effect Of Actor-Character Incongruence, Riva Tukachinsky

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

The study examines the effect of a narrative that featured an actor playing a counterattitudinal role. Participants read an online magazine interview with a popular comedian and then watched a sitcom in which this actor played a role that was either consistent or inconsistent with his personal views. Parasocial relationships with the actor moderated the effect of actor-character incongruence. Specifically, incongruence was associated with lower support for narrative-related attitudes, but only among viewers with weak parasocial relationships. These results provide evidence of the existence of vicarious cognitive dissonance, wherein witnessing another person’s hypocritical behavior produces attitude change in the observer.

How Women Of Color Are Portrayed On The Cover Of Magazines: A Content Analysis On The Images Of Black/African, Latina, Asian And Native American (Balana), Connie Johnson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Historically, women of color with little knowledge can blindly imitate the images of themselves as portrayed in mass media, which can be harmful to their self-esteem, contradictions of self-identification, and daily interactions with majority people. Media literacy is important in understanding how images of minority women are distorted to fit the dominant group's ideals and cultural relevance, which affect the identity of minority women. The researcher through the use of BALANA and content analysis examined some attributes of how women of color (WOC) are portrayed on the cover of eight selected magazines, for example, 1) Good Housekeeping, 2) Cosmopolitan, 3) …

Barriers To Communicating Sexual Orientation Identity At Work, Marissa A. Guenzi

Masters Theses

Previous research emphasizes the benefits associated with having open gay and lesbian employees. However, many gay and lesbian employees still remain in the closet. This project examines barriers preventing gay and lesbian individuals from coming out at work. Four lesbian women and three gay men in the early stages of their careers were interviewed about their experiences of being closeted at work. Analysis reveals four barriers preventing gay and lesbian individuals from coming out at work and explores how these barriers are reinforced by informal organizational communication. Theoretical and practical implications for organizational communication research are discussed, and recommendations for …

For Those On Glass Cliffs: The Nature Of Women In Power As Explored Through Frozen, The Abramson Effect, And "Let It Go, Raelissa Glennon-Zukoff

sprinkle: an undergraduate journal of feminist and queer studies

This paper seeks to explore the link made by Deborah Spar in her recently published piece The Ambramson Effect: Tales of Women Who Topple From Power between the effects of the glass ceiling and glass cliff effects on women in the topmost positions in American businesses, organizations, and corporations and the ascension to power of Queen Elsa in the Disney motion picture Frozen. By incorporating media reports on merchandising and animation, as well as scholarly research, this paper places Spar's theory into a more accessible space. Furthermore, by referencing the lyrics to the feature power ballad from the animated film, …

(Please Don’T) Take Me To Church, Allie Begin

sprinkle: an undergraduate journal of feminist and queer studies

Sexual inequality has been an issue of debate for centuries. Recently, the push back against this inequality has been at an all time high. Social norms are changing and groups that have previously been marginalized are beginning to find liberation and empowerment. This drastic shift in mindset would not have been possible without the strong backing of influential people. This essay analyzes the work of Irish musician Hozier in his recent song Take Me to Church. Specifically, this piece will examine his disapproval for the way religious institutions control sexuality, polarize sexual binaries, and attack homosexuality with a negative hyperfocus. …

Passings, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

The author, a heterosexual woman, and Gordon Bernstein, a gay man, have been friends and research collaborators since 1995. In 2004, the author accompanied Gordon on a trip to his hometown of Philadelphia to conduct fieldwork and interview family members. This project ethnographically explored personal and relational opportunities and challenges associated with coming out in a family system defined by avoidant communication, hegemonic masculinity, and terminal illness.

State Of Unions: Politics And Poetics Of Performance, Lisa M. Tillmann Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

At the 2005 International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, the author delivered a poem and slide show, “The State of Unions: Activism (and In-Activism) in Decision 2004.” The performance processed the election in the context of her research community, a network of gay male friends—marginalized by sexual orientation but privileged by sex, gender expression, race, class, and education. Audience members offered mixed responses, some praising its provocative content, others criticizing the author’s position and tone, which some perceived as hostile, even as “gay bashing.”

Chaos, Reports, And Quests: Narrative Agency And Co-Workers In Stories Of Workplace Bullying, Stacy Tye-Williams, Kathleen J. Krone

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This study examined narratives that targets of workplace bullying told about their difficult work experiences along with how co-workers were framed in these narratives. Three different narrative types emerged from their accounts: chaos, report, and quest narratives. Co-worker responses of support or lack thereof were related to the construction of various narrative forms and the level of narrative agency evident in target accounts. The study has important implications for the difference co-workers can make in a target’s ability to withstand bullying and narrate his or her experience.

The Future Will Require Learning How To Exist In A Multicultural Society, Vanessa Lopez-Littleton

UCF Forum

Why should I have to tell my sons to respect the police?

Much Of Society's Unrest Caused By Barrage Of Negative Stereotypes In Films, Anthony Major

UCF Forum

Everybody has a perception about what the image of art should say – or not say – but few have an informed opinion. The power of the communicative arts transcends the mere power to inform. That power is used in film, television, newspapers, radio, art, magazines, music, theatre and the new social media network as a means of influencing and shaping attitudes by providing images and opinions.

Dating In Dharamsala The Tibetan Exile Dating Experience, Ben Kingstone

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

By studying the younger generation’s dating culture in the Tibetan exile community of Dharamsala, I hoped to glean a deeper insight into how cultural values effected interpersonal relationships in an everyday context, and in doing so hoped to find a bit about the unique qualities of Tibetan culture. I came in with many ideas of different themes, from Buddhist values and their effect on the dating culture, to the effect of assimilation on imported Tibetan ideas about dating and relationships. What I ultimately found had very little to do with Buddhist ideas and had far larger implications about the effects …

Sports News Puts Focus On Society's Problems, Richard Lapchick

UCF Forum

Recent sports news has been filled with terrible stories about racism, gender violence, child abuse, and concussion-related brain damage for one in three former NFL players.

Redefining America's Ethnicity, Gender And Race, Anthony Major

UCF Forum

When redefining the ethnicity, gender and race of American society, I find it is interrelated with the cultural dialogue. The African-American experience has always been tied to those topics.

Challenging Tunisia’S Homogenous Arabness:Post-Revolutionary Civil Society Activismfor The ‘Invisible’ Tunisian Amazigh, Xavier A. Torres De Janon

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The 2010-11 Tunisian revolution brought to the forefront of the country an explosion of activism and organizing from civil society, including multiple voices urging for the defense, protection and/or recognition of Tunisian ‘minorities.’ An unprecedented Amazigh (pl. Imazighen, the indigenous population of North Africa) wave of activism from individuals and organizations appeared in the public sphere of the country, a population systematically denied and marginalized by the Tunisian dictatorships and society emboldened to stand up for their rights and challenge the status quo. In the post-revolutionary context of thispseudo-homogenous North African country, dominated by a strong Arab/Islamic ideology since independence, …

The Paradox Of Commercial Photography: Power And Sexuality In Models, Christina Bell

e-Research: A Journal of Undergraduate Work

Commercial photography has a tendency to force upon us a standard template of what the ideal person is or looks like. Unfortunately, the artificial standard is horribly unachievable and detrimental to physical and mental health, which produces sentiments of insufficiency and abjection with the self, especially among young impressionable girls. In a sick - and very modern - twist of evolutionary progress we find ourselves idealizing the depictions of models appearing to be on the verge of starvation. This article examines the power and sexuality in models produced through commercial photography and its effects on society at-large.

Are Diversity And Inclusiveness Really Possible?, Vanessa Lopez-Littleton

UCF Forum

I recently overheard one manager ask another if he knew a nurse who was looking for a job. After a moment of thinking, he remembered someone. Within a week, an offer of employment was made for a great-paying job with a wonderful schedule. It is a position that will open doors and create opportunities as well as move this individual into circles he may not have been privy to otherwise

The Failure Of College Sport As An Equal Opportunity Employer, Richard Lapchick

UCF Forum

As someone who has worked for institutions of higher education for more than four decades, it is especially embarrassing for me that colleges have the worst record in sports for hiring women and people of color.

Critique Of The Appropriation On Black Culture By White Suburban Youth, Julie Lemley

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This critique is an examination of the appropriation of black culture by white suburban youth as being not only racist, but sexist. The primary view of this phenomenon is through the lens of hip hop culture and its commercialization by patriarchally dominated white corporations to increase profit by targeting the music to white suburban youth. This creates a distinct change within the critical content of the culture as an original context by replacing it with a focus that objectifies women, encourages violence and glamorizes the consumption of drugs and alcohol. In addition, there exists an intentional promotion of luxury consumerism …

Relationship Violence: Risk Factors For Adolescents, Antionette Wall

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

The term domestic violence usually elicits a picture of an adult relationship where the man batters a woman. This picture is an accurate picture, but there are other individuals who are affected by domestic violence. Couple from all socioeconomic backgrounds, including homosexual and adolescent couples can face domestic violence situations. Research on adolescent relationship violence is fairly recent. Adolescents seem to be a population missed by general society when it comes to being involved in relationship violence. This paper strives to examine risk factors such as self-esteem, rigid sex-role ideas, parents‟ in violent relationships, and friends who are in violent …