Gender and Sexuality Commons^™

Women Of African Descent: Persistence In Completing A Doctorate, Vannetta L. Bailey-Iddrisu

Vannetta L. Bailey-Iddrisu

This study examines the educational persistence of women of African descent (WOAD) in pursuit of a doctorate degree at universities in the southeastern United States. WOAD are women of African ancestry born outside the African continent. These women are heirs to an inner dogged determination and spirit to survive despite all odds (Pulliam, 2003, p. 337).This study used Ellis’s (1997) Three Stages for Graduate Student Development as the conceptual framework to examine the persistent strategies used by these women to persist to the completion of their studies.

Women's Mobilization In Latin America: A Case Study Of Venezuela, Brianna Russell

Master's Theses

Abstract

I examine the following elements in regards to women’s mobilization in Latin America and Venezuela from the late 1950s to the present: (a) the influence of the state and economy on times when women mobilized (b) class division within the movement (c) women’s demands during different time periods (d) the ways in which women were successful in working towards gender equality. This thesis reviews the literature on women’s mobilization in Latin America during the second half of the twentieth century. I find that women mobilized across class lines with the masses to end dictatorships. Women demobilized during transitions to …

Why Eu Work-Family Reconciliation Policies Fail In Italy: A Feminist Legal Analysis, Chrystal Orozco

Master's Theses

Following the establishment of the European Parental Leave Directive (96/34/EC), the female employment rate in Italy is still ranked the third lowest in the European Union (EU) and Italian women continue to do twice as much household work as Italian men. Parents, especially women, struggle to find a balance between professional work and their family lives in a society that encourages the traditional gendered roles of the housewife and the breadwinner. The following study is a theoretical analysis of the Parental Leave Directive and the potential domestic influences that may prevent Italy from progressing socially towards gender equality. This study …

Digital Curation And Information Management: Technological Changes In Art History, Joy K. Hyatt

Explorations – The Journal of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creativity at Wright State

Archival and curatorial practices including information management within the fields of art and art history are changing. As a contribution to these vital fields of study, this project addresses their practical application in this digital age. My ten-week research project, Digital Curation and Information Management: Technological Changes in Art History explored this concept. Taking place at Wright State University (WSU), this included a practical application of my art history and motion picture coursework. This included investigating the many phases of digital image curation (the act of curating) through information analysis and management. The assimilation of online and written literature, program …

Why Chinese Neo-Confucian Women Made A Fetish Of Small Feet, Aubrey L. Mcmahan

Grand Valley Journal of History

Abstract for “Why Chinese Neo-Confucian Women Made a Fetish of Small Feet”

This paper explores the source of the traditional practice of Chinese footbinding which first gained popularity at the end of the Tang dynasty and continued to flourish until the last half of the twentieth century.[1] Derived initially from court concubines whose feet were formed to represent an attractive “deer lady” from an Indian tale, footbinding became a wide-spread symbol among the Chinese of obedience, pecuniary reputability, and Confucianism, among other things.[2]^,[3] Drawing on the analyses of such scholars as Beverly Jackson, Valerie Steele …

Sociosexuality, Mate Preferences, And Sex Steroid Hormone Levels Among Breastfeeding Women In Manila, Michelle Escasa

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This project investigates the influence of lactation on female sociosexuality and mate preferences in urban Manila, a population with long-term breastfeeding, low contraceptive use, and quick return to ovulatory cycling. Physiological and evolutionary considerations suggest that lactating women face important life history allocation trade-offs between mating and parenting effort that may be manifest in their sociosexual behavior and mate preferences. Breastfeeding (n=155) and control (n=105) women were recruited to provide a saliva sample (for testosterone and estradiol analyses), complete a questionnaire, and complete a face and voice preference task to determine preferences for masculinity. Breastfeeding women reported differences in commitment …

Sexual And Reproductive Health Care Access And Utilization By Mexican Immigrant Women In New York City – A Descriptive Study, Gabriela Betancourt

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

Introduction: This study examines reproductive health care access and utilization by Mexicans in New York City.

Methods: This report uses data collected by Planned Parenthood of New York City (PPNYC) as part of a larger sexual and reproductive health (SRH) needs assessment. We analyzed various demographic factors and barriers to describe SRH access and utilization of services among Mexican immigrant women residing in New York City (NYC). We purposely sampled 151 adult women seeking assistance from the Mexican Consulate of New York City and other community-based organizations (CBOs). Women choosing to participate were administered an anonymous survey. Data collected included …

Cultural Models Of Bodily Images Of Women Teachers, Christine A. Mallozzi

Gender and Women's Studies Faculty Publications

Cultural models are simplified images and storylines that encapsulated what is regarded as typical for a social group. Cultural models of teachers include body images of dress, adornment, and comportment, and are useful in examining society’s standards and values. Two participants, Erin and Gabbie (pseudonyms), shared stories about their tattoos, which in the U.S. have historically been seen as a mode of resistance. These tattoos that reflected the teachers’ personal lives were regarded in light of the cultural model of the U.S. teacher, a typically conservatively dressed and coiffed female. According to discourse analysis of the participants’ stories, each teacher’s …

Introduction To United Apart: Gender And The Rise Of Craft Unionism, Ileen A. Devault

Ileen A DeVault

[Excerpt] The American Federation of Labor entered the twentieth century ensconced as the primary vehicle for the nation's organized workers. As such, the attitudes of the AFL toward women workers provided the basis for virtually all later attempts at organizing women. The cross-gender strikes that are the basis of this book illustrate both the ways in which men and women would move forward united and the ways in which they would remain apart. That both females and males could at times feel drawn together and at other times feel driven apart, and carry both those feelings into their actions and …

Narratives Serially Constructed And Lived: Ethnicity In Cross-Gender Strikes 1887-1903, Ileen A. Devault

Ileen A DeVault

[Excerpt] The strikes narrated in this paper have illustrated different ways in which individuals' recognition of ethnic identity could interact with their recognition of gender and class identities. In each strike workers' identities developed along with the serial narrative of the particular strike situation. The use of Sartre's concept of the series helps us think about the many possible variations of class, ethnicity, and gender. Though Sartre planned to use his concept of series as a way to examine peoples' class identities, my employment of the concept broadens it to include other categories of identification as well. Using the concept …

White Collar/Blue Collar, Ileen A. Devault

Ileen A DeVault

[Excerpt] Examining the determinants of class for women and the ways men experienced gender will help clarify some of the ambiguous status of the clerical sector, but it will still not answer all of our questions. To understand the place of clerical work in the class structure, we need to examine more than just clerical work itself. A major argument of this book is that understanding the impact of clerical work on overall social stratification requires understanding stratification within the manual working class as well. The status of clerical work would perhaps be much clearer in contrast to that of …

‘‘Too Hard On The Women, Especially’’: Striking Together For Women Workers’ Issues, Ileen A. Devault

Ileen A DeVault

This essay draws upon a larger study of over forty strikes which involved both male and female strikers in the United States between the years 1887 and 1903. Here the focus of analysis is on those strikes which began with demands raised by women workers. The essay examines the nature of women workers’ demands, the ways in which cooperation with male co-workers altered those demands, and the affect that formal union involvement had on women strikers and their strike demands. Because the original set of case studies examines strikes across the United States, the strikes explored here also highlight a …

"Give The Boys A Trade": Gender And Job Choice In The 1890s, Ileen A. Devault

Ileen A DeVault

[Excerpt] It seems redundant (but is unfortunately not unnecessary) to say that this response emphasizes the gendered nature of the famed "manliness" of turn-of-the-century skilled workers. Davis Montgomery has described how "the workers' code celebrated individual self-assertion, but for the collective good, rather than for self-advancement." The process by which these skilled workers chose their jobs suggests an intermediate step: between the "collective good" of the union and the "self-advancement' of the individual stood the smaller collective unit of the male-headed household. The sense of what it meant to "be a man" thus not only holds the potential of explicating …

Brazen (Fall 2012), Hollins University

Brazen - Gender & Women's Studies Department Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Engendering The Classroom: A Look At Constructions Of ‘Gender’ And Empowerment Within Teachers’ Trainings In Northern India, Martha Snow

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Education for girls in India has been a crucial area of study for the past 20 years; however, the main focus of attention has been on issues of girls’ access to school only. This study moves beyond this, seeking to gain critical insight into how ‘gender’ is being understood within the classroom via teachers. Teachers’ trainings conducted by the government and by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) were examined through interviews with teachers and coordinators of teachers’ trainings, along with experts on gender and feminism in Delhi and Jaipur, Rajasthan. These interviews focused on the content and quality of teachers’ trainings, and …

Accessing Justice, Evaluating Agency: How 12 Women In Cape Town Perceive Their Local Police Services With Respect To Their Race, Class, Gender, And Geographic Location, Ellen Moore

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Policing in South Africa has a long, twisted history that is still evident in some current police practices and especially in the public’s perceptions of the police. In addition to historical factors such as colonial rule and apartheid, people’s perceptions of the police are also affected by their race, class, gender, and geographic location. Although these factors’ can be considered to have an individual effect on perceptions, it is through a complex understanding of how they relate to one another that a true understanding of a person’s perception can be reached. The inspiration for this study stemmed from these concepts …

The Role Of Mothers In Muslim Families In Ouakam, Dakar: Navigating Traditional Gender Roles In A Modern Context, Emily Goodhue

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My study is on the role of women in Muslim families in Dakar, Senegal. What are they expected to do for their families? How do these women feel about their position and role in their families? What aspects of their role in the family do they enjoy and which do they wish were different? How is their role changing as more women enter the workforce? This topic interests me because many people in the United States have a negative perception of the position of women in Muslim societies. They claim that these women are oppressed and that the women suffer …

Changing The Very Fabric Of Society: A Case Study Of The Fundación Entre Mujeres Holistic Empowerment Model, Briana Frenchmore

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The women of rural northern Nicaragua live in a context that is shaped by the inequalities of gender and class that originate in machista culture and the dominant economic system. To confront this reality, the non-government organization, Fundación Entre Mujeres (FEM) works from the “Gender and Development” (GAD) approach using a model of holistic women’s empowerment. To create social change, FEM’s programs focus on ideological, economic, and organizational empowerment. This investigation seeks to understand how FEM carries out its holistic empowerment model within communities, while reflecting on the strengths of their methodology and the challenges they face in creating social …

The Implications Of Privileged Gay Politics On Queer Aberrations: Interrogating South Africa’S Nongovernmental Industrial Complex, Vijay Sachdev

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The phenomena to address and confront social issues as a career path has shifted the way communities experience the realm of activism. This research addresses the effort emphasized in gay and lesbian activism on the Nongovernmental Industrial Complex as a platform for social transformation. These structures have notably been co-opted by neo-liberalism and the State. In South Africa, the gay and lesbian movement have its roots dug into legal reform which becomes conservative and relies on the rhetoric of identity politics to gain recognition without addressing redistribution and systems of oppression. Through three case studies culminating in a comparative study …

Gender-Based Perceptions Of The 2001 Anthrax Attacks: Implications For Outreach And Preparedness, Christopher Salvatore, Brian J. Gorman

Department of Justice Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Extensive research dealing with gender-based perceptions of fear of crime has generally found that women express greater levels of fear compared to men. Further, studies have found that women engage in more self-protective behaviors in response to fear of crime, as well as have different levels of confidence in government efficacy relative to men. The majority of these studies have focused on violent and property crime; little research has focused on gender-based perceptions of the threat of bioterrorism. Using data from a national survey conducted by ABC News / Washington Post, this study contrasted perceptions of safety and fear in …

Content Of Sexual Assault Prevention Programs: What Evidence Could Change College Women's Minds?, Abigail Lee Moser

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sexual assault is a serious health issue for college women. Unfortunately, the results of previous research revealed that intervention programs designed for women have been largely ineffective at changing women's attitudes, knowledge, and victimization concerning sexual assault. The purpose of the present investigation was to identify forms of persuasive evidence that women report as having changed their attitudes, knowledge, and behavior concerning sexual assault. Focus groups were used to identify common themes college women use to explain their understandings of these topics. These focus groups discussed how close family members impacted their behaviors concerning sexual assault, how they gained their …

Gift Exchanges In Edo Castle, Cecilia S. Seigle Ph.D.

Cecilia S Seigle Ph.D.

The Japanese love of gift-giving was firmly established during the Edo period, specifically under the fifth shogun Tsunayoshi. This study was done as part of inquiry into the institution of Ooku, and I remark on the significance of gift exchanges as substitute social activities for the women of Ooku.

The Unbordered Borders, Winston Langley

Winston E. Langley

Many have taken on the task of purportedly advancing the cause of human rights by abstractly reciting them and clamoring for their implementation. Some speak about one’s right to free speech and democracy, for example, with a convenient forgetting of the right to education, which can promote the type of dialogical encounter that is sponsoring of liberatory, integrative construction and reconstruction of self and human societies. Others champion the right to freedom, but not the right to food, careless of the fact that the hungry are un-free, left as they are to the crushing dictates of their bellies; and still …

Manly Mechanicals On The Early Modern English Stage, Keith M. Botelho

Faculty Articles

A review of the book "Manly Mechanicals on the Early Modern English Stage," by Ronda Arab is presented.

Toward A Culture Of Healing: Why Alternative Therapies And A Feminist Framework Are Needed In The Care Of Pregnant Women And Treatment Of Postpartum Mood Disorders, Angela Leonardo

Anthós

Pregnancy, birth, and early motherhood are areas of human development that have systematically migrated away from their roots as a series of natural life events to a highly, and perhaps unnecessarily, medicalized arena. This shift has been detrimental for women, especially for poor, socially isolated, single, and/or ethnic minority women. In this paper, I outline my concerns with the increased medicalization of birth and postpartum care, as well as with the status of mothers in the United States, and critically examine the patriarchal context in which this shift has occurred. My focus is on maternal health and mortality, including depression …

In What Ways Does Research-Based Gender-Specific Youth Programming Affect Girls’ Development Post-Program?, Alaina Ennamorati

Capstone Collection

Current girls’ development research in the United States shows that female adolescents are experiencing an increase in depression rates, eating disorders, and lower self-esteem. Many feminists believe the societal culture in which girls are growing up in is hazardous, with the acceptance and perpetuation of oversexualization, objectification, and stereotyping by all different types of media. The following capstone research takes a case study real world flexible design approach at the high school leadership program at Hardy Girls Healthy Women (HGHW), a nonprofit in Waterville, Maine that works to create a world where women and girls feel equality, independence and safety. …

Pornography And Rape Myths In Paranormal Romance Novels, Lesley Erin Dennis

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the Caudill College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Lesley Erin Dennis in July of 2012.

For The Bible Tells Me So: An Analysis Of Religiosity, Attitudes Towards Women, And Intimate Partner Violence, Stephen Cecil Parker

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Male dominance and intimate partner violence are issues that affect many women. This study examines the relationship between religiosity and attitudes towards women and intimate partner violence. It was hypothesized that individuals with higher levels of religiosity would be more likely to hold traditional/negative attitudes towards women. It was also hypothesized that individuals with higher levels of religiosity would be more likely to be involved in a violent intimate relationship. The study used a sample of 427 students from a large urban university who were surveyed about religiosity, attitudes towards women, and intimate partner violence. The mean age of the …

Movie And Television Fathers: A Positive Reflection Of Positive Changes, George J. Mcgowan

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

Certain films and television programs depicting fathers have both enduring popularity and have reflected the advances in the institution of fatherhood. This has happened because of a symbiosis that has delivered positive results: popular films and television shows that earn money for producers and advertisers have depicted fathers who have changed to reflect the popular example. These depictions have contributed in their way to mending the family dynamic, specifically related to the father’s essential role in the family. Such family-oriented films and television shows have effectively showed fathers (and men that would become fathers) that they could be much more …

Securing South Africa's Future Grandmothers Against Poverty And Aids As A Model For Social Development Change, Savannah Lynn Eck

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Focusing on the role of elder women in South Africa as a lens to understand the central connections among HIV/ AIDS, poverty and Human Security provides a distinct approach to analyze women's contributions to community development and social change. Drawing from the theories of Gender and Development and Human Security, this research aims to highlight HIV/ AIDS as a social and political security issue, while underscoring the vitality of the inclusion of women in the processes of peace building, reconciliation, education and social development. Furthermore, the influential role of elder women in South Africa will serve as a model in …