Gender and Sexuality Commons^™

Crossing Boundaries: Land And Sea In Jane Austen's 'Persuasion', Laura Vorachek

English Faculty Publications

Jane Austen suggests in Persuasion the pressures that the increased mobility of the middle class placed on the established aristocratic society in her time. Anne Elliot especially brings to light the inherited assumptions of her society. She can marry within her social rank (Mr. Elliot or Charles Musgrove) or marry below her (Wentworth at age 23), but either is a choice within the limits established by her society. One owns land or one does not. But when Wentworth returns a man of name and wealth, he is not a member of the landed gentry nor is he below Anne in …

Out Yet Unseen: A Racial Critique Of Gay And Lesbian Legal Theory And Political Discourse, Darren L. Hutchinson

Faculty Articles

The symbolic meaning of the phrase "tongues untied" has grown to identify a small, yet expanding, cultural, intellectual, and artistic "movement" aimed at revealing - or ending the silence around - the interactions of race, class, gender, and sexuality, what one participant in the movement described as "the transformation of silence into language and action." The work of this movement contrasts starkly with that of the "dominant" gay and lesbian culture and scholarship, where issues of racial and class subordination are neglected or rejected and where a universal gay and lesbian experience is assumed. The work of this movement highlights …

Women In A Divided Church: Liberal And Conservative Catholic Women Negotiate Changing Gender Roles, Christel Manning

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

The Catholic Church in America is deeply divided, and gender issues (especially reproductive choice and women's ordination) have become a symptom of this division. This paper examines the language used by liberal and conservative Catholic women to talk about gender. It is argued that although similar divisions over gender exist within Protestantism and Judaism, Catholic women are in a unique position to confront them, Unlike conservative Protestants and Jews who have separated themselves from their more liberal counterparts by forming independent Evangelical and Orthodox denominations, conservative Catholics co-exist with liberals in the mine church. The paper shows that being forced …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 72, No. 7, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

Regular features include:

• Just a Second
• Campus Line
• For the Record / Crime Reports
• People Poll
• Sports
• Diversions
• Movie Reviews
• Classifieds

Articles in this issue:

• Hall, Jason. Admissions Changes Chiefs
• LaBelle, Charboneé. Iraq’s Message Echoes on Hill
• Lega, Stephen. Alternatives: Hemp Task Force’s Research Went Up in Smoke
• Bynum, Benjamin. Grammy Award Winner Coming to Western – George Winston
• Faculty, Staff Gun Policy Long Overdue
• Adams, Tim. Writer Uninformed
• Esposito, Mike. Same-sex Marriage Shouldn’t be Denied
• Simmons, Darryn. Gangsta Lifestyle Bad for Tupac Shakur
• Lega, Stephen. Third Parties Offer …

A Message From The New Executive Director, Jill Dolan

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

I'm honored and pleased to be succeeding Marty Duberman as Executive Director of CLAGS. I taught in theatre and drama and women's studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison before I accepted my present position in the PhD Program in Theatre at the CUNY Graduate Center. At Madison, teaching and writing in lesbian performance theory, the fact that a national center for lesbian and gay studies had been established in New York gave me a sense that the field in which I worked was arriving, securing its legitimacy and its vibrancy and insisting on its visibility. In my two years at …

An Exploratory Study Of Gender And The Process Of Negotiating Academic Contracts Among Sociologists, Miriam M. Newton

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Ample evidence supports the existence of the gender wage gap. One explanation for the gender wage gap in academia may be men's and women's different experiences of the process of negotiating academic contracts. Past literature on gender differences in negotiation suggests that males are more likely to initiate negotiations and are more successful in negotiations than women. This study investigates the process of negotiating academic contracts through a survey of recent PhD graduates in sociology. The research is guided by two questions: (1) What are the experiences of new faculty regarding the process of negotiating academic contracts; and (2) What …

A Tale Of Two Hannas: Observations On Israeli And Palestinian Women's Resistance To Occupation (1991-1995), Christina Pratt

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

An observer reviews the successes and failures of grassroots strategies of non-violent resistance to military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Particular attention is paid to the role of women's groups and peace organizations in Israel as well as in Israeli Occupied Arab Territories.

The Influence Of Higher Education And The Perceived Effects On Women And Their Interpersonal Relationships With Significant Others, Tracy L. Conn

Masters Theses

This study of professional women holding advanced degrees examined the influence of doctoral education and the perceived effects on women and their interpersonal relationships with significant others. It was found that half of the women believed that their level of education affected their relationship status. Though there were a group of women who reported that their level of education limited them in their interpersonal relationships, the majority of the women reported being in gratifying relationships with supportive significant others. Therefore, it is not surprising that the majority of the women reported that their significant other was one of the greatest …

Black Nations/Queer Nations Conference, Cathy Cohen

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

Black lesbian and gay men have made significant accomplishments but continue to confront a number of urgent challenges, such as AIDS, unemployment, racism, and homophobia. Our future survival turns on our ability to break new ground toward overcoming these challenges. It is therefore necessary for us to dialogue, debate, and develop new strategies of resistance and community education that will advance the politics of lesbian and gay people of African descent, our communities, and society as a whole. To this end, we will sponsor an unprecedented three-day conference.

Asses And Wits: The Homoerotics Of Mastery In Satiric Comedy, Mario Digangi

Publications and Research

This essay explores master-servant homoeroticism in three seventeenth-century satiric comedies: Ben Jonson's Epicoene and Volpone and George Chapman's The Gentleman Usher. Whereas "sodomy" always signifies social disorder, "homoerotic" useful for describing same-sex relations that are socially normative or orderly. Thus homoerotic master-servant relations become "sodomitical" only when they are perceived to threaten social order. In Epicoene, the character associated with the disorder of "sodomy" is neither Dauphine or Epicoene, but the "unnatural" Morose, even though he has not literally had sex with the boy he marries. The erotic master-servant relationship in Volpone is sodomitical because it transgresses against …

An Economic Profile Of Women In Massachusetts, Randy Albelda

Publications from the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy

This report provides a profile of women's current economic position in Massachusetts. It examines the age, race, and geographical distribution of women and girls across the state; family structure, income and poverty; and women's labor force participation, occupational and industrial distribution in jobs, and earnings. When relevant 1990s Massachusetts data are compared to national data and to Massachusetts data from the 1970s.

Women across the Commonwealth have experienced tremendous changes in their lives over the last two decades as a result of changes in the economy and family structure. For women, the changes provide new opportunities, but they also exacerbate …

The Lesbian And Gay Past: An Interpretive Battleground, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

The lesbian and gay past is an interpretive battleground that mainstream archives have refused to enter, assuming few risks in collecting, naming, or identifying archival collections. At the same time, libraries offer up worlds to those who work to unearth the secrets there.

The New York Public Library's 1994 "Becoming Visible" exhibit trumpeted The Arrival of lesbian and gay history to New York's cultural mainstream. The NYPL exhibit denies the library's role in secreting lesbian and gay history, and diminished the contributions of community-based archives to the exhibit.

Steinbeck's Portraits Of Prostitutes: Progression Of An Author's Vision, Rhonda Jenkins

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Gays And Lesbians In Library History, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

Summarizes gay and lesbian activism in librarianship and the role of libraries in supporting gay and lesbian movements.

Report From The Chair, Esther Katz

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

The year 1992 proved to be an extraordinarily successful one for CLAGS. We mounted a series of exciting panels, conferences, and special events, and launched an ambitious program of grants and fellowships for scholars and students. A good portion of the credit for the success of these activities goes to CLAGS's hardworking Board of Directors which undertakes the myriad tasks required to plan and implement our various programs.

Women Of Color Reclaiming Power, Cheng Imm Tan

Trotter Review

The following is the address that was given at the Sixth Annual Women of Color Day Celebration at the University of Massachusetts at Boston on March 5, 1993.

In a racist and sexist world, our realities are hardly ever alluded to, let alone affirmed; the way we see ourselves and the way we experience the world is hardly ever reflected in the images we see around us or in the stories we read. We constantly have to translate information in order to make it relevant and applicable to our lives. Our realities, experiences are often discounted, overlooked and ignored. Both …

Beyond Sugar And Spice: Labeling Female Genitalia, Ethel E. Hellman

Institute for the Humanities Theses

Previous studies have indicated that, in our culture, female genitalia are unlabeled, mis-labeled, and/or negatively labeled, while male genitalia are not.

Twenty-five mothers of young children were interviewed to determine what labels they were teaching their children for sexual body parts. The women later met in small groups to discuss the i r reactions to a soft-sculpture of female genitalia.

The study found that twice as many male children were taught common designations for their own genitalia than were female children. In addition, a greater proportion of female children were given a label for male genitalia, than male children were …

Report From The Cochairs, Esther Katz, Cheryl Clarke

Center for LGBTQ Studies (CLAGS)

It has been a busy but exceedingly productive year for this CLAGS Board. Along with the creative series of public conferences, panels, and monthly colloquia mounted by the Program Committee, we have taken on the new challenges of a Fellowship Program generously funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, as well as cosponsorship of the Stonewall History Project. Indeed, as CLAGS continues to develop and expand, we are working overtime to keep up with our success.

Does Sex Discrimination Exist In Faculty Salaries At Western Kentucky University? An Empirical Examination Of The Wage Gap, Reed Vesey

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This thesis examines wage differentials between male and female faculty salaries at Western Kentucky University. A human capital model of salary determination is examined by using regression analysis on relevant personal and job characteristics of faculty members. A large portion of the wage gap between men and women is explained through differences in the personal and job characteristics. A portion of the wage gap remains unexplained, however, the probability of discrimination playing a substantial role in salary is very small.

Gender And Homosexual Sterotypes: A Cross-Cultural Study, Nazare Magaz

Theses Digitization Project

Sexual stereotyping -- United States and Spain -- Attitudes toward homosexuality and gender.

Dr. Professor Mommy: Working Mothers' Gender Role Self Images In The University Community, Dawn Renee Krywanio

Masters Theses

A common misperception exists that working mothers experience their professional lives differently than other working women. This is often the basis for differential treatment of mothers in the workplace. This thesis describes gender role self image among university women in administration, faculty, and staff positions who are also parents; it relates to professional relationship satisfaction in the workplace. Data were collected through the use of open ended surveys of 185 female employees at Eastern Illinois University, follow up interviews, and a Likert scale survey within the same population. Content analysis of the data and qualitative results are the descriptive basis …

Zami: A Portrait Of An Artist As A Black Lesbian, Barbara Dibernard

Department of English: Faculty Publications

As feminist critics, we cannot continue to ignore differences in race, sexuality, and class when we write about women; we should heed Adrienne Rich's critique of her own earlier work, that she will never again write of the "faceless, raceless, classless category of 'all women.'" Aware that my work will be partial and limited, I would like to explore Audre Lorde's Zami as a portrait of an artist as a black lesbian. In doing so, I hope to suggest areas where we must open up our conception of the female Kunstlerroman so that we are taking account of Lorde's black …

The Lesbian Herstory Archives, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

An introduction to the history and radical practice of New York City's Lesbian Herstory Archives with discussion of the period-specific situation of the archive housed in, but outgrowing, private quarters.

To Tell The Truth: The Lesbian Herstory Archives: Chronicling A People And Fighting Invisibility Since 1974, Polly Thistlethwaite

Publications and Research

A portrait of the Lesbian Herstory Archives by a volunteer, describing the archive in its original home in Joan Nestle's Upper West Side New York City apartment that she shared with Mabel Hampton. Originally published in Out/Week Magazine.

Children Raised By Homosexual Parents: Sexual Orientation, Mental & Sexual Health, Theresa Gramlich

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sex and morals have often been factors in custody disputes. Courts have felt that giving custody of children to homosexual parents would create an environment not in the best interest of the child. Many mental health professionals argue that these decisions have been based on prejudice and homophobia. The purpose of this study was to evaluate research on the sexual orientation of children raised by homosexual parents and review data on the mental/psychosexual health of these children. These studies revealed no difference between children raised by gay/lesbian parents versus those raised by heterosexual parents on IQ scores, gender identity, or …

Social Construction Of Sexual Equality In Distilled Beverage Advertising, Kathleen Dianne Lecoe-Cannucci

Dissertations and Theses

One aspect of the role of advertising in the process of maintaining and reinforcing or challenging the socially constructed worlds of maleness and femaleness, and especially the portrayal of the "woman's place," was explored in this study.

Personal, Professional, And Educational Characteristics Of Illinois Women Superintendents In 1987, Joyce Simpson Kaufman

Masters Theses

This study reviewed the personal, professional, and educational characteristics of the Illinois women superintendents in 1987. A questionnaire was mailed to the twenty-two women superintendents. Eighteen of them replied.

The three specific problems addressed by the study were:

1. What are the personal, professional, and educational characteristics of Illinois women superintendents in 1987?

2. What are the special problems encountered by women superintendents?

3. What advice do the present women superintendents in Illinois offer to women aspiring to become superintendents?

The responses were based on the perceptions of the eighteen women superintendents who replied. The questionnaire results were reported in …

Two Cheers For Pornography, Steven Sanders

Bridgewater Review

The existence of pornography from the earliest times and in virtually every culture attests to a remarkable universality and persistence. Of course, popularity is no proof of legitimacy. How, if at all, can pornography be justified? This question has no easy answer. Indeed, if one may judge from the controversy, consensus is far from being reached on the question of pornography. I shall suggest some things that can be said in favor of pornography, though I am by no means giving my unqualified endorsement - hence, only two cheers for pornography. Naturally, I expect some readers to disagree with me, …

The Mobilization Of The Gay Liberation Movement, Ramom De Souza Torrecilha

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis examines the development and evolution of the gay movement. It raises the questions as to why the gay movement was not organized prior to the 1960's. The study starts in the 1940's and ends in 1970. It employs qualitative research methods for the collection and analysis of primary and secondary data sources. Blumer's description of general and specific social movements and Resource Mobilization Theory were used as theoretical frames of reference. The former explained the developmental stages in the career of the movement and the latter focused on the behavior of movement organizations.

Female Criminality And Feminism – Is There A Causal Relationship?, Heather Whitcroft

Masters Theses

In the past, many criminologists have viewed the collective sentiments of feminism as potentially crimogenic (Lombroso, 1985; Thomas, 1923; Pollak, 1950). Even female academics writing in the last decade have claimed the women's movement has a "darker side" (Cowie, 1968; Adler, 1975; Simon, 1975; Hart, 1975; Dening, 1977). Substantial sceptics appear to remain unheard amongst those who profess that "liberated" women are committing more masculine, violent, serious, male-dominated and occupational crimes. Such remarks are generally unsubstantiated by research.

Box and Hale (1983:36) suggest that "... those who are attempting to prove a causal connection between emancipation and female crime by …