Gender and Sexuality Commons^™

The Effects Of Sexual Orientation Stereotype Information And Prejudice On False Memories, Source Monitoring Errors, And Social Categorization Judgments, Julia Belen Strickland Nunez

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Minoritized groups, such as the LGBTQ+ community, receive many harmful and destructive stereotypes from others. These negative views affect minorities because when people are recalling a memory, they fill in the gaps with general information that they know. When the schematic information is not accurate, people tend to remember information that was not originally presented; this is known as a false memory. When people accurately recall a memory, but not the source of the memory, it is known as a source monitoring error.

The current study investigated whether stereotype-consistent information leads to more false memories and source monitoring errors as …

Physical Activity Among Active-Duty Us Military Servicemembers With Overweight And Obesity, Natalie M. Yarish, Jessica L. Morse, Jennalee S. Wooldridge, Erin E. Dooley, Niloofar Afari

Exercise Science Faculty Publications

Background

To examine physical activity (PA) among US military servicemembers (SM) with overweight and obesity (OW/OB) and if they meet Physical Activity Guidelines (PAG). To assess differences in PA by sex and associations between PA and body composition.

Methods

PA duration and intensity were objectively collected via accelerometers and self-reported daily average via self-report International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) among US active-duty SM (n=113, 58% female, Mean BMI = 33.3 ± 3.9 kg/m2). Sex, body mass index (BMI), and body fat % (BF% via circumference and an equation) were measured. Accelerometer PA and sedentary time were computed for IPAQ categories …

Understanding Homicide Dynamics: The Role Of Victim-Offender Relationships And The Event Circumstances Across Demographic Groups, Avdi S. Avdija, Christian W. Gallagher, Devere D. Woods Jr., Arif Akgul

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This study investigates how the victim-offender relationship relates to the circumstances under which homicides occur, with the main focus on variations within gender, race, and age categories. To achieve these research objectives, we analyzed over forty years of data from the FBI's Supplementary Homicide Reports (1976-2017), reported by the U.S. Law Enforcement Agencies. The findings that emerged in this study show that offenders are more likely to kill victims of the same gender when taking into account the victim-offender relationships. Furthermore, this study shows that black offenders are more likely to kill acquaintances and intimate partners whereas white offender demonstrated …

The Psychiatric Burden Of Hidradenitis Suppurativa: A Trinetx Analysis Of Sex-Specific Disparities In Mental Health And Medication Use, Emily Sheetz, Julia Feord, Collette Sholi, Parker Adams, Tamas Gal, Susan G. Kornstein, Arturo Saavedra

Department of Medicine Faculty Publications

Background:

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin condition associated with physical and psychological burden. Prior research has shown increased rates of depression and anxiety among individuals with HS; however, sex-based disparities in the prevalence of these mental health conditions in patients with HS remain underexplored.

Objective:

To evaluate sex-based differences in the prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and the prescribing of antidepressants and anxiolytics among patients with HS.

Methods:

Using the TriNetX database, we identified patients over the age of 18 who had a recorded diagnosis of HS. Propensity score matching based on …

When Nonbinary Becomes Binary: Exploring Transnormativity Experiences Of Gender Diverse Individuals, Yusuf Barburoğlu

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Transnormativity is a within-group framework that positions trans and nonbinary (TNB) individuals in a hierarchy of legitimacy based on adherence to binary gender norms (Johnson, 2016). Nonbinary individuals, who comprise 38% of U.S. transgender adults, face unique challenges, including systemic invalidation, misgendering, and erasure both within and outside LGBTQIA+ communities (James et al., 2024; Matsuno et al., 2024). These experiences intersect with internalized stigma and rejection expectations, contributing to mental health disparities (Budge et al., 2014; Lefevor et al., 2019). This study explores how nonbinary individuals navigate, resist, and embody transnormative pressures, using Sarah Ahmed’s Queer Phenomenology and Interpretative Phenomenological …

Investigating Gender Differences In Intimate Partner Violence Using Gendered General Strain Theory, Stephanie Victoria Dragon

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health concern impacting communities and criminal justice systems. Nationwide IPV prevention and reduction policies were emphasized in the media during the aftermath of COVID-19 specifically regarding the identification of IPV offending behaviors through law enforcement screening tools. Research on IPV offending has clearly established a link in offenders exerting methods of power and control to harm an intimate partner through verbal abuse, coercion, sexual violence, and physical violence. Further, research also identified significant disproportional experiences of lethality in female victims at the hands of an intimate partner. However, criminological theories outside of control-based …

Empowering Students Is “Perfectly Normal:" The Case For 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘭 In Middle Schools, Caroline H. Peabody

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

In September of 2023, a middle school teacher wrote an open letter to the Lexington County, Virginia school board expressing outrage over the “graphic sexual content” included in the county middle school’s library. Swiftly following the letter, the school board removed two books from the county’s Lylburn Middle School library without due process and avowed to reconsider the guidelines for including books in the library. One of the two books in question was It’s Perfectly Normal, a non-fiction illustrated book intended to educate readers ten and up on sex, intercourse, and puberty. It’s Perfectly Normal and should be available …

Gay Cultural Studies Newsletter: Spring 2024, Women's And Gender Studies, Old Dominion University

Gay Cultural Studies Newsletter

Spring 2024 issue of the Gay Cultural Studies Newsletter, produced by students in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies. Delivered via email and reformatted as PDF.

Civic And Community Engagement Among Poor Rural Women In Bihar: A Pilot Study, Kirk Leach, Mirivel Julien, Tusty Ten Bensel, Avinash Thombre

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Civic and community engagement is often crucial for the successful development of rural areas and a catalyst of personal transformation. This article examines changes in civic and community engagement among women in rural Bihar, India. Using an exploratory factor analysis of survey data from n = 815 respondents who participated in Heifer’s Values-Based Holistic Community Development [VBHCD] training, the study identifies three factors that constitute civic and community engagement. Next, the study assesses the efficacy of VBHCD’s impact on participants’ civic and community engagement relative to participants’ duration in the program and type of self-help group. The results indicate that …

757transfamily: Empowering Parents To Raise Their Transgender Child Through Knowledge, Connection, And Joy, Jessica Gurley

Institute for the Humanities Master's Papers, Projects, and Capstones

Parents of transgender and non-binary children often want to support their children, but are not sure how. Giving these parents the support and resources they need will increase their ability to support their children, further increasing the chance that their children will live a long, healthy, authentic life.

I built a website, and organized a workshop that parents can attend in order to access information and resources about the transgender community. These parents will receive the support they need to be better equipped to support their gender-diverse children. I will be collecting information about the parents' feelings and experience towards …

Lip(S) Service: A Socioethical Overview Of Social Media Platforms’ Censorship Policies Regarding Consensual Sexual Content, Sage Futrell

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

The regulation of sexual exploitation on social media is a pressing issue that has been addressed by government legislation. However, laws such as FOSTA-SESTA has inadvertently restricted consensual expressions of sexuality as well. In four social media case studies, this paper investigates the ways in which marginalized groups have been impacted by changing censorship guidelines on social media, and how content moderation methods can be inclusive of these groups. I emphasize the qualitative perspectives of sex workers and queer creators in these case studies, in addition to my own experiences as a content moderation and social media management intern for …

Assessing Sexual Minority Women’S Barriers And Facilitators To Seeking And Accessing Mental And Physical Healthcare: A Mixed Methods Study, Charlotte A. Dawson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Sexual minority women (SMW) experience greater mental and physical health concerns when compared to heterosexual women. Three key areas of health SMW report these disparities are: mental health, binge eating/body size, and sexual and reproductive health. SMW also report difficulties accessing healthcare in these three areas. An exploratory sequential mixed methods design was utilized to assess barriers and facilitators to healthcare access for young SMW. Study 1 included 20 semi-structured interviews with SMW, resulting in themes of barriers and facilitators identified by participants. These themes were converted into scale items. In Study 2, an expert panel of mental and physical …

“People Like Me Get Left Out”: A Critique Of Feminist Movement Organizing Practices Through Access Audits Of Coalitional Spaces In Norfolk, Virginia, Megan Callahan-Palko

Institute for the Humanities Master's Papers, Projects, and Capstones

This capstone explores the exclusionary and ableist organizing and protest practices of social justice movements. Digital protest has become a solution to the problem of access, and has morphed into a sentencing of separation that is difficult to escape from. As such, how we protest and participate should be self-determined. Organizers should not assume that because a person has a disability they will be participating digitally, or from the confines of their homes. Equitable physical protest access is a disability justice issue that touches at the intersections of race, gender, class, and, of course, disability. Using intersectionality, black feminist thought, …

Differences In Relationship And Sexual Satisfaction And Social Support Between Only Lesbian, Mostly Lesbian, And Bisexual Women, Meredith I. Turner, Cassidy M. Sandoval, Charlotte A. Dawson, Kristin E. Heron

College of Sciences Posters

Research suggests relationship and sexual satisfaction and social support are correlated with components of well-being such as anxiety, depression, and physical health. Differences in relationship and sexual satisfaction and social support have been identified between sexual minority women (SMW; i.e., lesbian and bisexual) and heterosexual women. However, classifying SMW into a single group may mask important differences. Further research is needed to better understand the differences in relationship and sexual satisfaction and social support between subgroups of SMW. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine differences in these constructs between women who identify as only lesbian, mostly …

The Influence Of Internalized Heterosexism On Life Satisfaction: Comparing Sexual Minority Women In Belgium And Turkey, Esra Ummak, Ezgi Toplu-Demirtaş, Amber L. Pope, Jeffry Moe

Counseling & Human Services Faculty Publications

To date, the majority of research studying lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) health has been conducted in Westernized, predominantly individualistic countries. Building on minority stress theory and models of LGBTQ health, we explored how sexual orientation and nationality moderated the association between internalized heterosexism and life satisfaction for lesbian and bisexual (LB) women living in two countries (Turkey and Belgium) with contrasting social contexts. The results of two-way MANOVA, in a sample of 339 Turkish and 220 Belgian LB women, revealed main effects but no interaction effects. LB women in Belgium reported less internalized heterosexism and more life …

A Mixed-Method Analysis Of The News Media Framing Of Gender Non-Conforming Victims Of Homicide In The U.S. From 2012 To 2022, Susana Avalos, Hayley Jackey, Iyan Wickel

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Recent analyses of transgender homicide victims find that the news media often uses improper terminology, delegitimizes, and victim blames them. These analyses, while insightful, are limited as they have largely analyzed cases involving trans women and trans feminine individuals. The present study employs a mixed-method approach to analyze news media articles (N = 88) published in U.S. online news media outlets about 17 gender non-conforming victims killed between 2012 and 2022. We found that most articles did not delegitimize or victim blame. However, we find (1) victim blaming occurred when reporting on cases of officer-involved shootings, (2) certain victims …

Sexuality And Gender Inclusivity In Victim Service Providers' Information Materials, Shon M. Reed

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

[Introduction] Intimate partner violence (IPV)[1] is a serious social problem which impacts people from all walks of life. National estimates indicate that roughly two in five women and men will experience physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner during their lifetime (Leemis et al., 2022). While this high frequency of violence across gender groups is a serious concern, statistics show that IPV victimization is extremely high in LGBTQ+ population (Messinger, 2017; Walters et al., 2013). Victimization rates are particularly pronounced when it comes to the transgender population where estimates show that roughly half of the transgender population has …

The Relationship Between Self-Sexualization And Sexually Objectified Experience, Dooyoung Choi, Ha Kyung Lee

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Will women who use their sexuality as a source of power, empowering themselves through self-sexualization, experience negative consequences resulting from sexually objectifying experiences? This study explored the relationship between self-sexualization and sexually objectifying experiences, which leads to body shame, with age as a moderator. An online questionnaire was created to measure the four variables (self-empowering sexualization, general self-sexualization, sexually objectified experiences; body shame). A total of 308 female respondents participated through MTurk, and the data were analyzed with SEM. The findings showed that not all self-sexualizing women experienced a negative consequence from sexually objectified experiences; the use of self-sexualization for …

Self-Sexualization In Relation To Sexual Harassment And Body Shame, Dooyoung Choi, Ju-Young M. Kang, Jieun Kim, Ha Kyung Lee

STEMPS Faculty Publications

While many researchers examined several harmful consequences of the imposed or forced sexualization of women, still little is known about voluntary self-sexualization and its potential effects on women who engage in the practice. Although the idea that self-sexualization is self-fulfilling remains contentious, women who self-sexualize are naturally expected to receive sexualized attention, including unwanted attention. This study starts with the question of whether self-sexualizing women, including those who use self-sexualization as a source of power, experience sexual objectification, measured by nonphysical sexual harassment, and its negative consequence, measured by body shame. Furthermore, we investigate how age moderates the relationship. An …

Distorted Reality: A Commentary On Dimarco Et Al. (2022) And The Question Of Male Sexual Victimization, B. Kennath Widanaralalage, Shon M. Reed, Maria João Lobo Antunes, Christina Dejong, Gillian M. Pinchevsky, Rachel Lovell, Cristy E. Cummings

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Our commentary responds to claims made by DiMarco and colleagues in an article published in this journal that the majority of victims of rape are men and that 80% of those who rape men are women. Although we strongly believe that studying male sexual victimization is a highly important research and policy endeavour, we have concerns with the approach taken by DiMarco and colleagues to discuss these incidents. Specifically, we critique their paper by addressing the definitions of rape used by the authors, questioning their interpretation of national victim surveys, evaluating their analysis of the underreporting of male rape, and …

Reproductive Regrets Among A Population-Based Sample Of U.S. Women, Arthur L. Greil, Michele H. Lowry, Andrea R. Burch, Kathleen Slauson-Blevins, Nicholas Park, Julia Mcquillan

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Women have many reproductive options, but little is known about their regrets regarding prior reproductive choices and outcomes. Guided by the life-course and stratified reproduction perspectives, this study draws on an open-ended question about reproductive regrets from wave I of the National Survey of Fertility Barriers, a representative telephone survey of reproductive aged U.S. women conducted from 2004 to 2006. The authors classified regrets into five broad categories: (1) none, (2) problematic fertility, (3) unfulfilled fertility desires, (4) family, and (5) pregnancy experiences. The authors conducted the analyses separately by motherhood status. Logistic regression analysis revealed that regardless of parental …

Evaluating Study Procedure Training Methods For A Remote Daily Diary Study Of Sexual Minority Women, Kristin E. Heron, Abby Braitman, Charlotte A. Dawson, Rachel I. Macintyre, Lindsay M. Howard, Robin J. Lewis

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Ecological momentary assessment (EMA) methods can be used to remotely assess physical and mental health in daily life for hard-to-reach, marginalized, and geographically dispersed populations in the U.S., such as sexual minority women (e.g., lesbian, bisexual). However, EMA studies are often complex, and engaging participants from afar can be a challenge. This study experimentally examined whether adding videos to written recruitment materials would improve consent rates, reduce dropout rates, and improve survey completion rates for an online daily diary study.

Methods: As part of a 2-week study of same-sex female couples' health, 376 women ages 18-35 were recruited from …

The Effects Of Military Sexual Trauma And Depressive Symptoms On Reintegration, Rachel L. Davies

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Reintegration is a challenge for many veterans returning to civilian roles after military service. Difficulties range from an assortment of issues such as self-care to community participation. Military sexual trauma may be an experience that alters or changes veterans and result in difficulty in reintegration. Specifically, it was predicted that military sexual trauma would indirectly affect reintegration, via depressive symptoms. In addition, locus of control was predicted to play a role in how military sexual trauma impacts reintegration with external locus of control acting as a buffer. Participants were a cross-sectional community sample of both female veterans who reported having …

Drag Incorporated: The Homonormative Brand Culture Of Rupaul's Drag Race, Nathan T. Workman

Institute for the Humanities Theses

This thesis argues RuPaul’s Drag Race (RPDR, 2009–) positions itself as a homonormative pathway to LGBTQ+ social inclusion through privileging neoliberal selfbranding and commodity activist practices that reify privileged raced, classed, and sexuality identity markers. Utilizing interdisciplinary and intersectional cultural studies methods to conduct a textual analysis, I examine how RPDR produces homonormative LGBTQ+ identities through the commodification and standardization of drag cultures. In conversation with existing RPDR scholars, I critically survey RPDR’s gender biases and prosocial messaging as an example of brand culture’s reification of hegemony and homonormativity within LGBTQ+ communities. This research considers the …

A Daily Diary Examination Of Microaggressions And Alcohol Use Among Emerging Adult Bisexual Women: The Role Of Alcohol Demand, Sarah J. Ehlke

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Bisexual women are at far greater risk for alcohol use, alcohol-related negative consequences, and alcohol use disorder than heterosexual or lesbian women. However, research on sexual minority women often combines lesbian and bisexual women into a single group. One possible explanation for the increased alcohol use and associated consequences among bisexual women relates to their experiences of discrimination or microaggressions that are daily insults and comments, intentional or unintentional, about their sexuality from both the heterosexual and sexual minority communities. Thus, it is possible that bisexual women drink to cope with microaggressions. Specifically, bisexual women may drink more and have …

A Phenomenological Investigation Of Counselors’ Experiences With Clients Affected By Problematic Internet Pornography Use, Kendall R. Sparks

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The primary researcher conducted a phenomenological study examining the experiences of licensed professional counselors (n = 8) who have worked with clients affected by problematic Internet pornography use. There were five female participants with an average age of 49 and three males with an average age of 63. All eight participants identified as Christian. Four participants reported their highest level of education was a Master’s degree, three participants reported holding a Ph.D. and one participant reported holding an Ed.S. Through semi-structured interviews, the primary researcher of this study sought to gain an understanding of how counselors were experiencing and navigating …

Counterpublics, Abled Sex, And Crip Discourses On Twitter: A Discourse Analysis Of Conversations Of Sexuality And Disability, Claudia Garcia Mendoza

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

We live in an era in which essential conversations occur online. Social media has become the official voice of presidents and corporations. Donald Trump, the president of the United States, uses Twitter to address public issues and make policy announcements. Similarly, alternative voices have emerged from social media and evolved into public debates, social movements, and massive mobilizations (e.g., Gerbaudo, 2012; Tufeksi, 2017). The community gathering opportunities of social media (boyd, 2011; Parks, 2010; Chambers, 2013) and the possibilities to generate collective knowledge (Jenkins, 2004) stress the necessity to continue to expand the research in digital spaces.

It is important …

Impacts Of Intersectionality In The Lgbtqiap+ Community, Sydney Inger

Virginias Collegiate Honors Council Conference

Intersectionality plays an integral role in how a family or society reacts to a youth’s identification within the LGBTQIAP+ community and their chances of overcoming societal challenges that may follow. The intersections of geographic location and religion are predictive of how accepting a family is toward an LGBTIAP+ child, but this is not correlated with every case. When a family is unaccepting, youth can find themselves running away, homeless, in the foster care system, or incarcerated. Beyond continuous rejection at home and in the community, youth are left with challenges finding accepting foster families and applying for jobs and homes …

Young And Unafraid: Queer Criminology's Unbounded Potential, Vanessa R. Panfil

Sociology & Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Queer criminology, a fairly young subfield, deals with matters of import for sexual and gender minorities, particularly LGBTQ+ populations. Areas of interest include reducing invisibility and inequity, though these pursuits can sometimes be accompanied with potential pitfalls or unintended consequences. This article provides an overview of the goals and considerations of queer criminology, while focusing on how to cultivate queer criminology's unbounded potential to help address pressing social problems. Several global issues of immediate concern for LGBTQ+ people are identified, such as criminalization and devaluation of their lives, which has resulted in their detainment and torture, persecution when they organize …

Intersexion, Cynthia Davis

English Theses & Dissertations

A combination of memoir, reportage, and opinion writing, Intersexion explores the realities of growing up intersex while also examining the conservative mindset that caused the narrator—a happily married suburban mother—to lose a tenure-track position at a Christian university for being unwilling to label Danny’s intersex condition as “repugnant” and “offensive to God.”