Gender and Sexuality Commons^™

Inner Voice Of Women's Self-Leadership, Diana M. Cooley

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

My research explores an aspect of leadership that is personal, which is the inner voice of self-leadership. The inner voice affects all aspects of leadership. The inner voice is highly personal in that one’s private thoughts are unique. The inner voice can increase one’s self-awareness and influence one to move forward and change or to pull one back to stand still. My thesis is that we can more fully understand how women leaders lead themselves and subsequently lead in society if we advance our understanding of their stories and experiences regarding the inner voice. This research improves our understanding of …

Beyond Confronting The Myth Of Racial Democracy: The Role Of Afro-Brazilian Women Scholars And Activists, Nathalie Lebon

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Faculty Publications

This paper offers a synopsis of the current scholarship mapping the social and economic exclusion of women of African descent in Brazil. It highlights the work of and role played by Afro-Brazilian women scholars and activists in redressing the paucity, until recently, of basic data and research on the life conditions of women of African descent. Finally, it provides some initial thoughts on the national and transnational dynamics of knowledge production underlying this state of affairs.

Gender In Politics, Sheri L. Kunovich, Pamela Paxton, Melanie M. Hughes

Sociology Research

Women’s political participation and representation vary dramatically within and between countries. We selectively review the literature on gender in politics, focusing on women’s formal political participation.

We discuss both traditional explanations for women’s political participation and representation, such as the supply of women and the demand for women, and newer explanations such as the role of international actors and gender quotas. We also ask whether women are distinctive—does having more women in office make a difference to public policy? Throughout the review we demonstrate that a full understanding of women’s political representation requires both deep knowledge of individual cases such …

Engendering Identity: The Women's Peace Movement In Israel From The 1960s To 1993, Molly Berger

Whittier Scholars Program

This project explores how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has had an impact on women and altered their roles in Israeli society within the women’s peace movement from the late 1960s to the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. This study includes a brief overview of the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, followed by a more specific history of the women’s peace movement, and then further develops the concepts of gender and identity within the historical context of the women’s peace movement in Israel.

Workin’ It Out At Curves – Religion, Gender, And The Body In Contemporary America, Jamie K. Singelais

Senior Scholars Papers in Computer Science

I performed qualitative research in the form of participant observation, surveys, and in-depth interviews to examine Curves, a fitness franchise for women found throughout the United States and, increasingly, the rest of the world. I conducted this exploratory study specifically at the Curves in Waterville, Maine, and made several trips to other franchises in the area for comparative purposes. One of my key findings is the importance of understanding Curves’ organization as a business, specifically, its status as a franchise and the effect that this has on its popularity and growth. Additionally, my research revealed the role, surprising to me, …

The Domestic Violence Experiences Of Women In Community Corrections, Rachel Bridges Whaley, Angela M. Moe, Mark Eddy, Jean Daugherty

Sociology Faculty Publications

A variety of studies indicate high rates of domestic violence in the backgrounds of women offenders. We examine and extend this work through a qualitative study of women on probation or parole in a western U.S. county. In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 women who participated in a larger study in which only questionnaire data were collected. Participants completed a brief telephone interview about prior experiences of partner violence and then a face-to-face extensive in-person interview. In the analyses, several notable themes emerged regarding the women’s histories of child victimization, partner abuse, substance abuse, coercion into crime, and a lack …

Our Stories: Women Speak Out Against Hiv And Aids—An Interactive Communication Package For Rural Low-Literate Women, Vijaya Nidadavolu, Moumita Saha, Vijaya Usha Rani

HIV and AIDS

The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) estimates that there are over 5.1 million people living with HIV and AIDS in India. Among new infections reported in 2006, 88 percent were reported in the reproductive age group (15–49 years). The virus is spreading rapidly among women, including married and monogamous women, and adolescent girls. Existing literature shows that women's vulnerability is compounded due to their gendered disadvantage in information access, literacy, and decision-making. This disadvantage is particularly acute in the case of married women in rural India. NACO has indicated the need to develop audience-appropriate strategies for communicating HIV-related information. To …

A Researcher’S Journey; Participatory Observation Of Women’S Incarceration In Barcelona And Los Angeles, Kara Minnehan

Whittier Scholars Program

After learning about prisons in the United States, I decided to pursue a comparative analysis between Los Angeles and Barcelona on women in prison. Not surprisingly, my findings in Barcelona helped me ask better questions, but did not reveal the conclusions I had hoped for. My research and volunteer experiences in Barcelona impacted my research approach in Los Angeles. The research I conducted in Barcelona as exploratory, and undoubtedly enhanced the quality in Los Angeles. Similarities and differences are outlined between women’s incarceration in Barcelona and Los Angeles. The methods used in this project were participatory observation and interviews with …

Leave No Woman Behind, Ethiopia: Baseline Report, Annabel Erulkar, Tekle-Ab Mekbib, Helen Amdemikael, Garry Conille

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

“Leave No Woman Behind, Ethiopia” is an experimental project being implemented in rural areas of Ethiopia’s Amhara region. The project uses the mobilization of women into groups and adult literacy as an entry point for reproductive health education and referrals. Measurement of the program’s impact is being undertaken using a quasi-experimental research design including baseline and endline surveys in six Kebele Associations in rural Amhara. This report presents findings from the baseline survey conducted among more than 3,000 girls and women aged 10–45 in rural Amhara region. The results cover a broad range of topics including education, work, livelihoods, social …

Workable Sisterhood: The Political Journey Of Stigmatized Women With Hiv/Aids. [Book Review]., Deborah H. Charbonneau

Library Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Deconstructing Laundry: Gendered Technologies And The Reluctant Redesign Of Household Labor, Constance L. Shehan, Amanda Moras

Sociology Faculty Publications

This paper examines the ways in which technological innovations have entered the home through the process of laundry. We take a brief look at the history of laundry technology, examining the costs of locating laundry in the private sphere and discussing alternatives. We highlight the links between laundry technology and ideologies about “women’s place.”

Measuring Women's Work: A Methodological Exploration, Ray Langsten, Rania Salem

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In this working paper, the authors contrast two approaches to the measurement of women’s work applied to the same population of ever-married women. These women were interviewed on two occasions—first during the 2003 Interim Egypt DHS, and again during the Slow Fertility Transition (SFT) survey conducted in 2004. The DHS uses a standard keyword question to measure work, while the SFT employs an activities list question format. The authors argue that the widely used keyword approaches to measuring women’s work underestimate the level of female labor force activity. They demonstrate that the activities list approach captures a wider range of …

Design In A Human Context, Lindsay Duffy-Smyth

Whittier Scholars Program

This project is a paper split into two sections, the first providing an in-depth look at what domestic abuse entails, how it happens, why it happens and its implications. The second half is taking the knowledge of abuse and creating a design proposal for an abused women’s shelter.

What An Aging Workforce Can Teach Us About Workplace Flexibility: Labor Force Participation Rates Of Women Age 55 And Over, By Age Group, Annual Averages, 1963–2003, Robert Hutchens Phd

Charts and Summaries of State, U.S., and Foreign Laws and Regulations

No abstract provided.

Some Dumb Girl Syndrome: Challenging And Subverting Destructive Stereotypes Of Female Attorneys, Ann Bartow

Law Faculty Scholarship

This Essay considers ways in which female attorneys confront sexism and stereotyping in the legal profession and in life, and strongly endorses embracing feminism, and wearing comfortable shoes.

What Mothers Want: Welfare Reform And Maternal Desire, Patricia K. Jennings

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

In this study I use participant observations,face-to-face interviews, and focus group interviews to examine how women on welfare read and negotiate culture-of-poverty discourse and the imagery that this discourse spawns. I spoke with two groups of young single mothers receiving welfare. The first group included young mothers between the ages of 18 and 23 who were attending high school in a community-based program that served women on welfare. The second group included mothers in their early to mid 20's who were attending either a local two-year college or research university. Education was a path of resistance for the women in …

Cunt: A Revolutionary Act Of Feminist Art, Shannon Murray

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

Physical Therapy And Womens' Health: Treating Low Back Pain During Pregnancy And Postpartum, Robin Borba

Whittier Scholars Program

This project is a close study of low back pain that women experience during pregnancy or postpartum. This study includes anatomy of the lower back, factors that affect Lumbar Lordosis, and physical and psychological changes during pregnancy. This project also includes an in depth analysis of lower back pain during pregnancy which includes symptoms, types, causes and risk factors. This paper demonstrates how physical therapy treats low back pain during pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum and also includes a glossary, pictorial appendix and brochure.

Motivation To Manage And Status Of Women In Library And Information Science: A Comparative Study Among The United States, India, Singapore And Thailand, Sarla R. Murgai

The Southeastern Librarian

In most non-western societies, the self-system (personal standards of judging and guiding one’s actions) is much more inter-dependent on family and society, whereas in western societies, especially in the U.S., it is dependent on the individual self. Cross-cultural studies suggest that a person’s behavior should be understood in the context of their social experience and social roles. In all the cultures and countries studied, however, the status of women is universally lower than men; consequently there is a need to explore the causes. Professional women have made some strides in penetrating managerial ranks in the library and information science profession, …

Gender, Forced Migration And Paid Domestic Work: Case Studies On Refugee Women Domestic Workers In Cairo, Amira Abderahman Ahmed

Archived Theses and Dissertations

The main aim of this thesis is to be able to fill a research gap with regard to women and their survival strategies with emphasis on refugee women, mostly from the Hom of Africa, who have fled to Cairo during the 1990s. The presence of refugee women in the domestic labor sector in Egypt is a relatively recent phenomenon. Cairo, as a large urban setting in the developing world, provides an interesting site where all of these distinct actors play the same role and share at least two structural factors: being migrant women and domestics. The basic argument of this …

Signs Toward Change: Responding To How Print Advertisements Portray Women And Invent Reality, Kristin Hare

Whittier Scholars Program

This senior project is an art creation of 30 signs that address how the print media portrays women and imbues unrealistic and potentially harmful messages into their advertisements. This study discusses how advertisements contain information that is not obvious from a quick glance, but due to the numerous ads that people digest every day, this information becomes subconsciously absorbed and affects all aspects of one’s life. This study highlights how every aspect of what advertisements convey, intentional or not, matters a great deal and has a huge impact on people’s lives. This project also includes Senior Symposium notes, the aforementioned …

Anti-Trafficking Programs In South Asia: Appropriate Activities, Indicators And Evaluation Methodologies, Dale Huntington

Reproductive Health

Throughout South Asia, men, women, boys, and girls are trafficked within their own countries and across international borders against their wills in what is essentially a clandestine slave trade. The Congressional Research Service and the U.S. State Department estimate that between 1 to 2 million people are trafficked each year worldwide with the majority originating in Asia. Root causes include extreme disparities of wealth, increased awareness of job opportunities far from home, pervasive inequality due to caste, class, and gender bias, lack of transparency in regulations governing labor migration, poor enforcement of internationally agreed-upon human rights standards, and the enormous …

Gender Politics In Massachusetts: Progress For Paid Family Leave, Elizabeth A. Sherman

New England Journal of Public Policy

Advances in the educational and occupational status of women in the United States over the past quarter century have greatly expanded the participation of women in the workforce. However, economic and social changes in women’s lives have put pressure on traditional family roles and on the political system to respond to the problems families face balancing work and family responsibilities. Initiatives for paid family leave in Massachusetts reflect the newfound political strength of women in politics — as leaders of political organizations, as elected officials, and as voters — and the willingness of the state’s political elite to grapple with …

Flower Power: Lucile Belen And The Politics Of Integrity, Marcy Murninghan

New England Journal of Public Policy

Those who decry the character and quality of our political leadership — usually for good reason — often fail to present us with an alternative, or remind us of those whose public trust has been both well earned and well served. This article does the latter, profiling Lucile Belen, a Midwestern politician who has carried on a legendary family tradition of service that continues to inspire. Her entire life has been lived in democracy’s shadow, working to improve her community as a politician, businesswoman, and civic leader. In many respects, it is also the story of the evolution of public …

Trafficking And Human Rights In Nepal: Community Perceptions And Policy And Program Responses, Celine Daly, Vaishali Sharma Mahendra, Pankaja Bhattarai, Nick Langton, Jyoti Sanghera, Catrin Evans, Ratna Kapur, Dill Ram Dahal, Siobhan Crowley

HIV and AIDS

In recent years, millions of women and girls have been trafficked across national borders and within countries. The trafficking problem is particularly acute in Nepal, one of the least developed countries in the world, with 42 percent of its citizens living below the poverty line. An estimated 5,000 to 7,000 girls are trafficked from Nepal to India and other neighboring countries every year, primarily for prostitution, and 200,000 Nepali girls and women are currently working in the sex industry in India. The occurrence of trafficking in Nepal is generally attributed to widespread poverty, low status of girls and women, and …

Patriarchy And Pragmatism: Ideological Contradictions In State Policies, Lily Kong, Jasmine S. Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Theories concerning the state sometimes treat it as a rational system. This paper raises questions about this assumption by examining the coherence of the ideological frameworks underlying state policies in Singapore. The contradictions are shown most clearly when state policies deal with gender issues, especially where they concern women. Through an examination of such policies, we show that, under some conditions, state patriarchy may be subverted by the state's capitalistic developmental considerations. We are aware that patriarchy does not stand or fall by state policies alone, but the following article illustrates how such policies can limit the space for negotiation …

Woman As Contender For The United States Presidency: A Look At The Movie, "The Contender", Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article explores whether the movie, "The Contender," supports the viability of a woman for the presidency of the United States.

Effects Of Gender Role Socialization And Investments In Human Capital On The Decision Of A Woman With Children Under School Age To Work Outside The Home, Marion A. Edrington

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

The decision of whether or not to work while one's children are under school age is one that is faced by millions of women each year. Using data from the General Social Survey, this study was designed to address the research question: What are the factors that influence the decision of a woman with children under school age to work outside the home full-time, part-time or not at all? The specific effects of gender role socialization and investments in human capital were explored in depth. This study found that both gender role socialization and investments in human capital do have …

Gender And Generation In Household Labor Supply In Jordan, Mary Kawar

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper examines gender and age differences in the labor supply of households in Jordan, and the impact of young women’s employment on gender and generation relations. The objective of the study is to address the issues of gender and generation as factors influencing accessibility to labor markets, and to provide a broader understanding of female employment by exploring age-related factors. Empirically, the study looks at the disproportionate workforce participation of young urban single women in Amman, Jordan, and argues that this generation of working women is evidence of a new stage in the lives of Jordanian women: single employed …

Women Street Vendors: The Road To Recognition, Monique Cohen

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This issue of SEEDS explores the experience of women working and organizing as urban street vendors at a time when both the volume of demand and the number of vendors are expected to grow. As municipalities seek to change laws that affect how street vendors ply their trade, it is clear that vendors must have a seat at the table. Local-level organizational efforts need to be consolidated at the national level to cement vendors’ hard-earned gains as rights in national laws and policy. A 1995 meeting in Bellagio conceived an international alliance of street vendors—StreetNet—which aims to promote the exchange …