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

Who Are You Wearing? A Study Of Moroccan Fashion Discourse, Identity Performance, And Social Change, Leah Michalove

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Clothes and their consumption become almost invisible in their very ubiquity, yet fashion acts as a sort of optical litmus test for the mood of society. Clothing can express cultural norms, serve as shorthand for social grouping, and provide a kind of corpus of visual allusion; in short, clothes and how we wear them constitute a system of signification, a visual language as dynamic, complex, and arbitrary as any spoken communication. I set out to investigate the grammar and syntax of Moroccan fashion, to explore what the diversity of observed choices meant to the people who made them and how …

Filipinos Depicted In American Culture, Eileen Regullano

e-Research: A Journal of Undergraduate Work

From the early 20th century, Filipinos have been depicted as treacherous savages or as innocent children in America, evidenced in political comics and comments from the time. In today's society, even though the depictions are not as blatantly racist as they were in the early 20th century, Filipinos are dehumanized, exoticized, or idealized and represented in a two-dimensional way. However, this construction of the Filipino identity may be starting to change with the advent of more ardent vocalization by Filipinos with regard to the production of their images.

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.

Don't Shoot, Mauricio E. Novoa

SURGE

It always amazes me how some people

Seem to be experts in fields they’ve never seen,

Know the right directions on paths they’ve never walked,

And know people they seldom acknowledge as such

[excerpt]

Physicians' Attitudes About Recommending Surgery For Early Stage Lung Cancer And Possible Reasons For Racial Disparities, Franklin R. Mcguire

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

PHYSICIANS’ ATTITUDES ABOUT RECOMMENDING SURGERY FOR EARLY STAGE LUNG CANCER AND POSSIBLE REASONS FOR RACIAL DISPARITIES

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Patient refusal for lung cancer surgery is significant, but other factors, such as negative framing of the treatment discussion, may be involved. Physician attitudes could influence the nuances of and therefore the conclusions of these discussions. We determined physicians’ attitudes and the influence it has on possible decisions against lung cancer surgery, particularly surgical rates for blacks, using a companion survey.

Methods: The study is a prospective, multicenter observational trial conducted at five sites in North and South Carolina from December …

“We Are Not Free”: The Meaning Of (Freedom) In American Indian Resistance To President Johnson’S War On Poverty, Casey Ryan Kelly

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

This essay examines how the ideograph was crafted through dialectical struggles between Euro-Americans and American Indians over federal Indian policy between 1964 and 1968. For policymakers, was historically sutured to the belief that assimilation was the only pathway to American Indian liberation. I explore the American Indian youth movement’s response to President Johnson’s War on Poverty to demonstrate how activists rhetorically realigned in Indian policy with the Great Society’s rhetoric of “community empowerment.” I illustrate how American Indians orchestrated counterhegemonic resistance by reframing the “Great Society” as an argument for a “Greater Indian American.” This analysis evinces the rhetorical significance …

‘‘Opening The Door’’: The History And Future Of Qualitative Scholarship In Interpersonal Communication, Dawn O. Braithwaite

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

I was fortunate to start college during the earlier days of interpersonal communication classes being taught. From the first class, I was hooked. One of the best things about working in this area is being able to teach and study concepts and practices that make a difference in people’s lives. The theme guiding my work was adapted from a phrase Wayne Brockriede used— helping people expand their repertoire of communicative choices. This is the great joy and challenge of being an interpersonal communication (IPC) scholar.

I am honored to share this forum with such outstanding scholars. My article represents a …

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

Gendered Construction Of The Female Identity, Julie L. Lemley

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Since Garfinkle’s ground-breaking work on labeling in the 1950’s, the link between identity formation, specifically as constructed by external social messages intentionally directed by authority, and resultant behaviors has been well established. This research has extended upon this assumption, applying critical media and rhetorical methods to advertising aimed at adolescents, a particularly vulnerable group at a point of transition and identity formation. The adolescent negotiation of the transition from childhood (child identity) to adulthood (adult identity), has always been a uniquely critical stage of development. Moreover, the research has indicated that adolescents are particularly susceptible to influence by those in …

Communication Apprehension And Its Relationship To Gender And College Year, Jodi Frantz, Amber Marlow, Jennifer Wathen

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This study examined the differences between communication apprehension, one’s gender, and his or her year in college. Participants included a convenience sample of full-time undergraduate students at a Midwestern, liberal arts, private Christian college. The students were asked to complete the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24), a self-report measure of communication apprehension. It was predicted that females would have higher communication apprehension levels than males and that as class standing increases, communication apprehension decreases. A statistically significant difference was found between males and females with respect to their overall CA score. The results also showed no significant difference between …

Community Assistance For Refugees And Gender Roles: What Could Make This C.A.R. Run Better?, Nathan E. Meyer

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Community Assistance for Refugees is a non-profit service organization in downtown Mankato, Minnesota. Secondary migration to southern Minnesota has increased the refugee population as well as the need for research assessing the needs and concerns of refugees. The purpose of this project was two-fold: first to analyze how C.A.R. is able to meet the needs of its clients and second, to investigate ways in which C.A.R. could improve its services. Traditionally female refugees are less educated and less mainstreamed into American society. This research was designed to help all clients, but special attention was paid to the specific needs of …

The Basis Of Self And Other In Gender Constructed Identity, Julie L. Lemley

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This paper is an extension of previous research projects wherein I applied theories of identity and labeling (Garfinkle), power (French and Raven) and gender (Pearson, West and Turner) to adolescent girls’ identity construction. Using methods of textual criticism, I argued then that the advertising targeting adolescent girls at the crucial transitional period between child identity and adult identity was dominated by patriarchal imagery, the implications of which are sexual violence, low-self esteem and self-objectification by young women. This paper applies the same methodology but to identity formation of adolescent boys, arguing on the basis of Hegel’s master-slave dialectic that adolescent …

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 …

Systemic Racism Of The Unicef Germany's Ads Depicting Children In Blackface, April Larson

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

In the summer of 2007, UNICEF Germany released four ads containing the use of Blackface. However, neither the German population, nor UNICEF Germany found the use of Blackface insulting or racist when in fact Americans, who have the history of Blackface Theater, were appalled at the display of white German children with mud on their faces, portraying Africans. Through the use of Joe R. Feagin's theory of systemic racism, this paper rhetorically analyzed whether the UNICEF ads should be considered racist outside the American experience of Blackfacing and Blackface Theater. The analysis revealed the UNICEF ads are racist under the …

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 …

You've Got Mail: Identity Perceptions Based On Email Usernames, Laura Pelletier

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This study explores the idea that email recipients use the email username of the sender as a mediated cue to make basic assumptions of the identity of the sender. For this study 215 participants completed self-report surveys asking their perceptions of a fictional work group member including sex, age, race, and work productivity. Most participants were able to create a basic identity of their fictitious group member based solely on their email username.

Selling Gender: Gender Role Portrayals In Contemporary Magazine Advertisements, Laura Pelletier

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This study presents a content analysis of gender role portrayals and male and female objectification in contemporary magazine advertisements. A total of fifteen magazines were analyzed from a two month period to determine if gender role portrayals have changed or remained the same as earlier studies. The first analysis looks at product categories most and least often advertised by male or female models. The second analysis looks at the sexual portrayals in magazine advertisements and the rate of objectification of male and female models.

Life Is Like A Salad Bowl (Or Should Be!), Anthony B. Major

UCF Forum

Everyone in the world eats salad of some sort. We enjoy all the different ingredients in our salads depending on what we have a taste for at the time.

We Can Lie About How We Met: Msm Identity On Geo-Social Networking Applications, Levi Lindsey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Location-based applications (geo-social applications) gained popularity in 2010, for individuals to meet others around them with similar interests. These applications have become extremely popular within the MSM community (men who have sex with men) but have had limited success for other communities. Geo-social networking apps offer a unique opportunity for individuals to present their identities in a limited manner in order to meet other users. This research looks at how such identities are experienced, performed, and assembled digitally and why. Using a qualitative approach, I conducted 10 in-depth interviews with users of the geo-social networking application, Grindr, regarding how they …