Gender and Sexuality Commons^™

Endeavors In Solidarity: Lessons From Advantaged Group Members In Anti-Oppression Work, Kelly Walsh

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Systems of privilege and oppression operate throughout the United States and beyond, and affect all individuals in different ways and to varying degrees. The privilege (unearned access or advantages) experienced by one group of people is inherently linked to the oppression (systemic injustices or barriers) endured by another. Further, individuals can -- and most do -- experience both privilege and oppression in different aspects of their identity. Individuals experiencing oppression have long worked against the systems that harm them. Of interest in this exploration is the engagement of those who benefit from privilege. This study used an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis …

Race, Stigma, And The Politics Of Black Girls Hair, Vanessa King

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Historically, black girls and women has been subjected to high public scrutiny that represents their bodies and hair styles as deviant from a European standard of beauty and respectability. Black women have endured many social pressures that have shaped their hair choices in various ways. I will explore assimilation theories of culture and the construction of dominant ideals of worth and respectability within K-12 settings, to document the ways in which black girls' hairstyles have been stigmatized. For this this study, I conducted a media and discourse analysis to document the language that is used to stigmatize black women's hair, …

Cultural Competency For Native Women At Southern Minnesotan Anti-Violence Advocacy Programs, Alissa Shape

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Violence against Native American women is heavily documented within the state of Minnesota. However, there is limited research documenting the processes advocates use to help Native women. Though there has been an increase in organizations dedicated to addressing the intersections of race and gender-based violence, much is unclear regarding the extent to which different types of programming are implemented across the state. Thus, this research study examined the implementation of cultural competency, a type of anti-violence programming, by advocates at one organization in Southern Minnesota. I hypothesized that advocates at the organization would have limited resources for implementing cultural competency …

Voices Of Women: The Impact Of Women's Political Reservations On Female Child Mortality In India, Kohsheen Sharma

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper uses state-level variation in the implementation of the 73rd amendment in India to observe the relationship between political reservations for women in local government and female child mortality. Nationally, reservations for women are not associated with a statistically significant difference in female child mortality. However, a state by state analysis shows variations in the level of impact of reservations on the topic of female child mortality. This paper examines the constraints on female representatives and their level of effectiveness in executing pro-female policies given the political and social environment. The two case studies on Kerala and Haryana explore …

The Criminalization Of Poverty: The Impact Of Cash Bail System On Black Women In New Orleans, Salome Kushindana

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Research on bail practices has shown that most of the people are in jail because of their inability to pay bail set by the court. A 2016 study by the Vera Institute of Justice concluded that the use of the cash bail system disproportionately impacts poor black people in Orleans Parish Prison, the entity that serves as the principal driver of the mass incarceration. With a focus on poor black people in Orleans Parish Prison, the experiences of the impact of the cash bail system on poor black women are still missing.

Using semi-structured interviews and qualitative method of data …

Rape Culture In Disney Animated Princess Movies, Patricia Paulson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Gender stereotypes, rape myths, and rape culture are perpetuated in U.S. media, including media aimed at young people. Previous research in the areas of gender, gender stereotypes, portrayals of gender in movies, Disney movies, rape myths, and rape culture are all examined. Prior to this research, no study had been conducted to determine if the characteristics of rape culture are portrayed in Disney animated princess movies. For this research, an ethnographic content analysis is conducted on all thirteen of the Disney animated princess movies to determine if the characteristics associated with rape culture are portrayed in these movies. The findings …

Challenges In The Workplace Pertaining To Sexual Orientation: Narratives Of Two Music Teachers, Tyler J. Trepanier

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

Despite laws protecting employees and the prevalence of Title IX training for administrators, staff, and faculty at many institutions, LGBTQ music teachers may still face difficulties in the workplace based on their identity. This investigation involves two case studies exploring the perceptions of music teachers in the USA regarding the challenges faced in the workplace pertaining to their sexual orientation. This empirical, descriptive study used interview technique, with the report written in a narrative style. Both teachers reported discrimination from administrators in the early stages of their careers. The first was bullied by a student spreading rumors, despite not being …

Mismatched Identities: Experiencing White Womanhood And White Motherhood As An Exotic Dancer, Phoenicia S. Sweeney-Summers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this paper I examine the work of exotic dancers in the Rocky Mountain West, focusing on their identities, identity conflict, identity threat, and overcompensation. In over twelve hours of recorded interviews, I asked ten exotic dancers working in Montana about their work, families, and communities as well as their perceptions of themselves and their work. I found that this marginalized group that resides in places that have rural characteristics, often face identity threat because their identities are known within their communities. The identity threat arises as a result of expectations and stereotypes of dancers, and in order to deal …

Campus Climate Sexual Assault Survey (2015) Analysis, Felicia Rosin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The issue of sexual assault has garnered widespread attention in recent years, as is evident by the growing number of high-profile cases and mainstream social movements. With this increasingly bright spotlight, it is no surprise that The University of Akron has interest in improving the sexual violence education programs offered to students. In 2015, the university conducted a survey to gather information on the campus climate surrounding sexual assault. This analysis dives into a deeper analysis of the data gathered in an attempt to pinpoint areas that require the university’s attention. The analysis covers topics identified by Dean of Students …

Asexuality: To Include Or Not To Include A Slice Of Cake In The Lgbtq+ Community, Devin Oliva-Farrell

Tredway Library Prize for First-Year Research

Due to the growing number of sexual orientations and genders that have joined the LGBTQ+ community, a debate has sparked on whether all of these should be included. Specifically, this paper analyzes the debate on whether asexuality should be included or excluded from the group. The results from including or excluding asexuality will have drastic effects on the LGBTQ+ community, self-identified asexuals, and society as a whole when it comes to examining sexualities and genders.

This is illustrated in the following ways: 1) examining the definition of asexuality; 2) exploring the debates surrounding its inclusion or exclusion; 3) highlighting the …

Changing Minds Or Transforming Social Worlds? Re-Envisioning Media Literacy Education As Feminist Arts-Activism, Margaret Louise Mcgladrey

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

This dissertation project seeks to address the sociological processes, dynamics, and mechanisms inflecting how and why U.S. society reproduces a sexually dimorphic, binary gender structure. The project builds upon the work of sociologists of gender on the doing gender framework, intersectional feminist approaches to identity formation, and hegemonic masculinity and relational theories of gender. In a 2012 article in Social Science and Medicine presenting contemporary concepts in gender theory to the health-oriented readers of the journal, R. W. Connell argues that much public policy on gender and health relies on categorical understandings of gender that are now inadequate. Connell contends …

“Well, Don’T Walk Around Naked... Unless You’Re A Girl”: Gender, Sexuality, And Risk In Jamtronica Festival Subcultural Scenes, Kaitlyne A. Motl

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

The purpose of this study was to explore emerging issues surrounding gendered fear, threat, and violence perpetration at music festivals – particularly events that feature a synthesis of jam band and electronic dance music acts – a genre termed jamtronica by its fans. Though gendered violence perpetration and prevention have been widely studied within other party-oriented settings (i.e., sexual violence perpetration on college campuses), very little research exists to address how wider disparities of gender and sexuality permeate a community whose members frequently claim the scene’s immunity from external inequalities.

In this three-year multi-sited ethnography, I incorporate participant observations, group …

Sex Composition And Female Offending: Under The Impact Of The One-Child Policy, Ting Wang

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

This dissertation explores the mechanisms of the increasing female crime in China from the effect of the one-child policy, which is treated herein as a natural experiment. Data reveal that the women’s share of documented crime dramatically increased after the mid-1990s when the first one-child generation reached the age of legal responsibility. This change reflects the interplay of the behavioral change and the net-widening effect.

The increasing criminality of the one-child generation is attributable to the gap between the equal gender expectations of the individual, which has been reshaped by the unique socialization practices under the influence of the policy, …

Very Long Engagements: The Persistent Authority Of Bridewealth In A Post-Apartheid South African Community, Michael W. Yarbrough

Publications and Research

This article examines the persistent authority of the customary practice for forming recognized marriages in many South African communities, centered on bridewealth and called “lobola.” Marriage rates have sharply fallen in South Africa, and many South Africans blame this on the difficulty of completing lobola amid intense economic strife. Using in-depth qualitative research from a village in KwaZulu-Natal, where lobola demands are the country’s highest and marriage rates its lowest, I argue that lobola’s authority survives because lay actors, and especially women, have innovated new repertoires of lobola behavior that allow them to pursue emerging needs and desires for marriage …

Introduction: For Better Or For Worse? Relational Landscapes In The Time Of Same-Sex Marriage, Michael W. Yarbrough

Publications and Research

As same-sex marriage has become a legal reality in a rapidly growing list of countries, the time has come to assess what this means for families and relationships on the ground. Many scholars have already begun to examine how marriage is helping some same-sex couples, but in this introduction I call for a broader and more critical research agenda. In particular, I argue that same-sex marriage crystallizes a key tension surrounding families and relationships in many contemporary societies. On the one hand, strict family norms are relaxing in many places, allowing more people to form more diverse types of caring …

Inclusive Work Practices: Turnover Intentions Among Lgbt Employees Of The U.S. Federal Government, Meghna Sabharwal, Helisse Levine, Maria J. D’Agostino, Tiffany Nguyen

Publications and Research

The federal government lags behind in progressive civil rights policies in regard to universal workplace antidiscrimination laws for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans. The slow progress matters to inclusionary workplace practices and the theory and practice of public administration generally, as recognition of LGBT rights and protection are constitutive of representative bureaucracy and promoting social equity. This study examines the turnover intention rates of self-identified LGBT employees in the U.S. federal government. Using the Office of Personnel Management’s inclusion quotient (IQ), and 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), we identify links in the relationships between workplace inclusion and …

Challenges And Opportunities Facing Successful Women In Mocrocco, Maia Hallward, Cortney Stewart

Faculty Articles

Over a decade since the passage of a revised family status code (mudawana)in Morocco, the literature varies in its assessment of the code's impact on women's rights and opportunities. While some studies point to the formal support for gender equality reflected in the revised code, others note that Moroccan women continue to face challenges in the social and symbolic spheres. Drawing on interviews conducted by the authors with women leaders in Morocco in 2016, this paper investigates the opportunities and obstacles these women have encountered in their personal journeys. The paper explores the extent to which elite background, …

Examining The Effects Of A Service-Trained Facility Dog On Stress In Children Undergoing Forensic Interview For Allegations Of Child Sexual Abuse, Cheryl A. Krause-Parello, Michele Thames, Colleen M. Ray, John Kolassa

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Disclosure of child sexual abuse can be a stressful experience for the child. Gaining a better understanding of how best to serve the child, while preserving the quality of their disclosure, is an ever-evolving process. The data to answer this question come from 51 children aged 4–16 (M = 9.1, SD = 3.5), who were referred to a child advocacy center in Virginia for a forensic interview (FI) following allegations of sexual abuse. A repeated measures design was conducted to examine how the presence of a service-trained facility dog (e.g. animal-assisted intervention (AAI) may serve as a mode of lowering …

Child Abuse, Mental Health And Sleeping Arrangements Among Homeless Youth: Links To Physical And Sexual Street Victimization, Kimberly A. Tyler, Rachel Schmitz

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Physical safety is a primary concern among homeless youth because they struggle to secure basic necessities and a permanent place to live. Despite this, studies have not fully examined the numerous linkages that might explain risk for victimization within the context of material insecurity. In this study, we examine multiple levels of both proximal and distal risk factors at the individual (e.g. mental health), family (e.g. child abuse), and environmental levels (e.g. finding necessities) and their associations with physical and sexual street victimization among 150 Midwestern homeless youth. Results from path analyses show that child physical abuse is positively associated …

Relationship Satisfaction Among Infertile Couples: Implications Of Gender And Self-Identification, Arthur L. Greil, Kathleen S. Slauson-Blevins, Julia Mcquillan, Michele H. Lowry, Andrea R. Burch, Karina M. Shreffler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

We use path analysis to analyze heterosexual couples from the U.S. National Survey of Fertility Barriers, a probability-based sample of women and their male partners. We restrict the sample to couples in which the women are infertile. We estimate a path model of each partner’s relationship satisfaction on indicators of self-identifying as having a fertility problem or not at the individual and couple levels. We find a gender effect: for women, but not men, relationship satisfaction was significantly higher when neither partner self-identified as having a fertility problem. Women’s relationship satisfaction exerted a strong influence on their partners’ relationship satisfaction, …