"Flowery boys"(花样少年) - when this phrase is applied to attractive young men it is now often considered as a compliment. This research sets out to study the feminisation phenomena in the representation of warriors in Chinese language films from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Mainland China made in the first decade of the new millennium (2000-2009), as these three regions are now often packaged together as a pan-unity of the Chinese cultural realm. The foci of this study are on the investigations of the warriors as the feminised Other from two aspects: their bodies as spectacles and the manifestation of feminine characteristics in the male warriors. This study aims to detect what lies underneath the beautiful masquerade of the warriors as the Other through comprehensive analyses of the representations of feminised warriors and comparison with their female counterparts. It aims to test the hypothesis that gender identities are inventory categories transformed by and with changing historical context. Simultaneously, it is a project to study how Chinese traditional values and postmodern metrosexual culture interacted to formulate Chinese contemporary masculinity. It is also a project to search for a cultural nationalism presented in these films with the examination of gender politics hidden in these feminisation phenomena. With Laura Mulvey's theory of the gaze as a starting point, this research reconsiders the power relationship between the viewing subject and the spectacle to study the possibility of multiple gaze as well as the power of spectacle. With such reconsideration of the relationship between the film texts and the audiences, this project aims to strip off the negative connotations imposed on the concept of 'feminisation' and to seek to prove the emerging of a feminine discourse popularised by a graphic revolution.

Spirituality is becoming an increasingly important dimension of Counselling Psychology. As multicultural communities become more inclusive and global, it is valuable for counsellors to become more familiar with the different types of spiritual experiences that individuals are having. By attending to such experiences, counsellors may address how current forms of spirituality encourage healing, growth, and development, thereby increasing our understanding of human potential. Furthermore, many cultures are emerging from a religious history that portrays a male god as supreme, and the predominant images of the Divine as masculine. This imbalance of the masculine and feminine in relation to spirituality has been associated with a profound disconnection from our bodies, the earth-body, and the split between spirit and matter. For this reason, relating to the Divine Feminine may hold an essential piece for many in to reconnect with earth, body, and soul. In this narrative inquiry, ten women are interviewed about their transpersonal experiences with the Divine Feminine. Their stories illuminate what the Divine Feminine is, the meaning attributed to Her, and the changes in their lives associated with their experiences. This study increases our understanding of the role that the Divine Feminine has in the lives of women, and represents some forms of spirituality emerging in the new global context. In turn, it widens our perspective on the therapeutic implications these and related phenomena could have on Counselling Psychology. The key findings of this research show that contemporary women are experiencing the Divine Feminine through: (a) Goddesses, (b) Shakti and Kundalini Shakti, (c) one’s Self (body, sexuality, women’s blood mysteries), (d) Nature and sacred plant medicine, (e) Mother, and (f) Spirit guides, visions, and past life experiences. This inquiry raises the awareness of the powerful healing, deep insight, and growth enhancing shifts that are attributed the Divine Feminine. The intention is that these stories will inspire counsellors to inquire into their clients’ transpersonal experiences with the Divine Feminine, as these experiences contain potent life-affirming and growth-enhancing resources. / Graduate / 0318 / 0453 / DawnRabey@live.ca

[Truncated abstract] This thesis focuses on the significance of the beauty of Helen of Troy in the Encomium of Helen written by the fourth-century philosopher Isocrates. Previous traditions, and especially epic poetry and tragedy, had assessed Helen’s beauty and either blamed or excused her for causing the Trojan War. Isocrates moved beyond this dichotomy to create a new focus on her beauty as the ultimate source of all that made Greek culture distinctive. Modern scholarship, however, has been generally unsympathetic we may almost say blind to this projected beauty. The meaning of beauty in Isocrates’ work has been overlooked by scholars in favor of its rhetorical structure. The work was criticized for its disjointed arrangement and lack of seriousness. The Helen has been interpreted as a reaction to contemporary rhetorical issues or as merely an educational manifesto. This thesis aims to identify and clarify the ideology underlying Isocrates’ construction of Helen’s beauty in his encomium. … The Helen of Isocrates is also compared with the contemporary Platonic work Phaedrus, which explores beauty as a means of arriving at pure knowledge. In this case, comparisons are drawn thematically and reveal that while the two works share similar topics and aims regarding the notions of beauty, Isocrate’s aesthetic idea is much more practically grounded and intended to be of benefit to the entire society when compared to the more idealistic and individual Platonic notion. Finally, the reasons for Isocrates’ choice of beauty as a major theme for the Helen are explored through a comparison of Helen’s beauty to that of Hellas an equation which Isocrates deems important for the fourth-century society.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-170). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2007 / Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Social Work. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-67).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-117).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Committee on Human Development, June 2000. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Mass Communication, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [1], iii, 80 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 68-80).

Thesis (MA (English))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / In this dissertation the dominant metaphor for the fusion between the feminine and technology, the cyborg, will be examined through various texts to assess the value the cyborg has for feminism as a tool to exposes the constructedness of boundaries of identity and gender, thereby enabling a reconstruction of a new feminine identity in a subversive and transgressive space. The main themes which will be addressed are those that often feature in feminist science fiction: reproduction, sexuality, the construction of identity and gender through science, culture and ideology, and the power relations between men and women. Other related concepts which will be dealt with are language, self and Other, representation and perspective. Feminist science fiction and theory attempt to destabilise conventional boundaries concerned with gender and identity and the texts which this dissertation deals with are all, to varying degrees, concerned with this destabilisation, each offering a unique perspective on feminine identity and the attempted transformation of current gender categories which will be explored in detailed analysis.