<p>This research analyzes the reproduction of patriarchal ideological hegemony in the soap opera <em>Another World</em> using Stuart Hall's theory of the mass media and his conceptualization of ideology. A structural analysis of five one hour video-taped episodes of <em>Another World</em> reveals how the soap opera text constructs meaning fulfilling the three functions of the mass media, and thus, reproducing patriarchy's hegemony. This research confirms Hall's theory of the mass media and the propositions which flow from his conceptualization of ideology. Moreover, this research is the first attempt to systematically apply Hall's theory to the study of soap opera. It goes beyond the generalizations of his theory to look at the particularities of soap opera which contribute to the reproduction of patriarchal ideological hegemony. However, it is seen that what is problematic to this research, and all research on soap opera, is a lack of a theory of the reader.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

The research on sex-role development, psychological androgyny, and personality variables in lesbian women was reviewed. Since previous research suggested that lesbian women tend to have characteristics which might be labelled androgynous, a study was undertaken to assess the presence of androgyny among lesbian and heterosexual women and to cross-validate the findings on the relationship between androgyny and self-esteem. In order to assess sex-role classification, the PRF-Andro Scale was administered to 30 lesbian and 30 heterosexual women. The Texas Social Behavior Inventory was used to measure self-esteem. Results showed that a significantly greater proportion of the lesbians were androgynous, and a significantly smaller proportion were feminine as compared to heterosexual women. No differences were found in the proportion of either group classified as masculine and indeterminate. A complex relationship was found between samples, sex -role classification, and self-esteem. An attempt was made to integrate and interpret the results of this study. Suggestions were made for future research in this area.

The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of candidate gender on voting behavior in presidential elections in the United States. By delving into the vice presidential nominations of Geraldine Ferraro in 1984, and Sarah Palin in 2008, I provided the baseline for the experiences of Carly Fiorina and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns in 2016. Ultimately, I present the argument that the United States is ready for a female president, either this year or in the near future.

This paper discusses the relationship between gender expression and gender identity. It recounts my personal exploration of the two through the process of photographing two fellow AFAB individuals to create visual representations of their gender expressions while interviewing them to examine how these expressions relate to the gender with which they identify. Following this, I engage in self-reflection taking into consideration both the narratives of my peers as well as Judith Butler's insights on gender. The project culminates with a series of self portraits and a conclusion on how I came to understand both facets my gender.

This thesis examines the hegemonic function of symbolic structures of relevance as they are related to phenomenological commitments to social change held by voluntary associations of homosexuals. The data base of this investigation consists of the literature of 21 homophile organizations. Organizations literature is used to facilitate a theoretical adaptation of Alfred Schutz’ discussion of relevance structures which addresses he hegemonic organization of voluntary associations. The concept of relevance structure was implemented to relate predominant orientations within the sociology of deviance to a phenomenological interpretation of group commitment serves as a heuristic device for scrutinizing the instrumental as well as expressive functions fulfilled by relevance structures. These hegemonic components sustain in a “phantasied praxis” within a particularistic world-view. This conception of social praxis was drawn from Antonio Gramsci’s interpretation of a Marxian sociology of knowledge. Subsequently, the relevance structures of each association are juxtaposed to its level of phenomenological commitment as well as its Marxian nature. This operation culminated in the construction of a referent typology which outlines “families” of relevance structure in relation to orientations to phantasied praxis.

In this project I argue that trauma is a major component of society. Rather than positioning trauma as an event, I contend that it should be understood as an environmental force. To form this reorientation I look to an actual environment and the ways in which it remembers and responds to systemic violence. Specifically, I track the colonization and exploitation of Mount Baldy, and how natural occurrences such as floods and fires have consistently threatened human development on the mountain. If trauma is both monumentally impactful and an environmental force, then it merits a major rethinking of many of the aspects of human existence that are assumed to be stable. In chapter 1, I move trauma outside of the psychological definitions of the DSM and into a communal and systemic framework. In chapter 2, I use a case study of Mount Baldy to understand how environmental forces react to trauma, which provides a way to imagine how a society or community might collectively operate as a traumatized being. In chapter 3, I undertake a material research process using clay harvested from Mount Baldy. Clay, which mimics characteristics of the human body and is literally a part of the natural environment, connects the embodied nature of trauma for human to the ecological manifestations of trauma. This allows a glimpse at what it might mean to acknowledge trauma as a major component of the human experience.

An attempt was made to investigate the extent to which individuals are unknowingly influenced by a sex role stereotype in their evaluations of men and women. It was hypothesized that subjects would describe a character in more potency-related, “masculine” terms if that character had been identified as a male than if the character had been identified as a female. Subjects taking part in this study were an equal number of male and female students in introductory psychology classes. The semantic differential technique was employed as a descriptive tool for the subjects’ evaluations of a character they read about in a short passage. The content of the passage used was designed to include qualities usually thought of as masculine and qualities usually thought of as feminine. A 2 x 2 factorial analysis of variance procedure was performed. The results indicated no significant differences either for Factor A, sex of the stimulus figure, or Factor B, sex of the subject. This suggests that both males and females described the character equally in terms of potency and that the sex of the character portrayed did not significantly influence the subjects’ perceptions or evaluations. However, the interaction effects of the two factors did approach significance. Male subjects tended to produce a lower mean potency score when evaluating a female character than when evaluating a male character. On the other hand, female subjects showed the opposite tendency of evaluating a female character with a higher potency rating than they gave to a male character.

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This dissertation examines discourses and experiences of reproduction in Virginia, 1630-1785. I define reproduction as an experiential reality that contoured women's lives in specific ways, as a central demographic phenomenon that shaped colonial populations, and as a discourse of power in the colonial project. Informed by feminist theory, queer theory, and postcolonial theory, the dissertation examines the relationship between reproduction and colonialism in the development of a plantation economy in Virginia. I draw on a varied archive of court documents, colonial records, newspapers and other print culture, plantation records, diaries, letters, and medical texts. Chapter 1, "'A considerable parcel of breeders': Reproduction and Discourses of Racial Slavery in Colonial Virginia," examines the ways that development of racial slavery in Virginia was based, in part, on the appropriation of black women's reproduction. I examine the roots of the 1662 law that defined slavery as a condition of birth, finding the legal and cultural precedent for the law in the conflation of servitude and bastardy. I further examine the vernacular discourses of slavery that used reproduction to define enslaved people (especially women) as a kind of property legally similar to livestock. I close the chapter with a discussion of the Virginia House of Burgesses debates around defining slaves as real or personal property, and I argue that these debates were a consequence of defining slavery as a status of birth. In Chapter 2, "Wicked, Dangerous, and Ungoverned: The Transgressive Possibilities of Reproduction," I examine the ways that childbearing could transgress colonial hierarchies and boundaries, especially in cases of bastardy and interracial birth. Throughout the chapter, I am particularly interested in understanding the relationship between domination and transgression, and the specific ways that reproduction could inhabit the space between those two poles. In Chapter 3, "Knowledge 'not fit to be discust publiquely': Colonialism and the Transformation of Reproductive Knowledge," I examine the ways that colonialism transformed Virginians' reproductive episteme. I attempt to reconstruct knowledge about reproduction in this space and time, and I show how childbearing became a potent intimate zone for the negotiating of colonial power relations. In the final chapter, '"She lives in an infant country that wants nothing but people': Discourses of Reproduction, Print Culture, and Virginia's Colonial Project," I examine the competing discourses of reproduction that informed Virginia's colonial project. I argue that two competing discourses about reproduction - one that privileged "prolific reproduction" and another that privileged "rational reproduction" - show the ways that the experience of colonialism transformed ideas about reproduction. This transformation occurred because the exigencies of the colonial project prioritized the maintaining of colonial boundaries and hierarchies over the early notion of peopling a "virgin" land.

No description available.