<p> The Discourse of the Divine: Radical Traditions of Black Feminism, Musicking, and Myth within the Black Public Sphere (Civil Rights to the Present) is an exploration of the historical precursors and the contemporary developments of Black feminism in America, via Black female musical production and West and Central African cosmology. Historical continuity and consciousness of African spirituality within the development of Black feminism are analyzed alongside the musical practices of two Black female musicians, Nina Simone and Me&rsquo;shell Ndeg&eacute;ocello. Simone and Ndeg&eacute;ocello, The High Priestess of Soul and the Mother of Neo-Soul, respectively, distend the commodified confines of Black music and identity by challenging the established norms of music and knowledge production. These artists&rsquo; lyrics, politics, and representations substantiate the &ldquo;Signifyin(g)&rdquo; elements of West and Central African feminist mythologies and musicmaking traditions. </p>

<p> The sexualization of girls is an ongoing issue that has garnered much attention in recent years, with one contributing factor, media, becoming an ever-increasing part of children&rsquo;s lives. This study explored four questions: How do mothers and teachers perceive the media&rsquo;s influence on young girls&rsquo; identity development? To what extent do these caregivers engage young girls in analyzing media messages? What observed behaviors of 4-year old girls indicate media&rsquo;s influence? and What are caregivers interpretations and responses to these behaviors? Analyzing the perceptions of mothers and female teachers of 4-year old girls contributes to a better understanding of how girls are influenced, both by caregivers&rsquo; actions and by media consumed. </p><p> Twelve mothers and female early childhood teachers from three South Florida preschools were interviewed to better understand how girls are influenced by media, and to gain a more holistic perspective of the potential impact of media on young girls&rsquo; behaviors and their emerging understanding of what it means to be a girl today. The findings indicate that mothers and female teachers perceive media to be influential in the lives of girls, both in terms of general child development and young girls&rsquo; gender identity development. The participants are observing behaviors in their 4-year old girls that indicate media&rsquo;s influence; these behaviors include sexualized dancing, attitude and language changes, and requests for sexualized clothing and beauty products. Although these mothers and teachers do not yet help girls analyze media messages, they do, however, engage in significant guidance as they interpret and respond to the observed behaviors. These findings reflect a need for media literacy education for parents and teachers, as well as comprehensive sexualization awareness and prevention education for children, parents, and teachers.</p><p>

I uppsatsen undersöker jag om Carol Clovers teorier från boken Men, Women and Chain saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film fortfarande går att applicera på filmer som kom ut efter det att boken publicerats 1992. De två frågorna jag vill besvara är huruvida Clovers text fortfarande går att applicera, samt hur sexualitet och genus representeras i filmerna jag valt att använda. Mina teoretiska utgångspunkter är ”The final girl”, som är taget ur Clovers bok, samt queerteori. Min metod är att analysera filmerna utifrån Clover för att se hur sexualitet och genus representeras, samtidigt som jag då ser huruvida Clovers text fortfarande är aktuell. De filmerna jag använder mig av är Scream 2 (1997), Teeth (2007), och The Babysitter (2017). Jag visar på att Clovers bok fortfarande är aktuell och går att applicera på filmer producerade nyligen. Jag visar även på att sexualitet och genus är konstant närvarande teman i de tre skräckfilmerna jag använder på ett eller annat sätt, där jag även visar på hur representation av sexualitet och genus har ändrats med tiden och ser olika ut i de tre filmerna.

<p> Gender equality is part of the public policy agenda in Latin America. During the last twenty years, there have been several discussions on the scope of equality policies between women and men, their content and possibilities of action. In Latin America, important progresses have been made, mainly in the legal field but also in different government areas. Many subnational levels of government have their own gender offices and have developed local experiences in promoting equality measures. Argentina registers some outstanding experiences in incorporating the gender perspective at the local level. The decentralization processes reconfigured the capacities and responsibilities of subnational governments and presented potential elements for gender mainstreaming. In addition, the closeness to citizenship and the possibility of articulating demands offered by this scale are important for the promotion of gender policies. </p><p> Mor&oacute;n is one of the 135 Municipalities of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Between 1999 and 2015 the political party Nuevo Encuentro ran the Municipality. The administration encouraged citizen participation and transparency in management, proposing new forms of linkage between the State and society. In this context, more horizontal management structures were framed and they opened up the possibility of promoting equal opportunities and gender equality in Mor&oacute;n. This thesis examines the evolution of the gender equality policy under the management of <i>Nuevo Encuentro</i> in the Municipality of Mor&oacute;n. It aimed at characterizing gender policy and its sustainability over time. Also, it seeks to analyze the role of social and political actors in the implementation of this policy, as well as in its development and expansion. For these purposes, a case study was conducted and the research involved fieldwork based on interviews with different government agents and civil society&rsquo;s members. </p><p> The results obtained demonstrate that gender equality policies in Mor&oacute;n have progressively evolved from the rise of the issue in the public agenda in 1999 to the end of <i>Nuevo Encuentro&rsquo;s</i> administration in 2015. The increasing maturation of the gender equality policy in Mor&oacute;n&rsquo;s local government and its sustainability was due to the convergence of the four key elements: political commitment, presence of a network of women politicians sensitized with gender issues, articulation of local government with social organizations committed to women&rsquo;s rights and international cooperation with resources and interests in supporting local initiatives on gender policies. </p><p>

<p> This project explores the constructions of gender, intimacy, and race and the ways these issues are informed by history and the law. The idea of consent, while originally described in texts as a legal concept between citizens, transformed into a way to navigate intimate relationships in the private sphere. This muddied the ways women and men were understood to form relationships and the limits of those relationships. In the same ways that gender was arbitrated through legal language, race is often ensnared in the same processes and institutions. Tolerance has been offered as one approach, but instead of mitigating this violence, it has more firmly entrenched it into the democratic process. Hannah Arendt&rsquo;s description of the social frames an understanding of intimacy and narratives. Arendt&rsquo;s work critically creates a space for the category of the social, something found around but outside of the public and private. Instead of working to make the private seen as a sphere for political action, I will focus on the potential of the social as a method of political action. While Arendt has obvious racial bias, I will use her own response to anti-semitism to develop a different approach to Black politics that allow for identity-based responses. Lauren Berlant&rsquo;s <i>Intimate Publics</i> addresses the potential for coalition building in the social. Using the sorority system as a way of teasing out notions of femininity, discipline, sexual violence, and intimacy, I will describe the ways that a woman subject is produced and how this then works to shape our notions of race. Women&rsquo;s identities, particularly white women, are constructed through an association with race and sexuality, by unpacking this development, its possible to see how this is socially and institutionally enforced. Part of this enforcement will focus on the narratives of sexual violence. Rape is an issue that not only confronts legal questions, but also the nature of a woman&rsquo;s ability to participate in democracy. Tying this together will be the importance of political theory. This serves to define the contemporary issues, solutions that have been offered and new potential approaches to intimate violence.</p><p>

<p> <b>Purpose:</b> This phenomenological qualitative multicase study explored leadership from the perspective and experiences of women leaders in law enforcement to increase comprehension of what women in law enforcement can achieve with proper motivation and support. </p><p> <b>Methodology:</b> Semi-structured interviews and field observations were utilized. Data was collected through in-person and telephonic interviews and field notes. Data was analyzed through multiple levels of coding. The researcher utilized purposeful convenience sampling to identify 10 total participants and obtained a sample size of nine participants. </p><p> <b>Findings:</b> Data analysis revealed 24 themes and three subthemes related to the study&rsquo;s four research questions. Mentoring and having a mentor and a support network were found to be essential. The data also uncovered reasons for mentoring and being mentored; the usefulness of formal, informal, and reverse mentoring; and the impact of having too few women in the profession. Building trust revealed the importance of drawing the line, following through, communication, and inclusive leadership. The themes of organizational commitment, a shared vision, caring, ego, change, and characteristics of the profession were related to leadership styles. Observations supported three themes: preparation, active engagement, and social media presence. A total of three subthemes emerged: late in career, benefits, and succession and career development related to mentoring. </p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> This study identified participants&rsquo; perceived barriers as women in a male-dominated profession. Participants identified mentoring as essential for organizational and individual success. The research findings indicated that work ethic, compassion, equity, and professionalism are essential to building trust. The study highlighted effective leadership qualities women contribute to male-dominated professions aligned with transformational and authentic leadership. These findings assisted the researcher with outlining a plan for women to positively impact male-dominated professions. </p><p> <b>Recommendations:</b> The following are recommendations for further study: (1) include a larger sample of participants below rank of chief or sheriff; (2) include male perceptions of women leaders; (3) conduct a cross-sectional study to expand research in other organizations; and (4) conduct a longitudinal follow up study to further expand research.</p><p>

<p> This research investigates the sociological, psychological, and physiological factors known to affect women&rsquo;s career advancement opportunities. It examines how awareness and knowledge shared through the #MeToo (hashtag Me Too) movement influenced gender specific perceptions about the factors affecting women&rsquo;s workplace opportunities. Finally, it recommends measures to alter the divergent gender perceptions that remain an obstacle to gender equality in the workplace. </p><p> This study was conducted because gender inequalities continue in the U.S. workplace in 2018. Currently women fail to advance in careers at the same rate as men, and they are paid 21% less for similar work with equal skills and experience. Women comprise approximately 51% of the U.S. population and 47% of the workforce, so equality would dictate a one-to-one male to female ratio throughout all levels of government and private industry. The current male to female ratio in the U.S. Congress is four-to-one. The male to female executive ratio in Fortune 500 companies is three-to-one, and in the U.S. Government it is two-to-one. </p><p> The researcher conducted a mixed method experimental study by comparing pre- and post-treatment interview and survey data to determine how much awareness and knowledge shared through the #MeToo mass media event impacted gender specific perceptions of women&rsquo;s equality struggles in the workplace. The qualitative interview analysis indicated a moderate shift from divergent gender perceptions in Study 1 to convergent viewpoints in Study 2 following the #MeToo media events. </p><p> The quantitative analysis of pre- and post-treatment survey studies supported the qualitative findings and showed a 43% reduction in the gender perception gap in the post-event assessment. </p><p> With outcomes from three independent qualitative and quantitative investigations aligning, the researcher concluded the overall statistical results demonstrate a strong impact on men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s perceptions and a largely reduced gender perception gap following the #MeToo media events. Because it is unknown if those changes are permanent, the researcher believes future research could focus on awareness, education, and accountability initiatives to more adequately address gender equality problems in the workplace and bring about lasting change.</p><p>

<p> This research explores what happens to some men when, despite the best of intentions and heroic efforts on all sides, a marriage ends in divorce. Using a blend of alchemical hermeneutics and hermeneutic phenomenology, this qualitative study explores the lived experience of 5 heterosexual men who suffered psychologically in divorce. Divorce was examined from Freudian, Jungian, and archetypal perspectives using the depth psychological lenses of alchemy, mythology, and fairy tale. A hybrid method of qualitative analysis was created that incorporated the use of psychodrama to analyze the data. From the results of this study, the journey through divorce for suffering men can be seen as being comprised of 3 stages: a Coming Storm, a Tempest, and an Aftermath. The intrapsychic destruction experienced by many men in divorce was also viewed as an attempt at an undoing of the <i>hieros gamos</i>, or sacred marriage. From the results of this investigation, it is further postulated that such a divorce may be a psychological impossibility. The author&rsquo;s experience as a divorced man informs his observations and conclusions. </p><p>

<p> This participatory action research (PAR) described Restorative Justice (RJ) as a paradigm that supports the socio-emotional and behavioral development of students. Restorative practices are a framework for building school community, responding to challenging behavior using authentic dialogue, and accepting accountability to make things right. RJ is a philosophy that shifts from punitive discipline to an alternative, positive- based approach to discipline. Students of color have been disproportionately suspended from school, specifically Black male students. School suspensions lead to poor attendance, loss of instructional days, low academic achievement, and potentially to dropping out of high school. RJ is a proactive approach to transform schools and stakeholders into a positive school culture built on the foundation of community building, fairness, and justice. The purpose of this action research was to investigate and describe the experiences of 10 Black male 10th-grade students who participated in the restorative justice group. Participants engaged in a 6-week Restorative Justice Community Building Circle to develop social-emotional learning and to explore in-depth outcomes in the process. The following research questions were used to guide the study. 1. What is the experience of Black male students&rsquo; in restorative justice Community Building Circles? 2. To what extent did Black male students change during the Restorative Justice Community Building Circles in terms of social-emotional, behavioral, and academic outcomes? </p><p> This PAR provided a systematic approach to qualitative research. The findings were based on observations, semistructured interviews, and the interview protocol. The students expressed 6 predominate themes that showed relationships matters in the success of young Black male students. The participants reported that the RJ community building circle positively improved their self-perception and influenced their attitude and mind-set. The teacher-to-student and the student-to student relationship matters for the success of Black male students. The relationships teachers have with students appear to be related to student performance and academic achievement. The participants described the RJ group as a safe space that provided solidarity to express their personal views, thoughts, and emotions openly. The recommendations suggest how RJ can be embedded in school practices and how they can be used to address traumatic experiences of students.</p><p>

<p> The use of the Internet to gamble has become increasingly prevalent in recent years. Although researchers have suggested that adult Internet gamblers are at high risk for developing a gambling disorder, few studies, overall, have been conducted on the effects of Internet gambling. Furthermore, conflicting research exists regarding what moderates gambling-related problems. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if age, gender, and emotions prior to the gambling experience are related predictors of Internet problem gambling severity. A retrospective design was used. The pathways model was used to support the belief that emotions felt before an Internet gambling session are associated with the severity of the gambling problem. Data were obtained from adult Internet gamblers who had Internet gambled in the preceding week. One hundred and fifty participants completed an online survey about the emotions they felt before an Internet-gambling session and self-reported the negative consequences of their gambling. The survey contained demographic questions, questions from the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (to assess emotions felt before participants&rsquo; last Internet gambling session), and questions from the Problem Gambling Severity Index. The results of the multiple linear regression analysis were significant, indicating that, as a group, participants&rsquo; age, gender, and emotions felt prior to the gambling experience predicted their problem gambling severity. This study can assist with prevention, early intervention, and treatment of adult Internet gamblers.</p><p>