<p> Depression is a serious mental disorder with prominence in the literature, but information on its manifestation in males has been overlooked until fairly recently. Attention should be paid to depression for several reasons, including the risk of suicide. The presentation of depressed males differs from that of depressed females. They may display additional symptoms not typically associated with depression, such as anger, hostility, withdrawal and substance abuse, and may not show sadness or tearfulness. Men's reluctance to seek help, and the strong association between shame and depression, make detection even more difficult. Research suggested that families in which fathers display negativistic parenting practices, such as hostility and low levels of warmth, suffer undesirable outcomes. Conflict resolution strategies may be impaired in depressed men, and there is research available showing that depression is correlated with marital discord. Men with depression may also be at risk for substance abuse disorders, intimate partner violence, and child maltreatment. Cultural factors may affect manifestation of depression, and cultural background and adherences should be considered when working with depressed men.</p>

<p> With the &ldquo;controlling images&rdquo; of the Jezebel, the Mammy, and the Sapphire constantly reiterated in movies, television shows, and popular culture, serving the interests of what bell hooks has identified as white supremacist, capitalist patriarchy, a consumer has to wonder if there is any way for Black women performers to thrive and empower other Black women while working within these constricting institutions. Although pop culture is the predominant cultural space where these controlling images and stereotypes have been reproduced there are many Black female entertainers who attempt to challenge and undermine such representations.</p><p> Scholars such as hooks and Patricia Hill Collins introduce us to the diverse forms of black feminists and black feminism by showing how black women from all walks of life produce and engage black feminist practice. In common cultural discourse, however artists such as Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Janelle Monae, Meshell Ndeogeocello are upheld as leading black feminist entertainers of our contemporary period while artists Nicki Minaj and Beyonc&eacute; are denounced as disempowering to black women and merely reproducing dominant racist, sexist, and hetero-normative stereotypes of black women.</p><p> Much Black Feminist scholarship has focused on Black women&rsquo;s resistance to the patriarchal, racist structures that continue to police and attempt to restrain Black women&rsquo;s bodies and freedom within material social and political realms, but less scholarship focuses on the ways in which Black female entertainers produce Black feminist knowledge and empowerment within the realms of pop culture.</p><p> The purpose of this study is not to show how Badu and Monae are the best examples of &ldquo;true&rdquo; Black feminism in the entertainment industry and how artists like Minaj and Knowles are tools of white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchy. The purpose is to take the expansions of Black feminism that Collins, Davis, hooks, and several other Black feminist intellectuals, have articulated in order to reflect the broad ways in which Black feminism plays out in the popular music industry and to argue against the grain of critiques of popular culture to demonstrate how, despite its limitations, this realm of cultural representation and performance can be emancipatory for black women.</p>

This research explores transformative learning occurring through the Farmer Field Schools of the Taita Hills, Kenya using a qualitative, case study approach. The findings reveal that cultural roles and premises profoundly impacted learning and that a mixed-group setting could contribute to closing the gap between gender inequalities, leading to a more just and sustainable type of agriculture.

<p> The purpose of this project was to develop a potential psycho-education group for trans gender and gender variant (TGV) adolescents in need of services based on the most recent literature. A search for a funder was conducted using the Long Beach Nonprofit Partnership Library and the local LGBTQ Center of Long Beach. The grant-funded support group will target TGV adolesents age 13 to 17 in need of resources including, but not limited to a safer environment, social and medial transition support, legal aid, and mental health support. The goals of the project include increased support, increased mental health, and increased community outreach. The actual submission and funding of this grant was not a requirement for the successful completion of the thesis project. </p>

<p> Liberal feminist theorists such as Martha Nussbaum restrict agency to conventional strategies, but in this dissertation I claim that feminists need to understand the value of other, unconventional performative tactics that can open up feminism to radical interventions. I not only support Judith Butler's claim about the need for "non-state-centered forms of agency and resistance" but also historicize the emergence of nonliberal strategies of political contestation, particularly in Victorian feminist activism. Although Victorian feminists are traditionally associated with liberalism, and figures such as John Stuart Mill and Josephine Butler have been used to criticize post-structuralist theorists, I show that some of their practices and interventions reveal a radical, nonliberal aspect to their feminism that strengthens the post-structuralist call for creative and innovative practices of democratic action. Nineteenth-century activists imagined various types of sexual and affective relationships that undermined the privileged role of the institution of marriage. They also used shaming and humiliating language to challenge traditional gender roles and produce profound social transformations. </p><p> Building on the activism of these Victorian feminists, I develop a conception of agency that politicizes tactics such as the use of shame, humiliation, silence, and nonconventional relationships. Because the liberal understanding of shame is insufficient, I offer an alternative queer conception that challenges the perception of shame as destructive. The central element of this conception is that shame not only generates negative feelings and low self-esteem but also has an important capacity to provoke political activism, such as strategies for resignifying political norms that excluded sex and gender marginals.</p>

<p> The aims of this microhistory are to provide a narrative concerning the possession of Southern masculinities and to untangle the hegemonic, convergent, and divergent forms of these identities that played out on the plantation stages. As this essay will show, the plantation stages were the sites where Southern men engaged in their most heated and personal conflicts over what was theirs and why. This thesis brings gendered selves to the forefront of conflict: the Southern men at the top of the plantation system fought to maintain their power through continuous assertions and redefinitions of their hegemonic masculinities. Thus, any man, regardless of his class or his race, could rise to the top of this symbolic status quo&mdash;for even just an instant. What ensued was an increasingly unstable hierarchy imposed by the planter standing on top, the black slave chained to the bottom, and other white men fighting or subtly negotiating their way up. Though challenged daily by enslaved black men and women, as well as the white men in their employ, the success of planters' masculinities in possessing what opposed them kept their ideal alive.</p>

<p> Victoria N&amacr;lani Kneubuhl, a prolific playwright and novelist, has become quite well-known for her works in critical dramatization of Hawai'i's colonial past, most often representing the Hawaiian Islands' cultural-socio-political changes through the thoughts and actions of doubly-marginalized female-indigenous Hawaiian characters. Four selected historiographical plays, clearly illustrating the crucial role of women in the formation of Hawai'i's past, present the juxtaposition of the indigenous culture with the onset and continuation of the effects of Americanization on the Hawaiian Islands--most notably excessive tourism and military use affecting the culture and the land. Kneubuhl's texts, as well as the performance of her plays and works of living history, are both educational and provoke contemplation. Three of the four plays under consideration in this research are gathered in the anthology, Hawai'i Nei: Island Plays. These include <i>The Conversion of Ka`ahumanu</i> (set in the 1820's), <i> Emmalehua</i> (set in 1951), and <i>Ola N&amacr; Iwi</i> (1994). The fourth, a living history play, <i>January 1893</i>, was produced and performed in January of 1993 on historic sites in Honolulu as part of the 100th year commemoration of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. </p><p> An informed analysis of these discourses--political, social, moral, religious and spiritual--adds a strong voice to the current conversation concerning Hawai'i's right to exercise self-determination. Kneubuhl's four selected plays illustrate Hawai'i's resistance to colonization beginning with the arrival of the American Protestant missionaries in 1820, and portray highlights of the outcomes of the cultural clash between Native Hawaiians and the intruding foreigners who desire to claim the land and govern it. </p><p> The idea of <i>voice</i> runs as a strong thread through these four major plays--specifically the feminine voice as illustrated by the central female figure(s) in each. Kneubuhl's use of dramatic performance constitutes an effective strategy in producing a wider range of enlightened understanding regarding Hawai'i's history, portraying Hawai'i's ruling class (ali`i) as strong, wise, insightful leaders. By engaging viewers of her plays (and readers of her published works) in active emotional and intellectual participation, Kneubuhl creates an opportunity to rethink or reform opinions regarding Hawai'i's past. Her plays continue to promote a more open-minded discourse that acts to preserve and renew Hawai'i's unique indigenous culture, and to consider or reconsider Hawai'i's social-political future and place in the world. Kneubuhl's works, a type of protest literature, tend to produce a sense of indignation concerning the greed, injustice, and illegality of many acts of the past that have had an adverse impact on the Islands and the Native Hawaiian people. Kneubuhl's dramatic works support sovereignty through education, helping to increase understanding of Hawai'i's true history. The aim is to create more informed discussion and debates on the topic of sovereignty.</p>

<p> Employing a critical discourse analysis as a methodology, the study provides information into the intersection of male student development, video games, and two-year higher education institutions. Using a sample of 13 participants, this research study examines how male students at two year higher education instructions use video games to construct their masculinity. This study provides evidence that college men construct multiple definitions of masculinity by playing video games. Further, the benefits explored include academic and workplace strategies for success. Finally, opportunities for two year institutions to further engage this student population is included.</p>

<p> Colonial legacies affect neocolonial experiences of conflict in the 20th and 21st centuries. A critical and comprehensive appreciation of the global "war on terror" reveals terrorism "from above'" (state-sponsored terrorism) as a growing issue in the international community. Further, women's varied experiences within communities of resistance are often undermined, ignored, or maligned within formal research on conflict and peace. Liberation psychologists are called to align with oppressed, marginalized, and suffering communities. To this end, this work explores the experience of women political prisoners of the Irish conflict for independence from Great Britain. A qualitative critical psychosocial analysis was used to understand the phenomenology of women's political imprisonment through the firsthand narratives of Republican women imprisoned during the "Troubles" of Northern Ireland. The intention of this study was to 1) provide an analysis of power and its connection to social conditions, 2) to provide a psychological analysis of how oppression may breed resistance in communities struggling for liberation, and 3) to explore the gendered experience of Irish women political prisoners. The results indicated that political imprisonment may be understood as a microcosm of oppression and liberation, and the subjective experience of political prisoners may glean insights into how communities develop critical consciousness, organize politically, resist oppression, and meaningfully participate in recognizing their human rights. Additionally, this research challenged the exclusion of women's voices as members of resistance movements and active agents in both conflict and peace building and challenged the failure to investigate state-sponsored terrorism, or terrorism from above.</p>

<p> Demonstrations in response to the harsh austerity budget in Greece which cut valuable government services, and the civil unrest in Athens specifically, are an outward, visible response to economic crisis. In an androcentric society such as Greece, women are disproportionately affected by the austerity measures because of the feminization of budget cuts. This ethnographic study explores how middle class women in Athens are coping economically, politically and socially in a national and global financial crisis. Through studying middle class Greek women, one can intensively illustrate the faults of neoliberal economic policies that pride themselves on the creation of the so-called middle class while simultaneously eliminating it. This research examines the survival strategies and adaptation methods of middle class women in Athens as well as placing them within the global economic context further displaying the fallacy of neoliberal economic policies as an economic growth agenda.</p>