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Social, economic, and cultural changes in the 1970s brought about a level of anxiety as to what constituted masculine identity in an era of rising unemployment; diminishing paternal authority within the family; a feminising of the workplace accompanying technological development; and the insistence on 'equal rights' by homosexual, women's and racial minority groups. The feeling of panic that accompanied the rapid social change of the period was reflected in a body of mainstream American films that have come to categorise 'eighties cinema'. These films depicted a style of masculinity that centered on tough, muscular bodies; violence that was both sadistic and masochistic; sexuality that was simultaneously homophobic and homoerotic; patriarchy restored through a refigured father that incorporated the maternal; the creation of all-male worlds through the exclusion of the feminine; and a nostalgia for a stable masculine identity derived more from a fear of the future than a remembrance of the past. The representations of masculinity in these films can be seen as part of a New Right Movement, symptomatic of Reaganite values. The films can also be read as a postmodern play with the images of another generation, in an acting out of excessive cultural expectations. The movies' version of masculinity also offered a fantasy space, providing heroism and power as a counterpoint to dissatisfaction and impotence. In encompassing elements of all of these, a conservative role playing that offered the protection of fantasy and the fun of a game, the films functioned as masquerade. This group of films were a masculine masquerade, in that they were an enactment of a conservative version of masculinity that was a pleasurable game of excess, and at the same time a defence against anxiety in the face of changing social patterns. The masquerade disguised as a quest for the phallus, hiding both the desire, and the refusal, to renounce masculine social power / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis explores and identifies patterns of dating attitudes and behaviors among second-generation Chinese Americans. Grounded theory is applied to analyze data from in-depth interviews with 20 second-generation Chinese Americans in metro- Atlanta area. By using a social constructionist model of ethnicity, I uncovered a subtle process by which the second-generation Chinese youths constructed their dating values and identities through both differentiating and integrating their parents¡¯ and white peers¡¯ dating cultures and gender norms. Second-generation Chinese American youths constructed and reconstructed their own dating values, gender norms, and further ethnic identities through various processes of picking and choosing from both cultures. I argue that straight-line assimilation theories, which assume adaptation into mainstream American culture, do not explain the complexity of the dating culture created by the second-generation Chinese American youths. In conclusion, the findings of this study revealed a new dimension of the social construction of ethnic identity: the agentic dynamics of constructing the second-generation Chinese American identity.

The present thesis is a study of Robert Browning¡¦s male narrators in his dramatic monologues that deal with problematic man-woman relationships. Being a renovator of the poetic genre of dramatic monologue, Browning employs it to present men¡¦s innermost struggle and obscure emotions in love. While the Victorian gender stereotype emphasizes men¡¦s preoccupation with the business world, he demonstrates men¡¦s intense relation with love. In his poems depicting man-woman relationships, men¡¦s struggles are mainly caused by their eagerness to retain their masculinity, namely, the patriarchal order. This thesis is to explore the concept of masculinity in Browning¡¦s poems. It examines Browning¡¦s typical egoistic men and men¡¦s fantasy about women¡¦s passion. Browning¡¦s female narrators are also discussed to underscore the male-dominated viewpoint on man-woman relationships. Meanwhile it explores Browning¡¦s artist characters, including artists as narrators and not as narrators. Close textual analysis will be made of a selection of poems from Dramatic Lyrics (1842), Dramatic Romances and Lyrics (1845), Men and Women (1855), and Dramatis Personæ (1864) to see the poet¡¦s pondering upon men¡¦s twisted emotions.

The substance of this thesis is going to conduct Feminism into the research of female labor situation and current equal rights between two sexes through demonstration of Patriarchy and Feminism. To solve the straits and situation of female labor under the collusion of Patriarchy and Capitalism after analyzed the comparison of Feminism Legal Research and related references. Further, to expect our government can implement actually the equal rights between two sexes. When we discovered successfully the equal rights between two sexes in advanced countries, which have included all levels, the fluctuations of equal rights between both sexes are predominated by our Patriarchy government that cannot realize the core of female demand. And also any kind of protection strategies separated in different laws so result in much disadvantages and conflicts. Furthermore, the females suffer from unfair dual treatments of labor market and no-pay labor in domestic chores because of the logic of labor force and class construction, which are formed by conventional Patriarchy values and capitalism. In job market, the females have to face up to the traits of sexual discrimination, informally payment, sex harassment, pregnancy prevention, re-employee, personalize child care, and lack of female protection. However, under the backgrounds of political and economical structures and the pressure of interpretation of law made by the Grand Justice the woman movements were springing up lately and to supervise government to establish Gender Equality in Employment Law in accordance with the bases of the legal principles, so as to achieve the goal of implementing the equal rights for both sexes. The problems of Patriarchy have been broken progressively by Gender Equality in Employment Law and Sexual Harassment Prevention Law, in which include forbiddance of sexual discrimination employment equality, and sexual harassment prevention. It does not only integrate and make up lack of equal rights between two sexes by past, but also transform the ¡§Female Protection¡¨, which was forbidden by Patriarchy, to ¡§Gender Equality¡¨. Moreover, try to make reasonable for sexual discrimination and to achieve the purpose of gender equality. Although we have discovered actual situation that still not implement overall in our society, gender equality has changed and adjusted. Thus, to realize the gender subject is mutual responsibility and concept of two sexes, enterprises, and government. In a word, under the demonstration of Patriarchy and Feminism we disclose that the cultural hegemony and collusion of Patriarchy and Capitalism are the key points of obstructing the practice of equal rights for both sexes. Women groups have realized the idea of Feminism by means of Gender Equality in Employment Law and Sexual Harassment Prevention Law. Although there are many compromises and concessions in the process, they have broken the phenomenon of the predominant status and impediment of Patriarchy gradually, and the women issues are promoted to the category of public area to be discussed. The predicaments of women in families and jobs have received much attention. It is possible to realize the equal rights for both sexes and gender equality, and the day of accomplishing the equal rights for both sexes can be expected soon.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 325-340). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 325-340). Also available on the Internet.

After the honor killings of Fadime and Pela, an extensively discussion started in the media, debating honor-related violence and oppression. This debate also made us, the authours of this paper, to pay attention to the problem. As a professional in social work, there are several good points to be made by having an in-depth knowledge in the field, both to discover individuals exposed to honor-related violence and to be able to protect them. The study was conducted by four qualitative interviews with professionals in social work with a professional experience of honor-related problems. Through the interviews, the social worker's view of honor problems emerged. The overall aim of this paper was to analyze how professional social workers relate to the phenomenon of honor-related violence, and how the problems are made visible. A second aim was to show how social services can protect individuals exposed to honor-related violence based on current legislation. Our results demonstrate that the professionals' knowledge is critical to whether honor contexts are discovered and for its continuing work on these cases.

This thesis explores and identifies patterns of dating attitudes and behaviors among second-generation Chinese Americans. Grounded theory is applied to analyze data from in-depth interviews with 20 second-generation Chinese Americans in metro- Atlanta area. By using a social constructionist model of ethnicity, I uncovered a subtle process by which the second-generation Chinese youths constructed their dating values and identities through both differentiating and integrating their parents¡¯ and white peers¡¯ dating cultures and gender norms. Second-generation Chinese American youths constructed and reconstructed their own dating values, gender norms, and further ethnic identities through various processes of picking and choosing from both cultures. I argue that straight-line assimilation theories, which assume adaptation into mainstream American culture, do not explain the complexity of the dating culture created by the second-generation Chinese American youths. In conclusion, the findings of this study revealed a new dimension of the social construction of ethnic identity: the agentic dynamics of constructing the second-generation Chinese American identity.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1988. / Vita. Bibliography: leaves [256]-266.