<p> Conversations about racism and sexism have a history of volatility, and within America&rsquo;s current social and political climate it is no different. Both of these institutions are part of the social makeup of American culture and are based on the premise of one group holding a superior position over another. White individuals may not purposefully set out to behave in racist or sexist ways, but the fact is, white values, manners, and habits take precedence and priority in American culture. Evidence abounds. One example is the commercials that run in the media. The products, actors, and messages are focused on white priorities. Another is in the history of our country, which was written by Anglo-American men and therefore contains a preponderance of detail on the nation&rsquo;s incredible growth through their viewpoints. It is also seen in literature and conversation. If a male or female is referenced, it is assumed they are white; if not, the speaker will place a descriptor of color before the gendered term. Within the institutions of race and sex, the ranking of superiority begins with white men and ends with Black women. The Black male and white female change places depending on the agenda of the white male. For example, if his attention is on male issues, the Black male will rank higher than the white female; the reverse is true if race is the focus. This patriarchal culture began with predominately Anglo-Saxon men making themselves at home in a country that was new to them. For centuries, they were able to keep their position as the dominant presence by force and will. The point is not to create a hatefest on white patriarchy but rather to recognize and understand it for what it has been and how it has formed our culture. </p><p>

<p> This paper explores the patriarchal ideologies present in the top three grossing films of each year from 2000 to 2011and how these messages work to continue the subordination and oppression of women. The movies studied have been grouped into three genres: animated, action, and science fiction/fantasy. Within each of these genres the presentation of the heterosexual romance-marriage-family ideal, violence against women and the men as protectors narrative, and the depiction of men as being the only capable leaders are explored. The analysis of each genre specifically concentrates on one of these narratives, as each genre was found to place an emphasis on one particular ideological message. This paper further addresses how these films and the ideologies they are presenting in regards to women can be seen as a sort of backlash or counter-narrative to gains made by the women's liberation movement of the 1960s to early 1980s. </p>

<p> African American males are killed by gun violence at a greater risk than any other ethnic group, leaving African Americans mothers to cope with grief at disproportionately high rates. A phenomenological method was used to explore the lived experiences of African American women whose sons were killed by gun violence in Philadelphia using Rando&rsquo;s (1993) six &ldquo;R&rdquo; processes of complicated grief theory as a framework. Six themes emerged from the research: faith and spirituality, giving back to the community, personal relationships with others after the death of a son, connections with son after death, worldview, and double grief. Many of these findings indicate that mothers experience and struggle through the &ldquo;R&rdquo; processes of grief; they also experience a unique conflict the researcher has termed double grief, the phenomenon of grieving for oneself and for the mother of the perpetrator. This new concept emerged from the research and is discussed along with recommendations and ideas for future research.</p><p>

<p> The strong black woman (SBW) phenomenon was explored in college-educated African American women in the Los Angeles region. Quantitative measures indicated that these women averaged high levels of stress, depression, and perceived racism. Qualitative data derived from short open-ended questions yielded eight themes describing both the positive aspects of being a SBW (being a role model for family and community, and feeling empowered), as well as its negative aspects (prejudice, internalized bias, stress, masking, self-neglect, and relational strain). Correlational and regression analyses explored the relationships among the quantitative and qualitative variables. Clinical and research implications and recommendations were discussed.</p>

<p> Literary scholars have been examining and recreating the experiences of &ldquo;bonded&rdquo; female characters within Toni Morrison&rsquo;s novels for decades. However, the distinct experiences of these enslaved women, that are also mothers have not been astutely examined by scholars and deserves more attention. My thesis fleshes out the characterization of several of Morrison&rsquo;s bonded-mothers and identifies them as a part of a developing controlling image and theory, called the bondmother. Situating these characters within this category allows readers to trace their journeys towards freedom and personal redemption. This character tracing will occur by examining the following Toni Morrison novels: <i>Beloved</i> (1987) and <i> Paradise</i> (1997). In order to fully examine the experiences of these characters it will be necessary for me to expand the definition of bondage and mother.</p>

<p> In the past four decades, women and African Americans have made great strides in the labor market, breaking the proverbial glass ceiling as well as climbing the corporate ladder. Despite scholarly studies revealing those strides across work domains, the influences of race and gender that continue to exist for African American women in the workplace&mdash;particularly when it comes to the law enforcement field&mdash;have not been studied extensively. </p><p> The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the influence of ethnicity and gender in African American women who were working as criminal investigators in federal law enforcement through the theoretical lens of identity theory and career decision-making. This study employed a phenomenological approach to capture the rich, thick descriptive summaries of participants&rsquo; experiences and convert those findings into emergent themes that accurately described the participants&rsquo; interpretation of those events. Moreover, the researcher used a modified version of Seidman&rsquo;s (2006) three-interview structure for this study.</p><p> There were six findings in this study. First, perceptions of identity, in terms of race and gender or the combination of the two, did not hinder the participants in succeeding in their role as a criminal investigator. Second, participants experienced a variety of issues and challenges as a result of a combination of race and gender in regards to lack of respect, lack of support, and lack of guidance relevant to completing their duties and responsibilities. Third, five factors influenced participants&rsquo; choice of a career as a criminal investigator. Fourth, participants had a difficult time separating their identity as an African American and as a woman. Fifth, many participants perceived that training was a tool that better equipped them for doing the job. Sixth, and lastly, participants made decisions based on following the rules, regulations, and orders that governed the agency.</p><p> This study contributes to the body of research on African American female criminal investigators (and women as a whole) in federal law enforcement. Furthermore, the findings in this study have given these participants a voice. </p>

Thesis (M.A.)--Lehigh University, 2009. / Adviser: Monica Najar.

<p> This project considers questions of religious othering in the contemporary United States through the lens of popular post-religious narratives. These narratives salaciously depict mistreated women in order to demarcate certain religions as deviant; authors and pundits then use these narratives in order to justify outside intervention in specific religious communities. By closely analyzing a selection of contemporary narratives written about women from Muslim and fundamentalist Mormon communities with special attention to both the feminist enactments and tropes of captivity which permeate these texts, this project challenges simplistic portrayals of religious Others. In doing so, the analysis draws the reader's attention to the uncanny imitations in many of these texts: in arguing that certain religions "capture" their female adherents, authors of contemporary captivity narratives silence the voices of women whose stories they seek to illuminate. The dissertation also explores the ambivalent content of many of these narratives. When read against the grain, captivity literature offers surprising opportunities for nuanced explorations of religion, gender and agency.</p>

<p> Black people's denial of bondage and colonial domination set the tone and frame for much of contemporary resistance to community and state violence. Like then, as it is today many individuals and groups are focused on dismantling the aspects of the system that oppress them. In Oakland Black women are working amongst themselves and in coalitions to dismantle the prison industrial complex, community violence, and other manifestations of institutionalized oppression. These women show a deep commitment to reversing the legitimatized abuse of state power and high instances of community and state violence in Black urban lives. </p><p> Violence, like any other disease, has the potential to seep into the cracks of every community and in the lives of every individual that it touches. Like a virus, violence travels through the various arteries of a family network or city streets and finds one more person to potentially infect with disengagement, a lack of self worth and the perpetuation of violation that plagues the community. In Oakland, the roots of violence are tied to historical realities, social inequity and structural barriers to opportunity that have left low-income communities and communities of color disproportionately experiencing and witnessing high rates of violence. </p><p> Because of this Black women in Oakland are familiar to instances of high murder rates, mass incarceration and racial profiling. In a qualitative research project I (1) explore the impact of state and community violence in the lives of Black women in Oakland; (2) examine the potential social and political conditions that contribute to the perpetuation of these experiences and (3) provide recommendations for community and systems change.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative research methods study with empirical phenomenological research design was to explore the lived experiences of the African American females compared to other populations entering engineering or other Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program in colleges. Although African American females have made some strides in educational achievements, there continues to significantly less progress in engineering and other STEM disciplines. Many occupations in the science, technology, engineering, and math fields require degrees in STEM to be considered for interviews and eventual employment. The African American female population in order to be more successful in engineering or other STEM programs it will be necessary to understand what barriers may exist that hinder positive results on an ongoing basis. The general problem of low numbers of female minority college students in STEM programs continues to create concerns for administrators and instructors. Proper evaluation and recommended improvements are needed to improve success rates for the African American female students. The goal of this research was to interview approximately 20 &ndash; 25 African America female college students in engineering and other STEM programs to identify what obstacles may exist that might hinder their success in these programs and make recommendations for improvements in the future.</p>