Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-66). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Psy. D.)--Wheaton College, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 61-66).

No description available.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the interplay of dress and qualifications of physically impaired males in a simulated employment-screening situation. The research design was a 3 x 2 x 2 factorial, with the independent variables being applicant's appropriateness of dress (high, moderate, low), applicant's credentials (high, low) and respondent's sex (male, female). A physical impairment was simulated by having the model sit in a wheelchair. Hypotheses tested were that the independent variables (appropriateness of dress, credentials and respondent's sex) would not affect ratings on personal characteristics, assignment of entry level salary or decision to hire the applicant. Ninety-four persons employed in management positions rated, on five-point scales, a bogus physically impaired male job applicant. Folders containing instructions, a job description, a 5 x 7 inch color photograph of the applicant, a personal data sheet and the rating scales were randomly assigned to the respondents who evaluated only one job applicant. A three-way multivariate analysis of variance was performed on the eleven personal characteristics as a group. Both dress (F = 2.18, P < .0034) and credentials (F = 5.35, P < .0001) had a significant effect on ratings. The model was rated higher on all eleven personal characteristics when more appropriately dressed and with higher credentials. Sex of the respondent was not significant, nor were there significant interactions. Three-way analysis of variance was used to test the effect of the independent variables on recommendation to hire and entry level salary. Recommendation to hire was affected by dress (F = 13.47, P < .0001) and by credentials (F = 9.46, P < .0029). Entry level salary was affected by dress (F = 4. 00, P < 0.0220) but not by credentials (F = 3.26, P < 0.0745). Sex of the rater had no effect on either recoommendation to hire or entry level salary assignment. From the findings of the study, one may conclude that dress as well as credentials have a definite effect on decisions made during the job-screening process of a physically impaired job applicant. These findings support similar research with unimpaired job applicants and reinforce the importance of dress as a factor in self-presentation. / Ph. D.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 337-346).

This thesis aims to allow the meanings engendered by various black hairstyle choices to emerge as discursive texts with which to further explore issues of black identity in post-apartheid South Africa. It seeks to identify what, if any, new discursive spaces and possibilities are operational in the post-apartheid capitalist context, and how identities are moulded by, and in tum, influence these possibilities. Operating within a discourse analytic approach, this research did not intend to establish fixed and generalisable notions of identity, but by unpacking the discursive baggage attached to historically loaded subjectivities it is concerned with reflecting identity as an ongoing and reflexive project. Entailing a diverse selection of texts, the analysis includes self-generated texts (stemming from interviews, a focus group and participant observation), and public domain texts (stemming from online and print media articles). Chapters 5 - 9 constitute the textual analysis. Using a consumer hair care product as a text, chapter 5 serves as an introduction to discourses surrounding black hair as a variously constructed object. This focus is concerned, more specifically, with the construction of black hair as a 'natural' object in chapter 6. Chapter 7 examines black hair gemonies and the " problematic classification and de/classification of class and consumer identities. Discourses pertaining to the construction and positioning of gendered and sexual subjectivities are explored in chapter 8. Finally, chapter 9 is concerned with the operations of discourses as they function to construct essentialised or hybrid conceptions of identity. The implications for black identity construction in post-apartheid South Africa are discussed in chapter 10 alongside a deconstruction of the research method and researcher positioning.

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Technology: Graphic Design, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2014. / The aim of this study was to investigate how images of women in the media that espouse women’s empowerment can indeed have the opposite effect and may even contribute to lowered self-esteem in women. To this end, this project is intended to explore issues such as body image and image manufacture in order to find a possible answer to the question of what is ‘real beauty’ in the South African context. A semiotic approach seeking to review the ways in which women are seen through visual communicative images was undertaken. This visual research revealed the importance of the ‘gendered gaze’ at the centre of issues that relate to self-esteem. An in-depth analysis of the literature, pertaining to self-esteem, interrogated the works of Naomi Wolf, John Berger and Susie Orbach, amongst others. This was carried out in order to understand more about how the dictates of consumerism pervade the work of the style industries. These sectors are well supported by the diet, food and cosmetic surgery industries who tend to effectively increase and add to a sense of body related insecurities. In addition, content analysis of selected South African editions of Cosmopolitan magazine was conducted. The images described represents a significant development period in the emergence of certain beauty ideals in South Africa. The British Unilever marketing campaign, The Dove Campaign For Real Beauty, was used as a base model for the applied design component of this study. In addition an action research approach was employed through a series of interviews and questionnaires directed at mostly female participants in South Africa. This method revealed that self-esteem issues have far reaching implications, affecting women of all ages. As a response to the perceived need for a South African based campaign, this research project informed the development of The Sisterhood Self-Esteem Crusade. In contrast to The Dove Campaign For Real Beauty which was created to promote increased sales of beauty products, The Sisterhood Self-Esteem Crusade’s focus is to interrogate and raise awareness of self-esteem. Underpinning this was an attempt to build confidence, cascade new ways of understanding and to propagate sense making, informed through action research, amongst South African women.

Medicalization has been discussed at length in the sociology of health and illness literature. Typically, dialogue has centered on the effects of medicalization and the process as a phenomenon in professional fields alone. This work is an attempt to study medicalization using a theoretical model, structuration, that allows for inclusion of the larger social system in understanding health system changes and to include consumers of health services in the process as active agents. The example of oral aesthetics provides an opportunity to identify the agents of change, the process of medicalization in the larger social context, and possible indicators of the phenomenon. An attempt to operationalize the complex concept of medicalization marks a move toward creating testable theoretical models for the variety of behaviors and conditions under study as medicalized. Using content analysis of professional dental journals and lay magazines and a review of system rules and resources, shifts in language use and the emergence of medical frameworks were documented to determine if a medicalization of oral aesthetics had occurred. Results show two distinct periods within the last century when oral aesthetics have been medicalized in the United States. Evidence of turn-taking behavior among the agents is noted as well as the relationship of technology and technological language to the process. A model for future testing is suggested that encompass the identified agents, the language and framework, and the elements of social context.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-07-03T13:33:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Karen Grujicic Marcelja.pdf: 2715983 bytes, checksum: 131845be0c822deffdc02983f3eb40a0 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-03T13:33:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Karen Grujicic Marcelja.pdf: 2715983 bytes, checksum: 131845be0c822deffdc02983f3eb40a0 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-04-09 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / For centuries, discourses about beauty have involved the female body in delicate power relations, in addition to transforming it into the object of consumption and desire in different societies. In the last decades, the body has gained even more importance with the possibility of aesthetic and surgical interventions for beauty and physical performance. For all this, the figure of the fat, the potbellied and the sedentary became an indication of failure before so many possibilities of beauty, health and success released by advertising and the media and general. However, since the early 2000s something has been changing in this discourse. Blogs, social networks and other alternative media have been releasing a more optimistic message about obesity. Without apologies to fat, Internet encourages self-love and the end of suffering caused by useless diets and treatments to lose weight. These channels are lead by young women who are supposed to have learned to like themselves and to overcome issues such as prejudice, lack of accessibility and representativeness. Some bloggers already add up to hundreds of thousands of followers and have achieved good advertising contracts thanks to their power of influence on social networks. A good part of this positive discourse is fashion, which already sees in people considered to be overweight an important lode for business. The so-called fashion plus size, as the segment was named, today moves the fashion industry more than any other, and already has events, parades, stylists and own models, all increasingly sought after. Even in the face of this new scenario in relation to obesity, is it possible to imagine that the changes have come to stay? This paper discusses a bit of the history of the fat body and the building of beauty standards, as well as the paradigms that social networks and mass culture are helping to break down by proposing the notion that it is possible to have extra kilos and be beautiful and, above all, happy / Há séculos, os discursos sobre beleza envolvem o corpo feminino em delicadas relações de poder, além de transformá-lo em objeto de consumo e desejo em diferentes sociedades. Nas últimas décadas, o corpo ganhou ainda mais importância com a possibilidade de intervenções estéticas e cirúrgicas em prol da beleza e do rendimento físico. Por tudo isso, a figura do gordo, do barrigudo e do sedentário virou um indicativo de fracasso diante de tantas possibilidades de beleza, saúde e sucesso divulgadas pela publicidade e pela mídia e geral. No entanto, desde o início dos anos 2000 algo vem mudando nesse discurso. Blogs, redes sociais e outras mídias alternativas vêm divulgando uma mensagem mais otimista em relação à obesidade. Sem apologias à gordura, o que se vê na Internet são incentivos ao amor próprio e o fim do sofrimento causado por dietas inúteis e tratamentos para emagrecer. O que se vê nesses canais são jovens que supostamente aprenderam a gostar de si mesmas e a superar questões como preconceito, falta de acessibilidade e representatividade. Algumas blogueiras já somam centenas de milhares de seguidores e conseguiram bons contratos publicitários graças ao seu poder de influência nas redes sociais. Boa parte desse discurso positivo passa pela moda, que já enxerga nas pessoas consideradas acima do peso um filão importante para os negócios. A chamada moda plus size (tamanhos grandes, em inglês), como foi batizado o segmento, hoje movimenta a indústria da moda mais do que qualquer outro, e já conta com eventos, desfiles, estilistas e modelos próprios, todos cada vez mais requisitados. Mesmo diante desse novo cenário em relação à obesidade, é possível imaginar que as mudanças vieram para ficar? Este trabalho discute um pouco do histórico em relação ao corpo gordo e à construção de padrões de beleza, bem como os paradigmas que as redes sociais e a cultura de massas estão ajudando a quebrar ao propor a noção de que é possível ter quilos a mais e ser bonita e, sobretudo, feliz

This research project examines the experiences of women who have undergone elective cosmetic breast surgery. Drawing from qualitative in-depth interviews with twenty four women, this study examines why these women were willing to undergo dangerous and invasive cosmetic surgery procedures to change the appearance of their breasts. It is argued that although the women exercised agency in their decision-making, their choices were severely constrained by a culture that rewards women for conforming to feminine beauty norms, and sanctions those who do not. The women’s experiences further reveal that their decisions often “cut both ways.” These women’s decisions “cut both ways,” because while the women acquired personal benefits, these came with significant physical and emotional costs. Finally, it “cuts both ways,” because while these women personally benefited, their decisions result in the reproduction of the current beauty system and uphold the unjust feminine beauty norms on which it is based. / viii, 228 leaves ; 29 cm.