This thesis submission is a collection of short stories about women and the many ways women create identities for themselves in popular culture. Each of the main characters are painfully self-conscious, but still unaware of how carefully they have created their own personas. In “For the Sake of Anonymity,” “Annie” learns that a sweater set can have a mind of its own. In “The Voice of Reason,” Lauren defines herself against her sister. “The New You” and “Developing Chloe” both show characters who consciously create new personas for themselves through superficial changes. “Sensible People” is a story about a woman who decides to finally let her real self come out from her past. / Thesis / Master

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-163).

Made available in DSpace on 2014-07-29T16:27:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacaoo Aline Soares Lima.pdf: 6312597 bytes, checksum: dcf48198d022656685ddd224abba21e7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-07-07 / This study investigates the self representations of transvestites in orkut and constitutive elements of their (cyber)identities, having the visuality as the focus and determinant axis. For this, the emphasis is given to pictures and self portraits, present in albums of their profiles on the site. We are interested in understanding what is the image they construct of themselves from physical reconstructions, aesthetic formulations, costumes, scenery, performances and a whole network of symbolic meaning which is important for them. Orkut, like many other social environments of the internet, comprehends speeches and narratives of individuals and social groups that describe, identify and represent themselves of the most varied ways and with the most diverse goals and interests. In order to understand how the self representations of transvestites are built on orkut, it was investigated initially some communities with trans thematic, then it was selected the profiles of two transvestites, with whom interviews were also conducted. Although this study focuses on the self representations in the orkut, other environments in cyberspace have been researched, as blogs and sites for transvestites. We conclude that there are multiple ways to represent transvestitely, not just the stereotypical, stigmatized and marginalized representations widespread by the media / Esse estudo investiga as autorrepresentações de travestis no orkut e os elementos constitutivos de suas (ciber)identidades, tendo como foco e eixo determinante a sua visualidade. Para isso, a ênfase é dada aos retratos e autorretratos, presentes nos álbuns de seus perfis no site. Interessa-nos entender qual é a imagem que constroem de si a partir de reconstruções corporais, de formulações estéticas, vestimentas, cenários, performances e de toda uma rede de significação simbólica que para elas importa. O orkut, assim como tantos outros ambientes de sociabilidade na internet, comporta discursos e narrativas de indivíduos e grupos sociais que se descrevem, se identificam e se autorrepresentam das mais variadas maneiras e com os mais diversos objetivos e interesses. Para compreender como se constituem as autorrepresentações de travestis no orkut, investigou-se inicialmente algumas comunidades com temática trans, selecionando-se em seguida os perfis de duas travestis, com as quais foram realizadas também entrevistas. Embora esse estudo focalize as autorrepresentações presentes no orkut, outros ambientes no ciberespaço foram pesquisados, como blogs e sites de travestis, para estabelecer um diálogo mais abrangente. Assim, o que se pode perceber é que há uma pluralidade de existências e representações possíveis das travestilidades, diferentemente do que as representações estereotípicas, estigmatizantes e marginalizantes, provenientes de distintas instituições sociais, sobretudo das mídias, podem fazer crer

The presented doctoral thesis examines character and significance of the culture of martyrdom (farhang-e shahadat) in contemporary Iranian society with a particular emphasis on delimitation religious-political dimension of this phenomenon and determination of causes and implications of relatively recent reinterpretation which has radically shifted this culture from the religious-spiritual sphere to the political-ideological and even revolutionary. On the one hand, the thesis deals with a complex view of mechanism and manners of the utilization of the Karbala paradigm as the instrument for formulation of politically (and otherwise) motivated aims by different spectres of power structures of the ruling establishment and diverse oppositional social movements and on the other hand it reflects its apolitical standpoint associated with a spiritual experience of believers, which proceeds from the popular religion. These aspects of the political and religious boundary of the culture of martyrdom are examined in detail and given in the context of current socio-political reality. The thesis also strives for presenting of arguments founded on the premise which defines the culture of martyrdom as an essential source for constructing of identities and strengthening of solidarity among Iranian Imami Shi'ites,...

Cette recherche vise à cerner la complexité du concept du soi (heauton) dans la philosophie stoïcienne de l’empereur Marc Aurèle. Dans un premier temps, il s’agira de poser les bases de la physique stoïcienne qui nous permettent de saisir le paradoxe de l’existence d’individualités singulières au sein du grand Tout universel. Nous étudierons, pour ce faire, la théorie corporéiste stoïcienne ainsi que les concepts d’idia poiotês et d’oikeiôsis forgés par l’ancien stoïcisme, mais aussi la prohairesis épictéenne. Cela nous conduira à traiter du concept d’hêgemonikon central dans la conception du soi chez Marc Aurèle. Dans un deuxième temps, nous aborderons les caractéristiques de la partie dirigeante de l’âme par l’entremise de l’étude des disciplines du soi et de son altérité intérieure. Ainsi nous verrons comment le soi ne se présente pas comme un donné fixe, mais comme un espace relationnel en développement constant. Finalement, nous nous pencherons sur la question de la construction du soi, ce qui nous mènera à considérer l’importance du travail sur soi pour l’empereur Marc Aurèle. La problématique qui guidera notre recherche est celle qui vise à saisir ce qui constitue essentiellement le soi alors que celui-ci se présente comme un espace en aménagement constant, ouvert à l’altérité et qui n’est pas donné une fois pour toutes, mais construit. / This research aims to identify the complexity of the concept of the self in the Stoic philosophy of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. First, we will lay the bases of Stoic physics which allow us to grasp the paradox of the existence of singular individualities within the great universal Whole. To do this, we will study the Stoic corporeist theory as well as the concepts of idia poiotês and oikeiôsis forged by ancient Stoicism, but also the Epictean prohairesis. This will lead us to address the concept of hêgemonikon which is central in the conception of the self for Marcus Aurelius. Secondly, we will approach the characteristics of the ruling part of the soul through the study of the disciplines of the self and its interior otherness. Thus, we will see how the self is not a fixed datum, but a relational space in constant evolution. Finally, we will address the question of self-construction, which will lead us to consider the importance of the work on oneself for Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The question that will guide our research is to grasp what essentially constitutes the self when it is presented as a space in constant development, open to otherness and which is not given once and for all but constructed.