Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This thesis sought to understand the messages Black women receive from contemporary images and how these messages may be used to help them develop a sense of womanhood. The framework for the analysis used in this research lies within the feminist standpoint theory and Black feminist thought. The interviews conducted for this research helped to reveal that young Black women recognize patterns within the images of Black women in contemporary media. The images help them to understand the treatment of Black women and about the Black women they want to be.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 254-288). Examines language used by general practitioners and in mass media to ask 'what are the implications of constructions of menopause for health care practice and public health for women at menopause?'. Presents the findings of qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with nine general practitioners working in rural South Australia and qualitative and quantitative analyses of 345 south Australian newspaper articles from 1986 to 1998.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 254-288). / x, 288 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Examines language used by general practitioners and in mass media to ask 'what are the implications of constructions of menopause for health care practice and public health for women at menopause?'. Presents the findings of qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with nine general practitioners working in rural South Australia and qualitative and quantitative analyses of 345 south Australian newspaper articles from 1986 to 1998. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Public Health, 2001?

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Social Science, Discipline of Gender Studies, 2004. / "April 2004" Includes bibliographical references (leaves 439-471).

Women's magazines are popular cultural forms which offer readers representations intended to advise women on how to work towards and achieve idealised femininities. They perform such a function within the wider socio-historical context of gender relations. In a country such as South Africa, where patriarchal gender relations have historically been structured to favour men over women and masculinity over femininity, the representation of femininity in contemporary women's magazines may serve to reinforce or challenge these existent unequal gender relations. Informed by a feminist poststructuralist understanding of the gendered positioning of subjects through discourse, this study is a textual analysis that investigates the subject positions or possible identities offered to readers of Destiny, a South African business and lifestyle women's magazine. Black women, who make up the majority of Destiny's readership, have historically been excluded from the formal economy. In light of such a background, Destiny offers black women readers, through its representations of well-known business women, possible identities to take up within the white male dominated field of business practice. The magazine also offers 'lifestyle content', which suggests to readers possible ways of being in other areas of social life. Through a method of critical discourse analysis, this study critically analyses the subject positions offered to readers of Destiny, in order to determine to what extent the magazine's representations of business women endorse or confront unequal gender relations. The findings of this study are that Destiny offers women complex subject positions which simultaneously challenge and reassert patriarchy. While offering readers positions from which to challenge race based gender discrimination – a legacy of the apartheid past – the texts analysed tend to neglect non-racially motivated gender prejudice. It is concluded that although not comprehensively challenging unequal gender relations, the magazine whittles away some tenets of patriarchy.

Univ. of Iowa, Diss. u.d.T.: Rolón-Collazo, Lisette: Voces múltiples de resistencia: Mujer y representación en la producción de Carmen Martin Gaite--Iowa City, 1997.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study is a feminist investigation of the reporting on the female politicians in the Mail & Guardian using the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development media requirements on content as the yardstick. The Protocol is a regional policy adopted in 2008 by regional governments aimed at achieving gender equity in key sectors by 2015. The Protocol is a regional instrument set up to assist in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The study investigated whether the Protocol’s media requirements were being observed by the Mail&Guardian. The media’s role of providing information can assist the MDGs to be met. These requirements encourage the media in the region to reach gender parity in the use of news sources and writing of news reports that help to reduce gender-based violence and the portrayal of women that is not stereotypic and oppressive. The themes of the study, which were “gender-based violence”, “gender oppression” and “stereotypes against women” were influenced by these requirements. Gender-based violence is a major impediment to development in Africa because of the heavy financial burden it puts on governments and communities to treat victims and offer them shelter and counselling. Gender-based violence affects women’s full productivity in society because it results in death or victims remaining absent from work while they seek treatment. Stereotypes and gender oppression are viewed as dangerous because not only do they deny younger generations role models but they perpetuate the insubordination of women in society. The study linked the themes to female parliamentarians because being legislators and policy makers, they have a strategic and critical role to play in helping to achieve gender equity. There is a perception that female politicians offer different perspectives to issues. The media can be a vehicle through which these female politicians can express their opinions. This is because the media is supposed to offer freedom of expression to all its citizens regardless of gender. In order to examine if the female ideology had a place in the Mail & Guardian a feminist theoretical approach was used. The study employed a triangulation approach in which both the qualitative and quantitative research methodologies were used. The quantitative method was employed to a small extent to quantify the coverage of female politicians. Triangulation in data collection entailed using both the content analysis and in-depth interviews. Findings of the study showed a violation of the Protocol’s media requirements. News reporting about female politicians centred on scandals and controversies and journalists and editors were ignorant of the Protocol’s media requirements. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die studie was ’n feministiese ondersoek na die Mail & Guardian se verslaggewing oor vrouepolitici. Dis gedoen met die interregeringsorganisasie, die Suider-Afrikaanse Ontwikkelingsgemeenskap (SAOG), se Protokol oor Geslag en Ontwikkeling as maatstaf. Die Protokol is ’n beleid wat in 2008 deur die owerhede van die SAOG-lidlande van stapel gestuur is, met die oog op geslagsgelykheid in sleutelsektore teen 2015. Dit dien as instrument en hulpmiddel in die nastreef van bogenoemde. Die studie stel ondersoek in na die handhawing, al dan nie, van die Protokol se mediavereistes deur die Mail & Guardian. Die media se rol as verskaffer van inligting kan die strewe hierna bevorder. Die vereistes moedig die media in die onderskeie streke aan om geslagsgelykheid toe te pas wat betref die gebruik van nuusbronne, die skep van nuusberigte wat bydra tot die vermindering van geslagsgebaseerde geweld en die uitbeeld van vroue wat wegskram van stereotipering en onderdrukking. Die temas van die studie-"geslagsgebaseerde geweld", "geslagsonderdrukking" en “stereotipering van vroue" is gevolglik deur die Protokol se vereistes beïnvloed. Geslagsgebaseerde geweld is ’n wesenlike struikelblok in die pad van ontwikkeling in Afrika, deels weens die swaar finansiële las wat dit plaas op gemeenskaplike en regeringsvlak. Só moet slagoffers dikwels behandeling, skuiling en berading ontvang. Dit het ook ’n besliste impak op vroue se produktiwiteit in die breër samelewing, aangesien slagoffers van geslagsgebaseerde geweld in sommige gevalle afwesig is uit die werksomgewing om behandel te word of-in meer ernstige gevalle-sterf. Stereotipering en onderdrukking word as uiters gevaarlik beskou, aangesien dit nie nét die ondergeskiktheid van vroue laat voortleef nie; maar boonop jonger generasies van rolmodelle ontneem. Die temas van die studie word verbind met vroulike parlementslede weens hul rolle as beleidsopstellers en wetmakers. Dié vroue het strategiese en belangrike verpligtinge om na te kom in die strewe na geslagsgelykheid. Die persepsie bestaan dat vroue-politici dikwels ’n ander, nuwe perspektief op kwessies bied. Die media kan in dié opsig as ’n waardevolle voertuig aangewend word om die perspektiewe tuis te bring. Die media het ook ’n plig om vryheid van uitdrukking te verseker aan alle landsburgers - ongeag hulle geslag. Ten einde te bepaal of die ideologie deur die Mail & Guardian toegepas is, is ’n feministiese teoretiese aanslag gevolg. Die studie het gebruik gemaak van triangulasie, waartydens beide kwalitatiewe en kwantitatiewe navorsingsmetodologieë ingespan is. Die kwantitatiewe metode is gebruik om die mediadekking van vroue-politici te kwantifiseer. Triangulasie is ook tydens die data-insamelingsproses gebruik. Dit het ingesluit die aanwend van inhoudsanalises, asook in-diepte onderhoude. Die bevinding van die studie dui op die oortreding van die Protokol se mediavereistes. Verslaggewing oor vroue-politici is grootliks toegespits op skandale en omstredenheid en beide joernaliste en inhoudsredakteurs blyk onkundig te wees oor die vereistes.

Sexy Sports: A reception study of the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) Olympics website coverage of women’s beach volleyball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics involves an examination of the sporting media and its reportage of the female athlete. The thesis will focus on the reception of the NBC Olympics website coverage of women’s beach volleyball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by viewing groups constituted by the researcher. The reason for this is that it would be difficult to find naturally constituted audiences for this website, but its reception is never-the-less of research interest. My hypothesis is that the nature of the images and text on the website is overdetermined by the construction of women on other popular texts such as men’s magazines etc. In focusing on the meanings obtained from the content of the website (texts and images), the study will investigate how these meanings are naturalised in specific moments of production as well as through their intertextual relationships with similar texts involved in the glamorisation of female athletes. Specifically the study explores the meanings obtained from the content of the website (texts and images) and how in turn these meanings are naturalised by the consumers of the website. The study will utilise a qualitative research design to unpack the content of the website through the use of qualitative content analysis, focus group interviews and individual in-depth interviews. The research will be informed via a theoretical framework that draws from feminist theory, sport feminism, the concept of intertextuality between media texts, ideology and Stuart Hall’s model of preferred reading. Increasingly mainstream media uses the image of a woman’s body to sell almost anything from men’s razors to margarine and in so far as the reporting of women’s sports is concerned this holds true. Through the research I intend to account for the connotative power of other texts i.e. the men’s magazines and pornography, and how this is likely to be carried through into shaping the meanings that are read off the website. Arguably the production of the NBC texts and images are overdetermined by the existence of similar texts already in transmission in the circuit of culture.

In this dissertation, the researcher presents the findings of a discourse analytic enquiry on the construction of femininity within a contemporary South African magazine. It is argued that gender is a social construction and that women’s magazines provide a channel through which discourse of femininity reaches women. These discourses in women’s magazines are often narrow and stereotypical in nature which may limit the development of women’s feminine gender identities. A discourse analytic approach was utilised to reveal the different discourses of femininity within a contemporary women’s magazines, Cosmopolitan, as well as to indicate how they may contribute to the construction of femininity. From the magazine, relationship-focused articles were selected, from which three predominant discourses of femininity were identified which includes femininity as heterosexual, nurturing, and managerial. An important finding is that competing discourses of empowerment and traditional femininity were evident. This points to the highly complex ways in which gender, specifically femininity, is constructed in the magazine under study. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)

"April 2004" / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 439-471) / ix, 471 leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Social Sciences, Discipline of Gender Studies, 2004