South Africa has in the last 13 years experienced rapid changes in various spheres including the political, social and economic spheres. These changes constantly pose a challenge to the status quo and more so, in the socio-economic arena. This implies that, in business, the impact of utilising all the available resources, in particular the human resources efficiently, has to be constantly reviewed in line with these changes. Women as part of the previously marginalised human resource are increasingly raising questions about their roles and their participation in the economy of the country. Various organisations such as the Commission on Gender Equality, Gender Links, Business Women’s Association and many other state agencies are creating opportunities that allow women to debate and express women’s issues and concerns constructively. These issues and concerns range broadly from matters on health, safety, education, employment and so on, to specific issues that affect particular sectors, in this instance, issues affecting women in the corporate communication environment. In this study the manner in which women in the filed of corporate communication perceive their roles is examined. A qualitative strategy is used to explore the perceptions of all the selected participants who practise corporate communication in various industries, in the Greater Johannesburg area. The criteria and method of selecting the sample is clarified in the research methodology section. Existing literature about the field of corporate communication and about the roles of women in the workplace is reviewed to obtain understanding of the current scenario. The theories of feminism are also studied carefully in order to gain in-depth understanding about the relevant theoretical framework. The outcome of this study will be utilised to advance debates and dialogues about the status and role of women not only in the corporate communication environment, but also in the socio-political and socio-economic spheres. / Dr. Ilse Niemann-Struweg

This thesis examines how the women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s influenced scholarship in the social sciences, and how the feminism growing out of this movement affected premenstrual syndrome (PMS) research. Since the 1980s social science paradigms guiding P M S research have begun to consider how biology and the environment mutually influence one another to produce premenstrual changes. The work examined in this thesis uses feminism to challenge traditional scientific approaches to PMS, including claims o f "objectivity," negative evaluations of menstrual changes in women, the claim that women experience natural cycles and men do not, and the belief that the expression of anger contradicts the feminine role. The research herein is based on all psychology research on PMS produced in the greater Vancouver area during the 1980s and 1990s. The knowledge that has been constructed about PMS through social sciences research also contributes to a common narrative about gender. This narrative holds that femininity and masculinity are not only linked to concepts of biological sex but also to concepts of culture that are heavily influenced by power relationships. The research examined here contributes to this narrative by challenging traditional theories about women's nature and by implementing research methods that add to our understanding of the way that cultural values influence research and knowledge production. The image of women as passive victims of "that time of the month" has been called into question by an image o f women that takes society and culture into account when explaining "women's nature."

This thesis examines how the women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s influenced scholarship in the social sciences, and how the feminism growing out of this movement affected premenstrual syndrome (PMS) research. Since the 1980s social science paradigms guiding P M S research have begun to consider how biology and the environment mutually influence one another to produce premenstrual changes. The work examined in this thesis uses feminism to challenge traditional scientific approaches to PMS, including claims o f "objectivity," negative evaluations of menstrual changes in women, the claim that women experience natural cycles and men do not, and the belief that the expression of anger contradicts the feminine role. The research herein is based on all psychology research on PMS produced in the greater Vancouver area during the 1980s and 1990s. The knowledge that has been constructed about PMS through social sciences research also contributes to a common narrative about gender. This narrative holds that femininity and masculinity are not only linked to concepts of biological sex but also to concepts of culture that are heavily influenced by power relationships. The research examined here contributes to this narrative by challenging traditional theories about women's nature and by implementing research methods that add to our understanding of the way that cultural values influence research and knowledge production. The image of women as passive victims of "that time of the month" has been called into question by an image o f women that takes society and culture into account when explaining "women's nature." / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (MA (Political Science))--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / The question addressed in this thesis was how women developed a feminist identity around other markers of identity, such as race, gender, motherhood, etc. and in the face of the negative connotations of the feminist label and what implications this hold for feminist solidarity. This question arose out of a careful study of current literature, both on international and local levels, concerning perceived division and problems within the feminist movement. The research was conducted in a quantitative and qualitative manner administering questionnaires to women electronically via e-mail and doing interviews to explore certain more sensitive issues. The criteria for the drawing of the sample were that women must have some form of feminist consciousness or identity. To satisfy these criteria the sample was drawn form the Women’s Forum at the University of Stellenbosch, from the Gender Education and Training network (GETNET) and the Social Change Assistance Trust (SCAT), both gender training organizations and from the Provincial Administration of the Western Cape where women have been through a gender training programme. The completed questionnaires were statistically analysed through using The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Three broad themes emerged as the main findings in this thesis. First it became clear that the uncritical application of foreign measuring instruments may lead to false representation in the South African context, underlining the importance of situational and contextual specifity in research. Second, the propagated divisive power of race within feminism was not supported by the findings in this thesis. On the contrary, the profile of the sample is one of women with well-integrated racial identities and very little racial antagonism. Third it became apparent that women do support the values of feminism, but are unwilling to take a feminist label, implying perceived structural and ideological problems within the feminist movement. The feminist movement needs to redefine their theoretical base, accessibility and their approach to outcomes-based action. If the movement fails to realize the above aims they run a serious risk of disintegration as a political interest group working for the improvement of the lives of women. In order to accomplish the challenges mentioned above the feminist movement must first start with the specific circumstances of the lives of women and use that as a base for theory, policy and strategy to change the lives of women and second align themselves with grassroots movements in order to establish ties to a constituency of women they have lost touch with.

本研究從女性主義理論角度出發，主要研究目的在探討現今國中教師在教學互動過程裡，是否展現出性別角色刻板化態度？他們的態度否因其人口特質（如：性別、年齡、省籍、婚姻狀況）、師資培育訓練歷程、教學及行政經驗的不同而產生差異？上述的因素是如何影響教師的兩性平等教育意識（包括教學平權態度、教學性別區隔、女性主義理念）？ 本研究係採用研究者自行編製的問卷作為研究工具，研究範圍則限台北市及台北縣國民中學，從研究者個人網絡選擇受訪者，再由受訪者代替研究者於授課學校進行隨機抽樣調查，總計有效樣本為401份。樣本資料經檢核登錄後，研究者以SAS統計分析軟體進行資料分析。 研究結果及主要發現如下： 一、男老師仍然掌控學校行政事權，女老師不僅較少參與行政工作，也因為傳統性別角色的影響（包括：母職及傳統女性角色的壓抑），她們的行政意願普遍低落。 二、教師的教學態度仍深為性別刻板角色所左右，包括教師仍強調複製兩性特質的教育功能及女性的母職角色。 三、教師仍容易以〝性別〞作為評估與詮釋學生行為的必然標準，．此外〝性別〞也是教師在控制學生及教室管理的重要方式；男教師的教學態度明額較不平權。 四、多數教師贊成教育機會平等，但對於〝女性主義教育理念〞（給予女性更多的教育資源以扭轉其弱勢地位）接受度低。 五、教師對於教職〝性別形象〞（女性化）的重視大過於〝專業能力〞；女教師的教職女性化刻板觀念較深。 六、性別社會化是影響教師〝性別角色刻板化〞及〝兩性教育平等意識〞的主因，女教師對於傳統性別角色的反省與兩性平權教育的思考均比男老師積極。 七、中壯年（40歲以上）教師不僅有明顯的性別偏見，他們對兩性教育的態度也較不平權；自然學科的教師也較贊同〝教育性別區隔〞，這表示他們在判斷學生的學習成就及傾向時，會有〝性別〞的預設立場；教學年數愈長的老師其性別角色的刻板化程度也愈高，他們也較贊同教育應有性別區隔。顯示教育的〝量〞（學習多久）對於個人性別平等意識的影響不如〝質〞（學習內容）來的重要。