Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2008. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-11, Section: A, page: 4247. Adviser: Lydia P. Buki. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 179-202) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2008. / "Graduate Program in Women's and Gender Studies." Includes bibliographical references (p. 280-297).

<p>RATHBONE, RITA J., Ed.D. Teacher Leadership, Power, and the Gendered Space of Teaching: Intersections and Discourses. (2015) Directed by Dr. Carl Lashley. 172 pp. Relying on critical feminist understandings of power, this study explores how the gendered expectations and intersectional identity of women teachers impacts their negotiation of power in the practice of teacher leadership and social justice advocacy. This study takes a critical stance towards the existing body of literature and challenges the current feminized and patriarchal understanding of teacher leadership. Using a collaborative autoethnographic approach, a group of practicing teacher leaders examined their lived experiences as teacher leaders. The participants reported experiencing gendered expectations in their teaching contexts of support/nurturing, passivity, collaboration, normative gender expression, and all-encompassing teacher identity. Practicing teacher leadership in this gendered environment was a balancing act that required the ability to be a ?chameleon.? The complexity of teaching and intricate nature of connections and networks allowed teachers to pick and choose a variety of strategies and resources with which to negotiate power. The study finds that much of the work of teacher leadership involved negotiating the interpersonal and cultural domains of power in order to develop coalitions of diverse stakeholders to resist the oppressive forces found in the structural and disciplinary domains. The teachers reported often having to ?play against? negative assumptions of their ability to be leaders based on race and gender. The study concludes that the scholarly understanding of the practice of teacher leadership must be redefined to include the social justice focus of much of its practice, the intricacy of teachers? networks, an understanding of power as multidirectional and multidimensional, the nuance of gendered norms found in teaching, and the unresolved paradoxes that teacher leaders face every day.

<p> Horror films, like any cultural product, are a result of their time and place in the world. The traditional reading of horror films focuses primarily on the negative treatment of women. However, there are some moments of resistance that allow for a strong female representation. As the horror film is a genre that targets primarily the youth market, some of these women step beyond the traditional cannon fodder and emerge as feminist role models. Over time the ways and means by which women stepped out of the shadows in the horror genre changed. These changes can in part be traced to the larger societal movements of their era, including Second and Third Wave Feminism. By looking at specific films and how they defined the horror genre over three decades, the impact of larger societal movements can be seen, as can the changing space of women within the genre. From the 1970s the films explored are: <i>The Texas Chainsaw Massacre</i> (Tobe Hooper, 1974), to <i>Carrie</i> (Brian DePalma, 1976), and <i>Alien</i> (Ridley Scott, 1979). From the 1980s the films used are: <i>Friday the 13th</i> (Sean S. Cunningham, 1980), <i>A Nightmare on Elm Street</i> (Wes Craven, 1984), and <i> Aliens</i> (James Cameron, 1986). The 1990s films examined are: <i> The Silence of the Lambs</i> (Jonathan Demme, 1991), <i>New Nightmare </i> (Wes Craven, 1994), and <i>Scream</i> (Wes Craven, 1996). Over the course of the decades and through these films this work demonstrates the historical links to how women are portrayed in the horror film, their relationship to the genre as a whole, and the feminist movements of the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. In tracing these moments of resistance this work illuminates why these characters have withstood the test of time and why audiences continue to flock to horror films.</p>

<p> The Discourse of the Divine: Radical Traditions of Black Feminism, Musicking, and Myth within the Black Public Sphere (Civil Rights to the Present) is an exploration of the historical precursors and the contemporary developments of Black feminism in America, via Black female musical production and West and Central African cosmology. Historical continuity and consciousness of African spirituality within the development of Black feminism are analyzed alongside the musical practices of two Black female musicians, Nina Simone and Me&rsquo;shell Ndeg&eacute;ocello. Simone and Ndeg&eacute;ocello, The High Priestess of Soul and the Mother of Neo-Soul, respectively, distend the commodified confines of Black music and identity by challenging the established norms of music and knowledge production. These artists&rsquo; lyrics, politics, and representations substantiate the &ldquo;Signifyin(g)&rdquo; elements of West and Central African feminist mythologies and musicmaking traditions. </p>

<p> The sexualization of girls is an ongoing issue that has garnered much attention in recent years, with one contributing factor, media, becoming an ever-increasing part of children&rsquo;s lives. This study explored four questions: How do mothers and teachers perceive the media&rsquo;s influence on young girls&rsquo; identity development? To what extent do these caregivers engage young girls in analyzing media messages? What observed behaviors of 4-year old girls indicate media&rsquo;s influence? and What are caregivers interpretations and responses to these behaviors? Analyzing the perceptions of mothers and female teachers of 4-year old girls contributes to a better understanding of how girls are influenced, both by caregivers&rsquo; actions and by media consumed. </p><p> Twelve mothers and female early childhood teachers from three South Florida preschools were interviewed to better understand how girls are influenced by media, and to gain a more holistic perspective of the potential impact of media on young girls&rsquo; behaviors and their emerging understanding of what it means to be a girl today. The findings indicate that mothers and female teachers perceive media to be influential in the lives of girls, both in terms of general child development and young girls&rsquo; gender identity development. The participants are observing behaviors in their 4-year old girls that indicate media&rsquo;s influence; these behaviors include sexualized dancing, attitude and language changes, and requests for sexualized clothing and beauty products. Although these mothers and teachers do not yet help girls analyze media messages, they do, however, engage in significant guidance as they interpret and respond to the observed behaviors. These findings reflect a need for media literacy education for parents and teachers, as well as comprehensive sexualization awareness and prevention education for children, parents, and teachers.</p><p>

I uppsatsen undersöker jag om Carol Clovers teorier från boken Men, Women and Chain saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film fortfarande går att applicera på filmer som kom ut efter det att boken publicerats 1992. De två frågorna jag vill besvara är huruvida Clovers text fortfarande går att applicera, samt hur sexualitet och genus representeras i filmerna jag valt att använda. Mina teoretiska utgångspunkter är ”The final girl”, som är taget ur Clovers bok, samt queerteori. Min metod är att analysera filmerna utifrån Clover för att se hur sexualitet och genus representeras, samtidigt som jag då ser huruvida Clovers text fortfarande är aktuell. De filmerna jag använder mig av är Scream 2 (1997), Teeth (2007), och The Babysitter (2017). Jag visar på att Clovers bok fortfarande är aktuell och går att applicera på filmer producerade nyligen. Jag visar även på att sexualitet och genus är konstant närvarande teman i de tre skräckfilmerna jag använder på ett eller annat sätt, där jag även visar på hur representation av sexualitet och genus har ändrats med tiden och ser olika ut i de tre filmerna.

<p> Gender equality is part of the public policy agenda in Latin America. During the last twenty years, there have been several discussions on the scope of equality policies between women and men, their content and possibilities of action. In Latin America, important progresses have been made, mainly in the legal field but also in different government areas. Many subnational levels of government have their own gender offices and have developed local experiences in promoting equality measures. Argentina registers some outstanding experiences in incorporating the gender perspective at the local level. The decentralization processes reconfigured the capacities and responsibilities of subnational governments and presented potential elements for gender mainstreaming. In addition, the closeness to citizenship and the possibility of articulating demands offered by this scale are important for the promotion of gender policies. </p><p> Mor&oacute;n is one of the 135 Municipalities of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Between 1999 and 2015 the political party Nuevo Encuentro ran the Municipality. The administration encouraged citizen participation and transparency in management, proposing new forms of linkage between the State and society. In this context, more horizontal management structures were framed and they opened up the possibility of promoting equal opportunities and gender equality in Mor&oacute;n. This thesis examines the evolution of the gender equality policy under the management of <i>Nuevo Encuentro</i> in the Municipality of Mor&oacute;n. It aimed at characterizing gender policy and its sustainability over time. Also, it seeks to analyze the role of social and political actors in the implementation of this policy, as well as in its development and expansion. For these purposes, a case study was conducted and the research involved fieldwork based on interviews with different government agents and civil society&rsquo;s members. </p><p> The results obtained demonstrate that gender equality policies in Mor&oacute;n have progressively evolved from the rise of the issue in the public agenda in 1999 to the end of <i>Nuevo Encuentro&rsquo;s</i> administration in 2015. The increasing maturation of the gender equality policy in Mor&oacute;n&rsquo;s local government and its sustainability was due to the convergence of the four key elements: political commitment, presence of a network of women politicians sensitized with gender issues, articulation of local government with social organizations committed to women&rsquo;s rights and international cooperation with resources and interests in supporting local initiatives on gender policies. </p><p>

<p> This project explores the constructions of gender, intimacy, and race and the ways these issues are informed by history and the law. The idea of consent, while originally described in texts as a legal concept between citizens, transformed into a way to navigate intimate relationships in the private sphere. This muddied the ways women and men were understood to form relationships and the limits of those relationships. In the same ways that gender was arbitrated through legal language, race is often ensnared in the same processes and institutions. Tolerance has been offered as one approach, but instead of mitigating this violence, it has more firmly entrenched it into the democratic process. Hannah Arendt&rsquo;s description of the social frames an understanding of intimacy and narratives. Arendt&rsquo;s work critically creates a space for the category of the social, something found around but outside of the public and private. Instead of working to make the private seen as a sphere for political action, I will focus on the potential of the social as a method of political action. While Arendt has obvious racial bias, I will use her own response to anti-semitism to develop a different approach to Black politics that allow for identity-based responses. Lauren Berlant&rsquo;s <i>Intimate Publics</i> addresses the potential for coalition building in the social. Using the sorority system as a way of teasing out notions of femininity, discipline, sexual violence, and intimacy, I will describe the ways that a woman subject is produced and how this then works to shape our notions of race. Women&rsquo;s identities, particularly white women, are constructed through an association with race and sexuality, by unpacking this development, its possible to see how this is socially and institutionally enforced. Part of this enforcement will focus on the narratives of sexual violence. Rape is an issue that not only confronts legal questions, but also the nature of a woman&rsquo;s ability to participate in democracy. Tying this together will be the importance of political theory. This serves to define the contemporary issues, solutions that have been offered and new potential approaches to intimate violence.</p><p>

<p> <b>Purpose:</b> This phenomenological qualitative multicase study explored leadership from the perspective and experiences of women leaders in law enforcement to increase comprehension of what women in law enforcement can achieve with proper motivation and support. </p><p> <b>Methodology:</b> Semi-structured interviews and field observations were utilized. Data was collected through in-person and telephonic interviews and field notes. Data was analyzed through multiple levels of coding. The researcher utilized purposeful convenience sampling to identify 10 total participants and obtained a sample size of nine participants. </p><p> <b>Findings:</b> Data analysis revealed 24 themes and three subthemes related to the study&rsquo;s four research questions. Mentoring and having a mentor and a support network were found to be essential. The data also uncovered reasons for mentoring and being mentored; the usefulness of formal, informal, and reverse mentoring; and the impact of having too few women in the profession. Building trust revealed the importance of drawing the line, following through, communication, and inclusive leadership. The themes of organizational commitment, a shared vision, caring, ego, change, and characteristics of the profession were related to leadership styles. Observations supported three themes: preparation, active engagement, and social media presence. A total of three subthemes emerged: late in career, benefits, and succession and career development related to mentoring. </p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> This study identified participants&rsquo; perceived barriers as women in a male-dominated profession. Participants identified mentoring as essential for organizational and individual success. The research findings indicated that work ethic, compassion, equity, and professionalism are essential to building trust. The study highlighted effective leadership qualities women contribute to male-dominated professions aligned with transformational and authentic leadership. These findings assisted the researcher with outlining a plan for women to positively impact male-dominated professions. </p><p> <b>Recommendations:</b> The following are recommendations for further study: (1) include a larger sample of participants below rank of chief or sheriff; (2) include male perceptions of women leaders; (3) conduct a cross-sectional study to expand research in other organizations; and (4) conduct a longitudinal follow up study to further expand research.</p><p>