published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Conversation analytic (CA) and ethnomethodological (EM) techniques are employed in this study to explore the ways speakers within and between interactional turns build and resist gender category by resisting its activities/predicates. It aims to reveal how a sex-reassigned child’s identity is pertinent to the construction of membership categorization and the doing of resistance towards category-bound activities/predicates.  The study attempts to explain how the child tries to design her answers in a way that - both explicitly and implicitly - resist both the gender membership categorization she is being assigned to be and its ties (predicates/activities) she is being asked to accomplish. Membership categorization analysis (MCA), formulated by Sacks (1979), is employed here to show that the identity categories used in talk are tools by which participants organize and perform activities/predicates to establish their categories. The human subject that this project concentrates on is an immigrant family having a sex-reassigned child called Aidan. The data, which is analyzed, was collected during a dispute around the haircut and clothing style for the sex-reassigned child between the child and the parents. During the interaction the parents try to generate the category predicates for building up a set of activities around what might be considered ‘normal’ within a community that enables them to define and validate the child particular membership category. The main resistance strategies adopted by the child are dispreferred actions such as refusals mainly through accounting (e.g., justification and explanation) and disagreement.

Scholars in the field are of the opinion that the early simultaneous bilingual and bicultural exposure not only does not harm the bilinguals, but also strengthens their social and cultural foundations and keeps them from getting vulnerable to external environment (Deuchar and Quay 1999, 2000; Genesee 1989; Genesee, Nicoladis, and Paradis 1995; Holowka, Brosseau-Lapre ́, and Petitto 2002; Lanza 1992; Meisel 1989; Petitto et al. 2001). Also it has been demonstrated that bilingual children have differentiated systems to provide them with the ability to distinguish between their two input languages from the beginning of language acquisition (Petitto & Holowka, 2002). However, the driver of the children’s language preference patterns at home needs to be further explored. The present study is indeed an attempt to answer the question of why it is that some children regularly exposed to their heritage language from a very young age actually continue to actively use it, and other children involving in similar parental policy about bilingualism do not? It aims to examine the impacts of parental language strategies during the childhood on children language preference at home after they achieve the key competences in each of the two languages. The foci are parental attitudes towards the patterns of language choice and their influence on child language preference. Data are collected from two Iranian immigrant families; one has been experiencing additive bilingualism, while the other has been involved in the process of subtractive phenomenon. Some implications for parent-child closeness, heritage language and the risk of language contamination are touched on briefly.

Women have long been confronted with challenges to their "right" to participate in the labor force on a level equal to men. I posit that this confrontation is situated in a conflict over gendered roles and the "appropriateness" of certain jobs for women. Such an arrangement sets up a contradiction for women in the military. If a woman possesses those attributes seen as desirable, she may be seen as violating traditional gender norms. Yet, a woman possessing attributes seen as feminine may be viewed as not possessing those attributes required to be a "good soldier." Is there a narrowly defined range of acceptable behaviors for women in the military? Are there penalties for women who are perceived to be "too feminine" or "too masculine?" What might those penalties be? Finally, do women employ strategies to manage gender and, if so, what types of strategies do they employ? About two-thirds of the women in this study believe that there are penalties for women perceived as "too feminine" or "too masculine." Women who are perceived as "too feminine" face a number of penalties such as being perceived as weak, incompetent, or sexually available. The dominant penalty for being perceived as "too masculine" is to be labeled a lesbian. Forty-one percent of respondents acknowledged utilizing strategies to manage perceptions of gender. Of this group, seventy-one percent strategize toward femininity only. Seventeen percent strategize toward both femininity and masculinity and twelve percent strategize toward masculinity only. While lesbian and bisexual women were more likely to indicate that penalties exist, they were no more likely than heterosexual women to engage in management strategies. This research adds to our knowledge of how women negotiate gender conflicts. It provides empirical support for the claim that gender is not simply a role, but is an ongoing accomplishment situated within everyday encounters. Additionally, the barriers that women confront have as their foundation a complex interweaving of social constructions of gender and sexuality. By examining this relationship, this research contributes to theory which examines the intersection of gender and sexuality, and its impact on women throughout society.

This is a study of gender ideology in African popular literature published from the seventies onwards. First the thesis argues that, far from being merely the demonised Other of high literature, contemporary African popular literature can be profitably studied as a distinct modality of ideological signification. Secondly, it is argued that there are three dominant modes of representation of gender ideology in contemporary African popular literature. There is the conservative model which merely reproduces dominant gender ideology in a fictive modality. Then there are those texts which operate with a liberal model of ideological representation, within which the principle of pragmatic management of crisis within gender ideology is contained by an ideological ambivalence. The third mode of representation of dominant gender ideology employs a radical reading of gender difference and goes beyond mere analysis to envisioning the possibility of gender egalitarianism. Each mode of representation is illustrated by an in-depth study of select texts. All in all, what is offered is a materialist theory of cultural authenticity and taxonomy.

Within both the scientific discourse on workforce diversity, and diversity management practice, intersexuality and transgender issues have hitherto remained marginalized topics. This chapter gives an overview of the discourses on both phenomena, and proposes starting points for more inclusive organizational diversity management initiatives. It is shown that both topics represent different aspects of the category of "gender". The common practice of conceptually lumping together intersexuality, transgenderism, and sexual orientation can be seen as one important reason that intersexuality and transgenderism are rarely considered in organizational diversity management programs in terms of concrete action. Against this background, a modified, and more integrated approach to structuring the workforce alongside the different dimensions of diversity is proposed. It is shown that the categories of "biological sex and gender", "gender identity", and "sexual orientation" cannot be regarded as being separate from each other. They represent, rather, an interrelated organizational field of action that should be considered as being one interrelated topic for organizational diversity practices. This chapter derives this claim theoretically and discusses the consequences for organizational diversity management practices. For most organizations, this would mean a fundamental rethinking of their goals, in terms of workforce diversity, and the shaping of their diversity management programs.

M.A. / The psychological study of gender has evolved to comprise both dispositional and social cognitive perspectives (Morawski, 1987). Recent theoretical debates within these fields have centred on multifactorial and unifactorial conceptions of gendered factors (Spence, 1993), and the cognitive representation of gender (Howard & Hollander, 1997). This study aimed to investigate specific phenomena implicated in the above approaches. Firstly, it assessed the influence of using gender as a basic-level category (Fiske & Taylor, 1991) for the organisation of person schemas on other elements of the perceivers’ gender belief systems (Deaux & LaFrance, 1998). These elements comprise the use of gender stereotypical perception of others, endorsement of traditional-sexist gender attitudes, and self-identification with expressive and instrumental personality traits (Deaux & LaFrance, 1998). Secondly, the study aimed to explicate the structure of perceivers’ gender belief systems (Deaux & LaFrance, 1998). To this end, multifactorial gender theories (Koestner & Aube, 1995), as explanations of the interrelations of gendered factors, were evaluated. Spence and Sawin’s (1985) multifactorial gender identity theory was specifically scrutinised in this regard. Hypotheses which were informed by sceptical accounts of the theoretical utility of the femininity and masculinity constructs (Spence & Buckner, 1995), gender transcendence theories (Ravinder, 1987c), robust multifactorial findings (Spence & Buckner, 2000), and recent advances in social cognitive theory (Higgins, 2000) were formed based on a review of the relevant literature.. Various self-report measures were utilised to address the research questions. A modified version of Kelley’s (1955) Role Construct Repertory test (Rep test), an Instrumental and Expressive scale (I/E scale) developed by Spence and Buckner (2000), a modified version of the Adjective Check List (ACL-M; Beere, 1990), the Attitudes toward Women Scale (AWS; Spence & Helmreich, 1978), and the Macho Scale (MS; Villemez & Touhey, 1977) were administered to a test sample of university students. The results of the study suggested that elements of the gender belief system relate to one another in complex patterns. Perceivers’ use of gender as a basic-level category was found to partially predict, along with their endorsement of traditional-sexist gender attitudes, the degree to which they implemented societal gender stereotyping. In addition, general multifactorial assumptions regarding gender (Koestner & Aube, 1995) were confirmed in that components of the gender belief system (Deaux & LaFrance, 1998) were shown to have varied interrelations depending on their specific properties (Spence, 1993). Multifactorial gender identity theory (Spence & Buckner, 2000; Spence & Sawin, 1985) received less support, and findings obtained suggested that its conceptions regarding femininity and masculinity as ineffable identity factors to be flawed. Alternative explanations of these findings that reflected gender transcendent and social cognitive insights (Frable, 1997; Freedman & Lips, 1996) better accounted for the results. In conclusion, the present study found considerable individual variance among perceivers’ use of gender as an important basic-level category for person perception. These differences in viewing males and females as fundamentally different human beings (Howard & Hollander, 1997) impacted on how targets (both known and less known) were perceived in terms of ostensibly gendered attributes. In addition, multifactorial conceptions of gender were supported as well as the contention that femininity and masculinity are not theoretically useful heuristics (Morawski, 1987).

The purpose of this research was to investigate the link between gender identity and engagement in three health behaviors—alcohol consumption, marijuana use, and the non-medical use of prescription stimulants. Historically, health research has focused on how biological sex (i.e. male and female) is associated with engagement in health behaviors, thereby ignoring the role that gender identity (i.e. masculine and feminine) plays in making health decisions. The primary goal of this study was to offer a more contemporary understanding of health research by considering gender identity instead of biological sex in order to suggest a more accurate way for researchers to investigate health behaviors and, consequently, develop more effective interventions. A secondary goal of this research was to add to the established literature exploring the close relationships between the three health behaviors. Throughout this paper, sex is used to indicate the biological dichotomy of male and female, and gender is used to indicate the cultural representations of masculinity and femininity. This study uses Social Constructionism, Social Learning Theory, and Gender Schema Theory as theoretical foundations for the hypotheses. The role that gender identity plays in predicting alcohol use, marijuana use, and the non-medical use of prescriptions stimulants in a college-age population was investigated. It was hypothesized that gender identity would be more accurate than sex in predicting engagement in health behaviors. Participants were recruited from several Communication courses at Florida State University during the spring 2017 semester. In total, 205 respondents completed the online survey; ultimately 174 responses were included in data analysis. The Bem Sex-Role Inventory was used to measure gender identity, the AUDIT-C was used to measure alcohol consumption, the UNCOPE was used to measure marijuana use, and the Stimulant Medication Use Questionnaire was used to measure prescription stimulant misuse. The results did not show significant relationships between gender identity or sex and the three health behaviors. However, the results did show significant relationships between the three health behaviors. The results indicate that, in the current sample, neither gender identity nor sex predict alcohol consumption, marijuana use, or the non-medical use of prescription stimulants, though the three health behaviors are related to one another, which supports the literature regarding substance use. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 18, 2018. / alcohol use, gender identity, health, marijuana use, non-medical use of prescription stimulants, prescription misuse / Includes bibliographical references. / Ulla Sypher, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Russell B. Clayton, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Laura Arpan, Committee Member.

The power of Confessional poetry derives in large part from its reputation for telling the truth. Indeed, the very term “confessional” indicates the genre’s status as a discourse of truth. Recent scholarship on Confessional poetry has focused on revealing how the genre is not as authentic or truthful as readers have assumed, and has countered assumptions from earlier critics that Confessional poems are uncritically autobiographical. The relationship between Confessional poetry and truth does not entail the facts of the author’s lives as previously assumed, yet, rather than disassociate Confessionalism from truth altogether, I seek to redefine the relationship. Instead of regarding Confessional poetry as a collection of individual confessions, we should understand the genre more broadly in terms of what U.S. culture considers to be confessional. The truth at the heart of Confessional poetry lies in its revelation of culturally significant information: the sites of our deepest emotions, the topics we vehemently disagree on, the places we feel most vulnerable, and the matters we really care about. Confessions often have cultural significance as they tap into the systems of power that intimately shape people’s lives. The continuing genre of Confessional poetry in the United States reveals the truths of the body, and how the personal is political over generations. I carry out this argument through the poems of several generations of Confessional poets, and through the lenses of class, gender, and race, in order to find what we consider worth confessing, what we do not, and how the content of our confessions evolves or remains over time. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2018. / March 23, 2018. / confession, Confessional poetry, gender, race, truth / Includes bibliographical references. / Joann Gardner, Professor Directing Dissertation; Reinier Leushuis, University Representative; Linda Saladin-Adams, Committee Member; Robert Stilling, Committee Member.

In past gender identity research, little attention has been paid to the determinants of the various dimensions of gender identity (felt pressure for gender differentiation, gender contentedness, and within-gender typicality). This study examined whether children’s self-perceptions and social behaviors influence changes in gender identity over time. One hundred and ninety-five fourth- through seventh-graders completed self-report and peer-report questionnaires during the fall and spring of a school year. This study found that both felt pressure for gender differentiation and within-gender typicality are fluid, rather than stable, constructs during childhood. It also found that sex plays a significant role in not only which constructs influence gender identity, but which components of gender identity are influenced. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2013.