Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Women's and Gender Studies." Includes bibliographical references (p. 293-309).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Women's and Gender Studies." Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-204).

Thesis (M.A.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Women's and Gender Studies." Includes bibliographical references (p. 59).

<p> The categorization and stereotyping of <i>fatherhood</i> and <i> motherhood</i> have created a rigid binary social consciousness of gender-based expectations on parenting. These expectations, stemming from hetero/cisnormativity, leave little room for deviation. This dissertation challenges these expectations by examining the experiences of transgender parents as a means to expand the discourse around motherhood, fatherhood, and family.</p><p> The principal research question for this inquiry was, What do the narratives of transgender parents tell us about our understanding of motherhood, fatherhood, and family? To answer this question, this author recruited transgender individuals who also identify as a parent. The selection criteria included self-identification as either transgender or genderqueer and active involvement in parenting one or more children. Purposive sampling was utilized to identify the 5 participants for this study. Using narrative methodology, their stories were gathered and retold, gaining insight into their lived experiences as transgender parents. </p><p> Findings indicate that transgender parents challenge hetero/cisnormativity by redefining motherhood and fatherhood, creating a more fluid and inclusive definition of parent that is grounded in unconditional love and support and devoid of gender roles and stereotypes. Further findings demonstrate that transgender parents redefine family, including in their family circles individuals that offer support, unconditional love, and trust regardless of blood relation. </p>

<p> The effects of time and occupational prestige measured in this study had more of an impact than gender on how often witnesses hedged on the stand. A corpus of transcripts from 1893 to 2013 was assembled to test the variables of time, gender and occupational prestige on witnesses&rsquo; production of hedge constructions (e.g., <i>I think, sort of).</i> Results showed no significant differences between female and male hedge production over this 120-year period, yet significant differences were found in the production of phrases between earlier and later testimonies. Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between hedge production and occupational prestige. The more prestigious a witness&rsquo;s occupation, the fewer hedges s/he used. These findings support previous research that suggests a similarity between female and male speech in other genres of discourse and emphasizes social and environmental factors as areas worthy of deeper investigation for the contextual assessment of function in language.</p>

<p> Women comprise over 57% of all U.S. mortuary school students, yet less than 20% of all funeral directors employed in this country are women. As such, women are underrepresented as funeral directors in the funeral industry. Research to date has not established clear differences between perceived gender roles and occupations in the funeral service industry. The research questions examined the perceived differences of gender role characteristics of masculine, feminine, and androgyny between the occupations of funeral service providers and nursing. Bem&rsquo;s gender role theory was the theoretical framework of this study. The research compared the mean scores of male and female funeral service professionals and nursing professionals as measured by the validated Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI). A sample consisted of 214 randomly selected male (n = 88) and female (n = 25) funeral service professionals and male (n = 37) and female (n = 64) nurse professionals. Data scores were analyzed using the factorial multivariate analysis of variance method. Results indicated nonsignificant gender role differences between male and female funeral directors. Funeral directors appear more androgynous compared to nurses. The present study contributed to the development of this important and neglected area of research by quantitatively examining the gender role perceptions of men and women in the funeral service industry for the first time. This study results highlighted the complexity in self-perceived gender role characteristics as measured by BSRI. When the funeral profession begins to dispel gender stereotypes and discrimination issues, positive social change can occur.</p>

The objectives of this thesis are: 1. To contribute to the contemporary agenda on research into fatherhood by focusing on the successes and difficulties of fathers being more involved in the intimate care of their children. 2. To contribute to the understanding of how traditional discourses on fatherhood and masculinity may affect involved fathers' ability to nurture children. 3. To consider how involved fathers manage predominant discourses on fatherhood, masculinity and anger within the home.

<p> The Female-To-Male (FTM) transgender community has begun to receive a lot of attention in recent years. Academic research executed with a focus on the experiences of the FTM community is also growing quickly and exploring issues and concepts beyond transition. The effect of social expectations on the leadership experiences of FTM leaders has yet to be examined, specifically the influence of the social expectations of masculinity and leadership on FTM leaders. This dissertation seeks to capture the experiences of 4 transgender men who hold, or have held, leadership roles in their organizations of employ and to inquire about how the social expectations about what it means to be a man, or how to appropriately behave to be perceived as a man, affects themselves as leaders as well as their leadership experiences. The work also elucidates a relationship between socially-imposed stereotypes on gender identity development as well as the importance of gender identity gaining recognition as a workplace well-being issue.</p>

No description available.

British cinema of the post-war period has often been characterised as anodyne in terms of gender relations, with the exciting 'wicked ladies' of the war years erased in favour of more conservative versions of femininity. Recent writing (Geraghty, 2000, Harper and Porter, 2003) has brought challenges to bear on this paradigm and opened up a critical space for a more nuanced analysis of gender. This thesis considers representations of divergent femininities in post-WWII British films, that is, female characters who function as liminal figures and who queer boundaries between normative and divergent femininity. I explore how divergent femininities are constructed and the extent to which gender conservatism can be challenged in films from the period. A number of well-known (cross-genre) films, such as Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957) and Mandy (1952), are analysed, augmented by other films that have received little critical attention, for example, The Perfect Woman (1949), Dear Murderer (1947) and Young Wives' Tale (1951). This study employs detailed textual and semiotic analyses (film, reviews, publicity material, critical writings) to produce a historicised feminist reading of 1950s films and femininity and, by combining attention to visual style with an analysis of contextual material, complements existing scholarship which emphasises film production and reception. This thesis explores the extent to which female desire for autonomy, excitement and social mobility could be expressed in 1950s films, and how women questioned their 'proper place' in the gendered social economy. Women's function as housewives is problematised in ways that enter into contemporaneous debates about modernity and consumerism. The heterosexual nuclear family survives as the preferred familial model but the difficulty of mothering is dramatised in ways that challenge hegemonic maternity. Heteroromance and marriage remain the central goal for all women and censorship largely curtails the depiction of female sexuality outside this paradigm. A space however is opened up for women to voice desire for something in addition to the role of wife and mother and in this respect these liminal figures represent a cultural contestation of normative femininity. They shore up - whilst simultaneously challenging - certain ideals of femininity and in doing so speak of the consolidation and transformation of gender relations in post-war British society, suggesting a more dynamic model than has been acknowledged.