Latina women have been made to believe that their lives and desires are always secondary to the needs of men and children. As a result, many women have developed a martyr complex wherein the measure of their value is how much suffering they can endure in service to their family. There is subsequently a culture of self-sacrifice best exemplified by the archetype known as "la sufrida." This thesis explores the sufrida role in literature while using the history of the author's mother—a woman whose life can be "read" as that of a real sufrida— as a bridge between literature and reality. This thesis discusses works of prominent Latinx and Caribbean women writers such as Judith Ortiz Cofer and Nicholasa Mohr and further analyzes the social and religious constraints that instill self-sacrificial mentalities in women. Through the use of womanist and cultural criticisms, this thesis highlights the complex social paradigms that cause so many Latinas to internalize self-limiting thinking patterns. The author's goal is to expose the sufrida role as valueless for contemporary women.

abstract: Background: Hispanic women are at high risk for Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), in part due to their high prevalence of obesity, which may influence the development of insulin resistance and disease onset. Unhealthy eating contributes to T2D risk. Dietary patterns are the combination of total foods and beverages among individual’s over time, but there is limited information regarding its role on T2D risk factors among Hispanic women. Objective: To identify a posteriori dietary patterns and their associations with diabetes risk factors (age, BMI, abdominal obesity, elevated fasting blood glucose, and hemoglobin A1c) among overweight/obese Hispanic women. Design: Cross-sectional dietary data were collected among 191 women with or at risk for T2D using the Southwestern Food Frequency Questionnaire capturing the prior three months of intake. Dietary patterns were derived using exploratory factor analysis. Regression scores were used to explore associations between dietary patterns and diabetes risk factors. Results: The patterns derived were: 1) “sugar and fat-laden”, with high loads of sweets, drinks, pastries, and fats; 2) “plant foods and fish”, with high loads of vegetables, fruits, fish, and beans; 3) “soups and starchy dishes”, with high loads of soups, starchy foods, and mixed dishes; 4) “meats and snacks”, with high loads of red meat, salty snacks, and condiments; 5) “beans and grains”, with high loads of beans and seeds, whole-wheat and refined grain foods, fish, and alcohol; and 6) “eggs and dairy”, with high loads of eggs, dairy, and fats. The “sugar and fat-laden” and “meats and snacks” patterns were negatively associated with age (r= -0.230, p= 0.001 and r= -0.298, p<0.001, respectively). Scores for “plant foods and fish” were associated with fasting blood glucose (r= 0.152, p= 0.037). There were no other statistically significant relationships between the dietary patterns and risk factors for T2D. Conclusions: A variety of patterns with healthy and unhealthy traits among Hispanic women were observed. Being younger may play an important role in adhering to a dietary pattern rich in sugary and high-fat foods and highlights the importance of assessing dietary patterns among young women to early identify dietary traits detrimental for their health. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Exercise and Nutritional Sciences 2018

Two overall national health goals are to increase the quality and years of healthy life and to eliminate health disparities. Physical inactivity is a leading cause of disability and death due to its relationship with overweight and chronic disease. Hispanic women are less physically active than Hispanic men and Anglo women in leisure time physical activity and recommended levels of physical activity (PA). From a developmental perspective, understanding prevalence and correlates of PA in emerging adulthood may make a significant contribution to increasing PA as women move into full adulthood. The Health Promotion Model (HPM) advanced by Pender provided the framework for examining beliefs about PA and other correlates of PA. This study also developed and tested a scale measuring beliefs about PA (BPA) that tried to access cultural differences between non-Hispanic and Hispanic women. The study was carried out by electronic solicitation to randomly selected non-Hispanic and Hispanic students from 3 southwestern universities and yielded 237 complete online surveys. Instruments comprising the survey included the Short-version of the International PA Questionnaire (IPAQ), Exercise Benefits and Barriers Scale (EBBS), Self-Efficacy for Exercise (SEE), Social Support for Exercise Survey for Family and Friends (SSFA, SSFR), BPA, the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans (ARSMA II), and questions about SES. Statistical procedures included factor analysis, t-tests, and multi-sample path analysis. Respondents included 80 non-Hispanic and 157 Hispanic women, aged 18-27. Factor analysis of the BPA produced 7 subscales accounting for 68% of the explained variance (spirituality, role enhancement, socialization preferences, personal benefits, cultural beliefs, exercise difficulty, and women’s roles). Independent sample t-tests indicated group means for spirituality and cultural beliefs significantly differed, as did total BPA, acculturation, & SES. Path analysis provided evidence for a model with good fit for both groups. Significant path coefficients to vigorous PA included benefits, SE, and SSFA. Total indirect effects for SES to vigorous PA through SE and SSFA were significant. Acculturation, SES, SSFR, and BPA were not significant predictors of vigorous PA. / text

Young women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico are coming of age in an era of feminicides, drug wars, impunity, and fear. This ethnographic study examines the ways in which Preparatoria Altavista, a public high school, in one of the most marginalized areas of Juárez, attempts to empower subaltern young women through its critical and social justice philosophy of education. The study draws from critical pedagogy, socio-cultural theory, and feminist scholarship to offer a unique analysis of how hegemonic ideas are resisted and/or inscribed pedagogically, politically, and institutionally at Altavista. Secondly, the study examines how the school’s constructions of democratic and social justice education interact with the current dystopic context of Juárez and discourses about Juárez women to provide a framework with which a group of young women author their identities and practice forms of resistance. The ethnographic fieldwork took place in the 2009-2010 academic year. The methods included unstructured ethnographic interviews with teachers, administrators, and numerous students, as well as semi-structured interviews and an auto-photography technique with nine girls. The study identifies three interrelated aspects that characterize the transformative pedagogy of Preparatoria Altavista: freedom and autonomy, authentic caring relationships, and the cultivation of critical discourse and activism. Together, these core values promote the school’s ultimate goal for its students – autogestión, or the ability to self-author empowered identities; read their world; and initiate and develop socially transformative projects. Considering the school’s context, as well as the many challenges inherent in the dystopic Juárez of today, the study also identifies a typology of four different paths to the girls’ identity and agency development: the Redirectors, the Reinventors, the Redefiners, and the Refugees. This typology is based on various ways and degrees to which the young women in this study authored the self as they negotiated the messages from the multiple figured worlds that they inhabit. The study seeks to counter sensationalist, criminalizing, and dooming narratives about Juárez youth, as well as stereotypical and objectifying depictions of Juárez women by offering a nuanced analysis of their experiences, perspectives, identities, and forms of agency. The study also seeks to offer a language of possibility and hope for urban schools and contexts of civil unrest through critical pedagogy. / text

xv, 142 p. : ill. (some col.) / Young Latina women are at risk for unwanted pregnancy and sexually-transmitted infections. Researchers have suggested that factors such as self-efficacy and relationship power dynamics may contribute to difficulty in negotiating safe sex practices. For women in heterosexual relationships, the most common prevention practice--condom use--requires partner cooperation. Sociocultural variables related to gender role socialization can adversely affect a woman's ability to negotiate condom use. I developed and tested a model of sociocultural predictors of Latina women's safe sex practices. The predictors included ethnic identity, acculturation, womanist identity, gender role attitudes, sexual self-efficacy, and sexual relationship power. I surveyed 210 young adult Latina women via an online survey that was disseminated across the United States via social networking websites and email. I used path analysis to investigate the fit of the hypothesized model with the data, first to predict condom use and second to predict sexual history exploration. Results indicated that the hypothesized model predicting the safe sex practice of exploring a partner's sexual history had a good fit to the data, whereas the model predicting condom use did not provide an adequate fit to the data. These findings suggest that young adult Latinas' exploration of a partner's sexual history is more likely to occur when women have stronger ethnic identity and womanist identity, more egalitarian gender role attitudes, and higher levels of partner dominance and control in their relationship. The model accounted for 16% of the variance in sexual history exploration. Although the variance explained was low, this model is still informative of the factors that contribute to sexual history exploration. Exploring a potential partner's history is an important aspect of safe sex practices that can have major implications for healthy sexual decision-making. Understanding an individual's cultural identity via ethnic and womanist identity, as well as considering sociocultural (e.g., gender role attitudes) and interpersonal (e.g., relationship power) factors, can inform prevention efforts that will contribute to safe sex behavioral outcomes. Other factors that may contribute to safe sex practice outcomes that were not accounted for by the models are noted. Implications for practice and future research are discussed. / Committee in charge: Dr. Ellen H. McWhirter, Chairperson; Dr. Linda Forrest, Member; Dr. Joseph Stevens, Member; Dr. Lynn Fujiwara, Outside Member

abstract: Hispanic Narratives of the Ill or Disabled Woman: A Feminist Disability Theory Approach, is a comprehensive study that delves into the topic of the ill or disabled female in the narratives of Hispanic female authors who either have a disability or who have been affected by a chronic or terminal illness, causing debilitation. In order to address this topic, this thesis investigates disability identity by utilizing feminist disability theory by Kim Q. Hall, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, and Susan Wendell, amongst others, and at the same time reviews current disability policies in both Latin American and Spanish societies. By providing a critical view of this theme from a feminist standpoint, this study places emphasis on the lived experiences that ill or disabled Hispanic women face, doubly marginalized, not only based on their illness or (dis)ability, but also their gender. This in depth analysis of Fruta Podrida (2007) and Sangre en el ojo (2012) by Lina Meruane, Diario del dolor (2004) by María Luisa Puga, Clavícula: (mi clavícula y otros inmensos desajustes (2017) by Marta Sanz, Diario de una pasajera by Ágata Gligo (1997), Si crees en mí, te sorprenderé (2014) by Ana Vives, and The Ladies Gallery: A Memory of Family Secrets by Irene Vilar provides relevant information on societal norms, policies and current debate about healthcare and women’s rights in various Hispanic countries and the United States. At the same time, it emphasizes the disabled female as subject, and investigates the societal perpetuation of disability. This dissertation discusses various concepts from disability studies, such as the illness/disability narrative, corporeal invisibility, normalcy, medical pathologization, stereotyping, and ableism, and investigates them in relation to both chronic and terminal illness or physical and mental disability in relation to the ill or disabled Hispanic female. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Spanish 2018

Throughout history, women have played an important role in literature. Nevertheless, since Sappho's poetry until now, feminine voices have had to struggle for recognition of their works. Before the nineteenth century, women were almost ignored in Spanish literature. Society kept them as "ángeles de la familia," taking care of their homes, husbands, and children. Some of them, such as María de Zayas y Sotomayor in Spain and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz in Mexico, complained about their situation in their writings. However, they expressed their fight not as a generation but as individuals. In the nineteenth century, the ideas and ideals of Romanticism, were brought to Latin America from Europe. Cuba was among those countries where the new movement took roots. Initiated by Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, a group of women began to participate in literary reunions, and to found newspapers and magazines where works authored by women, dedicated to feminist ideas, were published. They indeed through literature started to live out womanhood in order to intellectually leave the ideological prisons where society had been keeping them. This study scans the literary works of all Romantic women writers in Cuba. It specifically analyzes poetry and short stories, and investigates how these authors expressed themselves in their works against the patriarchal society, where they lived and wrote their books. An eclectic critical method has been used. Findings were very revealing. Only three of the fourteen writers studied in my dissertation had been previously mentioned by major critics. Most of them had been ignored. However, the greatest discovery was that they prompted something new: For the first time they projected themselves as a group, as a collective consciousness, and this fact established a difference with former women writers in Cuban literature before Romanticism. In other words, they produced a "Renaissance" in Cuba's literature. In spite of how they lived between 1820 and 1900, their struggles for women's rights have linked them to our current times.