The number of women incarcerated in Canadian federal penitentiaries and segregation units has steadily increased over the last decade. Out of the total admissions to segregation, Indigenous women are over-represented, accounting for 31% of the cases (Office of the Correctional Investigator, 2015). To address issues of inequity and social injustice exemplified through the over-representation of women, especially Indigenous women, in segregation, this thesis provides an Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis (IBPA) which examines the experience of federally sentenced women as documented in reports published by the Office of the Correctional Investigator and statements published by the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association. I explore the gendered and racialized ways in which the CSC interprets the behaviours, attitudes, and even personalities of the women they place in segregation. Through examining mental health, gender and culturally responsive policy within the context of risk/need management, I conclude that the CSC does not protect marginalized women via policy, but rather converts the needs of marginalized groups into risks to be managed. Through omitting any mention of the intersecting social locations that shape women’s experiences, the CSC perpetuates a ‘one-size-fits-all’ understanding that fails to disrupt the stigmatization and over surveillance of ‘unfeminine’ and racialized women. I identify and examine alternative policy responses and solutions by developing a strategic plan specifically aimed at producing the social and structural changes necessary to reduce inequities and promote social justice. The steps in the strategic plan reflect current priorities of the government, CSC, academics, and legal/medical professionals.

Many studies have interpreted the positive and negative consequences of China's One-Child Policy on Chinese women, but few have relied upon contribution from Chinese women and only children themselves. However, by valuing personal, lived experience, researchers may discourage the propagation of Western media stereotypes of what it means to be a young Chinese woman in urban China. The use of an intersectionality framework showcases how Chinese women's lived experiences must be framed more widely than a single aspect of their identity and that gender, educational experiences, family dynamic, and single child status (among other identity markers) form a more complex and holistic identity than any marker considered individually. This thesis argues that the intersectionality of lived experience makes it necessary to consider each individual's story as valuable and that commonalities and differences are both crucial to understanding how individual's lives intersect in the context of this complex birth policy

The purpose of this study was to explore the intersection of multiple minority identities in men who have sex with men (MSM) of color, focusing on the relationship between experiences of minority stress and negative health outcomes. Specifically, this study aimed to identify how minority stress levels in MSM of color impact the following negative health outcomes: poor mental health, substance abuse, and risky sexual behavior. The role of ethnic identity belonging and religious practice as potentially moderating the relationship between minority stress and negative health outcomes was further explored. A cross-sectional online survey was utilized to test the research questions. The sample consisted of 152 participants who identified as racial/ethnic minorities and MSM between the ages of 18 and 29. Direct effects of minority stress reflected in self-reports of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual (LGB) victimization, internalized homophobia, and perceived ethnic discrimination on negative health outcomes were tested using analysis software IBM SPSS. The findings revealed that greater minority stress was associated only with increased mental health problems. As hypothesized, evidence emerged that ethnic identity belonging moderated the relationship between minority stress and both mental health and substance use outcomes, suggesting that ethnic identity belonging may serve as a protective factor for MSM of color. Under conditions of high minority stress, MSM of color with greater engagement with formal religious practice were associated with the highest negative mental health outcomes, whereas lower degrees of religious practice predicted better mental health outcomes. This study identified MSM of color to be at risk for poor mental health and has highlighted the importance of ethnic identity belonging as a potential buffer against mental health and substance use issues. Further research is necessary to determine whether religiosity serves as a protective factor or risk factor for MSM of color. These findings will help researchers to better understand MSM of color and may have a potential impact on prevention and intervention efforts by identifying risk and protective factors that help to explain the aversive effects of minority stress.

Advertising is increasingly, and has become one of the most powerful forms of global communication. It is one of the most influential tools in spreading ideas about gender, ethnicity and sexuality that create perceptions. Advertising has becoming increasingly global due to the globalization of the Western society and culture. This creates a need for intersectional awareness in advertising in order to avoid communicating inequalities. This bachelor thesis examines and analyze how femininities are articulated in advertising that exists within the contemporary context of popular feminism. Specifically, it offers an analysis of how postfeminism as a contemporary formation of feminism informs these advertising campaigns. The study examines two visual commercials, one from Adidas Originals and one from H&M. A multimodal semiotic analysis was used to analyze the empirical material in order to find out its meanings. The result indicates that the two advertising campaigns from H&M and Adidas Originals presents various and diverse forms of femininities by showcasing women with different looks, bodies and ethnicities. H&M’s commercial showcase women who are seen as empowered, confident and who acts out in different environments. Adidas Originals rather puts emphasis on showcasing women and men who speaks about issues concerning gender, body image and ethnicity. Both campaigns, it is argued, articulate and negotiate a discourse of postfeminism.

Prostitution, arguably one of the world’s oldest profession has become a current and growing business across societies today. In Sweden, there has been an increasing recognition of the constant exploitation and abuse of women who are in the business of selling sexual services. As a majority of the sex workers in Sweden are non-ethnic Swedes, it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish the misogyny from the racism or exotification experienced in prostitution. This qualitative study explores if the intersection of race, misogyny and exotification has given rise to different kinds of vulnerabilities amongst women in prostitution in the Swedish sex industry. The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of a black woman who has been prostituted in the sex industry in Sweden. The aim is to provide knowledge of intersectionality in prostitution and the complex effects it has on an individual woman’s experiences. The authors made use of case study as research design and relied on a semi-structured interview with a black woman who has been in prostitution and her experiences. The results of the study, with comparison to the literary review showed the different intersecting factors that affect a black woman, and how it, with the use of intersectionality as an analytical framework, can be argued that these factors give rise to a distinct experience in a woman with multiple marginalised identities. The study does also suggest the need for further research in the field with a larger selection of respondents that aims at acquiring national data as well as research on prostitution that focuses on power structures and the intersecting identities of persons with multiple dominant identities.

Como as práticas baseadas nos lugares de Mercado podem ser analisadas sob uma ontologia diferente? Esse trabalho é baseado na discussão de alguns prismas teóricos fundamentais na epistemologia de estudos de comportamento de consumo. Estudos envolvendo consumo geralmente focam-se no consumidor como indivíduo final, monolítico – portador de agência e voz. Portanto, esse trabalho busca compreender o descolamento aparente entre os humanos e os não-humanos (coisas). Para tanto, utilizei-me do conceito de coisa, advinda do campo da Antropologia, para estudos de comportamento de consumo. Escolhi, como tema, a sexualidade – visto que é um tema com pouca expressividade no campo de comportamento de consumo. Inicio meu argumento com três pilares teóricos: o conceito de coisa; o conceito de performatividade para gênero e sexualidade; e o conceito de interseccionalidade. Depois, apresento o método utilizado para unir os três pilares na análise empírica in loco. Por fim, ofereço uma discussão sobre a convergência da fundamentação teórica e o método. Meus achados iluminam como atores humanos envolvidos em uma malha de relações, que dividem práticas com outros atores, engajam-se em oclusão de consumo: a necessidade de esconder uma prática de consumo dentro de uma malha próxima de relações. Também iluminam como a cooptação de locais de mercado de forma institucional – adicionando lugares focados em diversidade – não preclude a exclusão. Observei a continuação das práticas exclusionárias dentro de ambientes de mercado considerados abertos à diversidade, ou exclusão interseccional. Ambos achados foram resultado da abordagem ontológica delimitada previamente, que resultou no conceito de gayscape – um conceito puramente qualitativo que contém a malha de interrelação dos atores (humanos e não-humanos) do campo de consumo gay. / How do the marketplace-based practices can be analyzed with a different ontology? This work is based on the discussion of some theoretical approaches fundamentally attached to consumption behavior studies. These studies are usually focused on the consumer as a finished, monolithic individual – bearer of agency and voice. Therefore, this work tries to comprehend the apparent detachment between humans and non-humans. To achieve this I use the concept of thing, from the anthropology field to study consumption behavior. My chosen theme is sexuality – seen it is regarded as an understudied in consumption behavior studies. I start my argument based on three theoretical pillars: the concept of thing; the concept of performativity connected to gender and sexuality; and the concept of intersectionality. Following this, I present the method that was used to unite these three pillars for data collection. Lastly, I offer a discussion about the convergence of the literature review and the method. My findings illuminate how human actors are involved in a mesh of relationships – sharing practices with other actors – engage in what I call Consumption Occlusion: the need to hide a consumption practice within a tightly woven mesh of relationships. I also illuminate how institutional marketplace cooptation – for example, adding diverse marketplaces – does not preclude exclusion. I observed the continuation of exclusionary practices within marketplaces regarded as open to diversity, or intersectional exclusion. Both findings are the results of a previously delimited ontological approach, resulting in the concept of gayscape – a purely qualitative concept that brings forth the relationship mesh among actors (humans and non-humans) of the gay consumption field.

abstract: Prior sentencing research, especially research on cumulative disadvantage, has mainly focused on the treatment of male defendants, and little attention has been paid to female defendants, especially minority female defendants. Drawing on the intersectional vulnerability and focal concerns perspectives, the current study emphasizes the need to examine disparity in sentencing through an intersectional lens and across multiple decision-making points. Using the State Court Processing Statistics dataset (SCPS) from 1990-2009, this paper investigates the impact that race/ethnicity has for female defendants across individual and successive stages in the sentencing process. The results suggest that race operates through direct and indirect pathways to cause lengthier sentences for Black female defendants compared to White female defendants, thus providing evidence of cumulative disadvantage against Black female defendants. Theoretical, research, and policy implications will be discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Criminology and Criminal Justice 2018

This dissertation format includes three articles that each address a unique aspect of the current barriers to access that individuals with disabilities with intersectional identities experience in their academic and career paths to attainment of a doctoral degree. The first article contains an analysis of data drawn from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09). This analysis revealed that youth with disabilities who were also economically disadvantaged participated in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) classes in high school in significantly lower numbers than their peers who did not have disabilities and were not economically disadvantaged and in significantly lower numbers than their peers who did have disabilities, but were not economically disadvantaged. Many of these students from low socio-economic status (SES) families also have subordinate group identities (United States Department of Education [USDOE], 2014). These students who have disabilities and are economically disadvantaged are less likely to pursue graduate education which requires the completion of research methodology coursework. The second article is a qualitative study of the experiences of doctoral degree program graduates who have disabilities and belong to other subordinate groups. The barriers to inclusion and their successes in completing research methodology coursework is discussed. The last article in this dissertation explores Universal Design in Instruction and Learning (UDIL) techniques that can improve access in research methodology coursework at the graduate level for students with disabilities and/or those with diverse learning styles.

This research study investigates the lived experiences of eight Black women senior secondary school leaders (hereafter referred to as Black women senior leaders) so as to elucidate their understanding, perceptions and experiences of senior leadership. Educational reform has taken place in England during the Thatcher, Major, New Labour and Coalition governments, leading to significant changes in secondary schools in England. These changes have resulted in new leadership roles, challenges and high levels of accountability. Moreover, the role of headteachers and senior leaders have been widely researched and discussed (Brundrett, 1999; Bush et al. 2006; Lumby and English, 2009; Leithwood, 2009, 2012), yet the experiences of Black women senior leaders is absent from the literature, which has focused on the experiences of Black minority and ethnic teachers and leaders (Powney et al. 2003; Bush et al. 2006; Coleman and Campbell-Stephens, 2010; Johnson and Campbell-Stephens, 2014) A social constructionist, interpretivist paradigm was adopted for this thesis and, using an intersectionality lens, the complexities of Black women senior leaders’ multiple identities and experiences were explored. Sixteen transcripts were generated from two semistructured interviews with the participants and my own, to explore how their race; gender; and, social class intersect to shape their leadership perceptions, beliefs and behaviours. Moreover, this research study is interested in gaining a better understanding of how Black women senior leaders develop their personal and professional identities; the value they place on formal and informal leadership preparation, development and learning approaches; and, how they maintain professional relationships with colleagues. The key findings are presented under the three research questions where Black women senior leaders’ narratives elucidate the lessons they have learnt throughout their senior leadership journeys, which provide insights into their experiences, offering practical advice to help other Black women and colleagues considering senior leadership.

This study aims at investigating gender, gender interaction and sexuality among homosexual women with Assyrian belonging. The focus has been on describing their experiences of being homosexuals as well as the difficulties they face from an intersectional perspective.The result portrays that in the research and among the respondents there is generally a cultured image of heteronorms that cannot be deviated. Individuals who deviate from cultural norms are considered abnormal. The respondents suggests that her sexual orientation is limited to her from an intersectional perspective because homosexuality is invisible in gender-gender interactions and sexuality where there are also different power relationships. The challenges experienced by respondents were the implementation of the cultural norm in society as well as intersectionality overriding and subordination maintained in interplay between sex and sexuality in their daily lives. Consequently the respondents lives in different roles to avoid losing contact with relatives and avoiding the hegemony of society.