This thesis aims to analyze the affect of internalized misogyny on female self-expression. Guided by the research question “How is female self-expression affected by internalized misogyny?” a phenomenological framework of affect based on work by Sara Ahmed is applied. Through an action-oriented focus group discussion, four female-identifying individuals share their embodied experiences of internalized misogyny. This research is positioned within a Western context and includes me as an additional involved participant. Results conclude that internalized misogyny may affect female self-expression through five common themes. These include an internalized female beauty standard resulting in self-objectification, a limited range of acceptable female expression resulting in a passive acceptance of gender roles, competition and comparison among women resulting in a devaluation of ourselves and other women, self-doubt and self-censorship resulting in a distrust of ourselves and other women as well as perfectionism and fear of failure resulting in valuing men over women. These results correlate both with the previous studies presented as well as my own previous first-year master thesis. This research adds to the academic conversation by including a reflection on the internalized attitudes towards ourselves beyond those directed towards other women.

Following a series of terrorist attacks, online communities for men built around misogyny and resistance to feminist values – commonly known as the manosphere – have recently become subject of scholarly attention. In research, the manosphere is usually explored as a phenomenon in the Western world, often described as a backlash movement in countries where gender equality is most progressive. This thesis seeks to widen the geographical borders of manosphere research by exploring discursive articulations of tropes related to the international manosphere on an open-access Bulgarian online Q&A platform. By choosing this platform as a case study, this project aims to fill a knowledge gap by exploring whether discourses fundamental to international, largely English-language communities of the manosphere are found relevant on a mainstream online space in an Eastern European, Balkan country like Bulgaria, and what (if any) additional locally specific tropes emerge in this context. Drawing on a discourse-historical approach to critical discourse analysis informed by social identity theory, the study seeks to unpack how these tropes serve the practice of online social identity construction, with a focus on whether the social identities that emerge could be classified as potentially extremist. The research problem is approached both by analyzing discursive elements in a purposeful sample of user comments, and by keeping a focus on the affordances of the online platform as a space where these discourses are co-produced and disseminated.

The purpose of this dissertation is to produce a critical edition of Álvaro de Luna's 15th century manuscript, Libro de las claras e virtuosas mugeres. This Castilian text is a compilation of biographies of good and virtuous women similar to that of the widely studied De claris mulieribus by Giovanni Boccaccio. Scholars however, have neglected Luna's version for various reasons that are discussed within this dissertation. Libro de las claras e virtuosas mugeres is a significant work because it complements other texts within the genre of defense literature and provides a good argument against the misogynistic texts in the debate on women in the Middle Ages. Within this dissertation, the Introduction serves to orient the reader through the debate on women in 15th century Castile and to contextualize the Libro de las claras e virtuosas mugeres within it. Through the discussion of the debate on women in medieval Iberia, we will show how Luna's work is a necessary, but forgotten element. Also pertinent is the notorious past of don Álvaro, and how this has negatively impacted the reception of his work. This dissertation also compiles all critical studies and editions currently in print and discusses their merits. Finally in the Introduction, we explain how we took into account Bernard Cerquiglini's concept of variance and John Dagenais' theory that in order to come close to the medieval reading of the text, it is necessary to replicate the manuscripts, not to modernize them. Thus, we produced transcriptions that were as close to the original texts as possible, rather than attempting to correct or modernize them. In order to produce the critical edition necessary for a proper study of the Libro de las claras e virtuosas mugeres, this dissertation contains two transcriptions of the two oldest extant manuscripts: ms. B (2654) and ms. S (207). Within ms. B we also provide a critical apparatus, which shows the lexical and orthographical differences between the two. Additionally for the benefit of the reader, we provide four Appendices: the missing chapter of the Queen of Sheba (not included in ms. B), a list of all the women Luna included in his work, and facsimilar samples of both manuscripts. It is our desire to promote a renewed interest in this forgotten, yet extremely important 15th century Castilian manuscript. / Spanish

Il presente studio mira a constatare lo stretto collegamento tra la figura femminile e il cinema thriller e horror italiano, qui denominato genericamente “fantastico” in un’ accezione estensiva, a evidenziarne caratteristiche comuni relative a entrambi i generi. La periodizzazione della ricerca va dagli anni sessanta agli anni ottanta ed il primo obiettivo è stato quello di valutare secondo un approccio culturalista l’interdipendenza donna-horror, spesso sfociata in un approccio misogino al genere. I risultati sono stati spesso discordanti rispetto alle premesse di partenza: le donne sono raffigurate solo come vittime, il gradimento del pubblico è esclusivamente maschile. La messa in discussione di questa tesi si è resa possibile attraverso una ricerca empirico-applicativa di un campione di film e una disamina di scritti più recenti che mirano in qualche caso a rovesciare il paradigma di partenza. Il secondo obiettivo ha rilevato differenze tra rappresentazione femminile nel cinema italiano e americano, muovendo dal presupposto che le teorie su cui ci si è basati provengono dagli stati uniti e hanno previsto un campione per lo più di film non italiani. quindi l’ intento dello studio è stato anche quello di misurare l’applicabilità di alcuni paradigmi teorici al caso italiano. lo svolgimento della ricerca ha previsto un’indagine di tipo quantitativo (rilevazione del corpus estensivo di film) e intensivo-qualitativo (analisi di alcuni principali stereotipi femminili, tratti dalla letteratura e dal cinema: damsel in distress, belle dame sans merci, final girl), per giungere poi alla conclusione che il genere fantastico italiano ha risentito forse più di ogni altro di una conflittualità permanente, tra bisogno di emancipazione e resistenza conservatrice. / This current study aims to ascertain the close connection between female figure and Italian horror/thriller, cinema, here called "fantastico" in an extensive meaning, in order to highlight common features related to both genres. The periodization of research goes from 60s to 80s and the first purpose was to evaluate, according to a culturalist approach, the woman-horror interdependence, often focused in a mysoginic approach to the genre. The results have often been conflicting with respect to the starting presuppositions: the women are represented only as victims, the audience’s satisfaction is exclusively male. The discussion of this thesis was possible through an empirical and applicative research of a film sample and a careful investigation of latest writings that aim in different cases to reverse the paradigm of the starting point. The second objective detected differences between female representation in the Italian and American cinema, moving from the assumption that the theories which we are based on, come from united states and have provided a sample of more American films than Italian ones. Therefore the intent of this essay was testing the applicability of some historical theoric paradigms to the Italian case. the research’ s method involved a quantitative cataloging of extensive film corpus and an intensive one, which analyzes the main female stereotypes drawn from literature and cinema (damsel in distress, belle dame sans merci, final girl ). the conclusions show that the Italian fantastic genre has resisted more than other ones of a permanent conflict between emancipation and conservative resistance.

Bc. Martina Stanjurová The Chronic Innocence: A Queer Reading Abstract: The Master's thesis analyses Klaus Rifbjerg's novel The Chronic Innocence (1958), one of the central works of the Danish literature. The analysis is carried out from the gender studies perspective, namely through the principles of the post structuralist queer theories. The thesis deals with the analysis of the dynamics of the relationship between the central figures, the narrator Janus and his classmate Tore. By using the queer reading method, the thesis unveils how the narrator expresses and conceals his platonic fascination for the friend. Moreover, the thesis tries to explain the essence of the narrator's relationship to the female figures, which shows misogynic traits.

¡§Jasmine Flavored Tea¡¨ is one of the earliest published works of Eileen Chang. However, the autobiographic fiction which focuses its topic on ¡§looking for Father¡¨ has not been valued by the academic circle for a long time. In fact, ¡§Jasmine Flavored Tea¡¨ is the center text(centext) among Eileen Chang¡¦s works. She semioticizes this work according to its plot and then makes these elements metaphors of her later works. This is the key to discussions about the hypertextuality between the texts of Eileen Chang and the phenomenonal world. By using a new approach of criticism called ¡§the School of Super Searching,¡¨ this discourse attempts to blend the research achievements of modern anthropology, psychology and folkloristics into traditional searching, to do gender studies by searching ¡§psychological facts,¡¨ and to focus on the intertextuality between the plot of the fiction and the folk data. By means of the motive tied with folktales and folk customs, and of the related significant notions like misogyny, twins complex, endogamy desire, liminality and initiation rite, divine king and scapegoat, and individuation process, with a close reading on the text of ¡§Jasmine Flavored Tea,¡¨ this discourse explores how the pieces of symbolism and meaning in the text associate with the life experiences of Eileen Chang.The issues dealt by this discourse are as follows: 1. Lead a large amount of anthropological concepts into literary criticism, and make intertextual comparison between ethnography and literary works. 2. Clarify the countervailing process between masculinity and femininity in ¡§Jasmine Flavored Tea¡¨ by means of the connotative plot structures of the fairy tales, ¡§Iron John¡¨ and ¡§Little Red Riding-Hood,¡¨ in the text. Men gradually construct masculinity by adopting male violence in order to get rid of maternal swallowing and paternal castration. 3. The practical operatoins of Jung¡¦s theory in literary criticism: (1) Twins complex is an important complex to present the relationship between ego and Anima/Animus. (2) Synchronicity and the possibility of predictive text(predictext). (3) Clarification on the relationship between ¡§sukuu¡¨ and the self. (4) Application of the participation mystique on the narrative point of view. 4. Apollo¡¦s Neuroses- Reinterpretation of the implication for the incest by Oedipus in the texts of Eileen Chang. 5. There exists an association between fowls as the symbol of twins complex and Eileen Chang¡¦s family. 6. The riddle about Eileen Chang in her late years is an individuation process from putting on the wolf¡¦s skin to taking it off. 7. The comparison between the autobiographic works, ¡§Jasmine Flavored Tea¡¨ and Little Reunion.

Interest in this study was evoked by concern over the small percentage of women employed as school administrators. Despite recent legislation, this situation has not changed markedly. This study was needed to determine the current status, attitudes, and concerns of women certified as administrators in Texas with those of the superintendents of Texas public school districts? and to compare the differences of the two concerning this situation. It was concluded that not only did a larger percentage of the women prefer to be employed as elementary school administrators, but also the superintendents felt they would be more likely to be employed at that level. It was further concluded that a majority of the superintendents were likely to give women substantial consideration for employment as elementary school administrators, but were unlikely to hire them as chief administrators of their secondary schools. Many of the women also perceived that Texas school districts are still "in effect" participating in sexually discriminatory hiring practices whether or not the superintendents are aware of the situation. The attitudes of the women and the superintendents very clearly differed concerning opportunities available for female administrators in Texas.

Gender violence in Mexico is a problem that affects its society on a long- term basis. Its most extreme form known as feminicide, that is a gender- based murder of women, appears with so much frequency that it can be considered a structural problem yet. Mexico is one of the countries with most cases in Latin America, however, insufficient and ineffective measures taken by the state facilitate their perpetration which is often immune from prosecution. This thesis aims to approximate the issue to the reader and explain the concept of feminicide in given context within its complexity. For that purpose, a process tracing analysis of two selected cases is done; starting from their perpetration to their sentencing by judicial instances. The sentences of both cases became very important milestones. The factors that contributed to the outcome are tracked and afterwards a comparison of tracked causal mechanisms is done. As it was already mentioned, the cases were not selected randomly. Not only are they important for their sentences, but moreover they took place in two Mexican states with traditionally high numbers of committed feminicides, that is in Chihuahua and Mexico State. The results of the analysis suggest that even though Mexico has signed the most important international conventions about women's...

La presente investigación exploró las representaciones sociales sobre misoginia en estudiantes varones de educación superior. Se realizó desde el paradigma cualitativo, con el enfoque fenomenológico hermenéutico. En el estudio participaron ocho varones, utilizándose la entrevista semiestructurada para recoger la información. Los resultados evidencian que, en la construcción de las subjetividades de estos jóvenes, aun se preservaban representaciones estereotipadas de género. Asimismo, mantienen una concepción difusa sobre la misoginia y sus diversas expresiones. Otro hallazgo central es que las subjetividades actuales se encuentran en proceso de “pseudo transformación”, que expresa el rechazo de violencia de género en su discurso y la presencia de acciones misóginas en su accionar, lo que indica que aún no se puede hablar de una transformación integrada en las subjetividades de estos jóvenes. / The present research explored the social representations about misogyny in male students of higher education. It was carried out from the qualitative paradigm, with the hermeneutical phenomenological approach. Eight men participated in the study, using the semi-structured interview to collect the information. The results show that, in the construction of the subjectivities of these young people, stereotyped gender representations were still preserved. Likewise, they maintain a diffuse conception about misogyny and its various expressions. Another central finding is that current subjectivities are in the process of “pseudo transformation”, which expresses the rejection of gender violence in their discourse and the presence of misogynistic actions in their actions, which indicates that it is still not possible to speak of a transformation integrated into the subjectivities of these young people. / Tesis

As with women journalists in other male-dominated fields, female music writers have long endured gendered harassment. In the newsroom, this sexist treatment is foisted upon female music journalists by their male editors and colleagues; in the outside world, it often occurs at the hands of male sources, readers, and online trolls. Unfortunately, the victims of such abuse are frequently left to cope with it alone, and many report that their mental health suffers in the process. Some may even ultimately decide to quit pursuing music journalism entirely. These women report wanting to feel more supported within their work environment, as well as through informal means, such as via a network of fellow female writers. Feminist media theory, utilitarianism, and ethics of care will serve as the study's theoretical bases. This research, based on in-depth interviews with women music journalists, suggests that the vast majority of participants had faced sexism and/or gendered harassment during their time as a female music journalist, experiences that left many of them feeling frustrated and devalued. Based on the research, I offer recommendations on how to make the industry more inclusive for women writers.