Many prospective teachers make assumptions about their students before they actually begin teaching. Many of these assumptions can be rooted specifically in students’ races, cultures, classes, religions, genders, and sexual orientations. In order for prospective mathematics teachers to challenge these biases, some mathematics teacher educators have provided tasks to support these prospective teachers in becoming aware of their own biases. I chose to analyze a group of five prospective mathematics teachers discussing topics of teaching for social justice to examine more closely the kinds of biases they carry, and more specifically, how those biases came about in their conversations. My analysis also involved looking specifically at whether or not these prospective mathematics teachers were challenging their own as well as others’ biases that came out during the discussions. The results of this study display the ways in which these biases were illuminated during the group discussions as well as the lack of prospective teachers challenging the biases that came out.

This thesis aims to interrogate how “issue-attention cycle” theory corresponds to online debates that address the issue of sexism, specifically the hashtag campaign #MeToo, in German online media. The issue-attention dynamics of #MeToo on Twitter are analyzed in order to understand the relationship between mainstream media and hashtag activism in Germany, and it is demonstrated what the #MeToo coverage can tell about issue-attention theory on the one hand, and how the theory can help to understand #MeToo on the other hand. To this end, the results of a content analysis of Twitter posts with #MeToo by four major German newspapers, representative of the German online media landscape, were compared to previous hashtag campaigns in Germany that addressed the same topic. In addition, five media experts as well as academics were interviewed, and their insights used to identify the issue-attention dynamics of #MeToo. Anthony Downs’ (1972) “issue-attention cycle” theory is then applied to the hashtag. The results show that so far there have been many ups and downs of attention in the lifecycle of #MeToo, but public attention has not ended. The research also finds that hashtags emanating from the United States, and especially from individuals related to the American entertainment industry, receive far more attention than corresponding hashtags originating in Germany, even though they address the same topic. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, the deployment of the issue-attention cycle showed that a modified model is necessary to address the fast-changing attention dynamics of hashtags on Twitter. Instead of a cycle, attention can be better demonstrated through waves. Adding the variables “new events” and the hashtag as a connector of events and issues to the model helps to better understand current media structures and their attention dynamics, which are strongly influenced by social media.

The aim of this investigation was to study what adjectives the media uses when describing female and male football players and sportswomen and sportsmen. The objective was to see if the adjectives described men and women differently and whether the adjectives reinforced gender stereotypes. To see the frequency an adjective had an online corpus was used and the analysis was based on Fairclough´s model of critical discourse analysis. The results showed that many adjectives were used for both genders. However, adjectives regarding appearance only showed in the results for women. In conclusion, the men and women were described in similar ways, however, as the women were also described by their beauty indicates that the media reinforces the gender stereotypes in certain ways.

El tema desarrollado en este artículo académico es la representación de la mujer en los diarios sensacionalistas peruanos, Trome y Karibeña, dando como hipótesis que estos medios de comunicación son el reflejo de una cultura machista, en donde se realzan estereotipos de mujer como objeto sexual, como subordinada al hombre o excluida del ámbito laboral. Para ello se analizarán las notas de los diarios, se abarcará la percepción de los lectores, y se conversará con especialistas que expliquen por qué en el Perú se acepta este trato hacia la mujer y bajo qué influencia social se da. Con esta información se concluirá que, en la actualidad, la prensa presenta una fuerte influencia de estereotipos sexistas, que se han normalizado, y, son el reflejo del machismo y desigualdad de género existente en el Perú y Latinoamérica. / The theme developed in this academic article is the representation of women in the Peruvian sensationalist newspapers, Trome and Karibeña, assuming that these media are the reflection of a masculine culture, where stereotypes of women as sexual objects are enhanced, as subordinate to men or excluded from the workplace. For this reason, the notes of the newspapers will be analyzed, the perception of the readers will be covered, and we will talk with specialists who explain why in Peru this treatment towards women is accepted and under what social influence it is given. With this information it will be concluded that, at present, the press has a strong influence of sexist stereotypes, which have normalized, and are the reflection of the gender inequality in Peru and Latin America. / Tesis

In this thesis attitudes towards the so called inclusive language (lenguaje inclusivo) are investigated. The main idea of using the inclusive language is to avoid sexism and promote the visibility of the woman. However, there is an ongoing debate concerning the use of the inclusive language and there are few signs of reaching a consensus. For that reason, it is relevant to investigate the attitudes towards the use of the inclusive language. The informants are students of secondary schools and universities in some Spanish speaking countries. The aim is to investigate whether the attitudes are positive or negative and the hypothesis, founded on earlier studies, is that the female informants would show a more positive attitude than the male ones. Generally speaking the hypothesis is not confirmed. The results show more complex relationships that have to be investigated in the future.

Sports journalism is a traditionally male-dominated environment. Previous research has shown that women sports journalists were outnumbered in newsrooms, had less career opportunities, have been exposed to harassment and must negotiate identity contradictions in order to succeed in their career. Most previous studies have explored English-speaking countries and little was done in Scandinavia and Latin America. This study aimed to analyze the perceptions and experiences of Swedish and Brazilian women sports journalists from gendered journalism cultures perspective, drawing a comparison between these countries. Through qualitative approach, this study conducted semi-structured interviews with seven women sports journalists from Sweden and Brazil and found that there are more similarities than differences between the two countries. Despite the different contexts, Swedish and Brazilian women sports journalists who participated in this study are overall satisfied with newsroom environment, they claimed that women journalists have gained more space, respect and voice in sports departments in comparison to when they started working in the field. However, they also pointed to some remaining issues such as sexist jokes and a feeling of having to prove their knowledge and capability. Another similarity observed was the perception that sports journalism has highly improved in relation to gender equality and, although the challenges still exist, they are less visible now. This study also found that the biggest difference observed between participants from Sweden and Brazil was the understanding of sexism and woman identity. While Swedish interviewees showed a more complex awareness of these concepts, Brazilians participants demonstrated some confusing comprehension, exposing more contradictions regarding these matters.

The objective of this study is to observe how women and their bodies are being objectified and sexualized through famous designer companies’ Instagram accounts. More specifically, this study is interested in defining which certain aspects of an image contribute to a dehumanizing and degrading view of the female sex, but also how women are being cognitively affected by this. To be able to specify which parts of an image confirm this specific viewpoint the study used a multimodal critical discourse analysis (MDCA) in combination with elements of a feminist critical discourse analysis. The two methods are considered useful for these types of studies due to their semiotic and feministic approaches that focus on depicting which connotative characteristics are present in images. In order to confirm the problematic aspects of the material in this study, results from previous scientific articles and theories were used in order to confirm or contradict this study’s research questions. In the end the analytical results confirm that the women present in the images that were selected for this study were being objectified and sexualized. The women in the pictures often wore tightly fitting clothes, underwear or were naked, which presented their bodies in a way which made them easily objectified by the observer and/or the male gaze, which means that the observer in fact could gain a sexual satisfaction through watching the women that were being portrayed. The results of this demonstrates the problematic aspects of female portrayal in media and why it could potentially be harmful

Background: Eating disorders (EDs) are often stereotyped as a “women’s health issue,” due in part to the striking gendered inequities in risk. However, this stereotype has contributed to the prioritization of gender as the dominant analytic category through which to study the epidemiology of EDs, as well as research practices that erroneously treat the observed inequities as universal, fixed, or even self-evident. There are thus important knowledge gaps regarding the social patterning and structural drivers of EDs that may be undermining equitable resource allocation and intervention. Drawing on intersectionality and other critical feminist theories, this dissertation sought to address these gaps in three specific aims: (1) to examine how gender identity intersects with gender expression, sexual orientation, and weight status to shape the social patterning of EDs; (2) to evaluate the extent to which structural sexism (i.e., systematic gender inequality in power and resources) contributes to gendered inequities in EDs; and (3) to assess whether the relationship between structural sexism and EDs differs within gender identity groups by gender expression, sexual orientation, and/or weight status. Methods: Participants came from the Growing Up Today Study (GUTS), a U.S. national cohort of ~27,000 young people that began in 1996 and is ongoing. For Aim 1, a novel multilevel modeling method for quantitative intersectionality research was used to estimate the prevalence of ED diagnoses and associated symptomology (i.e., binge-purge behaviors) for 32 intersectional strata, or subgroups defined by all possible combinations of two gender identity categories, two gender expression categories, four sexual orientation categories, and two weight status categories. For Aims 2 and 3, a composite index of U.S. state-level structural sexism was linked to the geocoded GUTS data and sequential conditional mean models were used to evaluate the overall, gender identity-specific, and intersectional stratum-specific relationships between time spent living in a structurally sexist state and subsequent risk of ED symptomology. Results: Aim 1 revealed a complex social patterning of ED prevalence characterized by meaningful levels of heterogeneity both between and within gender identity categories. Importantly, intersectional strata including multiply marginalized girls and women (i.e., those who were gender nonconforming, sexual minority, and/or living in a larger body) reported the highest prevalence of both ED diagnoses and associated symptomology. In Aim 2, it was found that each additional year of living in a state characterized by a high degree of structural sexism (e.g., large wage gaps, few legal protections) increased ED symptomology risk by up to 9%; further, girls and women who had lived in a structurally sexist state for four or more years evidenced excess risk relative to boys and men, partially explaining the observed inequities. Aim 3 integrated findings from Aims 1 and 2 by demonstrating how long-term exposure to state-level structural sexism was particularly deleterious for multiply marginalized girls and women. Conclusions: Findings from this dissertation challenge prevailing stereotypes about EDs by demonstrating their inherently intersectional and contextual nature. This work also contributes theoretical and methodological advancements for social epidemiologic research on gender and EDs, and intersectional health inequities more broadly.

Sexismus ist ein weltweites Phänomen, das das Potential von Frauen in allen Bereichen des Lebens einschränkt. Um den negativen Konsequenzen von Sexismus entgegen zu wirken setzen sich manche Frauen für das Wohl aller Frauen ein; sie handeln kollektiv. In dieser Doktorarbeit geht es darum ob Kultur und Situationen solches kollektives Handeln beeinflussen und sich auf die Prävalenz von Sexismus auswirken. Im Bezug auf den Einfluss von Kultur nehmen wir an, dass das Selbstkonzept und das kulturelle Konstrukt „Gesicht" (aus der Phrase „das Gesicht wahren") das kollektive Handeln von Frauen in Japan, der Türkei und Deutschland beeinflussen (Manuskript #1). Übereinstimmend mit unseren Hypothesen beabsichtigen Frauen mit einem stärkeren unabhängigen Selbstkonzept auch stärker kollektiv zu handeln. Frauen, die sich stärker Sorgen darum machen, „das Gesicht zu verlieren" beabsichtigen hingegen weniger kollektiv zu handeln. Somit beeinflussen das Selbstkonzept und das Ausmaß indem Frauen darüber besorgt sind „das Gesicht zu verlieren", also zwei Konzepte aus der kulturvergleichenden Psychologie, die Intentionen von Frauen zum Wohle der Gruppe zu handeln. Im Bezug auf den Einfluss von Situationen auf Sexismus nehmen wir an, dass über Situationen hinweg systematisch variiert, für wie wahrscheinlich und akzeptabel Menschen Sexismus halten. Wir nehmen an, dass die wahrgenommene Wahrscheinlichkeit und Akzeptanz von Sexismus abhängig davon variieren, (a) ob Frauen anwesend sind, gegen die sich Sexismus richten kann, (b) in welchem Anteil Männer und Frauen anwesend sind, (c) abhängig vom Ort, und (d) abhängig davon, ob potentielle Sexisten z.B. betrunken oder gestresst sind (Manuskript #2). Unsere Hypothesen wurden größtenteils bestätigt. Von unseren Ergebnissen zur wahrgenommenen Häufigkeit von Sexismus im Privatleben ausgehend, sollten Interventionen zur Reduktion von Sexismus über den Arbeitsplatz hinaus gehen und auch das Privatleben miteinbeziehen. Im Bezug auf Primingeffekte eines Stereotyps haben wir Hypothesen von der Theorie des aktiven Selbst abgeleitet (Manuskript #3). Wir nehmen an, dass das Ausmaß von Überlappung zwischen dem Selbstkonzept der Versuchsteilnehmer und dem Stereotyp, der als Prime verwendet wird, beeinflusst wie effektiv die Primingprozedur ist. Wir gehen davon aus, dass das Ausmaß dieser Überlappung frühere inkonsistente Primingeffekte von Stereotypen erklären kann. Allerdings konnten wir den Originaleffekt nicht replizieren und fanden, mit einer Ausnahme, keine Nachweise für unsere Moderatoren und Mediatoren. Hier muss dementsprechend noch weitere theoretische und empirische Arbeit geleistet werden um die Randbedingungen von Primingeffekten von Stereotypen zu identifizieren. Sexismus ist ein weltweites Phänomen, das das Potential von Frauen lähmt. Diese Arbeit informiert über kulturelle und situationelle Faktoren, die man berücksichtigen muss, um die negativen Folgen von Sexismus erfolgreich zu bekämpfen.

Submitted to the Faculty ofArts in fulfillrnent ofthe Master ofArts degree in the Department of General Linguistics at the University of Zululand, 2004. / The main purpose of the research carried out for this study was to look at the status of women and language use especially in isiZulu language. The dissertation examines the way women are treated in Zulu families, in societies and in the workplace. The dissertation also examines how female learners are differentiated from male learners in terms of their intellectual capacity and responsibility. The data collected in this study shows the unequal treatment given to female managers by society compared to that of male managers. It also shows restrictions and regulations faced by married women in a patriarchal society in terms of their movements, how they should dress, behave and use the language. Another interesting finding of this study is that ironically speaking, women have control over men because even though women are considered as having the inferior status than men, in a Zulu family, a man cannot take decisions without the approval from his wife. For example, if Mr Mkhize asks Mr Zulu to sell him a cow, even if Mr Zulu likes the idea, he would not just agree. Instead, Mr Zulu will lie to Mr Mkhize and say he is still going to think about what he is asking. But in reality, he will be creating time to discuss the matter with his wife. Mr Zulu's response will entirely depend on whether the wife agreed or not The findings of this study suggests that in most societies women are still not viewed as good enough to hold high positions and still viewed as misfits particularly in rural areas. It is up to women to prove their worth to the world by behaving and speaking accordingly.