Women's Body and Sexuality-Text Construction of Female Star Photography Albums and Adolescent Girls' Interpretation Strategies

The purpose of this essay is to examine in what way the protagonist of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield, represses his own sexuality and how this affects his relationship to men and women. With the aid of psychoanalytic theory and gender theory, the essay strives to determine how Holden Caulfield relates to traditional gender roles, the causes of Holden Caulfield’s repressed sexuality, and how Holden Caulfield’s repressed sexuality manifests itself.

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Among the plethora of changes that occur during the adolescent stage of life, individuals begin to gain a more thorough and profound understanding of the sexuality aspect of being. Parents and/or appropriate adult guardians have been shown to be indispensable in fostering the sexuality-related progression of their children. Part of helping young people understand human sexuality involves parents discussing sexuality-related issues with their children. While many studies have shown positive outcomes of parents discussing sexuality-related issues with their children, others have not been so optimistic. Further, these studies have not examined the role of parent-adolescent sexuality-based communication on an individual's overall sexual health. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between selected dimensions of communication and overall sexual health among selected undergraduate students at a large, mid-western university. A descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational design was employed for this study. A total of 425 undergraduate students completed a self-report instrument, assessing two communication dimensions (relationship satisfaction and communication style) and ten components/aspects of human sexuality (including overall sexual health). Cronbach alpha scores, conducted in previous studies as well as the current study, confirmed internal consistency reliability for all scales. Pearson product moment correlations and linear regression analyses showed no relationship or, at best, a minute relationship between selected communication variables and components of overall sexual health. Further, sexuality-based communication between parents and children was found to be low and parents were not found to be the primary resource of sexuality-related information. Recommendations for health educators are provided as well as recommendations for professional preparation.

This dissertation examines the relationship between same-sex sexual behavior and Age, Period, and Birth Cohort through an analysis of the General Social Survey (GSS). The GSS has undertaken 14 rounds of data collection between 1988 and 2010 in which questions on sexual behavior have been administered (n=33,212, 14,591 Males, 18,621 Females). Logistic regression models were employed in order to parse out the effects of Age, Period, and Birth Cohort, along with other explanatory variables, to determine the likelihood of the reporting same-sex sexual behavior. It was found that among women, but not men, there is a significant birth cohort effect on same-sex sexual behavior. Among, men, but not women, there was significant period effect on same-sex sexual behavior in Time 3 of the study. Among both men and women, there was a significant curvilinear relationship between age and the reporting of same-sex sexual behavior. Shifts in cultural values and methodological issues may explain the birth cohort and period effects on same-sex sexual behavior. The idea of the "sexual narrative" is introduced to explain the curvilinear age effect on same-sex sexual behavior. / 10000-01-01

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Scholars studying college student sexual culture in the United States largely frame men as being detached from emotions, unconcerned with relationships, and in pursuit of sexual conquests. Through an examination of college sexual culture, an environment often associated with meaningless sexual encounters, this paper tests those stereotypes in both gay and straight men. By analyzing sexual behaviors, social opportunity structures, and romantic attitudes of gay and straight males in college, this paper finds evidence that both supports and contradicts existing literature on masculine stereotypes for both groups of men.

with Prof. Lisa Cahill, Prof. Thomas Hibbs, and Fr. Michael Himes / Robsham Theater

with Professor Richard P. McBrien, University of Notre Dame / McGuinn Hall 121

Disabled communities’ sexualities have been historically oppressed. Currently in the Unites States, public school curricula do not include inclusive sexual education and students with disabilities are often left out of classrooms that discuss any amount of personal health and sexual education. Research on the disabled population is filled with samples of non-disabled individuals imposing their opinions for a population that they do not belong to. The purpose of this study was to understand how emerging adults with disabilities learned about personal health and sexuality. Individuals with varied disabilities were intentionally included to add breadth the research field. Narrative interviews captured individuals’ lived experiences. The final sample consisted of eight individuals (75% female, 87% white, mean age of 21.5). After analyzing interviews using thematic narrative analysis, four story types were generated. Findings highlighted the lack of formal supports and access to adequate, relevant information about sexuality for disabled communities, as well as informal sources of information, like families and media. Findings also emphasized people’s agency in seeking out information on their own, as well as variability in people’s readiness and use of information about sexuality. Individuals’ disability symptoms and personal characteristics need to be considered when crafting universally applicable personal health and sexuality education. There are also opportunities for theoretical integration of disabilities and sexuality research. / M.S. / People with disabilities have historically been left out of policy and research related to sexuality. Governments and societies around the world have taken personal health choices and sexual decisions away from disabled communities. Furthermore, people with disabilities are not taught about bodily changes, romantic relationships, and safer sex practices. I gathered stories of lived experiences of personal health and sexual education from people with different disabilities in order to present variation of experience. Participants shared their journeys learning about their own personal health and sexuality during their lifetimes; equally as important, participants reflected on the inadequacy and failure of formal and informal resources, like schools and medical providers. To provide accurate health and sexuality information that disabled communities can use, families, schools, and healthcare providers need to understand the experiences of people with disabilities and ways that disabilities and sexuality intersect.