Text in Afrikaans / Die effek van die klient-verpleegkundige-verhoudings op kliente se keuse en volgehoue gebruik van kontraseptiewe metodes het tot op hede baie min aandag geniet. Die doel van hierdie studie was 'n ondersoek na die ongetroude klient se persepsie van die verpleegkundige se houding. Die steekproef het bestaan uit 99 kliente (tussen die ouderdomme van 15 en 50 jaar) wat die betrokke reproduktiewegesondheidsklinieke in die Kaapse Metropool besoek het. Die eerste 20 kliente wat die kliniek besoek het, is genader om 'n vraelys in te vul. Hierdie studie toon 'n algehele positiwiteit, naamlik 58,3% teenoor die houding van geregistreerde verpleegkundiges. Die meerderheid van die kliente (88,0%) het aangedui dat hulle weer die kliniek sal besoek wat dus die kliente se tevredenheid toon. / The effect of the client-registered nurse relationship on clients' choice and continuous use of contraceptive methods has until now received very little attention. The purpose of this study was to explore unmarried clients' perception of the attitude of the registered nurse. The sample existed of 99 clients (between the ages of 15 and 50 years) who visited the relevant reproductive health clinics in the Cape Metropole. The first 20 clients who visited the clinic were approached to complete a questionnaire. This study shows an overall positivity of 58,3% with regard to the attitude of registered nurses. Most of the clients (88,0%) indicated that they would visit the clinic again, which indicate their satisfaction. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Little existing research has examined women’s solo masturbation and vibrator usage in a way that highlights the importance of both sexual agency and the sexual/romantic relationship context. This research evaluates if and how social factors, partnership status and the relationship context, and sexual self-concept impact a woman’s behaviors and attitudes toward masturbation and vibrator use. Using cross-sectional survey data from adult women (N=112), descriptive and bivariate analyses were used to explore a variety of factors. Single and partnered women did not differ significantly on a majority of measures, suggesting that partnership status may play an insignificant role in predicting women’s solo sex attitudes and behaviors. Regarding the relationship context, partner communication and positivity toward masturbation and vibrator use significantly varied together. Finally, greater sexual openness and sexual entitlement were associated with higher masturbation frequency. Results from this study suggest that masturbation and vibrator use are common among adult women, and women are capable of sexual agency in relation to masturbation and vibrator use, whether they are in established partnerships or not.

My dissertation offers a new look at how women authors used popular genres to negotiate their economic, artistic, and sexual autonomy, as well as their national and imperial identities, in the context of the changes brought by modernity. As medical science and popular media attempted to delineate women’s sexual natures, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Winifred Holtby, Kate O’Brien, and Molly Keane created narratives which challenged not only psychoanalytic proscriptions about the need for sexual satisfaction, but traditional ideas about women’s inherent modesty. They absorbed, revised, and occasionally rejected outright the discourses of sexology in order to advocate a more diffuse sensuality; for these writers, adventure, travel, independence, creativity, and love between women provided satisfactions as rich as those ascribed to normative heterosexuality. I identify a history of queer sexuality in both Irish and English contexts, one which does not conform to emergent lesbian identity while still exceeding the limits of heteronormativity. / text

The initial research question for this study asked whether single women were having their employment needs met by the union in a university setting. Twelve single women who were members of a union at a university participated in semi-structured interviews about their experiences with the union. To the surprise of the researcher, the single women interviewed felt they had no needs. Drawing from feminist literature on the social construction of gender, this analysis argues that because of the patriarchal nature of our culture, women were raised to be mindful of other's needs and not their own, which made it difficult for participants to identify their own needs. / Graduation date: 2013

This thesis explores the extent to which elite women of the eighteenth century commissioned architectural works and the extent to which the type and scale of their projects was dictated by their marital status. Traditionally, architectural historians have advocated that eighteenth-century architecture was purely the pursuit of men. Women, of course, were not absent during this period, but their involvement with architecture has been largely obscured and largely overlooked. This doctoral research has redressed this oversight through the scrutinising of known sources and the unearthing of new archival material. This thesis begins with an exploration of the legal and financial statuses of elite women, as encapsulated by the eighteenth-century marriage settlement. This encompasses brides’ portions or dowries, wives’ annuities or ‘pin-money’, widows’ dower or jointure, and provisions made for daughters and younger children. Following this, the thesis is divided into three main sections which each look at the ways in which women, depending upon their marital status, could engage in architecture. The first of these sections discusses unmarried women, where the patronage of the following patroness is examined: Anne Robinson; Lady Isabella Finch; Lady Elizabeth Hastings; Sophia Baddeley; George Anne Bellamy and Teresa Cornelys. The second section explores the patronage of married women, namely Jemima Yorke, Marchioness Grey; Amabel Hume-Campbell, Lady Polwarth; Mary Robinson, Baroness Grantham; Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough; Frances Boscawen; Elizabeth Herbert, Countess of Pembroke and Montgomery; Henrietta Knight, Baroness Luxborough and Lady Sarah Bunbury. The third and final section discusses the architectural patronage of widowed women, including Susanna Montgomery, Countess of Eglinton; Georgianna Spencer, Countess Spencer; Elizabeth Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort; Elizabeth Home, Countess of Home; Elizabeth Montagu; Mary Hervey, Lady Hervey; Henrietta Fermor, Countess of Pomfret; the Hon. Charlotte Digby; the Hon. Charlotte Boyle Walsingham; the Hon. Agneta Yorke and Albinia Brodrick, Viscountess Midleton. Collectively, all three sections advocate that elite women were at the heart of the architectural patronage system and exerted more influence and agency over architecture than has previously been recognised by architectural historians.

PHD (African Studies) / Center for African Studies / The challenges facing divorcees when it comes to pastoral care and counselling are among the toughest to face members of the Reformed Churches South Africa (RCSA) in the Vhembe District today. There are many people in South Africa who are experiencing the pain of being divorced. The RCSA in the Vhembe District are also faced with this challenge and it affects their doctrines and their practical ministries. These challenges also affect the pastors of the RCSA. The aim of this research is to investigate the challenges that divorcees face regarding pastoral care and counselling in the RCSA in the Vhembe District, Limpopo, South Africa in order to develop an approach to pastoral care and counselling to support divorcees so that they may learn to cope with their challenges. Caring and counselling for the divorcees is the primary mission of the church. The study utilised a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual design to obtain data from the participants within the RCSA in the Vhembe District. A sample of 30 participants (divorcees) from the RCSA in the Vhembe District was used. Data were collected on an individual basis by means of unstructured interviews. The qualitative data were collected and analysed using the six steps of open coding proposed by Tesch in an effort to understand personal experiences of divorcees. The research used Graham Redding’s approach to establish trustworthiness. The study adhered to four criteria to assess the value of the findings of qualitative research, namely credibility, applicability, consistency, and conformability. The ethical considerations were taken into account. The findings of this study show that divorcees experience many challenges, and that Reformed pastors are not equipped and not doing enough to address those challenges. This research helps to enhance the quality of pastoral care and counselling to the divorcees within the RCSA in the Vhembe District. The findings and recommendations of the study are useful in guiding all Reformed pastors in providing pastoral care and counselling to divorcees.