This thesis presents qualitative exploratory research findings on the phenomenon of feederism. Feederism, also referred to as "erotic weight gain," involves people who are sexually aroused by gaining weight (called "feedees" or "gainers") or encouraging others to gain weight (called "feeders" or "encouragers"). Sometimes feederism is practiced within relationships and sometimes it is practiced alone. Respondents emphasize the importance that fantasy plays within feederism. The experiences and understandings of 30 respondents are considered in an attempt to examine how those who are interested in feederism might be stigmatized and how they may cope with having this stigma.

This thesis presents qualitative exploratory research findings on the phenomenon of feederism. Feederism, also referred to as "erotic weight gain," involves people who are sexually aroused by gaining weight (called "feedees" or "gainers") or encouraging others to gain weight (called "feeders" or "encouragers"). Sometimes feederism is practiced within relationships and sometimes it is practiced alone. Respondents emphasize the importance that fantasy plays within feederism. The experiences and understandings of 30 respondents are considered in an attempt to examine how those who are interested in feederism might be stigmatized and how they may cope with having this stigma.

This study focuses upon the experiences and perceptions of women Atheists in the Southern U.S., a region which is highly religious and, therefore, has comparatively low numbers of Atheists. Taking a Symbolic Interactionist approach, I examine how these Southern Atheists understood what it means to be an “Atheist,” how they became Atheist, their strategies to manage their stigmatized identity as Atheists, and finally the role gender has in managing this stigma. I utilize a Feminist methodology to investigate and foreground women’s experiences. I conducted participant observation at 23 Atheist and Humanist meetings in two southern cities in two different states; I also interviewed 51 Atheists, 40 female and 11 male. I found a variety of definitions for Atheism, though all participants agreed that they do not believe in god. This identity is also informed by political ideologies and philosophies that cultivate pro-social behavior. Participants also discussed what they perceived to be the best things about what it means to be an Atheist. I also examined the stages by which Atheists come to this identification especially as this relates to the importance of place and their experiences in educational, religious and family institutions and how these affected their decisions to self-identify as Atheist. Additionally, I investigated how Atheists undergo stigma management (and negative interactions) by selectively concealing their identity, which they based on what they believed others assumed about Atheists. Many strategies were used to assuage feelings of being uncomfortable. As a stigmatized group, they discuss the importance of community and social support. In addition, Atheists saw several parallels between their experiences and the LGBT community such as similar language and face prejudice and discrimination, even though they said that the Atheists can more easily “pass.” Atheist women manage their stigma by utilizing various tactics to avoid hurting the feelings of others. Female Atheists walk a fine line between being masculine and assertive when they identify as masculine and caring about the feelings of others. Participants also discussed the role gender plays in self-identifying as Atheist. Lastly, they explained that it is harder to be woman and an Atheist.

I use a mixed methods, qualitative approach to explore whether individuals become so invested in an organization that they engage in impression management to influence others’ perceptions of the organization. Additionally, I aim to reveal impression management strategies in an environment that is explicitly gendered in a transformative manner. I use roller derby as a case study because it is a rare example of a single-sex dominated organization that is voluntary and explicitly aims to be transformational of the current gender system.

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This dissertation explores cannabis industry workers’ experiences of stigmatization. I conducted 23 interviews over a period of seven months with people who had been or were currently employed in the state-legal cannabis industry. I thematically analyzed and organized participant responses around significant moments of concept formation and understanding about cannabis. Participants shared first-time stories which served as initial encounters with either cannabis itself or the stigmatizing attitudes that sometimes surrounded it. There were discussions of how friends, family, and adults in general talked about cannabis and the impact that talk had on participants’ own attitudes toward cannabis. Perhaps most importantly, participants shared and described strategies for managing cannabis industry stigma. The interviews are presented within the context of an account of the contemporary social environment surrounding cannabis. The result of a long and political history rife with larger-than-life real world and fictional characters alike, much of our understanding of cannabis is influenced by the way it has been treated over the past century. As our collective discussion about the legitimacy of drug prohibition gains momentum, there is a growing need to consider the unintended social and material consequences that may beset those who would consider deriving their livelihood from these developing industries. Industry regulators, state representatives, company owners, and the industry as a whole must make efforts to support the needs of the growing workforce and reduce barriers to entry.

Diplomová práce "Výchova tancem. Evaluace dopadů předmětu taneční a pohybové výchovy se zabývá zhodnocením efektů předmětu taneční a pohybové výchovy, který byl před několika lety zařazen do RVP (Rámcově vzdělávací program) pro základní školy. Cílem této práce je podat přehled o oblastech, v nichž může taneční a pohybová výchova být přínosem a naopak poukázat na případné negativní nebo problematické stránky tohoto předmětu. Informace o této problematice byly získávány prostřednictvím kvalitativních výzkumných metod, tedy pomocí polostrukturovaných a skupinových interview a také metod zúčastněného a nezúčastněného pozorování v hodinách taneční a pohybové výchovy. Informátory/kami v tomto výzkumu byli lektoři/ky taneční výchovy, pedagogové/žky tříd, v nichž je tento předmět vyučován a také žáci/kyně. Největší přínosy taneční a pohybové výchovy lze shledat ve sféře sociálních vztahů, ale i v oblastech seberozvoje jedinců a rozvoje některých klíčových kompetencí. Taneční výchova například přináší potenciál pro transformaci nefunkčních kolektivních vztahů, stává se v některých případech nástrojem začlenění jedinců upozaděných nebo vyčleněných z kolektivu. Taneční a pohybová výchova také stimuluje dětskou fantazii a do určité míry může vést k rozvoji kreativních schopností u některých jedinců. Podporuje...

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<p dir="ltr">Like physical health, mental health is equally critical. However, the symptoms of some mental health disorders coupled with how some individuals understand mental health have generated a stigma on mental health disorders. This stigma makes it uncomfortable for people to discuss mental health. Guided by communication privacy management and stigma management communication theories, the study explored how Ghanaian celebrities disclose or not disclose their mental health disorders considering that there is a stigma that is linked to mental health disorders. Twenty individual interviews were conducted with Ghanaian celebrities. Data were analyzed using a phronetic iterative approach (Tracy, 2020). Data revealed a variety of disclosure patterns that I categorized into non-traditional and traditional disclosures. Some emerging CPM patterns include masked and sequential disclosure. Further, Ghanaian celebrities use different strategies like praying to manage the stigma stemming from mental illness. Collectively, these findings extend both communication privacy and stigma management communication theories by revealing new patterns of disclosure as well as strategies for managing the stigma associated with mental illness. More theoretical contributions and practical implications of the findings are discussed in depth.</p>