Samoan language nests have become well established in New Zealand due to the commitment, support and contribution of the Samoan community, the church, Samoan families, parents and most importantly the efforts of mothers. Their advent has created new settings within which or through which women's roles may become redefined. This thesis explores the questions of how relationships between Samoan language nests and family systems have developed, and how these relationships may have affected the development of roles within Samoan families, especially women's roles. To obtain answers to these questions three theoretical frameworks were utilised. Bronfenbrenner's (1979) ecological model provided concepts for understanding the developmental changes occurring in the transitional relationships between families and language nests. The second theoretical perspective employed was Vygotsky's (1978) sociocultural framework to analyse the cultural processes developing between Samoan families and language nests. The final framework was provided by Goodnow and Collins's (1990) concept of 'parents ideas'. Their argument is that parents' ideas and style of parenting has been influenced by their own ontogenic development, and by society's expectations. The answers to the research questions were obtained by interviewing 21 Samoan language nest supervisors in the Auckland area and 100 caregivers or parents. Samoan language nests influenced parents, mothers and their families in their awareness and affirmation of Samoan language and culture, helping with parenting skills, provided support groups and served as an opportunity to gain knowledge and skills about preschool operation and educational processes. Language nests reinforced women's maternal roles, it changed the way they related to their children and the women's support groups encouraged women to assert their rights as women. The level of commitment by women is illustrated in the ways mothers and parents contributed at the language nests. Overall 92 percent of the mothers and parents helped at the nests. The significant contribution of women in Samoan language nests serve to affirm her as a 'poutu', the 'superwoman', the strength of her family, of the church and her community. / Subscription resource available via Digital Dissertations only.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Robert W. Meeds / Recent research on magazine advertisements, for the most part, has examined race in terms of representation and gender in terms of stereotypical social roles and objectification. Very few content analyses have been done regarding the depictions of women in terms of specific body types portrayed in the advertising content of women's and teen magazines. In addition, very few, if any, studies have examined women's and teen's magazine advertisements for the presence of gender and racial stereotypes, overt sexuality, and depictions of a body ideal. This content analysis of six mainstream women's magazines explores the existence of all those variables and puts them in context with one another, examining the implications for what these advertisements say about our society. Specifically, this study focuses on the portrayals of women in women's and teen magazines, where previous studies have examined portrayals of women in general magazines or men's magazines, but no focus has been put on teen magazines or specifically women's magazines. Major findings include the obvious suggestions of specific body ideals for women and teens of different racial backgrounds, perpetuation of social role expectations and social stereotypes, and lack of sexual imagery prevalence in women's and teen magazines.

Master of Arts / Department of English / Gregory J. Eiselein / In her collection of poems The War Works Hard (2005), Iraqi-American poet Dunya Mikhail presents her readers with unembellished insight into the Iraqi war from a woman's perspective. This perspective is rarely voiced in Iraqi war literature which is dominated by male writers concerned with men's heroism at the battle front and boundless patriotism. At the same time, these male authors rarely depict Iraqi women's experiences of war beyond the battle grounds. Even when women are present in such literature, they often share their men's point of view on war and voice only their acceptance of it. Mikhail, however, contemplates a counter narrative to this stereotypical female role by presenting women who protest war and the destruction it causes. Her poems portray mothers, lovers, sisters and daughters who protest war's brutality and injustice. Some of the women in Mikhail's poems protest war by directly or indirectly criticizing its institutions and condemning the leaders who promote it. While other women in her work find that their protest lies in their de-fragmentation of the destruction and loss caused by war, thus refusing its power over them and their loved ones. Yet, the most important form of women's protest of war in Mikhail's work is recollection. Through the recollection of their fragmented memories and lives, Mikhail's women manage to survive and find a spark of optimism in the darkness that war has unleashed. Their survival and their ability to re-establish their lives apart from war and the presence of men constitutes a powerful and dramatic protest of war's control over their lives.

Master of Science / Department of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Joy Kozar / This study examines colonization, development, and globalization in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) with respect to the garment industry, the main industry of the islands. A broad-reaching analysis examined population, gender, economic factors, and import/export data in order to explore the repercussions of garment industry development and subsequent decline on the CNMI. A quantitative analysis was conducted utilizing data from the United States Census Bureau, the CNMI's Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Textiles and Apparel. This research illustrates how the effects of the garment industry in small developing nations are dramatically impacted by a trade arrangement, the Multi-Fiber Arrangement (MFA), which was a protectionist measure used to restrict manufacturing of certain product through a quota system. In addition, this study reveals the economic implications and societal outcomes for the CNMI after the collapse of the garment industry as a result of the 2005 MFA phase-out. Garment production orders shifted to large producer nations once quota restrictions were no longer in place. Factory closures, lost business revenue, and a loss of manufacturing positions affecting predominantly women plagued the CNMI as well as cost-of-living increases. Federalization of the CNMI took place in 2009 which further complicated the islands’ politics and guest worker population status. Tourism is now the CNMI's chief industry although its growth is dismal and heavily reliant upon world economies. A comparison between Mauritius, another small island nation, concludes the discussion with insight on women's development and future considerations for economic growth as a means of development and dependency in the CNMI.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Sandra M. Stith and Amber Vennum / Ending a college dating relationship is common as college coeds begin trying on romantic relationships for size. Ending the relationship because the relationship has become violent can add more complexities to an already unpleasant task. This study was an attempt to better understand the stay/leave decisions for college women who were victims of dating violence and whether or not these decisions differed for college women who were involved in violent versus non-violent dating relationships. Structural equation modeling was used to explore the factors that influenced the likelihood of female college students’ dating relationships to end using Choice and Lamke’s (1999) two-part decision-making model. In summary, victims reported greater relationship distress, less attraction towards someone other than their partner, less relationship safety, lower relationship efficacy, less social support, and fewer good friends than non-victims. Results also indicated that college women’s consideration of “Will I be better off?” was more important in the decision to leave a dating relationship than their perception of “Can I do it?” In addition, results from Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) modeling found that, while victims believed they were more likely to be better off leaving their violent, dating partners, they felt less able to actually leave the relationship than their non-victim counterparts. MIMIC modeling also found that being a victim or not of dating violence did not predict breakup directly. These findings have important implications for prevention and treatment of dating violence and can be used to further the research in the area of dating violence, college students, and stay/leave decisions.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Joy M. Kozar / Today, home economics in Saudi Arabia, in particular, apparel and textiles programs (AT) typically emphasize two major areas: apparel design and textile science. However, AT programs in Saudi Arabia need to evolve to help students take advantage of new job opportunities in the apparel retail sector. Establishing an apparel merchandising track in AT programs in Saudi Arabia will provide women with better preparation to succeed in the industry. Until recently, most female graduates of home economics programs in Saudi Arabia were prepared for teaching positions. The purpose of this study was to develop an apparel merchandising program for the AT discipline in Saudi Arabia. Qualitative data were collected in three phases to examine the focal points of choosing the new curricula: (a) the nature of the subject matter, (b) the nature of society, and (c) the nature of individuals. In Phase 1, the content of the top apparel merchandising programs in the US was examined to explore the nature of the subject matter. In Phase 2, the perceptions of industry professionals in Saudi Arabia were explored by interviewing 21 human resource managers and apparel store managers. Finally, the AT students’ needs to succeed in the apparel industry were examined by interviewing 17 female students. The data were analyzed by utilizing the word-based technique as well as comparing and contrasting responses to each question. The findings for all three phases were combined and compared to identify the knowledge and skills that need to be added to the new apparel merchandising track for AT discipline in Saudi Arabia. Results of the study indicated that all three phases reported the importance of considering hard skills, or content and process knowledge, and soft skills, or professional attitude and skills, in preparing AT student for the apparel retail industry. AT major knowledge, business knowledge, mathematics, as well as professional skills (e.g., communication, commitment, teamwork, English language, lifelong learning, and experience) are found to be essential for the success of Saudi women in the apparel retail industry. For AT educators in Saudi Arabia, this knowledge and skills have to be addressed in the apparel merchandising program.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Louise Benjamin / This study examines women’s interpretations of model minority stereotypes of Asian American women in prime-time television. This stereotype depicts Asian Americans as well educated, intelligent, competitive, hardworking and successful career women. Using focus group discussions, this study recalls perceptions and explores potential effects of model minority stereotypes in prime-time television among women of varied racial-ethnic backgrounds. The study finds that both Asian/Asian American women and women from other racial-ethnic groups confirm belief in the model minority media stereotype in prime-time television. The selfperception and others’ perception of Asian American women as a model minority imposes stress on Asian/Asian American women in terms of gender role, academic performance and career achievement. Additionally, perceptions toward the model minority media stereotype among women of varied racial-ethnic backgrounds influence intergroup relations, interracial contact and evaluation of the model minority media image. Implications indicate that the model minority media stereotype has both positive and negative influences on Asian/Asian American women and other racial-ethnic groups. The study suggests that American media can increase the frequency and diversity of Asian American women’s media representation to reduce the negative societal influence of one-dimensional media stereotypes.

Master of Science / Department of Journalism and Mass Communications / Todd F. Simon / This paper explores queer self-presentation on the social network site, Facebook, emphasizing gendered functionality, gender and queer politics and presentations of gendered identities. It provides a review of early critical cyberculture studies, identity performance and queer theoretical considerations. This study is based on hermeneutic analysis of public profile information and transformative changes of Facebook users as well as in-depth interviews of two queer Facebook users. Results indicate that queer users are always-already gendered, even in the seemingly liberal environment of a social network site, but some, aware of the restrictive structures of Facebook, manipulate presentation to negotiate adequate gender performance. With specific attention to heteronormative structures, this paper challenges former claims of the potential for social progress inherent in social network sites and calls for changes within.

Master of Science / Department of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Melody LeHew / The purpose of this study was to explore how African American women think and feel about their bodies. Specifically, this study examined how Black women define beauty by means of variables such as body shape, skin complexion, and hair texture; whether African American women ages 18-30 compared themselves to media images; and if so, did comparison to these media images impact African American women’s body satisfaction. In addition, this study explored if African American women felt pressure to adopt beauty standards attributed to the dominant culture, as well as the role of racial identity in forming beauty standards and social comparison behavior. Twelve African American women were interviewed and findings of this exploratory research illustrated that the Black community has different standards than the traditional beauty standards of the U.S. Even though interviewees articulated standards of beauty for women in the Black community, there was a lack of uniformity in how these women felt about their own attractiveness: some identified with the Black beauty standards, while others did not. In addition, opinions varied regarding Black women’s engagement in social comparison behavior and whether it was related to racial identity or body satisfaction. Limitations of study included: how Black women define social comparison behavior and racial identity, self-identification of participants, and the lack of Caucasian women included in this study. However, this research still provided rich data exploring Black women’s perceptions of beauty among other issues within the Black community. Future research is required to better understand influences shaping standards of beauty within this subculture of the United States and recommendations are provided in the last chapter.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Sherry J. Haar / Research about military wives has been limited. In academia, most research centers on the soldier and/or the family as a unit. When literature does address only the wife’s perspective it rarely presents a positive portrayal of her life. However, it is not just literature that shows a gap in exposing the voice of the military wife. Art-based works rarely focus on her perspective; and methodologies, such as practice-based research, rarely utilize actual voices as inspiration. The aim of the current study was to discover the voice of the military wife, examine it through a feminist lens, and then translate those voices into artwork that represented the collective, lived experience of the women interviewed. Three methodologies were utilized to analyze and translate the voices of military wives into textile art. These three methodologies: practice-based research, phenomenology, and feminist inquiry provided a suitable structure for shaping the study to fulfill the project aim. Interviews conducted with 22 military wives revealed two overarching themes: militarization and marriage; as well as multiple subthemes. Three subthemes were recognized as being the most prominent: relationships, separation, and collective experience. These themes were used as the inspiration for the creation and installation of three textile art pieces. The current study serves to fill the gaps in both the literature and the artistic process by presenting both the positive and negative aspects of the military wife’s lived experience and using that lived experience as inspiration for textile art.