Women’s health is measured by many standards and is governed by countless laws. Abortion is one of the most highly-contested medical practices and is also crucial to women’s health and economic development. Planned Parenthood is criticized for providing abortions and as a result is often overlooked for the many other medical services it provides. This paper aims to study the effect Planned Parenthood clinics have on women’s health and economic development at the county level. Data was collected for an overview of all fifty states and for the two most populous counties per state. Planned Parenthood centers tend to be located in areas with a higher percentage of women who are uninsured and need public funding assistance. Statistically significant results from two linear regressions also show that the percentage of clients using publicly funded clinics that are Planned Parenthood clinics is negatively correlated with teen birth rates and positively correlated with the percentage of females over 25 years of age with a bachelor’s degree. It is critical that lawmakers understand the importance and effects of clinics like Planned Parenthood on women’s health and productivity.

Women were an integral part to the Easter Rising, yet until recently, their contributions have been forgotten. Those who have been remembered are often women who bucked conservative Irish society’s notions of femininity and chose to actively participate in combat, which has led to a skewed narrative that favors their contributions over the contributions of other women. Historians and scholars favor these narratives because they are empowering and act as clear foils to the heroic narratives of the male leaders in the Easter Rising. In reality, however, most of the women who joined Cumann na mBan or worked for the leaders of the Easter Rising chose to do so knowing they would take on a supportive role. They did so willingly, and even put the cause of Irish independence above the need for women’s rights. Their duties reflected this reality. Once the Easter Rising was underway, women were needed to support the rebels and did so often under fire from British and Irish fighters. For their participation in the rebellion, some women were arrested, while as a whole, the contributions of these women were derided and downplayed by the larger public. Those women not imprisoned would go on to establish the martyr-myth of the heroic and male Irish revolutionaries executed for their part in the Easter Rising. This led to the women’s histories being forgotten or ignored in favor of the heroic narrative. Even when pensions were made available to compensate participants of the Easter Rising, women only applied out of need and for fear of poverty, rather than to receive recognition. To this day, Ireland and Irish history scholars have ignored the participation of gender-conforming women in favor of the more heroic narrative of women whose experiences more closely resemble those of the Easter Rising’s male martyrs.

Chatelaine, Canada’s longest running women’s magazine (1928-present), has seen various changes in relation to women’s presence in society, specifically women’s health and bodies. The purpose of this study is to investigate the framing methods employed in the presentation of health content in relation to the evolution of feminism throughout this publication’s existence. Drawing upon Michel Foucault’s (1979; 1980) investigation of power, the body, and sexuality; Susan Bordo’s (1993b) feminist theorizing on the cultural meanings of the female body; Erving Goffman’s (1974) Frame Analysis; and further theoretical foundations of frame analysis by scholars in media and communication studies, this thesis examines the ways which health knowledge in Chatelaine aids in the empowerment and modernization of women. The research design of this thesis employs a quantitative media content analysis and qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews to explore the presence and production of health content in this publication between 1928 and 2010. Findings demonstrate Chatelaine’s interaction with the feminist movement in Canada—as feminist initiatives and activism in Canada flourish, Chatelaine covers an increasingly broad and diverse body of health topics. The analyses reveal the sophistication in Chatelaine’s health content, which is evidenced in the employment of various journalistic techniques that aid in the development of an increasingly pervasive media text. In doing so, Chatelaine demonstrates its ability to empower women through current, clear, and concise health knowledge.

Evidence suggests that employment for women can reduce poverty and inequality resulting in improved living standards. The garment industry is an important source of income for Indian women. This thesis tested the effects of garment work as an income source on women’s health-care utilization practices and decision-making in comparison to both agricultural labourers and general women in India. Cross-sectional data collected from India’s National Family Health Survey-3 were used to generate descriptive statistics. Statistical modeling was used to test the effect of garment work on a) barriers to health care services and b) decision-making abilities of Indian women. Results suggest garment workers are younger, more educated, urban, and wealthier, make more cash earnings, and have more access and control over their own money as compared to agricultural labourers. Results indicate female garment workers report facing fewer barriers to accessing health care services. As well, access to cash earnings increases their decision-making abilities.

Chatelaine, Canada’s longest running women’s magazine (1928-present), has seen various changes in relation to women’s presence in society, specifically women’s health and bodies. The purpose of this study is to investigate the framing methods employed in the presentation of health content in relation to the evolution of feminism throughout this publication’s existence. Drawing upon Michel Foucault’s (1979; 1980) investigation of power, the body, and sexuality; Susan Bordo’s (1993b) feminist theorizing on the cultural meanings of the female body; Erving Goffman’s (1974) Frame Analysis; and further theoretical foundations of frame analysis by scholars in media and communication studies, this thesis examines the ways which health knowledge in Chatelaine aids in the empowerment and modernization of women. The research design of this thesis employs a quantitative media content analysis and qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews to explore the presence and production of health content in this publication between 1928 and 2010. Findings demonstrate Chatelaine’s interaction with the feminist movement in Canada—as feminist initiatives and activism in Canada flourish, Chatelaine covers an increasingly broad and diverse body of health topics. The analyses reveal the sophistication in Chatelaine’s health content, which is evidenced in the employment of various journalistic techniques that aid in the development of an increasingly pervasive media text. In doing so, Chatelaine demonstrates its ability to empower women through current, clear, and concise health knowledge.

Perhaps in the majority of higher education institutions, women’s issues no longer register as being a significant and important area of research. Perhaps the value of a women’s college is the culture of these institutions where women’s voices matter, where resources are focused on women and where issues related to women are always a part of the agenda. This in itself makes women’s colleges a fascinating topic of study. The aim of the study was to understand why Mount Holyoke College alumnae based in Hong Kong chose to attend Mount Holyoke, their experiences while at Mount Holyoke and how it has affected them in terms of further education and their careers. My research had several sub-themes and the literature reviewed was also in separate categories. I looked at the history of women’s colleges in the United States, as well as the changing patterns of enrollment and recent history of women’s colleges in the United States. Women’s colleges comprise a very small number of institutions in the United States and as many are liberal arts colleges, can be seen as a sub-group of liberal arts colleges. I therefore reviewed literature on liberal arts colleges as well to situate that in the broader picture of higher education in the United States. I could not neglect looking at women’s colleges around the world, as they are crucial in understanding the role women’s colleges in the United States have played. By framing my research using ‘centers’ and ‘peripheries’, I sought to explore some of the contributions that women’s colleges in the United States have played, whether as the ‘center’ or the ‘periphery’ institutions. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This dissertation examines Tift College, formerly in Forsyth, Georgia, and the problems Tift faced as Georgia Baptist's women's college. Many of these difficulties were a result of the beliefs of Georgia Baptists on educating women and the fact that Georgia Baptists placed a greater value on education for males. This work also examines the role of feminism in a southern women's college. To complete this task, the dissertation examines the beliefs and attitudes of Georgia Baptists about education in general, and educating women in specific and how funding played a part in their education. The dissertation addresses Tift's struggle to remain a separate school for women and examines ideas of womanhood at Tift as determined by the curriculum imposed on the women, as well as documenting what Tift students felt about womanhood based on their statements in class papers, journal and newspaper articles, and various other archival sources. These data show how attitudes and beliefs changed over the years, and while a strong feminist spirit may not have been achieved, the changes that were evident affected the purposes of the college. As the student body became more diversified, students were no longer content to become genteel, southern ladies or "polished cornerstones." Going against traditional roles, many students argued for a curriculum that would allow them to compete with men in the job market.

A significant proportion of the world's population are routinely subjected to abuse, torture, humiliation, starvation and mutilation simply because they are female, more so in Africa where women's rights are still often viewed as distinct from human rights. This raises the question of state responsibility for protecting women's human rights. Women, as much as men, are entitled to full protection of their rights and freedoms because they are human beings. A decade ago, the United Nations summarized the burden of gender inequality by stating that women composed one--half of the world's population and performed two thirds of the world's work, but earned only one tenth of the world's income and owned only one hundredth of the worlds property. A look at the constitutions of many Southern African states would suggest that women enjoy equality and access to first generation hunlan rights across the region. In most of these constitutions 'discrimination' on the grounds of gender is prohibited, but the governments frequently do not have the nlechanisms in place to enforce these constitutional provisions effectively and women are therefore subjected to widespread practices of discrimination, violence and inequality. Although party to international human rights instruments that advocate gender equality, African states still take a particularly selective view of women's human rights and make this contingent upon local custom. Then one might find that the constitution and civil law give women the same rights as men, but make these subject to traditional practices that limit women's rights. This dissertation will address the issue of how customary laws limit women's human rights and will examine the role of the courts therein. We will also briefly look at the application of international human rights documents in domestic courts. In order to constructively and comprehensively examine the topic within the space constraints dictated, I had to limit this paper to a survey of five Southern African states that were chosen because of their common language, cultural and legal dualism, colonial histories, and the availability of case law. This paper will cover specific issues that affect women in the personal law of marriage, divorce, property rights and inheritance and will be limited to those areas where most inequalities occur. The reason that this paper will concentrate on the above-mentioned issues is that family law is central to African social, political and economic life. The importance of family law in traditional African systems cannot be sufficiently emphasized as it has been noted that in any study of African traditional economic and political arrangcments, the notion of family impinges upon almost every area of community life. These traditional rules are not merely historical curiosities but are part and parcel of the living domestic law in most Southern African states. We will now examine these domestic legal systenls. / Thesis (LL.M.)-University of Durban-Westville, 2002.

Chatelaine, Canada’s longest running women’s magazine (1928-present), has seen various changes in relation to women’s presence in society, specifically women’s health and bodies. The purpose of this study is to investigate the framing methods employed in the presentation of health content in relation to the evolution of feminism throughout this publication’s existence. Drawing upon Michel Foucault’s (1979; 1980) investigation of power, the body, and sexuality; Susan Bordo’s (1993b) feminist theorizing on the cultural meanings of the female body; Erving Goffman’s (1974) Frame Analysis; and further theoretical foundations of frame analysis by scholars in media and communication studies, this thesis examines the ways which health knowledge in Chatelaine aids in the empowerment and modernization of women. The research design of this thesis employs a quantitative media content analysis and qualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews to explore the presence and production of health content in this publication between 1928 and 2010. Findings demonstrate Chatelaine’s interaction with the feminist movement in Canada—as feminist initiatives and activism in Canada flourish, Chatelaine covers an increasingly broad and diverse body of health topics. The analyses reveal the sophistication in Chatelaine’s health content, which is evidenced in the employment of various journalistic techniques that aid in the development of an increasingly pervasive media text. In doing so, Chatelaine demonstrates its ability to empower women through current, clear, and concise health knowledge.

Thesis (M.A.)--Baylor University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 34-36).