Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 420-469). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Edinburgh, 1998.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references.

Please read the abstract in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Jurisprudence / LLD / Unrestricted

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.

This qualitative study investigated the experiences of executive women and their choices in balancing work with marriage and children. Research on women in the workplace tends to conflate categories of hourly workers, part-time employees, and middle- and upper-management careers. Yet, the literature on balancing career and family life does not adequately portray the experiences of executive women. The purpose of the study was to discover executive women's perceptions about their career, how they chose their path, and how their career choices affected their decisions about marriage and children. The research questions for this study examined: (a) The effect of executive women's career choices on their balance of marriage and children, (b) reflection on career choices as an opportunity (enhancement) or loss (conflict) regarding marriage and children, and (c) the sacrifices made or regrets felt, if any, by executive women in pursuing a career. The research questions reflect the study's grounding in role theory, role conflict theory, and spillover theory. Data were collected via personal interviews with 10 participants, which were recorded, transcribed, and coded for themes. Results showed that although participants were conscious of making some sacrifices, such as feeling guilt missing their children's events and not making time for self or women friends and feeling some guilt about those sacrifices, they expressed no regrets for the decisions they made. The study has the potential to effect social change by providing insight about how an important subset of the professional work force attempts to balance career and family life. The study may also help women pursuing business careers make more informed choices about their personal and professional goals.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the origins of the first women's rights convention held at Seneca Falls, NY during the summer of 1848. Taxation without representation was one of the foundations that the Continental Congress used as a basis for Independence from England. But when the revolution ended and the Republic was formed, the United States adopted many English laws and traditions regarding the status of women. Women, who were citizens or could be naturalized, were left civically invisible by the code of laws (coverture) once they married. They were not able to own property, form contracts, sue or be sued. In essence, they were "covered" by their husbands under coverture. Single women who owned property or inherited property were subject to taxation, though they had no voice in the elective franchise. Therefore, women, both married and single, who were counted for legislative purposes, were given no voice in choosing their government representatives. I conclude that there were three bases for women's rights: equity, Republican Motherhood, and women's organizations. The legal concept of equity, the domestic ideology of Republican Motherhood combined with the social model of women's organizations formed the earliest foundation of what would become the first feminist movement, leading directly to the Declaration of Sentiments at Seneca Falls in 1848. Through an analysis of the changes in women's property ownership to the enhancement of the female domestic role in the early nineteenth century, women challenged their place in the public sphere. The sisterhood that was created as a result of the new domestic ideology and improved female education led to the creation of organizations to improve women's place in society. Through an almost fifty year evolution, the earliest women's volunteer organizations became the mid-nineteenth century reform organizations, leading to a campaign for woman's suffrage.

Women's college culture has been found to have qualities that promote the success of the women who graduate from these institutions. This research sought to identify aspects of women's college culture that students perceive as having impacted their aspirations for an advanced degree. Fifty-eight women at two southern women's colleges were interviewed. The participants were members of each college's senior class and had spent their entire undergraduate years at the same institution. After an email solicitation was sent to all members of the senior class, participants were accepted until there were eight women in each of the three categories. These three categories; Keepers, Droppers, and Aspirers; were developed in order to study participant perceptions by whether they maintained or dropped their previous educational aspirations or had developed new aspirations for an advanced degree while attending a women's college. The interviews were completed over a two-month period with each interview lasting from 45 to 60 minutes. Participants were asked about the importance of aspects of women's college culture on their aspirations for an advanced degree as well as other factors that they perceived as having influenced their decision whether or not to pursue an advanced degree. The majority of the White women in this study confirmed the positive impacts of women's college culture including high academic expectations, a mission and history that supports women, more female role models, a caring, supportive environment, and an abundance of opportunities for involvement and to learn about oneself. In addition, participants confirmed the importance of peer relationships and romantic relationships on their educational aspirations. Some women, however, perceived these same factors as having a negative impact on their degree aspirations. These negative impacts included the Bubble effect, in which women felt that the women's college experience had sheltered them from the realities of the world outside of their present environment, the Burn-Out effect from over involvement in extra-curricular and academic activities, and confusion over field of study interest due to the many opportunities to learn about oneself offered by a liberal arts curriculum. Other findings indicate that despite the supportive environment of women's colleges, women's college students still perceive romantic relationships as negatively impacting their or their friend's aspirations for an advanced degree. In addition, the need to be taken seriously, whether their families are supportive of further education, and how well informed they are about financial aid issues, all were reported to impact educational aspirations. Unexpectedly, male role models were found to have a positive impact on women's aspirations despite the many female role models at women's colleges.The African American women college students in this study reported their experiences of attending a women's college much differently than did the White women. Although they felt they had received a quality education, the African American women were dissatisfied with the lack of representation of the African American culture at the women's college they attended. They felt the women's college culture had negatively impacted their aspirations for an advanced degree because of the lack of representation of African American culture in the women's college environment. Almost all African American women in this study dropped their previous aspirations for an advanced degree because of the discouraging effect of the overwhelmingly White culture of the colleges they attended.Overall, this study found that college culture was perceived to have a clear positive impact for one group of students, no significant impact for another, and a negative impact for the third group of students. In addition, based on the perceptions of the students and the researcher's limited observations, the two colleges were found to have institutional cultures that differentiate themselves from each other. This finding challenges previous researchers' assumptions that all women's colleges share a single culture.This study adds to previous literature about women's college culture and aspirations for an advanced degree in a number of important ways. Key findings include the identification of negative, as well as positive, impacts of women's college culture for some women, the importance of male role models for women's college students, and the dissatisfaction of the African American women in the study with their experience at a woman's college. / Ph. D.

No description available.

No description available.