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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Full text release at OhioLINK's ETD Center delayed at author's request.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / On t.p.: Master of Arts (International Studies). Includes bibliographical references. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 180-194). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--North Carolina State University, 2004 / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 210-219).

The proliferation of academic studies of men and 'masculinity' in the last twenty years has mirrored the growth of feminist studies of women and gender relations. This thesis reflects upon these theoretical developments and examines the expression of 'masculinity' amongst employees in two contrasting workplaces in Yorkshire. Adopting a Foucauldian approach, it is suggested that 'masculinity' should be analysed as a set of practices which create, maintain and reinforce inequalities between the sexes and that their achievement is situationally contingent. From this perspective, masculinity can only be understood within a framework of power, conceptualised as relational, productive and existent only in its exercise. Critical evaluation of the 'masculinity' literature demonstrates that conventional conceptualisations of 'masculinity' have produced methodological impasses, of which the most problematic is the conflation of 'masculinity' with the study of men. The thesis proposes an alternative framework which recognises that discourses of 'masculinity' relate to the words and actions of women as well as of men and that 'masculin~y' is most profitably understood as a series of discourses - transcending the scale of the individual - which set out the 'rules', expectations and conditions within which everyday gender relations take place. The empirical investigation of these ideas adopts a qualitative approach. In-depth, repeated interviews focusing upon participants' work experiences and home lives were carried out with men and women from the two workplaces - an academic department within a university and a manufacturer of metal products. Interview transcripts were interpreted using an "analysis of discourses" method. The analysis reveals that despite obvious differences in the labour processes of the workplaces, there is considerable continuity in dominant discourses of 'masculinity' regardless of participants' age, social class and, most significantly, sex. These discourses are identified as "reproduction", "breadwinning", "homemaking" and "sexual objectification". The research demonstrates how discourses of 'masculinity' structure gender relations within the workplace at an interpersonal scale - in everyday interactions - and at an organisational scale - as reflected by sexual divisions of labour. It is shown that these discourses can be space-specific, with the negotiation of power in gender relations often more difficult in the workplace than in the home. The thesis concludes by reflecting on the implications of the study for future research on men and 'masculinity' and for geographical studies of gender. It also discusses the potential for a more closely related research agenda between feminism and the study of 'masculinity'.

Constructing the Female Subject in Anglo-Norman, Middle English and Medieval Irish Romance Giselle Gos Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Medieval Studies University of Toronto 2012 Abstract Female subjectivity remains a theoretical question in medieval romance, a genre in which the feminine and the female have often been found to exist primarily as foils for the production of masculinity and male identity, the Other against which the masculine hero is defined. Woman’s agency and subjectivity are observed by critics most often in moments of transgression, subversion and resistance: as objects exchanged between men and signs of masculine prestige, female characters carve out their subjectivity, agency and identity in spite of, rather than with the support of, the ideological formations of romance. The following study makes a case for the existence of a female subject in medieval romance, analogous to the oft-examined male subject, a subject in both senses of the term: subjected to the dominant ideology, the subject is also enabled in its agency and authority by that ideology. I combine a feminist poststructuralist approach to discourse analysis with a comparative methodology, juxtaposing related romance texts in Anglo-Norman, Middle English and Medieval Irish under the premise that stress-points in ideological structures must be renegotiated when stories are revised and recast for new audiences. The principal texts considered are Roman de Horn, King Horn, Horn Childe and the Maiden Rimnild; Gamair’s Haveloc episode, Lai d’Haveloc, Havelok the Dane; Gui de Warewic, Guy of Warwick, The Irish Lives of Guy of Warwick and Bevis of Hampton; The Adventures of Art, Son of Conn, Mongán’s Love for Dubh Lacha. Through close attention to textual change over time, a profound shift can be seen in the emergence of female characters which cease to be symbols, signs and objects but through a variety of discourses and narrative strategies are established as subjects in their own right.

Constructing the Female Subject in Anglo-Norman, Middle English and Medieval Irish Romance Giselle Gos Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Medieval Studies University of Toronto 2012 Abstract Female subjectivity remains a theoretical question in medieval romance, a genre in which the feminine and the female have often been found to exist primarily as foils for the production of masculinity and male identity, the Other against which the masculine hero is defined. Woman’s agency and subjectivity are observed by critics most often in moments of transgression, subversion and resistance: as objects exchanged between men and signs of masculine prestige, female characters carve out their subjectivity, agency and identity in spite of, rather than with the support of, the ideological formations of romance. The following study makes a case for the existence of a female subject in medieval romance, analogous to the oft-examined male subject, a subject in both senses of the term: subjected to the dominant ideology, the subject is also enabled in its agency and authority by that ideology. I combine a feminist poststructuralist approach to discourse analysis with a comparative methodology, juxtaposing related romance texts in Anglo-Norman, Middle English and Medieval Irish under the premise that stress-points in ideological structures must be renegotiated when stories are revised and recast for new audiences. The principal texts considered are Roman de Horn, King Horn, Horn Childe and the Maiden Rimnild; Gamair’s Haveloc episode, Lai d’Haveloc, Havelok the Dane; Gui de Warewic, Guy of Warwick, The Irish Lives of Guy of Warwick and Bevis of Hampton; The Adventures of Art, Son of Conn, Mongán’s Love for Dubh Lacha. Through close attention to textual change over time, a profound shift can be seen in the emergence of female characters which cease to be symbols, signs and objects but through a variety of discourses and narrative strategies are established as subjects in their own right.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis examines the existence, contribution and recognition of Scottish gardening women for the period 1800 to 1930. The focus was conceived in response to the lack of attention given to female Scottish gardeners in traditional narratives of Britain’s, and more specifically, Scotland’s gardening history. Despite evidence to suggest that women have participated in gardening since the development of the earliest gardens, canonical narratives reveal a preoccupation with white, male, often elite plantsmen, many of whom were Scottish, that pay little or no attention to female involvement. The study begins by considering the degree to which Scotland’s gardening men were successful by unpacking their role and influence, how they were able to make a contribution to gardening and the ways in which they were recognised. This is followed by an assessment of the relative invisibility of women within historical gardening narratives. The recent emergence of feminist studies concentrating on the work of women gardeners has helped to correct this imbalance, but their primary focus on English women has highlighted the disparity between the growing awareness of female gardeners in England and the continuing obscurity of their Scottish counterparts. At the heart of this research is an in-depth biographical analysis of thirteen gardening women, which uncovers their work and contributes to an understanding of the history of women gardeners in Scotland at a time when gardening was dominated by men and undergoing a period of growth and professionalisation. The thesis demonstrates that the women went beyond the confines of their own gardens and achieved within the wider, public sphere of horticulture in Scotland. Some made significant collections of seeds and plants, whilst others used their skills as nurserywomen to cultivate them and, in so doing, they played a part in our knowledge and understanding of plant taxonomy. The transition from amateur gardener to professional status was also achieved and, based on the evidence found within this study, some women were instrumental in pioneering women’s entry into professional gardening. However, few were recognised by the horticultural establishment either during their lifetime or posthumously. This thesis sets the women within their cultural context and addresses the impact of factors such as social class, education, family obligations and gendered prejudice on their ability to achieve and the extent to which their work was recognised in comparison to that of their male contemporaries. As a result, it fills the gaps in our knowledge and understanding of Scotland’s gardening women and provides evidence on which to refute the suggestion that their elision from traditional narratives of Scottish garden history is justified.