This study explores the perceptions of women who had migrated to Gqebera, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, from Zimbabwe, in terms of their own identity. In-depth interviews were conducted, situated within a phenomenological paradigm with a feminist epistemological orientation, in order to describe the rich detail of a woman’s quotidian existence subsequent to the migratory experience. Findings suggest that women’s identities are constructed in relation to other people, both those who form their in-group and their out-group. The process of migration and difficulties associated with assimilation into the host community impacts on felt ethnicity, strengthening ties to the homeland and to fellow Zimbabweans. Identity is also impacted on by spatiality, or lived space, in terms of both memories of home and present space occupied. Migration incorporating even the post-migration period may well form an extended liminal experience for women.

The purpose of this study is to explore the processes of individuation and connection in mother-daughter relationships, and describe how these relationships may or may not be facilitated by the intervention of reflections and joint narratives. This study used social constructionism as the epistemological framework and involved in-depth interviews with three mother-daughter pairs. Hermeneutics was used to analyse the data. The participants' experiences were recounted through the researcher's lens in the form of themes that characterised their relationships as well as interactional patterns. Participant's experiences of the research process, and what the researcher believed were helpful and unhelpful behaviours in her interaction with each mother-daughter pair, were discussed. A comparative analysis was also undertaken between the common themes identified in the stories of the mother-daughter pairs and the literature. The information gained could assist women as well as professionals in understanding and respecting mother-daughter relationships in their specific contexts. / Psychology / M. A. (Psychology)

This descriptive study investigates the link between religion, (institutional and private) identity (ethnic and personal) and the community (Portuguese and South African) in the context of religious and cultural pluralism. It analyses sixteen Portuguese women in Durban - nine Roman Catholics, five Protestants and two agnostic and it is executed within the framework of the theory of conditionalism or 'radical relationality', as expounded by J.S. Kruger. The religious practice, experience and identity of the participants are explored, and their social integration as well as famiIy and marital relationships (with special reference to submissiveness) are examined in the light of Catholic Feminist theology. The influence of their experiences on their religion and vice-versa, as well as the fluidity of their identities are analysed. The. results of the study highlight the paradoxical role of religion, as well as a decline in ethnic identity and Catholicism. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M. Th. (Religious Studies)

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis focuses on the representation of women in media aimed at women. A critical examination of visual communication (magazines, advertising and visual story-telling1) will demonstrate that the media may be regarded as highly influential in the way women perceive their bodies, reproduction and sexuality. I begin by examining the presentation of the ‘ideal’ woman as an instance of the Pygmalion complex. This reading of the media’s formulation of the female ideal aims to demonstrate the psychological effects of the Pygmalion complex on women, and illustrates how the resultant striving for perfection drives production and consumption. I shall demonstrate how the image of the ‘ideal’ woman is increasingly more sophisticated and convincingly portrayed through the use of digital manipulation, plastic surgery, excessive dieting and exercise regimes. I propose that the average woman is left feeling inadequate and is undermined by the voice of her own cultural representation. This thesis also investigates the persistence of the virgin / whore binary in the media’s depiction of female sexuality. I propose that this is an essentialist and dualistic presentation of female sexuality as either ‘good’ (surrendered, submissive and conforming – i.e. the virgin); or ‘bad’ (transgressive, explicit, dangerous and destructive – i.e. the whore). I further suggest that this polarised appropriation of women’s sexuality deprives women of ownership of their own sexuality. I also propose that the media’s treatment of female sexuality presents women as being in competition within one another for male attention and approval and that this representation damages female solidarity. Finally I demonstrate that pornography has infiltrated all aspects of popular culture, from magazines to music videos. My hypothesis is that this use of pornographic conventions depicts the rape and abuse of women as normative, commonplace and even entertaining, and that this has a detrimental effect on both women’s and men’s sexual and social wellbeing. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis is gerig op hoe vroue in die media wat op vroue gerig is, verbeeld word. 'n Kritiese ondersoek van visuele kommunikasie (in tydskrifte, reklame en visuele verhaling2) sal toon hoe die media as uiters invloedryk beskou kan word ten opsigte van hoe vroue hul eie liggame, voortplanting en seksualiteit beskou. Ek begin deur die voorstelling van die 'ideale' vrou as 'n voorbeeld van die Pygmalionkompleks te ondersoek. Hierdie beskouing van die media se formulering van die ideaal van vrouwees is daarop gerig om die sielkundige effek van die Pygmalion-kompleks op vroue te demonstreer en illustreer hoe produksie en verbruik deur die strewe na perfeksie wat as gevolg van hierdie formulering ontstaan, aangedryf word. Ek sal toon hoe die beeld van die 'ideale' vrou, as meer en meer gesofistikeerd, oortuigend weergegee word deur middel van digitale manipulasie, plastiese snykunde, oormatige volg van diëte en oefenprogramme. Ek voer aan dat die gemiddelde vrou hierdeur met die gevoel gelaat word dat sy tekortskiet en ondermyn word deur die boodskap van die publikasies wat haar eie kulturele beeld verwoord. Hierdie tesis ondersoek ook die volhardendheid van die tweeledige voorstelling van vroulike seksualiteit in die beelding van maagd en hoer wat in die media aangebied word. Ek voer aan dat dit 'n wesenlike en dualistiese voorstelling van vroulike seksualiteit as óf 'goed' (uitgelewer, gedwee en konformerend – d.w.s. die maagd), óf 'sleg' (oortredend/sondig, eksplisiet, gevaarlik en vernietigend – d.w.s. die hoer) is. Ek stel verder voor dat hierdie gepolariseerde toe-eiening van die vrou se seksualiteit vrouens van eienaarskap van hul eie seksualiteit ontneem. Ek stel ook voor dat die voorstelling van die vrou se seksualiteit soos dit in die media aangebied word, suggereer dat vrouens ter wille van die aandag van 'n man en om goedkeuring te wen met mekaar kompeteer en dat hierdie voorstelling skade doen aan die gevoel van solidariteit tussen vroue. Ten slotte demonstreer ek hoe pornografie reeds alle aspekte van die populêre kultuur vanaf tydskrifte tot musiekvideos binnegedring het. My hipotese is dat hierdie gebruik van pornografiese konvensies die verkragting en mishandeling van vroue as normatief, alledaags en selfs vermaaklik uitbeeld en dat dit 'n nadelige effek het op die seksuele en die sosiale welsyn van mans sowel as vroue.

Orientador: Marcos Aparecido Lopes / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem / Made available in DSpace on 2019-01-10T14:21:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ma_Lin_M.pdf: 1239507 bytes, checksum: 7038a8b55bc3d5b1c5c607eec480af10 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015 / Resumo: A presente dissertação analisa o processo de construção literária da formação da mulher-protagonista apresentado no sexto romance de Clarice Lispector, Uma aprendizagem ou o livro dos prazeres. Este processo da formação e essencialização de mulheres-protagonistas na obra clariciana começa já em seu primeiro romance, Perto do coração selvagem e se estende para obras posteriores, com a promessa da realização pessoal da protagonista e satisfação dos anseios e expectativas. No caso do romance em estudo, esse processo de formação é acompanhado pelo desenvolvimento de um relacionamento homem/mulher. A dissertação divide-se em três partes. Primeira, uma breve apresentação do geral do livro. Segundo, uma discussão focalizando a formação da mulher pela aprendizagem na sociedade patriarcal. Terceira, uma discussão enfatizando a formação da mulher dentro de um relacionamento homem/mulher. Dessa forma, compreende-se a nova tentativa da autora na escrita feminina e a importância do livro dentro do conjunto da obra clariciana / Abstract: The present dissertation analyzes the literary construction of the process of the female protagonist¿s formation presented in the sixth novel by Clarice Lispector, Apprenticeship or The Book of Pleasures. This process of formation and essentialization of female protagonists in Clarice¿s novels begins already in the first one, Near to the Wild Heart, then extends to her later works, with the promise of the protagonist¿s personal fulfillment and satisfaction of the desires and expectations. In the case of the novel under study, the process is accompanied by the development of a man/woman relationship. The thesis is divided into three parts. First, a brief presentation of the general of the book. Second, a discussion focusing on the formation of women in patriarchal society through apprenticeship. Third, a discussion emphasizing the formation of the woman in a man/woman relationship. Thus, it is understood the new attempt of the author in women's writing and the importance of the book within all the novels of Clarice Lispector / Mestrado / Teoria e Critica Literaria / Mestra em Teoria e História Literária

This dissertation layers trauma studies theory with feminist theories of performance and autobiography to investigate how women's autobiographically based performances of illness experience disrupt and/or reinforce master discourses of medicine, identity, and knowledge. Feminist theories of performance and autobiography share with trauma studies the distrust of traditional frames and mechanisms of representation, and seek to discover new methods of interpreting experiences that lie "outside the realm" of normative discourse. These theories are further linked by their shared focus on agency and identity construction and an understanding of autobiography that emphasizes the limitations of language and memory which allows for aporia, contradiction, and dissonance, and the belief that testimony functions as a politicized performative of truth. Employing these theoretical perspectives, Carr investigates how these performances witness to radical reconfigurations of identity through the transference of trauma into conveyable life narrative -- even when those narratives falls outside the paradigm of traditional storytelling structures. Carr questions how the structures and content of these performances reveal what traumas are inflicted not only through illness, but also through treatment and care within the western medical model. Throughout the study Carr examines the moments when the cognitive structures of trauma are transmitted into performance through a variety of feminist and avant-garde performance techniques. Carr investigates the work of specific performers and contextualizes the performances within popular culture and medical discourse. Performances analyzed include; Robbie McCauley's Sugar, Susan Miller's My Left Breast, Brandyn Barbara Artis's Sister Girl, and Deb Margolin's bringing the fishermen home and Three Seconds in the Key. Carr questions how the formerly or currently ill female body performing in public disrupts notions of fixed and stable identity while examining the myriad identity constructions embedded within illness narrative. Rather than simplistic triumphant stories of individual cure and recovery, these complex expressions of traumatic experience reveal patterns of cultural oppression that keep the ill female body isolated and silenced. This study attempts to intervene in that silence by foregrounding these politicized performances.

The purpose of this study is to explore the processes of individuation and connection in mother-daughter relationships, and describe how these relationships may or may not be facilitated by the intervention of reflections and joint narratives. This study used social constructionism as the epistemological framework and involved in-depth interviews with three mother-daughter pairs. Hermeneutics was used to analyse the data. The participants' experiences were recounted through the researcher's lens in the form of themes that characterised their relationships as well as interactional patterns. Participant's experiences of the research process, and what the researcher believed were helpful and unhelpful behaviours in her interaction with each mother-daughter pair, were discussed. A comparative analysis was also undertaken between the common themes identified in the stories of the mother-daughter pairs and the literature. The information gained could assist women as well as professionals in understanding and respecting mother-daughter relationships in their specific contexts. / Psychology / M. A. (Psychology)

This descriptive study investigates the link between religion, (institutional and private) identity (ethnic and personal) and the community (Portuguese and South African) in the context of religious and cultural pluralism. It analyses sixteen Portuguese women in Durban - nine Roman Catholics, five Protestants and two agnostic and it is executed within the framework of the theory of conditionalism or 'radical relationality', as expounded by J.S. Kruger. The religious practice, experience and identity of the participants are explored, and their social integration as well as famiIy and marital relationships (with special reference to submissiveness) are examined in the light of Catholic Feminist theology. The influence of their experiences on their religion and vice-versa, as well as the fluidity of their identities are analysed. The. results of the study highlight the paradoxical role of religion, as well as a decline in ethnic identity and Catholicism. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M. Th. (Religious Studies)

A presente dissertação consiste na análise da obra As pedras do caminho, da escritora gaúcha Lydia Mombelli da Fonseca, no tocante à investigação literária da representação do sujeito feminino, com base em aporte teórico de estudos culturais de gênero, crítica feminista, bem como regionalidade, ideologia patriarcal e identidade. Nesse sentido, observa-se o papel referente à mulher na sociedade, principalmente, por volta da década de 1950, ano de publicação do romance, com o objetivo de desvelar estigmas e comportamentos esperados das mulheres na época, além de promover reflexões a respeito de naturalizações sociais estabelecidas e reproduzidas em relação ao sujeito feminino, ainda, em meio à contemporaneidade. Ademais, este estudo busca demonstrar a participação da mulher como sujeito do processo histórico-cultural enquanto produtora de texto literário, trazendo ao conhecimento acadêmico a autora Lydia Mombelli da Fonseca, a fim de contribuir para o alargamento da história cultural e literária da Região de Colonização Italiana do Rio Grande do Sul e do próprio estado. / Submitted by Ana Guimarães Pereira (agpereir@ucs.br) on 2016-11-23T15:36:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Jaqueline Modelski.pdf: 1377584 bytes, checksum: 5c06aba292ddfb13df6bd8e3f3feea8c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-11-23T15:36:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao Jaqueline Modelski.pdf: 1377584 bytes, checksum: 5c06aba292ddfb13df6bd8e3f3feea8c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-23 / The present dissertation consists on the analysis of the novel The stones of the road (As pedras do caminho), by the female gaucho writer Lydia Mombelli da Fonseca, with regard to the literary research of the representation of the female subject, based on theoretical framework of cultural studies of gender, feminist criticism and regionality, patriarchal ideology and identity. In this sense, it is possible to observe the role relating to women in society, especially in the decade of 1950, the year of publication of the novel, in order to unveil stigmas and behaviors expected of women at the time, in addition to promoting reflections on established and reproduced social naturalizations in relation to the female subject, even amidst the present. Furthermore, this study seeks to demonstrate the participation of women as the subject of historical and cultural process as a producer of literary text, bringing to academic knowledge the author Lydia Mombelli da Fonseca, in order to contribute to the expansion of the cultural and literary history of the Italian Colonization Region of Rio Grande do Sul and the state itself.

CAPES / O imaginário mobilizado pela corrida espacial no segundo período pós-guerra instigou a criação de um repertório visual que logo tornou-se fonte de inspiração em diversos campos da produção cultural. Neste trabalho tenho por objetivo discutir a construção da figura da “mulher do futuro” mediante a articulação entre as produções filiadas a esse imaginário no vestuário e na decoração de interiores. O recorte de estudo abarca as décadas de 1960 e 1970 e está centrado nas representações de interiores domésticos divulgados pela revista Casa & Jardim e nos editoriais e anúncios publicitários de vestuário divulgados pelas revistas Claudia e Manequim. Esses títulos colocaram em circulação uma série de recursos imagéticos e textuais que evidenciam aspectos do comportamento social da época, servindo como base para a investigação das novas representações de feminilidades que surgiram naquele período. A escolha por privilegiar a articulação entre decoração de interiores e vestuário se justifica pela relação historicamente construída entre essas materialidades e o corpo feminino, caracterizando-se como parte integrante na construção de identidades de gênero, classe e geração. Com esse trabalho pretendo evidenciar que as materialidades dos interiores domésticos e do vestuário inspirados pela iconografia espacial atuavam como dispositivos que criavam e reforçavam noções de feminilidades em diálogo com o processo de modernização da sociedade brasileira em curso. / The imagery mobilized by the space race in the second post-war period instigated the creation of a visual repertory that soon became the source of inspiration in several fields of cultural production. In this work I aim to discuss the construction of the "woman of the future" figure through the articulation between the productions affiliated to this imaginary in clothing and interior decoration. The study covers the 1960s and 1970s and is centered on the representations of domestic interiors published by Casa & Jardim magazine and the editorials and advertisements for clothing published by magazines Claudia and Manequim. These publications put into circulation a series of imagery and textual resources that demonstrated aspects of the time’s social behavior, serving as basis for the investigation of the new representations of femininities which appeared in that period. The choice to focus on the articulation between interior decoration and clothing is based on the historically constructed relation between these materialities and the female body, therefore being an important part in the construction of gender, class and generation identities. With this work I intend to show that the materialities of domestic interiors and clothing inspired by the space age iconography acted as devices that created and reinforced notions of femininity.