This paper examines if the wedding rite today can be considered as a rite of consumption rather than a rite of passage, with base in the wedding gown. The method used is a qualitative text and content analysis, this method has been applied to three articles and one book whom discuss the wedding and consumption related to the bride gown. To analyze this material Arnold Van Gennep´s definition of rites of passage is applied. Weddings are in our time strongly influenced by consumption with a strong focus on materiality rather than on religion. The wedding gown can be considered to be one of the most important artefacts today concerning the bride adapting to her new identity and social role.

The relationship between ballet and fairy tale is by no means a new or unique discovery—to either dance history or literary studies. However, aside from relatively brief mentions of ballets as examples of fairy-tale adaptation, ballet's relevance to fairy-tale studies has been somewhat undervalued. While scholars often relegate ballet to a smaller part in fairy tale's influence through the performing arts, fairy-tale ballet deserves to have its own, independent academic conversation because ballet contributes uniquely to both fairy-tale history and canon. Ballet can be credited with both giving new life to an old tale and creating a brand new one through an amalgamation of formalistic fairy-tale motifs and figures—particularly when it comes to female figures. Through an analysis of nineteenth-century Romanticism, fairy-tale form, and the narratives created by three of the most famous fairy bride ballets--La Sylphide, Giselle, and Swan Lake--we can distinguish how Romantic ballet affects fairy-tale studies because of the special conditions this "feminized" art placed on narrative and character. The pervasion of the fairy bride character and motif in ballet indicates a potentially unique tale type, and these three fairy brides together reveal a different dimension to our view of female fairy-tale characters by actively shaping their own stories according to Romantic values that place them outside of traditional fairy-tale roles. Thus, fairy-tale ballets significantly substantiate Romantic imagination beyond the bounds of literary form, and therefore both emphasize and nuance the fairy-tale female paradigm by making unique contributions to the fairy-tale canon.

Population control programs such as family planning and the introduction of sex identification technologies has helped to create skewed sex ratios in northern India and particularly in the state of Haryana. Due to a surplus of men and the numbers of missing females, an organized business of bride trafficking has emerged where poor women from eastern and northeastern states of India are bought and brought to Haryana for the purpose of marriage. This thesis explores how skewed sex ratios have contributed to the phenomenon of bride trafficking in Haryana guided by the theoretical framework of violences of development which argues that there is a hidden paradox within development. This was done by conducting a conventional content analysis in order to create a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. There is scarce research on bride trafficking, therefore this study contributes with extended knowledge in order to shed a light on the increasing trade with females.

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The purpose of this study was to determine whether The Large Glass was a negation of women for Marcel Duchamp. The thesis is composed of five chapters. Chapter I is the introduction to the thesis. CHapter II includes a synopsis of the major interpretations of The Large Glass. Duchamp's statements in regard to The Large Glass are also included in Chapter II. Chapter III explains how The Large Glass works through the use of Duchamp's notes. Chapter IV investigates Duchamp's negation of women statement in several ways. His personal relationships with relatives including his wives and other women, and his early paintings of women were examined. His idea of indifference was seen within the context of the Dandy and his alter ego, Rrose Selavy as a Femme Fatale. His machine paintings are also seen as a part of his idea of detachment and negation of women. Detachment as an intellectual pursuit was probed with his life-long interest in chess. The Large Glass was then seen as not only showing inconographically a negation of women but also as being an intrinsic component of his life and his work.

World building is a key component to many young adult novels, but what is world building and what are some different styles and techniques that authors use when constructing fictional universes? In this thesis, Falling Down the Rabbit Hole: World Building Techniques in YA Literature, I will examine Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865), The Princess Bride by William Goldman (1973), and my own unpublished novel, The Sun Kingdom, to compare different techniques and styles of world building. These works will be explored through the aspect of world building, focusing specifically on the importance of the geography, language, and traditions and culture that were created for their respective worlds, how these elements were created, and what effect this has on the story.

This dissertation focuses on the status of women in Central Asian society, particularly in Kyrgyzstan, and the phenomena of the Kyrgyz family that is the central part of daily living of Kyrgyz people. We provide an introduction to the region, followed by an analysis of a social stratification of Kyrgyz society and a various types of families. The next chapter describes the three major historical periods and changes in women's position in the society. The first period spans up to 1917, its end marked by the Bolshevik coup. Until that time, The Kyrgyz society was nomadic, organized into tribes, clans, and large patriarchal families. The 1920's were tumultuous times for the Central Asian region, at that time newly dominated by the Soviet rule, undergoing industrialization, public education, experiencing improvements in health care, but on the other hand also confiscation, forced resettlement, and russification. New rights have been granted to women, however local patriarchal and feudal traditions persisted and continued in the local societies. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Kyrgyz people started returning to their national traditions and discrimination against women started to be openly discussed in the society. Our historical retrospective analysis explores the major types of Kyrgyz...

This dissertation compares the family and marriage traditions of the Ashantis of Ghana and Ancient Hebrews. Some common features characterize the two societies, principal among which is the idea that having children is the key purpose of marrieage above love and intimacy. Others are the low status of the wife in the domestic context; endogamy rules based on consanguinity; and payment of bride price. However, the two traditions differ in important areas. For example, the Ashantis follow kinship system based on matrilineal descent, succession and inheritance and the girl child is preferred. The patriarchal system of the Ancient Hebrews invest all authority in the father and the male heirs is preferred. Other defining factor in Ashanti and Pentateuchcal marriage is their religion and belief systems. Much of the marriage traditions seem to be cultural references rather than religious imperatives binding on Christians today. / Old Testament & Ancient Near Eastern Studies / Thesis (M.Th.)

Les nouvelles technologies, tel l’Internet, nous permettent d'obtenir tout ce que l'on désire en appuyant sur une simple touche. Elles procurent des plateformes inédites de communication, comme des espaces virtuels de rencontre, aux gens en quête d'un époux ou d’une épouse et ainsi permettent aux agences virtuelles spécialisées dans ce type d'union de proliférer. Ces nombreux sites de rencontre offrent aux hommes de rencontrer une femme peu importe d'où elle vient. Les femmes de l'Asie du sud-est sont très populaires auprès de ces hommes. Bon nombre d’études ont démontré que des difficultés économiques jouent un rôle de prime importance dans une décision de faire appel à ces agences pour émigrer par le biais d’un mariage avec un étranger. Par contre, en Asie du sud-est, la Thaïlande se distingue par ses réussites économiques régionales et par sa tradition matrilinéaire. Dans ce contexte, qu’est-ce qui induit des femmes thaïlandaises à chercher un mari à l'étranger ? Je tenterai de répondre à cette question en examinant les influences des facteurs suivants: hiérarchie sociale (ethnique et régionale); facteurs économiques (classes sociales); matrilinéarité; conception locale de l'amour, du sexe et du mariage et, enfin, l'importance du trajet personnel de chaque femme dans son évaluation des facteurs influents menant à son choix d’épouser un étranger. / New technologies, such as Internet, allow us to obtain anything we desire almost immediately by a simple click. They provide a novel platform for encounters, new meeting spaces for people wishing to find a marriage partner through Internet correspondence and provide a flourishing business to agencies specialized in this type of union. These countless web sites allow foreign men to meet women from every part of the world. Southeast Asian women are particularly popular among these men. A number of studies have demonstrated that the economic difficulties of countries in this region play an important role in the women’s decision to call upon these agencies in order to marry and to emigrate. In Southeast Asia, Thailand differentiates itself by its regional economic success and by its matrilineal tradition. In light of this, what induces Thai women to look for a husband abroad? I will attempt to answer this question by examining the influences of the following factors: social hierarchy (ethnic and regional); economic factors (social class); matrilinearity, local conception of love, sex and marriage and, finally, the importance of each woman’s personal path to determine which factors influence their choice of marrying a foreigner.

This study examines changing gender roles and women&amp / #8217 / s status under the light of t&ouml / re/yasa and shar&amp / #299 / &amp / #8216 / a among the Inner Asian Turkic and Mongolian societies and Ottomans in Anatolia especially between the thirteenth and the first half of the sixteenth centuries. In this frame, this study traces gender roles and women&amp / #8217 / s status in Inner Asia before the influence of Islamic culture and civilizations by using oral and written sources as well as anthropological studies. It also focuses on the formation of t&ouml / re and yasa among Inner Asian societies and shar&amp / #299 / &amp / #8216 / a in the Muslim world. Finally, this study investigates gender roles and women&amp / #8217 / s status in relation with customary (yasa/t&ouml / re and &ouml / rf-i sultani) and religious laws (shar&amp / #299 / &amp / #8216 / a ) among the Mongol Ilkhans, Timurids and Ottomans. Gender roles and women&amp / #8217 / s status are examined according to political, social and cultural characteristics of these dynasties from a comparative perspective.