Traumatic triggers come in many forms: the smell of a rose, the taste of a warm pie, the sound of music, the gaze of a loved one, and the touch of soft soil. What appears ordinary to one may repel another, but the tension between these two opposing reactions is what entices me as an artist. Every trigger is tied to a specific memory which causes me, as a survivor, to question my reality and what I believe to be true. Is this love or is this abuse? What happens when I succumb to the memory that haunts me? My work addresses themes of domesticity, trauma, and sentimentality through the creation of sculpture and video works. Asunder is a minefield of such works that are my response to personal trauma while offering a space for outside connection.

According to Lewis Seifert, “Fairy tales are obsessed with femininity … These narratives are concerned above all else with defining what makes women different from men and, more precisely, what is and is not acceptable feminine behaviour” (1996: 175). This study, then, will demonstrate how certain patriarchal ideas associated with fairy tales are disseminated when fairy tale elements are reworked in film, visual art and the novel. The aim of this project, more specifically, is to show how certain stereotypical representations of women endure in works that could be read as feminist appropriations of Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Little Mermaid’. Stereotypical representations of women are numerous and may include: depicting females as fitting neatly into what is often called the virgin/whore or Madonna/whore binary opposition; depicting women as being caring and kind, but also passive, submissive and weak; and depicting older women as being sexually unattractive and evil (Goodwin and Fiske 2001:358; Sullivan 2010: 4). It must be said that the list of stereotypes relating to women given here is far from exhaustive.

This study seeks to identify and examine the challenges that female principals experience. Women are slowly climbing the promotional ladder within education, yet they experience many challenges. The fact that society has the perception that women are mothers and caregivers does not make the advancement of females easy. Although the GETT report (1996) made recommendations to ensure equality in education females are still vastly under-represented in managerial positions in education. The study was conducted from a feminine perspective. It is a qualitative case study and individual interviews, a focus group interview, observation and field notes were used to collect data. A total of three females were included in the study. Participants were purposefully selected. Two of the participants are from disadvantaged schools while the third one is an ex-Model C principal. A consent form was sent to all the participants, covering all ethical issues of voluntary participation, confidentiality and anonymity. The main question was the challenges faced by female managers in education. Having spent time with each of the principals the data in the form of field notes and transcripts were analysed. It was found that the three principals experienced similar challenges. Their responses did not always reflect what the literature said regarding the challenges. All three principals felt that more formal support structures from the DoE is needed. They mentioned that the following could be implemented to ensure that they are more effective and better prepared to face these challenges: Workshops; Mentoring and Networking; Financial Assistance; and, Capacity Building.

In many societies in developing countries, women are not given a chance to communicate their issues. The organisation within these societies places men at the top, giving them the opportunity to make all the important decisions. This situation is reflected in the two films which fall under this study, namely, Water and Moolaadé both of which are fictional representations of the oppression of women. In this study, an attempt is made to explain communication struggles in the two films: Water, reflecting Indian society and Moolaadé, reflecting African society. To understand the outcome of these struggles against patriarchy, the study looks at two types of feminism: Indian feminism and African feminism and attempts to find the sense that characters in the film can be understood. The analysis also looks at what the women, who act as feminists in the films have achieved out of their struggles to break the silence and how their voices have influenced or sensitised the silenced majority of women in their societies. Feminist communication theories have been used to analyse the female voice in the films. In the conclusion, I have argued that in both films women have managed to transform their respective societies. However more potential to social transformation are revealed by women depicted in Moolaadé than in Water, where there is very slow pace of change.

This paper explores whether Cartesian dualism prioritizes the masculine over the feminine. Feminist authors have argued that due to the prioritization of the mind over the body in Cartesian dualism and the association of the masculine with the mind and the association of the feminine with the body, the masculine is prioritized. This paper analyzes both this prioritization of the mind over the body and the association of the masculine with the mind and the feminine with the body.

Cyberfeminist scholars have identified the Internet as a site where feminist issues are substantiated. This exploratory study investigates young women’s lived experiences of agency within online social networking, also looking at the ways in which their assertion of agency is constrained. Analysis identified four biographically consistent identity narratives within which participants experienced online agency, each with a unique operationalization of agency, constraints upon agency, and role of a heteronormative boyfriend. Identity narratives tended to invoke socially- and media-entrenched representations of how to ‘properly’ perform ‘girl’ online, including stereotypes of girls vigilantly managing online risk or portraying themselves as professional, ethically sensible, family-oriented, or popular and celebrity-oriented. However, these representations were also inherently conflictual, presenting incompatible expectations that were difficult to simultaneously negotiate. In conclusion, this study recommends that future research and policy abandon patriarchal, neoliberal underpinnings in favour of deconstructing problematic stereotyped representations of femininity within online spaces.

This thesis explores the capacity of a state feminist institution in a non-Western setting in implementing gender empowerment initiatives. This study adopts a cross-cutting approach using state feminism and a feminist institutional analytical lens especially the idea of formal and informal rules, to develop a dynamic analysis of the factors that shape the capacity of a state feminist institution in a post-colonial context. This research uses a holistic single case study to analyse the institutional capacity of the Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development in Malaysia by examining four key determinants: 1) institutional structure, 2) resources, 3) relationship/network and 4) the WPA’s policies implementation (as shaped by the institutional structure, resources, and relationship) to assess the Ministry’s capacity. This research highlights the variance of capacity level of the Women’s Policy Agency in Malaysia has in the implementation of gender empowerment initiatives within its institutional environment. The WPA demonstrates competency in specific areas of gender empowerment programmes especially economic empowerment but is often constrained in their ability to navigate through a gendered state institution which is highly centralised and strongly hierarchical. Masculinised political culture and institutional socio-religious perspective on gender roles also play a part in weakening the Ministry’s capacity in pushing for gender empowerment initiatives that challenge the conservative outlook of gender roles in society. .This study explores the strengths and constraints of state feminism in Malaysia using feminist institutionalism analytical tools of formal and informal rules as the dynamic interaction between the formal and informal rules in a diverse, developing and semi-democratic context characterise the WPA’s capacity within its institutional setting. This thesis provides important insights on the conditions that shape the WPA’s capacity and alternative understanding of state feminism in a non-Western context, and thereby, provides guidance for gender policy advocates and future practices.

This study emerged from an awareness of the critical role that learning plays within social movements and from a belief that adult education can learn much from examining the learning activities of the Women's Movement. Using a comparative approach, the similarities and differences between feminist consciousness raising and Freire's conscientization method were explored. The process of analysis involved studying Freire's written works available in English and the literature resources available through the University of British Columbia library on feminist consciousness raising. The comparison began with presentation of the historical, political, social, and economic factors which led to the development of consciousness raising and conscientization. This included an examination of the historical background of Brazil, of biographical information on Freire, and of the events which led to the development of Freire's conscientization method. In a similar way, this study explored the historical background of the Women's Movement, with particular emphasis on its re-emergence during the sixties and those factors which led to the creation of consciousness raising groups. The next step in the analysis was the comparison of consciousness raising and conscientization using the following categories: the themes or content within each process, the nature of the interaction, the presence and role of teachers or coordinators, the phases in each process, and the changes in consciousness expected as a result of each process. The study concluded with discussion of the differences between these two processes, which appear to be closely linked to the different contexts and factors, such as the different kinds of oppression being fought against, which led to the development of each learning activity. As the similarities were identified, it became evident that a number of important elements were common to both learning activities despite the very different contexts. These common elements were presented as principles of the consciousness raising method found within liberating social movements. Comparing these two learning activities indicated the liberating power of allowing people to tell their own story. Implications for practice focused on the need for a contextual sensitivity when working with or studying the learning activities of social movements. It was argued that awareness of the similarities (suggested principles) and differences between consciousness raising and conscientization could prevent application of either method as simply recipes for liberation. Many recommendations were made for further research which stressed the utility of comparative analysis for continuing examination of learning within social movements. Recommendations were made for examination of the relationship between the nature of learning activities and the kind of oppression, either gender-based or class-based. Further collaboration between the Women's Movement and adult education was suggested. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Hon., Trinity College Dublin, 1973 The problem addressed in the study is the low status afforded women’s knowledge in public institutions. Specifically, the purpose was to investigate the form and substance of knowledge acquired through motherhood, and mothers’ experiences of the reception of the knowledge in schools. The political aim was to promote mothers’ knowledge as deserving authoritative status. Post-modern feminist theory framed theses regarding a tension involving two areas of mothers’ knowledge -- named “authoritative knowledge” and “maternal knowledge” -- and informed the reflexive methodology employed. Participants were sixteen women teachers who were or had been mothers of schoolchildren. Each mother/teacher participated in two one and a half hour audiotaped interviews. Following the interviews, eleven of the mother/teachers met for audiotaped group discussions. The data indicated that mother/teachers take to schools a wealth of maternal knowledge acquired through both childraising and living a mother’s life. Participants claimed the knowledge is valuable to their work as teachers. They reported difficulty, however, with respect to both reception and proclamation of the knowledge in school decision-making forums. They attributed the difficulty to various causes. Participants’ talk contained key words such as “instinct” which can be diversely conceived and expressed. That the words may be readily interpreted in ways harmful to promotion of maternal knowledge was noted by the researcher through critical reflection upon her own thinking. The words, the multiplicity of concepts associated with them, and the importance of recognizing this impediment to promoting maternal knowledge, became the topic for group discussion. The findings imply that maternal knowledge could enhance the critical capabilities of frameworks which guide decision-making in educational administration; that maternal knowledge should be explained and promoted during administrator and teacher professional development; and that the notion of the tension within mother/teachers’ knowledge could be usefully applied in several areas of education research. A mismatch was revealed between many participants’ career standings and their experiences and knowledge of value to schools. This implies that when thinking about employment equity for school personnel we need to recognize that being equally qualified may not necessarily mean possessing the same qualifications. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

This study explores Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s use of the dramatic form to challenge Herbert Spencer’s social Darwinism by offering feminist adaptations of Darwin’s theories of natural and sexual selection. As she does in her career-defining manifesto, Women & Economics (1898), Gilman in her lesser-known plays deploys her own brand of reform Darwinism to serve the feminist cause. Despite her absence in histories of modern drama, Gilman actively participated in the establishment and development of this literary, historical, and cultural movement. After situating Gilman in the context of nineteenth-century naturalist theater, this thesis examines two short dramatic dialogues she published in 1890, “The Quarrel,” and “Dame Nature Interviewed,” as well as two full-length plays, Interrupted (1909) and the Balsam Fir (1910). These plays demonstrate Gilman’s efforts to use the dramatic form in her early plays to “rehearse” for Women & Economics, and in her later drama, to “stage” the theories she presents in that book.