Recent secularization debates have helped to interpret the changing influence of religion over time and over social life. I argue that Chaves' (1994) conception of secularization, that secularization occurs as a decline in religious authority, is an effective theoretical tool for describing religious change over time. Using GSS data and the example of gender ideology, I attempt to illustrate this concept and argue that this view of secularization, combined with a multidimensional approach to gender, is necessary to more fully explain the changing relationship among religion and gender over time.

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The enclosure of common resources in Kenya's rangelands became more pronounced after Kenya's independence because of adverse land reform policies, which proved ineffective in addressing the prior injustices of the forceful dispossession of Maasai pastoralists by the British colonial authority. The ongoing enclosure of common resources by both state and private capital for economic gain has left the herder community exposed to the adverse effects of climate change. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the adaptive capacity of Maasai to the intersecting stresses of climate change and resource enclosure. It examines the implications of common-resource enclosures for the Maasai livestock economy and the coping mechanisms they have undertaken to build adaptive capacity to changing climate conditions. The analysis employs an ethnographic approach using interviews and participant observation to collect data from field research in Ildamat-Oloyiankalani, Kajiado County, Kenya. The study is embedded in the daily herding and resource foraging practices of Maasai that took place during the prolonged drought period of 2017 and 2018 and in their ongoing experience of the intersecting stresses of climate change and common-resource enclosures. The study unveiled three major insights. First, that a tightening grip over common resources by private property growth has undermined the consensus-based democratic governance of resources, disrupted herders' access rights and exposed them to climate risks. Second, that pastoralists developed collective grazing arrangements and acquired exclusive grazing rights as mechanisms to improve herd mobility and resource access to cope with the intersecting stresses of climate change and the enclosure of grazing commons. Lastly, the study found that the implications of growing resource pressure and climate risk have driven pastoralists to actively assemble to disrupt further enclosure of their commons and to protect their rights. These insights confirm the importance of pastoralists' access rights to rangeland resources. In conclusion, the thesis broadly argues that facilitating extractive capitalism by disrupting pastoralists' access rights through common-resource enclosures adversely affects their ability to cope with the intersecting stresses of climate and environmental change. Therefore, it is critical that resource governing policies facilitate the democratisation of grazing and water resources to protect the commons from further enclosure and to ensure equitable access. This would restore the commons approach and protect the remaining herders' access rights, lowering their vulnerability to the intersecting stresses of climate and environmental change.

Throughout history, men have responded to feminist progress with political backlash. Pre-internet men's groups used biological constructions of gender as a method of reinforcing patriarchal power by restricting the rights of women. Today, the same methods are used in a loose collection of men's rights groups online called 'the manosphere'. Within the manosphere, men who identify as involuntarily celibate (incels) blame women for their perceived loss of masculine power. Some incels have taken their anti-feminist backlash offline through acts of mass violence, suggesting an emergent need for social science research into the incel identity. This paper outlines the theoretical orientation of hegemonic masculinity then applies it to past men's movements and their extensions found online today. Data for this study was found on the public online forum, Incels.co, the forum's wiki page, and in news articles related to incels. A qualitative thematic analysis was conducted on 50 forum posts. Themes that emerged from forum data were compared to wiki entries and news articles to provide a comprehensive understanding of incels' identity development. Findings include narratives that describe incels' experiences of devalued masculinity on the heterosexual marketplace through lookism, or perceived discrimination by physical appearance. A subcategory of lookism emerged in observed performances of masculine entitlement over women and their bodies. This study's findings suggest that incels frame their perceived devalued masculinity as a justification for their political position of anti-feminism. A sub-category of anti-feminism emerged in incels' sense of lost hope for life, with narratives that describe experiences of depression, suicidal ideation, and fantasies about mass violence. Findings also suggest that incels reify their own power using narratives about marginalized masculinities that subordinate men and women.

Women face sexual harassment and sexual assault far too often with one in every six women sexually assaulted during their life (Tjaden & Thoennes, 1998). In the anime and comic community, women face sexual assault and harassment, often in open public spaces, due to these spaces being labeled as men's (Cote, 2015; Fox & Potocki 2015; Rodriguez 2015; Schott & Horrell 2000). Policies such as Cosplay is not Consent (Facebook, 2018) are not upheld or enforced by anime and comic conventions. Policies that are enforced, have clear and concise wording, and are enforced by staff and volunteers, who have been educated or trained to deal with sexual assault and harassment, may likely promote safer sexual assault and sexual harassment free anime and comic conventions. A total of 27 participants (20 women, 6 men, and 1 non-binary) were recruited via a snowball technique through Facebook social media groups. Participants were interviewed in-depth either face-to-face or through written interviews. The results showed that: (1) cosplay is a form of embodiment it does not negate the person's identity or bodily autonomy while wearing the cosplay; (2) women are generally the targets of sexual assault and harassment; (3) policies are often not enforced or enforced well due to lack of clear policies or consequences; (4) staff and volunteers are not educated, trained or equipped to deal with sexual assault and harassment; and 5) anime and comic convention organizers need to be responsible for helping to create safer environments for their attendees, staff, and volunteers.

This text examines the health-related experiences of transgender and gender nonconforming persons assigned female at birth within the criminal justice system. It moves through a transgender-centric approach to explore the ways gender nonconformity relates to experiences of violence and healthcare disparities for those interacting with law enforcement and incarcerated in women's prisons. The study utilized statistical analyses of nationally representative data in the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey carried out by the National Center for Transgender Equality. Multivariate analyses suggested significant connections between race and education and experiences of harassment and assault within the criminal justice context. There were largely mixed results regarding the direct connections between gender conformity and transition status and experiences of violence. These findings provide initial exploratory quantitative data for the realities of transmasculine and nonbinary persons assigned female at birth within the criminal justice system and provide starting points for future research.

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University

Status Characteristics Theory and Contact Theory are tested to measure gender bias in engineering students, and to determine if contact with female engineers helps reduce gender bias. To assess this, two versions of a resume, one with a female's name and one with a male's name, were given to senior mechanical engineering students (n=225) to establish if they would rate the male applicant better than the female applicant. Respondents were asked how qualified they thought the respondent was, how much they would want the respondent on their team, and whether or not they would hire the applicant. Respondents were also questioned about contact with female engineering faculty, having female engineers in the family, and having female engineering co-workers. Results showed that all of the effects that were expected to occur were not significant, except one. The interaction between having a female engineer in the family and the applicant sex of the resume significantly impacted males' desire to have the applicant on their senior design team. Therefore, overall there is very little support for Status Characteristics Theory and Contact Theory. Only one result supports both Status Characteristics Theory and Contact Theory — having a female engineer in the family seems to reduce gender bias toward team members among males. / Master of Science

The purpose of the essay has been to implement a comparative study about how maternal ideals are represented in the magazines Husmodern 1936 and Mama 2022, as well as how they have changed over time. The essay is based on Yvonne Hirdmans theory of genussystemet. Over time mothers' place has changed, from being housewives in the 1930`s to working mothers´ 2022, and therefore the maternal ideals. The essay used a thematic analysis based on Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarkes model on thematic analysis, with influence from Stuart Hall's theory on representation. Three themes emerged during the analysis. The first theme was beauty as a tool for ideal motherhood, which meant that mothers were expected to care about their appearance, because it reflected their motherhood. This appeared in both magazines as advertisement and articles. The second theme was ideal motherhood based on the mother's performance, which means that it is the mothers´ achievements that defines her ability as a mother, either through setting the table, taking care of the home or existing as a mother in general. The third theme was ideal motherhood through the children, which meant that the children's appearance and behavior reflected the mothers' motherhood. Besides resemblance in the maternal ideal through the magazines, it has occurred a renegotiation of the genussystemet. In Husmodern the mother´s place was in the home and her feelings and experiences were absent. This is a contrast to Mama where the mother´s feelings and experiences are emphasized to a large extent. An interesting resemblance between the two magazines was that both wanted to support mothers´ in their everyday life, however from different perspectives. For future research it would be interesting to study the ideals for fathers and how they are different from maternal ideals. Because the fathers ideals are absent in both magazines. 1

Incels thoughts about feminism – A qualitative analysis of an online forum for incels The field of research on incels and their ideology is constantly expanding. While incels online may be a modern phenomenon, it is actively studied by today's researchers. Previous research has primarily focused on incels with links to terrorism, misogyny, and their online activity. Through a thematic analysis, posts created by incels on the website incels.is are studied. The purpose of the study is to examine the thoughts and opinions expressed by forum users regarding feminism and feminists. It also aims to investigate how they justify their criticism of the feminist worldview. The study employs two research questions that guide the research process: How is feminism and feminists described on the online incels forum? and what arguments are used to criticize a feminist worldview? The results of the study indicate that forum users believe feminism and feminists have an end goal of attaining ultimate power in society and, through this, excluding men. The results revealed various ideas about the methods used by feminism to achieve this goal. It is through these ideas that incels justify a negative view of feminism.