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Through description and analysis of the balancing and intersection of gender in the collaborative artist couples of Marina Abramović and Ulay, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and Christo and Jeanne-Claude, I make evident the separation between their public lives and their private lives, an element that manifests itself in unique and contrasting ways for each couple. I study the link between gendered negotiations in these heterosexual artist couples and this division, and correlate this relationship to the evidence of problematic gender dynamics in the artworks and collaborations.

This paper will discuss the making of my thesis film, Past the Darkness. I will describe the entire process including story conception, film production, and post-production stages. I will also evaluate the merits, flaws, and outcome of this project.

Thesis ( M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2015. / The study aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the gender dynamics which promote or retard the full participation of women in decision-making and leadership positions in the Nkangala District Municipality (NDM), Mpumalanga. Local Government, through municipalities, is the most strategic sphere of government. This is so because municipalities are the institutions of government that are closest to the people. Municipalities, through the various services provided, present critical service delivery institutions for women to actively participate in and influence decisions. Therefore the study contends that these institutions of local government are gendered. Against this backdrop, an analysis of gender representation of women and men in decision-making and leadership positions in the NDM was conducted. The aim was to assess the state of gender equality in the NDM. Further, the study explored this gender representation in relation to how it translates to women’s authority and influence in decision-making and leadership. This qualitative research study triangulated data collection using questionnaires, interviews and observation. The study focused on both the administrative and political components of local government. In the administrative component; interviews were conducted with Municipal Managers (MMs), Executive Directors (EDs) and Managers. In the political component, interviews were conducted with Executive Mayors, Speakers, Chief Whips and Members of the Mayoral Committees (MMCs). These constitute the decision-making and leadership positions in municipalities as institutions of local government. The study revealed that amidst the national and international policy and legislative provisions on women’s empowerment and gender equality, women continue to be confronted with institutional gendered challenges. Amongst others, the study revealed that there are pervasive gender dynamics, stereotypes, attitudes and perceptions towards women in decision-making and leadership positions in these institutions. Also, that there are minimum institutional mechanisms and strategies that encourage and support women’s participation in decision-making and leadership positions. The provincial and national gender machineries’ roles and responsibilities with regard to municipalities’ monitoring, oversight and overall support is not as vibrant. Drawing from the findings, the study concludes with a proposal for a Women’s Leadership Empowerment Model WLEM). A comprehensive model that will comprise of professional capacity-building and training, on-the-job coaching and mentorship, regular peer assessment and review for a to continuously support women in and into decision-making and leadership positions.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / Women and their bodies are at the very centre of a prevailing cultural obsession regarding strict standards of body weight, shape and image. The pressure to achieve unattainable body-beautiful standards has given rise to women having a negative relationship with their bodies. This preoccupation with body image has resulted in an increasing sense of body dissatisfaction, chronic dieting and anxieties associated with self-worth and appearance. The primary aim of this thesis is to explore the relationship a group of female participants have with their bodies. The major thrusts of this study are: to explore on a deeper level how they make personal meaning of the concepts of body and body image within their own lives. To explore the way in which women understand their broader social context, as playing a role, in relation to their perceptions and attitudes of their bodies. In this respect, a closer examination of their awareness of the more complex gender issues, will be undertaken, by means of the emerging discourses within the research process. Whilst this study generally locates itself within a social constructionist understanding of body image, it actively draws from feminist theories. The literature review outlines empirical, feminist and social constructionist approaches to body image and explores the social constructionist approach more broadly. It utilises discourse analysis and therefore positions itself within a qualitative paradigm. Three one-and-a-half-hour focus groups were conducted with eight women who are psychology honours students. A discourse analysis was carried out on the transcriptions of the three focus groups. The findings revealed that the participants were aware of the way in which the wider cultural context impacted on their perceptions and attitudes regarding their bodies. They understood the way in which body image is socially constructed and specific to the current cultural context. They identified the current body ideal (norm), to be waif like and very slender. Despite this understanding of the body ideal as socially constructed, they continued on a personal level to evaluate themselves against the body ideal, giving rise to personal feelings of inadequacy and dissatisfaction.

Gender is one of the central organizing principles around which social and corporate innovation revolves. The multinational Ghanaian mining is dominated by men and masculinity cultures. To gain an adequate understanding of this phenomenon, it is prudent to explore its gendered nature. This thesis reflects consciously upon the pre-entry, organizational and sociocultural barriers affecting the effective participation of women in mine jobs. And beyond the barriers, it examines what changes have occurred, occasioning a shift in gender dynamics, leading to an increasing number of women participation in the industry? The current thesis adopts a case study method, deploying a mix of quantitative and qualitative approaches; administered questionnaires, conducted individual interviews, observations, archival documents, and focus group discussions with respondents in four mining companies and a mining and technology university in Ghana. The AMOS–based structural equation modeling approach was used to analyze the quantitative data, while thematic and discourse analysis was employed in analyzing the qualitative narratives of the respondents. Results of the thesis point to the social construction of gender in science, engineering and technology education as a pre-entry barrier. Also, a complex web of male-dominance, gender bias, role models and mentorship constraints, coupled with unfriendly family work policies were noted organizational barriers. In furtherance, common prejudices, perceptions and stereotyped notions of gender roles in the mines constituted noted sociocultural factors constraining effective participation of women in mine work. However beyond the pre-entry, organizational and sociocultural barriers, the current thesis intuits a phenomenon of a ‘women’s revolution’ in the mines, witnessing collective efforts from Women in Mining Ghana as well as the mine workers’ organizations and allied institutions adopting gender strategic measures, such as the ‘ore solidarity,’ gender mainstreaming in admission programmes as well as gender-driven mining initiatives aimed at re-engineering or striking a shift in gender dynamics in the mine jobs of Ghana. Consequently, the classic and continuous male-dominance in Ghanaian mines constitute a considerable concern for mine work organizational development, with practical implications for the mining industry, employment, and  labor relation practices as well as public policy in Ghana. Therefore, affirmative action is recommended for gender deconstruction and promotion of gender democracy. Indeed this move for inclusivity will engender poverty eradication work towards achieving organizational modernization, their global competitiveness and an assurance for gender-driven social innovative mining.

This thesis discusses how the gender dynamics and religious festivals of the Yoruba people in Isaga Orile were not affected by colonialism. The study draws on various accounts, particularly from the Church Missionary Society’s journals, to attest to colonialism's restructuring of male political hegemony. Focusing on two major festivals, Gelede and Oro, the study argues that men's inclusion in Gelede reinforces female supremacy, while the Oro society shows men's hegemony and restrains women from its activities. The study found that gender dominants in these festivals played complementary roles by mirroring female and male roles within the Isaga Orile political system. The study concludes that these festivals strengthened political and gender dynamics in pre-colonial times and continued to do so during the British colonial regime, providing opportunities for women and men to assert their dominance and complement each other's roles in society, despite the restructuring of male political hegemony by colonialism.

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La thèse intitulée "Mobility, Vagabondage, and the Claiming of Modern African American Diasporic Identity " ou en français " La Mobilité et le Vagabondage dans l'Affirmation de l'Identité Afro-Américaine et Diasporique Moderne " explore les concepts de Vagabond et de mobilité urbaine et sociale en lien avec la littérature et l'identité afro-américaines. Le concept de vagabondage, considéré comme un élément clé pour capturer la complexité de l'expérience noire au sein d'une époque d'urbanisation et de mobilité croissantes aux États-Unis, est appréhendé de manière plus profonde et adaptée aux deux protagonistes des romans sélectionnés. Ces personnages, issus des romans de Nella Larsen et James Weldon Johnson, offrent une base analytique idéale pour étudier les aspirations de l'identité afro-américaine et leur position dans la modernité, tout en s'inscrivant dans le cadre de l'inégalité sociale nourrie par diverses formes d'injustices. Cette recherche s'engage à analyser le rôle du vagabondage dans la quête de l'identité et de l'appartenance, tout en examinant comment les dynamiques de genre et la transgression sociale se manifestent entant que moyen d’affranchissement des normes établies. / “Vagabondage, and the Claiming of Modern African American Diasporic Identity” explores the concepts of the “vagabond” and “urban mobility” in James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man and Nella Larsen’s Quicksand. I rely on the concept of vagabondage in order to offer a refined representation of the complexity of blackness in an era of increased urbanization and mobility. Both characters depicted in the aforementioned novels serve as an ideal analytical foundation for investigating the diversity of African American identity in the modern era, particularly when read through the rubric of individual aspirations colliding with racism and social inequality. The research aims to analyze the role of vagabondage in the pursuit of identity and belonging. This will be achieved through my comparative study, which focuses on how social transgression is a form of liberation from sociocultural norms and how gender can both expand and limit this freedom.

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