The purpose of this study was to determine the theories of recruitment and compensations utilized by the Young Men's Christian Association to compare the reasons given by a selected group of volunteer leaders in the Young Men's Christian Association for their volunteer work with the opinions given by a selected group of Young Men's Christian Association program secretaries.

No description available.

The primary purpose of this research is to examine the effectiveness of male infertility treatment methods. The secondary purpose is to analyze the psychological consequences of failed male infertility treatments. A literature review will be performed regarding male infertility and the relationship to factors that decrease spermatic production, testicular disease, and testicular dysfunction. The focus will relate to decreasing fertility in men and treatments aimed at the improvement of sperm production and maintenance. Preliminary results show artificial reproductive techniques yield higher rates of success compared to alternative methods such as lifestyle changes in the preservation of spermatic function in men. Furthermore, the results are expected to show an increase in anxiety and depression following failed male infertility treatment methods. The increase in global male infertility rates is concerning and can lead to decreasing population stagnation and decreased birth rates. The research can be of value through synthesis of treatment methods to combat male infertility.

No description available.

No description available.

The paintings that comprise Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain: Hindsight in 2020 are the output of my research and artistic practice at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. These paintings make visible the complex experiences and misperceptions of men in contemporary society. My intent was to create paintings that bring light to some of the darker aspects of manhood and rework phobias about manhood and male homosexuality through self-deprecation. This reworking is accomplished through the integration of disparate ideas and images, including perception, location, and exteriority, into compositions wherein representation and portraiture (specifically self- portraiture) make visible particular psychological states and hidden impulses attributed to men: the torment of failure, or the desire for power and sex. Autobiography and confessions can become the best mirrors for deeper forms of self-discovery. One can be both aggressive and protected while remaining effective and hidden. The work, charming or terrifying as it may be, questions the democracies of viewership, privacy, censorship and interpersonal relationships that can exist within a multicultural society. These paintings represent my own understanding of manhood, identity and sexual orientation; the ways one shields oneself from others, develops modes of self-preservation and transcends life's inherent suffering.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the fit of men's dress shirt collars among men 18 years and older and sized small to large. Fit was evaluated by the subject's response to a comfort scale based on physical comfort. Static fit (ease) was determined by subtracting the neck measurement from the collar measurement. Dynamic fit was determined by subtracting the ease for movement from the ease in the collar. Men from Virginia Tech and the vicinity of Blacksburg, Virginia were asked to participate. One hundred men volunteered for this study. The data analysis was conducted on 90 of the 100 surveys. Some surveys were eliminated due to incomplete information. Pearson Correlation Coefficient was used to determine if there was a positive correlation between ease and comfort. The data were analyzed with Analysis of Variance to determine if there were significant differences between age groups for perceived comfort or for ease. Analysis of Variance was used to determine if there were significant differences between size groups for perceived comfort, for ease for movement or for ease. Analysis of variance was also used to determine whether there were significant differences between age groups and size groups for comfort or for ease. The results of the study showed that 2.2% of the subjects did not have ease in static fit and 4.4% of the subjects did not have ease for movement in dynamic fit. There was a significant positive correlation between ease and comfort. There were significant differences between age groups for perceived comfort but not for ease; there were significant differences between size groups for ease but not for ease for movement or perceived comfort; and there were no significant differences between age groups and size groups for perceived comfort or for ease. Although the median value for ease for movement was 1/4 of an inch, 16 of the 90 men (17.8% ) had greater than 1 14 of an inch ease for movement. The results of the present study and Langan's study (1984) indicated that the tie may be the major contributor to neckwear tightness. / Master of Science

<p> </p><p>The aim of this thesis is to examine men's attitudes towards literature, and how social norms affect their book reading, in order to contribute to the knowledge of why men's book reading is decreasing. This is realized through a discourse analysis of literature recommendations in men's lifestyle magazines.</p><p><em>Two magazines, </em><em><em>King of Sweden</em></em><em> and </em><em><em>Magazine Café</em></em><em>, </em><em>are examined </em><em>through critical discourse analysis. Theories of discourse are combined with theories of gender to explore how gender stereotypes affect men's reading habits.</em></p><p><em>The analysis shows that ideals of masculinity have a great influence on the book recommendations. Social norms, associated with gender, also seem to have significance to whether or not a book is considered suitable for men to read. These are, inter alia, norms of heterosexuality and violence. In addition to that, a homosocial structure is found in the magazines, regarding the authors of the recommended books. The majority of the authors are men, and women are rarely mentioned at all in the book recommendations. </em><em>Also, non-fiction books are much more frequent than fiction in the recommendations.</em><em> </em></p><p><em>Not much prior research has been done in the field. The research, that however has been done, correspond with the results of the analysis in this thesis. Therefore the conclusion is drawn that the results of the analysis show structures of social norms that are valid even outside the examined material. Knowledge of men's reading habits is concluded to be very important, in order to increase men's book reading.</em></p><p><em>This is a two years master's thesis in library and information science.</em></p>

The aim of this thesis is to examine men's attitudes towards literature, and how social norms affect their book reading, in order to contribute to the knowledge of why men's book reading is decreasing. This is realized through a discourse analysis of literature recommendations in men's lifestyle magazines. Two magazines, King of Sweden and Magazine Café, are examined through critical discourse analysis. Theories of discourse are combined with theories of gender to explore how gender stereotypes affect men's reading habits. The analysis shows that ideals of masculinity have a great influence on the book recommendations. Social norms, associated with gender, also seem to have significance to whether or not a book is considered suitable for men to read. These are, inter alia, norms of heterosexuality and violence. In addition to that, a homosocial structure is found in the magazines, regarding the authors of the recommended books. The majority of the authors are men, and women are rarely mentioned at all in the book recommendations. Also, non-fiction books are much more frequent than fiction in the recommendations. Not much prior research has been done in the field. The research, that however has been done, correspond with the results of the analysis in this thesis. Therefore the conclusion is drawn that the results of the analysis show structures of social norms that are valid even outside the examined material. Knowledge of men's reading habits is concluded to be very important, in order to increase men's book reading. This is a two years master's thesis in library and information science.

This study investigates the popular pleasures produced by readers of men's magazines, focusing primarily on the publication, Men's Health, which represents a new type of magazine catering for men. Using qualitative research methods such as textual analysis and reception analysis, the study explores the pleasures produced by both men and women from the consumption of such texts. The theoretical perspective of cultural studies informs this project, an approach that focuses on the generation and circulation of meanings in society. Focusing on the notion of the active audience and Hall's encoding/decoding model, this study examines readers' interpretations of the Men's Health text, focusing on the moment of consumption in the circuit of culture. Reception theory proposes the existence of "clustered readings" produced by interpretive communities that are socially rather than individually constructed. As a critical ethnography, the study interrogates these meanings with particular reference to questions of gender relations and power in society. Access to different discourses is structured by the social position of readers within relations of power and this study takes gender as a structuring principle. Therefore, this study also explores the particular discursive practices through which masculine and feminine imagery is produced by the Men's Health text and by its readers. The research findings support the more limited notion of the active audience espoused by theorists such as Hall (1980) offering further evidence to suggest that readers produce readings other than those preferred by the text and that therein lies the pleasure of the text for male and female readers. The research concludes that the popularity of Men's Health derives from the capacity of its readers to make multiple meanings of the text.