This thesis uses an experimental approach to explore optimal gender assignment theory, an approach to gender assignment housed in Optimality Theory (Prince & Smolensky 1993/2004). Optimal gender assignment theory was proposed by Curt Rice (2006) and stipulates that grammatical gender is assigned based on a set of crucially non-ranked gender features constraints and markedness constraints. Thirty-seven participants who were bilingual in English and German received 40 sentences containing English loanwords with the definite article removed and asked to provide the appropriate gender marker and a lexical equivalency. The study found that the constraints employed and developed for optimal gender assignment theory are not applicable to English loanwords in German.

Why, despite evidence to the contrary, does the narrative of the negative consequences of teenage pregnancy, abortion and childbearing persist? This book outlines a critical view of "teenage pregnancy" and abortion, arguing that the negativity surrounding early reproduction is underpinned by a particular understanding of adolescence. The book traces the invention of "adolescence" and the imaginary wall that the notion of "adolescence" constructs between young people and adults. It examines the entrenched status of "adolescence" within a colonialist discourse that equates development of the individual with the development of civilisation, and the consequent threat of degeneration that is implied in the very notion of "adolescence". Many important issues are explored, such as the ideologies and contradictions contained within the notion of "adolescence"; the invention of teenage pregnancy as a social problem; the construction of abortion as the new social problem; issues of race, culture and tradition in relation to teenage pregnancy; and health service provider practices, specifically in relation to managing risk. In the final chapter, an argument is made for a shift from the signifier "teenage pregnancy" to "unwanted pregnancy". Using data gathered from studies from four continents, this book highlights central issues in the global debate concerning teenage pregnancy. It is suitable for academics, postgraduate and undergraduate students of health psychology, women’s studies, nursing and sociology, as well as practitioners in the fields of youth and social work, medicine and counselling.

abstract: The occupation of policing has long been associated with masculinity. Resistance to the integration of women into the law enforcement profession stemmed from widely held beliefs that women were incapable of performing the police function. Although much has changed in policing, female officers are bombarded with masculine symbols depicting mostly the agentic characteristics associated with the law enforcement profession. Or, they are offered socially and culturally constructed definitions of who they are supposed to be as women as well as what is lacking in them as officers. This study explores the disparity between how female police officers are viewed, what they experience, and how they are represented. The perspective of the female officer was captured, and presented through visual images obtained by participants. Descriptive coding and thematic analysis converted photographs and written narratives into participant generated themes and stories. Female officers in this study resisted stereotypic portraits of women in policing and sought expanded boundaries of inclusion within their profession. Participants produced some understanding of how women construct their personal and professional identities relative to gender, as well as the larger roles of women in society. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2015

abstract: The goal of this study was to explore the multidimensionality of gender typicality and its relation to preadolescents’ psychological adjustment. With a sample of 378 6th grade students (52% male; M age = 11.44, SD = .56; 48% White), I examined how four specific dimensions of gender typicality (behavior, appearance, activities, and peer preference) predict children’s global sense of typicality; whether children’s global sense of gender typicality, behavior, appearance, activities, and peer preference are differentially predictive of self-esteem, social preference, and relationship efficacy; and whether examining typicality of the other gender is important to add to own-gender typicality. Regression analyses indicated that all four specific typicality dimensions contributed to preadolescents’ overall sense of own- and other-gender typicality (except appearance for own-gender typicality). Generally, all domains of gender typicality were related to the four adjustment outcomes. Own-gender typicality related more strongly to self-esteem, social preference, and own-gender relationship efficacy than did other-gender typicality; other-gender typicality was more strongly related to other-gender relationship efficacy. Relations between typicality and adjustment were stronger for gender-based relationship efficacy than for self-esteem or social preference. Although some differences existed, relations between typicality and adjustment were generally similar across typicality domains. Results implicate the need to measure other-gender typicality in addition to own-gender typicality. Additional contributions and suggestions for future research are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Family and Human Development 2015

The ways in which gender violence in schools (GVS) relate to teaching and learning processes and the extent to which aspects of gender safety in school (GSS) create an empowering, protective learning environment form this study’s central topics of investigation. Using a multiple qualitative case study of two primary schools in Kirinyaga County, Kenya, this dissertation explores the elements of gender safety and gender violence that exist within each school and relate to student learning. The following qualitative methods were used over seven months in 2015: participant observation, individual teacher interviews, individual art-based student interviews and member-check interviews with teachers and students. GSS is promoted within the national policy framework and through teacher and student actions but is prevented from flourishing by a prioritization of discipline, authority, and examinations that reinforce traditional hierarchies, power discrepancies and competition. These practices define a school culture that enables GVS to continue and undermine efforts to promote GSS. Findings show that efforts to eradicate GVS cannot be designed in isolation from broader teaching and learning processes. Ensuring school safety and equality requires collaboration between education and child protection systems and reflection on current and historical power structures that shape school cultures. Efforts to eradicate GVS should build on existing opportunities for enhancing GSS and thus learning for girls and boys and address the systemic constraints that limit teachers’ ability to promote protection and equality for their students.

Class is one of the most frequently invoked analytic categories used in the study of British history. Yet, as recognized by scholar Eileen Boris, "class as a category of analysis is pervasive, but taken for granted instead of problematized in the field as a whole." This is perhaps especially true in the way that class intersects with questions of gender. Works such as Leonore Davidoff and Catherine Hall's, Family Fortunes: Men and Women of the English Middle Class 1780-1850 and Anna Clark's The Struggle for the Breeches: Gender and the Making of the British Working Class have illustrated how English women experienced class differently from their male counterparts in both the Middle and Working classes within this period. However, there is no equivalent body of study which seeks to explore the disparity in privilege and agency amongst upper-class women. While elite men were ensured certain standards of agency and privilege, defended by legal systems and patriarchal societal expectations; women within the upper-classes enjoyed no such guarantees or protections. The 'Learned Lady' paradigm is a strategy designed to better recognize the way one kind of upper-class woman subverted gendered norms of behavior to exercise agency and privilege, without sacrificing her social respectability. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester 2018. / April 18, 2018. / Agency, Class, Economic Independence, England, Gender, History / Includes bibliographical references. / Charles Upchurch, Professor Directing Thesis; George Williamson, Committee Member; Suzanne Sinke, Committee Member.

Recent literature on comparative institutional analysis has found that the set of institutions consistent with the concept of economic freedom correlates with higher levels of per capita income (Gwartney, Holcombe, and Lawson 2004), more rapid economic growth (Dawson 2003, 2006; Gwartney, Holcombe, and Lawson 2004, 2006; de Haan, Lundström, and Sturm 2006), more entrepreneurial activity and investment (Gwartney, Holcombe, and Lawson 2006; Dawson 2006; Bjørnskov and Foss 2008), less unemployment (Feldmann 2007, and 2010), a healthier populace (Becker, Philipson, and Soares 2005) and happier individuals (Bjørnskov, Dreher, and Fischer 2010; Gropper, Lawson, and Thorne 2011). Some researchers have examined the impact of economic freedom on income inequality (Berggren 1999; Scully 2002) as well as quality of life adjusted inequality (Becker, Philipson, and Soares 2005). However, there has been little research investigating the impact of economic freedom on women's lives and status. This dissertation is a broad examination of the impact economic freedom has on the lives of women across the world. Chapter one reviews the existing literature on inequality, institutions, gender and economic development. It also discusses the major data sources used throughout this study. Chapter two focuses on the measurement of gender disparity in formal and informal economic institutions and incorporates these new measures into the existing indexes of economic freedom. In chapter three, a model explaining the determinants of gender discrimination is developed, which is related to Becker's (1957/1971) economic model of discrimination. The measure of gender-disparity in informal institutions developed in chapter two is used to empirically test this model. Chapter four empirically tests the impact of economic freedom on a key set of development outcomes for women: educational outcomes. The final chapter summarizes the major findings of this study, and discusses their implications for public policy and future lines of economic research / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Economics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2015. / July 14, 2015. / Economic Development, Economic Freedom, Education, Institutions, Social norms, Women / Includes bibliographical references. / Randall G. Holcombe, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; James D. Gwartney, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Richard C. Feiock, University Representative; Bruce L. Benson, Committee Member; Anastasia Semykina, Committee Member.

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The Rocky Horror Show is the predecessor of the more widely known The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the former being a musical that debuted in 1973 and the latter being a film that debuted in 1975. Audience participation has become synonymous with the title, and when one attends either, he must expect to hear the audience shouting at the actors, as well as be prepared to dodge squirt guns and toilet paper. Unique and eccentric, Rocky Horror has been drawing small but steady audiences for over thirty years because of the freedom it gives to people who "give themselves over to absolute pleasure" and embrace Frank N. Furter's motto of "don't dream it – be it." This thesis focuses on the production of the musical and how to manage potential audience concerns over the content in the play. I argue that the audience participation activities as well as certain staging techniques work as distracters from the events taking place in the actual play, alleviating potential anxiety caused by the issues of gender and sexuality in the text. The first chapter examines the challenges that a production of The Rocky Horror Show might face, focusing mainly on the issues of gender and sexuality found in the text. The second chapter looks at how transgressive the show can be. Specifically, it examines how the evolution of the cult audience created the audience participation factors that are now synonymous with the film. I also suggest how these extra-textual elements add to contemporary stage productions of the show and analyze how various audiences reacted to the stage show. The third chapter is a case study of Florida State University's 2008 production of The Rocky Horror Show with the specific goal of assessing how the challenges outlined in the first chapter affected FSU audiences. The chapter begins by addressing the production team's strategies and compromises for success. I then examine interviews that I conducted with attendees of various performances of the production, both first-timers and veterans of Rocky Horror, as well as my own audience observations. Overall, it is my hope that this thesis will serve as a resource to aid future production teams desiring to create a successful production of The Rocky Horror Show. / A Thesis submitted to the School of Theatre in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. / Spring Semester, 2011. / March 16, 2011. / Audience Reception, Audience Participation, Cult Audience, Sexuality, Gender, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Rocky Horror Show, Theatre, Theatre Production / Includes bibliographical references. / Mary Karen Dahl, Professor Directing Thesis; Carrier Sandahl, Professor Directing Thesis; Elizabeth Osborne, Committee Member; Tom Ossowski, Committee Member.