La question initiale qui dirige et oriente notre demarche analytique pose les premisses d'une evaluation de la situation du travail informel des femmes en centramerique. En tentant de comprendre les liens qui unissent les Programmes d'ajustement structurel au travail des femmes, nous cherchons a exprimer et a mettre en evidence les dynamiques du travail feminin. En adoptant un cadre theorique feministe, soit l'approche "Genre et developpement", nous illustrons la complexite du travail des femmes et combien ce dernier, par la force de mesures economiques externes, s'est transforme au fil des ans pour s'apparenter aujourd'hui 'a un travail davantage informalise que formalise. C'est en ces termes que nous proposons une hypothese de recherche, laquelle nous amenera a examiner les diverses formes de travail informel feminin et le role du travail informel dans le processus de developpement. Par le biais d'indicateurs de nature quantitative, nous examinons l'importance de l'informalite economique des actrices et acteurs sociaux et dressons un portrait des femmes qui forment la main d'oeuvre informelle des centres urbains. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The study of stress related to real-life potential future events is sparse. Evidence suggests that future events can be meaningfully appraised and generate consequential levels of psychological stress as they are anticipated. The goals of this study were to investigate changes in stress and appraisals over time in a prospective way and to test a novel formulation of anticipation, within the context of a true stressor. Participants were women undergoing routine breast cancer screening as part of a provincially funded program. From the original sample (n = 606), women were divided into normal (negative, n = 541) and abnormal (false-positive, n = 65) groups and completed measures of stress and cognitive appraisals at four critical time points: (1) prior to the screening, (2) one day after the screening, (3) 20 days after screening and (4) at a three-months post-screen follow-up. A comparison group (n = 119) of women not currently undergoing screening was also included in the study. Anovas revealed a significant decrease in stress for negatives and false-positives reported more stress than negatives at Time 2. As for appraisals, manovas showed that for negatives perceived impact and perceived uncertainty decreased while perceived mastery increased throughout the process. For false-positives, there was an increase in perceived impact from Time 1 to Time 2, then a decrease from Time 3 to Time 4. False-positives reported more perceived impact and perceived uncertainty than negatives at Time 2 and Time 3. In terms of anticipation, we showed that women seemed to appraise the potential event more negatively at the outset and then experienced a decrease in stress. Additional analyses also revealed that the Clinical Breast Exam results can have a profound impact on women's experience of screening. The research and clinical implications of these findings, as well as the strengths and limitations of the present study are reviewed in the discussion.

People who do not succumb to adversity but excel and achieve are said to be resilient. Individuals can become competent and successful despite having experienced adversity. Resilient protective characteristics may be classified into the following categories: internal psychological characteristics, environmental factors and social cultural factors. The internal protective resilient characteristics of populations who have overcome adversity are numerous. However, research on the internal protective resilient characteristics of the population of gifted females is limited. Moreover, there is a lack of literature focusing on one population, gifted females, and what internal resilient protective factors they utilize to build successful lives. This study attempts to provide insight regarding the questions: (1) What behavioral and psychological internal resilient protective factors do gifted women use to overcome challenges; and (2) Do they use the same internal resilient protective factors that other populations use? This study explores the internal resilient characteristics of women currently enrolled in graduate school who have received an academic scholarship. A content-analysis of the emerging resilient characteristics and a content-analysis of the occurrence or nonoccurrence of 18 specific resilient characteristics is conducted. Recommendations are made to guide educators in nurturing resilient characteristics in gifted female students.

abstract: Do adult women survivors of childhood sexual abuse see their past victimization as having any relation to or impact on their current political engagement? While it is important to know how having experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA) impacts women survivors’ adult personal relationships, health, and wellbeing, more research must be done on how these abuse experiences affect women survivors’ political engagement. Nearly 25,900,000 women voters in the United States have likely experienced childhood sexual abuse (National Sexual Violence Resource Center 2011), therefore it is imperative and participation. This interpretive autoethnographic and ethnographic study examines the narratives of six women CSA survivors currently attending a counselling support group, and employs feminist methodology to conceptualize the women’s beliefs and feelings on the impact of CSA on their political participation. The findings of this study, however, do not seek to be generalizable to all women survivors of CSA, but instead reveal how six adult women survivors of CSA cope with and interpret their victimization as having an impact on their adult political engagement and participation. Utilizing interpretive concepts of power, citizenship, and civil society, this study finds that adult women survivors of CSA may be more politically active if they have a safe space to disclose their abuse experiences to fellow survivors of CSA. This study suggests that a civil society community of adult CSA survivors might be beneficial for survivors and may encourage survivors to see political engagement as a viable avenue for healing from the trauma of CSA. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Social Justice and Human Rights 2020

The purpose of this study was to examine relations between body image, eating disordered behaviors and ethnic identity. One-hundred eighteen college women, 48 Black participants and 70 White participants were sampled from two southeastern universities, one predominately Black and the other predominantly White. The college women were given measures of eating disordered behaviors and attitudes, ethnic identity and body image. Multivariate analyses revealed significant interactions between race, age, and socioeconomic status. No relations were found between ethnic identity and eating disordered behavior. Significant relationships were found between the body discrepancy scores and scores on two subscales of the eating disordered behavior measure. These results correspond to previous literature that suggests Black college women are at lesser risk for developing eating disorders than their White counterparts. / A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Family and Child Sciences in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2005. / May 12, 2005. / Ethnic Identity, Eating Disorders, College Women / Includes bibliographical references. / Ronald L. Mullis, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gary Peterson, Outside Committee Member; Doris A. Abood, Committee Member; Mary W. Hicks, Committee Member; Ann K. Mullis, Committee Member.

The main objective of the thesis is to investigate the complex and, sometimes, contradictory relationship between women's activism, feminism and the deployment of feminine identities. I did so by examining the actions, strategies, and discourses of an innovative rural women's movement that emerged in Argentina in the mid nineties: the Movimiento de Mujeres Agropecuarias en Lucha (MML). This thesis looks at the changes and transformations that participation in the MML caused in MML women's lives. First, I seek to understand how, and to what extent, the participation in the movement politicized MML women's everyday lives. Secondly, I examine the effects of women's participation in the MML on the socially constructed representations of "feminine roles" and on the social relations of gender in rural Argentina. Lastly, I focus on how it would be appropriate to position the MML, a women's movement, vis-a-vis feminism. By analyzing secondary data and ten in-depth interviews with leaders of the MML, I conclude that their participation in the MML has politicized MML women's everyday lives; it has challenged and, to some extent, changed their socially constructed representations of feminine roles (as being solely those of mothers or wives) and social relations of gender (that exclude women from public policy making). While MML leaders rejected any connection with feminism, they highlighted that, by participating in the MML women understood many issues related to gender, and said that the MML is fully integrated with the Argentinian women's movement. In light of these findings I suggest that in order to be able to capture the ambiguities of the relationship between women's movements of this type, and feminism, we need to adopt an approach that recognizes the dynamic nature of this relationship.

Endometriosis places a significant social and economic burden on patients, their families and society, affecting nearly 10% of women worldwide. There remains a lack of disease awareness partly because of the stigma behind women’s menstrual pain and largely on the lack of knowledge of the disease and pathogenesis. The current treatment includes oral contraceptive pills and laparoscopic surgery which although extensively studied, lacks the research trials to represent adverse events and prevalence of post-surgical pain as well as time to recurrence of pain symptoms post-surgery. The search for the most effective long-term treatment for endometriosis continues to be a topic of promising research. There remains limited research on the true cause and the best treatment available for endometriosis long-term to keep women symptom free. New avenues of research show encouraging therapy options including OCP use after Laparoscopic surgery to prevent recurrence of dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, and chronic pelvic pain symptoms. However, the current handful of trials and research studies have limited success, proving there is an inadequate understanding of the most effective long-term therapy to ensure the best quality of life and reduction of pain recurrence. The proposed study is a randomized, double-blinded, longitudinal controlled trial with the goal to assess the long-term use of cyclic vs. continuous oral contraceptive pills after Laparoscopic surgery for treatment of endometriosis and reduction of recurrence of symptoms. The intervention will randomly assign post-laparoscopic surgery stage 3-4 endometriosis patients into 3 treatment arms composed of a continuous or cyclic birth control pill vs. a placebo pill. Follow-up will be by means of an email survey consisting of a VAS score to grade pain symptoms every 3 months for a total of 36 months. Time to recurrence of symptoms if present and overall pain symptoms including dyspareunia, dysmenorrhea, and chronic pelvic pain will be assessed and analyzed over the 36 months with the help of a trained research assistant. If successful, this study would lead to the establishment of a new standard of care for patients with endometriosis helping to keep them symptom free long-term, as well as lessen their dependence on the healthcare system overtime reducing the associated economic burden.

Menstrual health is an important aspect of women’s reproductive health that is often misunderstood and undervalued in certain rural communities. This thesis project evaluates the key determinants in various communities that have negatively affected menstrual hygiene management in adolescent girls. A thorough review of existing menstrual health interventions is completed to research reproductive outcomes. Unfortunately, sufficient research is often scarce due to the taboo nature of menstruation in rural communities and certain cultures. Thus, a project design consisting of an educational intervention is proposed in hopes of improving the understanding and attitudes toward menstrual hygiene management in adolescent girls living in rural communities where menstruation is not openly discussed. Menstrual hygiene is an important aspect that should continue to be discussed and researched thoroughly as it is a vital part of global health.

Women of all backgrounds have contributed to the environmental history of the United States, but most of the environmental historical scholarship places such women alongside men and by doing so clouds their involvement as well as their achievements. This discussion introduces readers to pieces of environmental history that engage gender as a framework, while also acknowledging that there is not an individual women’s environmental experience by covering specific yet contrasting geographical spaces. The American West and the New York Adirondacks offer diverse perspectives and experiences of pioneering women who interacted with the environment, including Diné women, park rangers, Adirondack guides and residents, nature lovers, conservationists, and more. This research unearths the stories and experiences of these women, creating a more balanced and fuller image of the ways in which humans interacted with nature, while shining a light on the undervalued narratives of the frequently uplifting and consistently complex history of American women in relation to the environment.

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) can assume various forms of abusive behavior. All individuals regardless of socioeconomic backgrounds can experience partner-related abuse; however, women are disproportionately affected. The negative health outcomes associated with IPV are multi-influential and extend far beyond physical manifestations. Consequently, partner inflicted brain injuries (BIs) and the harmful outcomes are often overlooked and understudied. OBJECTIVE: To gain a greater understanding about brain-injury related experiences of women who experienced physical IPV METHODS: A qualitative interview was conducted with women participants who had previously participated in a research study conducted within the Valera Lab at Massachusetts General Hospital. RESULTS: As the studies are in the early stages, we await the results. CONCLUSIONS: A comprehensive approach and collective effort is needed to understand the sequelae of IPV-BIs and lived experiences of the women sustaining the abuse.