Empowered, embattled and embittered women seem to be everywhere in the media today. Either in film, on television or on the Internet, there are more and more women being shown in a variety of working roles. Women are being shown in nontraditional jobs, they are allowed to work in the man's world and they can take charge. All of these things are remarkable but a note of caution is needed, for while these women are working the boardroom the girls are taking over.Women in power are increasingly being shown as unattractive, undesirable and unpleasant. While their counterparts- girls, are shown as loving, lovable and sweet. Films are reinforcing the girlish archetypal ideal by allowing girls to be the winners in nearly all situations.Female characters may begin the story as independent women but they are soon shown the error of their ways and are quickly reduced to a more pleasant, more malleable girl by the film's end.The content analysis of 37 Best Actress Academy Awardwinning films revealed that women are reduced to girls nearly 87 percent of the time. These women gave up their careers, or at least their career goals. They changed their appearance, they altered their personal goals and they suddenly found a way to express more emotion than they ever had in their life as a woman.Further analysis revealed that several subthemes were present in the films. In 19 of the 37 films women were raped or they were the victims of attempted rape. In 12 of the 37 films women were widows, they either began the film as a widow or they were to shortly suffer the grief of widowhood. In 22 of the 37 women are the victims of violence or they are threatened with violence and in 15 of the 37 films the characters are threatened with the loss of their home or they are struggling to make the journey to their home.The final analysis revealed that women were either pitied, maligned, abused or raped while girls were celebrated, loved and adored. / Department of Journalism

Dichotomies are a way we simplify interconnected hierarchical complexities of race, class, ethnicity, gender and power plays in our society. The division between male and female has been the primary dichotomy I have focused on in this discussion. My argument is that dichotomies create a cyclical loop which reinforces social injustice between genders in societies cross culturally and across time. This cycle of gender division includes cultural, built and activity patterns. There is no single point of origin of these patterns, but rather a constant loop of reinforcement from one pattern to the other. What I am trying to do here is not judge or criticize these societies and their values; rather I am evaluating them comparatively with other societies based on the status of women. I have found these cultural, built and activity patterns by documenting examples that exist cross culturally and across time. In order to do this I had to set up some criteria for selecting my case studies. I have divided the examples into four categories: 1. Egalitarian subsistence societies having equal status for women with respect to men and other women in similar cultures. 2. Hierarchical societies having lower status of women with respect to men and other women in a similar culture. 3. 19th and 20th century case studies in urban societies having lower status of women with respect to men. 4. 19th and 20th century case studies in reforms and utopian proposals that aimed at making egalitarian societies with equal status among men and women. I found that the public/private cultural pattern was the most recurring pattern. It is present in egalitarian, hierarchical and 19th and 20th century Victorian society. This pattern exists cross-culturally and across time. In the egalitarian subsistence societies, dichotomies are not understood as a set of oppositions such as superior and inferior. Their belief in harmony and balance in nature emphasized equality, unlike the hierarchical societies. In hierarchical subsistence societies, dichotomies divided people by assigning them public or private roles. In 19th and 20th century Victorian society an ideal gentleman was supposed to have serious, dignified, chivalrous qualities and an ideal lady was supposed to be moral, beautiful, cheerful and elegant. This shows that the cultural patterns were enforced upon individuals and they had to act accordingly in the society. I also looked at the utopian solutions of making childcare, laundry, and food preparation community activities. These radical solutions were focused on improving the cultural, built and activity patterns simultaneously. I have evaluated these case studies comparatively based on the status of women. While it’s difficult to state a solution to accommodate the layers of gender segregation that exist within cultural, built and activity patterns, I don’t think proposing an overtly radical solution is the right direction either. I would strongly recommend more awareness of feminist education in architecture and engineering schools. There should be more incentives and scholarships for women in traditionally male dominated professions like architecture and engineering. Learning about these patterns of gender segregation in different societies is also a way to begin this cultural progress. / Historical case studies of gender segregated patterns in egalitarian subsistence societies -- Case studies of gender segregated patterns in hierarchichal subsistence societies -- 19th and 20th century case studies for gender segregated patterns in urban societies -- 19th and 20th century case studies in reforms and utopian proposals. / Department of Architecture

This thesis explores some of the individual attitudes and choices which may explain differing patterns in women's work in England and France. Women's work, however, cannot be considered outside the context of their family lives, and there exist important differences between England and France in terms of the structures in place to facilitate the combining of paid work and family commitments. It is proposed that these are related to broader social and economic structures which characterise the countries concerned, and the family and gender roles assumed by them. The question addressed, therefore, is the relationship between work identity and female identity. This is examined by comparing full-time working women, both single and with families, in the two countries. Since the question concerns meanings rather than frequencies, quantitative methods such as surveys are rejected in favour of a triangulated methodology combining repertory grid, Twenty Statements Test and in- depth interview. The results from each of these are reported separately. There is strong convergence within and clear differences between national groups, regardless of marital status. French and English groups are both committed to working, but this takes different forms in the two countries. The French women define themselves equally in terms of work, personal relationships and social lives, with relatively little conflict between them. For the English women, work identity comes first, there is more conflict between work and family roles and more tension in personal relationships. This may partly be accounted for by the English women's greater concern with career progression and personal advancement, which is more likely to conflict with family roles. The findings are related to broader issues of economic, social and family policy, historical factors, religious traditions and attitudes towards gender and equality. These themselves are seen as reflecting more general ideologies in the countries concerned. Finally, there is a consideration of questions raised by the study, and suggestions for further research.

The effects of attitudes and perceived constraints on behavior and the choices females make about involvement in recreational sports, exercise, and other physical recreation activities are important to consider if females physical, social, and emotional quality of life is to be enhanced. The main aim of this study was to explore the perception held by female undergraduate students at UWC regarding the physical and socio-cultural constraints that influence their participation in recreation sport.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Texas, 2007. / "December 2007." Includes bibliographical references (p. 120-132) and appendices.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Adelaide, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [282]-290).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1989.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1989.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 97-105).

Thesis (M.S.W.) - Carleton University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-146). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.