Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
Displaying 21 - 30 of 86
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Gender
Description
Patriarchal forces manifest in a variety of wide-reaching ways, but few are more potent then the methods by which patriarchy becomes embodied and integrated into patterns of emotional expression. This is particularly true to the boundaries of anger expression for women which are placed upon and reinforced through patriarchal socialization. This thesis explores the relationship between gender socialization, the construction of happiness, and resistance through anger expression. Drawing from Sarah Ahmed's The Promise of Happiness and Judith Butler's Gender Troubles, this project first identifies the construction of subjecthood for women, focusing particularly on the ways in which performance of gendered categories becomes necessary to intelligibility as a subject. Through an exploration of current social science research, this project then seeks to answer the ways in which the theoretical notion of gendered subjecthood comes to function within tangible expressions, or lack of expression, of anger. Finally, this thesis explores what it may mean for women to create a healing relationship with anger, forcibly creating space for expansive subjecthood.
ContributorsHobbs, Emma Caroline (Author) / Gomez, Alan (Thesis director) / Suk, Mina (Committee member) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Playable female characters in video games have become increasingly more acceptable in the mind of the average gamer. Video games like the Mass Effect series allow gamers to choose to play as either male or female. Despite the industry's data showing that the male character is more likely to be played, vocal fans of the game will often argue that the female character is more desirable depending on the experience that the player is wanting. It is this inconsistency between the gaming industry's data on gender choice and the fans that go against this data that leads to the present research. This research explores why men play female characters in video games. Previous literature found that avatar choices matter to gamers, both for how they are viewed and how they experience the game. This literature suggests that gamers make character decisions based on the desired gaming experience. Data for the current study consists of comments from five Reddit posts and from supplementary surveys completed by volunteers from Reddit. Four main categories that encompassed the numerous results are identified: in-game advantages, player-character interactions, exploration of new experiences and/or identities, and novelty. Each category also features a number of subcategories that were identified first and then combined to make the final four categories. The results found supported previous literature as well as expanded the literature to offer more insight behind why male gamers choose to play as female characters. This choice is ultimately reliant upon varied factors on which they base their choices for the desired gaming experience.
ContributorsBunch, Sarah Elizabeth (Author) / Mack, Robert (Thesis director) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
In previous research, little work was done to understand how and to what extent female combatants in Colombian revolutionary groups functioned as leaders. This paper seeks to assess the agency that women in Colombian leftist revolutionary organizations such as M-19 and FARC had access to, specifically with regards to leadership. Colombian revolutionary groups failed to successfully incorporate women into higher ranks, despite claiming otherwise. The military structure particularly favors men by esteeming masculine roles and blaming women for the transgressions of men. This paper specifically evaluates the differences between the M-19 and FARC with regards to female leadership. The M-19 more effectively incorporated women into leadership roles than FARC due to differences regarding representation.
ContributorsCunningham, Carissa Ann (Author) / Wood, Reed (Thesis director) / Fahs, Breanne (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The degree to which adolescents describe themselves as gender typical, as defined by their interests, activities, personal qualities, and other characteristics, is related to a broad range of adjustment indices. The goal of this thesis was to review studies conducted between 2000 and 2017 to provide a summary and critique of this research. A total of 18 studies were reviewed. The majority of findings indicate a positive association between gender typicality and beneficial adjustment outcomes, and a negative association between gender typicality and poor adjustment outcomes. Suggestions for future research and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.
ContributorsCohen, Alexandra Danielle (Author) / Updegraff, Kimberly (Thesis director) / Miller, Cindy (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
This study focuses on how parents purchase toys for their children. Specifically, the focus is on how likely parents are to purchase a toy typically associated with being feminine, masculine, or gender neutral. This study builds on research that showed that a parent’s gender role ideology affects how likely they are to purchase cross-gender toys (traditionally masculine toys for girls, traditionally feminine toys for boys) for their children (Kollmayer 2018). The study used photographs of pretested toys that had been deemed as masculine, feminine, or gender neutral. Using a within-subjects design, participants saw toys from each category and indicated their likelihood of purchase for each toy. The likelihood of purchase was used as the dependent variable. The findings were used to make recommendations to toy companies and retailers on how to market toys in regards to gender.
ContributorsSmith, Madeline Grace (Author) / Eaton, Kathryn (Thesis director) / Lisjak, Monika (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
The Gender Quota of Costa Rica: An impactful method to address women’s issues through representation
Description
The implementation of gender quotas in the Costa Rican legislature presents an interesting case study that with the use of national legislative gender quotas, women’s issues are more positively addressed within the country. This analysis argues that with the higher presence of women legislators in the Legislative Assembly made possible by the quota these women. in turn, have created more gender-focused policies. Thusly, higher amounts of female-focused policy will positively impact women’s issue areas within Costa Rican society. This argument will be supported by other scholar’s research on the subject of the gender quota and female equality in Costa Rica. I will also be presenting my own research that will investigate the data taken from the Costa Rican health ministry, UNICEF, and other organizations to comparatively evaluate the improvement of problems that women face coinciding with the higher female presence in the legislature.
ContributorsBlythe, Alexandra (Author) / Shair-Rosenfield, Sarah (Thesis director) / Funk, Kendall (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor, Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Suspect classification is a judicial process by which classes of people are determined as either suspect, quasi-suspect, or not suspect at all due to a combination of five factors: 1) minority status, 2) discrimination history, 3) political powerlessness, 4) an immutable trait, and 5) trait relevance as it relates to a discriminatory law in question. Laws that discriminate against a suspect class become immediately subject to strict scrutiny while most discriminatory laws only need to pass a rational basis test. Craig v. Boren (1976) established a precedent for the class of sex, which thereafter became subject to an intermediate level of scrutiny as a quasi-suspect class. With a more visible distinction between sex and gender today, this study seeks to determine whether gender rather than sex may become protected through heightened scrutiny by applying factors for suspect classification. In a call for heightened scrutiny for both gender and sex, this thesis argues that the suspect classification of both classes should include combinations of subclasses between gender, sex, and any other protected class. The central thesis employs a content analysis of case law, statutory law, and administrative law as it discriminates against classes of people with varying protection under the court system in the United States. In the question of whether courts should protect gender with suspect classification, the main argument calls for such action but if and only if an intersectional approach to protecting gender along with sex at a heightened level of judicial scrutiny is applied by individual judges on higher courts of review.
ContributorsTorres, Cristian Jesus (Author) / Hoekstra, Valerie (Thesis director) / Durfee, Alesha (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Sexual abuse is a major issue in the United States that has only recently begun to get media attention. This media attention has resulted in a growing awareness of the problem of sexual harassment and assault in society, especially in Hollywood and politics. However, sexual abuse is not limited to those areas, but occurs in all facets of society, including the workplace, schools, prison, and the military. Sexual abuse is only recently being recognized by society as a systemic problem instead of an isolational one. Depsite, this growing awareness of the issue, educator sexual abuse remains understudied. Educator sexual abuse is a largely ignored problem in society. This paper will look at how the media portrays gender in their reporting of educator sexual abuse cases and how this can affect biases, stereotypes, and myths surrounding the issue. We will look at eight cases—four female perpetrators and four male perpetrators—of K-12 educator sexual abuse in the United States. Using two articles for each case, we will analyze how the media reports on these cases and how gender biases are further perpetuated through these reportings. Specifically, we will analyze how perpetrators are portrayed as victims, instances of victim blaming, the implications of terminology in describing consent and responsibility, and the use of click bait all continue to perpetuate stereotypes and myths surrounding the issue of sexual abuse. The media coverage of educator sexual abuse is problematic and it is important to recognize the gender biases in the news coverage. Additionally, we will argue that the media can be a part of the prevention strategy for stopping sexual assault and harassment. Society has a long way to go in stopping sexual assault and educator sexual abuse; however, awareness is often the first step in this process, and the media needs to be careful about further perpetuating damaging stereotypes and myths.
ContributorsLanphier, Erin (Co-author) / Rosenbach, Elizabeth (Co-author) / McGibbney, Michelle (Thesis director) / Johnson, Eric (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Fairy tale retellings have permeated literature, film, and media ever since the original stories emerged. New adaptations are constantly being released, and therefore new research must constantly be published. In this study, I analyze "Aschenputtel" by the Brothers Grimm, as well as various retellings of "Cinderella," including Andy Tennant's Ever After (1998), Mark Rosman's A Cinderella Story (2004), and Marissa Meyer's Cinder (2012). This selection includes a live-action historical film, a live-action contemporary film, and a science fiction novel, all with an intended audience of young adults. While the Brothers Grimm story and Ever After have already been analyzed in the context of gender representation (Zipes, Bottigheimer, Williams), prior academic research fails to adequately address the gender issues in A Cinderella Story and Cinder. Because Ever After, A Cinderella Story, and Cinder are more contemporary than the Grimms' "Aschenputtel," they are often thought to be more progressive (Gruner, Vera, Travers). However, I propose that they still have problematic implications, despite their publication in contemporary society. Jack Zipes, an acclaimed fairy tale scholar, argues that, "For the most part, the transformations [of contemporary Cinderella retellings] tend to be modern remakes with a faux feminist touch" ("The Triumph" 361). Similar to Zipes, I argue that, although the texts initially appear progressive and "feminist," they ultimately support problematic ideals related to gender. All three contemporary texts seem to ally themselves with an ethos of female empowerment through their protagonists' rejection of traditional femininity, but the inclusion of gender policing and the characters' eventual acceptance of hyperfemininity undermine this characterization, as does the ultimate heteronormative "happily ever after." Additionally, the use of competition (between Cinderella and her stepfamily, as well as new female characters) pits women against each other, often because of a man, which generally prevents the development of female camaraderie, other than with the fairy godmother. Further, rather than allying herself with female power (i.e. the mother), the protagonists in both Ever After and A Cinderella Story are defined by their relationship with the father, which minimizes their agency as it suggests a transfer of ownership from the father to the husband/prince. This framing of the protagonist by the father and prince (specifically as she works to "perfect" the prince) seems to relegate the female characters to a supplementary role, simply acting as a tool for the male characters' development.
ContributorsBrown, Nichol R. (Author) / Barca, Lisa (Thesis director) / Alcantara, Christiane Fontinha de (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Classical literature features numerous prominent female characters. This thesis paper identifies and examines the pattern of masculinization of female characters in classical literature through case studies of two characters and two authors. The character Iphigenia is examined as an example of a heroically masculinized female character and the character Agave is examined as an example of an aggressively masculinized female character. The mythologies of these two women are analyzed through the writings of the authors Euripides and Ovid in order to compare and contrast the perspectives of a Greek and Roman author on masculinization. The texts analyzed for this paper were Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis, Iphigenia Among the Taurians, and The Bacchae, as well as Ovid's Metamorphoses. This paper also analyzes the responses to masculinized female characters within the texts and identifies patterns of re-feminization in Euripides' writing and dehumanization in Ovid's writing. These responses are found to be reflective of cultural values regarding gender and this paper discusses how these literary characterization patterns are indicative of cultural anxieties regarding gender norms. Finally, this paper briefly addresses similar patterns of masculinization in modern film and literature exemplified by the proverbial "strong female character." This paper compares two modern "strong female characters", Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games and the Bride from Kill Bill, to Iphigenia and Agave and draws parallels in their masculinization patterns. The results of this paper's textual analysis conclude that classical authors (as well as some modern authors) often masculinized their female characters but expressed subsequent cultural discomfort with those characters as a reflection of uncertainty regarding established gender norms.
ContributorsBardales, Abigail Gwendolyn-Joy (Author) / Poudrier, Almira (Thesis director) / King, Kristy (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05