ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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Description
Women of Latin American descent comprise at least 20% of the nearly seventeen million members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (also known as the Mormon or LDS Church). This dissertation study examines the lives of 69 Latina immigrant Mormon mothers living in the U.S. Southwest. With qualitative interviews, participant observation, and Photovoice (community-driven, participant-based photo collection), I investigated how race, ethnicity, gender, geography, legal status, and religion shape women's migration, marriage, and mothering decisions. Chapter One shows how Latina immigrants experienced ethno-racial belonging, exclusion, and social positionality. An "ethnoreligious hybridity" concept explains how Latinas adopted Mormonism alongside their racial and ethnic identities. Chapter Two examines participants' perceptions within Spanish-speaking LDS congregations. Latina Mormons perceived these worship spaces as beneficial for social networking, cultural preservation, and family support. There were tensions among LDS Latinx due to class differences, colorism, migration statuses, and historical political climates. I coined “congregational heterophily” to describe this congregational heterogeneity and diversity. Chapter Three examines women's dating and marriage practices by race, class, and immigration status. The Mormon Latinas in my study preferred marriage to other Latinos or co-ethnics. Ethnocentrism, racism, and gendered expectations can strain pan ethnic Latinx LDS partnerships. Another third had married white Mormon men. The relationship between Latinas and their white in-laws was often fraught with racial aggression and cultural clashes. Across Chapter Four, I examine how immigration status, culture, and race affect women's mothering. Latina Mormons is expected to be devout church members who excel at motherhood. Women felt pressure to provide social, spiritual, and financial support even after their children were adults. As a result of intersectional disadvantages caused by race, legal status, and gender, Latina Mormon immigrants experience increased maternal stress. Leaders, church members, and other mothers stigmatize Latinas when they do not meet church and motherhood expectations. I used "matriarchal policing” to describe these religious pressures and frequent social monitoring. Collectively, the results of this ethnographic study challenge stereotypes about Mormonism and add to academic knowledge about gendered migration, marriage, and motherhood while providing institutional and community solutions.
ContributorsRomanello, Brittany (Author) / Estrada, Emir (Thesis advisor) / Tsuda, Takeyuki Gaku (Thesis advisor) / SturtzSreetharan, Cindi (Committee member) / Flores-González, Nilda (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
The livestreaming platform Twitch allows users to engage with one another and with content creators, known as streamers, in real-time, creating a cyclical pattern in which viewers and streamers simultaneously influence one another and co-construct the livestreams. While this active engagement has resulted in numerous benefits, it has also led to a surge in toxic behavior – actions meant to disrupt the flow of the livestream and harm the streamer and viewers involved. Toxic behavior is often directed at individuals who do not conform to the norms of a space or community. Because Twitch evolved out of an interest in video game spectatorship, and video game culture is burdened by the gamer stereotype, which typecasts gamers as young, white, male, and cishet, Twitch users who do not fit this identity category (e.g., women; black, Indigenous and people of color [BIPOC]; queer people; etc.) are labeled as threats to the perceived homogeneity of video game (and Twitch) culture. This project examines toxic discourses surrounding three women Twitch streamers, considering how the streamers’ performances, community-building efforts, and methods of regulation impact the levels and types of toxicity in their livestreams. A critical technocultural discourse analysis of 30 hours of livestreaming data reveals diverse approaches to managing toxicity. While all three streamers expressed that they neither liked nor approved of toxic behavior, their methods of addressing it varied greatly, from active channel moderators and explicit rules to public acts of moderation. Furthermore, the manifestation of toxicity differed across the three streamers’ communities, signaling that the streamers’ strategies impact not only users’ willingness to engage in this behavior but also other viewers’ responses to this issue. Twitch’s positioning as a service provider, which places most of burden of regulating user behavior on streamers, further complicates this problem, as streamers are largely responsible for enforcing Twitch’s rules as well as their own, leading to disparate and conflicting social norms and enforcement patterns. This project underscores the need for Twitch and its streamers to create standardized methods of behavior regulation that are inclusive and hold users accountable for their behavior.
ContributorsRines, Olivia (Author) / Adams, Karen (Thesis advisor) / SturtzSreetharan, Cindi (Committee member) / Florini, Sarah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021