Matching Items (24)
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- All Subjects: Women
- All Subjects: Gender
- Creators: School of Politics and Global Studies
Description
This study asks the question: does gender-based discrimination exists within Arizona State University's Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), and if so, what are the effects of such discrimination? Within this study, discrimination is defined as: the treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs, rather than on individual merit. The researcher predicted that this study would show that gender-based discrimination operates within the masculine military culture of Army ROTC at ASU, resulting from women's hyper-visibility and evidenced by their lack of positive recognition and disbelief in having a voice in the program. These expectations were based on background research claiming that the token status of women in military roles causes them to be more heavily scrutinized, and they consequentially try to attain success by adapting to the masculine military culture by which they are constantly measured. For the purposes of this study, success is defined as: the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence . This study relies on exploratory interviews and an online survey conducted with male and female Army ROTC cadets of all grade levels at Arizona State University. The interviews and survey collected demographic information and perspectives on individual experiences to establish an understanding of privilege and marginalization within the program. These results do support the prediction that women in Army ROTC at ASU face discrimination based on their unique visibility and lack of positive recognition and voice in the program. Likewise, the survey results indicate that race also has a significant impact on one's experience in Army ROTC, which is discussed later in this study in regard to needs for future research. ASU Army ROTC includes approximately 100 cadets, and approximately 30-40 of those cadets participated in this study. Additionally, the University of Arizona and the Northern Arizona University Army ROTC programs were invited to participate in this study and declined to do so, which would have offered a greater sample population. Nonetheless, the results of this research will be useful for analysis and further discussion of gender-equality in Army ROTC at Arizona State University.
ContributorsAllemang, Lindsey Ann (Author) / Wood, Reed (Thesis director) / Switzer, Heather (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
In Arizona's early history, Females garnered more independence than most other women in the United States because they were forced to build a completely new life in settlements with little to no infrastructure. Now, Arizona has achieved a level of equality that no other state has yet to achieve in regard to gender representation. Yet, we have yet to achieve total equity. This paper looks to analyze responses that female senators from the Arizona State Legislature gave while being interviewed by the author. With questions derived from previous research conducted on women in politics at the state and federal level, this paper will delve into the personal experiences of six female senators. Although their personal narratives differ, their stories seem to reflect a collective tie that unites the female members together, beyond party allegiance. Each of the responses given by the senators had some aspects that showed trends supporting the majority of the hypotheses. Moving forward, in order to achieve 50% equality, two more senators would need to be elected and replace male senators.
ContributorsMacdonald, James Nicholson (Author) / Woodall, Gina (Thesis director) / Lyon, Jenna (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
What is known about the lives, and especially the private lives, of English women in the early modern era is not at all satisfactory in terms of sources, scope, or understanding. Because the act of writing and reading was already exclusive to the upper classes, what sources do survive are not representative of the majority of the female population, leading to more speculation on behalf of historians. The sources which do survive, by and large focus on the role of religion and spirituality in a woman's life, since it was the most acceptable reason for an early modern woman to be writing about. However, I hoped to prove how women were interested in more than just self-improvement through religious devotion, thereby demonstrating that early modern English women were as complex and rich in personality and interests as a modern woman might consider herself to be. After a brief introduction and explanation of the research process, this project then begins to individually analyze the three women who were chosen for study based on their mutual practice of keeping a diary during their lives in early modern England. These women were Elizabeth Freke, Lady Sarah Cowper, and Mary, Countess Cowper, all of whom operated within the feminine social hierarchy during this period, but each of whom demonstrated a particular interest beyond that of marriage and family, including economics, religion, and politics. I believe that each woman analyzed proved how unique and varied the lives of early modern English women were through their writings.
ContributorsVetterl, Victoria Lee (Author) / Warnicke, Retha (Thesis director) / Looser, Devoney (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Congress has grown increasingly partisan since the 1970's, with the most extreme levels of partisanship occurring in the last few years. The media has also reflected on the loss of bipartisanship in Congress. However, the media often cites women as one of the last groups in the Senate willing to cross party lines. I analyze party unity scores from 1993-2013 to see if women senators are less partisan than their male counterparts, and if Democratic women senators are more or less partisan than Republican women senators. From these results, I find that Republican female senators are less partisan than Republican male senators and Democratic senators of either gender. I also find Democratic female senators are more partisan than Republican female senators, and just as partisan or more partisan than Democratic male senators. However, when analyzed through co-sponsorship data from 2009-2015, women senators are seen as more bipartisan than men. Finally, through anecdotal research, I find that both Republican and Democratic men and women in the Senate believe women legislate differently than men and view them as more willing to find common ground. I also find Republican and Democratic women of the Senate have shared experiences that lead them to forge bipartisan relationships that could lead them to work in a more bipartisan way. An interview with former Senator Olympia Snowe reveals that she believes women are results oriented and willing to work together on a range of issues, and especially those that benefit women.
ContributorsBennett, Linnea Christine (Author) / Woodall, Gina (Thesis director) / Lennon, Tara (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This thesis comparatively examines the percentage of women who have been appointed to federal level Cabinet positions in the United States and Canada between 1980 and 2010. The thesis will first explain the differences in the nation's democratic systems -- presidential and parliamentarian -- to contextualize how each nation elects federal representatives coupled with their process of appointing individuals to Cabinet positions per administration. Then the thesis will briefly explain the basis of the political parties that have been active in each country alongside their prominent ideals, in an effort to understand the impact it has had on the number of women elected to federal positions. Finally, the research will focus on the number of women appointed to Cabinet to demonstrate how an increase in the amount of political parties, creates more competition between political parties, in turn allowing for a higher number of women to be elected as well as appointed to federal positions. In conclusion, the research suggests that liberal party's push forth more women to federal level positions in both countries. Coupled with the fact that the increase in the amount of office holding parties increases competition between parties and increases the number of women appointed to Cabinet.
ContributorsOkula, Victoria (Author) / Shair-Rosenfield, Sarah (Thesis director) / Kittilson, Miki (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
This thesis explores the framing of gender equity within International Development organizations and the design of projects to promote it. Using case studies of projects financed by United States Agency for International Development (a major donor agency), and Inter Pares (a Canadian NGO) as evidence, the thesis identifies what works and what does not work in different contexts within these projects.
ContributorsPetersen, Melia Bea (Author) / Aggarwal, Rimjhim (Thesis director) / Manuel-Navarette, David (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Japanese animated film director Hayao Miyazaki is famous for his numerous film featuring female protagonists. These protagonists have been examined for their conformance and deviance with regard to widespread stereotypes of masculine and feminine traits. Miyazaki's female characters tend to exhibit nuanced and varied traits, with a balance of traditionally masculine and feminine characteristics. They also tend to demonstrate and moralize on larger social issues such as environmentalism and gender equality, advancing ideals for both Japanese and Western feminism. The status of these female protagonists as cultural icons is contrary to wider film trends that exclude women from the spotlight except when they conform to rigid gender roles.
ContributorsNevitt, Stephanie Nicole (Author) / Facinelli, Diane (Thesis director) / Creamer, John (Committee member) / Whitesman, Linda (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
The purpose of this honors thesis is to explain the varying levels of sexual violence against women across time, location and conflicts. Violence against civilians is utilized as an independent variable to measure if the level of violence of a pre-conflict environment widens the space for the exploitation of sexual violence. Women's status is used as an additional independent variable in order to measure if a pre-conflict environment that promotes gender equality moderates the presence of sexual violence as it discourages unequal power dynamics. GDP per capita and population will be used as control variables in order to include consideration of state capacity. Sexual violence will be the dependent variable. In order to statistically measure and depict the relationships between these variables, bivariate correlations and multivariate linear regressions will be utilized. The bivariate correlations showed that as civilian violence increased, sexual violence increased as well, but as women's status increased, sexual violence decreased. The linear regression models found that state actors and rebel groups yielded differing results. For state actors, the increase in women's status failed to moderate the level of sexual violence as an increase in civilian violence and women's status resulted in an increase in sexual violence. However, for rebel groups, an increase in civilian violence and women's status led to a decrease in sexual violence, thereby depicting women's status as a moderating factor. This creates a problem in identifying one or a few factors that predominately lead to an increase in sexual violence; such identification is key for the development of preventative policy.
ContributorsWinans, Sierra Brooke (Author) / Wright, Thorin (Thesis director) / Wood, Reed (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
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