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DescriptionKidSmith is an application to teach children about gendered marketing. The app has two components, a game and a database of activities featuring neutral found objects from the home or in nature.
ContributorsPeate, Lyric Laurel (Author) / Sanft, Al (Thesis director) / Heywood, William (Committee member) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / The Design School (Contributor)
Created2014-05
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Description
Revenge porn is the accepted term used to describe the distribution of explicit photos online with the intent to incite embarrassment or shame. Perpetrators are typically ex-lovers seeking revenge on a former partner. This harassment has become widespread alongside increased access to online networks and "sexting" culture. Early studies indicate

Revenge porn is the accepted term used to describe the distribution of explicit photos online with the intent to incite embarrassment or shame. Perpetrators are typically ex-lovers seeking revenge on a former partner. This harassment has become widespread alongside increased access to online networks and "sexting" culture. Early studies indicate revenge porn reflects a larger cultural attitude of "slut shaming", the tendency to shame women for behaving in a sexual manner outside the boundaries of traditional female sexuality. Focus groups were organized to discuss views regarding revenge porn, Internet privacy, and legislature.
Created2015-05
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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

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
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Description
Scholarly work, industry profile analyses, and sports entertainment, similarly posit the normative fantasy football fan as an uber fan, defined largely by the vast amount of time spent per week consuming sports media content. The average fantasy football participant is also defined as a white, middle-class, married man in his

Scholarly work, industry profile analyses, and sports entertainment, similarly posit the normative fantasy football fan as an uber fan, defined largely by the vast amount of time spent per week consuming sports media content. The average fantasy football participant is also defined as a white, middle-class, married man in his late 20s (FTSA.org). However, by drawing on qualitative interview data of 48 fantasy football participants, we argue that this typical profile of a fantasy football participant as an uber fan is limiting in a masculinist way precisely because it reifies a gendered category of fan as normal, making anything outside of that category deviant. Close analysis of the experiences of thirteen of the 48 fantasy football players, all of whom identify as women, indicate an alternative, cohesive fantasy football participant profile that is centered on being competitive while also being efficient with one's time and resources. Additionally, we find that these women fantasy fans actively reject the notion of the uber fan as the only way to be a normal fantasy football fan because they want to play and win on their own terms.
ContributorsItmam, Arif (Author) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Thesis director) / Southergill, Keith (Committee member) / Lashley, Mark (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
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Description
This thesis examines the representation of female Korean pop stars in music videos, specifically looking into how these music videos serve as a medium for communicating gender ideals. I examine K-Pop's damaging presentations of women and the multilayered ways that such representations shape the “ideal” woman, societal expectations, societal treatment,

This thesis examines the representation of female Korean pop stars in music videos, specifically looking into how these music videos serve as a medium for communicating gender ideals. I examine K-Pop's damaging presentations of women and the multilayered ways that such representations shape the “ideal” woman, societal expectations, societal treatment, and its consequences. South Korea, as a country of total media saturation and high technological advancement, leaves individuals surrounded with various ways to “learn” gender and properly enact it in their daily life. This builds and reinforces gender constructs on systemic and personal levels. K-Pop is unique in its strict organizational structure and emphasis on conformity, and both of those aspects lend to an even more intense and streamlined depiction of what a South Korean woman is meant to be. The music video is an ideal cultural artifact to examine due to the overlapping audio and visual elements, including lyrics, choreography, makeup, and outfits.
ContributorsCorreia, Madison (Author) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Thesis director) / Carrasco, Clare (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor)
Created2022-05
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Description
By analyzing The Witcher and Game of Thrones fandoms, this research examines whether cosplayers adhere to social media or canon expectations of gender, sexuality, and violence. The study focuses on six canon female characters and how cosplayers emulate them on TikTok and Instagram. Along with a quantitative analysis, ten cosplayers

By analyzing The Witcher and Game of Thrones fandoms, this research examines whether cosplayers adhere to social media or canon expectations of gender, sexuality, and violence. The study focuses on six canon female characters and how cosplayers emulate them on TikTok and Instagram. Along with a quantitative analysis, ten cosplayers were interviewed regarding their experiences with the fandom, source material, and cosplaying. The prediction was that cosplayers might conform to the standards of social media and the expectations of the social material; however, the findings implicate that fantrepreneurs mostly exclude sexualization and violence in their content, which suggests that cosplay continues to be used for transformative purposes.
ContributorsSears, Madison (Author) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Thesis director) / McGibbney, Michelle (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2022-05