Matching Items (135)
Description
Do adult women survivors of childhood sexual abuse see their past victimization as having any relation to or impact on their current political engagement? While it is important to know how having experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA) impacts women survivors’ adult personal relationships, health, and wellbeing, more research must be done on how these abuse experiences affect women survivors’ political engagement. Nearly 25,900,000 women voters in the United States have likely experienced childhood sexual abuse (National Sexual Violence Resource Center 2011), therefore it is imperative and participation. This interpretive autoethnographic and ethnographic study examines the narratives of six women CSA survivors currently attending a counselling support group, and employs feminist methodology to conceptualize the women’s beliefs and feelings on the impact of CSA on their political participation. The findings of this study, however, do not seek to be generalizable to all women survivors of CSA, but instead reveal how six adult women survivors of CSA cope with and interpret their victimization as having an impact on their adult political engagement and participation. Utilizing interpretive concepts of power, citizenship, and civil society, this study finds that adult women survivors of CSA may be more politically active if they have a safe space to disclose their abuse experiences to fellow survivors of CSA. This study suggests that a civil society community of adult CSA survivors might be beneficial for survivors and may encourage survivors to see political engagement as a viable avenue for healing from the trauma of CSA.
ContributorsDykstra, Joelle (Author) / Behl, Natasha (Thesis advisor) / Colbern, Allan (Committee member) / Murphy Erfani, Julie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Many religious textual accounts describe provocative women: The Great Whore
from the Apocalypse, Saint Mary Magdalene from the New Testament, and the
Daughters of Mara from the Buddhist tradition are all accused of fornication or the
seduction of men. However, when artists have depicted these subjects, the women are
rarely shown transgressing in the ways the texts describe. The Great Whore is often
masculinized and shown as the equal of kings, Mary Magdalene assumes divergent
attitudes about prostitution in early Renaissance Europe, and the Daughters of Mara are
comparable to other Buddhist deities, recognizable only from the surrounding narrative.
Therefore, in this inquiry, I seek out the ways that artists have manipulated misogynistic
religious narratives and introduced their own fears, concerns, and interpretations.
Artistic deviations from the text indicate a sensitivity to cultural values beyond
the substance of their roles within the narrative. Both the Great Whore and her virtuous
counterpart, the Woman Clothed in the Sun, have agency, and the ways they are shown to
use their agency determines their moral status. Mary Magdalene, the patron saint of
prostitutes and a reformed sinner, is shown with iconographical markers beyond just
prostitution, and reveals the ways in which Renaissance artists conceptualized prostitution. In
the last case study, the comparison between the Daughters and the Buddhist savioresses,
the Taras, demonstrates that Himalayan artists did not completely subscribe to the textual
formulations of women as inherently iniquitous. Ultimately, these works of art divulge
not just interpretations of the religious traditions, but attitudes about women in general,
and the power they wielded in their respective contexts.
from the Apocalypse, Saint Mary Magdalene from the New Testament, and the
Daughters of Mara from the Buddhist tradition are all accused of fornication or the
seduction of men. However, when artists have depicted these subjects, the women are
rarely shown transgressing in the ways the texts describe. The Great Whore is often
masculinized and shown as the equal of kings, Mary Magdalene assumes divergent
attitudes about prostitution in early Renaissance Europe, and the Daughters of Mara are
comparable to other Buddhist deities, recognizable only from the surrounding narrative.
Therefore, in this inquiry, I seek out the ways that artists have manipulated misogynistic
religious narratives and introduced their own fears, concerns, and interpretations.
Artistic deviations from the text indicate a sensitivity to cultural values beyond
the substance of their roles within the narrative. Both the Great Whore and her virtuous
counterpart, the Woman Clothed in the Sun, have agency, and the ways they are shown to
use their agency determines their moral status. Mary Magdalene, the patron saint of
prostitutes and a reformed sinner, is shown with iconographical markers beyond just
prostitution, and reveals the ways in which Renaissance artists conceptualized prostitution. In
the last case study, the comparison between the Daughters and the Buddhist savioresses,
the Taras, demonstrates that Himalayan artists did not completely subscribe to the textual
formulations of women as inherently iniquitous. Ultimately, these works of art divulge
not just interpretations of the religious traditions, but attitudes about women in general,
and the power they wielded in their respective contexts.
ContributorsBerg, Cortney Anne (Author) / Schleif, Corine (Thesis advisor) / Mesch, Ulrike Claudia (Committee member) / Brown, Claudia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Did the Victorians live in a “rape culture”? London between 1870 and 1890 was certainly a place in which sexual violence was publicly condemned as an overall concept (W. T. Stead’s “The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon, for example). Yet, in contrast to the moral denunciation, the historical archive demonstrates excuses constantly condoned sexual violence (as evidenced in parliamentary debates, criminal transcripts, newspaper crime coverage, and social campaigns like those of Josephine Butler). Forensic medical doctors, police, coroners, journalists, illustrators, and editors all contributed and reinforced a system that sustained and condoned rape as evidenced by the newspaper crime reports; but, to blame them for their actions, as if each action was performed with malicious intent, would hide the greater system of oppression that operated both blatantly and in the shadows. When one demographic holds significant power over another – as men did over women in Victorian England – those power relations become embedded into its culture in ways that are never clearly transparent and continue to haunt the future until exposed and rectified. To this end, my dissertation investigates newspaper crime narratives to reveal the heterocryptic ghosts and make their multiple legacies visible.
Murder of women by men are significantly linked via cultural perceptions. Anna Clark discovered this with Mary Ashford’s rape and murder in 1817. Though Ashford died from drowning, the narratives rewrote her death as if it was the rape that had killed her. Based on this correlation, this study focuses on six cases of unsolved female murder and dismemberment. The decision to use unsolved cases stems from the hypothesis that more gendered assumptions would manifest in the crime narratives as the journalists (and police, coroners, and forensic doctors) tried to discern the particulars of the crime within contexts that made sense to them. Analytical coding of the data demonstrates the prevalence of rape myths operating within the narratives in conjunction with misogynistic and classist beliefs. From initial discovery to forensic inspections to inquest verdicts and beyond a number of myriad historical materializations are exposed that continue to haunt the present.
Murder of women by men are significantly linked via cultural perceptions. Anna Clark discovered this with Mary Ashford’s rape and murder in 1817. Though Ashford died from drowning, the narratives rewrote her death as if it was the rape that had killed her. Based on this correlation, this study focuses on six cases of unsolved female murder and dismemberment. The decision to use unsolved cases stems from the hypothesis that more gendered assumptions would manifest in the crime narratives as the journalists (and police, coroners, and forensic doctors) tried to discern the particulars of the crime within contexts that made sense to them. Analytical coding of the data demonstrates the prevalence of rape myths operating within the narratives in conjunction with misogynistic and classist beliefs. From initial discovery to forensic inspections to inquest verdicts and beyond a number of myriad historical materializations are exposed that continue to haunt the present.
ContributorsBoyd, Monica (Author) / Lussier, Mark (Thesis advisor) / Tromp, Marlene (Thesis advisor) / Bivona, Dan (Committee member) / Free, Melissa (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Over the last four centuries, Black women have been overwhelmingly understood, imagined, and defined through a Eurocentric and oppressive lens. The Eurocentric or white lens places pseudo-characteristics on Black women that inaccurately describe them. The qualities ascribed to Black women are rooted in racial ideologies that benefit and progress the interest of White supremacy. This history has placed Black women in tension with institutionalized medicine, discouraging them from seeking or using healthcare resources. Without trust in a system positioned to heal, treat, and prevent health ailments, Black women cannot dialogue with those that are a part of that system. Paulo Freire argues that "dialogue is the encounter between men, mediated by the world, in order to name the world (Freire, 2000, p. 90)." By centering Black women and their voices, I envision (re)naming the world. Understanding how Black women from Lincoln County, Mississippi describe their health and bodies sheds light on their daily experiences that facilitate self-care, womanhood, and identity. This dissertation covers three related studies that are addressing: 1) how Black women from Mississippi see their bodies outside of deficit health, 2) how Black women’s sisterhood has been a collective effort to build womanhood and health, and how societal stereotypes can interfere or damage the progress of sisterhood, and 3) the importance of allowing for Black women’s ways of knowing to create liberatory data collection methods that represent who they are and their truth. I examine these dynamics using a mixed-methods approach including community-based participatory research and rapid ethnographic assessment sampling techniques (e.g., working with a community advisor), semi-structured interviews, Sister-girl Talks (focus groups), participant observation, and autoethnography. The results of the three-study mixed methods dissertation has both theoretical and practical implications for understanding the vital role that Black women need to play bring healing to their health in both healthcare settings (e.g., clinics) and healthcare planning (health evaluation programs and interventions.
ContributorsMitchell, Charlayne (Author) / Slade, Alexandra (Thesis advisor) / SturtzSreetharan, Cindi (Thesis advisor) / Davis, Olga I (Committee member) / Ore, Ersula J (Committee member) / Wutich, Amber (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
In the US, menstrual education, which provides key information about menstrual hygiene and health to both young girls and boys, historically lacks biologically accurate information about the menstrual cycle and perpetuates harmful perceptions about female reproductive health. When people are unable to differentiate between normal and abnormal menstrual bleeding, based on a lack of quality menstrual education, common gynecological conditions often remain underreported. This raises a question as to how girls’ menstrual education experiences influence the ways in which they perceive normal menstrual bleeding and seek treatment for common abnormalities, such as heavy, painful, or irregular menstrual bleeding. A mixed methods approach allowed evaluation of girls’ abilities to recognize abnormal menstrual bleeding. A literature review established relevant historical and social context on the prevalence and quality of menstrual education in the US. Then, five focus groups, each including five to eight college-aged women, totaling thirty-three participants, allowed for macro-level analysis of current challenges and gaps in knowledge related to menstruation. To better examine the relationship between menstrual education and reproductive health outcomes, twelve semi-structured, one-on-one interviews allowed micro-level analysis. Those interviews consisted of women diagnosed with endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome, common gynecological conditions that include abnormal menstrual bleeding. Developing a codebook of definitions and exemplars of significant text segments and applying it to the collected data revealed several themes. For example, mothers, friends, teachers, the Internet, and social media are among the most common sources of information about menstrual hygiene and health. Yet, women reported that those sources of information often echoed stigmatized ideas about menstruation, eliciting feelings of shame and fear. That poor quality of information was instrumental to women’s abilities to detect and report abnormal menstrual bleeding. Women desire and need biologically accurate information about reproductive health, including menstruation and ovulation, fertility, and methods of birth control as treatments for abnormal menstrual bleeding. Unfortunately, menstrual education often leaves girls ill-equipped to identify and seek treatment for common gynecological conditions. Those findings may influence current menstrual education, incorporating biological information and actively dismissing common misconceptions about menstruation that influence stigma.
ContributorsSantora, Emily Katherine (Author) / Maienschein, Jane (Thesis advisor) / Ellison, Karin (Committee member) / Hurlbut, Ben (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
This paper examines the intersections of faith, patriarchy, feminism, and institutional failure in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Members of the faith believe the paternal structure of the organization is God's plan. The paper focuses on home, church, and the public sphere to provide a more complete understanding of the ways in which the practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints blur the lines between public and private and asks how women, most centrally the author, navigate contradictions in the doctrine and the institution of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Finally, this paper examines the tension between critical thought from a feminist perspective and being a devout member in the eyes of the church.Data was collected and presented using interpretivist methodology, ethnography and autoethnography. The author draws upon her experience as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and examines the ways power is layered and instrumental to the patriarchal teachings which are often contradictory and in tension with women developing full personhood.
ContributorsLunt, Sue (Author) / Colbern, Allan (Thesis advisor) / Goksel, Nisa (Committee member) / Behl, Natasha (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Numerous scholars have studied the experiences of women in zones of conflict, often with a focus on women as victims or as the makers of peace. One element that has been largely understudied is leadership—specifically, the gender dynamics of leadership during times of violence. I theorize that gender socializations are emphasized when the state faces conflict, extending gender role perceptions to the political realm. I hypothesize that heightened violence causes fewer women to run for political office while causing equal or greater numbers of men to run. Using a case-study analysis of Afghanistan and Pakistan, I analyze the percent of candidates in each administrative area that are female in relation to the number of overall and civilian deaths in the province. The results show some support for my hypothesis, suggesting that civilian deaths have a negative impact on female candidacy. The results also show that levels of violence do not generally lessen the overall number of candidates, demonstrating that men run at similar or heightened rates during times of conflict. These findings show the need for further research on the relationship between violence and candidacy, specifically as it impacts female candidates. This research has important implications for democratic systems in nations with ongoing violence, as it demonstrates the possible need for additional measures to ensure equal political participation.
ContributorsStratton, Victoria (Author) / Wright, Thorin (Thesis advisor) / Hinojosa, Magda (Committee member) / Kittilson, Miki (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
This dissertation explores the relationship between expressions of female virtue—predominantly chastity—and violence within two popular early Chinese literary traditions: Qiu Hu 秋胡 and Han Peng 韓朋. Both tales were in circulation by the Western Han (206 BCE–24 CE) and depict husbands and wives torn apart by conflict—the victims of drama instigated by men—and ultimately end with the righteous suicides of their female leads. Testifying to their enduring popularity, these stories were adapted by poets and prose writers alike, including prominent figures such as Fu Xuan, Yan Yanzhi, Li Shangyin, and Shi Junbao, as well as unknown composers of works discovered at Dunhuang. The results of their labor—poems, prose, and even a Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) stage adaptation—demonstrate the flexibility of these traditions as a means of exploring contemporary concerns regarding female integrity and talent, the dangers of beauty, women’s roles in the family, as well as socio-economic issues. By providing the first study of the portrayal of women within these influential traditions across genre and time, this dissertation not only contributes to the understanding of both tales as elite representations of idealized femininity, but also highlights how such popular traditions were subject to competing pressures of social norms, genre, and audience expectation. By examining and contrasting these disparate works, this study argues that these traditions were less singular tales that owed their existence to any given work than they were a broad collection of topoi that could be shuffled into differing configurations to meet the need of a given author at a given moment.
ContributorsWang-Wolf, Xuan (Author) / West, Stephen H. (Thesis advisor) / Oh, Young Kyun (Committee member) / Chen, Huaiyu (Committee member) / Ling, Xiaoqiao (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
The increasing job opportunities abroad as spa therapists attract significant numbers of young Indonesian women. Although the placement process is conducted by licensed recruitment agents and supervised by government officials, migrant workers might be at high risk of experiencing work exploitation and physical or sexual abuse. To investigate the phenomenon of documented, yet still vulnerable, female migrant workers, this research conducts interviews with several former spa therapists who were working in Malaysia and some civil servants. This study highlights that individual or personal resistances could be a collective political struggles. Specifically, this research connects individual experiences with the bigger picture of social, economic, and political condition, which, together, constitutes a gender-based labor migration system. To do this, the research employs qualitative-interpretive research methods through discourse analysis and in-depth and open-ended interviews. It also employs an intersectional feminist approach to data analysis to reveal how Indonesian female migrant workers are marginalized and oppressed and the power dynamics at play.
ContributorsNabila, Asma Zahratun (Author) / Colbern, Allan (Thesis advisor) / Behl, Natasha (Thesis advisor) / Goksel, Nisa (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
Slavery is a significant factor to consider when studying Mexica society and its economy, including societal roles and gendered labor. Many scholars who explore slavery within this culture and state look at the topic from specific angles and focus on the post-conquest and colonial periods. Pre-Columbian slavery is mentioned only briefly in the histories of the Mexica despite it being a key facet of their way of life. Questions of gender and class in relation to slavery are often missing from examinations of the topic. This project will, therefore, examine the process of enslavement, slave status and labor, and the written and visual evidence of enslaved individuals within Mexica society during the fifteenth and early sixteenth century. By specifically examining slavery within the city-states of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and the Mexica region, this thesis will argue that enslaved women played a much more significant role than enslaved men, and that slaves constituted a social class in pre-Columbian Mexica society.
ContributorsRodriguez, Jennifer N. (Author) / Baker, Hannah (Thesis advisor) / Smith, Michael E. (Committee member) / Avina, Alexander (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021