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Creators: Barrett, The Honors College
Creators: Swadener, Beth B.

The Presence of Rape Culture in Social Media Through an Examination of Internet Memes

Description

Social media is an increasingly pertinent facet of popular culture. Research has found that a rape culture, a culture that tolerates and condones sexual assault, is evident in many forms of pop culture. This study looks at the way sexual assault is discussed in social media through an examination of Internet memes, trends and images that go viral online. The study found that there is evidence to belief a rape culture exists online. It offers solutions for decreasing incidences of gender-based attacks online.

ContributorsOrtiz, Analise Tomai (Author) / Durfee, Alesha (Thesis director) / McGibbney-Vlahoulis, Michelle (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor)

Created2014-12

Home Work: Survivors of Sexual Violence on Doing Community and Re/orienting Justice Through Experiences of Trauma and in Times of Crisis

Description

People in college are made vulnerable to sexual, domestic, and relationship violence by narratives of individual “bad apples” that obscure violence as a cultural condition. Scholars in Gender Studies have worked to name and identify the extent of the problem of sexual, domestic, and relationship violence and argue that victims must be centered in campus-based research. Cultural Geographers have investigated violence as socially re/produced through the relationships between culture, community, and space. However, few works have engaged survivors as research partners to investigate survivorhood, relationality, and trauma to understand how to undo rape culture, thus endorsing survivors as passive subjects rather than active agents for social change. My dissertation asserts that home work is the personal and relational labor of practicing community and enacting justice that survivors engage in to come to feel at home in our bodyminds and relationships. My interlocutors are 10 survivors of sexual violence experienced while attending university in Minneapolis and five survivor-advocacy practitioners. To be survivor-centered and uplift survivor-voice, this project partners with my interlocutors as co-researchers and is built upon critical ethnography and Indigenous methodologies. I utilize semi-structured interviews, walking conversations, and group discussions in which I co-performatively witness survivorhood with my interlocutors. Chapter 1 situates sexual violence in the United States, discusses survivor-voice and the project’s method/ologies, and the significances of Minneapolis as the site of study. Chapter 2 explores “why” my interlocutors “do community”: To meet various needs, to support their growth, and to engage in mutual aid. Chapter 3 explores “how” my interlocutors do community: Showing up, vulnerability, and mutual care. In Chapter 4, my interlocutors and I build our theory of justice as a process of doing community rooted in accountability, responsibility, and relationships that allows us to feel at home in our bodyminds, relationships, and encounters. My research shows that active community engagement is the core variable for pursuing justice, shifting views on community building, campus policies, and processes of justice related to sexual violence. Situated in Minneapolis, my research connects rape culture, white supremacy, and state violence to the crisis of sexual violence on campus.

ContributorsGoldberg, Brett S. (Author) / Shabazz, Rashad (Thesis advisor) / Bailey, Marlon M. (Committee member) / Swadener, Beth B. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)

Created2022

Perspectives of Current and Past Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Sexual Purity, Gender Roles, and Sexual Abuse

Description

Religion has a powerful influence on adherents' behaviors and beliefs. Harmful teachings about gender roles, sexual purity, and a lack of education surrounding sexual abuse have been shown to negatively impact members’ understandings of these topics. This study looks into these relationships in further detail by surveying adults who are either active and ex-members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about their recollections of religious principles they learned in their Young Men’s/Women’s classes, their behaviors as youth (ages 12-18), and their current beliefs. Findings indicate that teachings and cultural expectations in regard to gender roles exist in The Church, and many female members disagree with and refuse to comply with them. Purity culture impacted participants in differing ways, including their continued belief in sexual purity before marriage but their disapproval of shaming sexually experienced members. Findings indicate that The Church does not educate members on sexual abuse and consent, but participants still indicated knowledge of these topics. Implications include continued study into these topics to better understand conflicting responses and complicated relationships between members’ beliefs and Church teachings, and changes in Church doctrine to better support members and victims of abuse.

ContributorsKruckenberg, Johanna (Author) / Adelman, Madelaine (Thesis director) / Daughtrey, Doe (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor)

Created2023-05