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(1 - 7 of 7)
- Title
- ELIZABETH TUDOR: RECONCILING FEMININITY AND AUTHORITY.
- Creator
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Rohrs, Mark, Pugh, Tison, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Elizabeth Tudor succeeded to England's throne during a time when misogynist societal ideology questioned the authority of a female monarch. Religious opposition to a woman ruler was based on biblical precedent, which reflected the general attitude that women were inferior to men. Elizabeth's dilemma was reconciling her femininity with her sovereignty, most notably concerning her justification for power, the issue of marriage and succession, and the conflict over the execution of Mary, Queen...
Show moreElizabeth Tudor succeeded to England's throne during a time when misogynist societal ideology questioned the authority of a female monarch. Religious opposition to a woman ruler was based on biblical precedent, which reflected the general attitude that women were inferior to men. Elizabeth's dilemma was reconciling her femininity with her sovereignty, most notably concerning her justification for power, the issue of marriage and succession, and the conflict over the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. The speeches Elizabeth presented to Parliament illuminate her successful solidification of her authority from a feminine gendered position. She established and reinforced her status through figurative language that presented her femininity as favorable to ruling England, ultimately transcending her womanhood to become an incarnation of the state. Elizabeth's speeches reflect her brilliance at fashioning herself through divine and reciprocal imagery, which subsequently redefined English society, elevating her to the head of a male-dominated hierarchy. By establishing her position as second to God, Elizabeth relegated all men to a status beneath hers. Elizabeth's solution to the perceived liability of her gender was to recreate herself through divine imagery that appropriated God's authority as her own. She reinforced her power through a reciprocal relationship with Parliament, evoking the imagery of motherhood to redefine the monarchy as an exchange rather than an absolute rule.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000349, ucf:46288
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000349
- Title
- Feminine sex roles and depression in middle-aged women.
- Creator
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Tinsley, Emily G., null, null, Social Sciences
- Abstract / Description
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University of Central Florida College of Social Sciences Thesis; The preponderance of females in the depressed population is a well established fact. Various hypotheses for this fact are reviewed and the hypothesis that females accepting the feminine role will be more likely to become depressed during their middle years than a more androgenous woman is submitted. To support this hypothesis a study was designed utilizing a Clinical group consisting of females, 35 to 50 experiencing depression...
Show moreUniversity of Central Florida College of Social Sciences Thesis; The preponderance of females in the depressed population is a well established fact. Various hypotheses for this fact are reviewed and the hypothesis that females accepting the feminine role will be more likely to become depressed during their middle years than a more androgenous woman is submitted. To support this hypothesis a study was designed utilizing a Clinical group consisting of females, 35 to 50 experiencing depression and undergoing treatment for depression at one of three mental health centers and a Non-clinical group consisting of women, same age group, not experiencing depression and who had never undergone treatment for depression. Each subject was asked to complete a questionnaire to measure depression and femininity. Results of this study support the hypothesis that depression in middle-aged females is related to the degree of their acceptance of the traditional feminine role. Depression as defined and measured by Beck's Depression Inventory was positively correlated with femininity as measured by Bern's Sex-Role Inventory. The Pearson correlation coefficient for these two measures was .62 (p<.001), indicating that 38% of the variance in depression scores can be accounted for by the sex-role variable.
Show less - Date Issued
- 1979
- Identifier
- CFR0004425, ucf:52981
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFR0004425
- Title
- GENDER ROLE PERSONALITIES AND PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS.
- Creator
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Bailly, Laura, Murdoch, Erin, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The purpose of the current study was to explore whether personality dispositions can influence perceived physical appearance. Past research demonstrates that gendered and non-gendered characteristics lead to differential preferences for potential romantic interests among males and females (e.g., Cash & Smith, 1982). These previous studies have not, however, measured direct influence on pulchritude. In the present study, gendered and non-gendered personality descriptions were paired with...
Show moreThe purpose of the current study was to explore whether personality dispositions can influence perceived physical appearance. Past research demonstrates that gendered and non-gendered characteristics lead to differential preferences for potential romantic interests among males and females (e.g., Cash & Smith, 1982). These previous studies have not, however, measured direct influence on pulchritude. In the present study, gendered and non-gendered personality descriptions were paired with pictures of average-looking individuals of both sexes to determine the influence of gender roles on perceived physical attractiveness. I hypothesized that males would find androgynous females more physically attractive than gender-typed and non-gender typed females. Similarly, females would find androgynous males more physically attractive than gender-typed and non-gender typed males. Findings indicated that feminine and androgynous personalities significantly increased perceived physical attractiveness of target females for the male participants, whereas undifferentiated and masculine roles significantly decreased perceived physical attractiveness of target males for female participants. Target photographs accompanied by feminine personality descriptions were rated the highest in overall desirability by both sexes.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFH0004302, ucf:45051
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004302
- Title
- GENDERED VIRTUE: A STUDY OF ITS MEANING AND EVOLUTION IN EARLY MODERN FRANCE.
- Creator
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Saad, Mariela, Trinquet du Lys, Charlotte, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Virtue in early modern France was a broad concept considered by clergymen, philosophers, and moralists as an instrument for measuring and implementing human ethics. This unprecedented research seeks to track the development of the notion of virtue from a gendered and dichotomous notion to a unique and undivided term. The word virtue is constantly present in French texts such as manuels de conduite1 , since the medieval period. Thus, it can be regarded as one of the most significant concepts...
Show moreVirtue in early modern France was a broad concept considered by clergymen, philosophers, and moralists as an instrument for measuring and implementing human ethics. This unprecedented research seeks to track the development of the notion of virtue from a gendered and dichotomous notion to a unique and undivided term. The word virtue is constantly present in French texts such as manuels de conduite1 , since the medieval period. Thus, it can be regarded as one of the most significant concepts defining genders in Western civilization. However, it is difficult for modern readers to grasp the complexity of the debate unless it is explained through its socio-historical and cultural implications regarding gender behavior. What is the author referring to when he/she uses the word virtue? Is it chastity for women, strength for men, or just the achievement of the highest moral standard? What are the social implications of virtue? Through an inter and multidisciplinary study involving literature, religion, philosophy, folklore, women and gender studies, and sociology, this cutting-edge research revolves around the literary analysis of conduct manuals, plays, novels and treatises, from the middle ages to the 18th century. Its objective is to map the evolution of the notion of virtue by evidencing social fluctuation of gender differences and conceptualizing our western civilization through the lenses of its moral discourse.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFH2000146, ucf:45983
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000146
- Title
- Style Speaks: Clothing Judgments, Gender Stereotypes, and Expectancy Violations of Professional Women.
- Creator
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Lower, Jamie, Weger, Harry, Sandoval, Jennifer, Miller, Ann, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Clothing is a powerful nonverbal communicative tool and form of self-expression that provides others with clues about our personality, mood, education, culture, financial status, and social ranking, amongst numerous other impression cues. Research shows that physical appearance plays a prominent role in the formation of initial judgments and is significant in shaping a person's overall impression on others (Richmond, McCroskey, (&) Payne, 1991). The present study sought to quantitatively...
Show moreClothing is a powerful nonverbal communicative tool and form of self-expression that provides others with clues about our personality, mood, education, culture, financial status, and social ranking, amongst numerous other impression cues. Research shows that physical appearance plays a prominent role in the formation of initial judgments and is significant in shaping a person's overall impression on others (Richmond, McCroskey, (&) Payne, 1991). The present study sought to quantitatively explore the effect that different styles of dress have on initial judgments formed about women in workplace settings. Using expectancy violation theory, the study investigates workplace gender bias and whether or not certain styles of women's dress garner different initial reactions. Results showed that models in feminine attire are perceived to be lower in ratings of dominance and expertise, and models in more masculine attire are perceived to be lower in ratings of kindness and friendliness.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- Identifier
- CFE0007043, ucf:51971
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007043
- Title
- SISTERHOOD ARTICULATES A NEW DEFINITION OF MORAL FEMALE IDENTITY: JANE AUSTEN'S ADAPTATION OF THE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY TRADITION.
- Creator
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Curtis, Katherine, Jones, Anna, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Writing at a moment of ideological crisis between individualism and hierarchical society, Jane Austen asserts a definition of moral behavior and female identity that mediates the two value systems. I argue that Austen most effectively articulates her belief in womenÂÂ's moral autonomy and social responsibility in her novels through her portrayal of sisterhood. Austen reshapes the stereotype of sisters and female friendships as dangerous found in her domestic novel...
Show moreWriting at a moment of ideological crisis between individualism and hierarchical society, Jane Austen asserts a definition of moral behavior and female identity that mediates the two value systems. I argue that Austen most effectively articulates her belief in womenÂÂ's moral autonomy and social responsibility in her novels through her portrayal of sisterhood. Austen reshapes the stereotype of sisters and female friendships as dangerous found in her domestic novel predecessors. While recognizing womenÂÂ's social vulnerability, which endangers female friendship and turns it into a site of competition, Austen urges the morality of selflessly embracing sisterhood anyway. An Austen heroine must overcome sisterly rivalry if she is to achieve the moral strength Austen demands of her. As Mansfield Park (1814) and Pride and Prejudice (1813) demonstrate, such rivalry reveals the flawed morality of both individualism and patrilineal society. I further argue that in these novels sisterhood articulates the internally motivated selflessness Austen makes her moral standard. Sisterhood not only indicates female morality for Austen, it also enables this character. Rejecting RousseauÂÂ's proposal of men shaping malleable female minds, Austen pronounces sisters to be the best moral guides. In Northanger Abbey (1818), Austen shows the failure of the man to educate our heroine and the success of his sister. In Sense and Sensibility (1811), Austen pinpoints the source of sisterly educationÂÂ's success in its feminine context of nurture, affection, intimacy, and subtlety. With this portrait of sisterhood, Austen adheres to the moral authority inherent in Burkean philosophy while advocating individual responsibility, not external regulation, to choose selfless behavior. Austen further promotes gender equality by expressing womenÂÂ's moral autonomy, while supporting gender distinctions that privilege femininity. By offering such powerful, complex sister relationships, Austen transforms eighteenth-century literary thought about women, sisters, and morality.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- Identifier
- CFE0003388, ucf:48482
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003388
- Title
- EXPLORING TRANSIENT IDENTITIES: DECONSTRUCTING DEPICTIONS OF GENDER AND IMPERIAL IDEOLOGY IN THE ORIENTAL TRAVEL NARRATIVES OF ENGLISHWOMEN, 1831-1915.
- Creator
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DeLoach, CarrieAnne, Stockdale, Nancy, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Englishwomen who traveled to the "Orient" in the Victorian era constructed an identity that was British in its bravery, middle-class in its refinement, feminine in appearance and speech and Christian in its intolerance of Oriental heathenism. Studying Victorian female travel narratives that described journeys to the Orient provides an excellent opportunity to reexamine the diaphanous nature of the boundaries of the public/private sphere dichotomy; the relationship between travel, overt...
Show moreEnglishwomen who traveled to the "Orient" in the Victorian era constructed an identity that was British in its bravery, middle-class in its refinement, feminine in appearance and speech and Christian in its intolerance of Oriental heathenism. Studying Victorian female travel narratives that described journeys to the Orient provides an excellent opportunity to reexamine the diaphanous nature of the boundaries of the public/private sphere dichotomy; the relationship between travel, overt nationalism, and gendered constructions of identity, the link between geographic location and self-definition; the power dynamics inherent in information gathering, organization and production. Englishwomen projected gendered identities in their writings, which were both "imperially" masculine and "domestically" feminine, depending on the needs of a particular location and space. The travel narrative itself was also a gendered product that served as both a medium of cultural expression for Victorian women and a tool of restraint, encouraging them to conform to societal expectations to gain limited authority and recognition for their travels even while they embraced the freedom of movement. The terms "imperial masculinity" and "domestic femininity" are employed throughout this analysis to categorize the transient manipulation of character traits associated in Victorian society with middle- and upper-class men abroad in the empire and middle- and upper-class women who remained within their homes in Great Britain. Also stressed is the decision by female travelers to co-assert feminine identities that legitimated their imperial freedom by alluding to equally important components of their transported domestic constructions of self. Contrary to scholarship solely viewing Victorian projections of the feminine ideal as negative, the powers underlining social determinants of gender norms will be treated as "both regulatory and productive." Englishwomen chose to amplify elements of their domestic femininity or newly obtained imperial masculinity depending on the situation encountered during their travels or the message they wished to communicate in their travel narratives. The travel narrative is a valuable tool not only for deconstructing transient constructions of gender, but also for discovering the foundations of race and class ideologies in which the Oriental and the Orient are subjugated to enhance Englishwomen's Orientalist imperial status and position. This thesis is modeled on the structure of the traveling experience. In reviewing first the intellectual expectations preceding travel, the events of travel and finally the emotional reaction to the first two, a metaphoric attempt to better understand meaning through mimicry has been made. Over twenty travel narratives published by Englishwomen of varying social backgrounds, economic classes and motivations for travel between 1830 and World War I were analyzed in conjunction with letters, diaries, fictional works, newspaper articles, advice manuals, travel guides and religious texts in an effort to study the uniquely gendered nature of the Preface in female travel narratives; definitions of "travelers" and "traveling;" the manner in which "new" forms of metaphysical identification formulated what Victorian lady travelers "pre-knew" the "East" to be; the gendered nature in which female travelers portrayed their encounters with the "realities" of travel; and the concept of "disconnect," or the "distance" between a female traveler's expectation and the portrayed "reality" of what she experienced in the Orient.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0001487, ucf:47101
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001487
