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I Have Questions
Title
I Have Questions.
Creator
Matejowsky, Lorena, Thaxton, Terry, Stap, Donald, Uttich, Laurie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
The poems in this thesis explore mid-life feminism, family, mental illness via anxiety and panic, identities of southern girlhood/womanhood, and the challenges of a social media saturated life. Mothering plays a large part in many of these poems, both embracing it and confronting gendered expectations about it. Telling the truth is explored through poems about white women's complicity in racist systems in the southern United States and how being quiet about it benefits us. Fear and the myriad...
Show moreThe poems in this thesis explore mid-life feminism, family, mental illness via anxiety and panic, identities of southern girlhood/womanhood, and the challenges of a social media saturated life. Mothering plays a large part in many of these poems, both embracing it and confronting gendered expectations about it. Telling the truth is explored through poems about white women's complicity in racist systems in the southern United States and how being quiet about it benefits us. Fear and the myriad ways it has manifested in my life is a common thread in this work, especially the fears that accompanied white girls growing up in the Southern U.S. during a time of shifting societal roles and cultural values. The speaker in these poems both deny and celebrate the cultural, political, and environmental influences that shaped her early years. As a feminist poet in mid-life with a teenaged daughter and a teen and pre-teen son, I have a tenuous relationship with the influence of mass media. Controlling screen-time for my children and monitoring my own intake of news, braggadocio and ex-boyfriends on social media is a constant, anxiety laden burden. I am more comfortable in a world that does not always revisit itself. I have spent years trying to erase the effects of Texas big hair, provocative clothing, alcohol, and sexually explicit music, video and advertising on my life. Other times I yearn for an escape back. Poetry challenges me to look backward with bravery. These poems reflect the forces of memory and modernism that both limit and liberate modern women. In Trump's America where women are demeaned and silenced through populist rhetoric and legislation, it is more important than ever to magnify female, truth-telling voices and this collection is intended to contribute to positive change.
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Date Issued
2019
Identifier
CFE0007499, ucf:52652
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007499
The Wonder Women: Understanding Feminism in Cosplay Performance
Title
The Wonder Women: Understanding Feminism in Cosplay Performance.
Creator
Grissom, Amber, Mishtal, Joanna, Reyes-Foster, Beatriz, Harris, Shana, Tollefson, Kristina, Falu, Nessette, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Feminism conjures divisive and at times conflicting thoughts and feelings in the current political climate in the United States. For some, Wonder Woman is a feminist icon, for her devotion to truth, justice, and equality. In recent years, Wonder Woman has become successful in the film industry, and this is reflected by the growing community of cosplayers at comic book conventions. In this study, I examine gender performativity, gender identity, and feminism from the perspective of cosplayers...
Show moreFeminism conjures divisive and at times conflicting thoughts and feelings in the current political climate in the United States. For some, Wonder Woman is a feminist icon, for her devotion to truth, justice, and equality. In recent years, Wonder Woman has become successful in the film industry, and this is reflected by the growing community of cosplayers at comic book conventions. In this study, I examine gender performativity, gender identity, and feminism from the perspective of cosplayers of Wonder Woman. I collected ethnographic data using participant observation and semi-structured interviews with cosplayers at comic book conventions in Florida, Georgia, and Washington, about their experiences in their Wonder Woman costumes. I found that many cosplayers identified with Wonder Woman both in their own personalities and as a feminist icon, and many view Wonder Woman as a larger role model to all people, not just women and girls. The narratives in this study also show cosplay as a form of escapism. Finally, I found that Wonder Woman empowers cosplayers at the individual level but can be envisioned as a force at a wider social level. I conclude that Wonder Woman is an important and iconic figure for understanding the dynamics of culture in the United States. In the era of #MeToo and TimesUp, Wonder Woman is a character that defies normative boundaries of gendered expectations.
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Date Issued
2019
Identifier
CFE0007641, ucf:52515
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007641
"TRULY AN AWESOME SPECTACLE": GENDER PERFORMATIVITY AND THE ALIENATION EFFECT IN ANGELS IN AMERICA
Title
"TRULY AN AWESOME SPECTACLE": GENDER PERFORMATIVITY AND THE ALIENATION EFFECT IN ANGELS IN AMERICA.
Creator
Gorney, Allen, Campbell, James, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Tony Kushner's two-part play Angels in America uses stereotypical depictions of gay men to deconstruct traditional gender dichotomies. In this thesis, I argue that Kushner has created a continuum of gender performativity to deconstruct these traditional gender dichotomies, thereby empowering the effeminate and disempowering the masculine. I closely examine Kushner's use of Brechtian and Aristotelian tenets in the first Broadway production of the play to demonstrate that Kushner sought to...
Show moreTony Kushner's two-part play Angels in America uses stereotypical depictions of gay men to deconstruct traditional gender dichotomies. In this thesis, I argue that Kushner has created a continuum of gender performativity to deconstruct these traditional gender dichotomies, thereby empowering the effeminate and disempowering the masculine. I closely examine Kushner's use of Brechtian and Aristotelian tenets in the first Broadway production of the play to demonstrate that Kushner sought to induce social awareness of gay male oppression, contingent on the audience's perception of Kushner's deconstruction of the traditional gender dichotomy. I also scrutinize the role of the closet and its implications in the play, primarily analyzed with Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's theoretical framework, suggesting Kushner's partiality to openly gay men who can actively participate in the cessation of gay male oppression.
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Date Issued
2005
Identifier
CFE0000901, ucf:46731
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000901
The Inclusion of Women's History in the Secondary Social Studies Classroom
Title
The Inclusion of Women's History in the Secondary Social Studies Classroom.
Creator
Scheiner-Fisher, Cicely, Russell, William, Hewitt, Randall, Hartshorne, Charles, Fine, Terri, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
The author examined the motivation for why, and methods of how, some secondary social studies teachers incorporate women's voices into the traditional history framework. A multi-layered qualitative methodology was employed for this study using survey, case study, and phenomenological approaches, including interviews and classroom observations of participants. The researcher discovered the percentage of teachers who claim to incorporate women's history/perspectives into their lessons; how...
Show moreThe author examined the motivation for why, and methods of how, some secondary social studies teachers incorporate women's voices into the traditional history framework. A multi-layered qualitative methodology was employed for this study using survey, case study, and phenomenological approaches, including interviews and classroom observations of participants. The researcher discovered the percentage of teachers who claim to incorporate women's history/perspectives into their lessons; how teachers incorporate women's history/perspectives into their lessons; and, the factors that contribute to teachers including women's history/perspectives into their classes.?
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Date Issued
2013
Identifier
CFE0004933, ucf:49623
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004933
THE PERFORMANCE OF HEALTH? MOTIVATIONS BEHIND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' DECISIONS TO WEAR ATHLETIC ATTIRE
Title
THE PERFORMANCE OF HEALTH? MOTIVATIONS BEHIND UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' DECISIONS TO WEAR ATHLETIC ATTIRE.
Creator
Payne, Shannon, Mishtal, Joanna, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
"Athleisure" is a relatively new term to the American lexicon, a portmanteau used to describe athletic clothing used for leisure purposes. Recent studies show a disconnect between consumers' desire to purchase athletic attire and the percentage of Americans considered "active to a healthy level and beyond." While athletic wear sales skyrocket, reported levels of inactivity have slowly increased in recent years. These trends indicate a phenomenon in which consumers prioritize ownership of...
Show more"Athleisure" is a relatively new term to the American lexicon, a portmanteau used to describe athletic clothing used for leisure purposes. Recent studies show a disconnect between consumers' desire to purchase athletic attire and the percentage of Americans considered "active to a healthy level and beyond." While athletic wear sales skyrocket, reported levels of inactivity have slowly increased in recent years. These trends indicate a phenomenon in which consumers prioritize ownership of athletic wear over athletics. In this research, I set out to answer the following research questions: How do university students interpret and understand the purchase and wearing of athletic clothes, in the absence of athletic activity; and is a student's decision to wear athletic clothing for nonathletic activity associated with a symbolic performance of a healthy lifestyle? In order to answer these questions, I focused on a set of UCF students between 18 and 24 years of age who wore athletic attire as leisure attire and exercised less than three times a week. My data collection included participant observation, literature review, semi-structured interviews, and a focus group. I conducted semi-structured interviews with 18 UCF students who fit my inclusion criteria. Based on recurring narratives, I invited interview participants back to hold a focus group in which three students ultimately participated. In analyzing these data, I found that college students consider athletic attire suitable for a variety of casual situations, and therefore did not conflate wearing athletic attire with participating in athletic activity or the appearance of a healthy lifestyle. Further, research participants used age- and gender-based stereotypes when making judgments about their peers' habits regarding athletic activity and wearing athletic attire. These findings are important because they demonstrate how the boundary between public and private attire can change over time, how discourses of consumption outweigh discourses of personal responsibility, and how dress is a gendered experience.
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Date Issued
2015
Identifier
CFH0004855, ucf:45469
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004855
SCIENCE SELF-EFFICACY IN TENTH GRADE HISPANIC FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
Title
SCIENCE SELF-EFFICACY IN TENTH GRADE HISPANIC FEMALE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.
Creator
Miller, Maria, Biraimah, Karen, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Historical data have demonstrated an underrepresentation of females and minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions. The purpose of the study considered the variables of gender and ethnicity collectively in relationship to tenth grade Hispanic females' perception of their self-efficacy in science. The correlation of science self-efficacy to science academic achievement was also studied. Possible interventions for use with female Hispanic minority...
Show moreHistorical data have demonstrated an underrepresentation of females and minorities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions. The purpose of the study considered the variables of gender and ethnicity collectively in relationship to tenth grade Hispanic females' perception of their self-efficacy in science. The correlation of science self-efficacy to science academic achievement was also studied. Possible interventions for use with female Hispanic minority populations might help increase participation in STEM field preparation during the high school career. A population of 272 students was chosen through convenience sampling methods, including 80 Hispanic females. Students were administered a 27-item questionnaire taken directly from the Smist (1993) Science Self-efficacy Questionnaire (SSEQ). Three science self-efficacy factors were successfully extracted and included Academic Engagement Self-efficacy (M=42.57), Laboratory Self-efficacy (M=25.44), and Biology Self-efficacy (M=19.35). Each factor showed a significant positive correlation (p<.01) to each of the other two factors. ANOVA procedures compared all female subgroups in their science self-efficacy perceptions. Asian/Pacific and Native American females had higher self-efficacy mean scores as compared to White, Black and Hispanic females on all three extracted science self-efficacy factors. Asian/Pacific females had the highest mean scores. No statistically significant correlations were found between science-self-efficacy and a measure of science achievement. Two high-ability and two low-ability Hispanic females were randomly chosen to participate in a brief structured interview. Three general themes emerged. Classroom Variables, Outside School Variables, and Personal Variables were subsequently divided into sub themes influenced by participants' views of science, It was concluded that Hispanic female science self-efficacy was among the subgroups which self-scored the lowest. Asian/Pacific and Native American females fared better than White, Black, and Hispanic female counterparts respectively. Triangulation of interview and quantitative data showed that classroom factors, specifically academic engagement, influenced participant perceptions of science self efficacy the greatest. Suggested further studies on the impact of science self-efficacy and science achievement are discussed. Information gleaned from the continued study of science self-efficacy may influence the ability of traditionally underrepresented racial/ethnic females to persist in their science preparation and training in an effort to prevent leaving the STEM pipeline at this crucial juncture.
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Date Issued
2006
Identifier
CFE0000933, ucf:46743
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000933
LITTLE WOMEN: STUDY OF FEMALE REPRESENTATIONS IN TEEN FILMS AND HOW THOSE REPRESENTATIONS HAVE AFFECTED GENDER PERCEPTIONS
Title
LITTLE WOMEN: STUDY OF FEMALE REPRESENTATIONS IN TEEN FILMS AND HOW THOSE REPRESENTATIONS HAVE AFFECTED GENDER PERCEPTIONS.
Creator
Santiago, Maillim, Gay, Andrew, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Although teen film is littered with tales of young women coming of age, the messages presented in most of these films follow a formula centered on a patriarchal nuclear family ideal, which leads to damaging perceptions regarding gender roles in teenage society. There is the main traditional model of stay at home mother with a father in the role of the breadwinner; the rise of rape culture; and the glass ceiling in the workplace. The young females consuming a mass amount of this media then...
Show moreAlthough teen film is littered with tales of young women coming of age, the messages presented in most of these films follow a formula centered on a patriarchal nuclear family ideal, which leads to damaging perceptions regarding gender roles in teenage society. There is the main traditional model of stay at home mother with a father in the role of the breadwinner; the rise of rape culture; and the glass ceiling in the workplace. The young females consuming a mass amount of this media then reflect negatively on themselves. The research following this conundrum was broken into two parts: the production of a film looking to remedy the many problems of female representation in teen media and then monitoring the reaction to said film against its target audience: young females between the ages of fifteen and twenty-one. The purpose of this thesis is to explore what makes females within the teenage demographic react to certain kinds of media. If they react negatively or positively towards a media representation of themselves, to what extent does this affect the participants' activity in their daily lives? Therefore, through a process of screening three short films focused on teen issues - including the one made by myself for this study - and then conducting a survey focusing on questions regarding the participants' feelings towards the subject matter, their hopes for themselves, and teen media in general, there was an ability to gauge how deeply teen media affects the modern teenager.
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Date Issued
2013
Identifier
CFH0004382, ucf:45009
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004382