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Title: Multiple birth families, religion, and cultural hegemony: patriarchal constructions in reality television.
Creator: Cittadino, Emily M., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: Reality television programming chronicling the daily workings of multiple birth families within American culture has gained notoriety in recent years. Such programs, especially Discovery Health and TLC's 17, 18 Kids and Counting and TLC's Jon and Kate Plus Ei8ht, film, edit and broadcast the "everyday" life of these families. This research study focuses attention on hegemonic ideologies surrounding family values, motherhood, gender roles and religious faith, illuminated through textual and...
Show moreReality television programming chronicling the daily workings of multiple birth families within American culture has gained notoriety in recent years. Such programs, especially Discovery Health and TLC's 17, 18 Kids and Counting and TLC's Jon and Kate Plus Ei8ht, film, edit and broadcast the "everyday" life of these families. This research study focuses attention on hegemonic ideologies surrounding family values, motherhood, gender roles and religious faith, illuminated through textual and audience analysis. Working from an interdisciplinary approach combining feminist media and cultural studies, this study finds that hegemonic notions of family values, gender representations, religious faith and conceptions of motherhood are evident to varying degrees in the television texts and accepted by fans who negotiate their meanings online.
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2684311
Subject Headings: Mass media and culture, Feminist theory, Popular culture, Women in popular culture, Reality television programs, Social aspects, Television program genres, Sex role in popular culture
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Commodification of sexual labor: the contribution of Internet communities to prostitution reform.
Creator: Young, Jeffrey R., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
Abstract/Description: This is an ethnographic study of a self-regulated Internet site that facilitates illegal female prostitution in South Florida. The purpose is to identify the social and economic characteristics of the site that can contribute to acceptable prostitution reform. The members of the site appear to sustain an orderly and mutually respectful exchange of sexual services for money, suggesting that certain social and economic features of this form of transaction diminish barriers otherwise present in...
Show moreThis is an ethnographic study of a self-regulated Internet site that facilitates illegal female prostitution in South Florida. The purpose is to identify the social and economic characteristics of the site that can contribute to acceptable prostitution reform. The members of the site appear to sustain an orderly and mutually respectful exchange of sexual services for money, suggesting that certain social and economic features of this form of transaction diminish barriers otherwise present in typical forms of contemporary prostitution exchange. The study evaluates the thesis that when commercial sex is conducted in an open atmosphere of respect, trust and mutual understanding, within certain economic parameters, the beliefs and practices that stigmatize prostitutes and prostitution are neutralized. Evidence was generated through extensive observation of an online venue that approximates what prostitution would be like if open market exchange in sexual labor did exist. These data are supplemented by interviews with participants of the online community. Features of mutual respect, trust, and understanding, characteristically absent in traditional prostitution venues, appear to be part of an emerging community phenomenon that facilitates prostitution online. Thus, this study engages with the larger scholarly position that normalization of sex work is necessary for successful prostitution reform. This community utilizes a non-legal enforcement mechanism to facilitate cooperative exchanges based on establishing trust between participants. At the center of the cooperation system is a reputation mechanism that fosters trust between potential partners by encouraging participants to post honest reviews of their encounters with each other., Understanding the social order as a cooperation game where participants publicly signal each other in an attempt to find the most desirable partners explains the mutual trust and respect that participants have for each other. Because stigma and disrespect are founded on mistrust, this cooperation mechanism is effective in minimizing undesirable attitudes, beliefs, and practices that stigmatize and oppress prostitutes. This study suggests that prostitution reform acceptable to many feminists is possible. But in order for meaningful reform to work in practice, it must be accompanied by regulations carefully designed to protect the sexual autonomy of women without stigmatizing prostitutes.
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Date Issued: 2009
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/369391
Subject Headings: Sex, Political aspects, Prostitution, Social aspects, Autonomy (Psychology), Women in popular culture
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Disney's representations of gender and family in three animated films: The construction of myth in popular culture.
Creator: Siemens, Linda Beth., Florida Atlantic University, Budd, Michael N.
Abstract/Description: The tremendous changes in the lives of American women and the dynamics of the American family have gone unnoticed by Disney in some of its animated films. Aside from a few superficial changes, representations of Disney's heroines consistently depict them within the limiting boundaries of stereotypically traditional women. Disney's families also remain firmly within the traditional patriarchal mold. This thesis applies ideological film criticism to Disney's films The Little Mermaid (1989),...
Show moreThe tremendous changes in the lives of American women and the dynamics of the American family have gone unnoticed by Disney in some of its animated films. Aside from a few superficial changes, representations of Disney's heroines consistently depict them within the limiting boundaries of stereotypically traditional women. Disney's families also remain firmly within the traditional patriarchal mold. This thesis applies ideological film criticism to Disney's films The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), in the contention that these films function to refine and promote a static, sexist, and decidedly patriarchal myth.
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Date Issued: 2002
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12956
Subject Headings: Walt Disney Company, Animated films--Criticism and interpretation, Popular culture, Women in motion pictures
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The Meryl Streep mystique: a study of gender, aging, Hollywood and a female star.
Creator: Allerton, Tracy., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: This thesis employs a star study of Meryl Streep, incorporating pertinent feminist, reception and culture-studies theories, to investigate biases within the Hollywood film industry. The actress has enjoyed a resurgence as a leading lady at age 61. Streep's star persona, acting prowess and career arc are examined across three theoretical platforms - production of culture, textual analysis, and audience analysis - or clues as to why she has been singled out among her peers. This thesis posits...
Show moreThis thesis employs a star study of Meryl Streep, incorporating pertinent feminist, reception and culture-studies theories, to investigate biases within the Hollywood film industry. The actress has enjoyed a resurgence as a leading lady at age 61. Streep's star persona, acting prowess and career arc are examined across three theoretical platforms - production of culture, textual analysis, and audience analysis - or clues as to why she has been singled out among her peers. This thesis posits that Streep's unique star image and surge in popularity have helped her break out of hegemonic articulations of gender and aging that privilege youthful beauty, putting female stars at a disadvantage within the capitalistic film industry. Also considered is the cultural significance of Streep's late-life success: Does she represent new openings for older actresses (and concomitantly, an increase in film representations of aging women), or is she merely an anomaly within the entrenched patriarchal system?
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Date Issued: 2010
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2867329
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Sex role in motion pictures, Women in motion pictures, Middle age in motion pictures, Women in popular culture
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: " Is it my fault my fangs come out when I'm turned on?": a feminist analysis of Pam and Jessica's vampire sexuality in the HBO television series True Blood.
Creator: Anderson, Ashley., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, School of Communication and Multimedia Studies
Abstract/Description: This thesis analyzes Pamela Swynford De Beaufort and Jessica Hamby from the provocative HBO series, True Blood, in order to determine what hegemonic ideologies are reinforced through their sexual representation in the series. Through analysis based on concepts of the "vagina dentata" and "monstrous feminine," and in determining whether they fall victim to the Madonna/wore dichotomy, the question of Pam and Jessica's autonomous existence falls under scrutiny - particularly in regards to their...
Show moreThis thesis analyzes Pamela Swynford De Beaufort and Jessica Hamby from the provocative HBO series, True Blood, in order to determine what hegemonic ideologies are reinforced through their sexual representation in the series. Through analysis based on concepts of the "vagina dentata" and "monstrous feminine," and in determining whether they fall victim to the Madonna/wore dichotomy, the question of Pam and Jessica's autonomous existence falls under scrutiny - particularly in regards to their sexuality. Feminist scholarship is vital to this research in order to examine the often fetishized and marginalized sexuality of women who dare to exhibit transgressive behaviors. This thesis concentrates on Seasons One through Four of the series, and also utilizes meta-text from the official website related to each character in order to help answer the posed research questions.
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Date Issued: 2012
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3356897
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Women in popular culture, Vampires on television, Lesbianism on television, Feminist theory, Philosophy in literature
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Towards a feminist funny: exploring myth, power and postfeminism in the work of Chelsea Handler.
Creator: Walleser, Lauren., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Center for Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Abstract/Description: Chelsea Handler is a comedian and host of the TV show Chelsea Lately. She has been successful in the late night comedy talk show genre to a degree that no woman has before. While she represents the most significant advancement for women in the genre, she also plays to patriarchal themes in order to maintain her foothold. In my thesis, I locate Handler within the history of women's stand-up comedy, analyzing her appeal via the figure of "The Unruly Woman" and other image types. I apply a...
Show moreChelsea Handler is a comedian and host of the TV show Chelsea Lately. She has been successful in the late night comedy talk show genre to a degree that no woman has before. While she represents the most significant advancement for women in the genre, she also plays to patriarchal themes in order to maintain her foothold. In my thesis, I locate Handler within the history of women's stand-up comedy, analyzing her appeal via the figure of "The Unruly Woman" and other image types. I apply a mythic analysis as I look for Handler's manifestation of mythic types, including archetypal Goddess representations. I analyze her treatment of violence against women, exploring how Handler approaches these themes in ways that allow her into the "old boys club." I use textual and audience analysis to assess Handler's ability to be a transformative and empowering figure for women in comedy and beyond.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3322513
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Women in popular culture, Feminist theory, Performance art, Social aspects, Mass media and women
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: The discourse of the divine: radical traditions of black feminism, musicking, and myth within the black public sphere (civil rights to the present).
Creator: Carter, Issac Martel, White, Derrick, Florida Atlantic University, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of History
Abstract/Description: The Discourse of the Divine: Radical Traditions of Black Feminism, Musicking,and Myth within the Black Public Sphere (Civil Rights to the Present) is an exploration of the historical precursors and the contemporary developments of Black feminism in America, via Black female musical production and West and Central African cosmology. Historical continuity and consciousness of African spirituality within the development of Black feminism are analyzed alongside the musical practices of two Black...
Show moreThe Discourse of the Divine: Radical Traditions of Black Feminism, Musicking,and Myth within the Black Public Sphere (Civil Rights to the Present) is an exploration of the historical precursors and the contemporary developments of Black feminism in America, via Black female musical production and West and Central African cosmology. Historical continuity and consciousness of African spirituality within the development of Black feminism are analyzed alongside the musical practices of two Black female musicians, Nina Simone and Me’shell Ndegéocello. Simone and Ndegéocello, The High Priestess of Soul and the Mother of Neo-Soul, respectively, distend the commodified confines of Black music and identity by challenging the established norms of music and knowledge production. These artists’ lyrics, politics, and representations substantiate the “Signifyin(g)” elements of West and Central African feminist mythologies and music- making traditions.
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Date Issued: 2015
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004434, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00004434
Subject Headings: African American women -- Social conditions, African American women -- Spirituality, African American women in popular culture, Feminist theory, NdegéOcello, Me'Shell -- 1969- -- Music -- Influence, Simone, Nina -- 1933-2003 -- Music -- Influence, Womanist theology
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Heeding the Antiheroine's Call: the Rise of the Antiheroine in Literature and Popular Culture.
Creator: Lyles-Scott, Cynthia C., Childrey, John, Florida Atlantic University
Abstract/Description: In my thesis, I argue three assertions: 1) that the 21 st Century antiheroine who has figured so prominently in literature and film is an evolution of the heroine archetype that combines both the action-oriented traditional male hero archetype and the tragically flawed, antagonistic anti-heroine archetype, 2) that the foundation for this newly modified pop culture antiheroine can be traced back to Margaret Mitchell's iconic character, Scarlett O'Hara, and finally 3) that this new modem...
Show moreIn my thesis, I argue three assertions: 1) that the 21 st Century antiheroine who has figured so prominently in literature and film is an evolution of the heroine archetype that combines both the action-oriented traditional male hero archetype and the tragically flawed, antagonistic anti-heroine archetype, 2) that the foundation for this newly modified pop culture antiheroine can be traced back to Margaret Mitchell's iconic character, Scarlett O'Hara, and finally 3) that this new modem heroine archetype, the antiheroine, has become an integral part of popular culture, both in literature and film as well as other popular media. As my primary texts I used Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind, the David O. Selznick film ofthe same title, Joseph Campbell's The Hero with a Thousand Faces, as well as several other primary and secondary sources, including the published volume of Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind related letters.
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Date Issued: 2007
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000935
Subject Headings: Mitchell, Margaret,--1900-1949--Gone with the wind--Criticism and interpretation, Campbell, Joseph,--1904-1987--Hero with a thousand faces--Criticism and interpretation, Women in literature, Heroines in literature, Popular culture--United States--20th century
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Studied girlhoods: consciousness, context, and negotiation of identity in the memoirs of Dorothy Allison, Mary Karr, and Barbara Robinette Moss.
Creator: Dilgen, Regina., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Languages, Linguistics and Comparative Literature
Abstract/Description: Dorothy Allison's Two or Three Things I Know for Sure, Mary Karr's The Liars' Club, and Barbara Robinette Moss's Change Me into Zeus's Daughter are memoirs published in the 1990s of girlhoods in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This dissertation uses and expands upon the approaches of the multi-disciplinary Girls' Studies in analyzing how these memoirists theorize their own girlhoods. Each memoirist represents her experience in a culture that attempts to marginalize, silence, and define her....
Show moreDorothy Allison's Two or Three Things I Know for Sure, Mary Karr's The Liars' Club, and Barbara Robinette Moss's Change Me into Zeus's Daughter are memoirs published in the 1990s of girlhoods in the late 1950s and early 1960s. This dissertation uses and expands upon the approaches of the multi-disciplinary Girls' Studies in analyzing how these memoirists theorize their own girlhoods. Each memoirist represents her experience in a culture that attempts to marginalize, silence, and define her. An application of the foundational work on girlhood in developmental psychology provides for an analysis of each memoirist's depiction of girlhood as a time of authentic insight and developing agency. Referencing feminist literary criticism allows for an interpretation of how the girls at the center of these works develop agency through growing awareness of the circumstances of their marginalization. And a semiotic literary interpretation adds to the analysis of these works as creative autobiogra phical writing in affording a close reading of how the memoirists portray younger selves learning to read the signs and texts of a culture and becoming aware of their status as girls in working-class families. Each memoirist uses a dual vocal presentation as both the adult memoirist and a younger self give shape to the narrative. Each memoirist represents a distinct southern space intersecting with specifics of the era to form a cultural moment. Social Construction Theory makes available a basis for considering how the memoirists narrate their increasing understanding of race and gender within these specific contexts as well as their resistive voicing of these insights., Through a Cultural Studies focus this dissertation examines how each memoirist represents a younger self's negotiations with cultural products of the era that work to construct girlhood. Adding to this unpacking of how the memoirists study their own girlhoods, the tools of Postco for an analysis of how the memoirists theorize their own girlhoods in ways that parallel these approaches. This dissertation adds to the evolving field of Girls' Studies in using contemporary theoretical frameworks to interpret how girlhood is constructed, represented, and negotiated with in these memoirs.
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Date Issued: 2011
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3332175
Subject Headings: Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Self in literature, Popular culture, Working class women
Format: Document (PDF)

Women in popular culture (5)	+ -
Criticism and interpretation (4)	+ -
Feminist theory (4)	+ -
Popular culture (3)	+ -
Social aspects (3)	+ -

Women in motion pictures (2)	+ -
African American women -- Social conditions (1)	+ -
African American women -- Spirituality (1)	+ -
African American women in popular culture (1)	+ -
Animated films--Criticism and interpretation (1)	+ -
Autonomy (Psychology) (1)	+ -
Campbell, Joseph,--1904-1987--Hero with a thousand faces--Criticism and interpretation (1)	+ -
Heroines in literature (1)	+ -
Lesbianism on television (1)	+ -
Mass media and culture (1)	+ -
Mass media and women (1)	+ -
Middle age in motion pictures (1)	+ -
Mitchell, Margaret,--1900-1949--Gone with the wind--Criticism and interpretation (1)	+ -
NdegéOcello, Me'Shell -- 1969- -- Music -- Influence (1)	+ -
Performance art (1)	+ -
Philosophy in literature (1)	+ -
Political aspects (1)	+ -
Popular culture--United States--20th century (1)	+ -
Prostitution (1)	+ -
Reality television programs (1)	+ -
Self in literature (1)	+ -
Sex (1)	+ -
Sex role in motion pictures (1)	+ -
Sex role in popular culture (1)	+ -
Simone, Nina -- 1933-2003 -- Music -- Influence (1)	+ -

Change me into Zeus's daughter. (1)	+ -
Liars' club. (1)	+ -
True blood (Television program). (1)	+ -
Two or three things I know for sure. (1)	+ -

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters (7)	+ -
Florida Atlantic University (3)	+ -
School of Communication and Multimedia Studies (3)	+ -
Allerton, Tracy. (1)	+ -
Anderson, Ashley. (1)	+ -

Budd, Michael N. (1)	+ -
Carter, Issac Martel (1)	+ -
Center for Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies (1)	+ -
Childrey, John (1)	+ -
Cittadino, Emily M. (1)	+ -
Department of Anthropology (1)	+ -
Department of History (1)	+ -
Department of Languages, Linguistics and Comparative Literature (1)	+ -
Dilgen, Regina. (1)	+ -
Lyles-Scott, Cynthia C. (1)	+ -
Siemens, Linda Beth. (1)	+ -
Walleser, Lauren. (1)	+ -
White, Derrick (1)	+ -
Young, Jeffrey R. (1)	+ -

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