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- Title
- The coastal Ecuadorian Travestâi: an analysis of social space.
- Creator
- Brooks, Eve E., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
- Abstract/Description
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This research is based on an ethnographic study conducted in 2008. The study took place in Ecuador's coastal province of Manabâi and investigates the lives of a community of transvestite males, known locally as travestâis. This research holds that the social space in which the travestâis live and work, in Puerto Lopez, is negotiated and maintained through a complex interchange of three key factors: the experience of mother's love, the local economy, and sexual desire. The social space itself...
Show moreThis research is based on an ethnographic study conducted in 2008. The study took place in Ecuador's coastal province of Manabâi and investigates the lives of a community of transvestite males, known locally as travestâis. This research holds that the social space in which the travestâis live and work, in Puerto Lopez, is negotiated and maintained through a complex interchange of three key factors: the experience of mother's love, the local economy, and sexual desire. The social space itself is defined as a "binary passage." Most of the travestâis are employed as hairdressers, and they draw a wide range of clientele from Puerto Lopez and surrounding smaller villages. Yet, how is it that travestâis can lead open and productive lives in a region that highly values machismo? This research focuses on both the origins of the travestâis' social space and the means by which it is maintained through key discourses.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/368610
- Subject Headings
- Transvestism, Social aspects, Gender identity, Homosexuality, Social aspects, Men, Sexual behavior
- 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
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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.
Show less - 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
- Cultural perspectives among children of Guatemalan Maya immigrants in Lake Worth, Florida.
- Creator
- Sprague, Tara., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
- Abstract/Description
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Every day children of Guatemalan Maya immigrants balance two cultures. They reside in The United States and attend American schools but are being raised by their Guatemalan Maya parents. They continually navigate between the two and are faced with challenges daily. Since these children are influenced by two cultures, my interest was primarily on the cultural perspectives of these children, more specifically: what effects does the new culture have on the old? Through volunteering at a...
Show moreEvery day children of Guatemalan Maya immigrants balance two cultures. They reside in The United States and attend American schools but are being raised by their Guatemalan Maya parents. They continually navigate between the two and are faced with challenges daily. Since these children are influenced by two cultures, my interest was primarily on the cultural perspectives of these children, more specifically: what effects does the new culture have on the old? Through volunteering at a Guatemalan Maya after-school program, interviewing and administering the Children's Apperception Test, results showed these children to be influenced by American culture. The biggest indicator, play, was reported to be an important aspect in their lives, which is not considered essential in Maya culture. At the same time, these children keep close ties to their cultural heritage through their strong family ties. Overall, these children are influenced by American culture, but at the same time, keep their heritage.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3352884
- Subject Headings
- Children of immigrants, Social aspects, Guatemalans, Social conditions, Immigrants, Cultural assimilation, Guatemalan Americans, Ethnic identity
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Long-term post-Katrina volunteerism: the ethics of an imported solidarity.
- Creator
- D'Aloia, Susan., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
- Abstract/Description
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The trauma and devastation that resulted from Hurricane Katrina's landfall on August 29, 2005, produced a wide spread public perception of government neglect and ineptitude. Subsequently, a period of nationwide shame and concern for those most affected by the disaster elicited a wave of financial generosity from all social sectors. Yet, by late 2005 the media declared that the majority of Americans had become desensitized to the tragedy and its consequences, coining this shift in public...
Show moreThe trauma and devastation that resulted from Hurricane Katrina's landfall on August 29, 2005, produced a wide spread public perception of government neglect and ineptitude. Subsequently, a period of nationwide shame and concern for those most affected by the disaster elicited a wave of financial generosity from all social sectors. Yet, by late 2005 the media declared that the majority of Americans had become desensitized to the tragedy and its consequences, coining this shift in public perception as "Katrina fatigue." Thousands of volunteers contradicted this phenomenon, however, by performing service in the devastated city of New Orleans. Long-term volunteers defied "Katrina fatigue" by redirecting the trajectory of their lives so they could provide service. Conventionally accepted volunteer theory predicts that volunteers provide service and that their labor operates in conjunction with institutionally supported mechanisms of security and services., However, for the volunteer subjects in this study, Katrina and its immediate aftermath shattered the trust in such institutions. These volunteers did not assume that their service operated in conjunction with state sponsored agencies or corporations. Rather, they viewed their own acts of service as the means of promoting the recovery. This qualitative case study examines the deliberated choices and actions performed by long-term volunteers between the years 2005 and 2009. The primary subjects in this investigation include 15 volunteers who performed long-term and/or repeat delegations of service within organized networks. Volunteer subjects believed that if they did not perform the services they did, these services might not get done. Volunteers internalized contours of the larger political economy and their own perceived role within them. Performing service functioned partially to counteract this internalization and simultaneously redirect their lives., Second Line, a New Orleans street tradition of neighborhood processions, reveals more of what drives the long-term volunteer's desire. The root practice of Second Line processions embodies a form of cognitive liberation for the disenfranchised as the processions interrupt normal arrangements of order and power in the city, albeit temporarily. Volunteers desire to connect with poor and working class Black people in this capacity, and their attempts to do so played out in contexts that sometimes disrupted institutional or corporate power, constituting a demand for change on behalf of Katrina victims.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3360619
- Subject Headings
- Hurricane Katrina, 2005, Social aspects, DIsaster relief, Emergency management, Social capital
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- We are what we eat: food consumption and identity in the United States.
- Creator
- Dates, Marlena Kay., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
- Abstract/Description
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In the modern United States, capitalism is the predominant cultural value that structures the food system. The current American relationship to food is strained, at best, as two-thirds of Americans experience overweight and obesity and are at risk for a number of serious health complications. An understanding of the historic and political-economic aspects of the American food system is necessary to address the effects of our modern food habits on our ideas of our selves. This thesis analyzes...
Show moreIn the modern United States, capitalism is the predominant cultural value that structures the food system. The current American relationship to food is strained, at best, as two-thirds of Americans experience overweight and obesity and are at risk for a number of serious health complications. An understanding of the historic and political-economic aspects of the American food system is necessary to address the effects of our modern food habits on our ideas of our selves. This thesis analyzes the types of foods Americans eat, why they make the food choices that they do, how they feel about their eating habits and their habits' effects on their bodies, and how this all relates to our sense of identity as Americans.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186678
- Subject Headings
- Food consumption, Food habits, Nutrition, Social aspects, Diet, Popular culture
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- " You're too late!": prenatal health seeking behaviors of Guatemalan Mayan women in Palm Beach County.
- Creator
- Supanich, Colleen., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Anthropology
- Abstract/Description
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In this thesis I explore the circumstances in which pregnant Guatemalan Mayan women in South Florida communities found themselves. A local non-profit organization, the Guatemalan Maya Center (GMC), offered assistance to pregnant Mayan women to secure biomedical prenatal care, yet many continued to underutilize these services. The decision to utilize this form of care largely depended on whether a woman received care from a traditional midwife in the community. Women receiving care from a...
Show moreIn this thesis I explore the circumstances in which pregnant Guatemalan Mayan women in South Florida communities found themselves. A local non-profit organization, the Guatemalan Maya Center (GMC), offered assistance to pregnant Mayan women to secure biomedical prenatal care, yet many continued to underutilize these services. The decision to utilize this form of care largely depended on whether a woman received care from a traditional midwife in the community. Women receiving care from a midwife generally did not seek biomedical care until late in their pregnancies. Women unable to locate a midwife often incorporated biomedical care once they suspected pregnancy. Due to the difficulties accessing the GMC's services prior to enrollment many of these women did not obtain "timely" care. A better understanding of the ways in which Guatemalan Mayan women incorporated biomedical prenatal care into their lives is the first step towards increasing their participation in these services.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/192990
- Subject Headings
- Maya women, Medical care, Prenatal care, Maternal health services, Midwifery, Social aspects, Migrant agricultural laborers, Medical care
- Format
- Document (PDF)