In Can You See Me?, a collection of nine short stories, Elizabeth Wyckoff explores the conflicting desires of young women who long for connection, but struggle to find the balance between concealing and revealing themselves. The female protagonists in these stories simultaneously yearn to be seen, recognized, and acknowledged; and...
This thesis explores the reasons for conversion to Islam for ten well-educated, Caucasian, American born women of European descent in a small, relatively affluent college town in Oregon, United States. It follows their process of constructing a new identity with their families, with friends, within the Muslim community and within...
While a great deal is known about the benefits of being culturally identified as attractive, very little is known about the lived experiences of beautiful women. In this study, 21 adult women who are currently employed as models or represented by modeling agencies participated in open-ended interviews, and their responses...
The purpose of the study is to explore the life experiences, identities, and self-esteem of a group of Mexican women who attend Even Start, a family literacy program. The study also focuses on the effect that the program has on the women's self-identities. I chose qualitative research considering I was...
This research explored the self-concept of Chicanas in terms of their lived experiences and how those experiences influenced the shaping of their identity. It examined the multiple labels Chicanas use to self-identify and the context or situations in which they use specific labels. Moreover, it took into account the influence...
Bisexual females experience unique forms of discrimination, but are often overlooked in scholarship. Recent research focuses on various aspects of bisexuality, yet female bisexuality is largely overlooked. Many existing studies focus on the experiences of bisexuals, rather than on social constructions of the identity and the role communication plays in...
MySpace is a social network phenomenon with over 100 million profiles
and a strong presence in over 24 countries. As digital media become more
commonplace, social networks are becoming sites where women create and
manage relationships and identities. This thesis is a study of how women
ages 18-22 are constructing...
The Islamic faith is a growing global religion; the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life (2011) estimates that globally the Muslim population is 1.6 billion and will increase to 2.2 billion by 2030. As the population of Muslims grows the apparent misunderstandings of the faith among Western societies are...
This thesis presents the steps that were taken to develop thematic findings using data from a qualitative study. Using a grounded approach, the study focused on qualitatively exploring Mexican origin caregivers' conceptualizations of elder caregiving in terms of role functioning, social norms, cultural beliefs, and familial obligations. Data collected from...
The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of dress and queer women and how their sexual identity influences their appearance management behaviors. I answered the following research questions: (1) How is gender identity constructed and negotiated in different spaces for queer? (2) Does sexual identity influence dress...