Gender Identity and Expression

Presentation Location

VSU University Center, Magnolia Room 2

Document Type

Event

Start Date

11-3-2023 11:30 AM

End Date

11-3-2023 1:00 PM

Description

Gender Identity and Expression (Elizabeth Rivera, Session Chair)

  • Sumiya Mahmud. (Arizona State university, Tempe) Transnational Experience of ‘Homemaking’ among Bangladeshi Female Migrants across Continents.
    My comparative ethnographic study among South Asian immigrants in the United States and Qatar looks at migrants’ satisfaction and migratory condition with particular emphasis on female migrant’s conception of homemaking in their new destination countries. Access to citizenship plays a vital role in migrants’ ability to establish home and belonging in their destination country. Despite US citizenship, many of my interviewees in the US shares the experience of rigorous marginalization and exclusion. By contrast, female migrants in Qatar reportedly experience deep sense of belonging despite their temporary visa status in the Gulf. Comparing the perspectives of these female migrants in the US and Qatar, I explore the role of the destination state in shaping their perception of home and strategies of belonging. I recognize that the experience of being “at home” is shaped by factors including the presence of ethnic and religious communities in addition to economic integration and legal immigration status. I also observe how gender dimension plays as an exclusive determinant in “Homemaking” experience in the host society. Hence my research findings offer critical insights and understanding about migrants’ integration and transnationalism experience through a unique lens and frame.
  • Elizabeth Rivera, Anne Price and Ellis Logan (Valdosta State University) “Childfree” Movement: How Individuals Negotiate Identities on Reddit.
    This research project focuses on how individuals navigate their choice of not procreating, thus placing them as a member of the “Childfree Movement.” Individuals in this movement showcase a high degree of agency despite social and cultural pressure to procreate. Content analysis was performed on the user-generated Reddit posts under the “Childfree” subreddit in March 2021 and March 2022. These posts are coded thematically based on the primary rationale for choosing to remain childfree (financial, medical, environmental, etc.). The posts' tone and demographics provided by the users have been collected, analyzed, and coded. Comparisons will be drawn between two months of data, highlighting how the conversations have changed in a year (before and after the announcement of Roe v. Wade going back to the Supreme Court). This research hopes to explore some of the key sociocultural factors that frame the childfree advocates’ decisions and the individual narratives negotiating in an online community.
  • Nashie Wesley. (Valdosta State University) How do Societies Socialize Gender Identity Expression and Sexual Orientation Through Institutions.
    Gender fluidity on college campuses is gaining popularity. Concepts and definitions that refer to sexual orientation, and gender identity are an ever-evolving field. This study Investigates how social institutions socialize and reinforce the constraints of gender and one’s performance. Participants in the study were between the ages of 18 and 22 in a public University in South Georgia. This study uses mixed methods to investigate gender expression; specifically, the study used participant observation to collect qualitative data and refine and frame the quantity analysis in a survey. The study will employ sociological concepts such as idioculture, anomie, some theoretical insights from Emile Durkheim using Kimberle Crenshaw’s intersectional framework. In terms of institutional influences, the project focuses on three main social institutions: family, religion, and education. These three main institutions are at the core of both societal functioning and our individual lives which create overlapping structural and individual influences which serve to restrain and reinforce the dominant gender hegemony. Initial results from the observational portion of the study indicate that the hegemonic societal gaze may create situations where individuals feel unsafe within certain institutions, in terms of expressing their gender freely or in establishing or negotiating their own gender identity.
  • Esther Darko. (Valdosta State University) Diversity and Inclusion: Intersectionality in the Workplace.
    The term Intersectionality was coined in 1989 by Kimberlé Crenshaw, a professor at Columbia Law School and the University of California Los Angeles. This theory discusses how race, class, gender, ethnicity and other individual characteristics “intersect” or overlap each other causing a complex system of oppression. Oftentimes, the pitfalls of intersectionality are seen in places of employment, when employees who belong to two or more underrepresented groups face discrimination and lack of opportunity. Companies that disregard intersectionality when creating their diversity and inclusion policies risk excluding a portion of their employees from their efforts. This in turn could negatively impact the operations of the company if it continues to be ignored. This research paper aims to demonstrate the importance of understanding the effects of intersectionality in order to promote diversity and inclusion within organizations and institutions. It also describes how failure to acknowledge complex oppression system could lead to discrimination in the workplace and stifle individuals from reaching their full potential. The goal of this paper is to review intersectionality theory, and assess how it relates to inequities in unemployment and wages, professional development, harassment and overall job satisfaction.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 
Mar 11th, 11:30 AM Mar 11th, 1:00 PM

Gender Identity and Expression

VSU University Center, Magnolia Room 2

Gender Identity and Expression (Elizabeth Rivera, Session Chair)

  • Sumiya Mahmud. (Arizona State university, Tempe) Transnational Experience of ‘Homemaking’ among Bangladeshi Female Migrants across Continents.
    My comparative ethnographic study among South Asian immigrants in the United States and Qatar looks at migrants’ satisfaction and migratory condition with particular emphasis on female migrant’s conception of homemaking in their new destination countries. Access to citizenship plays a vital role in migrants’ ability to establish home and belonging in their destination country. Despite US citizenship, many of my interviewees in the US shares the experience of rigorous marginalization and exclusion. By contrast, female migrants in Qatar reportedly experience deep sense of belonging despite their temporary visa status in the Gulf. Comparing the perspectives of these female migrants in the US and Qatar, I explore the role of the destination state in shaping their perception of home and strategies of belonging. I recognize that the experience of being “at home” is shaped by factors including the presence of ethnic and religious communities in addition to economic integration and legal immigration status. I also observe how gender dimension plays as an exclusive determinant in “Homemaking” experience in the host society. Hence my research findings offer critical insights and understanding about migrants’ integration and transnationalism experience through a unique lens and frame.
  • Elizabeth Rivera, Anne Price and Ellis Logan (Valdosta State University) “Childfree” Movement: How Individuals Negotiate Identities on Reddit.
    This research project focuses on how individuals navigate their choice of not procreating, thus placing them as a member of the “Childfree Movement.” Individuals in this movement showcase a high degree of agency despite social and cultural pressure to procreate. Content analysis was performed on the user-generated Reddit posts under the “Childfree” subreddit in March 2021 and March 2022. These posts are coded thematically based on the primary rationale for choosing to remain childfree (financial, medical, environmental, etc.). The posts' tone and demographics provided by the users have been collected, analyzed, and coded. Comparisons will be drawn between two months of data, highlighting how the conversations have changed in a year (before and after the announcement of Roe v. Wade going back to the Supreme Court). This research hopes to explore some of the key sociocultural factors that frame the childfree advocates’ decisions and the individual narratives negotiating in an online community.
  • Nashie Wesley. (Valdosta State University) How do Societies Socialize Gender Identity Expression and Sexual Orientation Through Institutions.
    Gender fluidity on college campuses is gaining popularity. Concepts and definitions that refer to sexual orientation, and gender identity are an ever-evolving field. This study Investigates how social institutions socialize and reinforce the constraints of gender and one’s performance. Participants in the study were between the ages of 18 and 22 in a public University in South Georgia. This study uses mixed methods to investigate gender expression; specifically, the study used participant observation to collect qualitative data and refine and frame the quantity analysis in a survey. The study will employ sociological concepts such as idioculture, anomie, some theoretical insights from Emile Durkheim using Kimberle Crenshaw’s intersectional framework. In terms of institutional influences, the project focuses on three main social institutions: family, religion, and education. These three main institutions are at the core of both societal functioning and our individual lives which create overlapping structural and individual influences which serve to restrain and reinforce the dominant gender hegemony. Initial results from the observational portion of the study indicate that the hegemonic societal gaze may create situations where individuals feel unsafe within certain institutions, in terms of expressing their gender freely or in establishing or negotiating their own gender identity.
  • Esther Darko. (Valdosta State University) Diversity and Inclusion: Intersectionality in the Workplace.
    The term Intersectionality was coined in 1989 by Kimberlé Crenshaw, a professor at Columbia Law School and the University of California Los Angeles. This theory discusses how race, class, gender, ethnicity and other individual characteristics “intersect” or overlap each other causing a complex system of oppression. Oftentimes, the pitfalls of intersectionality are seen in places of employment, when employees who belong to two or more underrepresented groups face discrimination and lack of opportunity. Companies that disregard intersectionality when creating their diversity and inclusion policies risk excluding a portion of their employees from their efforts. This in turn could negatively impact the operations of the company if it continues to be ignored. This research paper aims to demonstrate the importance of understanding the effects of intersectionality in order to promote diversity and inclusion within organizations and institutions. It also describes how failure to acknowledge complex oppression system could lead to discrimination in the workplace and stifle individuals from reaching their full potential. The goal of this paper is to review intersectionality theory, and assess how it relates to inequities in unemployment and wages, professional development, harassment and overall job satisfaction.