STUDENT
RESEARCH
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
BIO
This consists of research conducted by undergraduate students at CSI. All research was taken from the Undergraduate Research Conference archives (website below). This is the only known or find-able research from the student body, as of right now.
None of the students gender identity or sexual orientation is known.
All students with pictures were made aware that it could be publically viewed on this archive.
The Undergraduate Research Conference started at the College of Staten Island (CSI) in 2002, with Dr. Marlene Springer (the president of CSI). It is now a n annual event allowing undergraduate students to produce scholarly work with their faculty mentor. Each research conference is documented in a book (full of abstracts) and under the CSI website (link below).
The conference theme is “Your Passport to Knowledge”. befittingly so: doing research and engaging in creative projects allow the students to test their ideas and hypotheses, and to apply and acquire new knowledge. It also gives the students an opportunity to contribute their knowledge to their field which may some day make useful and worthwhile.
2002
DRAMATIC PRESENTATIONS
#1. Angels in America
Michael Hartnett and John Melone
Mentor: Maurya Wickstrom(Department of Performing and Creative Arts)
Shall perform a scene from Angels in America which deals with the homosexuality of Attorney Roy Cohn and the health effects of his promiscuity. This scene was previously performed by us at the “Straight from the Arts” benefit for the victims of the September 11 tragedy.
2003-2005
No queer research was done during this time.
2006
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
#21. Aesthetic Analyses of the Work of Richard Bruce Nugent, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, and Other Black Gay Writers of the Renaissance
Stephanie Ward
Mentor: David Gerstner (Department of Media Culture)
#42. The Parent's Perspective on Gender-Variant Children and Adolescents: Concerns, Hopes, and Joys
Alisa Johnson
Mentor: Darryl B. Hill (Department of Psychology)
No Abstracts were posted this year.
2007
#8. Love Will Tear Us Apart: Identity and Intimacy in Breakups
Karen Pastore
Mentor: Darryl Hill (Department of Psychology)
In recent years, researchers have begun to focus on a topic crucial to the study of human sexuality: the psychological impact of the termination of passionate, intimate, and committed relationships. What does the end of an important relationship mean to one's sense of self? Does the self change after the loss of the other, and, if it changes, how? Sixty undergraduate students (30 men and 30 women) at a large English-speaking university in Montréal, who had experienced a break-up in the last year, participated in this study. Participants were invited to write out the story of their breakup using a computer-based questionnaire. Students' break-up stories were qualitatively analyzed using NVIVO software to identify common patterns and themes in what they said about their identity and their intimate relationship. Many partners felt a loss of identity after the termination of their intimate relationship. Some participants had become aware of their loss of independence and wanted to gain their sense of self back. Others found themselves to be stuck in that uncomfortable dependency, too afraid of being alone. Those participants would have been content repairing the relationship, no matter how futile their attempts. There was clearly a loss of ego common to all of these breakups, however the difference lay in the perspective of the participant and how they began to mend themselves or tear themselves apart thereafter.
2008
Undergraduate research link: http://www.csi.cuny.edu/ugconference/archives.php
Numbers are referenced off the books/web archive for the student's poster number and location.
#11. Sexuality and Aging: The Evolution of the Sexual Self Schema
Irina Kopeykina
Mentor: Dr. Darryl Hill (Department of Psychology)
This is a study on the relationship between a woman’s age and how she thinks about her self as a sexual being.I am interested in examining how a woman’s perception of herself as a sexual person changes throughout her lifespan, with a special emphasis placed on post-menopausal women.An older woman faces many obstacles in her sexual expression, and these obstacles may in turn influence how she thinks about her sexual self. My hypothesis was that as women get older,since they have less opportunity for sexual expression,their sexual self schemas tend to become more negative. I administered questionnaires to women 20 years old and up.The packets consisted of the Sexual Self Schema Scale,the Gender Assessment Inventory, the Sexual History Form,the Eysenck Lie Scale, and a demographic questionnaire.Questionnaires were given to women on campus, as well as in the Staten Island mall, and in various community centers.Results of the survey, as well as implications of the research, will be further discussed in the poster.
#32. An Affirmative Interpretation of Case Studies on Gender Variant Youth
Jeannemarie Leone
Mentor: Dr. Darryl Hill (Department of Psychology)
This study takes an affirmative phenomenological approach to study of the lives of children and adolescents diagnosed with gender identity disorder.The primary goal was to understand the psychological experience of a child who has unconventional gender beliefs.To do this,I analyzed the entire published case literature on gender variant youth (60 studies) in academic psychology and psychiatry from December, 1963 to May, 2003. While my analysis of case literature discourse found uncovered many themes relevant to the subjectivity of gender variant youth,I found the following observations most compelling. First,these youth lived in highly heterosexist, genderist, and transphobic family,society, or peer group contexts. The gender variant youth’s families dichotomized gender and pathologized anything except stereotypical,traditional expressions of gender and sexuality, and the youth often internalized these views.They often described their gender as “being born in the wrong body” and locate the origin of these desires in either their cross-gender interests or their sexual desires.While the case literature constructs these youth as extremely pathological, an affirmative interpretation of the youth’s experiences shows that they may be using gender variances as a strategy to empower them against psychological threats like fear of abandonment, loss of love, and lack of power.
#40. Willowbrook State School Staff: “Resident Sex Uncontrollable”
Helen Starogiannis
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Darryl Hill (Department of Psychology)
Historians tell us that, in the past, mental health institutions tried to control and prohibit any sexual relations among their residents, mostly by sexsegregated housing.This was the case at the Willowbrook State School, housed on the grounds of the College of Staten Island, open during the early 1950s to the 1970s.This poster reports on interviews with Willowbrook State School staff on the sexual behavior of residents. Despite sexsegregation,the institution’s regulations did little to control residents’sexuality. Using word of mouth,the Internet,public phone directories, and published documents, we identified former staff members of the Willowbrook State School. Eight staff members (nurses,teachers, administrators, occupational therapists, and doctors) volunteered to reflect on their memories of working at the school. Participants were interviewed on the telephone for about an hour on their memories of the romantic and sexual lives of the residents. Institutions like Willowbrook State School segregated the sexes to control the sexual behavior of the residents.Yet,sexuality, with its comfort and pleasure, is so basic to human life,segregating where residents lived and slept did little to stop sex. Even though staff would try to prohibit sexual activity when they felt it was inappropriate,sexual relations continued—whether it was in the form of same-sex relations, masturbation, and in some cases, with staff members
2009
#37.The Sexuality and Gender of Nontraditional Men: “He’s a Little Bit Effeminate, But He’s Cute”
Peter Buratti
Mentor: Dr. Darryl Hill (Department of Psychology)
Men in American society are held to restrictive standards of masculinity.As a result“feminine”men often experience difficulties in finding a romantic partner.This study examines the traditional beliefs of feminine heterosexual men and their relationship dynamics. Male students at the College of Staten Island were given a packet of questionnaires asking about demographics, traditional gender beliefs and the sexual self.The questionnaire results showed that age and level of religiousness correlated with traditional beliefs. Feminine men were found to endorse nontraditional beliefs more than stereotypically masculine men. Participants that were in a longterm relationship or dating were invited to the interview portion of the study. Interviews referenced themes concerning power, psychological gender, sex and relationships.
2010
#58. How are Feminine Heterosexual Men Different?
Peter Buratti
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Darryl Hill (Department of Psychology)
Men in American society are held to restrictive standards of masculinity. As a result, “feminine” men often experience difficulties in finding a romantic partner. This study examines the traditional beliefs of feminine heterosexual men and their relationship dynamics. Male students at the College of Staten Island were given a packet of questionnaires asking about demographics, traditional gender beliefs and the sexual self. Men who identified themselves as relatively feminine, on average, had different attitudes about gender, in several important ways, all of which were consistent with a subversion of heteronormativity, challenging stereotypical sex roles in a wide range of ways. Also consistent with our hypotheses, feminine men were less likely to endorse “direct/outspoken” items when rating their sexual self schema, and showed a tendency to have nonstereotypical views of their sexual self.
#26. The Influence of Perceived Race and Gender Presentation on the Sentencing of Female Juvenile Offender
Carene Hadad
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kathleen Cumiskey (Department of Psychology)
In an effort to explain differences in sentencing severity, social scientists have looked towards defendant characteristics for explanations. It is clear that defendant characteristics matter in sentencing (Albonetti, 1991).These differential impacts arise because defendant characteristics catalyze stereotypes (Bodenhausen, 1988; 2005). The stereotypes then provide evaluators with information about who is likely to be guilty, blameworthy, corruptible, and rehabilitated among a host of other expectations (Bodenhausen, 1988; 2005; Lynch & Haney,2000). Once activated these expectations guide the types of evidence one remembers and subsequently bases a decision on (Brewer, 1996; Lynch & Haney, 2000).Within racial groups there are gender differences, which result in more lenient sentences, despite the actual severity of the crime (Steffensmeier & Demuth, 2006; Steffensmeier, Ulmer & Kramer, 1998). Recent results suggest that sentencing is lenient to the degree to which women uphold traditional gender stereotypes in appearance and behavior (Janicki, 1999; Haegerich & Bottoms, 2000; Streib, 1990; 2004). The present study seeks to demonstrate the interaction effects of race and gender-presentation among court involved female juveniles during judgment. Participants responded to several questionnaires that were then analyzed to assess racial and gender stereotypes and possible differences in judgment dimensions of guiltiness, blameworthiness, corruptibility, and rehabilitation. Other measures indicated the degree to which the target was assumed to adhere to traditional gender role expectations.
2011
#23. An Investigation of the Impact of Children’s Programming on Developing Gender Roles
Jennifer Carrion, Alyssa Fazio,Jacqueline Imbemba, Kayla Mera
Faculty Mentor: Professor Naomi Aldrich (Department of Psychology)
The present study examined the impact of children’s television programming on developing gender roles. Research suggests that as children are becoming aware of their gender, they begin to shape their behavior and personality according to role models of the same sex (Luecke-Aleksa et al., 1995). Research has shown that children’s selection of television programs is gender-based as well: boys tend to watch male-oriented television shows, whereas girls tend to watch female-oriented television programming. In doing so, researchers have found that children who are exposed to gender stereotypes on television are more likely to endorse gender stereotypes and act in a gender stereotyped manner (Aubrey & Harrison, 2004). In an effort to assess the gender-stereotyped content of children’s television programming, the current study examined the content of two shows that vary according to gender orientation: Go, Diego, Go! (male-oriented) and Dora the Explorer (femaleoriented). The episodes were selected based on similar thematic focus and equal running times. To evaluate the stereotypical content within the episodes, 22 research assistants coded the color scheme of the characters’ clothing and accessories, the gender of the characters (giving assistance and receiving assistance), the use of singing and laughter to express emotions, and the color scheme of the environment. Analyses revealed differences between the episodes that are consistent with the gender –stereotypical content identified in the literature. Overall, the results indicate that the content of Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go! promote gender stereotypes that could potentially affect children’s gender role development.
2012
#37. What do Pre-Teen Gender Variant Boys Think about Gender?
Cristen Melfi
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Darryl Hill (Department of Psychology)
Gender variant children are often misunderstood, and there is a lack of research examining and understanding them. This study sought to obtain a greater understanding of how gender variant children feel about gender and what their lives are like. Interviews with gender variant children showed them to be just as gender non-conforming as clinical samples of children with gender identity disorder, but the interviews really conveyed little information about their lives. Questionnaires administered to the children showed that, compared to “ordinary kids,” gender variant kids are aware of gender traditional gender stereotypes but felt that gender roles should be more flexible. Moreover, participants in this study felt more pressure to conform to gender. More research, with better instruments, is needed to look deep.
#20.Stress, Mood and Quitting: Comparing LGBT and Heterosexual Smokers
Danielle Bohme
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Daniel Kaplin (Department of Psychology)
Studies show that LGBT smoking rates exceed the general population and that LGBT smokers may be less successful at quitting. Combining data from two smoking cessation trials (N=808), secondary data analyses compared perceived stress levels, mood disturbances and quit rates in LGBT versus heterosexual smokers. Both trials included counseling and administration of Bupropion SR and NRT. Measures included the Perceived Stress Scale, the Profile of Mood States and the Fagerstrom Test of Nicotine Dependence. We hypothesized that the LGBT sample would have higher stress scores and mood disturbances at baseline along with lower quit rates. However, we found no significant differences between LGBTs and heterosexuals for these variables at the <.05 level. Our results may be explained by the sample’s location, age and the tendency for smokers to report higher levels of mood disturbances regardless of their orientation.
#59. Transgender: Popping the Bubble on Societal Gender Norms
Laura Hare
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Darryl Hill (Department of Psychology)
Society portrays many gender standards for people to abide by and transsexuals do not fit in these expectations. This leaves transgender individuals at high risk for discrimination. This study measured the levels of transsexual tolerance in a sample of college students. The Genderism and Transphobia scale and International Attitudes towards Transsexual scale were used to measure the participants’ feelings towards transgender individuals. Participants read one of four stories involving almost identical people: trans Tina, Tina, trans Tom or Tom. The participants who were less tolerant of transgender individuals were more likely to be prejudiced toward transsexuals. Also many participants confused gender identity with sexual orientation, assuming that trans individuals were most likely homosexual. Participants who said they had known a person who was transgender were more accepting of transsexuals. The results of this study proved that more research needs to be done in this area to bring better awareness about the transgender community and to educate society to view all gender roles with an open mind.
2013
No queer research was done during this time
2014
#43. Reconstructing Reality
Nicholas Easton
Faculty Mentor: Professor Maurya Wickstrom (Department of Performing and Creative Arts)
If you went back in time and had to reconstruct the world what would that look like? How would you reconstruct reality? We created our performance piece Reconstructing Reality: Playing (with) the Game of Life, in an attempt to explore these ideas. The show was performed and directed by Nicholas Easton & Adriane Musacchio in December 2013.We wrote the script, directed, performed in, and designed the show.
Our project was greatly inspired by The Game of Life.The Game of Life, played by so many of us in our childhoods, guides us into a life long conformity. From childhood, we are taught to stay in “little boxes” on our life path; taught to never stray from the path for fear of consequences.
The game promotes material wealth, power, success, and heterosexual nuclear families, but lacks any passion or desire. It draws from what society deems acceptable, the institutions that have been created throughout history to keep individuals within a certain mold. People are told they must conform to the rules, for fear of possible repercussions.
To defy society’s preconceived notion of what individuals should be defined as,Anti-Conformists attempt to completely disobey all order in the world.
They try to be different and rebel against conforming societies.
Now, what if there was something new? Can you imagine something completely new and different than anything else you've ever experienced? A Non- Conformist.This is an individual not of this world; a person who does not know the man-made institutions, such as, marriage, education, law, family, career, and gender, but instead knows only pure feelings and life goals.These institutions have all been constructed in a pre-existing society. For a non-conformist lifestyle, all of these things would somehow have to be started over.The whole world would have to be re-created to rid of conformity. The Non-Conformist doesn’t exist. Only in our minds can we explore this life form. So how do we find the Non-Conformist?
#85. Meeting the Needs of the LGBT Community on Staten Island
Luiza Kayumova
Faculty Mentor: Professor Lacey Sloan (Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work)
This community agency-college partnership based research examines services provided by the Staten Island LGBT Community Center to identify unmet needs.
Using existing data and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software, a map was created indicating the parts of the Island that are served by the Center and the services utilized.A focus group was conducted with peer outreach educators, who are trained to talk to their peers (often strangers) in public places about safer sex, testing, and Center programs for LGBTQ people and families to identify strengths and challenges they face in street outreach to prevent HIV.
Problem Statement
• Is the Staten Island LGBT Community Center serving people from across Staten Island with the full range of services available?
• What are the challenges and strengths of the Peer Outreach program that conducts street outreach to Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) to prevent HIV infection?
Methods
The two research methods used in this study were analysis of existing data and a focus group with peer outreach workers.The existing data was examined using GIS to determine whether or not the Center is serving people from across the Island, the services they use, and the demographics of clients.
The focus group was conducted by the researcher peer outreach workers.
#23. Does Culture Influence Whether You Would like Trans Tom and Tina?
Briann Singh
Faculty Mentor: Professor Darryl Hill (Department of Psychology)
This is a study about prejudice against trans people (transsexual, transgender, crossdresser). Previous research has found a link between culture, ethnicity, or race, and prejudice against trans people (transphobia;Winter,Webster, & Cheung, 2008). Specifically, people from Hong Kong rated trans people more negatively.Thus, I hypothesized that trans people would be rated more negatively by people who identify their ethnicity as non- Western (i.e.,Arabic, Indian, and Asian Pacific Islanders). Seven hundred sixty-five students rated one of several characters (Trans Tom,Trans Tina, cisgender Tom, cisgender Tina) along several dimensions. Each of the stories and pictures were identical except their gender.The most negative ratings were indeed from non-Western cultures. This study demonstrates how ethnic traditions might influence anti-trans prejudice.
#41. The Case of John/Joan and Dr. John Money
Joseph Guarini
Faculty Mentor: Professor Darryl Hill (Department of Psychology)
Over the course of his career, John Money greatly influenced the field of sexology, but one case would profoundly impact his career and reputation forever: the case of John/Joan in which he advised the Reimer family to raise their son as a girl after a botched circumcision. Historical and archival research was used in this work to gather information on what would come to be known as the John/Joan case and Money’s involvement. Money believed a child’s gender identity could be altered as long as their upbringing in that gender was consistent. It was this theory that led the Reimer’s to raise their son, Bruce, as a daughter, renamed Brenda. Money claimed the case was a success, but after several consultations with the child, Brenda continued to identify herself with the male gender.Years later, psychologists Milton Diamond and Keith Sigmundson sought to reveal the truth behind the case.Accounts that they gathered from fellow psychologists, who had also worked with the child, as well as the Reimer family, showed evidence that the gender reassignment had been unsuccessful from the start. Money’s documentation of the case makes it seem as though he was so determined to prove his theory accurate that he was willing to falsify data to do so. Unfortunately, this false data led to the reassignment of many newborns in the years following.After marrying and adopting children, Reimer lived many years as a man, but took his own life in 2004 at the age of 38 after a lifetime of depression and suicidal tendencies.This case had a severe impact on Money’s reputation, but he still continued his work in sexology until his death and remained respected by many of his students and peers.
2015
#30. History of Monogamy: Unnatural, Unrealistic, and Undone by Polygamy
Amanda Boglio
Faculty Mentor: Professor Darryl Hill (Department of Psychology)
Throughout history monogamous relationships have been ingrained in society’s paradigm for marriage and mating. History reveals the untold truth for this phenomenon by proving that societies were influenced by higher powers to become a monogamous culture. This contradicts the science behind humans as a polygamous species. Historical research was used to analyze the discourse on monogamy. During the Middle Ages, the battle for monogamy became an important system enforced by the Catholic Church. Christian theory also influenced the practice of monogamous relationships. Yet, the Old Testament included many forms of polygamous mating, contradicting the newly imposed trend. Later in history, during the 19th century, the United States also began to terminate any practice of polygamy, directly toward the Mormon Jesus Christ Church of the Latter-day Saints. By examining the reasons for this phenomenon it can be claimed that although monogamous relationships served as a social purpose in history, it is unnatural from a biological standpoint, never existed in a pure form, and is likely to change at some point in the future. Research indicates that during the evolution of early primates to present day human beings, polygamous behaviors are still embedded in the biology of human nature. Current relationship trends in the 21st century include young adults engaging in multiple sex partners, high rates of infidelity as well as high divorce rates. Analyzing marriage and mating trends throughout history reveals that people with supreme power have superimposed monogamous behaviors, but biological innate tendencies of polygamy continue to revisit human nature.
#115. Have Humans Evolved to Be Monogamous?
Tamara Moseley
Faculty Mentor: Professor Barbara Gail Montero (Department of Psychology)
Have human beings evolved to be monogamous or polygamous? This report summarizes and synthesizes some of the key research findings on the question of whether evolutionary pressure has led us to be monogamous. This research will take a look into the relationship between infidelity, monogamy, and human evolution. Although the data is not conclusive, it is argued here that part of the reason why infidelity occurs is that humans, in fact, evolved to be polygamous. It is sometimes claimed that 54-57% of men and women confess to committing infidelity in any relationship (e.g. http://www.statisticbrain.com/infidelity-statistics/). Much of the data examined comes from research done by David M. Buss in 2000 regarding social and demographic influences on infidelity and evolutionary influences on our mating behavior. In his book, The Dangerous Passion: Why Jealousy Is as Necessary as Love and Sex, Buss points out that women who cheat on their husbands do so when they are most likely to conceive, but have sex with their spouses when they are least likely to conceive. It is argued that these findings show that evolutionary tendencies to acquire better genes through different partners still lurk beneath modern sexual behavior. Researchers currently believe that the biology plays an even more significant role than originally thought in factor relevant to human infidelity and the difficulty of monogamy. As will be shown, an integrated theory is beginning to emerge from the realization that males and females have overlapping but nonidentical reproductive interests and that the type of mating system of a species results from interactions between these interests (James F. Wittenberger, Roland L. Tilson, 1980). In particular it will be shown that it revolves around two major issues: the factors that determines which sex leads in shaping each mating system, and the factors that determine which mating system is optional for members of the controlling sex in that species.
2016
#40. Discrimination at Work Against People Living with HIV
Roberto Melendez
Faculty Mentor: Professor Nafees Alam (Department of Social Work)
The purpose of this research is to explore workplace discrimination encountered by people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) or those who have developed Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), despite the fact that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is designed to protect all disabled individuals from workplace discrimination.Although the ADA is meant to protect these individuals, it can be very difficult to accomplish this mission given the dynamic workplace environment, made even more volatile under the open acknowledgement of the aforementioned diagnoses within the setting.This research will be conducted at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), located in Midtown, NYC.This research will be conducted in a mixed methods design, which includes both qualitative and quantitative approaches, using convenience sampling as well as purposive sample.
2017
#14. Models of Sexuality
Christopher Morabito
Faculty Mentor: Professor Matt Brim (Department of English)
Many people view sexuality as a static binary. Individuals are labeled as either gay or straight based on whether the sex of their romantic and sexual partners in the same or different from their own sex. Yet, in truth, sexuality is a far more dynamic and complicated construct. Throughout the history of sexuality studies many theorists have developed alternative models to the gay/straight binary. This study explores the strengths and shortcomings of severalkey models of sexuaity including the kinsey scale, the klein sexual orientation grid, and Margery Garber’s mobius strip model. Each model attempts to address the complexity of sexuality in a different manner, such as by making it a spectrum, including changes over time, including desires as well as actions, and including multiple dimensions. However, each model fails to completely represent sexuality and all of its complexities. Ultimately, this study attempts to create an alternative model of sexuality that remedies the various shortcomings of the models before it. Most notable, this model, called the “Three Dimensions latter model” looks at the dynamic interplay of personal, cultural, and societal factors as the three factors necessary to understand sexuality. While this model is not without its own shortcomings, the alternative approach that it provides serves as a valuable addition to progressive theoretical models of sexuality.
#229. Sex & Disability
Alyssa Morganti, Rebecca Ritz, Janel Yik
Faculty Mentor: Professor Matt Brim (Department of English)
The overall purpose of our research is to design a course on sex and disability based on the under representation of such courses in both queer and sexuality studies. This course, titled “Sex & Disability,” is designed to be accessible for all CUNY students, and it employs critical pedagogies that include analyzing works by and resources for folks with disabilities. Our research methods consisted of locating and evaluating sources that are not only accessible to all students but also reputable. A majority of our course texts are non-peer reviewed journal articles of books because we value experience narratives by people with disabilities over abstract (and often able bodied) theory. The sources will uncover the history of the relationship between sex and disability and explore how disabilities impact the sex lives of disabled folks. As the topic of disability and sex is broad, the course will consider links between sex and disability locally and globally. This will include the the interconnected subtopics of fetishazation and dehumanizaton, sexual health, navigating sex, sex communities, queerness, and sexual abuse and healing processes within the disabled community. Our courses goal is to normalize the need for connection between sex and disability and promote learning in the subject area throughout CUNY.
#224. Exploring the World of NYC’s Transgender Men
Shantel Rowe
Faculty Mentor: Professor Ava Chin (Department of English)
As of June 2016, an estimated 1.4 million adults, or 0.6 percent of the total population, do not identify with the gender they were assigned at birth. I was inspired to cover this topic not only because of its growing relevance today, but because of a personal friendship I have formed with a transgendered young man. Through our interaction and being placed in this world–– with his group of friends, I have learned significantly more about the transgender community and culture.
Some of the men I have interacted with were, stealth, or closeted transgender men, while others had no problem identifying their birth assigned genders. The most important element which surrounded all out interaction, was terminology. Terminology is indicative of respect and acknowledgment of these men’s’ identity and comfort zone. Therefore, through further outside research, I had to educate myself on the proper term usage to successfully form connections and relationships within the community.
Understanding the usage of testosterone, chest binding, and genital packing, were just few of the major physical and emotional elements which allowed me to respect the boundaries and identities of the men I interacted with. Another key dynamic I witness within the community, was how these men interact with each other. Many of them felt as if they were going through a second puberty, the first of their manhood. Whether it was the sprouting of a new chin hair, or a deepening of their voices, these moments that seem miniscule to many cisgender (not transgender) individuals, are life changing to trans individuals.
I believe my research has respectfully and realistically portrayed the everyday lives of the individuals in this subculture of transgender men in New York City. While being out is often always celebrated, the reality is that many individuals don’t have the liberty of openly living their lives, nor do they choose to. Whether is one is stealth or out, their identity is not negated or diminished. Each of these men were brave in their dialogue and interaction with me, and to share these stories, in a creative piece, that can be understood/informative to an everyday audience adds to the progressive talks surrounding the transgender community.
#150. Pathologizing Gender Nonconforming Youth
Kaitlin Frazier
Faculty Mentor: Darryl Hill (Department of Psychology)
Prejudice against trans-identified people can be identified in the language professionals use in their publications. In 2008, the American Psychological Association encouraging psychologists to reduce the amount of prejudicial language around trans-identified people. To test if this policy had an effect, this study examined three main kind of prejudice–– transphobia (fear and disgust of people who don’t conform to gender roles), genderism (an ideology disparaging of non-binary gender), and pathologizing cisgenderism (characterizations of gender variance as abnormal)–– in a historical analysis of case studies on children and adolescents that mental health professionals described as having gender dysphoria or gender identity disorder. One hundred and forty-five case studies in the psychological literature, published from 1964-2015 were coded for prevalence of anti-trans prejudice. There was a clear evidence of parents, peers, and therapists using genderist language. Similarly, parents, peers, and therapists used transphobic language; and the gender variant children used transphobic language about themselves. Less evident, but also present, was pathologizing cisgenderism, or statements that characterized the youth as abnormal, sick, and perverted. In contrast to previous research that suggested prejudice against trans youth was prevalent and stable from 1999-2008 in professional discourse (Anasara & Hegarty, 2011), this study found that there was a sharp decrease in prejudicial statements after the 2008 APA statement on gender variant people, and afterwards it rebounded and increased once again in the following five years, along with the genderism and transphobia. Clearly, trans youth still encounter mental health professionals who view them as pathological and in prejudicial terms.
#15. Shaping the Future Minds
Annalise Puntorno, Michael DiNicola
Faculty Mentor: Professor Gloria Gianoulis (Department of English)
Our collaborative research project will consist of comparing and contrasting classic fairy tales with more modern tales. In the Women in Literature class that we just completed we learned how fairy tales reflect society during the time that the tale is written. Fairy tales can teach people what a society valued, how it was structured, and how it affected the people living during that time. Fairy tales are grounded in magic and the desire for love. But if we analyze fairy tale more closely, we will discover underlying meaning behind the fairy tale. Christian Zimmer once said, “To amuse oneself is to disarm oneself” meaning that when people are being entertained they are letting their guards down not expecting to learn, but in reality, that is when they learn the most. When adults read classic fairy tales in the 18th Century, for example, they learned how to act, dress, and what was expected of them. As for when a child reads a fairy tale they are learning what to value, what their goals should be, and the behaviors they should have. Fairy tales have been a teaching tool that was hidden inside an enchanted tale since the first fairy tale “Cupid and Psyche” (2 BCE) and continues today with Disney films. Our research will explore what lessons and values were present in classical fairy tales and how they are different or similar to the new values and lessons of a modern-day fairy tale. We will be researching the themes of the fairy tales and the resolutions and how the modern fairy tale is shaping today’s youth and if it is in a positive direction. Also how new forms of media such as music, models, and gender stereotyping has changed.
The goal of this research is to show that fairy tales are changing with the changes in society. The fairy tales evolve just as societies do. The main goal is to try to prove that modern fairy tales are trying to showcase the power and strength of a female that extends beyond beauty. Also, we aim to explore the results of a fairy tale having a strong independent heroine, who saves herself or man, and how this fairy tale structure will influence society and the thought processes and social values of the children reading them.
#218. LGBTQ Representaion in Disney
Lauren McKenna and Brian Spagnoli
Faculty Mentor: Professor David Gerstner(Department of Media Culture)
Background & Purpose
This research looks at queer characters in the animated works of Disney from the Disney renaissance, beginning in 1989 with The Little Mermaid and ending in present day, We have examined how LGBTQ traits and characters are represented historically and analyzed the evolution of representation in Disney films. In conjunction with previous research, we highlight that when productions and cast members identify as LGBTQ, themes and characters also under the LGBTQ umbrella can be recognized. Comparing past studies with ours, we also highlight what LGBTQ traits stereotypically are, as theorized by film historian Vito Russo and Sean Griffin, and how they are changing.
There are clear changes with LGBTQ representaions over time, and the response from the American populace is varied with conservative critics and progressive critics both offering negative evaluations of the changes. This research also showcases why those critiques are brought up at all and why these character tropes exist at all for LGBTQ people. The animated films of Disney they have had a change in representation of queer characters, that now encompasses more diversity in contemporary Disney films of individuals that identify under the LGBTQ banner. Our desire is to call attention to the impact of representation because of its importance in its ability to lead people to a greater awareness of the social and political issues of the LGBTQ community.