Browsing by Subject "Family"

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Alcohol use among Latina/o adolescents : the role of immigration, family, and peer stressors
(2021-06-25) Bakhtiari, Farin; Benner, Aprile D.; Kim, Su Yeong; Schulenberg, John E; Varner, Fatima; Velasquez, Mary M
Immigration is a radical change in context, which can take place for the sake of children to improve their life quality. In the U.S., approximately one in four individuals are members of immigrant families, and Latinos are one of the largest immigrant groups (Trevelyan et al., 2016). Latino individuals in the U.S. display relatively high rates of high-risk drinking and can suffer health or social consequences of alcohol use or alcohol use disorders as a result (Chartier & Caetano, 2010; Miech et al., 2018; Spillane et al., 2020). Families and peers are two primary contexts influencing Latino adolescents' substance use in general (Parsai et al, 2009; Pereyra & Bean, 2017), but Latino adolescents in immigrant families may specifically experience immigration-related stressors that can influence their families' dynamics, and, in turn, their alcohol use either directly (Salas-Wright & Schwartz, 2019) or indirectly through peers given that the family and peer contexts are interconnected (Paat, 2013). The three dissertation studies presented here explored the effects of general and immigration-related family conflict on Latino youth’s alcohol use while considering the potential mediating role of friends' alcohol use. In Study 1, I used data from 872 Latino adolescents who participated in the national study of Monitoring the Future, who were followed from the age of 18 to 30. I examined general parent-child conflict in relation to Latino adolescents’ and young adults’ alcohol use and alcohol use trajectories and the potential mediating role of friends' alcohol use. The results showed that general parent-child conflict was indirectly— through friends' alcohol use—associated with annual alcohol use in 12th grade but not with 12th grade binge drinking. The links to the trajectories were limited and complex, and they are explained in Study 1. For Study 2, I moved beyond general parent-child conflict through a three-phase scale-development study that included 12 Latino young adults for focus groups and item generation, 353 Latino young adults for survey data and psychometric evaluation, and 10 Latino adolescents for semi-structured interviews and feedback on items. Study 2 resulted in two subscales for the measure assessing immigration-related parent-child conflict (i.e., 4-item subscale of parent-child conflict about immigration-related expectations and sacrifices and the 5-item subscale of parent-child conflict about acculturation-related topics) as well as a 5-item scale on immigration-related interparental conflict. Finally, in Study 3, I brought Study 1 and Study 2 together and examined the role of general versus immigration-related interparental conflict and parent-child conflict in relation to Latino adolescents’ alcohol use and considered the potential mediating role of close friends' alcohol use. Study 3 was part of an on-going community study, and data were collected from 171 Latino adolescents in 10th grade who were members of immigrant families. In Study 3, the results provided some, albeit limited, evidence that general interparental conflict and general parent-child conflict took their toll on alcohol use indirectly and through friends' alcohol use, whereas immigration-related interparental conflict yielded a direct (rather than indirect) link with alcohol use. There were no significant direct or indirect associations between immigration-related parent-child conflict and alcohol use. The results from Study 3 must be interpreted with caution, and more research is needed to examine the associations between immigration-related family conflict and Latino adolescents' alcohol use. The findings from these three studies provide some evidence, albeit limited and primarily cross-sectional, that Latino youth may face unique stressors such as immigration-related interparental conflict (e.g., whether immigration to the USA has been good for their family) and immigration-related parent-child conflict (e.g., their parents thinking adolescents should appreciate their immigration sacrifices more), which have the potential to be distinctly linked with alcohol use among Latino adolescents. Additionally, the results point to the importance of implementing multisystem approaches that target both family and peer contexts in prevention and intervention programs that aim to curtail alcohol use among Latino youth, particularly those in immigrant families.
Cooperation and conflict in the human family
(2007) Jeon, Joonghwan, 1973-; Buss, David M.
Despite the crucial importance of Hamilton's (1964) kin selection theory in evolutionary behavioral biology, psychological studies of family relationships have been relatively slow to incorporate a Darwinian perspective. One practical reason may be that existing evolutionary models of animal families, such as the honest signaling models, are applicable only if all family members fall into the same class in terms of age, sex, or health. The animal models are thus of limited use for investigating human families, in which the relative age of the child, as a corollary of birth order, may have played a pivotal role in shaping evolved family psychology. My dissertation has two main objectives: 1) to construct evolutionary mathematical models of family interactions that fully take into account the role of reproductive value and hence can be directly applied to human families; 2) to characterize the design features of evolved psychological mechanisms of human kinship by empirically testing a priori predictions derived from the models. I first examine how parents are expected to allocate their limited resources among offspring of differing ages. I show that the optimal strategy that serves parental interests is to bias parental resources toward the older offspring (chapter 2). I then empirically test the predictions derived from the first study, in comparison with previous evolutionary hypotheses of parental favoritism. The empirical results confirmed the predictions derived from the first study: in hypothetical allocation tasks, participants allocated more tangible resources toward older children (chapter 3). Next, I investigate how intrafamilial conflict over the allocation of parental resources occur when each family member (a parent, its senior offspring, and its junior offspring) are allowed to differ in age. The results gained in this study may require a substantial revision of Trivers' (1974) classical theory of parent-offspring conflict. Moreover, it will open a fruitful avenue for inferring the adaptive design of psychological mechanisms dealing with sibling relationships (chapter 4). I then show that evolutionary insights can be also applied to the psychological study of distant kin relationships such as cousins (chapter 5).
Cross-border marriages in the United States : prevalence, predictors and implications
(2022-08-17) Weiss, Inbar; Raley, R. Kelly; Lin, Ken-Hou; Adut, Ari; Lichter, Daniel T
In this dissertation, I explore how family formation is adjusted and shaped in an era of globalization and international migration, in which connections with people and organizations abroad are standard. Investigating cross-border marriages in the United States, I explore the social forces that support the global exchange that is at the core of these unions. The dissertation examines different aspects of cross-border marriages: prevalence and trends, variation by immigrant communities, mate selection in a global marriage market, and the power dynamics between couples. My dissertation is mainly based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) incorporated with other data sources. My results indicate that cross-border marriages are common in the United States, especially among immigrant men, and resemble the marital patterns of cross-border marriages that were observed abroad. Significant variations in cross-border marriages exist across immigrant communities that are primarily explained by cultural preferences in the marriage market, specifically men’s preference for traditional gender norms. Moreover, marriage immigrant women are less likely to be employed and have lower incomes than other immigrant women in the United States. This suggests a high economic dependency in cross-border marriages that contributes to the marginalization of immigrant women. The findings of this dissertation suggest that scholars should adopt a more global approach when studying families in cosmopolitan or transnational societies.
Daughtering and daughterhood : an exploratory study of the role of adult daughters in relation to mothers
(2016-08) Alford, Allison McGuire; Maxwell, Madeline M.; Donovan, Erin; Menchaca, Martha; Vangelisti, Anita
This study investigated the role of an adult daughter in mid-life, a time in a woman’s life when she has a personal relationship with her mother based upon shared interests more than dependence for care. Using interactional role theory (Turner, 2001), this study explored the understanding a daughter has for her role as an adult daughter in everyday encounters with her mother. Participants in this study described that when in situations that call for daughtering, they enact the adult daughter role. For this study, adult daughter participants (N = 33) ranging in age from 25-45 years old participated in face-to-face interviews to discuss their role as an adult daughter to their mothers. All participants had a living, healthy mother age 70 or younger. From daughters’ discussions of everyday communication with their mothers, layers of meaning were uncovered which related to the adult daughter role. Using role theory as a guide, thematic analysis revealed six themes of meaning. These findings contribute to an understanding of the social construction of an important role, which daughters learn over a lifetime and which they use to communicate within a family. Discussions of daughtering were challenging to participants due to borrowed vocabulary for describing this role, narrow role awareness, and a low valuation of the work of daughtering. When sorting role influences, daughters noted their mothers and a variety of other sources that inform role expectations. This finding prompted a new manner for evaluating daughters as a daughterhood, or community of role players collectively enacting the same role. Finally, participant responses revealed new ways to conceive of the social construction of the adult daughter role and the practice of daughtering and daughterhood, with outcomes including a variety of comportments for performing daughtering. Implications for future research by communication scholars, as well as for practitioners who work with adult daughter-mother pairs, will be presented with other results from this study.
Educating the unique child : gender, sexuality, and homeschooling
(2016-05) Averett, Kathleen Henley; Williams, Christine L., 1959-; Umberson, Debra; Crosnoe, Robert; Gonzalez-Lopez, Gloria; Merabet, Sofian
Homeschooling in the United States has typically been portrayed as the province of fundamentalist Christians, who opt out of public schooling in order to protect their children from the influence of a secular, sexually permissive culture. Recently, however, homeschooling has also found its way into the discourse of those who argue the opposite: that American public schools, influenced by conservative Christian morality, are intolerant of, and inhospitable to, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and gender non-conforming youth. Why is homeschooling a proposed “solution” to two seemingly opposing problems? In this dissertation, I seek to explain this paradox by examining shifting and contested understandings of childhood within the homeschooling community in Texas, which has some of the least restrictive laws regarding homeschooling in the United States. I use survey data from 676 homeschooling parents, in-depth interviews with 46 of these parents, and ethnographic observation at homeschooling conferences to ask: What are the dominant stereotypes and discourses of homeschooling, and where do these originate? How has homeschooling arisen as a solution to two seemingly very different problems? How accurately do these discourses represent the political and religious views of homeschoolers in Texas? And finally, what motivates individual parents to homeschool? How do parents’ motivations compare to the dominant homeschooling discourses? I focus specifically on three important areas: 1) homeschooling parents’ conceptions of childhood, especially childhood gender and sexuality, 2) how these parents understand the role of government in education, and 3) how dominant expectations for mothering in the United States influence these parents’ homeschooling experiences. I argue that a study of homeschooling reveals a great deal not only about contested understandings of childhood, but about the shifting roles of parents, schools, and government in American children’s lives today.
Egypt: A Land of Firsts (Elementary Lessons on Egypt)
(2005-10) Brodigan, Judy
Curriculum unit of five lessons about Egypt for grades K-5. (1: Egypt: Where is it and What is is Like? 2: How long have the communities of Egypt and the United States existed? 3: Using Artifacts to uncover culture. 4: Earning a Living: Farming and Tourism in Egypt. 5: Children in Egypt and the United States: What do we share?) Ties into educational standards dealing with families and communities.
Emerging adult friendship : a consequence of family communication and catalyst for well-being
(2012-12) Guinn, Trey D.; Vangelisti, Anita L.; Dailey, Rene M; Daly, John A; Donovan-Kicken, Erin; Whittaker, Tiffany A
The purpose of this research was to examine the friendships of emerging adults as influenced by familial environments in order to illuminate interpersonal aspects of well-being. Recent literature affirms that friendships play a critical role in the lives of emerging adults; these interpersonal connections rely on the use of friendship formation strategies and maintenance behaviors. Employing a longitudinal design that included both participant and peer reports, this study found that individuals’ use of friendship formation strategies and maintenance behaviors contribute to their overall well-being and that the path for maintenance behaviors was partially mediated by relational quality with friends. Further, it was expected that the propensity to engage in friendship work (i.e., formation strategies and maintenance behaviors) would be predicted by communication within the parent-child relationship. Recent scholarship asserts that parent confirmation affects both the socialization and psychosocial development of children. The current work employed a confirmation perspective to assess how families lay the groundwork for emerging adults’ communicative behaviors in friendship and found that parent confirmation predicted individuals’ use of friendship formation and maintenance behaviors. Together, these associations pave a social-cognitive pathway from family and friendship to well-being.
Examining the roles of family environment and internalizing symptoms on early adolescent social aggression: a one-year longitudinal study
(2007) Paulos, Stephanie Katherine, 1978-; Keith, Timothy, 1952-; Loukas, Alexandra
Much research has recently been directed at social aggression, which includes subtle and covert behaviors intended to harm the target. Evidence indicates that social aggression is associated with social maladjustment such as peer rejection and internalizing and externalizing problems. Despite increasing interest by researchers on the consequences of this form of aggression, relatively few studies have examined the etiology of social aggression. Previous research has demonstrated that depression and social anxiety may predict social aggression, however little research has examined the role of the family system in contributing to the development of this maladaptive behavior. Using path-analytic techniques, this study examined how family factors (parent-adolescent conflict, positive family relations, and maternal psychological control) affect subsequent social aggression one-year later after controlling for baseline levels of social aggression. Individual symptoms of depression and social evaluative anxiety were also incorporated in the model to determine if the effects of the family variables on later social aggression were mediated by the individual emotional adjustment of a child. Using competing models, this study compared model fit across boys and girls. The stability of social aggression over a 1 year period was also examined using confirmatory factor analysis techniques. Participants included in this study were 497 10- to 14-year-old middle school students. Results suggest that social aggression is a stable and chronic difficulty for boys and girls over a one year period. Positive family relations significantly negatively effected social aggression over the course of a year, above and beyond baseline subsequent levels of social aggression, for girls. Additionally, parent-adolescent conflict, positive family relations, and maternal psychological control were significantly related to baseline levels of social aggression. This study corroborated previous research on the deleterious effects of parent-adolescent conflict, less positive family relations, and maternal psychological control on depressive symptoms for both boys and girls. Additionally, positive family relations were also shown to reduce social evaluative anxiety for both boys and girls. Findings from this study emphasize the need for prevention and intervention efforts directed at the family system for improved adjustment of early adolescents.
Exploring cognitive-interpersonal pathways to adolescent psychological disturbance
(2005) Yancy, Mary Garwood; Stark, Kevin Douglas; Tharinger, Deborah
The cognitive-interpersonal conceptualization considers family socialization processes, and the interpersonal schema which they are posited to influence, as integral to understanding psychological maladjustment (Shirk, 1996). Guided by the cognitiveinterpersonal orientation, this research explored the potential for family socialization and interpersonal schema variables to differentiate among adolescents experiencing different forms of psychological distress. Specifically, adolescents’ family socialization experiences and patterns of interpersonal beliefs and expectations (schemata) were explored for their capacity to differentiate among four groups of adolescents; a group experiencing a depressive disorder, a group experiencing an externalizing disorder, a group experiencing co-occurring externalizing and depressive conditions, and a nonclinical comparison group. Further, the potential for interpersonal schema to mediate the relationship between family socialization and psychological functioning was addressed. viii Self-report measures of family functioning and family messages provided information on the child’s family socialization, while an exploratory coding method, the Manual of Interpersonal Schema Analysis (MISA) was developed to derive interpersonal schema from projective narratives. An evaluation of the MISA measure, including validity, reliability and related measurement error issues, was explicated. Results from MANOVAs and discriminant function analyses (DFA) revealed that several family process variables contributed to significant differentiation among adolescents categorized as externalizing, co-occurring externalizing and depressed, and non-clinical. Three “protective” family variables – Social-Recreational Orientation, Family Messages and Communication/Cohesion – were the strongest predictors in classifiying among groups. In the interpersonal schema domain, MISA variables Aggression/Entitlement and Quality of Relational Interaction also contributed to significant group differentiation among externalizing, co-occurring and nonclinical groups. Scores from “pure” depressed adolescents generally followed expected trends, but findings were not significant in differentiating between those described as depressed and those in the externalizing, co-occurring or nonclinical conditions. An exploratory path analysis model failed to support interpersonal schema as a mediator between family processes and adolescent disturbance, possibly due to small sample size. Lastly, limitations regarding the present study were addressed, followed by a discussion of clinical applications and implications for future research.
Fatakra : the story behind the firecrackers
(2010-12) Mehta, Soham Kirit; Shea, Andrew Brendan; Gerald, Stephen; Howard, Donald; Smith, Alex
This report summarizes the process of developing, writing, directing, and finishing Fatakra, a short narrative film. The film was produced as my graduate thesis film in the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin in partial fulfillment of my Master of Fine Arts in Film Production. Additionally, this report contextualizes the making of FATAKRA within my development as an artist and filmmaker. Finally, the report looks forward as I complete what is commonly referred to as a “calling-card” film and leave an academic setting to pursue a filmmaking career.
Forging a New Identity: The Reconstruction of the Mexican Worker Family in the Context of Transnational Communities
(2007-02-03) Gundur, Rajeev
The Gift of the Sapodilla Trees
(2021) Ponce, Jose
Growing up in foster care: a qualitative study of the relational worlds of foster youth
(2004) Griffin, Julie Denise; Emmer, Edmund T.; Manaster, Guy J.
Grounded theory methodology was used to study 18 young adults (ages 18 to 25) who had spent at least four years in foster care during childhood. Semi-structured interviews were used to gain information about the experiences before, during, and after foster care placement. The interviews focused on relationships of all types, but especially caretaker-child relationships. Additional information on relationships and psychosocial functioning was collected via self-report measures and a file review. Results indicated that many of the participants’ experiences caused relational wounds, including painful relational beliefs and emotions. Relational wounds endured over time and broadly affected the participants’ experiences in foster care through the activation of goals and behavioral strategies. Foster placement characteristics also influenced the participants’ choice of goals and behavioral strategies. In many foster placements, the participants’ experiences inflicted new relational wounds or confirmed their existing relational beliefs. In some placements, however, participants experienced a sense of family. In these foster placements, participants received messages from the foster caretaker that had a therapeutic effect on their relational wounds. Foster caretaker messages were related to five themes: love, belonging, acceptance, importance, and support. Healing of relational wounds resulted in changes in emotions, beliefs, and behaviors. Other factors, such as exposure to therapeutic messages, foster caretaker characteristics, the unexpected termination of relationships, therapy, contact with biological family, additional stress and trauma, and participants’ psychological defenses also affected the extent to which healing occurred within the therapeutic context of a sense of family. These findings support the use of foster parents as an agent of change and highlight the need to help foster youth form stable, enduring family relationships while they are in foster care. Implications for family-based treatment foster care, foster parent recruitment and training, and the role of mental health professionals in foster care is discussed.
The household production of men's and women's health in the United States
(2013-08) Brown, Dustin Chad; Hayward, Mark D.; Hummer, Robert A.
The inverse association between individuals' own education and adverse health outcomes is well established, but the influence of other people's education -- particularly those with close social ties or who are family members -- and adult health outcomes is not. The material and non-material resources available to individuals via their own education likely are shared within a marriage to become resources at the household or family-level. Research on spousal education and adult health outcomes is sparse -- especially in the United States. Therefore, this dissertation examines how husbands and wives' education combine within marriage to influence each other's self-rated health and annual risk of death in the United States. The analyses utilize two nationally representative data sources: the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality File (NHIS-LMF). Chapter Two establishes an inverse association between spousal education and poor/fair self-rated health among married adults in the United States. The results also showed that spousal education attenuated the association between one's own education and fair/poor self-rated health more for married women than married men and age-specific analyses revealed that these differences were largest among married persons ages 45-64. Chapter Three reveals that individuals' own education and their spouse's education each share an inverse association with the annual risk of death among married adults. Although this association generally does not vary by gender, spousal education apparently is a more important determinant of all-cause mortality risk among married non-Hispanic whites in comparison to married non-Hispanic blacks. Age-specific analyses also suggest that the influence of own and spousal education on adult mortality risk weakened with increasing age. Chapter Four assesses life expectancy differentials between men and women in different marital status groups at different points in the educational distribution. The results imply that spousal education substantially contributes to life expectancy disparities between married and unmarried persons. The results also imply that focusing only on the relationship between married persons' own education and life expectancy masks substantial heterogeneity within educational groups attributable to spousal education. Overall, the findings strongly suggest that education is a shared or household health resource among husbands and wives.
The influence of religion in adolescence on adolescents’ attitude toward marital timing
(2012-08) Redford, Kristen Lee; Regnerus, Mark; Woodberry, Robert D.
Existing research identified strong links between religion and marriage behaviors, but few sources have evaluated the effect of religion on marital attitudes. This study sought to examine the relationship between adolescent religious affiliation and religiosity and the age at which adolescents wish to marry. Using the National Study of Youth and Religion, results showed that Christian adolescents in America wish to marry sooner at statistically significant levels than non-Christian adolescents, and that within Christian denominations, Evangelical Protestant and Mormon adolescents wish to marry sooner than Mainline Protestants. Religiosity had a less statistically significant effect on the marital timing attitude than religious affiliation, challenging findings of some of the existing literature. A reciprocal relationship was also examined to see if being married at younger ages predicted placement in certain religious affiliations and a change in religiosity. This study contributes to existing literature on the relationship between religion and marriage and family by shedding light on effectiveness of the transmission of family values affirmed by Christian denominations to their adolescent members. These findings help better understand the increase in the age of first marriage, as fewer adolescents and young adults claim a religious affiliation, reducing the number of people that want to get married at younger ages.
Kingpins and diamonds : ninepin bowling survives as a cultural relic thanks to tradition and family values in small town Texas
(2012-05) Selvidge, Spencer Myers; Darling, Dennis Carlyle; Paris, Sherre
Today, and for the last 20 years, the Blanco Bowling Club and Café has seen a decrease of active membership and faces real challenges to maintain relevance in an ever-evolving world of technology, activities, entertainment and economic uncertainty. Ninepin bowling is spread over four mostly rural counties in Texas’ Hill Country with 18 different alleys, including Blanco. Though Blanco’s population has grown over the last 50 years, its bowling club’s membership hasn’t. Blanco, a town of 2,205 people is a rural outlier statistically – it has grown every 10 years since the 1950s. From 2000 to 2010, Blanco’s population grew by over 33 percent, more than double Texas’ average and almost five times the national growth rate. Several factors could account for Blanco’s growth, but being roughly 45 miles from both Austin and San Antonio and being located on a state highway doesn’t hurt. Gourley suspects that now more than ever people are calling Blanco home while working in nearby population centers. They don’t get out into the community as much. The club, and to some extent the town itself, is and has been under a quiet assault from the modern world.
Lucretius, Pietas, and the Foedera Naturae
(2013-05) Takakjy, Laura Chason; Dean-Jones, Lesley
The presentation of pietas in Lucretius has often been overlooked since he dismisses all religious practice, but when we consider the poem’s overall theme of growth and decay, a definition for pietas emerges. For humans, pietas is the commitment to maintaining the foedera naturae, “nature’s treaties.” Humans display pietas by procreating and thereby promoting their own atomic movements into the future. In the “Hymn to Venus,” Lucretius uses animals as role models for this aspect of human behavior because they automatically reproduce come spring. In the “Attack on Love,” Lucretius criticizes romantic love because it fails to promote the foedera naturae of the family. Lucretius departs from Epicurus by expressing a concern for the family’s endurance into the future, or for however long natura will allow. It becomes clear that Lucretius sees humans as bound to their communities since they must live together to perpetuate the foedera naturae of the family.
Marriage in transition : gender, family and Muslim social reform in colonial India
(2013-05) Alam, Asiya; Minault, Gail, 1939-; Hyder, Syed Akbar; Ali, Kamran Asdar; Talbot, Cynthia; Majumdar, Rochona
This thesis examines how marriage amongst Urdu-speaking Muslims of colonial India was transformed during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The thesis illustrates this transformation by investigating changes in public debate on key familial issues such as consent in marriages, appropriate marriageable age, women’s education, polygyny, separation and divorce. Discourses on these questions are explored in hitherto unanalyzed archive of Urdu print culture particularly women’s magazines, novels, pamphlets and commentaries published during the colonial period. Examining the various debates conducted in this space of Urdu press, this thesis makes three major arguments. First, the various reformist efforts and ideas expended in improving and remaking women during the colonial was driven by the larger push to redefine family, and that the ‘women’s question’ triggered in social reform was, in effect, an agenda to remake and re-imagine the family. Secondly, these debates generated normative discourses of ‘good wives’ and ‘good husbands’ inhabiting an ideal familial space where relationships were supposed to be harmonious. These norms were centered on notions of ‘respectability’ and produced new role models for men and women. At the same time, these debates also raised questions about the nature of the ‘respectability’ ideal, criticized the silence and complicity of reformers in generating social norms, and emphasized financial autonomy and choice for women. Thus, the social order envisaged in these debates cannot be called ‘new patriarchy’ of colonialism but involved forms of emancipation as well as control. Finally, this thesis argues that these familial and social changes were held together by a common desire to actualize and fashion a new form of ‘Muslim self.’ Islam and notions of Muslim identity were central to social reform, and there were varying opinions on it producing new dilemmas and predicaments about the colonial present. These discussions thus illustrate not just changing family history of South Asian Muslims but also a dynamic Muslim intellectual culture during the colonial period.
Marriage, bigamy, and the Inquisition : power and gender relations in seventeenth-century New Spain
(2016-05) Rubino, Samantha Rose; Deans-Smith, Susan, 1953-; Hsrdwick, Julie
“Marriage, Bigamy, and the Inquisition” explores the formation and dissolution of intimate marital partnerships in seventeenth-century colonial Mexico. This report is a preliminary investigation into the formation and regulation of family life through the language of lived experience depicted in bigamy cases from the Inquisition. The trials of María de Figueroa, Juan de Lizarzaburo, Baltasar Márques Palomino, Mariana Monroy, and Pedro de Valenzuela depict the way in which the accused, their family/witnesses, and the court contested what family meant during inquisitorial interrogation. In other words, this report examines the application of marriage law to these specific family histories and the accused bigamists’ interpretation of what they deemed acceptable within Spanish society. In order to accomplish this analysis, this paper focuses on four key elements of marriage and family construction: 1) mala vida; 2) power relations between men and women; 3) the role of race and honor; and 4) the role of the Inquisition as an institution and site of debate about family.
Me siento : transgender Latinx lives and belonging in the 21st century
(2018-06-26) Padró, Jowell; Arroyo, Jossianna; Browne, Simone
The body facilitates a sense of (not) belonging for transgender Latinx subjects. Looking at contemporary cultural productions of transgender Latinx identity, I unpack the ways in which transgender Latinxs engage with their bodies to “belong” in the everyday. Seeking to contribute to contemporary dialogue surrounding transgender bodies within conceptualizations of latinidad, Chapter 1 critiques representations of transgender Latinxs in contemporary media, such as Mala Mala, Strut, Sirena Selena, and the Salt Mines. I focus specifically on the ways in which the body is engaged with and spoken about by each character, highlighting the tensions and complexities of feeling, belonging to, and embodying both Latinidad and transgenderness. In Chapter 2, I create an exemplary short story titled “Barrio Queer” to illustrate the racialized and cis/gendered dimensions of conceptions of (trans) gender embodiment and Puerto Rican identity, the connection to the divine, national belonging amongst diasporic subjects, and feminist introspection of masculinity. Finally, I conclude that the everyday bodily negotiations, tensions, and practices transgender Latinx subjects experience to foster a sense of (not) belonging to both gender and latinidad are crucial inclusions to narratives and representations of gender embodiment.