07/18/2023
By Jamie Trottier

The College of Fine Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences, Department of Psychology, invites you to attend a Master’s thesis defense by Alyssa Melendez on "Campus Rec Center and the Reification of Gender Binaries: A Case Study About Setting Practices."

Candidate Name: Alyssa Melendez
Degree: Master's degree in Community Social Psychology
Date: Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Location: Center for Women & Work Conference Room; 150 Wilder St., 1st floor or Via Zoom 

Committee Members:

  • Committee Chair Professor Meg Bond, Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Professor Thomas Gordon, Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Lowell
  • Professor Robin Toof, Department of Center for Community Research & Engagement, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Abstract:
"A case study approach utilizing a ‘gender as context’ framework to evaluate the ways in which gendered practices and relations of the on-campus fitness center (CFC) reproduce or oppose distinct, binary categories of gender. This framework moves beyond an individual approach to analyzing a social issue, paying close attention to not only the primary setting practices, but the ways in which a specific context influences how gender is understood, as well as the ways in which gender plays a role in shaping qualities of a specific social setting. It is suggested that within social settings, such as communities, schools, workplaces, and families, there are three specific types of setting practices that can convey – and reinforce - differential access to opportunities, resources, roles, and power based on social constructed binary categories of gender: 1) Structural practices, 2) Transactional patterns, & 3) Embedded values. Semi-structured interviews were utilized to identify practices and thematic analysis was used to code the data."