Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: In this study, I examine the function of mirrors in the professional and organizational work of hair stylists. As a semi-profession, hair styling negotiates issues of professional identity, body politics, and the organizational aesthetic form of the mirror through their work. Stylists’ negotiation of these tensions provides insights into the body/work nexus of other professions and corporate workers.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: While the social and symbolic importance of hair has been addressed by a variety of scholars, the specific case of curly hair has been relatively unexplored, despite the negative reception and perception of this hair type. To begin to understand how curly hair is understood in our society I have attempted to understand both the experiences of those with curly hair and meaning of this hair type. Focusing on a website, Naturallycurly.com, I have done a content analysis of 250 testimonials posted to the site between 1998-2001. My findings show that the often-negative experiences of having curly hair are played out at both the private and public level. Furthermore, my research indicates that the meaning assigned to curly hair is connected to the racialization of this hair type.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This research analyzes 30 interviews with a diverse group to understand how women experience their bodies and appearances after menopause in an androcentric and heterosexual culture. Women mostly focus on weight gain and gray hair but do so differently by sexual identity. Heterosexuals’ accounts reflect accommodation to femininity and beauty norms; in contrast, lesbians and some heterosexual women of color redefine dominant understandings of femininity based on body acceptance or negotiation of body norms to attain self-acceptance and self-reliance. Future research is needed to illuminate the constraints and advantages of embodied aging for women by sexuality, race, and class.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: How great an effort does the U.S. military make to avoid civilian casualties in contemporary military campaigns (e.g. Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq)? This paper seeks to answer that question and, in doing so, provide an explanation for the degree of American compliance with the norm of non-combatant immunity outlined in the Geneva Conventions. I contend that the degree of compliance with the norm of non-combatant immunity is much higher than is often recognized. This compliance stems from the intersection of three dynamics: (1) the way in which the norm has become embedded in American strategic culture (in particular, how U.S. decision-makers conceive of the national interest and the goals of warfare in the post-Cold War period); (2) the internalization of the norm within the organizational culture of the U.S. military; and (3) pressure from domestic and transnational civil society.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This paper is to discuss and compare the current descriptions on single women in their 30s in Western and East Asian societies, informed by the intersections between aging and gender. Young female aged 30-39 are defined to be the independent “Bridget Jone