The lived experience of adults with anagen syndrome: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Introduction: Currently there are no studies within the academic literature which document the lived experiences of those who have Anagen Syndrome (AS). AS is a benign condition which impacts head hair growth. There are two known phenotypes, Loose Anagen Hair Syndrome which is a condition that makes anagen hair easily and painlessly fall out, and Short Anagen Syndrome, which results in a short anagen hair growth rate. The study aimed to investigate the psychological and social factors the condition brings for those who have it. Method: The participants were recruited from a Facebook support group for the condition. A sample of seven white adult females who self-identified as having Anagen Syndrome were interviewed using a semi-structured interview. The data from the interview was transcribed and the transcripts were individually and group wide analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results: Three master themes and nine superordinate themes were developed to describe the experiences of living with AS. The master themes are “feeling imperfect”, “I’m more than my hair” and “Nobody understands me”. Participants described two distinct time periods: before finding out about what AS was which left them feeling different and ‘feeling imperfect; and after finding out about the condition which is outlined in “I’m more than my hair”. Participants also reported feeling misunderstood throughout both of these time periods which is reflected in “Nobody understands”. Discussion: The findings are compared to existing relevant psychological theory and literature. A critical evaluation of the study is presented as well as potential future research within the area and implications of the research

Managing the Paradoxes of Perfection in Women's Daily Lives

This study explores the paradoxical nature of cultural norms of feminine perfection and the strategies women employ to manage those paradoxes. Following an analysis of the cultural discourses surrounding women and perfection, this study uses portraiture to highlight how five women face perfection in their lives. Portraiture as a method employs careful, detailed narratives of a participant. The portraits from five participants, from different generations, ethnicities, races, and socio-economic backgrounds are provided and analyzed. Each portrait participant in this study represented a facet of feminine perfection, such as physical, relational, or career. From these portraits, distinct management strategies emerged. While each participant experienced perfection in unique ways, they all were able to transcend the paradoxical tensions of perfection by framing and creating boundaries around how they would personally manage perfection. These accounts suggest that women work within the constraints of cultural norms to create stable identities

From pixel to fabric: Fashion and nonverbal communication in the Web3 age

openThis thesis delves into the critical role of fashion as a form of nonverbal communication, particularly focusing on the intersection of traditional attire and digital innovation within the Web3 era. Research indicates that judgments about an individual's personality, affability, competence, and socioeconomic status are often formed within a fraction of a second based on their attire. This rapid assessment underscores the importance of fashion as a powerful nonverbal cue. The present research project aims to understand how clothing choices influence perceptions and first impressions, a process that occurs almost instantaneously upon meeting someone new. The study begins by defining nonverbal communication and its significance in everyday interactions, emphasizing how clothing plays a pivotal role in shaping first impressions. The historical evolution of fashion is explored, highlighting its role as a medium for expressing personal identity and cultural values. Clothing serves not only as a means of self-expression but also as a tool for navigating social contexts and conveying one's status and affiliations. Factors influencing clothing choices, such as cultural norms, personal values, and psychological traits, are examined to understand their impact on self-perception and how others perceive us. In the context of the emerging NFT and Web3 culture, the thesis introduces NFTs as digital assets that represent personal interests and values. These non-fungible tokens are revolutionizing the way individuals express their identity, bridging the gap between digital art and physical fashion. The study focuses on the W3as fashion project, which integrates NFTs into its clothing line, allowing individuals to wear their digital art and express their affiliations and values in the real world. A comparative case study of the 9dcc brand is presented, highlighting its marketing strategies and positioning within the Web3 space. This analysis sheds light on how different brands leverage digital innovation to enhance their fashion offerings and communicate their values. By exploring the confluence of traditional fashion and digital art, this thesis aims to illuminate the evolving landscape of nonverbal communication through attire, offering insights into how fashion continues to be a dynamic and influential form of self-expression in the Web3 era.This thesis delves into the critical role of fashion as a form of nonverbal communication, particularly focusing on the intersection of traditional attire and digital innovation within the Web3 era. Research indicates that judgments about an individual's personality, affability, competence, and socioeconomic status are often formed within a fraction of a second based on their attire. This rapid assessment underscores the importance of fashion as a powerful nonverbal cue. The present research project aims to understand how clothing choices influence perceptions and first impressions, a process that occurs almost instantaneously upon meeting someone new. The study begins by defining nonverbal communication and its significance in everyday interactions, emphasizing how clothing plays a pivotal role in shaping first impressions. The historical evolution of fashion is explored, highlighting its role as a medium for expressing personal identity and cultural values. Clothing serves not only as a means of self-expression but also as a tool for navigating social contexts and conveying one's status and affiliations. Factors influencing clothing choices, such as cultural norms, personal values, and psychological traits, are examined to understand their impact on self-perception and how others perceive us. In the context of the emerging NFT and Web3 culture, the thesis introduces NFTs as digital assets that represent personal interests and values. These non-fungible tokens are revolutionizing the way individuals express their identity, bridging the gap between digital art and physical fashion. The study focuses on the W3as fashion project, which integrates NFTs into its clothing line, allowing individuals to wear their digital art and express their affiliations and values in the real world. A comparative case study of the 9dcc brand is presented, highlighting its marketing strategies and positioning within the Web3 space. This analysis sheds light on how different brands leverage digital innovation to enhance their fashion offerings and communicate their values. By exploring the confluence of traditional fashion and digital art, this thesis aims to illuminate the evolving landscape of nonverbal communication through attire, offering insights into how fashion continues to be a dynamic and influential form of self-expression in the Web3 era

Dressing the part : costuming of lesbian identities in contemporary film and television

This thesis examines lesbian costuming and dress in contemporary British and American film and television, offering analyses of sartorial constructions of gay female identities in modern media. It uses close textual analysis and interviews with producers and consumers to examine the production, texts, and reception of selected representations, outlining current social rituals of lesbian style. Interviews were held with Cynthia Summers, Lesley Abernethy, Niamh Morrison, Catherine Adair, Janie Bryant, Tina Scorzafava and Mary Claire Hannan about their designs. Spectators answered questions and responded to photographs and a transcript. The thesis argues that the modern-day designer of lesbian costuming is subject to a contradictory triangle of demands, encompassing the need for costume to support character, resistance to stereotypes, and the recognition and perceived positive politics of identifiable lesbianism. Chapters covering Lip Service and The L Word; Desperate Housewives, Deadwood, and Mad Men, and Gillery’s Little Secret and The Kids Are All Right examine differing results of these pressures. The thesis argues that while anxiety over ‘butch’ stereotypes and heteronormative mainstream demands for assimilation play a part in the overwhelming ‘femininity’ of many examples, an increase in lesbian visibility has also paradoxically instigated a shift away from specificity in media representations through dress because lesbianism is no longer seen as a ‘story’. It suggests that lesbian authorship and using real-life lesbian styles as costume inspiration may offer a way out of the stereotype vs. ‘authentic’ imagery impasse without erasing recognisably lesbian iconography. Finally, the thesis concludes that the production, text and reception of contemporary lesbian images at times comprises a complete circuit of communication, with production decisions and everyday practices of lesbian dress both echoing and informing one another

Beyond Afrocentricism and Orientalism contemporary representations of transnational identities in the works of Nontsikelelo "Lolo" Veleko and Tracy Payne

South African photographer Nontsikelelo “Lolo” Veleko and South African painter Tracy Payne explore different ways of communicating African realities. The visual imagery of these two artists focuses a lot on movement, challenging the rigidity of boundaries set by Western social constructs. In their work, Veleko and Payne critique the limitations of terms such as “authenticity.” It is extremely difficult to portray shifting notions of contemporary African identity in light of the stain of colonial philosophies which have, in times past, exoticised and appropriated the African body and ascribed conventions of “authenticity” to African representations. Undermining the burden of Western boundaries1, Veleko and Payne redefine what it means to operate in Africa today. Veleko seeks additional cultural realities to complicate her identity as a woman living in Africa while Payne uses concepts of movement to question the validity of structures which advocate an either/ or binary such as “East” and “West” and “masculinity” and “femininity”. By subtly merging aspects of these binaries in their representations, Veleko and Payne bring transnational possibilities to light by undermining the restrictions inscribed in the social and political history of (South) Africa with regard to collective and individual identities. Constructs of gender have contributed to a heightened sense of “African” “masculinity,” forming a stereotype of the African body which is difficult to break free from. Considering the notion of transnationalism and the issue of moving beyond boundaries, borrowing aspects of different cultures in attempt to better define a sense of self, Veleko and Payne engage in the sampling of different lifestyles and perspectives to better define their individualities. This thesis seeks to provide an analysis of the visual language used by Veleko and Payne to promote fluid “African” identities

Hyenas in scarlet petticoats : re-dressing the heroine in the novels of the Brontës, George Eliot and Virginia Woolf

No AbstractEThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceUniversity of Newcastle Upon Tyne's Alumni AssociationGBUnited Kingdo

Dressing the dead : social practices of clothing and adornment at the historic Head and Adams Cemeteries in central East Texas, 1850 to 1900

I explore social identity as mortuary displays of age and gender during the period of 1850 to 1900 in the historic, rural community of Headsville, Texas. I contend that material remains of clothing and adornment aid in the interpretation of social expectations of dress and presentation according to prevalent nineteenth-century ideologies of maturity and gender. Building on multiple lines of evidence, including artifacts recovered from the relocation of the Head and Adams Cemeteries, I outline clothing artifact assemblages related to gender during the life course informed by nineteenth-century dress history and socio-political movements within the context of an emerging, rural European American frontier community. I examine dress artifact types, materials, frequencies, sizes, and proveniences to systematically compare inferences of clothing from similar groupings of artifacts within known burials to unknown burials. I identified a male artifact assemblage and a female and gender-neutral non-adult artifact assemblage. Diagnostic artifacts within the male assemblage suggested burial in pants, shirts, jackets, and waistcoats and, within the female and gender-neutral assemblage, one- to two-piece dresses in adult burials and children’s gowns and diapers in juvenile and infant burials. I conclude that individuals were buried in their daily dress, work clothing, and Sunday’s best attire. Pants were the most archaeologically accessible trait of male clothing, which served to reaffirm masculine ideals in boys as young as the age of three years. More elaborate male ensembles, specifically cuff and collar closures, were reserved for older men indicating a status linked to the longevity of manhood. Adult female and children’s clothing were much more nuanced, and I assert that commonalities in closure means might have represented a subtle link between femininity and childhood; however, landmarks in the maturation of female dress through childhood were inaccessible without the presence of textiles. Additionally, adult female clothing lacked many of the extravagant constrictions of women’s clothing such as corsets, which I assert speaks to the limitations of burial and the pragmatism of women living in a rural, farming community. My categorization and exploration of dress provides a foundation for analyzing dress remains not only from other cemeteries but also other archaeological contexts.Anthropolog

The Forensic Identification of CCTV Images of Unfamiliar Faces

Government and private crime prevention initiatives in recent years have resulted in the increasingly widespread establishment of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) systems. This thesis discusses the history, development, social impact and the efficacy of video surveillance with particular emphasis placed on the admissibility in court of CCTV evidence for identification purposes. Indeed, a verdict may depend on the judgement by members of a jury that the defendant is depicted in video footage. A series of 8 experiments, mainly employing a single-item identity-verification simultaneous matching design were conducted to evaluate human ability in this context, using both photographs and actors present in person as targets. Across all experiments, some trials were target absent in which a physically matched distracter replaced the target. Specific features were varied such as video quality, the age of participants, the use of disguise and the period of time between image acquisition and identification session. Across all experiments performance was found to be error prone, even if the quality of the images was high and depicted targets in close-up. Further experiments examined jury decision making when presented with CCTV evidence and also whether extensive examination of images would aid identification performance. In addition, evidence may be presented in court by facial structure experts in order to verify the identity of an offender caught on CCTV. Some of these methods were discussed and a software package was designed to aid in the identification of facial landmarks in photographs and to provide a database of the physical and angular distance between them for this purpose. A series of analyses were conducted and on the majority of these, the system was found to be more reliable than humans at facial discrimination. All the results are discussed in a forensic context and the implications for current legal practices are considered