Date of Award

Spring 2024

Degree Type

Campus Access Only Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Women’s and Gender Studies

First Advisor

Amanda Apgar, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Mairead Sullivan, Ph.D.

Abstract

My project, titled “Narratives of Sexuality from Undergraduate Women at LMU,” explores how LMU undergraduate students who identify as women have experienced sexuality during their time in college. I wanted to focus this project on women and people who identify with womanhood to highlight the gendered aspects of sexuality on a college campus. I specifically say women and people who identify with womanhood to emphasize that gender non-conforming individuals are also affected by feminine and masculine concepts of sexuality. Factors such as misogyny, beauty standards, gendered power dynamics, and the influence of institutions on social norms and behavior. My initial interest came from wanting to know how much of an effect sexual experience in college leaves on students once they move on to the next step in their lives. My project developed into an exploration of LMU’s dating and hookup culture, gender and sexuality norms, and the influence of LMU’s own curriculum and campus culture on student life. College, for those who have or will attend, is commonly acknowledged as formative years in which young adults discover and develop themselves and experiment with sexuality. Using an intersectional feminist lens, I ground my research frameworks including social theory, institutional theory, and care ethics. Chapter 1 of my thesis focuses on the broader dating and hookup cultures practiced and observed by students on campus. Chapter 2 dives deeper into the dating and hookup norms produced and reinforced through sorority and fraternity life. Finally, Chapter 3 looks at the influence of LMU as an institution and its orientation curriculum on student conduct, particularly student sexuality.

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Available for download on Friday, May 07, 2027

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