Core 110 (Heisel)  Sex and Culture: Gender Analysis

research guide
Librarian: Diane Prorak
E-mail: prorak@uidaho.edu

UI Library Website: www.lib.uidaho.edu

If you need additional help with your research, try:
Books and DVDs
How To Find Books and DVDs

To search for books or DVDs in our library, type your search terms in the box below.  If you type DVD in the box, you will mostly see DVDs in your result list.

Books listed may be located at the UI Library, the UI Women's Center (in Memorial Gym) the UI Law Library, NIC (North Idaho College, Coeur d'Alene), and LCSC (Lewis-Clark State College, Lewiston).  Books from libraries not on the Moscow campus can be ordered using the "request" button.  

Books are shelved using the Library of Congress classification scheme. 

The location name for UI DVDs is UI Library Audiovisual Collection.  Write down the call number and request them at the Library's Reserve Desk. 

Below are some common subject terms and phrases to give you some ideas.  You might try some of these terms, perhaps in different combinations, to find books.

  • Ambiguous genitalia
  • Beauty, Personal Psychological aspects
  • Bisexuals
  • Body image
  • Body image in adolescence
  • Body image in men
  • Coming out (sexual orientation)
  • Communication sex differences
  • Eating Disorders, Social aspects
  • Feminism in (art, literature, etc.)
  • Gay men
  • Gender Identity
  • Hermaphroditism
  • Homosexuality 
  • Identity (Psychology)
  • Language and languages sex differences
  • Lesbianism
  • Man-women relationships
  • Masculinity
  • Mass media and culture
  • Mass media and teenagers
  • Mass media influence 
  • Men in literature
  • Nature and nuture
  • Obesity Social aspects
  • Self-acceptance
  • Self esteem in women
  • Sex change
  • Sex determination, Genetic
  • Sex differences
  • Sex discrimination against women
  • Sex preselection
  • Sex role in literature
  • Sex Roles
  • Sexual behavior
  • Sexuality
  • Stereotype in mass media
  • Transsexuals
  • Women's rights
Articles
Articles are found in periodicals.  Examples of periodicals are magazines, journals, and newspapers. Scholarly (also called peer-reviewed or refereed) journals are one of the primary means of disseminating ideas in academic scholarship. 

What are the differences: scholarly journals, popular magazines and trade journals?  
How To Find Current Articles
Articles are located by searching for your topic in an article database (sometimes called an article index). First, select an appropriate database from the Library Find Articles page or choosing one of those listed below. After selecting a database to search, type in search terms. Articles are generally more specific than books and may require a narrower search.

IMPORTANT SEARCH TIP:  If you are not getting the results you want from your search:

  • Try different search terms or different combinations of terms
  • Try a different database

Some more terms or phrases you may find useful: anorexia nervosa, binge eating, body dissatisfaction, body image disturbance, body size,  cosmetic surgery, depression (mental), gender,  mass media, obesity psychological aspects, plastic surgery, stereotype (psychology), television advertising, self-perception

Example of an efficient search:

  • (television or media): the parentheses and OR allow you to include more terms in one search
  • The * is a wildcard, so you will find teenager or teenagers
  • AND requires that the concepts of oral history and gay/lesbian sexual orientation are BOTH present in the resulting articles. 
  • The quotes require that the words are found as a phrase
  • Article Linker
    If the article in a database is not available in full text, click on the link or symbol for “Article Linker” to find out if the library has the journal and/or article available either in print or online or to request a copy of the article by Interlibrary Loan.
  • In EbscoSearch, "gender analysis" or "gender studies" could be used as subject terms with your own keywords to find scholarly analyses.
  • In the Ebsco databases, you can check a limit box to limit to scholarly journals. It reduces your results, but won't eliminate the news or editorial articles that may appear in journals.

Selected Article Indexes for Sex and Culture: Body Image

Recommended Article Database Titles and Descriptions
EbscoSearch  A good general database of both scholarly and popular articles in almost all subject areas, many full text or with links to full text.  An excellent starting place. You can limit your search to scholarly journals by checking a box under "Limit your results" called "Peer Reviewed (Scholarly Journals)".
Lexis Nexis A full text database with many newspaper articles and radio transcripts included (as well as legal and business information).  You can also search campus newspapers by choosing the tab "Guided News Search" then the pulldown "University News."
More subject specific databases
American Humanities Index A database of mostly scholarly articles, many full text, in American literature, history and the arts.
CQ Researcher  An excellent and reliable source for overviews of many social and ethical topics.  Each week the publication explores a topic in depth.  Broaden your topic to see what is available.  Full text.
Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition Articles focusing on medical and health issues. Use this to explore medical aspects of your topic.  Some are full text.
Health Source: Consumer Edition Use this to get more popular articles focusing on health or medical aspects.  Some are full text.
Lewiston Morning Tribune Archives Find full text of local news articles back to 1990. To access articles, enter the username "UIL" and password "1011738".
Polling the Nations Gives questions and results of polls on various topics.  You may want to browse the list of topics and choose a broader aspect of your topic. 
Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection  For mostly scholarly sources that deal with the psychology of gender issues.  Many full text articles.
Religion and Philosophy Collection A database of mostly scholarly articles, many full text,  covering topics related to religious studies and philosophy.
Social Sciences Databases More article databases related to the social sciences (especially more scholarly ones) can be chosen and searched from this list.
Government Information
Government publications come from state, federal, and foreign governments, as well as intergovernmental organizations like the United Nations. Government documents are a great place to look for statistical information.
Selected Government Resources for Sex and Culture

Title/Description

Call #
Bureau of Justice Statistics http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs
Crime in Idaho http://www.isp.state.id.us/identification/ucr/crime_idaho.html
GirlsHealth.gov: Body Image and Eating Disorders http://www.4girls.gov/mind/bodyimage.htm

Also had a good image of "computer enhancement"  can be found at http://www.girlpower.gov/girlarea/bodywise/bodyimage/media.htm
Thomas (For searching U.S. laws and legislation) http://thomas.loc.gov/
WomensHealth.gov: Body Image http://www.4woman.gov/bodyimage/index.cfm
WomensHealth.gov: Anorexia http://www.4woman.gov/faq/easyread/anorexia-etr.htm
Uniform Crime Reports (See especially hate crime section) http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm#cius
U.S. Census Bureau http://www.census.gov
Internet Resources
Information on the Internet ranges from the free web to electronic books, journals, etc. that the library pays for. The Internet is a wonderful source for many different types of information. It is important to remember that anyone can publish something on the web and it is critical to evaluate your source carefully. The library's Website Evaluation Criteria  or Applying the CRAAP Test can help you choose reliable information.

Besides doing searches on www.google.com (or Google Scholar http://scholar.google.com)or other search engines, you can use subject lists that have evaluated web sites before inclusion: Librarians' Index to the Internet, lii.org , the Internet Public Library at www.ipl.org, and Infomine (scholarly sources) at http://infomine.ucr.edu/
Selected Internet Resources for Sex and Culture: Gender issues 

Title/Description

URL
About Face http://www.about-face.org/
Adios Barbie http://www.adiosbarbie.com/
Beauty and Body Image in the Media http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/women _and_girls/women_beauty.cfm
Gender, Diversities and Technologies Institute http://www2.edc.org/GDI/index.asp
GenderStats (WorldBank) (database of world gender statistics) http://genderstats.worldbank.org/home.asp
Gender Statistics for Europe and North America (United Nations)  http://www.unece.org/stats/gender/web/
Love Your Body  http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/index.html
Mirror, Mirror: A Summary of Research Findings on Body Image http://www.sirc.org/publik/mirror.html
National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders http://www.anad.org/site/anadweb/
Popular Culture: Gender (from WSU American Studies) http://www.wsu.edu/~amerstu/pop/gender.html
Selected Women and Gender Resources (from the U of Wisconsin) http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/WomensStudies/others.htm

See especially the first link, "Women and Gender Resources by Subject"
Social Science Information Gateway (search many topics--based in the UK) http://sosig.esrc.bris.ac.uk/
Statistical Resources on the Web http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/stats.html
Status of Women in Canada http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/index_e.html
UNICEF: Gender Equality (statistics by country) http://www.unicef.org/gender/
WomenWatch (United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Women and Gender Equality http://www.un.org/womenwatch/
World Bank: Gender and Development http://web.worldbank.org/gender
Evaluating Sources

While web sites require the most scrutiny, you should evaluate every source you use for your research. See Critically Analyzing Information Sources for tips.
Citing Sources

You will need to properly cite your sources.  This page may be helpful:

UI Library's page of Electronic Style Guides

Research and Documentation Online  Diana Hacker's guide covering citation of both print and electronic sources using APA, MLA, Chicago, or CBE. Includes sample paper in each style.

 

Other Core 110 Research Guides

Other Core 110 Sex and Culture Library Research guides may be useful to you because they include some different topics and resources.  They are all available at

http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/instruction/CoreDiscovery/