https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/111139 Tue, 26 May 2026 23:49:10 GMT 2026-05-26T23:49:10Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/111439 Title: How young adult women ‘make-sense’ of female portrayals in pop-cultural media Abstract: As Irish poet and playwright (died 1900) Oscar Wilde (2004) once said; “life imitates art far more than art imitates life” (pp.9) This then made the studying of portrayals in pop cultural media important. Therefore, this study aimed to understand ‘How Young Adult Women ‘Make Sense’ Of Female Portrayals In Pop-Cultural Media.’ It tackled the question through a qualitative approach. This was done by conducting semi-structured interviews with 6 participants who fit the criteria of the research question. The data was then analysed through Clarke and Braun’s (2006) Thematic analysis and the epistemological underpinnings of Queer Theory (Seidman, 1994). Findings of this study found that my participants had both positive and negative views of the way women have been depicted in film, and while there was consensus that the way women are portrayed is shifting, we still need more of this shift in future pieces of pop-cultural media. Description: MGS(Melit.) Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/111439 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/111436 Title: The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the wellbeing of female athletes : a study on local female runners Abstract: This study examines the impact of COVID-19 on seven Maltese female athletes’ mental wellbeing and health in the local scenario. By means of semi-structured interviews, I will be examining their coping mechanisms during the two partial lockdowns, when sports events were suspended. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data, producing three key themes being: Anxiety, Motivation, Coping Strategies (Braun & Clarke, 2006). From the data analysed it transpires that although every participant has her distinct personality, COVID-19 had a significant impact on their mental health, particularly throughout the isolation period. However, athletes developed a variety of strategies to get by during this time, by mainly training at home or in the outer space and taking part in new pursuits. The research findings are significant for female research as a contribution, to raise awareness and to fill the present gap in this particular field. Description: M. GSC(Melit.) Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/111436 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/111428 Title: The perception of motherhood amongst women living in Malta : a comparative discourse analysis Abstract: This study aims at finding out the perception of women living in Malta regarding motherhood. It focuses on finding out if women perceive any societal pressures to become mothers. By making use of qualitative methodology this study compares the perception of women of different ages in order to explore if the concept of motherhood has changed with time. Three focus groups were carried out amongst women living in Malta and who are of three different age groups between 20 years and 36 years and over 60 years. These participants were recruited through online platforms and snowball sampling. The focus groups were carried out using the videoconferencing platform Zoom. The data collected was analysed through comparative discourse analysis. The main areas of discussion that came out from this analysis were the role of women as mothers, expectation to bring up children, the role of grandparents, change in lifestyle, contraceptive use, women outside the ‘norm’ including mothers in same-sex relationships, mothers with disabilities, and childless women, and religion. One of the implications of this study is that women are empowered to speak about an experience that affects them as women. Further research is suggested in areas such as contraceptive use and mothers with disabilities. A policy change is also suggested in changing the number of days of paternity leave. Description: M. GSC(Melit.) Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/111428 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/111426 Title: Feminist working mothers : promoting female emancipation within the Maltese family, raising children as independent agents of cultural change Abstract: This research study investigates the lived experience of feminist working mothers as they strived to live their feminist ideology within the family. The project explores the feminist influences on the children as their mothers nurtured them to adulthood, incorporating the cultural shifts perceived, if any, in the advancement of gender equality within society. Six working mothers, identifying as feminists, and within a heterosexual marriage, participated in one-to one, semi-structured interviews reflecting on their lived experience in bringing up their children. These reflections required a qualitative study using an interpretative phenomenological approach in analysing the data. Emergent themes include the mothers’ understanding of feminist ideology and how they applied it in their lives; coping with their career within motherhood; their reaction to motherhood; and an intergenerational picture of the influences starting with the maternal mother through to the mother and the emergent adults of today. Analysis suggests that the participants view feminism similarly to those definitions found in the West, showing much diversity in their interpretations. Living a feminist ideology was seen as difficult particularly in the combined worlds of motherhood and work. Other findings show how the participants struggled to break the cycle of generations past and their unhappy childhood hoping to give their children a better future. The influences on the children resulted in young adults having strong feminist values of equality and justice auguring healthier perspectives for a well-balanced society. Description: M. GSC(Melit.) Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/111426 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z