Sarah Lawrence College DigitalCommons@SarahLawrence Women's History Theses Women’s History Graduate Program 11-2018 Honey, Spice and Sometimes Nice: The 20th and 21st centuries Cultural, Social and Political Work of the Queen Bee Sarah Elisabet Stanislawa Schmer Sarah Lawrence College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.slc.edu/womenshistory_etd Part of the Women's History Commons Recommended Citation Schmer, Sarah Elisabet Stanislawa, "Honey, Spice and Sometimes Nice: The 20th and 21st centuries Cultural, Social and Political Work of the Queen Bee" (2018). Women's History Theses. 39. https://digitalcommons.slc.edu/womenshistory_etd/39 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Women’s History Graduate Program at DigitalCommons@SarahLawrence. It has been accepted for inclusion in Women's History Theses by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@SarahLawrence. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Sarah Lawrence College Honey, Spice and Sometimes Nice: The 20th and 21st centuries Cultural, Social and Political Work of the Queen Bee by Sarah Elisabet Stanislawa Schmer Thesis Advisor: Professor Lyde Cullen Sizer Submitted in partial completion of the Master of Arts Degree in Women’s History at Sarah Lawrence College December 2018 2 Abstract This thesis was partially inspired by my personal experience of attending Emma Willard School, an all-girls boarding school in Troy, New York. This thesis examines the social, cultural and political history of the Queen Bee figure in the popular culture of the twentieth and twenty first centuries. The Queen Bee is a fluid anti-heroine however, a feminist character who while she tears down others around her to succeed is also genuine with relatable emotions.