An Undergraduate Academic Journal of Gender Research and Scholarship Through Gendered Lenses Edited by The Gender Studies Honor Society Gender Studies Program—University of Notre Dame 2012 Cover design by Caitlyn Kelly with Kyla Wargel 1 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements /5 Letter from the Editors /7 About the Gender Studies Program /9 About Triota: The Gender Studies Honor Society /10 Selected Essays: The Effects of School-Based Sex Education on the Sexual Behaviors and Attitudes of Black Adolescent Females: Experience, Beliefs, and Suggestions for Future Programs /13 Clare Parks “More Stunning Than Can Decently Be Expressed”: Desire and Control in the Stunners of Dante Gabriel Rossetti /39 Caroline Maloney 3 Women’s Representation in Government: A Comparative Analysis between British Parliament and American Congress /63 Jennifer Gast Girls, Gimmick, and Gore: The Echo of Feminist Performance Art in the Emerging “Gurlesque” /87 Dylan Krieger 4 Acknowledgements The Gender Studies Honor Society would like to recognize all who have contributed to the success of the third edition of Through Gendered Lenses. This publication would not have been possible without the foresight of former editors Amanda Lewis and Miriam Olsen (2010) and Robyn Grant and Anna Katter (2011), whose advice guided the production of this year’s publication. We owe them our sincere gratitude for their work on the first two volumes and for their influence on the third. The Honor Society would like to recognize Linnie Caye, Program Coordinator for the Gender Studies. Through Gendered Lenses would not be possible without Linnie’s advice and wisdom regarding the production of the journal. Additionally, we thank her for her coordination of various aspects of the journal production process and for her ever-present encouragement. We also thank Dr. Pamela Wojcik, Director of Gender Studies, and Dr. Abigail Palko, Director of Undergraduate Studies, for their input in the publishing process. Through Gendered Lenses would not have been possible without financial support from several sources. We would like to thank Dr. Cecilia Lucero of the Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement for her assistance in securing funding. The Office for Undergraduate Studies of the College of Arts & Letters provided a Teaching Beyond the Classroom Faculty Interim Grant. We would also like to thank the Boehnen Fund for Excellence in Gender Studies, the Genevieve D. Willis Endowment for Excellence, and the loyal alumni and friends who donate to the Honor Society every year. We are proud to publish a journal that represents both the efforts of Notre Dame undergraduates and those who support them. We would like to conclude by extending our appreciation to the contributors to this year’s journal and to all of those who submitted their brilliant research for consideration. We hope that this volume demonstrates the 5 diversity and talent that characterizes gender research among undergraduates at the University of Notre Dame. 6 Letter from the Editors Dear Readers, For the third year in a row, the Gender Studies Honor Society is proud to present Through Gendered Lenses, an Undergraduate Academic Journal of Scholarship and Research. From American Studies and Anthropology to Psychology and Peace Studies, the wide variety of submissions reviewed this year is truly a testament to the growing presence of gender-related scholarship at Notre Dame. As members of the Gender Studies Honor Society, we are pleased to afford our four authors due recognition and exposure for their distinctive work in the field of Gender Studies. Their papers on gender, as it pertains to Education, Art History, Political Science, and Literature, exemplify the interdisciplinary nature and pervasive relevance of Gender Studies. We believe that there is something in this journal to interest everyone, and we hope that you find this journal to be as engaging, stimulating, and entertaining as we do! Best, Kyla Wargel Maureen Choman Jennifer Gast 7 8 The Gender Studies Program Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary academic program in the College of Arts and Letters at Notre Dame that offers undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue a supplementary major or a minor. Gender Studies analyzes the significance of gender and the related issues of sex, sexuality, race, class, and religion. The Gender Studies program approaches these issues holistically through the lenses of arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Students in the Gender Studies program develop a skill set that allows them to analyze the methods and theories applied to gender and its related issues throughout history and in contemporary society. The Gender Studies program also teaches students to apply their classroom instruction to everyday life, including personal, familial, professional, and civic situations. The Gender Studies program complements the University’s Catholic identity through the study of the intersection of gender and religion and the study of how this interaction shapes ethics, culture, and politics. Alongside our diverse array of courses drawn from across the University, our summer internship and academic- credit internship programs emphasize the applications of a Gender Studies education. The dynamic and growing field of Gender Studies offers students the chance to analyze existing institutions and to work to improve relations in all sectors of life. Gender impacts every person in our international community, which makes it a natural and relevant supplemental field of study for students with any primary major. If you would like more information about the Gender Studies program, please stop by our office in 325 O’Shaughnessy Hall or visit our website at genderstudies.nd.edu. 9 Iota Iota Iota Undergraduate Gender Studies Honor Society Iota Iota Iota, or Triota, is an Undergraduate Honor Society composed of sophomore, junior, and senior Gender Studies majors and minors. Formed in 2006, Triota represents the Gender Studies Program’s top students as demonstrated by their overall academic performance. All members have earned at least a 3.5 GPA in Gender Studies and a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0. Members of Triota act as liaisons between the Gender Studies Program faculty and administrators and the Program’s students and continually identify ways to improve the academic quality of the Gender Studies experience for Notre Dame undergraduate students. Through Gendered Lenses is their main project throughout the year. Additionally, members of Triota represent and promote the Gender Studies major and minor at various campus events and host a study break each semester during finals week for all undergraduate majors and minors. If you are interested in becoming a member of Triota, please visit our page on the Gender Studies website, genderstudies.nd.edu, to learn more about us or to download an application. 10 Triota Members 2011-2012 President: Kyla Wargel, Class of 2012 Vice President: Maureen Choman, Class of 2012 Secretary/Treasurer: Jennifer Gast, Class of 2012 Melissa Buddie, Class of 2012 Paige Gesicki, Class of 2012 Jason G’Sell, Class of 2012 Ellen Jantsch, Class of 2012 Katherine Lukas, Class of 2012 Emma O’Brien, Class of 2012 MayaJoy Thode, Class of 2012 Christina Genovese, Class of 2013 11 12 The Effects of School-Based Sex Education on the Sexual Behaviors and Attitudes of Black Adolescent Females: Experience, Beliefs, and Suggestions for Future Programs Clare Parks 13 Clare Parks (Class of 2012) is a Psychology major from Kiawah Island, South Carolina. Her paper was written for the capstone course of her minor, Education, Schooling, and Society (ESS). Clare became interested in the topic of school- based sex education in a psychology course as an undergraduate at Notre Dame, where she read evidence suggesting that many schools in the U.S. teach our youth about sexuality in a manner that biases white males while neglecting the position of females as well as racial and sexual minorities. This socially unjust tendency is one of the many factors that contribute to the disproportionately high rates of unwanted teen pregnancy and disease in the U.S., and this paper aims to highlight the unique and often overlooked perspective of the population most vulnerable to these poor health outcomes: young Black females. Clare hopes the results of this paper can inform policy amidst the current polemic surrounding school-based sex education programs, so that our nation's youth can be properly educated about healthy sexuality in an environment that caters to all types of backgrounds, including gender, race, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status. 14 The Effects of School-Based Sex Education on the Sexual Behaviors and Attitudes of Black Adolescent Females: Experience, Beliefs, and Suggestions for Future Programs Clare Parks ABSTRACT: The United States has the second highest teen pregnancy rate of all developed countries, and 15-24 year olds account for almost half of the 18.9 million new cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) each year. Furthermore, half of black teenage females in the U.S. have at least one of the four most common STIs, compared with only one in five white or Latina Teens. These high rates have led to a long-standing dispute over abstinence education versus comprehensive sex education in our nation’s public schools. Abstinence education, which has long been promoted by the government, teaches abstinence from sexual activity outside a heterosexual marriage as the expected standard for all students