DOCSLIB.ORG

Mujersita Youth Pedagogies: Race, Gender, and (Counter)Surveillance in the New Latnx South

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Mujersita Youth Pedagogies: Race, Gender, and (Counter)Surveillance in the New Latnx South MUJERSITA YOUTH PEDAGOGIES: RACE, GENDER, AND (COUNTER)SURVEILLANCE IN THE NEW LATNX SOUTH Esmeralda Rodríguez A dissertation submitted to the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Education. Chapel Hill 2018 Approved by: Claudia Cervantes-Soon George Noblit Juan F. Carrillo Sherick Hughes Luis Urrieta, Jr. © 2018 Esmeralda Rodríguez ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT ESMERALDA RODRIGUEZ: Mujerista Youth Pedagogies: Race, Gender, and (Counter)Surveillance in the New Latinx South (Under the direction of Claudia Cervantes-Soon and George Noblit) Though there is a body of research that deconstructs essentialized perspectives on Latinx youth (Cervantes-Soon, 2012; 2017; Cammarota, 2008; 2011; Denner & Guzman, 2006; Garcia, 2012: Stanton-Salazar, 2001; Valdes, 2001; Valenzuela, 1999) a large body of research has failed to perceive Latina girls in nuanced ways. Additionally, mainstream research and broader discourses on Latina adolescents have been dominated by a hyper-focus on the “problem of [Latinx] adolescent behavior” (Akom, Cammarota, & Ginwright, 2008, p. 1). In the face of this, however, Chicana and Latina feminist writers use academic research and narrative writing to testify against deficit portrayals of Latinas. However, a review of these works has also spotlighted the reality that even this critical body of work has ignored the wisdoms and lived experiences of Latina youth. There has been much work that focuses on the perspectives of adult women who tend to look back to their youth in order to make sense of their adulthood. Conversely, this research age-gap has elucidated the importance of youth experiences and the need to for nuanced scholarship that centers their experiential knowledge. The absence of Latina youth voices is even more conspicuous when we take context into account as their voices are also largely absent from the growing number of work on the New Latinx South. Historically, Latinx communities have been absent from the demographic, economic, cultural, and political systems of the South but in the past two decades, there has been iii a profound shift in new immigration gateway states like North Carolina (Smith & Furuseth, 2006). This migration has disrupted the Southern socio-political consciousness that has largely been defined by the Black/White racial dichotomy (Wortham, Murrillo, & Hamann, 2002). Drawing from Chicana feminist theory, testimonio, and Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, and Cain's (1998) sociocultural practice theory of identity and agency, this student presents a narrative about surveillance and counter-surveillance in the New Latinx South. Drawing from the encuentros, interview data, and observational data, I have identified three domains of surveillance. The first, surveillance of citizenship, refers to how racist nativist discourses about Latinx immigrants create a surveillance system in the form immigration retenes, heightened anti- immigrant sentiments amongst the students, and school’s silence around these very issues. The second type of surveillance, surveillance of the flesh, refers to the raced-gendered discourses of power that situate the girls’ emerging womanhood as inherently dangerous to themselves and others. The third surveillance finding, surveillance of student identity refers to the institutional patrolling (Alvarez-Gutierrez, 2014) practices of school personnel the closely monitor Latina bodies within the school. This monitoring presents itself through the push for visibility and compliance, the standards driven curriculum, and racialized constructs of intelligence. Through that awareness comes a responsibility to recognize that while the girls were being watched, they were also watching back by engaging in their own forms of counter-surveillance. As such, this study also points to moments when the girls deployed their facultades and border thinking (Mignolo, 2000) in order to disrupt the panoptic gaze and discourses of power imposed on them. I characterize this action as “counter-surveillance.” Implications for the theorization of pedagogies and literacies are discussed. iv Este trabajo está dedicado a las mujeres cuyas enseñanzas continúan guiándome, inspirándome y empoderándome: Mamá y Güelita, mis primeras maestras; San Juanita y Evelyn, mis hermanas; y Ati y Andrea, mis hermanas del alma. This work is also dedicated to the young women at the center of this study. My experiences with you have taught me what it means to be a teacher. A todas, las quiero mucho. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS One of the most important lessons my mother taught me was “yo aviso, no pido permiso” which translates to, “I let you know, I don’t ask permission”. Though such a statement would not have been really accepted in place of asking permission all those times I wanted to go to parties, witnessing my mother—who learned this from her own mother—instilled in me a resilient agency to take charge of my education. When I decided to attend The University of Texas at Austin, I did not ask permission, I let you know. You supported me. When I told you I was moving out of state to attend UNC, you called me “loca” but supported me. I am not offended that you called me so for I understand that you did so in the most loving of ways. Amá, my life’s work is driven by a desire to show you that if I am a loca, so are you because everything about this work reflects the educación you have instilled in me. In fact, esta locura, this craziness, is an intergenerational feminine power that has been passed down from mothers to daughters. This power has placed women like you at the helm of their families, has driven women to face the hardships of life with dignity, and has bred an entire generation of women survivors. I survive because you do. I fight for better because you do. Apá, he sobrevivido esta cosa que se llama graduate school porque he podido encontrar el humor en la vida. Cuando me sale un chiste que me hace morir de risa, siempre digo “me salió to Antonio Rodriguez”. Gracias por enseñarme a reír, aunque a veces sea sola. Enrique, hermano, you are a true intellectual. No one can match our “we’re just having a discussion” screaming matches over holiday dinners. San Juanita, hermana, despite our distances, you have the ability to bring out an openness in me that no other family member can—a testament to your vi warm spirit. Eduardo, hermanito, I admire how you never hesitate to remind me you love me. Evelyn, sister, you embody supervivencia. I admire you as a daughter, a sister, and a mother. You’re may be the youngest, but next to our beautiful mother, you have quickly become the second head of the family. The guilt I carry for being so far away is eased by your capable hands. Kassandra, Anthony, Samantha, Gordo, Edrick, and Melanie: what a beautiful light you’ve given us and what a beautiful world you’ll create because of it. To my other sisters: Ati, the love I have for you is more than you can imagine. I admire your strength and selflessness. May I continue to learn from it and may you always buy the groceries and I cook them. Andrea, I love you for opening your home to me all those years ago. I am indebted to you in too many ways for me to enumerate. I do not know how I can ever repay you for all that you do. From one family, to the next. I owe a debt of gratitude to the guidance my academic mentors have given me. I trace my journey to a PhD like so: Abraham Peña-Talamantes, thank you for guiding me in the transition from high school into college and leading me to participate in the Preview Program and McNair. Aurora Chang, thank you for the powerful work you did for the Preview Program. Yours is the first example I saw of allowing our identities guide not just our research inquiries but our commitments to equity and justice in education. Michael Nava, FranCee Brown-McClure and the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program, thank you for creating a safe and rigorous context in which to explore this thing called academic research. My participation in the McNair Scholars program planted the seed of my beautiful dissertation committee. Luis Urrieta, thank you opening your classroom and your heart to me when I was just 17 years old exploring the university space for the first time. When I heard you speak with such passion about the Chicanx educational experience and the power of our community, I remember saying “I want to talk like that.” I switched my major to Mexican vii American Studies because of you and embarked on a journey of self-discovery that has forever transformed me the way I understand myself, my history, and my people. Not only did I learn to talk “like that”, but I learned to feel like that. Dr. Luis, I am honored to have followed in your footsteps in attending to UNC to study under your own mentor George Noblit. George, I am sorry for all those times I did not make an appointment to speak with you and instead decided to just pop in to your office. I thank you for always being open to just have a conversation with me. In these conversations, you always encouraged me to follow my instincts. This freedom to be, in relation to my scholarship, has not only helped me think more deeply and creatively, but it has helped nurture my voice as a scholar-activist. To Claudia Cervantes-Soon, my most caring and loving mentor, I am in awe of your power as an educator, scholar, writer, mentor, and mother. I am most grateful to the powers that be for allowing our journeys to converge at UNC.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • INDIA Transcript of D. Sharifa Interviewe
    GLOBAL FEMINISMS: COMPARATIVE CASE STUDIES OF WOMEN’S ACTIVISM AND SCHOLARSHIP SITE: INDIA Transcript of D. Sharifa Interviewer: C.S. Lakshmi Location: Pudukkottai, Tamilnadu, India Date: 9-12 July, 2004 Language of Interview: Tamil SPARROW Sound & Picture Archives for Research on Women B-32, Jeet Nagar, J.P. Road, Versova, Mumbai-400061 Tel: 2824 5958, 2826 8575 & 2632 8143 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.sparrowonline.org Acknowledgments Global Feminisms: Comparative Case Studies of Women’s Activism and Scholarship was housed at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan (UM) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The project was co-directed by Abigail Stewart, Jayati Lal and Kristin McGuire. The China site was housed at the China Women’s University in Beijing, China and directed by Wang Jinling and Zhang Jian, in collaboration with UM faculty member Wang Zheng. The India site was housed at the Sound and Picture Archives for Research on Women (SPARROW) in Mumbai, India and directed by C.S. Lakshmi, in collaboration with UM faculty members Jayati Lal and Abigail Stewart. The Poland site was housed at Fundacja Kobiet eFKa (Women’s Foundation eFKa) in Krakow, Poland and directed by Slawka Walczewska, in collaboration with UM faculty member Magdalena Zaborowska. The U.S. site was housed at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan and directed by UM faculty member Elizabeth Cole. Graduate student interns on the project included Nicola Curtin, Kim Dorazio, Jana Haritatos, Helen Ho, Julianna Lee, Sumiao Li, Zakiya Luna, Leslie Marsh, Sridevi Nair, Justyna Pas, Rosa Peralta, Desdamona Rios and Ying Zhang.
    [Show full text]
  • Boy Small TRADE EDITION
    ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Original Works Publishing CAUTION: Professionals and amateurs are hereby warned that this play is subject to royalty. It is fully protected by Original Works Publishing, and the copyright laws of the United States. All rights, including professional, amateur, motion pictures, recitation, lecturing, public reading, radio broadcasting, television, and the rights of translation into foreign languages are strictly reserved. The performance rights to this play are controlled by Original Works Publishing and royalty arrangements and licenses must be secured well in advance of presentation. PLEASE NOTE that amateur royalty fees are set upon application in accordance with your producing circumstances. When applying for a royalty quotation and license please give us the number of performances intended, dates of production, your seating capacity and admission fee. Royalties are payable with negotiation from Original Works Publishing. Royalty of the required amount must be paid whether the play is presented for charity or gain and whether or not admission is charged. Particular emphasis is laid on the question of amateur or professional readings, permission and terms for which must be secured from Original Works Publishing through direct contact. Copying from this book in whole or in part is strictly for- bidden by law, and the right of performance is not transferable. Whenever the play is produced the following notice must appear on all programs, printing, and advertising for the play: “Produced by special arrangement with Original Works Publishing. www.originalworksonline.com” Due authorship credit must be given on all programs, print- ing and advertising for the play. Boy Small © MT Cozzola Trade Edition, 2016 ISBN 978-1-63092-086-9 Also Available From Original Works Publishing Play Nice by Robin Rice Synopsis: The Diamond siblings use the only resources they have, the dramatic role-play of their imaginations, to cope with the abusive Dragon Queen - their mother.
    [Show full text]
  • Representing Disempowerment on Teen Drama Television
    Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 7-5-2012 12:00 AM Watching High School: Representing Disempowerment on Teen Drama Television Sarah M. Baxter The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Paulette Rothbauer The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Media Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Master of Arts © Sarah M. Baxter 2012 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Recommended Citation Baxter, Sarah M., "Watching High School: Representing Disempowerment on Teen Drama Television" (2012). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 644. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/644 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WATCHING HIGH SCHOOL: REPRESENTING DISEMPOWERMENT ON TEEN DRAMA TELEVISION (Spine title: Watching High School) (Thesis format: Monograph) by Sarah Mae Baxter Graduate Program in Media Studies A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, Canada © Sarah Mae Baxter 2012 i THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION Supervisor Examiners ______________________________
    [Show full text]
  • David Study 4
    Copyright material It is the nature from © 2017 STUDY NUMBER FOUR - 1 Samuel 21:1-22:23 a of variety lecture v. 1 David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. Ahimelech trembled when by Bible he met him, and asked, "Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?" of notes sources, v. 2 David answered Ahimelech the priest, The king charged me with a Teaching certain matter and said to me, 'No one is to know anything about your to mission and your instructions.' As for my men, I have told them to meet contain all me at a certain place. Resources of v. 3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or which whatever you can find." references v. 4 But the priest answered David, "I don't have an ordinary bread on have hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here--provided the men by Don been have kept themselves from women." that v. 5 David replied, "Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual Anderson may whenever I set out. The men's things are holy even on missions that are not appropriately holy. How much more so today!" prove v. 6 So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread Ministries. there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before difficult the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away. credited v. 7 Now one of Saul's servants was there that day, detained before the to The Lord; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul's head shepherd.
    [Show full text]
  • Pdf, 227.86 KB
    00:00:00 Music Music Gentle, trilling music with a steady drumbeat plays under the dialogue. 00:00:01 Promo Promo Speaker: Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR. [Music fades out.] 00:00:13 Jesse Host I’m Jesse Thorn. It’s Bullseye! Thorn 00:00:14 Music Music “Huddle Formation” from the album Thunder, Lightning, Strike by The Go! Team. A fast, upbeat, peppy song. Music plays as Jesse speaks, then fades out. 00:00:22 Jesse Host Josh Gondelman is a standup comic and a writer. And he’s also really nice. Like, if you say his name to somebody in comedy—if you go up to somebody and say, “Hey, what do you think about Josh Gondelman?” They’re gonna say, [excited] “Oh! Josh Gondelman! He’s so nice!” When Josh takes the stage, he says that he’s like if a cardigan were a person. But Josh Gondelman isn’t just nice. He’s also incisive. He’s a brilliant writer. He’s won two Peabodys and three Emmys for writing on John Oliver’s show, Last Week Tonight, and these days he writes for Showtime’s Desus & Maro. He also has a new book out. It’s about learning to be nice and how to not let the nice be the enemy of the good. It’s called Nice Try: Stories of Best Intentions and Mixed Results. Before we get into the interview, let’s play a bit of his standup. This is from his most recent album, Dancing on a Weeknight, which came out earlier this year.
    [Show full text]
  • Latinas and Sexual Health: Correlates of Sexual Satisfaction
    Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses Spring 6-8-2018 Latinas and Sexual Health: Correlates of Sexual Satisfaction Christine Marie Velez Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Gender and Sexuality Commons, Social Work Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Velez, Christine Marie, "Latinas and Sexual Health: Correlates of Sexual Satisfaction" (2018). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 4408. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.6292 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Latinas and Sexual Health: Correlates of Sexual Satisfaction by Christine Marie Velez A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work and Social Research Dissertation Committee: Roberto Orellana, Chair Gita Mehrotra Maria Talbott Christina Sun Charles Klein Portland State University 2018 © 2018 Christine Marie Velez ABSTRACT Latinas/os are one of the fastest growing and most heterogeneous minority ethnic groups in the US. One in 5 women in the US are Latina; by 2060, it is projected that Latinas will compose 1/3 of the female population. Latinas continue to experience disparities in sexual and reproductive health outcomes compared to non-Hispanic whites. While factors impacting undesirable consequences of sexual activity for Latinas have been well documented, Latinas’ experiences with sexual satisfaction in the broader context of sexual health remains understudied, despite sexual satisfaction having been identified as an integral component of sexual health.
    [Show full text]
  • THE FIREBIRD Production Script
    THE FIREBIRD Written By Tim Errickson Tim Errickson 917-880-5483 [email protected] (c) 2010 IN THE DARKNESS… We hear quiet, and someone walking down a city street at night. Cars, distant conversation, maybe music from a car as it passes. Finally a car pulls up, the sound ‘what the…” and then a struggle. Quick. Almost unnoticed. A door closes, and the car pulls away. Silence. SCENE 1 Dan's office. We hear the buzz of the intercom, the buzz of blackberries, the phone ringing…as we come up on Irene in Dan's office, seated. Perhaps they don't even look at each other. DAN (breaking the silence) Irene… IRENE Don't. (beat) DAN Look, Irene… IRENE No, goddamn it. NO! Be quiet. (beat) I don't…I don't know what to do, Danny. DAN (quietly) How is Joe doing? IRENE Oh, how the hell do you think he's doing? How are any of us doing? (gathers herself) He blames himself for not…Hell, I dunno what he blames himself for. DAN All I've done is ask how I can help you…tell me what you need. IRENE (full of anger) How could you let this happen, Danny? DAN Let this happen? I did everything you asked me! 1 IRENE Obviously not enough. (beat) DAN You screwed me, Irene. You know that? IRENE I what…? DAN You asked me to help you…and you put me in a position where I couldn't win. Refuse you, I'm an asshole. Do it, and...I don't know what I am.
    [Show full text]
  • The Final Authoritative Revealer of God's Will
    The Los Angeles Review of Los Angeles, No. 15 ART Greg Parsons - 5 Fiction PD Mallamo - 6 Poem Patrick McGinty - 21 Poem henry 7. reneau, jr. - 22 Poem Changming Yuan - 23 Poem & Fiction William C. Blome - 24 Nonfiction Leroy B. Vaughn - 26 Poems John Grey - 29 Olga Zolle 2 Fiction P.A. O’Neil - 31 Poems Edward Vidaurre - 36 Fiction Susan E. Lloy - 40 Fiction Elliott Capon - 53 Fiction Karen Boissonneault-Gauthier - 62 Fiction Darry Dinnell - 63 Poems James Croal Jackson - 71 Fiction Brian Abbey - 73 3 Fiction Marina Rubin - 77 Poem Gerard Sarnat - 79 Fiction Johnsmith “Bughouse” Davis - 80 Art Daniel de Culla - 85 Poem Arja Kumar - 87 Fiction B. Lawrence - 103 Fiction Tim Frank - 110 COVER BY ROBIN WYATT DUNN 4 Sea Greg Parsons 5 Love Commander PD Mallamo ∀∃∋ Coloratura lightening FLARES as this obviously vatic, thunderously thaumaturgic, wildly thanatotic blockbuster extravaganza of imprecise locus financed in Mumbai and Los Angeles California title roughly translated apocalypse-death-angel LOVE COMMANDER ruPTURES all over his little screen, fire-bomb from the Sea of Japan, Bali centerfold, Pashtunwali/Hindu riot refereed by a pious factotum from the Karakum Desert with bird tattoo and plumper kink - sheer Brazil, Cinderella, believe me, Information Paradise, clarinet lessons in old Peking, a testimony of faith hand-delivered by the Devil: persecution fantasies and homicidal ideation translated into a counterfeit language of betrayal and aggrievement, a flowchart of agony - life built entirely of old wounds and dying memories, the final
    [Show full text]
  • The J/Jota in Jenni Deborah R
    The J/Jota in Jenni Deborah R. Vargas Women and Music: A Journal of Gender and Culture, Volume 22, 2018, pp. 26-43 (Article) Published by University of Nebraska Press DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/wam.2018.0003 For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/705625 Access provided by Rutgers University (31 Jan 2019 17:09 GMT) The J/Jota in Jenni Deborah R. Vargas enni Rivera was to banda music as banda music was to the cultural imaginary of 1990s Los Angeles, Mexico.1 Born Dolores Janney Rivera Saavedra on July J2, 1969, in Long Beach, California, to Pedro and Rosa— undocumented im- migrants from Sonora and Jalisco, Mexico— Jenni was the eldest of six children.2 As her career unfolded, Jenni was anointed by her fans and the music press alike as “la diva de la banda,” and at the time of her passing in December 2012, she was arguably one of the most powerful music icons in Mexican banda, narcocorrido, and ranchera music. In the years before her untimely death, Jenni was gaining rec- ognition by an even wider Spanish- language viewing public through producing and appearing on the television shows I Love Jenni and La Voz, Mexico’s version of The Voice. Jenni Rivera had an especially strong fan base among mexicanas across Mexico and Mexican ranchera and narcocorrido music fan bases in cities across the 1 I borrow the term “Los Angeles, Mexico,” from a billboard advertising Noticias 62, a Spanish- language news station in Los Angeles and surrounding cities aired on KRCA Clear Channel 62.
    [Show full text]
  • Salvatore J. Callesano, Ph.D
    SALVATORE J. CALLESANO University of Texas at Austin Department of Spanish and Portuguese 150 W. 21st Street, Stop B3700 Austin, TX 78712-1155 [email protected] – (603) 387-2286 – callesano.com EDUCATION ___________________________________________________ 2020 (expected) Ph.D. Hispanic Linguistics – University of Texas at Austin Department of Spanish and Portuguese 2020 (expected) Graduate Portfolio – University of Texas at Austin Department of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies 2017 Linguistic Society of America Summer Institute – University of Kentucky 2015 M.A. Linguistics – Florida International University Department of English 2013 B.A. Spanish and Linguistics – New York University Department of Linguistics and Department of Spanish and Portuguese GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS ______________________________________ 2017 UT Austin Graduate School Academic Enrichment Fund, colloquium organization, $2,000 2015 - 2017 Professional Development Award, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, University of Texas at Austin, $500 - $1,000 2016 Funding Grant, Middlebury Summer Language School (Portuguese), $9,000 2016 Student Travel Grant, American Dialect Society Annual Meeting, $500 2015 Research/Language Study, Office of Graduate Studies, $5,000 2015 Graduate Studies Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts/Office of Graduate Studies, $20,000 HONORS AND AWARDS __________________________________________ 2015 Henry M. Truby Award, Florida International University 2013 The Founders Day Award, New York University honors scholar 2013 Best Thesis in Language and Linguistics Studies, New York University Salvatore J. Callesano C.V. 1 PUBLICATIONS ________________________________________________ PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES 2018 Carter, P.M. & Callesano, S. The social meaning of Spanish in Miami: Dialect perceptions and implications for socioeconomic class, income and employment. Latino Studies 16(1) [Special issue: Monolith or Mosaic? Miami’s 21st Century Latino Dynamics, Sarah Mahler (ed.)] under review Callesano, S.
    [Show full text]
  • (Don't) Wear Glasses: the Performativity of Smart Girls On
    GIRLS WHO (DON'T) WEAR GLASSES: THE PERFORMATIVITY OF SMART GIRLS ON TEEN TELEVISION Sandra B. Conaway A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2007 Committee: Kristine Blair, Advisor Julie Edmister Graduate Faculty Representative Erin Labbie Katherine Bradshaw © 2007 Sandra Conaway All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Kristine Blair, Advisor This dissertation takes a feminist view of t television programs featuring smart girls, and considers the “wave” of feminism popular at the time of each program. Judith Butler’s concept from Gender Trouble of “gender as a performance,” which says that normative behavior for a given gender is reinforced by culture, helps to explain how girls learn to behave according to our culture’s rules for appropriate girlhood. Television reinforces for intellectual girls that they must perform their gender appropriately, or suffer the consequences of being invisible and unpopular, and that they will win rewards for performing in more traditionally feminine ways. 1990-2006 featured a large number of hour-long television dramas and dramedies starring teenage characters, and aimed at a young audience, including Beverly Hills, 90210, My So-Called Life, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Freaks and Geeks, and Gilmore Girls. In most teen shows there is a designated smart girl who is not afraid to demonstrate her interest in math or science, or writing or reading. In lieu of ethnic or racial minority characters, she is often the “other” of the group because of her less conventionally attractive appearance, her interest in school, her strong sense of right and wrong, and her lack of experience with boys.
    [Show full text]
  • 2019 Winning Entries Patten Free Library Teen Writing Contest Short
    2019 Winning Entries Patten Free Library Teen Writing Contest Short Fiction: First Prize Grades 10-12 (tie): Emma Beauregard for “Levono” Nina Powers for “We Grew Up” Grades 7-9: No prize recommended Levono “Doctor? Doctor! I’ve got a wriggly one!” “Did you strap them in?” “Yes, sir.” The Doctor, wearing white from head to toe, walked over to his assistant. She, also in all white, was hovering over one of the silver tables spread across the room. Despite the leather straps holding her down, Patient 2078 was twisting, clearly in anguish. “Hm. Any idea what’s going on?” The Doctor was checking the woman’s diagnostics calmly, showing no sign of worry. “Not yet, sir.” The assistant looked more confused than concerned as she watched the Doctor work. “Plug her into the Crip. I want to know exactly what she’s thinking.” The assistant knelt down and pulled a wire from underneath the table Patient 2078 was on. At the end of the wire was a small screen, currently black. On the other end of the wire was a sort of collar, with pins sticking into the middle. The assistant wrapped the collar around the patient’s neck, then pulled the straps as tight as she could. The patient continued to squirm. “Turning the Crip on now.” The assistant fiddled with the small screen and it flashed to life, showing another world from the view of Patient 2078. “Sir, it appears she’s having an argument.” “With who?” “Patient 5903. Her significant other in the simulation.” “Keep an eye on her.
    [Show full text]