Read the 2011-12 Issue

THE AMERICAN PAPERS VOLUME 28, 2009-2010 COPYRIGHT© 2010 BY THE The American Papers American Studies Student Association, California State University, Fullerton. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Journal of the American Studies Student Association THE AMERICAN PAPERS is published once a year by the American Studies Student Association California State University, Fullerton. BOARD OF EDITORS P.O. Box 34080, Fullerton, Calif. 92634-9480. Heather Andrews THE AMERICAN PAPERS, Mary Anderson its editorial board and publishers Patrick Covert disclaim responsibility and liability Paul Saiedi for statements, either of fact or Jonathan Cummins Connie Huynh opinion, made by its contributors. Emily Starr EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE should be addressed to: Dr. Erica Ball Department of American Studies Professor Erica Ball, Faculty Advisor California State University, Fullerton Layout and Design By: Heather Brown & Paul Saiedi P.O. Box 34080, Fullerton, Calif. 92634-9480. COVER DESIGN BY: Joy Shannon Submissions were solicited and received from all levels of coursework, introductory through PRINTED BY: graduate, including those from majors and CSUF Reprographics non-majors alike. The Board’s Faculty Advi- sor provides the Board with the papers early in FUNDED BY: the summer and “blind” readings are done by Inter-Club Council: School of no fewer than three Editorial Board members. Every paper is then presented to the entire Humanities and Social Science, Board at a Board meeting and final selec- The American Studies tions are made. The broad diversity and high caliber of submissions makes this an Student Association, and extremely difficult, yet rewarding, pro- The American Studies Department, cess. The Editorial Board wishes to thank California State University, Fullerton. all who submitted papers and encourages interested students to submit in the future. On Being and Becoming: Constructing Identities Identity is the fluid and transitory nexus of interre- lations that plaits personhood with culture, the individual with the social, the nation with the globe. It is through the examination of identity’s diverse expressions and manifes- tations that we are allowed a peek inside human identity construction and the reticulate veins that bond individual expression to cultural phenomena, free will to social con- text, personal significance to the filmy abstract. Ultimately, we seek to learn how culture and self mutually inform and transform one another over time—the process of being and becoming. In this year’s American Papers we present a range of identities-under-construction. From furry fandom to con- temporary bloggers, from The Big Lebowski Achievers to Disney’s Tomorrowland, from whiteness racial construction to race representations in film, our objective is to demon- strate the myriad processes through which identity is con- structed, manipulated, metamorphosed, and reconstructed. Each essay represents not only some of the best undergraduate and graduate research writing in Cal State Fullerton’s American Studies Department, but also provides a deep and diverse analysis of individual, social, and national identities—further fleshing out the conceptual American kalei- doscope with its individual glass gems forever in rotation, forever shifting. iii The American Papers Journal of the American Studies Student Association Volume 28 | 2009 – 2010 | Published Annually Contributors............................................................................................................................................. vii Editorial Board.......................................................................................................................................... ix About the Courses.................................................................................................................................... xi American Studies 300 Popular Culture Scott Simons “Born to Bowl: The Story of Bruce Lebowski”...................................................................................... 1 American Studies 350 Theories and Methods Kevin Prewitt “A Mini-Ethnography on the Furry Fandom”...................................................................................... 9 American Studies 401-T Culture and Nature Anita Rice “Nostalgia for the Future: The Quest for Utopia in Disney’s Tomorrowland”.................................................................... ........15 American Studies 401-T American Studies and the Social Sciences Christina Stern “Female Alcohology: The Role of Women in the United States Alcohol Movement”.........................................................27 American Studies 401-T The Body Nathan Kuntz “Cartesian 2.0: I blog, therefore I am”.................................................................................................. 39 American Studies 409 Consumer Culture Christian Gunkel “The ‘Unbranded’ Brand”...................................................................................................................... 49 American Studies 413 American Male Heather Andrews “Don’t Fence Me(n) In”.......................................................................................................................... 57 American Studies 443 Visual Arts Leif Trondsen “The Social Photography of Jacob A. Riis”.......................................................................................... 75 English 447 Race and Popular Culture Bridget Kominek “’My Only Love Spring From My Only Hate’: Race in Romeo + Juliet and West Side Story”..................................................................................... 91 American Studies 502-T Theorizing Race in American Studies John DeCarlo “The Politics of Whiteness Studies: A Historiography of the Field”............................................. 105 The Earl James Weaver Graduate Paper Prize History 572 Seminar in American History Jennifer Moore “The Mythopoetic Men’s Movement on Television: A Gathering Place for the ‘90s Male”...................................................................................................??? v Contributors Heather Andrews is a graduate student in the American Studies program. She received her B.A. in English and Ethnic Studies at UC Riverside. Her interests include white American masculinity; colonization and land use; race and racism; and literature and literary identity. She hopes to find a PhD program that will allow her to study all of these things. John M. De Carlo received his Bachelor’s degree in American Studies and African-American Studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo in May 2004. He is currently a Master’s student at Cal State Fullerton. His major research interests include race, politics, sports, and transnationalism. JD hopes to pursue a Ph D at New York University. In his spare time he is either playing sports or watching them. Christian Gunkel is enrolled as a graduate student at the University of Tübingen in Germany, and spent the academic year 2008/09 as an exchange student at the California State University in Fullerton. Back in Germany, he intends to finish his MA in American Studies in 2010. His research interests include countercultures, especially American Transcendentalism and the Beat Generation, as well as consumer culture. Bridget Kominek is a graduate student in American Studies. Her work as an English teacher has spurred her interests in the history of higher education in America and the intersections between race, language, gender, class, and education. In addition to her professional and academic pursuits, she enjoys vegan cooking and watching movies. Nathan J. Kuntz is a second year graduate student in American Studies. He hails from the frozen north-central plains of this great land. Typically, if you engage him in conversation he will be railing against nuclear proliferation or ranting about the particulars of some grand utopian social reform. He believes in communal type dwellings where beards are truly celebrated, he also longs for revolution, but only if he can dance to it. Jennifer Moore is currently studying for comprehensive exams to complete her M.A. in American Studies. Her research interests include television and film, gender, literature, philosophy, and social movements. She holds undergraduate degrees in History and Communications from the University of Idaho. Much of Jennifer’s inspiration for her work comes from her two great loves – her life partner JJ and son Augustus. Kevin Prewitt is a undergraduate senior in American Studies. He was born and grew up in Orange County. He would like to thank his parents, Christopher and Katherine, for their putting up with him, supplementing his finances and still loving him for nearly 30 years now; his wife, Theresa, for emotionally supporting him through all his school courses; HappyWulf and Changa Lion for being excellent study partners/interviewees; and Dr. Carrie Lane for being and exceptional instructor and inspiring him to be the best ethnographer he could be. Anita Rice received her BA in American Studies from CSU Fullerton in May of 2009. Her very diverse interests include cultural radicalism, women and families, love and sex, film and media, pop culture, postmodernism, the built environment, advertising, honky-tonk music and barbeque. She wishes to express her sincere thanks to her professors, to her husband Greg, and her kids for supporting her and making sure she never gave up. Scott Simons hopes never to enter a world of pain, knows what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps and is always on the

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