Lady Liberty: Intertextual Performances of Gender and Nation
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LADY LIBERTY: INTERTEXTUAL PERFORMANCES OF GENDER AND NATION Parisa Joyce 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 2008 Committee: Dr. Ronald E. Shields, Advisor Dr. Wendell Mayo Graduate Faculty Representative Dr. Jonathan Chambers Dr. Lesa Lockford ii ABSTRACT Dr. Ronald E. Shields, Advisor This study explores how a variety of artistic representations of the Statue of Liberty have worked over the past half-century to reflect aspects of nation through the gendered performances of a particular set of American women as ideal constructs, objects for commodification and consumption. The first inquiry explores the play entitled Miss Liberty, written by Robert E. Sherwood, with lyrics and music by Irving Berlin, and first produced in 1949. Although conceived as an historical play loosely based on fact, the play provides a unique perspective on women’s roles in society during the late 1940s. On the one hand the play forces nostalgic ideas of nationalism and outmoded views of women, while on the other, exposes a mid-twentieth century response to rising feminist thought and behavior. The second exploration discusses construction of the feminine ideal as presented through the popular film Miss Congeniality and the ritual of the national beauty pageant. As the bodies of the contestants conflate with those codes established by/for Lady Liberty in the film, they drive a more complex impulse that refashions women as adornments for a national concern. Consequently, this film works to strengthen our relationship with our most revered national icon, formalizing further our collective gender-driven national mythologies, and ultimately memorializing limiting conditions of feminine performance, agency, and ideals of American womanhood. The final chapter brings the themes investigated in the previous two chapters together in an original solo performance that both explicates and further parodies what I see as a national phenomenon. My scripted performance of Liberty Now builds upon our national construction of women as nation through the blending of “Miss Liberty” images with live performance. Designed to first perform the narrative currently in play and then to pull the audience into a complicit forum to deconstruct our national narrative, the satirical play of resistance within Liberty Now anticipates a utopian-like place (or point of imaginative speculation). To do so allows for the possibility of innovative and tangible, but most profoundly, equitable future narratives for women. iii I lovingly dedicate this work to my dear son Jason, and to my mother and father— all sources of inspiration, light, and joy in my life. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank all the members of my committee at Bowling Green State University for their input and guidance with this project: Dr. Shields, Dr. Chambers, Dr. Lockford, and Dr. Mayo. Most especially, I thank Dr. Ron Shields for his tireless dedication to both his students and the department. And I thank Dr. Jonathan Chambers for his monumental service to us all, but particularly for his ability to inspire and nurture. I cherish his faith in me as academic. I would also like to thank my dear Rollins “sisters,” who, with faith, inspiration, and love have traveled with me on my long journey from bachelor’s degree, to master’s degree, and now to doctorate—Dr. Maggie Dunn my mentor extraordinaire, Dr. Patricia Lancaster my visionary, and Professor Linda Hargreaves my dear friend, colleague, and editor. And finally, I thank all of my family for their continued support throughout this process—Jeff and Dawn for a quiet corner to write, Stuart and Louise for providing a loving weigh station for my travels, Mom, Dad, and Jason for hanging in there with me, and the Campbell/Mellen clan for cheering me on. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION…… ......................................................................................................... 1 Groundwork… ........................................................................................................... 1 Theories of Feminism and Gender............................................................................. 4 Performances and Performativity .............................................................................. 12 Forms of Liberty: National Amalgamations.............................................................. 18 Miss Liberty and the Building of a National Ideal .................................................... 25 Miss Congeniality and the National Symbolic: Construction of the Feminine Ideal................................................................ 27 Liberty Now: Intertextual Articulations of a Nation— Disruption of the Ideal ................................................................................... 30 Building a Liberty for the Future............................................................................... 35 CHAPTER I. MISS LIBERTY AND THE BUILDING OF A NATIONAL IDEAL ......... 39 Introduction…............................................................................................................ 39 Outsider and the All-American Girl .......................................................................... 45 Outsider and the French Connection.......................................................................... 49 Outsider and a Body of the Nation ............................................................................ 53 The Marrying Kind .................................................................................................... 62 The Deviant Outlaw................................................................................................... 69 Illicit Mergers of the Social Self................................................................................ 74 Keep the Other in Their Space................................................................................... 78 Uncomfortable Affirmations of the Ideal…………………………………………… 82 vi Conclusion…… ......................................................................................................... 90 CHAPTER II. MISS CONGENIALITY AND THE NATIONAL SYMBOLIC: CONSTRUCTION OF THE FEMININE IDEAL................................................................. 95 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………. 95 Metaphor for a Collection Nation—Spaces and Places.……………………………. 100 The Federal Bureau of Investigation……………………………………..… 101 The Alamo—Memorial Space of the Nation……………………………….. 102 The Majestic Theatre—Locus for Exchange.................................................. 104 Constituting Icons and Heroes................................................................................... 108 Narratives of Individualism ....................................................................................... 112 Women’s Expected Roles.......................................................................................... 116 Hunger—A Woman Consumed ...................................................................... 118 Sexuality—The Body Reconstructed .............................................................. 123 Emotions—She’s Out of Her Mind ................................................................ 128 Promises of Citizenship and Classism ....................................................................... 131 Marginalized Women..................................................................................... 135 Racism and the Phantasmatic Lie.................................................................. 136 Sexism and the Phantasmatic Exchange........................................................ 138 The Phantasmatic Ageist................................................................................ 141 A Space for Desire and Fantasy—The Majestic Theatre........................................... 146 Performative Elements and Elements of Performance .................................. 149 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………. 158 vii CHAPTER III. LIBERTY NOW: INTERTEXTUAL ARTICULATIONS OF A NATION—DISRUPTIONS OF THE IDEAL .................................................................. 164 Introduction………………………………………………………………………… 164 My Performance Aesthetic............................................................................. 170 Audience Participation .................................................................................. 177 Disrupting the Ideal ....................................................................................... 181 Extending the Ideal: Mommy Liberty........................................................................ 183 Extending the Ideal: Nude Liberty............................................................................. 189 Subverting the Ideal: Butch Liberty........................................................................... 197 Subverting the Ideal: Coke Liberty............................................................................ 202 Resisting the Ideal: Super Bowl Liberty.................................................................... 210 CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSION ........................................................................................... 229 WORKS CITED……………………………….. .................................................................. 240 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1 Mommy Liberty by Eliza Gauger.............................................................................