DOCSLIB.ORG

Girl, Goddess, and Grown-Up: Enacting the Feminine Feminist According to the Neodomestic Movement

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Girl, Goddess, and Grown-Up: Enacting the Feminine Feminist According to the Neodomestic Movement Girl, Goddess, and Grown-Up: Enacting the Feminine Feminist According to The Neodomestic Movement by Elizabeth A. Wright A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts School of Journalism and Communication Carleton University August 2007 © Elizabeth A. Wright 2007 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Library and Bibliotheque et Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-33779-0 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-33779-0 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce,Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve,sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet,distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. i * i Canada Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Abstract This analysis explores the respective relationships of second-wave, third-wave and post-feminisms to femininity, in the contemporary neodomestic genre. Nuancing feminism’s ongoing ‘housewife’ debate, it questions the way in which power operates according to neodomesticity, with respect to the body, the home, and the heterosexual relationship. The central cast of characters which collectively constitute neodomestic femininity, including the ‘domestic goddess,’ the ‘50s housewife,’ the ‘perpetual girl,’ the ‘artist,’ and the ‘grown-up,’ as well as those which delineate what she is not, ‘the censorious feminist,’ and ‘the mother,’ are examined in order to elucidate the feminine- feminist identity championed by neodomestic discourse as a new and powerful feminist subject position. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgements I wish to extend my great appreciation to my advisor, Professor Sheryl Hamilton, for her support and guidance in this process, as well as for continually challenging me to achieve a rigorous intellectual standard. I share the success of this project with her. I thank my committee members, Professor Eileen Saunders and Professor Andrea Doucet, for their insightful comments and suggestions. I also wish to acknowledge Carleton’s School of Journalism and Communication for their generous financial assistance. This project would not have been possible without the loving support of my parents, Trish and Bob Wright, my sister, Katie Wright, and my partner, Heidi Anderson. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Literature Review 6 Theoretical Framework 21 Methodology 30 Conclusion 44 Chapter 2: ‘Homework’: Defining a Genre 46 Chapter 3: ‘Control Freaks’: Neodomestic Feminism as Fantasy of Control 61 The Mother—Mythic and Material 66 The Grandmother, Remembered 74 The Husband—Real or Anticipated 76 The Self-as-Image 84 Conclusion 91 Chapter 4: ‘Home-Made’: Recipes for Reconstituting Innate Femininity 94 Embodied Knowledge: Smell and Taste 96 Abstracted Bodies: An Emotional Aesthetics of Taste 105 Domestic Storytelling: ‘Natural’ Femininity via Consumption 110 Conclusion 122 Chapter 5: ‘Home-Schooled’: Lessons in Neodomestic Praxis Elucidating the Neodomestic Philosophy of Homework 124 The Home, Personified 131 Reconnecting with One’s Inner-Girl 137 Body-Projects: Identifying with One’s Home 141 Conclusion 150 Chapter 6: Conclusion: Towards a Neodomestic Movement 152 Bibliography 160 Illustrations 171 Appendices 179 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. List of Illustrations Illustration Description Page A The iconic 1950s-era housewife 171 B The Neodomestic 172 C The ‘ethnic’ Neodomestic 173 D Stitch ‘n Bitch2000) { 173 E Happy Housewives (2005) 174 F Darla Shine 174 G A Visual Lesson in the Creation of Sacred Space I 175 H A Visual Lesson in the Creation of Sacred Space II 175 I “Sprinkling clothes by hand to dampen for ironing” 176 J Garten: still-life with fruit 176 K Lawson: pretty in pink 177 L How to Be a Domestic Goddess (2000) 178 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. List of Appendices Appendix Description Page A Corpus: Publication Information 179 B Corpus: Sub-Genre and Country of Origin 180 C Corpus: Cultural Significance 181 VI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter 1: Introduction Nigella Lawson, in her best selling 2000 cookbook/lifestyle manual How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art o f Comfort Cooking,expounds on the pleasures inherent in the act of baking: “feeling good, wafting along in the warm, sweet-smelling air, unwinding, no longer being entirely an office creature” (2001: vii). The ‘fairy cake,’ a “plain bottomed prettily iced cupcake,” is a favourite treat of Lawson’s—the cover of her manual bears its image; it allows her to play the part of domestic goddess as she succumbs, “pre-rationally,” to the tiny cakes and decorates each one with fifties- pistachio-green-coloured icing beneath a pale-pink rice paper rose (2001: 39). Inevitably her dinner guests, for whom Lawson has whipped up a batch of individually iced ‘fairy cakes’ upon her return from work, also fall for the “imagination and artistry” of her creations, validating her domestic efforts to accentuate one of Lawson’s principal claims: “the reason making cakes is satisfying is that the effort required is so much less than the gratitude conferred” (2001: vii). Equally important to Lawson’s manifesto is the claim that prowess in the kitchen allows women to enact a sexualized yet innocent vision of femininity: “the unexpressed ‘I’ that is a cross between Sophia Loren and Debbie Reynolds in a pink cashmere cardigan and a fetching gingham pinny” (2001: vii). Lawson does not want to suggest the kitchen be women’s only place, perhaps because she herself is career-oriented, or because she does not want to incur the wrath of her feminist-identified readers. She does, however, imply that her version of domestic femininity exists in complex relation to both a previous mode of domesticity, and the (second-wave) feminist critiques of that 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 mode. Drawing on these discourses she constructs domesticity as above all, symbolic, stating “this is hardly a culinary matter, of course; but cooking, we know, has a way of cutting through things, and to things, which have nothing to do with the kitchen. This is why it matters” (2001: vii). What emerges from Lawson’s whimsical and seemingly innocent celebration of sweetness is actually a well-defined prescription for appropriate feminine behaviour, one which likely challenges the readers’ own understanding and experience of what it means to be feminine. Femininity is an elusive concept. Although feminist scholars have made countless attempts to identify its essence, free it from stereotype, and break down the system of patriarchal binary thought which structures it, there is no consensus on what it means to be or to act feminine. Popular brands of feminism compete to produce and promulgate a definitive cultural mode of femininity, often in the form of icons such as the ‘superwoman,’ the ‘50s housewife,’ or the ‘grrrl,’ and the results are both contradictory and confusing. As Dorothy Smith notes, femininity is an indeterminate, socially constructed phenomenon; the concept itself groups miscellaneous instances of that which it describes under the heading ‘feminine.’ The label is their only coherence (Smith 1988: 37). Despite its lack of theoretical consistency as a concept, femininity functions as a descriptor because it refers to actual, lived practices: we know what it is and we can produce examples
Load more

Recommended publications
  • By Omission and Commission : 'Race'
    National Library Bibliothbque nationale 1*1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Direction des acquisitions et Bibliographic Services Branch des services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (Ontario) KIA ON4 KIA ON4 Your hie Votre ri2ference Our Me Notre reference The author has granted an L'auteur a accorde une licence irrevocable non-exclusive licence irriivocable et non exclusive allowing the National Library of permettant a la Bibliotheque Canada to reproduce, loan, nationale du Canada de distribute or sell copies of reproduire, prGter, distribuer ou his/her thesis by any means and vendre des copies de sa these in any form or format, making de quelque maniere et sous this thesis available to interested quelque forme que ce soit pour persons. mettre des exemplaires de cette these a la disposition des personnes interessees. The author retains ownership of L'auteur conserve la propriete du the copyright in his/her thesis. droit d'auteur qui protege sa Neither the thesis nor substantial these. Ni la these ni des extraits extracts from it may be printed or substantiels de celle-ci ne otherwise reproduced without doivent &re imprimes ou his/her permission. autrement reproduits sans son autorisation. ISBN 0-315-91241-3 BY OMISSION AND COMMISSION: 'RACE' AND REPRESENTATION IN CANADIAN TELEVISION NEWS by Yasmin Jiwani B.A., University of British Columbia, 1979 M.A., Simon Fraser University, 1984 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of Communication @ Yasmin Jiwani 1993 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY July, 1993 All rights reserved.
    [Show full text]
  • Reorienting the Female Gothic: Curiosity and the Pursuit of Knowledge
    University of Rhode Island DigitalCommons@URI Open Access Dissertations 2020 REORIENTING THE FEMALE GOTHIC: CURIOSITY AND THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE Jenna Guitar University of Rhode Island, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss Recommended Citation Guitar, Jenna, "REORIENTING THE FEMALE GOTHIC: CURIOSITY AND THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE" (2020). Open Access Dissertations. Paper 1145. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/oa_diss/1145 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@URI. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@URI. For more information, please contact [email protected]. REORIENTING THE FEMALE GOTHIC: CURIOSITY AND THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE BY JENNA GUITAR A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 2020 DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DISSERTATION OF JENNA GUITAR APPROVED: Dissertation Committee: Major Professor Jean Walton Christine Mok Justin Wyatt Nasser H. Zawia DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND 2020 ABSTRACT This dissertation investigates the mode of the Female Gothic primarily by examining how texts utilize the role of curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge, paying close attention to how female characters employ these attributes. Existing criticism is vital to understanding the Female Gothic and in presenting the genealogy of feminist literary criticism, and yet I argue, this body of criticism often produces elements of essentialism. In an attempt to avoid and expose the biases that essentialism produces, I draw from Sara Ahmed’s theory of queer phenomenology to investigate the connections between the way that women pursue and circulate knowledge through education and reading and writing practices in the Female Gothic.
    [Show full text]
  • SPRING 2008 R.A.C.E.Link
    SPRING 2008 R.A.C.E.link TABLE OF CONTENTS RACE EDITORIAL 2 COORDINATING COMMITTEE Yasmin Jiwani NO ACADEMIC EXERCISE 3 Sedef Arat-Koc Sunera Thobani Associate Professor, Department of Politics and Public Administration, Ryerson University THE CAMP: A PLACE WHERE LAW HAS DECLARED 9 THAT THE RULE OF LAW DOES NOT OPERATE Enakshi Dua Sherene Razack Associate Professor, School of Women’s Studies, York University UPDATE ON THE TAYLOR BOUCHARD COMMISSION Charmaine Nelson ON ‘REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION’ 18 Associate Professor, Art History & Gada Mahrouse Communication Studies, McGill University Sherene Razack ECENT UBLICATIONS OF NTEREST R P I 22 Professor, Department of Sociology & Equity compiled by Ainsley Jenicek Studies, OISE, University of Toronto THROUGH THE LENS: FILMS ON TERRORISM 25 Sunera Thobani Ezra Winton Associate Professor, Centre for Research in Women Studies & Gender Relations, University of British Columbia MEMBERSHIP & CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT 26 Yasmin Jiwani UPCOMING CONFERENCES 34 Associate Professor, Communication Studies, compiled by Ainsley Jenicek and Rawle Agard Concordia University R.A.C.E.link R.A.C.E.link EDITORIAL Yasmin Jiwani Welcome to the 2008 issue of RACE-Link. More than a newsletter but not quite a journal, RACE-Link at best constitutes a quasi-journal. In this issue, we continue to plot the lines defining race in its contemporary configurations in the post 9/11 Canadian context. This issue begins with Sunera Thobani’s article ‘No Academic Exercise’ tracing the highly problematic notion of academic freedom. Thobani calls attention to the lack of such freedom in voicing dissent against the ongoing War on Muslim bodies. She underlines the tenuous position of women of colour in the academy whose grounded knowledge is neither validated nor their critique acknowledged.
    [Show full text]
  • This Book Is a Compendium of New Wave Posters. It Is Organized Around the Designers (At Last!)
    “This book is a compendium of new wave posters. It is organized around the designers (at last!). It emphasizes the key contribution of Eastern Europe as well as Western Europe, and beyond. And it is a very timely volume, assembled with R|A|P’s usual flair, style and understanding.” –CHRISTOPHER FRAYLING, FROM THE INTRODUCTION 2 artbook.com French New Wave A Revolution in Design Edited by Tony Nourmand. Introduction by Christopher Frayling. The French New Wave of the 1950s and 1960s is one of the most important movements in the history of film. Its fresh energy and vision changed the cinematic landscape, and its style has had a seminal impact on pop culture. The poster artists tasked with selling these Nouvelle Vague films to the masses—in France and internationally—helped to create this style, and in so doing found themselves at the forefront of a revolution in art, graphic design and photography. French New Wave: A Revolution in Design celebrates explosive and groundbreaking poster art that accompanied French New Wave films like The 400 Blows (1959), Jules and Jim (1962) and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964). Featuring posters from over 20 countries, the imagery is accompanied by biographies on more than 100 artists, photographers and designers involved—the first time many of those responsible for promoting and portraying this movement have been properly recognized. This publication spotlights the poster designers who worked alongside directors, cinematographers and actors to define the look of the French New Wave. Artists presented in this volume include Jean-Michel Folon, Boris Grinsson, Waldemar Świerzy, Christian Broutin, Tomasz Rumiński, Hans Hillman, Georges Allard, René Ferracci, Bruno Rehak, Zdeněk Ziegler, Miroslav Vystrcil, Peter Strausfeld, Maciej Hibner, Andrzej Krajewski, Maciej Zbikowski, Josef Vylet’al, Sandro Simeoni, Averardo Ciriello, Marcello Colizzi and many more.
    [Show full text]
  • Family Experiments Middle-Class, Professional Families in Australia and New Zealand C
    Family Experiments Middle-class, professional families in Australia and New Zealand c. 1880–1920 Family Experiments Middle-class, professional families in Australia and New Zealand c. 1880–1920 SHELLEY RICHARDSON Published by ANU Press The Australian National University Acton ACT 2601, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at press.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Creator: Richardson, Shelley, author. Title: Family experiments : middle-class, professional families in Australia and New Zealand c 1880–1920 / Shelley Richardson. ISBN: 9781760460587 (paperback) 9781760460594 (ebook) Series: ANU lives series in biography. Subjects: Middle class families--Australia--Biography. Middle class families--New Zealand--Biography. Immigrant families--Australia--Biography. Immigrant families--New Zealand--Biography. Dewey Number: 306.85092 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. The ANU.Lives Series in Biography is an initiative of the National Centre of Biography at The Australian National University, ncb.anu.edu.au. Cover design and layout by ANU Press. Photograph adapted from: flic.kr/p/fkMKbm by Blue Mountains Local Studies. This edition © 2016 ANU Press Contents List of Illustrations . vii List of Abbreviations . ix Acknowledgements . xi Introduction . 1 Section One: Departures 1 . The Family and Mid-Victorian Idealism . 39 2 . The Family and Mid-Victorian Realities . 67 Section Two: Arrival and Establishment 3 . The Academic Evangelists . 93 4 . The Lawyers . 143 Section Three: Marriage and Aspirations: Colonial Families 5 .
    [Show full text]
  • Experiences of Chinese Parents and the Triple-P Positive Parenting
    THE EXPERIENCES OF CHINESE PARENTS AND THE TRIPLE-P POSITIVE PARENTING PROGRAM by Monica Hoiky Lam Hon. BSc, University of Toronto, 2009 BSW, York University, 2017 An MRP presented to Ryerson University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work in the Program of Social Work Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2019 © Monica Hoiky Lam 2019 AUTHOR'S DECLARATION FOR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF A MRP I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this MRP. This is a true copy of the MRP, including any required final revisions. I authorize Ryerson University to lend this MRP to other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research I further authorize Ryerson University to reproduce this MRP by photocopying or by other means, in total or in part, at the request of other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I understand that my MRP may be made electronically available to the public. ii ABSTRACT Experiences of Chinese Parents and the Triple-P Positive Parenting Program Master of Social Work, 2019 Monica Hoiky Lam Program of Social Work, Ryerson University This qualitative research study explores the experiences of two Chinese mothers who have taken one or more sessions of the Triple-P Positive Parenting Program. Utilizing a narrative methodology to inquiry, semi-structured interviews were conducted to answer the central research question: What are the experiences of Chinese parents who have taken one or more Triple-P sessions, in relation to the socio- political, historical and cultural factors that influence their lives? Data analysis draws from Anti- Oppression and Critical Race Feminism theoretical frameworks.
    [Show full text]
  • Women's Inequality in Canada
    Women’s Inequality in Canada SUBMIssION OF THE CANADIAN FEMINIST ALLIANCE FOR INTERNATIONAL AcTION TO THE UNITED NATIONS COMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATION OF DIscRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN on the Occasion of the Committee's Review of Canada's 6th & 7th Reports september 2008 Acknowledgments The preparation of this Report on Canada’s compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has been a large, collaborative project, drawing on the expertise of the members of the Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA), as well as many other organizations and individuals who support FAFIA’s work, and believe in the full development and advancement of Canadian women. FAFIA wishes to thank the following organizations for their contributions: A Commitment to Training and Employment for Women, African Canadian Legal Clinic, Assembly of First Nations, Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, Canadian Federation of University Women, Charter Committee on Poverty Issues, Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada, Disabled Women’s Network Canada, Guysborough Antigonish Strait Health Authority – Nova Scotia Health Authority, National Organization of Immigrant and Visible Minority Women of Canada, POWER Camp, Vancouver Committee for Domestic Workers and Caregivers Rights, Women for Fair Voting, Women’s Housing Equality Network, Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), and the Yukon Status of Women Council. Thanks for personal contributions are due to Lynell Anderson, Cenen Bagon, Nancy Baroni, Vince Calderhead, Marie Chen, Rita Chudnovsky, Shabnum Durrani, Lucille Harper, Steve Kerstetter, Lee Lakeman, June Macdonald, Peggy Mahon, Sharon McIvor, Mab Oloman, Kim Pate, Bruce Porter, Jane Pulkingham, and Chantal Tie.
    [Show full text]
  • 2014-16 Guilford College Catalog
    Guilford College Catalog 2014-16 Nondiscrimination Policy In its active commitment to building a diverse community, Guilford College rejects discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, age or disability in admission, employment or access to programs and activities. The College also seeks to avoid discrimination in the administration of educational programs, admission policies, financial aid or any other College program or activity. guilford.edu 1 Message From the President Dear Students: On assuming the presidency of Guilford College, I was thrilled to become part of a campus community of authentic, brilliant, dedicated and enthusiastic people. I invite you to join us. As our Strategic Plan lays out, we work together to afford “a transformative, practical and excellent liberal arts education that produces critical thinkers in an inclusive, diverse environment.” We are guided in this mission “by Quaker testimonies of community, equality, integrity, peace and simplicity.” Finally, a Guilford education emphasizes “the creative problem-solving skills, experience, enthusiasm and international perspectives necessary to promote positive change in the world.” Our Quaker heritage and longstanding commitments to undergraduate teaching, social justice and seven core values set Guilford apart from other small liberal arts colleges. These core values—community, diversity, equality, excellence, integrity, justice and stewardship—infuse every aspect of life and work on campus, how we interact with each other and how we relate to the surrounding community and environment. Guilford is a “making a difference” college and one that has been “changing lives” for over 175 years. Students come here to get equipped to make a positive difference in the world.
    [Show full text]
  • African Women's Empowerment: a Study in Amma Darko's Selected
    African women’s empowerment : a study in Amma Darko’s selected novels Koumagnon Alfred Djossou Agboadannon To cite this version: Koumagnon Alfred Djossou Agboadannon. African women’s empowerment : a study in Amma Darko’s selected novels. Linguistics. Université du Maine; Université d’Abomey-Calavi (Bénin), 2018. English. NNT : 2018LEMA3008. tel-02049712 HAL Id: tel-02049712 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-02049712 Submitted on 26 Feb 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. THESE DE DOCTORAT DE LE MANS UNIVERSITE ET DE L’UNIVERSITE D’ABOMEY-CALAVI COMUE UNIVERSITE BRETAGNE LOIRE ÉCOLE DOCTORALE N° 595 ÉCOLE DOCTORALE PLURIDISCIPLINAIRE Arts, Lettres, Langues «Espaces, Cultures et Développement» Spécialité : Littérature africaine anglophone Par Koumagnon Alfred DJOSSOU AGBOADANNON AFRICAN WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT: A STUDY IN AMMA DARKO’S SELECTED NOVELS Thèse présentée et soutenue à l’Université d’Abomey-Calavi, le 17 décembre 2018 Unités de recherche : 3 LAM Le Mans Université et GRAD Université d’Abomey-Calavi Thèse N° : 2018LEMA3008 Rapporteurs avant soutenance : Komla Messan NUBUKPO, Professeur Titulaire / Université de Lomé / TOGO Philip WHYTE, Professeur Titulaire / Université François Rabelais de Tours / FRANCE Laure Clémence CAPO-CHICHI ZANOU, Professeur Titulaire / Université d’Abomey-Calavi/BENIN Composition du Jury : Présidente : Laure Clémence CAPO-CHICHI ZANOU, Professeur Titulaire / Université d’Abomey-Calavi/BENIN Examinateurs : Augustin Y.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Male Enhancement', Gender Confirmation Surgery, And
    Technologies of the Natural: ‘Male Enhancement’, Gender Confirmation Surgery, and the ‘Monster Cock’ by Jennifer N.H. Thomas B.A., (Sociology), Pacific University, 2010 B.A., (Spanish), Pacific University, 2010 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences c Jennifer N.H. Thomas 2020 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2020 Copyright in this work rests with the author. Please ensure that any reproduction or re-use is done in accordance with the relevant national copyright legislation. Declaration of Committee Name: Jennifer N.H. Thomas Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Thesis title: Technologies of the Natural: ‘Male Enhancement’, Gender Confirmation Surgery, and the ‘Monster Cock’ Committee: Chair: Pamela Stern Associate Professor Sociology & Anthropology Travers Supervisor Professor Sociology & Anthropology Michael Hathaway Committee Member Associate Professor Sociology & Anthropology Coleman Nye Examiner Assistant Professor Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Susan Stryker External Examiner Distinguished Chair Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Mills College ii iii Abstract Responding to Susan Stryker’s (2006) call to identify the “seams and sutures” of the ‘natural body’, this dissertation analyzes the social incarnation of the ‘natural male body’ through ‘male enhancement’ discourse in Canada and the United States (247). As one of the few sociological investigations into the medical practice of male enhancement, this research reorients our analytical gaze away from the somatic transformations of historically-oppressed people’s sexed bodies, towards bringing the male body, cis masculinity, and whiteness into the spotlight of critique. This investigation is grounded in fifty hours of online observations of a male enhancement forum for cis men interested in augmenting their genitals; and twenty in-depth, qualitative interviews with medical practitioners who specialize in male enhancement procedures.
    [Show full text]
  • The Discursive Construction of Ideal Heavy Metal
    1 Vulgar Discourses of Power: The Discursive Construction of Ideal Heavy Metal Subjectivity and the Erasure of Black, Indigenous, and Women of Colour in Heavy Metal Music Culture By Michelle Bona A Thesis Submitted to Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Women and Gender Studies April 2021, Halifax, Nova Scotia Copyright Michelle Bona, 2021 Approved: Dr. Tatjana Takševa Supervisor Approved: Dr. Jacqueline Warwick Examiner Approved: Dr. Tracy Moniz Reader Date: 23 April 2021 2 Abstract Vulgar Discourses of Power: The Discursive Construction of Ideal Heavy Metal Subjectivity and the Erasure of Black, Indigenous, and Women of Colour in Heavy Metal Music Culture By Michelle Bona Heavy metal music culture has been a bastion of working-class white masculinity since its beginnings in the early 1970s. Through canonization and Historical documentation, white male dominance has been ensured, obscuring contributions made by white female performers and erasing black, Indigenous, and women of colour (BIWoC) from the genre. Utilizing feminist critical discourse analysis (feminist CDA) to examine texts by canonized male bands reveals the discursive parameters of ideal heavy metal subjectivity (IHMS). Exploration of texts created by white female performers, including a case study of Arch Enemy vocalist Alissa White-Gluz, isolates the necessity for white female performers to reproduce the discourses of IHMS in order to secure their participation in the culture, further contributing to the erasure of BIWoC performers. However, feminist CDA also reveals transformative potential within these texts to de-centre IHMS as the default subject position and shows white women’s agency and resiliency as performers.
    [Show full text]
  • Feminist Periodicals
    The Un versity o f W scons n System Feminist Periodicals A current listing of contents WOMEN'S STUDIES Volume 21, Number 3, Fall 2001 Published by Phyllis HolmanWeisbard LIBRARIAN Women's Studies Librarian Feminist Periodicals A current listing ofcontents Volume 21, Number 3 Fall 2001 Periodical literature is the cutting edge ofwomen's scholarship, feminist theory, and much ofwomen's culture. Feminist Periodicals: A Current Listing of Contents is published by the Office of the U(liversity of Wisconsin System Women's Studies Librarian on a quarterly basis with the intent of increasing public awareness of feminist periodicals. It is our hope that Feminist Periodicals will serve several purposes: to keep the reader abreast of current topics in feminist literature; to increase readers' familiarity with a wide spectrum offeminist periodicals; and to provide the requisite bibliographic information should a reader wish to subscribe to ajournal or to obtain a particular article at her library or through interlibrary loan. (Users will need to be aware of the limitations of the new copyright law with regard to photocopying of copyrighted materials.) Table ofcontents pages from currentissues ofmajor feministjournals are reproduced in each issue of Feminist Periodicals, preceded by a comprehensive annotated listing of all journals we have selected. As publication schedules vary enormously, not every periodical will have table of contents pages reproduced in each issue of FP. The annotated listing provides the following information on each journal: 1. Year of first pUblication. 2. Frequency of publication. 3. U.S. subscription price(s). 4. Subscription address. 5. Current editor. 6. Editorial address (if different from SUbscription address).
    [Show full text]