Through Gendered Lenses
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An Undergraduate Academic Journal of Gender Research and Scholarship Through Gendered Lenses The Gender Studies Honor Society Gender Studies Program—University of Notre Dame 2013 Cover design by Airi Kobayashi Table of Contents Acknowledgements / 03 Letter from the Editor / 04 The Gender Studies Program / 05 Triota: the Gender Studies Honor Society / 06 Gender Studies Honor Society Members / 07 Essays: Girls’ Education in Eighteenth Century France: The Development of Feminine Passivity / 09 Rebecca Kibler Blurring the Lines Among Gender, Politics, and Reality: “I Can Be President” Barbie, Sarah Palin’s Alaska, and the Fantasy of a Female President / 26 Jordyn Smith Gendering the Troubles: An Exegesis of the Psychosexual Development in Colum McCann's Everything in This Country Must / 43 Séan Cotter From Café to Frappe: A Study of Starbucks and Gender at Notre Dame / 52 Aubrey Butts The Psychology of Infertility: How Assisted Reproductive Technologies Affect the Institution of Motherhood / 71 Maria McLeod Acknowledgements This edition of Through Gendered Lenses marks its fourth year of highlighting gender scholarship at the University of Notre Dame, and the number of those responsible for its success grows well beyond the breadth of this page. The editors and Triota members of the last three years have paved the way and streamlined the process for this year’s publication. Their audacity to brave the world of submissions and selections, advertising and printing left an easy rubric to follow and a high expectation to live up to. Of course, significant recognition is due to Linnie Caye, program coordinator. Her sage advice and familiarity with various channels, timelines and procedures guided the production of the journal and her unwavering organization urged the honor society along despite academics and extracurriculars. Alongside Pamela Wojcik, program director, and Abigail Palko, director of undergraduate studies, the Gender Studies Program provided a vital network of resources. Legwork can only carry the production so far, and the honors society is indebted to its many generous benefactors. The Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement continues to provide substantial encouragement and support (with a special thanks to Dr. Deb Rotman) to this endeavor. We are grateful that they recognize Through Gendered Lenses as a worthwhile investment toward encouraging academic excellence on campus. Further thanks need to be extended to the Boehnen Fund for Excellence in Gender Studies, the Genevieve D. Willis Endowment for Excellence and those alumni and allies who sponsor Gender Studies at Notre Dame. The continued support of the program afforded these scholars the opportunities to pursue their research and this journal to spotlight their endeavors. And, these scholars deserve special thanks as well, and all who submitted their work to Through Gendered Lenses. Many students are toiling in creative and advanced projects and, though these five essays represent the most innovative and thorough compositions, countless others across campus are refiguring and reexamining gender in new and noteworthy fashions. We appreciate all these efforts and hope this edition inspires next year’s inquiry. Letter from the Editor At one point in Gender Trouble, Judith Butler describes gender as pastiche, a kind of deadpan parody, an eclectic satire without a purpose. The performance sustains itself exactly because it lacks the theatricality of a performance. The five essays chosen investigate where this intersects with other levels of identity. Eighteenth-century French women learned their passive posturing through the education system while Notre Dame students come to a subconscious and ubiquitous consensus on proper gendered café etiquette. Political posing is scrutinized for women presidential candidates and the political binary of the Northern Ireland Troubles imposes its own strict masquerade on the gender binary. And, maternity and family role shift and alter when biology and affection and possession fall along new lines. These essays represent not only in-depth investigations, but also a creativity that invigorates the gender pastiche, imbuing a thriving theatricality into our straight-faced actors. Joshua Whitaker 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. 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. The Notre Dame chapter of Triota was formed in 2006, and its members are 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. As the primary unit of undergraduate student service and leadership in the Gender Studies Program, Triota offers gender studies students multiple opportunities to engage their interests in gender issues beyond the classroom setting. Members of Triota contribute to an environment of academic excellence, encourage undergraduate research and scholarship in Gender Studies, foster relationships among students and faculty, promote interest and awareness of gender issues, and academically represent the Gender Studies Program. Through Gendered Lenses is their main project throughout the year. Additionally, members of Triota 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. Triota Members 2012-2013 Karl Abad Class of 2013 Christina Genovese Class of 2013 Maria McLeod Class of 2013 Josh Whitaker Class of 2013 Christina Dines Class of 2014 Lindsay Dun Class of 2014 Rachel Hughes Class of 2015 Lex Lorenzo Class of 2014 Molly Shank Class of 2014 Rebecca Kibler (class of 2013) is a psychology and French major with a minor in education, schooling and society. She wrote this paper for an independent study French course led by Dr. Julia Douthwaite about the life of women in eighteenth century France. This course provided her with an opportunity to combine her interests in education and French culture to explore the education of French girls. Rebecca is grateful to Dr. Douthwaite for her invaluable help throughout the research and writing process as well as to the Nanovic Institute for European Studies and the Glynn Family Honors Program for providing funding to make possible archival research in Paris for this project. Girls’ Education in Eighteenth Century France: The Development of Feminine Passivity Rebecca Kibler Within the framework of modern Western society, education is often considered to be one of the most important tools needed to be able to live and think freely. Education in itself, however, is not necessarily a means towards the eventual independence of the student, as society is responsible for choosing the goal of its educational system. France during the eighteenth century held social expectations and norms in which the roles of each gender were distinct and well defined. Girls’ education in this society, then, had the goal of maintaining a strong distinction between the two genders. While girls’ education was not neglected in eighteenth century France, it was structured in such a way as to discourage independent thought and to encourage passivity, which in turn supported the maintenance of the status quo of distinct gender roles. This pattern is clearly seen in that the education of girls of the nobility and the upper bourgeoisie used methods and structures that resulted in the student’s passivity in the intellectual, personal and social domains. These girls