Digital Commons Network^™

Beyond The Surface: Understanding The “Blurred Lines” Of Sexual Dynamics And Consent In Trinity College's Hookup Scene, Zoe Kon

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis explores the complex interplay of sexual behaviors, consent, and campus culture at Trinity College through qualitative ethnographic research. Delving into the nuances of hookup culture, a prevalent social phenomenon, the research examines how it often blurs the boundaries between consensual and non-consensual sexual interactions. Thirty in-depth interviews with Trinity College students reveal the intricate dynamics of consent communication and understanding within this context. The findings highlight significant gaps in students' communication about boundaries and consent, driven by the pressures of social capital and the normalization of alcohol-fueled encounters. The theme of blurred lines emerges as a central issue, …

How Activist Groups Use Human Rights Rhetoric In The Fight For Reproductive Rights And Abortion: The Cases Of The United States, Germany, And The Netherlands, Esme Ostrowitz-Levine

Senior Theses and Projects

Human rights advocates often argue their primary power is that claiming them and deploying human rights rhetoric adds legitimacy and authority to a cause. Yet our understanding of if, how, and why human rights language is used in the political struggle for equality is incomplete. In this thesis I examine the key question of the use of human rights rhetoric and claiming by activists and governmental actors via the struggle for reproductive rights, especially for access to abortion. Through a comparative case study of the United States, the Netherlands, and Germany, this paper finds that legislative bodies tend to utilize …

The Feminist Gothic Journeys Of Shirley Jackson, Grace Sanko

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Gender Performance In Contentious Politics: A Case Study Of The 2020-2021 Protests In Belarus & The 2013-2014 Euromaidan Protests In Ukraine, Darya Maliauskaya

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis aims to explore women’s participation in contentious politics in post-Soviet Eurasia states. In both Belarus and Ukraine, women were both visible and invisible drivers of demonstrations: attending marches, creating solidarity chains, supporting other protestors, providing medical assistance, participating in peace-keeping, etc. By performing different gender roles and utilizing particular gender symbols, women were able to claim their presence in these protest spaces. However, such moments of upheaval tend to create both opportunities and threats for women. The thesis will identify what gender roles, symbols, and discourses women utilized in the 2020-21 Belarus uprising and the 2013-14 Euromaidan protest …

An Analysis Of Symbolic Violence In Classical Texts Comparatively To Modern Feminist Adaptations, Marisa Berner

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis explores the symbolic violence and misogyny present in Classical texts, and then compares them to modern feminist adaptations or retellings of the same stories. We explore the treatment of Briseis and other enslaved women in the Greek camp throughout the Iliad, and compare Homer’s perspective to Pat Barker’s in her book Silence of the Girls. We then look at Ovid’s Metamorphoses compared to Wake, Siren by Nina Maclaughlin, and finish with the comparison of Euripides’ plays Iphigenia at Aulis, Iphigenia Among the Taurians, and Hecuba to A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes. The thesis …

The Twentieth Century Downfall Of Professional Midwifery In Britain And Its Gendered Connotation, Katherine Epstein

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

L’Universalité De La Voix Féminine : Interprétations Genrées De La Poésie Romantique Française Et Allemande, Mimi Mackilligan

Senior Theses and Projects

Contemporary French feminist literary critics have debated whether the category of woman is an empowering or limiting paradigm through which to analyze women writers. Hélène Cixous coined the term "feminine writing [écriture féminine]" in order to link femininity to a radical particularity, whereas Monique Wittig has asserted that this concept confines women writers to their minority identity rather than allowing them to be read universally. Such discussions serve as a useful lens through which to analyze women writers who grappled with their gendered position far before the advent of 20^th-century feminism.

Despite the abundance of woman …

Women In Charge: An Examination Of Normative And Non-Normative Islamic Faith-Based Gender Justice, Courtney Robb

Senior Theses and Projects

Islamic Feminism is a developing field that emerged in the 1990’s, arising out of debates surrounding engagement or lack thereof with dominant forms of feminism. Based on research conducted in Jordan in the Fall of 2019 and America in the Spring of 2021, this thesis employs a regional comparison to the emergences of leadership and faith-based gender justice in Islam, and further how this either supports or contests existing gender structures. In these interviews I identify two overarching approaches to Qur’anic interpretation and knowledge production. I labeled the first approach as a normative approach to faith-based gender justice and the …

Hell Hath No Appetite Like A Woman: Food Imagery In The Lives Of The Wife Of Bath And Margery Kempe, Rhone O'Hara

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis focuses on the medieval texts of Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale” and The Book of Margery Kempe. Specifically it analyzes The Wife of Bath, as one of Chaucer’s most famous literary characters in The Canterbury Tales written in 1387 and Margery Kempe, a medieval mystic whose story is known as the first autobiography written in English in the 1432. Furthermore, this thesis explores how the Wife of Bath and Margery Kempe's relationships with literal and figurative food define their experiences as middle-class medieval wives. It is through food that the Wife of Bath and Margery …

Marriage And Motherhood: The Moral Connection Between “The Heptameron” By Marguerite De Navarre And “The Lessons Of Anne Of France”, Sophie Klieger

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Title Ix In The Age Of Trump: An Evaluation Of Institutional Administrators’ Responses To The Proposed New Guidelines, Brooke M. Lepage

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis examines the impact of the Title IX proposed new guidance that Secretary of Education under President Trump, Betsy DeVos, released in November 2018 as well as institutional administrator’s responses regarding how these proposed changes will impact their students and their ability to do their jobs. Ultimately, the answers to these questions are used to evaluate the level to which institutional administrators are committed to the Obama-era guidance in light of the new proposed guidance. In order to assess these questions, this thesis utilizes an IRB-approved survey about the proposed change in definition of sexual harassment, change in an …

God The Father Or Mother Divine? : Subversive Theology In John Milton's Paradise Lost And Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, Jordan Pace

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

America Through Rose-Colored Glasses: How American Girl Dolls Shape American Girlhood And Identity, Kelly M. Vaughan

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis examines the contributions that American Girl dolls make to the development of girlhood, as well as doll and toy culture. I argue that the BeForever collection of historically centered dolls both informs consumers of United States history while instructing them of what it means to be a wholesome, virtuous girl. American Girl provides timeless stories about overcoming hardship in various periods of U.S. history while utilizing common themes in children’s literature to construct an attractive narrative. These dolls and their stories contribute to consumers’ understanding of girlhood, their sense of self, and broad comprehension of history. Recent developments …

“Tell All The Truth But Tell It Slant—”: An Exploration Of The Role Of Gender In The Formal Experimental Poetry Of Emily Dickinson, Gertrude Stein, And H.D., Madeline Burns

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

The View Of Women In Buddhism - From The Comparison Between The Bhikkhu And Bhikkhuni Precepts, Shuaiyu Chen

Senior Theses and Projects

In Buddhism, monks and nuns or bhikkhu and bhikkhuni in Pali refer to those who leave their homes to practices Buddhism and live ascetic lives with other monks or nuns. Monks and nuns play important roles in Buddhism, because they are considered to be the successors of the Buddha dharma after the death of the Sakyamuni Buddha and therefore are responsible for teaching and passing on the Buddha dharma.

Precepts are the rules that the Buddha made to prohibit the behavior that may obstruct the experiencing of enlightenment. By upholding the precepts strictly, people can experience nirvana. In …

Ordinary Women: Female Perpetrators Of The Nazi Final Solution, Haley A. Wodenshek

Senior Theses and Projects

This Thesis, by examining the roles of three Nazi women, Herta Oberheuser, Irma Grese, and Ilse Koch, as well as understanding the various women’s programs that helped to cultivate and further racism and violence against Jews and others “unworthy of life,” aims to paint a more complete picture of the true role played by Nazi women during the second world war, as well as argue that women were not only victims of the Nazi regime, nor were they solely bystanders. Rather, this thesis will demonstrate that women were not only complicit, but were also accomplices, aiding German men in facilitating …

Edna St. Vincent Millay: Artisan Of Violent Feminine Agency, Carolina Galdiz

Senior Theses and Projects

For decades, scholars have understood Edna St Vincent Millay in two fairly distinctive patterns as either a classical romanticist or ephemeral rebel. This dual reputation has been crafted from the obvious presence of natural imagery, sexual dynamism, feminine voice, and romantic yearning in her work. What critics have failed to see in her poetry are the potent sinister undertones that claim violence as a means to power. I will argue that Millay narrates the gendered struggle that takes place in this violence, in order to ultimately assert feminine agency in the process of forming a cultural identity. Thus, rather than …

Reproductive Rights And State Institutions: The Forced Sterilization Of Minority Women In The United States, Maggie Lawrence

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

A Leg Up For Women? Stereotypes Of Female Sexuality In American Culture Through An Analysis Of Iconic Film Stills Of Women’S Legs, Lauren E. Smith

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.