Digital Commons Network^™

Is It Really #Bodypositive? Examining The Effectiveness Of The Body Positivity Movement On Tiktok, Nina Todreas

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

The rest of this paper will be devoted to the analysis of certain TikTok content that promotes diet culture and two of the most popular self-described body positivity influencers on the app. Through this analysis, I will attempt to show that the body positivity movement on the platform is insincere and thus ineffective because, in addition to the movement being dominated by conventionally attractive individuals, there exists a conflict of interest in which, given their popularity on the app, these body positive activist influencers are profiting off of the movement.

The Disabled Lens: Viewing Gender Performance, Dorian Marr

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

Black Metal, Trauma, Subjectivity and Sound: Screaming the Abyss is Jasmine Shadrack’s performance autoethnography—in this, she explains her experiences and the sociocultural phenomena that shaped them through the lens of her black metal career. She focuses on her role as guitarist and frontwoman of black metal band Denigrata. Shadrack’s onstage persona is Denigrata Herself, which allows her to experiment with her gender presentation and portray aspects of her trauma and disabilities in a way she is comfortable with. As the pain from her complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) and fibromyalgia increased, Shadrack eventually had to leave Denigrata.

Due to her …

Coerced Sterilization Of Mexican Origin Women: The Marginalization Of Their Rights, Rosy Almazan

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

Feminist conversation in the United States, some may argue, oftentimes excludes the experiences of women of color. The term intersectionality—the idea that social categorizations overlap and result in particular experiences is fundamental when considering these women. As a result, the unique abuses that women of color face are often overlooked; Mexican origin women being one of these affected groups. Around the mid and late twentieth century, many Mexican origin women underwent coerced sterilizations in Los Angeles, California. This paper performs an analysis on California’s history of eugenic beliefs, sterilization laws, and the court case Madrigal v Quilligan, a case including …

Black Women In Film: The Film Stereotypes, Cliches, And Tropes That Negatively Influence Perceptions Of Black Women, Isatou K. Sey

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

When film was first created in the late 1800s, Black actors would not be seen on the big screen until many years later. Black actresses, in particular, had an even harder time landing roles than their male counterparts. When finally allowed to become actresses around the mid 1900s, they were limited to subordinate roles that served the perceptions white people held of them and held true to their intersectional marginalization. Namely, Black women portrayed characters that were maids or servants to white families. As time goes on, the presence of Black women in film and television is certainly increasing, as …

The Paradox Of "Sad Girl" Music, Amelia Wang

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

This research paper will assess the representations of female vulnerability and trauma in “sad girl” music and listeners’ role in maintaining the commodification of femininity, trauma, and marginalized experiences. To achieve the aforementioned goals, postfeminism and enlightened sexism will be introduced as frameworks to assess musical works within the “sad girl” music genre. Specifically, the musical works of Lana Del Rey and Phoebe Bridgers, prominent artists in the “sad girl” music genre, will be analyzed under postfeminism and enlightened sexism frameworks to reveal nuanced contributions these representations have in today’s feminist discourse, both positive and negative. “Sad girl” music’s intended …

“Black Is In Fashion”: The Black Body As A Commodity In Jordan Peele’S Get Out, Jeffrey Camille

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

Jordan Peele’s horror film Get Out (2017) presents a contemporary form of Black subjugation characterized by the morbid fixation on black bodies. Whereas racist systems of the past, such as slavery, emphasized the overt oppression of Black individuals, Peele’s dystopia focuses on covert Black oppression made possible by white people's obsession with what they perceive as the “superior” prowess and attractiveness of black bodies. Nonetheless, past racist systems and Peele’s own racist structures share the same goal: control of the black body for the benefit of whites. My research, therefore, explores the racial dynamics between the white and Black characters …

Trading Chinatown For Costco: The Future Of Commercial Gentrification On St. Louis’ Olive Boulevard, Jade Zhang

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

America loves to enjoy Chinese culture, embracing popular items like boba tea, dim sum brunches, and Bruce Lee but as history has proven time and time again, it does not actually care much for the Chinese people. From blatantly racist laws like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 to the recent rush of Sinophobia brought on by the labeling of COVID-19 as the “China Virus,” we have been subject to harassment and discrimination for centuries. Similarly, the relationship between St. Louis’ Chinese community and its government has been fraught for decades, with the 1966 destruction of the original St Louis …

Art As Ammunition: The Weaponization Of Rap Lyrics In Court, John Yeldham

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

In 2017, data from the Nielsen Music Report revealed that for the very first time, R&B/Hip-Hop was the most popular genre in the United States. The genre's popularity has continued to skyrocket, with Billboard reporting at the end of 2021 that R&B/Hip-Hop accounted for 27.7 percent of music consumption in America, followed by Rock at 20 percent. However, despite being the most prevalent genre in the United States, hip-hop music is still fundamentally misunderstood by White American society. One example of this lack of understanding is Billboard's categories themselves: the company groups Hip-Hop and R&B together, two genres which, while …

“A Civil Rights Law Of Our Own”: Intersectionality And The Disability-Race Analogy In The Trailer For The Documentary Crip Camp, Lily Coll

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

This paper analyzes the way in which race and disability intersect in the trailer for the documentary Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (2020). The problematic disability-race analogy, created in this trailer through the use of Civil Rights imagery and iconography, serves as a tool to explore the ways in which such an analogy can obscure the existence of people of color with disabilities. This paper discusses the historical and contemporary usage of the race-disability analogy and its byproduct: the suggestion that the Civil Rights Movement has been an unmitigated success. The inspirational narrative arc of the trailer characterizes it as …

Stagnant Prejudice Against Dark Skin In South Indian Cinema, Shriya Penmetsa

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

The issue of colorism is far-reaching within India and extends to its various film industries. Lesser-known to the western world is Tollywood, which encompasses Telugu and Bengali films and loosely includes films of other South Indian languages such as Tamil and Malayalam. Arguably, colorism runs much deeper in South India than North India, where Bollywood reigns, because light skin is sought after more in the South for numerous geographical and historical reasons. A deeper dive into the issue reveals that, beyond the understanding that colorism is a lucid issue in Tollywood, it affects actors and actresses differently. While Bollywood has …

Commodifying Diversity: The Danger Of Racial Capitalism On Student Growth In Higher Education, Jewel Evans

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

“In what ways do you contribute to our diverse student body?” This is a question I was asked countless times during the college admissions process. As a Black woman I fit into two minority groups, but do I really want to spend 350 precious words explaining only these physical aspects of my identity? I have other interests: my aspirations in the medical field, love for cooking and curiosity in monotheistic religions, which happen to intersect with both my race and gender. All the question asks, however, is what makes me “diverse” enough to be a student at X University.

Dean …

Cool Kids, Camp, And Keeping Calm: Taylor Swift’S Attempt To Address Homophobia, Zoe Levin

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

Taylor Swift has been a pop culture icon for well over a decade. She is known and loved for her narrative songs about relationships, so her new album Lover was monumental for being her first to address social politics. Most notably, the song “You Need to Calm Down” actively addresses Swift’s progressive position toward LGBTQ rights. A scathing critique of homophobic individuals, “You Need to Calm Down” was released on President Trump’s birthday as the second single from Lover, with its music video following shortly thereafter. Featuring a whirl of colors and playful celebrity cameos, the video promotes a lifestyle …

Do It For The Culture, Priyanka Iyer

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

This researched argument essay grapples with one of the most difficult questions in the field of foodways: what does ethnic authenticity (in a culinary context) truly mean? In it, the author argues that the term is widely misunderstood and usually comes from a Euro-American, coded white, racialized point of view that colors how consumers see other cultures. Ultimately, the author contends that "limiting restaurants to what is often a subjective definition of 'ethnic authenticity' damages cultural understanding and bolsters stereotypes." In other words, globalization and culinary fusion have had a profound effect on how we define and understand other cultural …

Sustenance Abuse: Anorexia, Bulimia, And & Black Women, Olivia J. Williams

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

Food had become my drug.” Thus writes Stephanie Covington Armstrong, a bulimia survivor—and black woman. Contrary to popular belief, eating disorders are not limited to wealthy white women trying desperately to achieve a bone-thin summer body. In fact the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) reports that black women are actually 50% more likely than white women to show signs of bulimia (“Statistics & Research on Eating Disorders”). But black eating disorder patients are often undiagnosed and under researched. Many black women have attested that their symptoms were not taken seriously by medical professionals, and even official research papers and medical …

Racializing Sexuality: Voicing The Forced Silence Of Young Black Queers On Tv, Cece Heard

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

No abstract provided.

Gentrifried: The Foodways Of Neoliberal Urban Redevelopment In St. Louis, Elizabeth Schwartz

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

No abstract provided.

Queer As Folklore: How Fun Home Destabilizes The Metronormative Myth, Grace Macarthur

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

No abstract provided.

You Better Work: The Decriminalization Of Sex Work As A Transgender Woman Of Color Rights Issue, Emily Wyland

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

This research paper explores the various forms of oppression transwomen of color sex workers (TWCSW) face due to their unique life histories and demographic backgrounds, and argues that decriminalizing sex work is the best course of action to minimize the marginalization of TWCSW. Due to the large presence transwomen of color hold within the sex work community, as well as the diverse array of systemic risk factors which increase transgender women of color's likelihood of engaging in sex work (racism/colorism, transmisogyny, familial rejection, homelessness/imprisonment, school dropout, poverty, lack of alternative employment opportunities, limited access to alternative emotional support systems), sex …

Paging Equality: A Study Of Women Leadership Positions In Medicine, Olivia Crow

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

In this paper, I have examined how gender bias is perpetuated in the medical field through examining the lack of women in leadership positions. I looked at the efforts of Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and the University of California Davis to correct these institutional biases and facilitate a change for women. I used criteria suggested by Professor Shelley Correll from Stanford to scrutinize the methods implemented by the respective medical schools. I also examined the available data to determine effectiveness. I concluded that the University of California Davis Medical School Women in Medical and Health Science program had the most effective …

The Receptivity Of Black Audiences To Progressive Black Television, Adon Wade-Currie

Dean James E. McLeod Freshman Writing Prize

This work examines the concept of blackness, how it has been performed on two different primetime television programs, The Cosby Show and Black-ish, and how black audiences in particular have responded to these representations of African-Americans. In analysis of The Cosby Show, I have mostly used secondary sources to distill the various positions viewers took regarding the show's blackness, which has in fact been the subject of much critical analysis. These works substitute for the extensive research that would have been necessary on my part otherwise between watching 200+ episodes and conducting long and detailed interviews. For Black-ish, however, no …