Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Women In Dentistry At The University Of Mississippi: Increasing The Confidence And Skills Of Future Women Dentists, Lakin Cramer

Honors Theses

Women in Dentistry became a registered student organization in February 2022. The purpose of the organization is to encourage and promote the professional and personal success of women in dentistry on the University of Mississippi Oxford campus. The historical and current literature of Women in Dentistry serve to provide a framework for the importance of uplifting women as they prepare for a career in dentistry. During my time as Founder and President of Women in Dentistry, my goal was to establish the organization, provide mentorship to prospective female dental school applicants, and increase the confidence and skills of future women …

Women Without Bodies: Autonomy, Empowerment, And Embodiment In Southern Women, Martha Peyton Ford

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the relationship between rural, upper-class, Southern, white women and their bodies. In my attempts to understand this relationship, I analyze sources from the fields of gender studies, philosophy, and psychology, utilizing concepts such as the Cult of True Womanhood, the newly-emerging field of body memoirs, and the long-lasting but elusive idea of Southern ladyhood to make sense of cultural expectations of Southern women and their bodies. This research, alongside my use of autoethnography and oral history, serve as an anchor for my analysis of women’s relationships to their bodies, in which I use myself, my mother, and …

"A Woman's Lot To Suffer" : Recognizing The Intersectionality Of Oppression And Resistance In Min Jin Lee's Pachinko, Elianna Srikureja

Honors Theses

Min Jin Lee's novel Pachinko (2017) portrays the historically based lives of a displaced Korean family during Japan's colonization of Korea from 1905-1945. The novel's attention to the ways that colonial endeavors complicate Confucian family and national structures exemplifies the interrelation between gender and racial oppression facing Lee's Korean women in both the public and private domain.

However, by centering female voices all too often silenced, Lee also depicts resistance modes that subvert such oppression. Using feminist and postcolonial theory, historical analysis, and close reading analysis, this project examines both the construction of oppression and the subversive resistance measures taken …

A Translation Of Some Works Of Louise Michel, Early French Feminist, Militant Anarchist, And Socialist Visionary, Julianna Kramer

Honors Theses

The socialist progressive Louise Michel infused her beliefs of equality and liberty from repressive governments into her daily life and career. Michel was a major leader of the Paris Commune, a revolutionary socialist government that controlled the city of Paris for roughly two months in 1871. She deployed militant tactics to defend the poor and demand legal and economic equality of the sexes.

She was a prolific writer, using writing as a revolutionary tool to disseminate socialist ideas to children and adults alike. A short story for children, titled Les dix sous de Marthe (Marthe’s Ten Coins), shows the ripple …

"Gone, But Never Forgotten:" Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women And Girls In The United States, Julianna Kramer

Honors Theses

Native women and girls in the United States are twice as likely to be sexually assaulted compared to white women, and murder rates on certain reservations can be tenfold higher than the national average. This pervasive violence traces back to colonialism. Native women have historically been abused, exploited, and neglected by America’s institutions, and lasting prejudice against Native peoples endures.

The United States government has stripped tribal governments of their ability to seek justice for their women. The Major Crimes Act of 1885, Proclamation 280, and the Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe (1978) decision place responsibility for investigating and prosecuting …

Greco-Roman Paganism And Women Leaders: The Foundation Of Early Christian Art, Rowan Murry

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I explore the impact of Greco-Roman pagan motifs as well as women leaders and officials on the development of Early Christian art by analyzing catacomb paintings, sarcophagi, and minor arts such as finger rings and carved gemstones. I also discuss surviving primary sources written by Tertullian, Eusebius, St. Jerome, and Clement of Alexandria, to gain a better understanding of anti-art views in the first few centuries of the Church’s rise to power. These anti-art sentiments were often rooted in attempts to disassociate themselves from pagan practices while Early Christian art was emerging amongst the lower classes who …

Honoré De Balzac’S Portrayal Of The Feminine Condition In The Wild Ass’S Skin, Père Goriot, And The Lily Of The Valley, Brooke V. Musmeci

Honors Theses

In 19th century France, women appeared to be second class citizens. They were often limited in their abilities to have independence and secure their own wealth. This perception of women perhaps justifies why, as Honoré de Balzac’s novels illustrated the realities of French society, he attempted to characterize women’s struggles to obtain control and power in their lives. In his novels The Wild Ass’s Skin (1831), The Lily of the Valley (1835), and Le Père Goriot (1835), Balzac sought to prove how women could improve their lot.

Firstly, in studying how women had been relegated to second-class citizens under their …

Le Féminisme Et La Femme Musulmane En France, Anna Elizabeth Gagion

Honors Theses

My French thesis investigates how some definitions of French feminism and particular French feminist movements find themselves oppressing Muslim women. France is a country that has vigorously regulated the separation of Church and State since 1902 legislation that declared “la laïcité” (secularism) obligatory for all public education. In my research I have found that the general belief in France that religion should never have any bearing on political decisions has been beneficial to most French citizens, but it also appears to oppress a number of Muslim women, as witnessed by the on-going debate surrounding the headscarf ban in French public …

Acting Hysterical: Analyzing The Construction, Diagnosis And Portrayal Of Historical And Modern Hysterical Women, Gillian Singer

Honors Theses

Hysterical women’s stories from the 19th and 20th centuries have all too often been ignored and furthermore, invalidated through the capitalization and spectacularization of hysterical women’s experiences. “Acting Hysterical: Analyzing the Construction, Diagnosis and Portrayal of Historical and Modern ‘Hysterical’ Women” aims to acknowledge hysterical women’s narratives by studying the visual documentation of hysterical women. Visual documentation of hysteria began with the photographing of Dr. Jean-Martin Charcot’s “hysterical” female patients and extends to modern cinematic representations from the last two decades of historical and modern hysterical women.

Medical Muses, a book based in years of research by Asti Hustvedt served …

Female Forest Rangers In New York State, Anna Gagion

Honors Theses

For my environmental policy thesis, I investigated female forest rangers in the New York state department of environmental conservation (DEC). I looked at how their introduction into the forest service has evolved since the first female forest ranger in New York state, Patti Rudge, who took the job in 1988. I looked at common trends between retired and current female forest rangers as well as comparing their experiences to studies done about park rangers in the national park service. I found many similarities between their experiences, however there are key differences between federal and state level agencies.

Through my research …

A Woman's Gaze, Emily Fiore

Honors Theses

My work merges my passion of thinking politically and artistically. This series, A Woman’s Gaze, is an extension of my Political Science thesis, where I focused on artists who combat the male gaze by representing women’s lives realistically, from a woman’s perspective. These paintings focus on intimate scenarios from women’s lives where the male gaze is absent. The large scale imagery brings visibility to these otherwise private moments.

La Genara: La Libertad Falsa De La Mujer Elite En México, Emily Sullivan

Honors Theses

The goal of feminism is to ensure the equality of all genders. This goal means that women are supposed to be seen as equal to men in society. However, despite the many feminist efforts to bring this equality into reality, many in the world still believe that women are inferior to men. This belief stems from historical oppression of women that has continued up until modern day times. In Mexico, there is still strong beliefs that exist that prevent women from achieving liberation and freedom in society. Ideas related to traditional family values, machismo, and internalized misogyny all act as …

Nasty Women: Television Portrayals Of Societal Anxieties Toward Female Leaders, Emily Sullivan

Honors Theses

Historically, women have been excluded from leadership positions around the world, while instead men occupy the highest positions of power in society. The lack of female leadership is especially prevalent in the United States, where there has never been a female president, and the majority of high political offices are still held by men. In a similar manner, women have also been excluded from the sphere of comedy throughout history. Women have constantly had to deal with the assertion that women are not funny. This double exclusion from both leadership and comedy has led to the development of my concept …

Women In Gaming: A Study Of Female Players’ Experiences In Online Fps Games, M Allison Mcdaniel

Honors Theses

Existing literature has long been divided over whether the gaming world fosters violence and misogyny or provides a space for people to explore diverse identities. Not enough is known about how women experience videogames, especially the hypermasculine environment of first-person shooter (FPS) games. Competition, violence, and war, are dominant features of these games. The following thesis explores what harassment and discrimination women playing FPS games face, how they respond, and in what ways they find games to be empowering. A survey was distributed online to an international sample of 141 female FPS gamers. This research finds that women who play …

Dress And Womanhood Of Ancient Rome, Eliza Burbano

Honors Theses

Fashion transcends its own role of imagery, as it becomes the medium through which individuals express their place in society. Fashion history would not consider the ancient world as part of the history of the discipline. Nevertheless, the function of dress in ancient cultures like that of Rome has definitely helped shape social hierarchies that are still present today. Clothing structured Roman society deeply, just as class, race, and sexuality did. Scholar Kelly Olson (2002) defines the function of clothing as part of a sign system. This study argues that dress in ancient Rome goes beyond this idea, in that …

L' Obscurite' Manifestee (A Manifested Obscurity), Roswald Morales

Honors Theses

There are three directors that have revolutionized the world of French cinema by bringing to the forefront topics that make its audiences uncomfortable. Abdellatif Kechiche, director of the film Black Venus (2010), Ousmane Sembène, director of the film Black Girl (1966), and Céline Sciamma, director of the film Girlhood (2014) have become renowned for discussing the portrayal of black women in French society. This is a topic at hand that reveals the devastating truth behind French society in regarding black women during various eras. Black Venus narrates the life of an African woman during the slavery period in Europe. Black …

The Persistence Of Patriarchy In Latin America: An Analysis Of Negative And Positive Trends, Eliza Burbano

Honors Theses

The last 25 years have seen the rise of women as political leaders in Latin America. There are now three female presidents, including Michelle Bachelet (Chile), Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (Argentina), and Dilma Rousseff (Brazil). This sociopolitical progress owes its success to the consolidation of democratic institutions, a strong feminist movements such as Argentina’s “Movimiento Nacional de Mujeres” and a strong regional push towards egalitarian legislation. According to ECLAC there are a number of important feminist movements in the region that catalyze egalitarian legislative changes. #NIUNAMENOS is one of such campaigns promoting zero tolerance against gender violence and aims is …

An Interdisciplinary Approach To Domestic Violence In The Legal System: The Importance Of Victim Advocates, Joanna Chalifoux

Honors Theses

Domestic violence is an aspect of the legal system where there typically is a lack of communication among the institutions involved. Therefore, the benefit of an interdisciplinary approach to domestic violence in the legal system is assessed by emphasizing the importance of the presence of victim advocates in the courtroom. In this dissertation, the issue will be evaluated through a feminist point of view— with the belief that domestic violence is a gendered phenomenon in which the majority of the perpetrators are male and the victims are female. In order to research this, several judges, lawyers, and victim advocates who …

A Lineage Of Black Feminist Art, Kiana Miller

Honors Theses

This Black Feminist Art thesis project displays Black lives with full representational impact and it allows a space for agency to be shown. Through an empirical literature review, original poetry and artwork this thesis expresses dimensions of Black feminist/womanist voices. The purpose of this thesis is putting real images of Black lives out into the world in order to have a positive impact, giving young girls an artistic role model that looks like them, and the ability to read a book with images and stories of lives that may resemble theirs, lastly sharing a social commentary as well as a …

“Can The Subaltern [E-Communicate]?” Exploring The Complex Relationship Between The Worldwide Web And The World’S Most Marginalized Women, Julia Hotz

Honors Theses

Famously heralded by early Internet pioneers and contemporary globalization theorists as providing a “state of perfect freedom and equality”, the Internet, on one hand, may be used to benefit the world’s least privileged women; these efforts have taken variety of forms, from serving as a space where women can share ideas, to creating an encyclopedia of practical women’s health and political information, to providing a medium through which women can directly access economic opportunities. Yet through critically examining the ways in which the Internet is used, we see how such apparently benevolent initiatives may sometimes silence the very marginalized, female …

The Role Of Women In Punk, Katherine Barner

Honors Theses

This thesis, entitled “The Role of Women in Punk,” is an interdisciplinary thesis of the Political Science and Anthropology Department of Union College. To come to the conclusions of this thesis, I read a variety academic papers and research; numerous books on theory, punk, and feminism; and performed fieldwork at punk concerts and original punk venues of the 1970’s in Albany and New York City. I combined my own findings from my fieldwork with the historical and theoretical analysis of other academics and writers. Through the combination of political/anthropological theory, historical analysis, and my independent fieldwork, I was able to …

America’S First Ladies: A Catalyst For Change In Female Leadership, Power And Influence Or A Reinforcement Of Gender Norms In American Society?, Deborah Kim Grinhaus

Honors Theses

My work examines the nature of The Office of the First Lady of the United States as a lens through which to view female leadership, power and influence in America. Through analyzing the singular experiences of four controversial First Ladies; Abigail Adams, Jacqueline Kennedy, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama, this dissertation illustrates the ambiguities and challenges associated with The Office of First Lady as a metaphor for female power. Why analyze the First Ladyship as compared to other political posts held by women? The Office itself is not elected, appointed, institutionalized or legal. Therefore, how do these women use The …

Jewish Women In The Ghettos, Concentration Camps, And Partisans During The Holocaust, Sara Vicks

Honors Theses

Men like, Primo Levi, Viktor Frankl, and Elie Wiesel, have provided us with valuable insight on the suffering of the Jewish people during the Holocaust. Only until recently, was there a disproportion of female memoirs of the Holocaust beyond the story Anne Frank. The purpose of this study was to research the Jewish women’s experience in the ghettos, the concentration camps, and the partisans to add to a broader understanding of the Holocaust and its female victims. The hostile environment for Jewish males after Hitler’s rise to power led to a complete role reversal for Jewish men and women. Jewish …

Who's Laughing Now? From Lovable Lucy To Top-Of-The-Rock Tina: How Women In Comedy Changed From 1950-2014, Caroline Hershey

Honors Theses

This thesis discusses the evolutionary progression of women in comedy from the 1950s to the present day. By looking at the stand-out female comedians and entertainers from each generation, the change from Lucille Ball in I Love Lucy to Carol Burnett as host of The Carol Burnett Show, to Tina Fey and the multitalented new group of women in comedy. By examining the cultural and political climate of the time and how it influenced the unique style of comedy associated with each individual, a clear progression emerges. I would like to present my chapter on Tina Fey to highlight how …

The Ideological Reconstruction Of Southern Elite White Women Before During And After Reconstruction, Lindsey Halse

Honors Theses

The purpose of my research is to reevaluate and extend the commonly understood time frame of Reconstruction by scholars to include Southern women’s ideological Reconstruction as well as provide a particular perspective on women during this era, which is underdeveloped in literature. Elite, white women during the Civil War began a journey towards independence and involvement in the public sphere. This evolution occurred approximately fifteen years behind similar actions taken by Northern women; this paper attempts to explain this lag. Additionally, my research asserts that Southern women were forced in a sense to become independent during the Civil War while …

Emancipating Modern Slaves: The Challenges Of Combating The Sex Trade, Rachel Mann

Honors Theses

The trafficking and enslavement of women and children for sexual exploitation affects millions of victims in every region of the world. Sex trafficking operates as a business, where women are treated as commodities within a global market for sex. Traffickers profit from a supply of vulnerable women, international demand for sex slavery, and a viable means of transporting victims. Globalization and the expansion of free market capitalism have increased these factors, leading to a dramatic increase in sex trafficking. Globalization has also brought new dimensions to the fight against sex trafficking. Increasingly, governments and multinational corporations are collaborating with newly …

Leadership Is Passion: Understanding The Changing Experiences Of Women Student Leaders At A Co-Educational Liberal Arts Institution, Aleena Paul

Honors Theses

The traditional definition of leadership emphasizes the actions of individual leaders with culturally-ascribed masculine personality traits and behaviors who control all aspects of an organization. A new post-industrial paradigm, in contrast, defines leadership as interpersonal relationships. This evolving paradigm, with its emphasis on culturally-attributed feminine traits such as collaboration and participation, has allowed for a broader conceptualization of leadership that brings forth discussions on women leaders and their experiences. According to current research, while there is increasing involvement and empowerment of women leaders, their experiences continue to be hindered by gender stereotypes. This study attempts to explore the experiences of …

Féminisme Français : Fait, Fiction, Jennifer Granina

Honors Theses

What gives power to an idea? What makes it real in the hearts and minds of people who believe in it? What creates the desire to struggle for this idea, an ethereal and elusive conception? These are the questions that must be considered by philosophers, by those who believe enough in an idea to make it a reality. It was the mission of feminists in France since the beginning of the 19th century. For them, feminism was not a movement that had a beginning and an end, it was a force, present in the world since the creation of the …

Une Approche Lourde Ou Légère? : Les Habitudes Alimentaires Malsaines Et La Proposition Du Valérie Boyer Contre Le Niveau Maigre, Eva M. Pogosian

Honors Theses

It's no secret that in today's society, one of the main concerns among women is the way they look. Although society tells us from a young age that "inside that counts", women, and now even young girls as five have a concern about their appearance. Society tells us to be happy with who we are and to be true to ourselves, but in fact we want to please the world. Where does this worry come from? And maybe this question is more important. Why is we consider thinness as the ideal of beauty. It was only 60 years ago that …

Fashion And Cosmetic Advertising In Three Magazines In The 1950s: How Advertising Shaped Societal Expectations Of Beauty, Lindsey B. Sloan

Honors Theses

Since its creation, print advertising has affected how women perceive beauty and has shaped the trend of consumer purchasing, as well as the social status of women. This thesis analyzes three women’s magazines—Life, Ladies’ Home Journal and Ebony and evaluates how the advertising of fashion and cosmetics portrayed ideals of beauty in the 1950s and how the advertisements may have shaped or reflected class differences and racial perceptions in mid 19th century America. In order to accomplish this analysis and to evaluate how fashion and cosmetic advertising may have differed based on targeted demographic, advertisements from the months April and …