Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Unveiling The Unseen: A Feminist Exploration Of Consciousness And Empowerment Among Homeless Women Through Consciousness-Raising, Scarlett Liu

CMC Senior Theses

Homeless women have been forgotten subject matter in the study and practice of feminist consciousness and consciousness-raising efforts. However, they grapple with the compounded challenges of both gender and homelessness within an oppressive societal structure. This thesis therefore seeks to conceptualize the consciousness of women, and particularly homeless women, in a feminist lens. Specifically, this thesis explores the Othering of women’s consciousness through the intellectual lineage of Simone de Beauvoir and Hegel, and emphasizes the role of material circumstances in shaping consciousness-raising efforts. Then, this thesis examines two unique struggles faced by homeless women – survival sex and homeless motherhood. …

A Theory Of (In)Justice: The Failure Of Tort Law To Secure Equal Respect For Women And A Feminist Contractarian Framework For Reform, Eva Augst

CMC Senior Theses

Traditional approaches to philosophical theories of tort law have systematically undermined the individual worth and security interests of women. However, torts also provide a particularly powerful avenue for reform, in that they embody the public power of private law and offer individuals the opportunity to seek recourse and accountability for wrongs. In this paper, I offer a framework for such reformist approaches to tort philosophy, predominantly inspired by Jean Hampton’s “Feminist Contractarianism,” which requires that women be recognized as individuals with intrinsic worth who are deserving of respect. To accomplish this, I first note the particular relevance of social contract …

Using An Intersectional Historical Materialist Perspective To Understand And Propose A Solution To Caste And Gender Discrimination In India, Amanda Goldman

CMC Senior Theses

Caste and gender oppression are two systems of domination that continue to affect the lives of lower-caste women living in India. Both the caste system and the patriarchy were created to rationalize a hierarchical division of labor in which lower-caste women are subordinated. The best way to understand the reasoning behind these systems of oppression, as well as the impact of them, is through an intersectional historical materialist perspective. This perspective can be utilized when analyzing the evolution of caste and women’s rights in India, specifically focusing on the changes brought on by British Imperialism. This analysis reveals that decisions …

Doris Stevens: A "Fascist" Feminist? Stevens, The Inter-American Commission Of Women, And The Unión Argentina De Mujeres, 1936-1939, Jeannette Hunker

Scripps Senior Theses

Doris Stevens (1888-1963) was a U.S. feminist, suffragist, and member of the National Women’s Party. After the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1920, Stevens, among other U.S. feminists, involved herself in Latin American politics, working to pass women’s suffrage legislation in multiple countries. Stevens was chair of the Inter-American Commission of Women (IACW) from 1928 to 1939. Eventually, a number of Latin American feminists, as well as members of the Roosevelt administration, sought to remove her from the IACW when her political tendencies posed a threat to both. Accused of being a “fascist,” Stevens was voted …

Mary Eleanor Spear's Importance To The History Of Statistical Visualization, Melanie Williams

CMC Senior Theses

This paper will demonstrate why Mary Eleanor Spear (1897-1986) is an important figure in the history of statistical visualization. She lead an impressive career working in the federal government as a data analyst before "data analyst" became a thing. She wrote and illustrated two comprehensive textbooks which furthered the art of statistical visualization. Her textbooks cover extensive graphing knowledge still valuable to statisticians and viewers today. Most notable of her works is her development of the box plot. In addition to Spear's career and contributions, this paper will also address the lack of female representation in science, technology, engineering, and …

Mothers Behind Cameras: Mother-Artist, Mother-Child Dyads In Sally Mann’S Immediate Family And Elinor Carucci’S Mother, Hayley A. Pierpont

Scripps Senior Theses

Women, particularly mothers, are often made invisible within narratives of their own family and domestic spaces, despite their role as creators and maintainers of those spaces. This perpetuation of invisibility is threaded throughout the history of artistic practices, (photography especially). Contemporary mother-artists Sally Mann and Elinor Carucci confront and unapologetically reflect their singular experience(s) with motherhood through their photography, which addresses the symbiotic dyads of mother-child and mother-artist. This thesis focuses on an analysis of four images: Mann’s The Wet Bed and Lee’s Dirty Hands, and Carucci’s Trying to Protect Emanuelle and I Will Protect You. In both …

Exploring Gender Through Art In Myanmar, Allison E. Joseph

EnviroLab Asia

No abstract provided.

Camino A La Interseccionalidad: Una Aproximación Al Desarrollo De Ideas Feministas En La España Contemporánea, Kierra Mitchell

Scripps Senior Theses

Esta tesis utiliza la interseccionalidad como lente para hacer un análisis de los textos culturales y activistas para explicar cómo se manifiestan las ideas feministas en estos dos períodos cruciales de avance del feminismo en España: el primer cuarto del siglo veinte y las primeras décadas del siglo veintiuno. La interseccionalidad sirve como una prisma de análisis que permite entender los sistemas hegemónicos de poder. Esta tesis analiza ejemplos de textos y demandas que ilustran las preocupaciones y aparatos ideológicos que sustentan diferentes aproximaciones al feminismo en estas dos épocas. Un interés específico, en especial en la segunda parte, es …

Uncovering Alice Bag: An Alternative Punk History, Emily Macune

Scripps Senior Theses

The intention of this thesis is to provide an alternative counter-narrative to the mainstream histories of punk that center white men. By focusing on the contributions of fem queer and POC punks, I aim to legitimize punk music as a form of resistance against systems of oppression that are oppositional to the commodified forms of mainstream punk. Using Alice Bag, as my central case study as a fem queer punk that is often left out of punk historical narratives, I contextualize her work through feminist, queer, and media studies lenses to bridge the gap between academia and forgotten personal experience.

A Feminist Epistemological Framework: Preventing Knowledge Distortions In Scientific Inquiry, Karina Bucciarelli

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores how scientific knowledge claims can become distorted due to socially constructed conceptions of gender. Further, it delves into the key components of an epistemological framework that will minimize these distortions.

To set up the analysis, I first explore how ‘traditional’ scientific explanations of human fertilization map stereotypes of the passive female and the active male onto the scientific participation of the egg and the sperm in human reproduction, thus rendering this knowledge claim problematic. We then turn to arguments presented by prominent feminist epistemologists. I argue that in order to produce knowledge claims free of distortions due …

Evolution Of The Final Girl: Exploring Feminism And Femininity In Halloween (1978-2018), Maya Zhou, Maya Zhou

Scripps Senior Theses

Decades of horror film research and theorizations have shown us that there is a reason why this particular genre has been an important part of film history from the beginning: namely, the idea that horror both reflects and shapes our historically and culturally specific anxieties.

By examining the Final Girl trope in Halloween (the 1978 original versus 2018 version), this paper traces the evolution of female protagonists and whether a more modern film accurately reflects the increasing role of feminism in society, or sticks to traditional conventions of misogyny and male-dominated visual pleasure. Placing the newer film in the context …

[There Is So Much Blood In Us], Lindsey C. Whitlock

Scripps Senior Theses

[There is So Much Blood in Us] is an ambiguously alternate universe in which absolutely nothing is true but almost everything could be. In these poems, tension between the absurd and the possible synthesize into one linguistically and psychologically driving force – discomfort. More than anything, I am writing about discomfort.

America’s media representations of women are almost always defined by a singular, and often sexualized experience. Yet, when I talk to the many wonderful / brilliant / badass / etc. women in my life, most of our truly defining experiences are impressively unsexy. Our womanity, if you will, orbits …

Gynecologists, Bureaucrats, And Stoners: The Rise Of Women In Television Comedies And Critiquing The Postfeminist Perspective, Victoria Montecillo

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis looks to explore the rise of women in television comedy and the accompanying implications of this phenomenon. Using a historical framework, this thesis looks at the progression of representations of women in television comedies beginning in the 1950s up to today. Considering factors such as the rise of social media, as well as online television streaming services such as Hulu and Netflix as more legitimate avenues to distribute content, this thesis traces women’s place within television comedy, and argues that shows such as Parks and Recreation, The Mindy Project, and Broad City serve as examples of the progress …

The Ceramic Body: Concepts Of Violence, Nature, And Gender, Chrysanna R. Daley

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis is an exploration of the connection between women and nature, specifically the violence that has been inflicted upon them both and how it is interrelated. I positioned my research within the field of Ecofeminism, which critiques the language we (as a Western culture) use to associate women with nature and vice-versa. Traditionally, women are more often associated with nature than men are, and the environment is personified as “Mother Nature”. I argue that uncritically gendering nature as “female” is problematic because of the associations we typically make between the two, and the expectations and values we assign to …

Sari Not Sorry: A Discussion On Whether Or Not Gulabi Gang's Feminist Vigilantism Is Necessary In A Welfare State, Namrata Mohan

Scripps Senior Theses

The Gulabi Gang is a feminist vigilante based in northern India. They are known as a group that uses physical violence to fight systems of oppressive power. The idea of a Gulabi Gang vigilante, interacting with the people and the state will be discussed, while incorporating John Locke’s social contract theory into the argument as a way to critique vigilantism, or as a basis of critique to then argue why the Gulabi Gang’s vigilantism is necessary. After both sides of argument are weighed, possible solutions of how the Gulabi Gang can better their organization will be discussed in the concluding …

Online Feminisms: Feminist Community Building And Activism In A Digital Age, Taryn Riera

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores both what feminism looks like in a digital age, as well as how the Internet and technology inform the ways in which feminists interact, build communities, and form identities. I found that online feminist spaces are built as communities of validation and support, education and empowerment, as well as spaces of radicalization and contention. Ultimately my thesis leads toward a new understanding of feminist activism that incorporates the unique characteristics and abilities of online feminism.

Being "Like A Girl" In The Twenty-First Century: Branding And Identity Through Cultural Conversation, Jane A. Condon

Scripps Senior Theses

Branding exists at the intersection of culture and economics and is an increasingly important tool in distinguishing commodities. Over the past few years, more and more companies have started to use discourses of female empowerment, celebrating femininity, womanhood, and all things “girly” to sell their products - spiking sales, racking up millions of online views, and starting important conversations in the process. Procter & Gamble's “Like A Girl” campaign for Always creates a productive tension and way of thinking about both brand and buyer. The “Like A Girl” campaign is unique because it presents a feminist message to and about …

Pour L'Orgueil Et Contre Les Préjugés: Mémoires De George Sand Et Valérie Trierweiler, Femmes Répudiées, Vittoria Mollo

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores the themes of Pride and Prejudice in two texts written roughly two hundred years apart. The first work that is analyzed is Elle et Lui by George Sand, published in the year 1859 . The second book that is explored throughout this dissertation is Merci pour ce moment: a best seller penned in 2014 by the ex french Première Dame Valérie Trierweiler. In particular, this thesis takes a closer look at these womens' use of a biography as a means to redeem their image as perceived by the public.

#Flawless: The Intersection Of Celebrity Culture And New Media In The Modern Feminist Movement, Laurel Schwartz

Scripps Senior Theses

People have organized around gender equality in modern America for the last century. However, with the advent of new technology, people largely organize in around social movements in online spaces. This thesis explores the ways in which new media expands a popular understanding of the Feminist movement.

Hamlet #Princeofdenmark: Exploring Gender And Technology Through A Contemporary Feminist Re-Interpretation Of Hamlet, Allegra B. Breedlove

Scripps Senior Theses

Exploring the process of designing, producing, directing and starring in a multimedia feminist re-interpretation of Shakespeare's Hamlet set in a contemporary social media landscape.

“Of The Woman First Of All”: Walt Whitman And Women's Literary History, Vivian Delchamps

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis contemplates Walt Whitman's role in the lives of 19th and 20th century women writers and his significance to early American feminism. I consider the ways women inspired him to develop pro-feminist ideas about maternity, womanhood, and female liberation.

"Playthings Of A Historical Process": Prostitution In Spanish Society From The Restoration To The Civil War (1874-1939), Ann Kirkpatrick

Scripps Senior Theses

Spain underwent a series of tumultuous social and political changes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Prostitute women directly experienced these changes as fluctuations in their social and legal status within Spanish society. The years spanning from 1874 to 1931 are known as the Restoration, when the Bourbon monarchy was reinstalled under King Alfonso XII (1857-1885) after the crumbling of the First Spanish Republic (1873-1874). During this time, Spain experienced a period of growing nationalism and urbanization, and prostitution began to be interpreted as a threat to the nation in terms of public health and decency. Between 1923 …

Bringing Back Color, Bringing Back Emotion: Exploring Phenomenological Empathy In The Reclamation Of The Female Nude In Painting, Sophia R. Forman

Scripps Senior Theses

At the nexus of the seemingly disparate art-theoretical topics of color and the female nude is a critical consideration of phenomenology in both one of its most basic senses—as the first-person experience of perceived phenomena—and as a larger philosophical position which, through its abstraction of perception to subject-object relationships, implicates the painted figure. Specifically, this paper conflates the phenomenology of color with the transcendental phenomenology of Edmund Husserl and Maurice Merleau-Ponty in investigating empathy. Structured as a dialectic, it establishes the most prominent views of both color and the female nude—the nude as a symbolic figure, color as perceptual experience—before …

Rebel Girls: Feminist Punk For A New Generation, Rachel L. Bodansky

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines the Riot Grrrl bands of the 1990s, as well as Amanda Palmer today, as examples of feminist punk artists. Rather than focusing on Riot Grrrl as a unique musical episode, this thesis argues that all punk is activist in nature, and that Riot Grrrl was building on this activist tradition while challenging the misogyny implicit in punk culture. Likewise, Amanda Palmer uses similar punk strategies (such as a DIY approach to music production, and direct interaction with fans) to create political music.

"I'M A Little Pony And I Just Did Something Bad:" Feminist Pedagogy And The Organizing Ethics In The Rock 'N' Roll Camp For Girls, Caitlin Sweeney

Scripps Senior Theses

Misty McElroy had no idea when she crafted her senior undergraduate capstone project at Portland State University in 2001 that she was starting a worldwide phenomenon—the Rock ‘n’ Roll Campfor Girls. What started as a week-long summer camp for girls ages 8 to 17 to teach them how to play rock music has since blossomed into an organization with over 40 branches worldwide, serving 3000 girls every year and affecting the lives of thousands more women and girls in the surrounding communities. The Girls Rock Camp Alliance operates as the organizing body for the dozens of Rock Camps across the …

Tutti Frutti, Damaris G. Rivera

CGU MFA Theses

Mark making is equivalent with making a place one's own. Demarcation of a site is not solely a negative act. The negation of a space is pre-transcribed, presupposed. The point is to take the negative and invert it. It’s not a one-way street. In order to change the building you have to move through the building and let the building move through you. Once the building lives in the occupant the experience of the building can be altered. Total absorption of architecture and its environment can provide a means to live in a unified expressive way. It’s about the person. …

La Valorisation De La Maternité En France Contemporaine Et Ses Conséquences, Margaret P. Matlock

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis is an analysis of the effects of pronatalist policies and social pressure to have children on the role of women in society. Written in French.

Can't Be Tamed: A Feminist Analysis Of Apocrypha And Other Scripture, Catherine Alison Ballard

Scripps Senior Theses

This paper is my own unique feminist analysis of certain apocryphal texts. Though the texts I use have common themes, they are divided into what I consider the three most societally important aspects of an ancient woman’s identity: virgin, mother, and whore. The Acts of Thecla and The Acts of Xanthippe and Polyxena deal with virginity. II Maccabees, The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas, and select chapters of Augustine’s Confessions represent motherhood. Finally, the hagiographies Life of Pelagia and Life of Mary navigate through the mire of sexualities that deviate from norms.

(R)Evolution Grrrl Style Now: Disidentification And Evolution Within Riot Grrrl Feminism, Lilly Estenson

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines the evolution of feminist praxis within the riot grrrl movement, focusing on two specific riot grrrl demographics - founding riot grrrls in the early 1990s and currently active riot grrrls in southern California. This thesis argues that riot grrrl activism is still thriving but in diverse, strategically modified ways. Using José Muñoz’s concept of “disidentification,” it analyzes how contemporary riot grrrls have appropriated and adapted the original movement’s tenets to allow for greater accessibility and diversity.

"Nudge A Mexican And She Or He Will Break Out With A Story": Complicating Mexican Immigrant Masculinities Through Counternarrative Storytelling, Berenice Villela

Scripps Senior Theses

In this thesis, I explore Latino masculinities and contest their uniformity through transforming an oral history conducted with my father into a collection of short stories. Following storytelling traditions of Latino/Mexican culture, I converted an oral history interviews with my dad into a collection of short stories. From these short stories I extracted themes relating to the micro and macro manifestations of gender policing. Drawing from Judith Butler's Theory of performativity and Gloria Anzaldua's theory of Borderland identities, I rethink masculinity and offer Jose Esteban Munoz's theory of disidentification. With these theories in conversation, I analyze the themes of the …