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Full-Text Articles in American Studies
When Predator Becomes Prey: The Gendered Jargon Of Popular Culture, Melissa R. Ames
When Predator Becomes Prey: The Gendered Jargon Of Popular Culture, Melissa R. Ames
Melissa A. Ames
Throughout the first decade of the twenty-first century the vernacular of popular culture has been bombarded by sexualized terminology. Although these terms are often formed with humorous intent, their staying power and use as cultural descriptive categories is both intriguing and disturbing. Also troubling is the fact that the majority of these new terms, such as puma (a thirty-something female “dating” a younger male), cougar (a forty-plus female “dating” a younger male), and MILF (“mother I’d like to fuck”), are restricted to the female gender alone. This article analyzes the etymology of these terms, their use in popular culture (ranging …
There’S No Crying In Baseball: Feminization, Sport, And Spectacle In The All American Girls’ Professional Baseball League, Dan Murphy
American Studies Senior Theses
My thesis focuses on the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). Specifically, I explore aspects of femininity within the league and why Phillip Wrigley, the league’s first owner, and other league owners chose to accentuate femininity. In my research, I focus on certain features of the league, such as the league’s beauty school, player’s uniforms, sexuality, and race. I believe these and other factors played a role in how the league decided to market itself to Americans. Additionally I focus on how different members of the media wrote about the league. In writing about the AAGPBL, journalists from local …
When Predator Becomes Prey: The Gendered Jargon Of Popular Culture, Melissa R. Ames
When Predator Becomes Prey: The Gendered Jargon Of Popular Culture, Melissa R. Ames
Faculty Research & Creative Activity
Throughout the first decade of the twenty-first century the vernacular of popular culture has been bombarded by sexualized terminology. Although these terms are often formed with humorous intent, their staying power and use as cultural descriptive categories is both intriguing and disturbing. Also troubling is the fact that the majority of these new terms, such as puma (a thirty-something female “dating” a younger male), cougar (a forty-plus female “dating” a younger male), and MILF (“mother I’d like to fuck”), are restricted to the female gender alone. This article analyzes the etymology of these terms, their use in popular culture (ranging …