Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

This Female Fights Back: Carol Danvers, Kamala Khan, And Ambivalence Towards Feminism In Ms. Marvel Comics, Noelle Donnelly

Gender & Queer Studies Research Papers

This thesis examines the ambivalent stance taken by 1970s Ms. Marvel comics towards feminism, as well as the active push back against ambivalence taken by the 2014 run with the same title.

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project Annual Report, 2015, Michael S. Nassaney

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

This year the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project (hereafter the “Project”) established new standards in research, teaching, and public outreach in the study of the fur trade and colonialism in southwest Michigan. The Project continues to collaborate in the generation and dissemination of knowledge under the auspices of the Fort St. Joseph Archaeology Advisory Committee (FSJAAC), Western Michigan University (WMU) faculty and students, interested stakeholders, supporters, members, and community volunteers. Highlights of 2015 include:

• Fort St. Joseph was featured in the exhibit “Evidence Found” at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum in 2015, enjoyed by some 60,000 visitors.
• The Register of Professional …

Suffering Sisters, Silent Majorities, And Societal Oppression: Comparing The Anti-War Themes And Strategies Of Kurt Vonnegut’S Slaughterhouse-Five And Katherine Anne Porter’S “Pale Horse, Pale Rider”, Melissa N. Miller

Senior Honors Theses

Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five and Katherine Anne Porter’s “Pale Horse, Pale Rider” are quite dissimilar in style, but these two works convey overall anti-war themes. The works were written in different eras, portray different wars, and are strongly influenced by the lives of the authors themselves; however, these unique factors work together in both works to convey similar messages regarding war’s oppressive nature and corruption of mankind. Vonnegut and Porter employ various methods to communicate these messages, some unique to the respective works and some shared by the two. The characters of Montana Wildhack and Miranda Gay—two oppressed female characters imprisoned …

Ready, Aim, Feminism: When Women Went Off To War, Anika N. Jensen

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

I like to imagine that if Sarah Emma Edmonds were my contemporary she would often sport a t-shirt saying, "This is what a feminist looks like."

Edmonds was a patriot, a feminist, and, along with an estimated 400 other women, a soldier in the American Civil War. Fed up with her father’s abuse and appalled at the prospect of an arranged marriage Edmonds left her New Brunswick home at the age of fifteen and soon adopted a male identity to become a successful worker. When the war erupted, she was compelled by a sense of patriotism and adventure to join …

A Woman In Soldier’S Dress: Then And Now, Elizabeth A. Smith

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

This post is the second in a three-part series on women soldiers in the Civil War and during modern reenactments. Also check out the introduction of this series.

I was thirteen years old when I joined the 5^th Kentucky Orphan Brigade, a Confederate reenactment group based out of south-central Kentucky. At fourteen, I “saw the elephant”—a Civil War term for seeing battle—for the first time as a soldier. It was the most terrifying thing I’ve ever done, but seven years later I credit that decision to go through with it as bringing me to where I am now, …

A Woman In Soldier’S Dress: Taking The Field, Elizabeth A. Smith

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

The year was 1989. The place, a Civil War reenactment at Antietam National Battlefield. Lauren Cook (then Burgess) had been participating in reenactments for two years. Her portrayal of a fifer required her to wear a soldier’s uniform rather than in a civilian woman’s dress. She did her best to portray a soldier, disguising her sex so she could pass the “fifteen yard” rule, which meant that at fifteen yards she could not be identified as a woman. The call of nature proved to be her undoing, however, when an NPS official “caught” her coming out of the women’s restroom. …

Presentation Notes, Grady Johnson

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

Presentation notes about Edna Saffy by Grady Johnson delivered at the UNF Library Dean's Council Gratitude Reception, November 2015.

Marriage (In)Equality And The Historical Legacies Of Feminism, Serena Mayeri

All Faculty Scholarship

In this essay, I measure the majority’s opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges against two legacies of second-wave feminist legal advocacy: the largely successful campaign to make civil marriage formally gender-neutral; and the lesser-known struggle against laws and practices that penalized women who lived their lives outside of marriage. Obergefell obliquely acknowledges marriage equality’s debt to the first legacy without explicitly adopting sex equality arguments against same-sex marriage bans. The legacy of feminist campaigns for nonmarital equality, by contrast, is absent from Obergefell’s reasoning and belied by rhetoric that both glorifies marriage and implicitly disparages nonmarriage. Even so, the history …

Finally Speaking Up: Sexual Assault In The Civil War Era, Anika N. Jensen

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Trigger warning: This article contains detail concerning rape and sexual assault.

On March 12, 1864, in the midst of a bloody war which had long overflowed its thimble, Margaret Brooks was returning from her home near Memphis, Tennessee when her wagon broke down in Nonconnah Creek. Not long after her driver left to find help, three rambunctious New Jersey cavalrymen, all white, approached Brooks, demanding her money. She was then raped multiple times at gunpoint [excerpt].

Goddesses Versus Gynecologists: An Analysis Of The History Of Women’S Healthcare, Marion A. Mckenzie

Student Publications

Starting from the downfall of Goddess cultures in Europe, women's health care has been negatively impacted for generations. The rise of the white, male Indo-European "dominator model" along with the witch craze, caused the end of widespread wise women traditions and pharmacopeia methods. After women's traditional voice was silenced, medical colleges were established to pronounce new, "professional" knowledge. Only those who attended these universities were allowed to legally practice medicine; however, during this time, medical research and treatments for women primarily included mutilation and painful, nonsensical regimens. The horrifying state of women's healthcare has since improved, but was originally a …

Marriage And Gender: A History Through Letters, Victoria Kern

Senior Honors Projects

Research on the evolution of marriage can be found quite easily, but the opportunity to see into the lives of married couples from the past is rare. Through the analysis of letters between my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, I provide a glimpse of what being married has meant throughout the 20^th Century for heterosexual couples. Societal ideas about what makes a marriage ideal have changed over time, but they have always been closely linked with gender expectations (Berk, 2013), so a feminist approach to the analysis of the evolution of marriage is used with my family’s letters as a …

The Woman Composer: Culture And Social Ideologies Behind Her Success In Music Composition, Julia K. Brummel

Music and Worship Student Presentations

Music is an art that has been enjoyed since almost the beginning of time. This art has carried many traditions and ideologies with it that are still prevalent today. One such idea that began early on and is still an attitude that must be fought in today’s musical culture, is that women are unable to be quality composers. For as long as music has been composed, men have dominated in writing and performing their own works. The lack of women composers throughout history is a subject that has interested many music historians. There are reasons behind this issue and many …

3rd Place Contest Entry: "Make It A Woman's World": The 1911 California Woman's Suffrage Campaign, Sarah E. Smith

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Sarah Smith's submission for the 2014-2015 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won third place. She wrote about the internal politics of the 1911 California woman suffrage campaign, looking particularly at how suffragists negotiated gender roles and expectations in their attempt to win the right to vote.

Stoning In Iran: A Sexist And Overlooked Practice, Megan R. Haugh

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

This paper seeks to dissect and expose the ancient practice of stoning in Iran, and to analyze the injustices that are built into this punishment.

Muslim Women Political Leaders And Electoral Participation In Muslim-Majority Countries, Abby M. Rolland

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

This paper focuses on Muslim women political leaders and their agency in the modern world. While some Muslim women have a difficult time participating politically, others actively act in policy and government. Culture, identity, location, and political parties are some of the factors leading to different levels of participation from Muslim women in various countries.

Special Purpose Structures, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 3. Special Purpose Structures: Places of Rituals and Daily Practice

Domestic Structures - 1, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 5. Eighteenth Century Domestic Architecture in the St. Joseph River Valley

Architectural Hardware, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 6. Eighteenth Century Architectural Hardware

Domestic Structures - 2, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 5. Eighteenth Century Domestic Architecture in the St. Joseph River Valley

Military Fortifications, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 4. Fortifications and Military Buildings in New France

Structures Introductory Panel, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project, Michael S. Nassaney

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 1. Seeking Shelter from the Storm; Architecture in Eighteenth Century New France

Beyond Rodin: Revisiting The Legacy Of Camille Claudel, Shannon R. Callahan

Student Publications

French sculptress Camille Claudel has gained recognition in the past 30 years due to a focus on her tragic life rather than her artistic talent. Despite critical acclaim and respect amongst her peers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, her affair with Auguste Rodin and her struggles with mental illness have cast a dark, dramatic shadow over modern interpretations of Claudel’s oeuvre. Considering how difficult it was for a woman to be working as an artist at this time, Claudel’s sculptures should not be outweighed by her personal life. In order to challenge the reader not to accept …

Storage Structures, Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Panel 2. Military and Commercial Storage Buildings

Peering Into The Jezebel Archetype In African American Culture And Emancipating Her From Hyper-Sexuality: Within And Beyond James Baldwin’S 'Go Tell It On The Mountain' And Alice Walker’S 'The Color Purple', Zakiya A. Brown

Student Publications

Literary authors and performing artists are redefining the image of the Jezebel archetype from a negative stereotype to an empowering persona. The reformation of the Jezebel’s identity and reputation, from a manipulating stereotype to an uplifting individual may not be a common occurrence, but the Jezebel archetype as a positive figure has earned a dignified position in literature and in reality. Jezebel archetypes wear their sexuality proudly. Her sultriness may be the first aspect of her identity that readers see, but readers must be cautious not to overlook her merit and moral standards as a character that has the potential …

From England's Bridewell To America's Brides: Imprisoned Women, Shakespeare's Measure For Measure, And Empire, Alicia Meyer

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis examines the experience of largely single women in London’s house of correction, Bridewell Prison, and argues that Bridewell’s prisoners, and the nature of their crimes, reveal the state’s desire for dependent, sexually controlled, yet ultimately productive women. Scholars have largely neglected the place of early modern women’s imprisonment despite its pervasive presence in the everyday lives of common English women. By examining the historical and cultural implications of early modern women and prison, this thesis contends that women’s prisons were more than simply establishments of punishment and reform. A closer examination of Bridewell’s philosophy and practices shows how …

Child Marriage: Addressing The Challenges And Obstacles In The Post-2015 Agenda, Valeria Pelayo

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This study explores the progress of child marriage eradication over the last forty years in order to identify the weak points of implementation as well as how these are being incorporated in the post-2015 agenda. An assessment of current rates by geographic region and several other demographic factors is included along with future projections for these affected areas. The shortcomings identified include a lack of program evaluation, negligence towards married children, a shortage of data on sub-national legislation efficacy, and minimal attention paid to child marriage in the context of slavery and human trafficking. The scope of the problem is …

Ua68/18/1 Potter College Of Arts & Letters Gender & Women's Studies Events, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Events sponsored by Gender & Women's Studies.

Ua68/18/2 Potter College Of Arts & Letters Gender & Women's Studies Awards, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Awards and certificates presented to the Women's Studies & Support Program.

Ua68/18/3 Potter College Of Arts & Letters Gender & Women's Studies Administration, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the administration of Gender & Women's Studies.

Ua12/2/62 Delta Sigma Theta, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about Delta Sigma Theta sorority.