Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Disproportion Of Women In General Surgery And Obstetrics-Gynecology Professions, Nidhi H. Patel

Undergraduate Research Posters

An increasingly number of women have been enrolling in U.S. medical schools recently and the field of obstetrics-gynecology has become predominantly female, but the profession of general surgery still remains largely unequal between the two genders. There is an observable pattern of gender inequality in both of these specialties, which is a result of several different factors which affect all women regardless of their profession. I studied how the stark difference in the percentages of female surgeons versus the percentages of female obstetricians-gynecologists compared to men has been created due to the prescribed gender roles of women in society. I …

Queer-Baiting On The Bbc’S Sherlock: Addressing The Invalidation Of Queer Experience Through Online Fan Fiction Communities, Cassidy Sheehan

Undergraduate Research Posters

Fans of a particular media source often write fan fiction to build on, deviate from, and transform original source material. The BBC’s Sherlock is not exempt from this common practice; in fact, the homoerotic subtext which persistently endures within the show lends itself to the production of slash fan fiction. Many perceive this subtext as a method of queer-baiting, or an ultimately harmful tactic used by writers and producers to lure in queer viewers. In this paper, dialogue and scenes from the show itself are compared to excerpts from works of fan fiction in order to explore reactions to queer-baiting …

Women Surrealist Photographers And Their Response To The Objectification Of Women In Male Surrealist Art, Lois X. Nguyen

Undergraduate Research Posters

Objectification of women in Male Surrealist art depicted the male gaze in its darkest form, through the ideas of the uncanny, fetish, and convulsive beauty. Women were treated as objects throughout Surrealist photography and painting instead of as human subjects. Their femininity and beauty were valued to the extent of held belief that a woman’s destiny is to be beautiful and be present for the male gaze. Women Surrealists have gained notoriety in the last sixty years for their presence in the Surrealist movement and for their diligence in providing the female perspective in opposition to the male perspective.

This …

Progression Of The Representation Of Female Protagonists In The Sci-Fi/Fantasy Genres, Dakota S. Becker

Undergraduate Research Posters

Broadcast television has been plagued by the misrepresentation and absence of progressive female protagonists. Contemporary television programs have begun to address issues of diversity and empowerment, but it is questionable whether substantial strides in the representation of women have truly been made. The science fiction and fantasy genres in particular are infamous for perpetuating rampant sexism and the objectification of female characters. I analyze aspects of the television shows Orphan Black and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, two broadcast television series which aired over ten years apart, to broadly evaluate whether the science fiction and fantasy genres have progressed or …

Queer Mysticism In The High Middle Ages: Pain, Love, Earth, And The Female Body In The Illustrations Of Hildegard Of Bingen’S Scivias, Becky Bushnell

Undergraduate Research Posters

Many view Hildegard of Bingen as one of the most important female theologians of the 12th century, and her writing and sphere of influence is remarkable considering her gender. Many scholars, like Barbara Newman, Caroline Walker Bynum, and Carolyn Worman Sur, agree that Hildegard’s portrayals of God in Scivias are distinctly feminine. Scholars like Karma Lochrie, Sheryl Chen, and Flora Lewis have written on Christ’s wound as a metaphor for the womb or vulva. Yet what scholars don’t seem to focus on, as Lochrie writes in “Mystical Acts, Queer Tendencies,” is the ways that the work of many female mystics …