History Commons^™

Stray Threads: Factory Women In Fiction From The Freehold Farm To The Rented Room, 1840-1875, Meghan Wadle

English Theses and Dissertations

As industrialism unmoored agrarian-based American values surrounding independence, individualism, and the gender roles attached to labor, it demanded imaginative solutions for these potentially broken ideologies in antebellum fiction. This project, in two parts, explores how factory women stood at the center of the industrializing U.S.’s cultural identity crisis. In Part One authors from Herman Melville to Harriet Jacobs imagine women laboring in the industrial marketplace as a form of deviant dependency. Here, sexualized depictions of female laborers symptomatize national anxieties about how economic change might transform political freedom by simultaneously modifying traditional forms of patriarchal control. In Part Two, Lucy …

Strange Women: The Evaluation And Comparison Of Female Characters In Akira Kurosawa's Films, Alice Jiron Jang

History

The successes of Akira Kurosawa’s films have shaped and influenced Western views on Japan after World War II. While the male characters in Kurosawa’s films have been analyzed extensively, there is a focus on the subservience of this female characters. With the growing number of independent working women in a seemingly patriarchal society, it is important to study what has caused these women to break free from their traditional roles as housewife and mother. While some of Kurosawa's female characters are designed to be powerful and independent, others are submissive and obedient. The events that occur in postwar Japan have …

Southern Veils : The Sisters Of Loretto In Early National Kentucky., Hannah O'Daniel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the experiences of Roman Catholic women who joined the Sisters of Loretto, a community of women religious in rural Washington and Nelson Counties, Kentucky, between the 1790s and 1826. It argues that the Sisters of Loretto used faith to interpret and respond to unfolding events in the early nation. The women sought to combat moral slippage and restore providential favor in the face of local Catholic institutional instability, global Protestant evangelical movements, war and economic crisis, and a tuberculosis outbreak. The Lorettines faced financial, social, and cultural pressures—including an economic depression, a culture that celebrated family formation …

Since The Time Of Eve : La Leche League And Communities Of Mothers Throughout History., Joanna Paxton Federico

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

La Leche League International (LLL) is the oldest and largest breastfeeding support group in the world. This thesis examines how, beginning in 1956, seven Catholic housewives from suburban Chicago built up the institutional knowledge to sustain a cohesive global network of breastfeeding mothers. It also explores how LLL managed this knowledge over time in response to developments in scholarship and changing social conditions. Based on a narrative analysis of LLL publications, this thesis argues that the League’s founders drew selectively from existing bodies of knowledge and from their own cultural perspectives to establish a sense of community among breastfeeding women. …

A Historical Case Study Of Title Ix In Nevada: An Excellent Investment In Our Youth, Jason Clark

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine and document the history of Title IX in the American West, specifically at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), and at Clark County School District (CCSD) in Las Vegas, Nevada. This thesis contends that since the late nineteenth-century, women have utilized sports as a method to shed discriminatory stereotypes, fight for inclusion, and promote gender equality. In addition, the progressive actions of educational administrators and community leaders regarding Title IX make both UNR and CCSD exceptional institutions for gender equality. This thesis contains six chapters including the introduction and conclusion. Chapter 1 …

Clemence Of Barking And Valdes Of Lyon: Two Contemporaneous Examples Of Innovation In The Twelfth Century, Lisa Murray

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The Twelfth Century in Western Europe was a remarkable time in history. Scholars have noted that Roman law was being revived, Aristotelian theory was being studied, Romanesque and Gothic art was being produced, scholasticism was being cultivated, and economic growth was being fostered by the rise of towns. These are just some of the developments that help give this era the well-known term “twelfth-century renaissance.” Despite the flourishing of creativity that this label suggests, there are few surviving, specific examples of innovation from this time that have been passed down to us. In AD 1175 the Benedictine nun Clemence of …

Vim Parat: Patterns Of Sexualized Violence, Victim-Blaming, And Sororophobia In Ovid, Melissa Marturano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My dissertation argues for the importance of understanding the depiction of sexualized violence and rape in the Roman poet Ovid’s extensive corpus through the modern feminist concepts of victim-blaming (blaming victims of sexual abuse for their own abuse) and sororophobia (female figures participating in misogyny). It explores sexualized violence and rape in Ovid long-form, examines the discernible patterns that emerge and the deviations from them as he depicts that violence throughout his texts, and more importantly, introduces victim-blaming and sororophobia into an analysis of these patterns. Despite the fact that previous scholars have done substantial analyses of the patterns of …

And They Entered As Ladies: When Race, Class And Black Femininity Clashed At Central High School, Misti Nicole Harper

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

“And They Entered as Ladies: When Race, Class and Black Femininity Clashed at Central High School,” explores the intersectionality of race, gender and class status as middle-class black women led the integration movement and were the focal point of white backlash during the 1957 Little Rock Central High School crisis. Six of the nine black students chosen to integrate Central High School were carefully selected girls from middle-class homes, whose mothers and female family members played active parts in keeping their daughters enrolled at Central, while Daisy Gatson Bates orchestrated the integration of the capital’s school system. Nevertheless, these women …

Changing The Message: Battered Women's Advocates And Their Fight Against Domestic Violence At The Local, State, And Federal Level, 1970s-1990s, Clara Amy Van Eck

History Theses & Dissertations

This thesis analyzes congressional hearings, reports to Congress, government statistics, acts of Congress, Supreme Court rulings, and newspaper articles to examine how, in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, battered women's advocates altered their rhetoric when dealing with local, state, and federal governments in order to change policies, laws, and to obtain funding for domestic abuse shelters. In the 1970s, battered women's advocates used anti-patriarchal language to help survivors of sexual assault and of domestic violence understand the pervasive and systemic nature of violence against women to liberate survivors from the belief that the violence was their fault. In the 1980s, …

Land Of Women: Basilicata, Emigration, And The Women Who Remained Behind, 1880-1914, Victoria Calabrese

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Between 1880 and 1914, millions of Italians emigrated to all corners of the globe in hopes of earning better wages and forging a better life for themselves and for their families. This dissertation examines the role of the women left behind in the Italian region of Basilicata when their husbands emigrated, and the political, social, economic, and legal changes they experienced in their absence. During the Liberal Period, women had few political rights, and married women were dependent on their husbands, but being left on their own put them in a unique position. I argue that the Southern Italian women …

Eighteenth Century Women And The Business Of Making Glass Music, Kate M. Hepworth

History

During the relatively short period from the mid-to-late eighteenth century when glass musical instruments were manufactured and gained popularity, several women made names for themselves in the realm of avant-garde musical performance. The lives of three female glass instrument players: Anne Ford, Marianne Davies, and Marianne Kirchgassner, show how these successful performer-entrepreneurs operated in an age of emerging feminine public identity. Their journeys reveal much about the gender dimensions of the age, the role of music in the modern era, the consumption of it, and their approach to business. The financial opportunities presented to women looking to challenge the limitations …

Diversas De Sí, Entre El Hoy Y El Ayer: Rememoria De Tres Íconos Femeninos Espirituales, La Condesa De Malibrán, Sor Juana Inés De La Cruz Y La Falsa Teresa De Jesús, Ana Gabriela Hernandez Gonzalez 5059749397

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

This dissertation traces the cultural memory of three magical/religious women of the colonial period: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, La Condesa de Malibrán and La Falsa Teresa de Jesús. It studies these icons specifically in three different discourses that construct cultural identities in Mexico: colonial discourse (XVI-XVII Centuries), the discourse of national consolidation (XIX-XX centuries) and postcolonial discourse (XX-XIX Centuries). First I describe how the narratives of the colonial period and of national consolidation employ an official lens to place magical/religious women within traditional gender roles. Then I delineate how historical novels in the 21st century employ a postcolonial …

Experiences Of Soviet Women Combatants During World War Ii, Michelle De Jesus Reyes

History Theses

World War II was arguably the most heroic event in the history of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), so much that it was known as the “Great Patriotic War.” Tens of millions of Russians were killed during the large scale conflict against their “fascist foes.” Still, the large population of the USSR were moved to action primarily by mass propaganda distributed by the Communist Party leaders. Women played a large role during the war, not just in the factories on the home front or as partisans, but as combat nurses and snipers as well. Since the losses …

Women’S Liberation, Family, And The Fight For Daycare At The University At Albany, Sheri Sarnoff

History Honors Program

On October 9 1970, the Albany Student Press, the University at Albany’s student newspaper, featured an article entitled, “Day Care A Basic Issue,” which discussed the Pierce Hall Day Care Center. The students using the center claimed that the University’s Administration contradicted their original support for the on-campus daycare center. The students exclaimed, “issue after issue has been fabricated (Space, money etc) to stall the progress on the Center.”¹ The article also featured a quote from a spokeswoman from the Women’s Liberation Front arguing that, “the Administration has continually enjoyed putting forth the facade of working with women, when …

Breaking The Cycle Of Silence : The Significance Of Anya Seton's Historical Fiction., Lindsey Marie Okoroafo (Jesnek)

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the feminist significance of Anya Seton’s historical novels, My Theodosia (1941), Katherine (1954), and The Winthrop Woman (1958). The two main goals of this project are to 1.) identify and explain the reasons why Seton’s historical novels have not received the scholarly attention they are due, and 2.) to call attention to the ways in which My Theodosia, Katherine, and The Winthrop Woman offer important feminist interventions to patriarchal social order. Ultimately, I argue that My Theodosia, Katherine, and The Winthrop Woman deserve more scholarly attention because they are significant contributions to women’s …

To Create A More Contented Family And Community Life: Home Demonstration Work In Arkansas, 1912 - 1952, Erin Turner Hogue

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Home demonstration work in Arkansas altered the farm woman’s role within the household, community, and farm economy. By raising the standard of living in rural homes, progressive reforms sought to make domestic life more comfortable and healthy for family members, as well as reduce demands for them. However, rural women used these programs to improve their living conditions while remaining effective producers on the farm. In this respect, home demonstration programs were more than a means of social control aimed at rural America; they were a resource for rural women. Analyzing how women responded and utilized the skills learned from …

Higher Education: The Impact On Bosnian Women Who Came As Refugees To The United States, Belma Sadikovic

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the impact college education has on Bosnian refugee women who resettled to the United States. The research findings help us better understand the effect higher education has on female students who came to the United States as refugees, their self-sufficiency and their overall integration into their new society. Using Kunz’s refugee theory and Bourdieu’s theory on social and cultural capital as a theoretical framework, the study explores socio-cultural factors that enable and constrain the ability of Bosnian women to navigate the facets of higher education, and how those factors affect their self-sufficiency and overall integration. The participants …

Revolutionary Every Day: A Dramatic Exploration Of Women And Their Agency In The Black Panther Party., Kristen Michelle Walker

Master of Arts in American Studies Capstones

This capstone project is centered around Black Panther women and explores what it means to be a revolutionary black woman dealing with politics surrounding gender in both private and public spaces during the late 1960’s and beyond. In addition, the project includes an original fictional play based on the experiences of Panther women around the world. In addressing the social conditions that impacted female Panther activism and agency, together the capstone project and play operate as a commentary on power, gender relations, and society in and around the Black Panther Party.

Three Women, Two Spheres, And A Contract: A Comparative Study Of Mary Astell And Mary Wollstonecraft Through The Lens Of Carole Pateman's "The Sexual Contract", Robyn Burke Dabora

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

This project examines the writings of Mary Astell (1666-1731) and Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) regarding women in light of ideas articulated by Carole Pateman (1940- ) in her book, The Sexual Contract (1988). In her work, Pateman critiques the prescriptions for the management of society suggested by classic contract theorists such as Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) and John Locke (1632-1704) and cites that their solutions focus solely on men in the public sphere of society. Pateman illuminates the condition of women in the private sphere of the home, and asserts that this realm operates by mechanisms radically different from those of the …

Women In Labor: How Birthing Practices Reflect Society's View Of Women, Catherine Hill

Honors Senior Capstone Projects

An analysis of the shift from midwifery to doctor/hospital births in the American South, from 1900 to present.

America Through Rose-Colored Glasses: How American Girl Dolls Shape American Girlhood And Identity, Kelly M. Vaughan

Senior Theses and Projects

This thesis examines the contributions that American Girl dolls make to the development of girlhood, as well as doll and toy culture. I argue that the BeForever collection of historically centered dolls both informs consumers of United States history while instructing them of what it means to be a wholesome, virtuous girl. American Girl provides timeless stories about overcoming hardship in various periods of U.S. history while utilizing common themes in children’s literature to construct an attractive narrative. These dolls and their stories contribute to consumers’ understanding of girlhood, their sense of self, and broad comprehension of history. Recent developments …

"Mothers Like Us Think Differently": Mothers' Negotiations Of Virginity In Contemporary Turkey, Asli Aygunes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Even though virginity in Turkey is commonly defined, thus gendered, as losing the hymen, in Turkish society, discourses of virginity connect to broader discussions, such as modernity, morality, social honor/shame, religion, family values, and even medicine (vaginismus and artificial hymen surgery). Previous scholarship on women’s rights in Turkey outlines how historical approaches by Kemalist secularism were not enough to diminish oppressive social norms such as virginity and how the current conservative government and elements of traditional Turkish society perpetuate virginity as an important virtue for unmarried women. This study adds seven Turkish mothers’ interpretations of what I am calling the …

Creating A Female Athlete: The Power Of Societal Reimaging And Advertising In The All American Girls Professional Baseball League, Kaitlyn M. Haines

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The All American Girls Professional Baseball League introduced an acceptable form of female sport to the United States during World War II. The All American Girls Professional Baseball League’s feminine image and high standards of the league provided a new quality team sport that the ever popular softball diamonds of industrial recreation had failed to reach. One of the reasons for their success was the attention to detail in the visual representation of the baseball league. Appearing in a time of heightened advertising and branding, a visual representation of the League was created to fit within the societal norms of …

Sentimentality Has Its Place In Human Rights Activism: Nadia Murad Basee Taha’S Testimony And The Yazidi Story, Miranda Rose Shulman

Senior Projects Spring 2017

This project tells the story of Nadia Murad and the Yazidi genocide of 2014 through analysis of her own testimony and considers the success and the intricacies of her approach to aiding the Yazidis who suffer to this day. It discusses the power of using sentimentality and emotion in human rights activism.

Naturalized Women And Womanized Earth: Connecting The Journeys Of Womanhood And The Earth, From The Early Modern Era To The Industrial Revolution, Maggie Rose Berke

Senior Projects Spring 2017

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

American Culture Of Servitude: The Problem Of Domestic Service In Antebellum Literature And Culture, Andrea Holliger

Theses and Dissertations--English

My dissertation argues that domestic service alters a culture’s relationship to the laboring body. I theorize this relationship via popular literary and cultural antebellum texts to explore the effects of servitude as a trope. Methodologically, each chapter reads a literary text in context with social and legal paradigms to 1) demonstrate that servitude undergirds myriad articulations of antebellum power and difference; 2) show how servitude inflects the construction of these paradigms; and 3) trace Americans’ changing relationship to the concept of servitude from the Early Republic through the Civil War.

I begin with James Fenimore Cooper’s The Pioneers (1823), exploring …

Narrative Pleasures And Feminist Politics: Popular Women’S Historical Fiction, 1990-2015, Victoria Kennedy

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation contributes to a developing body of work on women’s historical fiction and its significance to feminist discourse. Building from Diana Wallace’s 2005 study The Woman’s Historical Novel: British Women Writers, 1900-2000, I offer a modified definition of “the woman’s historical novel” and a transatlantic consideration of several of the most popular titles in the contemporary period, including The Other Boleyn Girl (2001), Outlander (1991), A Great and Terrible Beauty (2003), and Scarlett (1991). Several studies have followed Wallace’s, notably Ann Heilmann and Mark Llewellyn’s Metafiction and Metahistory in Contemporary Women’s Writing (2007) and Katherine Cooper and Emma …

The Parton Paradox: A History Of Race And Gender In The Career Of Dolly Parton, Lindsey L. Hammers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With a career that has spanned over five decades, country music artist Dolly Parton has continually redefined her image and her music to remain relevant. By incorporating the musical and lyrical stylings of disco and other popular music genres into her songs, Parton moved beyond music’s color line to increase her popularity as an artist. This thesis shows how Parton established a distinct career that catered to different audiences as she traversed the musical color line and repackaged what feminism looked like to country music fans during the Women’s Movement of the 1960s. Placing Parton’s actions in conversation with music’s …