Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Daughters Of The Sun: "The Birth" (An Excerpt), Megan Lynn

Scholarly and Creative Works Conference (2015 - 2021)

“You have never heard of me before. You have never heard of me, but my name has come out of your mouth thousands of times.”

So begins my novel, Daughters of the Sun, the story of Jesus’s twin sister, Alleluia. Using the narrative framework seen in Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, Alleluia tells her story over one night—Saturday into Sunday morning—in an appropriated apartment facing a church. She weaves into her story another tale of women who have lived in shadows cast by the men around them, women whom history chose to vilify—Lilith, Adam’s first wife who was written out of …

The Colonial Roots Of The Racial Fetishization Of Black Women, Caren M. Holmes

Black & Gold

In my research, I examined the history of sexual debasement and abuse of black women throughout American history and its influence of modern racial fetishization. In my paper, I explore the influence of European colonial thought on these modern realities. I argue that the conquest and feminization of the New World led to the dehumanization and conquest of African women who were perceived by colonialists to be byproducts of manifest destiny. My research reflects how the sexual debasement experienced by black women throughout American history has led to the racial fetishization prevalent today. I also consider how this history of …

The Life Of The Factory? Or The Life Of The Farm? That Is The Question., Adam C. Mcelwain, Bethany Lutwin

Migration in Global Context Symposium

Abstract: The focus of this lesson on Global Migration is the emotion behind young women’s decision to leave for the city and work in the factory, or stay in their hometown. Both have an opportunity cost for a life that may be better. The essential question is “Is it better to be a factory girl who has emigrated to the city or a country girl living and working on a farm?” Students will examine the motivation behind leaving the country for a factory job in the city or staying behind and working in a rural setting like a farm. They …

Family Affairs Newsletter 2016-04-15, Zack Paakkonen

Family Affairs newsletter (2004-2016)

FAMILY AFFAIRS was a free, twice-a-month, social activities newsletter for the GLBTQI (gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans/queer/intersex) community, sent out around the 1st and 15th of each month. It covered the State of Maine only. The list was begun and maintained for many years by Jean Vermette in Bangor, and later operated by Zack Paakkonen of Portland. Over the years it evolved from a social activities newsletter into a business directory, classified ad service, and community bulletin board.

Front Matter, Medieval Feminist Forum, V.51 No.2 2016

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Beyond Women And Power: Looking Backward And Moving Forward, Kathy M. Krause

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Powerful Women And Misogynistic Subplots: Some Comments On The Necessity Of Checking The Primary Sources, Tracy Adams

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

Many women formerly regarded as harridans, vixens, or worse by historians throughout the ages have been rehabilitated in recent years. It is therefore discouraging to find old narratives of female promiscuity, intriguing, incompetence, frivolity, cupidity, obesity) continuing to circulate, in the form of what we might think of as female "subplots" in larger histories. When the woman in question is not the star of the study she is often subject to outdated stereotypes gleaned from old studies. This essay, focusing on a number of very recent subplots that recycle verifiably incorrect assumptions about Isabeau of Bavaria (1371-1435), queen of mad …

Mistrusting The Historiography Of Royal Mothers: Louis Of Savoy And Catherine De Medici, Kathleen Wellman

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

Louise of Savoy, mother of Francis I, and Catherine de Medici, mother of the last three reigning Valois kings—Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III—were two sixteenth-century women whose maternity gave them access to power and provided the foundation for their claims to exercise it legitimately. While their contemporaries either accepted or contested those claims, some nineteenth-century critics vehemently rejected female rule, particularly by mothers. Modern scholars have left those nineteenth-century repudiations largely unquestioned.

What Do We Mean By "Women And Power"?, Marie A. Kelleher

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

This essay considers the question of how we define “power” in order to best include women and gender. Queenship/lordship studies have been at the forefront of women-and-power discussions, and have advanced that discussion by moving away from the “exceptional woman” biographies to focus on the patterns of power that these women embodied. But if we extend our definition of power beyond the realm of public authority to a more general category of acts that can shape the destinies of others, we are confronted with a much broader field of action that might be considered “women’s power” — a field that …

Archives From Houses Of Cistercian Nuns And Their Evidence For Powerful Thirteenth-Century Secular Women, Constance H. Berman

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

This essay examines documents from abbeys of Cistercian nuns in northern France. The documents reveal the presence of numerous women of power and authority as founders and patrons of those women's houses. Where some women were acting as widows or regents, others had access to sufficient funds for acts of patronage and foundation because they were heiresses. Here those named Matilda from the ecclesiastical province of Sens in northern France are underlined, showing the diversity of female wealth and power.

Back Matter, Medieval Feminist Forum, V.51 No.2 2016

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Queenship Studies Comes Of Age, Lois L. Huneycutt

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Mistresses And Merveilleuses: The Historiographical Record On Female Political Players Of The Seventeenth And Eighteenth Centuries, Christine Adams

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

Modern historians have found it difficult to disrupt the narrative inherited from past scholars, who argued that even prominent women lacked any genuine political role in the early modern world. However, in many ways, the personal influence that women exercised in court and salon society was highly political, as was that of men. An examination of the power of highly visible women, for example, famous mistresses such as Madame de Montespan and Madame Tallien, suggests that historians should broaden their understanding of the “political” and more carefully interrogate the activities of female historical figures, rejecting the moralistic accounts that have …

Where Do We Go From Here? Some Thoughts On Power And Gender In The Middle Ages, Theresa Earenfight

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

Current research on queens exposes the biased weaknesses in much of the scholarly work on monarchy and reveals that queens were hardly exceptional. By examining monarchy as a family affair, rather than that of a man alone on the throne, it is clear that queens and noblewomen were fundamental to the operations of monarchy. Taking this meta-discourse of monarchy into account reveals a complex network of affiliations that were obscured by generations of scholars who focused only the deeds of men and thus regarded a woman in power as exceptional.

Recalculating The Equation: Powerful Woman = Extraordinary, Amy Livingstone

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Literary Heiresses And Historical Countesses In Thirteenth-Century France: Some Methodological Notes, Kathy M. Krause

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Woman And Power: Thoughts Arising Out Of The Roundtable "Debating Women And Power In The Middle Ages," International Medieval Congress, Leeds, 2014, Penelope Nash

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

Questions are asked about how we study medieval women in positions of power, with particular reference to elite Italian and German women in the earlier Middle Ages. The essay calls for scholars to search for nuances in former understandings of women’s opportunities to exercise power while re-examining locality, time period, life cycles, and female and male power. The essay includes an appeal to scholars to become better acquainted with the work of their peers who write in other languages.

Contemplating Royal Women's Access To Power And The Transition Between The Middle Ages And The "Monstrous Regiment" Of The Early Modern Era, Elena Woodacre

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

This paper considers the factors which enabled women to access power via developing mechanisms for royal succession in medieval Europe and how this access was mediated through partnership with co-rulers, including consorts, sons and other co-opted family members and councilors. Finally the paper considers the relationship between the female rulers of the Middle Ages and the famous "Monstrous Regiment" in Early Modern Europe.

Women's Memoirs In The 20th Century, Alexandra Fradelizio

Scholarly and Creative Works Conference (2015 - 2021)

Memoirs have long been a valuable way in which individuals share and reflect on their past experiences. The genre of memoir writing especially had a tremendous impact on a range of American female writers. This thesis explores memoirs written by women throughout the 20^th century. With the shift in women’s roles during the 1900s and early 2000s, the memoirs examined emphasize the importance of feminine identity. The analysis provided within this thesis centers on each memoirist’s unique path in determining her sense of self. Moreover, the memoirists each use the process of writing to relay the value of personal …

How Proto-Feminist Was George Eliot?, Ellie L. Feis

UCARE: Research Products

The Mill on the Floss shows the struggle of Maggie, a woman who values education over beauty, in a judgmental society. Maggie is shamed by her society after her cousin’s fiancé, Stephen, tricks her into running away with him. Maggie is forced to live in shame and only escapes public oppression when she dies.

Romola is the story of how a young woman who is forced rely on men for a sense of purpose and safety. Her husband is conniving and has extramarital affairs. Romola finds a happy ending when she is free from patriarchal influence and relies solely on …