Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Teaching Postcolonial Literature In An Elite University: An Edinburgh Lecturer’S Perspective, Michelle Keown

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

This reflective essay explores some of the pedagogical challenges I have faced in teaching postcolonial literature and theory at the University of Edinburgh. There are particular social dynamics at work at Edinburgh that make engaging with intersectionality, particularly in the context of colonialism and racism, a rather complex endeavor. Edinburgh is a Russell Group university, and our undergraduate constituency is overwhelmingly white, middle class and British, with a high proportion of students coming from British public-school backgrounds. Many of these students approach postcolonial writing with well-meaning liberal intentions, but often adopt what Graham Huggan (2001) would term an exoticizing perspective …

From The Editors, Anna M. Klobucka, Jeannette E. Riley, Catherine Villanueva Gardner

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

No abstract provided.

What's Feminism Got To Do With It? Examination Of Feminism In Women's Everyday Lives, Claire Carter

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

In recent decades there has been considerable debate about the role and meaning of feminism in younger women's lives. Feminism can be understood as an empowering discourse, fostering critical awareness and resistance to dominant social norms. However, it can also be experienced as regulatory and disciplinary, clearly defining who and what constitutes a "good" feminist. Utilizing Michel Foucault's principle of care of the self, this paper analyzes women's body practices in relation both to women's interpretation of feminism and to dominant feminist discourses. The complexities of negotiating diverse social identities, as well as women's desire for a happier life and …

(Re)Pinning Our Hopes On Social Media: Pinterest And Women's Discursive Strategies, Katherine Gantz

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

Pinterest, the theme-based image-sharing website, has seen a predominantly female usership since its launch in 2010. Unique in both its design and its demographics in the US, the site has generated distinctive patterns of use, posing new questions about how women are claiming this particular spot in social media as their own. Supported by both feminist linguistic and social science research, this article undertakes a discussion of Pinterest's implicit and explicit gendered protocols of usership, which result in what I argue is an emerging women's online rhetoric. Through the examination of images and accompanying comments taken from the site, I …

Was That Ethical? Feminist Critics’ Response To The “Queerness” Of Modernist Women’S Writing, Meridith M. Kruse

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

This article employs insights from contemporary theories of ethical reading to conduct a case study of feminist critics’ reaction to the queerness of modernist women’s writing. My aim is to develop a set of practices and principles for ethically responding to queerness in literary texts and everyday life, as well as contribute feminist acumen to the current claim that the humanities are the best site to train students how to do justice to texts. The introduction utilizes theories of ethical reading set forth by Jane Gallop and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick to develop a preliminary framework of ethical response. The subsequent …

The Methodological Imperatives Of Feminist Ethnography, Richelle D. Schrock

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

Feminist ethnography does not have a single, coherent definition and is caught between struggles over the definition and goals of feminism and the multiple practices known collectively as ethnography. Towards the end of the 1980s, debates emerged that problematized feminist ethnography as a productive methodology and these debates still haunt feminist ethnographers today. In this article, I provide a concise historiography of feminist ethnography that summarizes both its promises and its vulnerabilities. I address the three major challenges I argue feminist ethnographers currently face, which include responding productively to feminist critiques of representing "others," accounting for feminisms' commitment to social …

From The Editors, Anna M. Klobucka, Jeannette E. Riley, Catherine Villanueva Gardner

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Moving Beyond "Slaves, Sinners, And Saviors": An Intersectional Feminist Analysis Of Us Sex-Trafficking Discourses, Law And Policy, Carrie N. Baker

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

This article analyzes stories and images of sex trafficking in current mainstream US public discourses, including government publications, NGO materials, news media, and popular films. Noting the similarities and differences among these discourses, the first part demonstrates that they often frame sex trafficking using a rescue narrative that reiterates traditional beliefs and values regarding gender, sexuality, and nationality, relying heavily on patriarchal and orientalist tropes. Reflecting this rescue narrative, mainstream public policies focus on criminal justice solutions to trafficking. The second part suggests alternative frameworks that empower rather than rescue trafficked people. The article argues that the dominant criminal justice …

The Slutwalk Movement: A Study In Transnational Feminist Activism, Joetta L. Carr

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

In the past two years the term "slut" ricocheted through the North American media and showed up on signs and banners on every continent as young feminists and their allies launched a series of demonstrations under the name of SlutWalks. In January 2011, a Toronto police officer told students at York University that if women wanted to avoid rape they should not dress like sluts. This incident sparked international outrage, with protests spreading quickly throughout the world, and revealed the misogyny and victim-blaming vitriol that characterize contemporary patriarchal culture. In the wake of the global SlutWalk movement, important questions have …

Breaking The Gender Binary: Feminism And Transgressive Female Desire In Lucía Etxebarria's Beatriz Y Los Cuerpos Celestes And La Eva Futura/La Letra Futura, Lauren Applegate

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

The popular texts of Spanish author Lucía Etxebarria have created a polemical social phenomenon in contemporary Spain for their blatant depiction of a world of violence, drugs, and experimental sex of the late-millennium youth culture of Generación X. These topics, along with Etxebarria's public persona and feminist ideology, have fomented much public criticism and given rise to discussion of the current status of feminism, gender norms, and women's authorship in Spain today. This article analyzes Etxebarria's novel Beatriz y los cuerpos celestes and her collection of feminist essays La Eva futura/La letra futura, demonstrating that Etxebarria's depiction of female desire …

Third Wave Feminism's Unhappy Marriage Of Poststructuralism And Intersectionality Theory, Susan Archer Mann

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

This article first traces the history of unhappy marriages of disparate theoretical perspectives in US feminism. In recent decades, US third-wave authors have arranged their own unhappy marriage in that their major publications reflect an attempt to wed poststructuralism with intersectionality theory. Although the standpoint epistemology of intersectionality theory shares some common ground with the epistemology of poststructuralism, their epistemological assumptions conflict on a number of important dimensions. This contested terrain has generated serious debates within the third wave and between second- and thirdwave feminists. The form, content, and political implications of their "unhappy marriage" are the subject of this …

Final Report As A Member Of The Lgbtq Center Staff, Joseph A. Santiago

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

It is with a heavy heart that I write my final report as a member of the LGBTQ Center Staff. I have been part of the Center since 2002 and have seen it grow in many ways over the years. It is my hope that it will continue to improve and establish the programs and services that make it a leader and innovator in LGBTIQQ and cultural studies. The following is a brief breakdown of the spring 2012 semester.

Lgbtq Center 2012 Brochure, Joseph A. Santiago, Annie Russell

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

This is the LGBTQ Center's 2012 Brochure. LGBTQ Center 2012 Brochure; GLBT Center; Joseph A Santiago; Joe Santiago; Annie Russell; Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) We seek to work with both the GLBTIQQ and straight communities in order to help change the campus climate at URI.; LBTQ Women’s Group This group is designed to provide a space for LBTQ women to be themselves in a safe and welcoming environment, while receiving support from each other and having fun.; Gays, Lesbians, and Allies Advancing Medicine (GLAAM) Group currently forming through two colleges at URI and the LGBTQ Center.; Student Organizations Coming Fall 2012 …

Gender: An Infinite And Evolving Theory, Julia Churchill Schoellkopf

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

Many perceive sex and gender to be the same concept or at least related to each other, but this is not the case. If they do perceive it as different concepts, it is usually understood simply as biological sex. For many people gender is part of daily routine and questioning it is absurd. In virtually all societies gender is defined by characteristics associated with one’s sex. This definition stems from the social construction of gender, meaning that gender is not based solely on physiological qualities. This paper explores the social construct of sex and gender.

The Sexual Orientation And Gender Non-Discrimination Act, Julia Churchill Schoellkopf

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

The United States is still not a safe place for members of the LGBT community, demonstrated by the lack of federal laws protecting them and frequent discrimination. Because discrimination against LGBT people is still legal in the work place, they are mistreated and put out of work. To ensure their safety and economic security, LGBT people need the protection that is granted to women, people of color, veterans, the disabled, and many other hard-working Americans. The Sexuality and Gender Non-Discrimination Act must be passed and enforced to give this protection to LGBT members by prohibiting employment discrimination based on sexual …

Students Teaching Students: Lgbtq History, Brian Stack

Senior Honors Projects

When the Students Teaching Students program called for submissions for student created courses I jumped at the opportunity to learn and share with a group of peers dedicated to a subject. The close to year long process culminated in the first Students Teaching Students course at URI, focusing on the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people: HPR 107: Introduction to LGBTQ History.

Just getting ready to teach was a multifaceted process, since I tend to fluctuate between ravenously seizing every book I can get my hands on and devising practical applications for that intellectual knowledge. First …

Gender Identity Disorder: An Unethical Diagnosis Of Normal Human Diversity, Julia Churchill Schoellkopf, Jasmine Mena

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

Gender Identity Disorder (GID) is very unique among the other disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) because the treatment is used to confirm the alleged disordered belief (Ross 2009). All other disorders in the DSM-IV-TR are defined as the treatment altering the disordered belief and removing the symptoms, not reinforcing them as GID does (Ross 2009). This contradictory nature of the diagnosis has received lots of criticism from professionals over the years and many have offered alternatives.

Gender-Neutral Restrooms: Creating Safe And Accessible Spaces For All Students At Uri, Julia Schoellkopf

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

Is the simple task of going to the restroom uncomfortable, dangerous or inaccessible for you? If not, what if it was? This is something that many people struggle with on a daily basis. Most public restrooms are gender specific – men or women. There is no other option for people who feel uncomfortable with both options. Some populations that struggle with this are disabled people, families, and transgender people. As a member of the LGBTQ community and aide for special needs children, I want to make a difference for transgender and disabled students.

History, Current Practice, And Construction Of Drag, Floyd Anderson, Rob Koob, Lgbtq Center

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

History, Current Practice, and Construction of Drag by Deja D. Dellatarro (Floyd Anderson) and Autumn De La Rue (Rob Koob) was part of the 19th Annual LGBTIQQ Symposium.

The Lgbt Special Emphasis Program Of The Us Department Of Agriculture’S Natural Resources Conservation Service, Gary Blazejewski

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) is a branch of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The NRCS assists farmers and forest landowners to protect the soil, water, and other natural resources on their land. Located in almost every county within the United States, the NRCS employs almost 12,000 people.

The NRCS is an equal opportunity employer and provider. Within the NRCS and other agencies of the USDA, Special Emphasis Programs (SEPs) have become established as a component of the Equal Employment Opportunity Program. SEPs were set up to address the unique concerns of members of certain groups in achieving …

Sexuality And Body Image, Ryan Sallans

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

Ryan Sallans discusses the relationship between body image and sexuality; Sallans breaks down sexuality into five main categories: sensuality, intimacy, sexualization, sexual health and reproduction and sexual identity. His talk looks at how the mass media idealizes the hourglass shape for women’s bodies, only 8 percent of women actually have that body type; GLBT Center; LGBTQ Center; Ryan Sallans; 171717ththth Annual LGBTIQQ Symposium; Connected CommunitiesConnected Communities

Bringing Together The Office Of Community, Equity And Diversity And The Harrington School Of Communications To Promote Topics From The Uri Community And Reach Approx. One Million Potential People In Rhode Island And Beyond, Joseph A. Santiago, Dana Neugent

Office of Community, Equity and Diversity Publications

This is Joseph Santiago and Dana proposal application for 2012/2013 Innovative Approaches Using Technology to Advance the Student Experience.

Dana and Joseph are establishing the Community Voices Committee to showcase diversity and community at URI to go beyond traditional internet sharing of information and reach approximately one million potential television viewers in Rhode Island with the many original programs, speakers, and talent (faculty, staff, guest speakers) that go on here every day. The committee will take on topics from the URI community with potential to be utilized in the classroom to entertain, educate, and raise awareness while providing promotion of …

The 2nd Lgbtq Town Hall Meeting‏, Annie Russell, Joseph A. Santiago

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

On March 7th the Women's Center hosted the second LGBTQ Town Hall Meeting‏. A few people attended and questions about URI and the future campus climate survey were asked.

Love Is Louder Rally, Joseph A. Santiago, Brian Sit

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

Due to inclement weather the Love IS Louder Rally was held in Atrium 1 in the Memorial Union. This event was brought to and a collaboration of the GSA, LGBTQ Center, eXposure, ASA, and HVC. This event had 40 people attendance.

Lgbtq Center Training On Sexual Assault And Dating Violence, Keith Labelle

Women's Center

Keith Labelle faciliated a training to the LGBTQ Center on Sexual Assault and Dating Violence focused on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer people. This is the powerpoint used for the training.

The First Lgbtq Town Hall Meeting‏, Joseph A. Santiago, Annie Russell

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

This was our first LGBTQ Town Hall Meeting, an event where students, faculty, and staff came to share thoughts and feelings on how our center should move forward. It took place Thursday, February 16 at 7pm in Multicultural Center, Room 005. Please share this pod cast of the meeting and we hope you will join us next time! Any and all are welcome and this was the first of many more opportunities for feedback.

Winter 2012 First Year Ra Training On Lgbtiqq Issues, Annie Russell

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

This is the Winter 2012 First Year RA Training on LGBTIQQ Issues presented by Annie Russell.

Six Crosses, Michael C. Vocino

Technical Services Faculty Publications

Brief short story or observation about life in a small southern Italian town.

A Partial Timeline Of Glbt Centric Events While Acting As Director Of The Glbt Center, Joseph A. Santiago

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

At the end of the December 2011 semester, I was surprised to look back and see that it has been approximately one year since I have been fulfilling the role of Director of the GLBT Center in absence of Andrew Winters, the previous Director and the Assistant VP on LGBTQ in Student Affairs. This report will share a rough timeline of recent events that have happened in the URI-LGBTIQQ community. I am writing this to inform and update the new Director of the GLBT Center and the broader community with a general overview of the events and experiences I have …

Questioning Appropriation: Agency And Complicity In A Transnational Feminist Location Politics, Joe Parker

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

In feminist circles agency is often opposed to complicity and associated with resistance to sexism and patriarchy, yet such binary oppositions make the political stakes of their presumed boundaries difficult to interrogate. By bringing location politics into dialogue with agency theory, boundaries of same/Other and location categories may move from a naturalized ground for political work to the contested center of a politics of resistance. I follow a Foucauldian interpretation of agency to reconsider the ethico-politics of established divisions of self and Other both individually and in terms of social movements. By following Gayatri Spivak, Meyda Yeğenoğlu, and Chandra Mohanty's …