Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Why Liberal Feminist Law Fail Women Volunteers In India And The United States: Between Activism And Complicity, Amanda L. Stephens

Presentations - 2025

In this section from my book, Women Volunteers in India and the United States: Between Activism and Complicity, I examine the potential and limitations of liberal-feminist laws in India and the United States to achieve gender equality. Liberal feminism, a strand of feminist thought, argues that gender equality can be achieved by reforming existing legal and political systems. For instance, a liberal-feminist approach to eradicating workplace sexual harassment might involve passing laws like Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which allows employees to seek redress for harms caused by such practices.

Drawing on data from legal texts, …

Sobre El Arcoíris: The Queering Of Mariachi, Tyician Charles Knight

Music ETDs

Mariachi is an internationally renowned artform and tradition whose history spans over decades and several continents. However, there are many aspects still embedded in mariachi culture that remain problematic; machismo (toxic masculinity), alcoholism, and homophobia to name a few. While there has been an increase of mariachi scholars who have critically examined these issues, mariachi culture itself has yet to address the challenges brought forth by its history of gender discrimination and homophobia and embrace practical changes that would enable the creation of a more equitable environment and further develop this living tradition. This thesis analyzes the trajectory of queering …

Casar Student Discussion Series #7: Censored Classrooms - Should Parents And Community Members Have A Say In Restricting Certain Books In Schools, Based On Factors Such As Religion, Age Appropriateness, And More?, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

Every semester, CASAR AUC holds miscellaneous student debates discussing the hot controversial topics in the US, Egypt and from around the world in hopes of raising awareness about these topics & broadening the perspectives of our students as they learn to engage in fruitful discussions as they share different opinion on the topic being deliberated.

On April 10th 2025, at this CASAR Student Discussion event #7 in light of the current book bans in the US happening from Trump's administration, we debated this question: 'Censored classrooms: Should parents and community members have a say in restricting certain books in schools …

What Is A Nation? Colonial Legacies, Identity, And Reclaiming In Métisse Autobiographical Narratives – A Case Study Of Sugar And Slate And Garçon Manqué, Thaïs Maëlle Autin

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

This thesis examines the question of national belonging in autobiographical narratives of second-generation immigrant métisse women. I study the similar aesthetic manner in which individuals with different regional and cultural influences grapple with concepts of identity, gender, racism, exile, and negotiation, and the way in which the authors anchor themselves in a broader familial and national heritage. I argue that such an enterprise can be understood as part of the alternative heritage wave, based on Andrew Higson’s theory. The texts put in question traditional understandings of nation. Doing so opens the possibility of engaging in a dialogue that expands the …

Book Review: Wombs Of Empire: Population Discourse And Biopolitics In Modern Japan, By Sujin Lee, Bonnie Tilland

Asia Pacific Perspectives

No abstract provided.

Women’S Rights Across Borders: Challenges And Progress In Afghanistan, India And The United States, Zita Mpinganzima, Taylor Romer, Gracie Richter, Sydney Hersom

INSPIRE Student Research and Engagement Conference

The Violation of women's rights remains a significant issue worldwide, with women facing challenges with access to opportunities, inequality to their male counterparts, negative social norms, and lack of legal protections. According to the World Bank 2.4 billion women do not have the same economic rights as men, women still have only three-quarters of the legal rights afforded to men and one in three women globally has experienced physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence. In countries such as Afghanistan, India, and the United States, women face severe restrictions under Taliban rule, gender discrimination, wage gap, gender discrimination, violence, and efficient …

Woman-To-Woman Marriage In West Africa: A Vanishing Tradition Of Power And Agency, Bright Alozie

Black Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

In lieu of an abstract, here is an excerpt: Marriage in west Africa has played a central role in shaping aspects of society, and has evolved over time. While traditional heterosexual unions dominate discussions, a lesser-known but significant practice – woman-to-woman marriage – has existed for centuries. In my research, I examined this institution, which allows a woman to assume the role of a husband by marrying another woman. There’s evidence of woman-to-woman marriage in more than 40 societies across west Africa, including the Igbo of Nigeria, the Frafra of Ghana and the Dahomeans of present-day Benin.

Rupert Raj’S Written Acts Of Activism And Care Throughout The 1980s And 1990s, Mia Jakobsen

Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism

In researching acts of activism and care in Canadian queer and trans racialized history, I examined how Rupert Raj advocated and cared for other trans individuals through his writing in the 1980s and 1990s. He noticed that there were few publications for trans individuals so he created easily accessible methods to share vital information regarding research and support that would have otherwise been difficult to acquire. Raj’s writings shared vital transgender research, literature, and expertise from across the globe. He provided critical support to and for other trans men through his easily accessible publications and letters, serving as an information …

A Message From The Editors, Vicki L. Reitenauer, Rhiannon M. Cates

Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism

An introduction from the founding co-editors to the third issue of Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism: Volume 3, Issue 1: Writing-as-Activism in a Time of Destruction.

Manifesto Of An Arab Female, Diditta Rizk

Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism

In this manifesto, the author provides a window into her gendered experiences growing up female in the Middle East. In identifying the ways that women encounter obstacles to expressing their full agency in male-dominated societies, the author invites the reader to join her in redefining the narrative of what it is and means to be a woman. The manifesto ends with a call for us to become architects of a new perspective through which equity becomes reality, one where we strive collectively for peace, freedom, and the pursuit of the common good.

Issue Cover Art: Homecoming Collage, Rhi N. Soto

Amplify: A Journal of Writing-as-Activism

This piece is a found poem/collage made from different magazine cut-outs glued onto red construction paper. What inspired its creation is the book Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. In this book, Gyasi describes colonialism's over 400-year impact on the continent of Africa, the Indigenous people to those lands, and their ancestors. She does this by writing a historical fiction story of a family that started in what is now considered current-day Ghana, taking place from the mid-1700s to the early 2000s. The family starts with the mother of two sisters, Maame, who leaves her first daughter (Effia) while her village …

“They Are Fat And Want Special Treatment For Being Fat”: Backlash To And Lay Theories Of Fat Activism, Flora Blanchette-Oswald, Minh Duc Pham, R. J. Harr, Alexandra Garr-Schultz, Kimberly E. Chaney

Faculty Publications

Fat activism is a movement that seeks to acknowledge and eliminate the oppression of fat people. The movement and those who participate face significant backlash, yet fat activism is understudied. We sought to understand lay theories about fat activism; that is, how everyday people think about the goals and motivations of fat activism, and people who engage in fat activism, to understand how these perceptions shape support for and backlash toward fat activism. In Study 1 (N = 294), we qualitatively elucidated lay theories of fat activism in a US nationally representative sample. We identified lay theories that both …

"I Know Who I Am": Draw-And-Tell Conversations With Gender-Creative Children, Eline Leemans Lenne

Dissertations and Theses

A growing number of children identify in various gender-creative ways, likely due to broader social awareness and affirmation of transgenderism. Gender-creative children face higher risks for adverse social, academic, mental health, and healthcare outcomes compared to non-transgender peers. Support from loved ones along with guidance from pediatric providers can mitigate poor outcomes and ensure that gender-creative children live healthy and happy lives. Young gender-creative children's perspectives about the aforementioned topics are markedly absent from the literature, which instead highlights adolescent and adult proxy perspectives.

In this participatory arts-based study anchored by a constructivist epistemology and informed by post-structuralist, queer, and …

Feminist Stories: Then And Now, Brooke Kelly

FUSION

This short essay explores the connections between themes in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1892 short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" and the 2024 film, Immaculate, specifically focusing on each story's affect on feminism.

The essay was originally written in response to a discussion post where students were asked to pick one American literary text and one piece of contemporary media that addressed the same issues/character types/ plot/ideas, etc. of today.

He Said, She Said: Deconstructing Gender In Our Own World Through Our Own Languages, William K. Coulthard

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Both language and gender are social constructs which we humans have created to produce an order to the world, and this essay illustrates the ways in which language influences both our perceptions of gender and the world of people who subvert so-called natural gender norms. Because gender, unlike sex, is a social construct to which we ascribe particular images and words, language can affect not only the identity of the person in question but also their relationships, careers, and societal attitudes toward gender. Ursula Le Guin, in her 1969 science fiction novel The Left Hand of Darkness, deconstructs our earthly …

Un-Silencing Dickinson: Emily Dickinson's Aversion To The Male Body And Heterosexuality In "My Life Had Stood–– A Loaded Gun", Cassandra Barron

Global Tides

This paper examines Emily Dickinson's aversion to heterosexual marriage and sexual initiation in her poem "My Life had stood-- a Loaded Gun". The ethics of deciphering through identifying and categorizing potentially Queer authors and texts impacts our understandings of frequently canonized authors such as Emily Dickinson. Emily Dickinson's nineteenth-century American context informed her ability to write deliberately about her experience of subversive sexual desire. Instead, Dickinson utilizes images of death, apathy, and immortality to illustrate her revulsion toward the male body and heterosexual marriage. This paper illustrates how utilizing Queer and feminist theories illuminates new and potential understandings of Emily …

Ua19/16/2 Women's Basketball Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases and game statistics for WKU women's basketball team in spring 2025.

Ua19/16/2 Volleyball Press Relations, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases and game statistics for WKU volleyball team in spring 2025.

I Will Make No Defense, Sky Johnston

Women's and Gender Studies: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

I Will Make No Defense is a combination of a short essay and a free-form poetry chapbook with a glossary of anattractional terms*. The essay discusses the erasure of complex queer identities within journalism, especially those that violate homonormativity. The poetry chapbook itself is written about the author's personal experiences regarding their identities as an aromantic, asexual, and transgender person, and was intended to help reduce this informational gap. It is prefaced by a glossary of necessary terms to aid its accessibility to the general population, and many of the poems address language that erases identities, how a-spec identities and …

Ua19/16/2 Track & Field Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases and game statistics for WKU track teams in spring 2025.

Access To Augustana’S Ascension Chapel: Who Gets To Worship?, Jaycee C. Bythewood

Race, Ethnicity, & Religion

This poster seeks to educate readers about the challenges disabled students would face in attending a service in Augustana College’s Ascension Chapel and how inaccessible this actually is using maps crafted by the author with hand-gathered data.

Ua19/16/2 Tennis Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases and game statistics for WKU tennis teams in spring 2025.

Ua19/16/2 Softball Press Releases, Wku Athletic Media Relations

WKU Administration Documents

Press releases and game statistics for WKU softball team in spring 2025.

Trump: Small Hands, Big Lies

Women's & Gender Studies Student Scholarship

A zine outlining PC’s response to Trump’s reelection, the necessity of accountability, a call for action, ways to get involved in activism, and an archival offering for those who have been affected by Trump.

Ivy Leaves, Volume 100, Anderson University - South Carolina

Ivy Leaves

The 2025 edition of the Anderson University journal of art and literature, Ivy Leaves.

The names of the known editors for this issue of Ivy Leaves were Jaylee Koon, Jenna Martin, Rachel Riddle, Milena Ulrich, Emma Brightman, Corinne Lowe, Torie Johnson, Anna Leigh Avant, Darcy Hseih, Kaylie Sheriff, Claudia Sarmiento, LIly Gregory, Ethan Wright, Elise Frauenholtz, KJ Lian, Ellie Gramm, Iley Gramm, Kenzi Miller, Ellie Ruperto, Miriam Cabrera-Santana, Ashlee Keller, Mateo De Los Cobos, Jacob Enzor, Claire Nunes, Abby McDonald, Heidi Dillow, Derek Updegraff and Tim Speaker.

An Exploration Of The Differences Between Male And Female High School Athletes Becoming College Athletes, And The Reasons For Their Successes And Failures; Combining Sociological And Philosophical Perspectives., Lilli Horn

Gender Studies Student Scholarship

College sport is reaching a new high, however the gender disparities remain consistent throughout all aspects of elite athletics. From funding to media representation, and recruiting opportunities, women remain at an extreme disadvantage compared to their male counterparts. Despite a recent surge in the attention to women’s athletics, the main issues behind the gaps are still not being addressed or changed. Some reasons for gaps in attainment can be obvious, however other reasons may be deep rooted in social stereotypes as well as structurally. In a society where the patriarchy is seemingly indestructible, the fight for equality is ongoing.

This …

Painting Stories And Filming Change, Coralynn V. Davis

Faculty Contributions to Books

Mithila Art has helped illuminate various aspects of the relationship between gendered Maithil social roles and Maithil women’s narratives in connection with a feminist participatory action research project conducted primarily in 2016-2017 in and around the northern Bihari town of Madhubani. While participatory action research philosophically and methodologically attends to process as much as product, Mithila Art played a role in the process and product of making a documentary film and in our capacity to understand and communicate with varied audiences about shifting Maithil gender norms. The research and filmic project provided insight into the complex relationship among the stories …

“Something To Be Involved In”: Fostering Intra-Campus Community Through Zine- Making And The Potentials Of A Zine Library At Binghamton University, Autumn Jacobs

Library Research Scholars Program Spring 2025

Zines encompass a wide variety of works broadly defined as self-published print works that are not made with profit in mind. They have long fostered community networks for marginalized groups and fringe interests. In recent years, they have increasingly been used in academic contexts, through class assignments, student organizations, and library programming. While there have been a number of zinemaking initiatives at Binghamton University, there has been little institutional support for this work and it has been incredibly fragmented. This project aims to bridge the gaps between zinemakers and administrative support through the creation of a campus zine library. During …

Painting The Other: Mary Cassatt's Spanish Portraits And The Feminine Gaze, Delaney Batter

Undergraduate Theses in Art History

The historical viewing of women artists, in conjunction with Mary Cassatt’s biography and later depictions of women and children, suggests that Cassatt's gender is identified within the art historical canon as an essential component to the interpretation of her work. The language attached to Cassatt's work is most often taken from discourses surrounding female-produced artwork of the nineteenth century, attaching passive and stereotypically feminine attributes like 'delicate,' 'light,' and 'tender' to the style, composition, and subjects of her works. These characteristics were among the accepted nineteenth-century descriptions of artworks, with inherent femininity translating to inherent domesticity.

Rather than further reducing …

Compulsory Sterilisation And Reproductive Injustice In India: The Global Impact Of The American Eugenics Movement, Marina Cortez

Institute for the Humanities Theses

On 8 November 2014, Dr RK Gupta performed eighty-three tubal ligations at a makeshift clinic in Bilaspur, India — thirteen of which resulted in death. The women, most of whom belonged to the Dalit or “untouchable” caste, were recruited by family planning agencies, lured in by cash incentives or other gifts in exchange for sterilisation. Sadly, however, the Bilaspur tragedy does not exist in isolation — but rather belongs to an extensive history of government-sponsored abuse, the majority of which has been directly led by white, Western powers. Funded by the New York-based Population Council, India was one of the …