Women's History Commons^™

"A Friend, A Nimble Mind, And A Book": Girls' Literary Criticism In Seventeen Magazine, 1958-1969, Jill E. Anderson

University Library Faculty Publications

This article argues that postwar Seventeen magazine, a publication deeply invested in enforcing heteronormativity and conventional models of girlhood and womanhood, was in fact a more complex and multivocal serial text whose editors actively sought out, cultivated, and published girls’ creative and intellectual work. Seventeen's teen-authored “Curl Up and Read” book review columns, published from 1958 through 1969, are examples of girls’ creative intellectual labor, introducing Seventeen's readers to fiction and nonfiction which ranged beyond the emerging “young-adult” literature of the period. Written by young people – including thirteen-year-old Eve Kosofsky (later Sedgwick) – who perceived Seventeen to be an …

From The Womb To The Word: Pregnancy And Pregnancy Metaphors In 16th And 17th Century English Literature, Kelly S. Westeen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation employs a feminist theoretical lens in exploring the gendered uses of pregnancy and pregnancy metaphors in the production and dissemination of literary works in early modern England. By also examining the history of the printing press and the role it played in gendered textual production, early modern constructs of family and the role of mothers, as well as obstetric medicine and childbirth, I aim to demonstrate that mothering and authorship were congruent activities for female writers. Conversely, I argue that male writers of the period who employed metaphors of gestation did so not to try to claim biological …

The Evolution Of Defining Rape In The United States, Sophia Rhoades

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Women’S Suffrage Is “Nothing Less Than Treasonable:” An Analysis Of Rural Women And Their Group Activism In The Women’S Suffrage Movement In The Jackson Purchase Area, 1838-1940, Ashleigh Deno

Honors College Theses

The 1910s was a decade characterized by technological advancement, World War I, and a global movement for women’s suffrage, which would eventually culminate with legislation, most notably the 19th Amendment in the United States. In the United States, women staged protests throughout the country and were known to stand outside of the White House with taunting signs for President Woodrow Wilson to read. This movement came to the United States from other parts of the globe, particularly Britain, and suffragists from other countries were known to travel to the States to give presentations and provide guidance to suffragists on this …

Review Of Nancy F. Cott, The Bonds Of Womanhood: Woman’S Sphere In New England, 1780-1835, Merritt A. Morgan

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

Historian Nancy Cott has produced an important work that explores the dialectic between the women’s work and their changing status in reference to the new rhetoric of democracy in the antebellum period. Cott shows us how women perceived themselves and what they said that she expects will lead to a new framework for the interpretation of the concept of womanhood.

“The New American Woman”: The Legal And Political Career Of Clara Shortridge Foltz, Marissa Swope

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This article analyzes the life and career of Clara Shortridge Foltz, a California attorney and suffragist of the latter decades of the 19th Century and the early 20th Century who was an early developer of the concept of the public defender, leaving an important legacy in the advancement of women's rights.

Treating The Revolution: Health Care And Solidarity In El Salvador And Nicaragua In The 1980s, Brittany Mcwilliams

Masters Theses

Health care played an important role in the revolutions of El Salvador and Nicaragua. Both the Sandinistas and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) prioritized popular health throughout the 1980s. Clinics and hospitals served as sites of revolution that drew healthcare solidarity activists from the United States. These health internationalists worked to build community-level networks that relied upon trained medical volunteers. In both El Salvador and Nicaragua, women comprised a bulk of the community health workers. These women chose to interact with revolution by building on radical promises of universal healthcare access. Healthcare solidarity activists trained community volunteers and …

Too Much And Too Graphic: Dr. Ruth Westheimer And The Struggle For 1980s And 1990s Feminism, Louisa Marshall

Voces Novae

During the second wave of feminism, spanning from the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s, the United States saw unprecedented levels of change regarding the status of women. However, the conservative administrations of Reagan and H.W. Bush that followed turned the tides against the feminist movement and towards re-establishing traditional gender roles. Trail blazing women, including sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer, dedicated their 20th century careers to combating traditional sentiment, thus changing gender roles forever.

“The Speechmaking Of A Girl-Orator”: Reason, Gender, And Authority In Dorothy Hunter’S Free Trade Oratory, Erinn Elizabeth Campbell

Honors Projects

Dorothy M. Hunter (1881-1977) rose to prominence during the 1906 United Kingdom general election as a markedly “girlish” yet widely respected free trade orator. While men on the Edwardian public political platform typically built a reputation for oratorical prowess through theatrical displays of “heroic” masculinity, Hunter established her authority as a speaker through two very different (and apparently contradictory) strategies. Her performance of “charming” middle-class femininity helped demonstrate her right to speak on free trade as a “women’s question,” extending women’s traditional authority over matters of domestic consumption to include questions of political economy. Trusting in the power of education …

Bloodied Hearts And Bawdy Planets: Greco-Roman Astrology And The Regenerative Force Of The Feminine In Shakespeare’S The Winter’S Tale, Christina E. Farella

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis offers a new reading of William Shakespeare’s late play The Winter’s Tale (1623), positing that in order to understand this complex and eccentric work, we must read it with a complex and eccentric eye. In The Winter’s Tale, planets strike without warning, pulling at hearts, wombs, and blood, impacting the health and emotional experience of characters in the play. This work is renowned for its inconsistent formal structure; the first half is a tragedy set in winter, but abruptly shifts to a comedy set in spring/summer in its latter half. What’s more, is that planets, luminaries, and …

Promoting The Consumer Citizen: Seals, Spectacles, And The Gendered Consumer In Depression-Era America, Danielle B. Wetmore

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis will argue that New Deal legislation accounted for increased importance placed on consumers and the articulation of consumer citizenship as female during the Great Depression. Once New Deal programs and legislation determined and legitimized the consumer citizen, the consumer citizen exercised influence though purchasing power. Analyzing the ways the federal government defined women as consumer citizens through programs like the National Recovery Administration’s Blue Eagle Campaign offers important insight into who was considered to have a voice. Notions of citizenship define groups by who has the necessary attributes and qualifications—in this case the means to purchase goods—to be …

Pratiquer Ou Incarner La Vertu? L'Agentivité Des Femmes Chez Marie De France Et Christine De Pizan, Kathe Blydenburgh

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis studies the treatment of women in Medieval literature as active agents in their roles of upholding the virtues of the societies in which they live. This study focuses on works written by the female authors Marie de France and Christine de Pizan.

Playing To Win: The Marriage Market In Jane Austen’S Northanger Abbey, Sense And Sensibility And Emma, Caroline Elizabeth Nall

Honors Theses

This thesis aims to analyze the implications of the marriage market in Jane Austen’s novels Northanger Abbey, Sense and Sensibility and Emma. In these books, the main focus will be on Isabella Thorpe, who is actively participating in the “game” of the marriage market, Charlotte Palmer, who has won the “game” of marriage, and Miss Bates, who has lost the “game” of marriage. The historical context of these situations, taking place in eighteenth and nineteenth century England, has been taken into account. Austen has created characters to demonstrate the many aspects of a female’s life and how it relates …

The Era Of The Era: Defining Liberal And Conservative Equality Through The Fight For The Equal Rights Amendment In New York, Chloe Ross

History

The Equal Rights Amendment was first proposed by suffragist and life-long feminist Alice Paul in 1923 and it intended to create equality of the sexes under the law. It was passed by Congress in 1972, but ultimately was not ratified by enough states. During that time was second-wave feminism, a movement that claimed to seek out equality but had a divisive nature. This thesis looks at how the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment in New York during the 1970s and 80s helped shape the definition of equality for each side of the newly polarized political spectrum. The bulk of …

Women’S Rights Are Human Rights: The Story Of Abortion Laws And The Women Affected, Skylar Locke, Allison Burk

Transformations: Research Papers

The purpose of our project is to educate viewers on the history of abortion in the United States and the women affected by abortions. In the 21st century, the topic of abortion is over-politicalized and as a result, we tend to overlook the suffering and obstacles women encounter and are forced to overcome in these situations. We aim to de-stigmatize abortions with our project. Our unique abortion timeline includes three different components: the abortion laws and events beginning in the mid-1800s, the true, personal stories of women who are affected by these laws and abortions, and the different abortion resources …

“Making The World A Better Place To Live In”: Hattiesburg Women’S Literary Organizations And The Formation Of A Progressive Southern City, 1884-1945, Daniella Kawa

Master's Theses

This study examines the activity and impact of white women’s literary clubs in Hattiesburg, Mississippi between 1884 and the end of World War II in 1945. This project examines to what extent women adhered to or broke away from societal norms of the time by involving themselves in intellectually stimulating groups with other women, especially in response to rapidly changing standards of femininity and womanhood during the Progressive era. Women’s literary clubs reveal patterns of women moving out of the home and into a public role, in addition to signifying the new ways in which women fit themselves into a …

Battlefield Of Bandages: A Case Study On Sanitation Policy, Medical Reform, And Disease Prevention During The War Of Rebellion, Ashley L. Simpson

MSU Graduate Theses

The American Civil War was a devastating conflict costing over 750,000 lives and millions of dollars in the aftermath. However, the most urgent threat was not musket balls, cannons or grapeshot. Afflictions such as typhoid fever, malaria, smallpox, measles, pneumonia, and diarrhea contracted from crowded, unsanitary camp and hospital conditions were responsible for two-thirds of all Civil War casualties. In April 1861, a group of Union women met at church to organize a relief agency whose goal was to aid the thousands of Union soldiers dying from disease. Armed with enlightenment ideas about medical care and sanitation, the Women's Central …

098— The Misrepresentation Of Native American Women In The Media And Their Social Activism Against Violence And Mistreatment, Emma Meeks, Allison Pajda, Bridget Marshall

GREAT Day Posters

This poster takes a look at the myths and stereotypes surrounding Native American women in media and throughout history. In this poster, we examine the work that Native American women have done in social movements such as #TakingBackTigerLilly and #NotYourMascot, that are working towards dispelling the stereotypes and false impressions surrounding them. This poster also examines the violence that native women are exposed to and their social activism through movements. These movements are meant to show people the truth about the violent acts that affect native women and their communities.

Why A Woman Was Against Her Own Equality: Understanding Phyllis Schlafly's Opposition To The Equal Rights Amendment, Bailey Iaccarino

Transformations: Research Papers

This paper analyzes right-wing women’s resistance to the Equal Rights Amendment by using Phyllis Schlafly as a case study. It questions her reasoning, and by extension the anti-ERA women she represents, for opposing an amendment widely understood to make progress toward achieving gender equality. This analysis asserts that Schlafly denounced the amendment because she believed it would attack the rights of housewives, give the federal government excessive power, and hurt women already equal before the law in the ways that mattered. Books and articles about conservative women’s stance against leftist women’s movements and interviews where Schlafly discussed her anti-ERA agenda …

Guide To Resources On Women's Suffrage, Mekhi Closson

Moorland Spingarn Research Center Publications

No abstract provided.

Winnebago Nation Of Nebraska Response Patterns, 1865-1911: A Gendered & Generational Analysis, Ashley Morrison

Honors Theses

During the era of federal assimilation policy, the Winnebago people asserted their cultural identity and history at every step of allotment and boarding school policy. From their distinct responses, Winnebago men and women defended their autonomy and sovereignty to federal intervention. By examining their unique opinions, a more cumulative understanding of the various tactics the Winnebago people used can be further explored. Gender, education, and generation shaped individual responses. Through demanding an inclusion of women in allotting land to taking children away from the Winnebago Industrial School, the Winnebago people resisted against the paternalistic control of the United States. These …

Abortion, Homosexuality, And Fiscal Conservatism: The Coalescence Of The New Right Around A Partisan Sex Education, Sheridan Macy

Honors Theses

A new movement surrounding the implementation of sex education, including programs aimed at youth with the goals of destigmatization of sex, preventing teen pregnancy, and venereal disease began in the 1960s. This launched a debate about what information should be available about sex and sexuality and to whom. Initial debates at the end of the 1960s and in the early 1970s focused on whether or not sex education should be included in schools at all, however, by the mid-1970s and early 1980s, the debate had moved on to what specifically these courses should cover. Born in 1964 and liberalized in …

Queering The Carceral Cycle: Women's Resistance To The Carceral State, Ashley Ruderman-Looff

Theses and Dissertations--Gender and Women's Studies

Building upon feminist and queer scholarship that recognizes mass incarceration and the prison-industrial complex as elements of an inherently violent carceral state, Queering the Carceral Cycle excavates and analyzes twentieth-century incidents in which women resisted the state’s criminalization and/or punishment of multiply marginalized women. I argue that the state’s response to women’s acts of resistance prompted the development of new carceral strategies and technologies that expanded the carceral state’s investment in control and punishment. Moreover, by critically embracing a Foucauldian scheme known as the “carceral cycle,” I demonstrate how the state traps multiply marginalized women in a seemingly endless recurrence …

Women At The Dawn Of History, Agnete Wisti Lassen, Klaus Wagensonner

Occasional Publications

This lavishly illustrated volume gives a voice to women who lived millennia ago in Mesopotamia, present-day Iraq, Syria and Turkey, and explores their roles, representations and contributions to society.

Tens of thousands of cuneiform texts, monumental sculptures, and images on terracotta reliefs and cylinder seals cast light on the fates of women at the dawn of history, from queens to female slaves. In the patriarchal world of ancient Mesopotamia, women were often represented in their relation to men—as mothers, daughters, or wives—giving the impression that a woman’s place was in the home. But, as we explore in this volume, they …

Voice Of Silence: Women Inmates' Perspective On Sexual Violence In The Soviet Gulag, 1936-1956, Louisa Jane Fulkerson

Senior Projects Spring 2020

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

"Island Of Integration": Desegregation Of The Women's Army Corps At Fort Lee, Virginia, 1948-1954, Meika Downey

Theses and Dissertations

Countless studies exist examining President Harry S. Truman’s Executive Order 9981 mandating racial desegregation of the U.S. armed forces, though all singularly focus on the experiences of male soldiers in the twentieth century. This thesis examines how the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) training center at Fort Lee, Virginia implemented desegregation in 1950 in the midst of the Korean War with relative speed and tolerance. Determined through archival records including official WAC reports, photographs, newspapers, and nine newly conducted racially diverse oral history interviews with WAC veterans, I demonstrate how the Fort Lee training center became a physical and cultural “island …

Emergent Women's Global Political Leadership: Progress Despite Constraints, Aoife Meehan

Dissertations and Theses

“Emergent Women’s Global Political Leadership: Progress Despite Constraints” seeks to trace why and how female political leaders emerge at the global level. Evidence points to certain cultural factors, often expressed by laws, constraining or supporting women as they seek political advancement. Data shows women leaders are emerging more and more, though slowly, as political leaders around the world. Reviewing women’s participation and representation regionally and nationally in parliaments, as ministers, and as heads of governments and states confirms that women can and do emerge as political leaders. Finally, learning about and examining women leaders themselves, their style and substance, proves …

A Girl's Song: Recounting Women And The Nantucket Whaling Industry, 1750-1890, Natalie Mitchell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this honors research project, I intend to explore the effect of the whaling industry on women who lived in the community on the island of Nantucket, as well as how they affected the industry. The period I will focus on is the end of the 18^th century through the middle of the 19^th century, because this was the height of the whaling industry in the United States and during the majority of this time span Nantucket was home to the most active American whaling port, making it advantageous to examine the island’s community for my research. This …

Respectable Women, Ambitious Men: Gender And Family Networks In Victorian Sheffield, Autumn Mayle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

“Respectable Women, Ambitious Men: Gender and Family Networks in Victorian Sheffield” offers a family study of Nonconformist manufacturers in nineteenth-century Sheffield through several thematic case studies on such subjects as gender, family networks and businesses, bankruptcy, piety, and charitable work. This project focuses on the Reads, a family of middle-class Congregationalist smelters who owned a smelting works, named Read & Co., in nineteenth-century Sheffield. The Reads’ experiences contribute to recent scholarship on gender and kinship studies by addressing the role of nineteenth-century conceptions of masculinity and femininity on family, charity, and business and the enduring influence of nuclear families and …