Women's History Commons^™

The Queer And The Bodily: Explorations Of Power In Women's Visionary Writing In The Book Of Margery Kempe 2014, Jayne Emerson Stacconi

Master's Theses

The provocative Book of Margery Kempe is a seminal text in the history of female authorship. Claiming to be the first written autobiography, The Book serves as a literary representation of womanhood during the late fourteenth to the fifteenth centuries when Margery was writing, and also speaks to circulating medieval discourses of religion, pilgrimage, and sexuality. Participating in medieval women’s visionary writing as a genre, Margery’s visionary power is a tool by which she is able to emancipate herself from the limiting roles of wife and mother. Additionally, by working within the conventions of visionary writing, Margery is able to …

Mass Rape In Foča: The International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia Vs. Dragoljub Kunarac, Mark William Iverson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The Bosnian war witnessed the organized expulsion of Bosnian Muslims by Serbian and Bosnian Serb military forces from 1992 until 1995. As a tactic aimed at creating mono-ethnic towns from multicultural populations, rape was perpetrated against all women, but particularly Muslim women, as part of a larger plan to terrorize populations into permanently abandoning their homes. The Muslims of Foča, a township close to the border with Montenegro, were one of the first multiethnic populations to be attacked and terrorized by Bosnian Serb and Serbian forces. Dragoljub Kunarac, Radomir Kovač, and Zoran Vuković were three Bosnian Serb soldiers, among thousands, …

“Our Weapon Is The Wooden Spoon:” Motherhood, Racism, And War: The Diverse Roles Of Women In Nazi Germany, Cortney Nelson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The historiography of women in Nazi Germany attests to the various roles of women in the Third Reich. Although politically invisible, women were deeply involved in the Nazi regime, whether they supported the Party or not. During Nazi racial schemes, men formed and executed Nazi racial programs, but women participated in Nazi racism as students, nurses, and violent perpetrators. Early studies of German women during World War II focused on the lack of Nazi mobilization of women into the wartime labor force, but many women already held positions in the labor force before the war. Nazi mistreatment of lower-class working …

The Chorus Of Disapproval: The Battle Of St. Paul's And Women's Protest In Occupied New Orleans, Denice J. Richard

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Although scholars have explored women’s public resistance in occupied cities during the Civil War, few have explored women in occupied New Orleans. Studies have been limited to the rambunctious activities of women in the city streets, armed with sharp tongues. The use of private spaces, specifically religious spaces, as a platform for protest, has not been explored. By analyzing the events surrounding the closure of an uptown church on October of 1862, known as “The Battle of Saint Paul’s,” this thesis will address Confederate female activism and protest to Union occupation in New Orleans. It will do so by examining …

The British Women’S Land Army: Gender, Identity, And Landscapes, Hilary M.K. Anderson

Masters Theses

The land girls who comprised the Women’s Land Army in Great Britain during the Second World War challenged cultural assumptions regarding gender and femininity. Through their work in agriculture, social anxieties were provoked regarding proper notions of femininity and separate spheres, which left these women in conflicting positions as they carved a spot for themselves in a war torn society. In order to carry out their work in the Women’s Land Army, land girls operated at the convergence of private and public spheres in a conjoined space. Living and operating in this conjoined space enabled them to blur the ideological …

Framing Identity: Repudiating The Ideal In Chicana Literature, Michael A. Flores

All NMU Master's Theses

In the 1960s Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzalez penned his now canonical, epic poem “I Am Joaquin.” The poem chronicles the historic oppression of a transnational, Mexican people as well as revolutionary acts of their forefathers in resisting tyranny. Coinciding with a series of renewed, sociopolitical campaigns, collectively known as the Chicano Movement, Gonzales’ poem uses vivid imagery to present an idealized representation of Chicanos and encouraged his reader to engage in revolutionary action. Though the poem encourages strong leadership, upward mobility, and political engagement the representations of women in his text are misogynistic and limiting.

His presentation of the “black-shawled …

Family, Property, And Negotiations Of Authority: Francoise Brulart And The Estate Management Of Noble Women In Early Modern Burgundy, Amy Kathleen Rogers Dean

Open Access Dissertations

There is no question that early modern France was a patriarchal society. In fact, during this period, there was an increase in legislation further subordinating women under the authority of their fathers and then of their husbands. The legal identities of women as daughters and wives was officially negligible. However, this dissertation argues that in practice, family needs trumped the constricting legal prescriptions placed upon women. In examining the estate accounts, contracts, and family papers of the Saulx-Tavanes, Brulart, Le Goux, Joly, Marmier, and Baissey families, it is abundantly clear that women of both the noblesse de robe and noblesse …

Radical Housewife Activism: Subverting The Toxic Public/Private Binary, Emma Foehringer Merchant

Pomona Senior Theses

Since the 1960s, the modern environmental movement, though generally liberal in nature, has historically excluded a variety of serious and influential groups. This thesis concentrates on the movement of working-class housewives who emerged into popular American consciousness in the seventies and eighties with their increasingly radical campaigns against toxic contamination in their respective communities. These women represent a group who exhibited the convergence of cultural influences where domesticity and environmentalism met in the middle of American society, and the increasing focus on public health in the environmental movement framed the fight undertaken by women who identified as “housewives.” These women, …

Finding Margaret Haughery: The Forgotten And Remembered Lives Of New Orleans’S “Bread Woman” In The Nineteenth And Twentieth Centuries, Katherine Adrienne Luck

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Margaret Haughery (1813-1882), a widowed, illiterate Irish immigrant who became known as “the Bread Woman” of New Orleans and the “Angel of the Delta” had grossed over $40,000 by the time of her death. She owned and ran a dairy farm and nationally-known bakery, donated to orphanages, leased property, owned slaves, joined with business partners and brought lawsuits. Although Haughery accomplished much in her life, she is commonly remembered only for her benevolent work with orphans and the poor. In 1884, a statue of her, posed with orphans, was erected by the city’s elite, one of the earliest statues of …

Lady Bird Johnson, Betty Ford, And Second Wave Feminism, Lauren A. Stealey

Honors Theses

The First Ladyship is an ambiguous, constitutionally undefined role. The women who have inhabited this role since Martha Washington have had to interpret this role in their own ways and encounter the scrutiny or approval of their country along the way. On this national stage, these women have influenced and been influenced by contemporary conceptions of American womanhood. National discussion shifted to focus prominently on the role of women particularly during the 1960s and 1970s, in the resurgence of an organized women’s rights movement known as Second Wave Feminism.

In this qualitative study, I focused on two First Ladies during …

Chivalric Schism : The Man Who Occupies The Masculine And The Feminine 2014, Timothy C. Morris

Master's Theses

Designated male and female gender roles have created a certain set of expectations that shape the lives of men and women. Although there are benefits and drawbacks for each of the sexes as a result of these sets of rules, males have unquestionably seen themselves the beneficiaries throughout the course of history far more often than their female counterparts. I would argue, however, that chivalric codes, behaviors ascribed to men of the knightly class in the Middle Ages, are confusing and even contradictory for their subjects, thus negating some of the advantage typically granted by virtue of being a male. …

An Exclusionary Revolution: Marginalization And Representation Of Trans Women In Print Media (1969 – 1979), Emylia N. Terry

Honors College Theses

Stonewall, the act most associated with sparking gay liberation in 1969, was preceded by several events of queer insurrection. These events, which often featured trans people of color playing central roles, are not widely known. Similarly, Stonewall itself has been mythologized in order to be palatable within mainstream society, effectively whitewashing its history. This research utilized archival investigation and discourse analysis, as well as the concepts of symbolic annihilation and trans-misogyny, in order to examine certain publications’ representations of trans women from 1969 – 1979. I found that mainstream publications such as the Chicago Daily Tribune and the Los Angeles …

From Marilyn Monroe To Cindy Crawford: A Historical Analysis Of Women’S Body Image Depicted In Popular Magazines From 1952 To 1995, Jayme S. Nobles

Honors Theses

For this study, the researcher viewed advertisements in popular magazines from 1952 to 1995 that focus on women’s body image. The sample consisted of advertisements found in Life and Cosmopolitan magazines. Instead of observing every issue throughout the forty-three year period, the researcher chose a few issues from each magazine every five years. 180 advertisements were viewed in this study. The researcher observed three different elements found in the advertisements: the product being sold, the appeals of sexuality, if any, in the ads, and the appearance of the advertisements’ models. This research attempted to prove that over the course of …

The Feminization Of The Literary Voice And The Rhetorical Tradition In The Lais Of Marie De France, The Mirror Of Simple Souls, And The Book Of The City Of Ladies, Elisa B. Filippone

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study demonstrates how The Lais of Marie de France (12th c.) by Marie de France, The Mirror of Simple Souls (14th c.) by Marguerite Porete, and Christine de Pizan’s The Book of City of Ladies (15th c.) serve as the three progressive steps in the transformation of the rhetorical theory and the feminine literary voice, redefining woman from the idea of inferior entity written by men over centuries into the concept of an intellectual and virtuous female human being. The development of a strong feminine literary voice starts as de France feminizes the masculine language she borrows from masculine …

Georgia Women And Their Struggle For The Vote, Brittany M. Partridge

Honors College Theses

Women in the United States gained the right through the 19^th Amendment in 1920. Even though women constitutionally had this right, Georgia and Mississippi did not allow women to cast a ballot in the 1920 election. By looking into the most prominent religion in these states, the Southern Baptist church, I explore connections between the beliefs and culture of the South, specifically Georgia, and how these played an important role in the obstacles women faced.

Reproductive Rights And State Institutions: The Forced Sterilization Of Minority Women In The United States, Maggie Lawrence

Senior Theses and Projects

No abstract provided.

Proto-Feminism In Ancient Global Texts, Jody A. Dammann-Matthews

Global Honors Theses

This paper was written to explore the patriarchal interpretations of ancient global texts and to uncover erroneous interpretations of the texts highlighted. Two texts were chosen, the biblical story of Deborah and Jael and the story of Shaharazad. They were both analyzed and compared. In this work the stories were scrutinized through the lens of proto-feminism and the patriarchal interpretations that have been accepted through history. The interpretation of these texts have downplayed the proto-feminist aspects of the protagonists and the patriarchal interpretations applied to these texts have subverted and portrayed women in a negative rather than a positive light. …

Pratfalls, Seduction And The Farce Of Marriage: How The Screwball Comedy Redefined American Preconceptions Of Traditional Feminine Morality, Fletcher Parrott Thornton Iv

History

No abstract provided.

'We're Not Little Babies Anymore': A Cultural History Of Small Girls In America, 1920-1945, Stella A. Ress

Dissertations

The appearance of high-profile girl characters in popular culture media of all types soared between the years from 1924, when Little Orphan Annie first appeared in the comic section of newspapers, to 1945, when teenage girls replaced their younger sisters in the spotlight. As such, girl culture of the 1920s through the 1940s experienced a boon in popularity never before witnessed. And yet, despite substantial evidence that point to the impact preadolescent girls had on society during this time, surprisingly scholars have left the experiences of these girls and their depictions in popular entertainment unexplored. For historians, this raises a …

Social Childbirth And Communities Of Women In Early America, Jocelyn Jessop

Honor Scholar Theses

None

Reexamining The 1950s American Housewife: How Ladies Home Journal Challenged Domestic Expectations During The Postwar Period, Margaret Bonaparte

Scripps Senior Theses

My thesis examines the role that Ladies Home Journal played in challenging the ideals of domesticity that emerged in the postwar period in the United States. Originally founded in 1883, Ladies Home Journal emerged from World War II as the most popular and highly circulated women’s magazine. Husband and wife duo Bruce and Beatrice Gould served as co-editors-in-chief from 1935 to 1962, and populated the magazine with numerous ambitious and talented female writers and editors. Many of these female staff members also married and had children, while maintaining their careers. During an era where employees discriminated against women in the …

Evolution Of Fashion: Clothing Of Upper Class American Women From 1865 To 1920, Lacey Johnson

Honors Theses

Changing economic, political and social pressures throughout history have impacted the way human beings live their daily lives. One of the many basic areas affected by these historical changes is the area of the wardrobe. The way a person dresses has traditionally shown his or her social status, occupation, and even political views. Political and social pressure particularly influence the clothing styles favored by women. In what way, however, does the average wardrobe reflect the cultural considerations of the time, and what can the prevailing fashions of bygone eras reveal about the pressures of those days? Specifically, what do the …

"Playthings Of A Historical Process": Prostitution In Spanish Society From The Restoration To The Civil War (1874-1939), Ann Kirkpatrick

Scripps Senior Theses

Spain underwent a series of tumultuous social and political changes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Prostitute women directly experienced these changes as fluctuations in their social and legal status within Spanish society. The years spanning from 1874 to 1931 are known as the Restoration, when the Bourbon monarchy was reinstalled under King Alfonso XII (1857-1885) after the crumbling of the First Spanish Republic (1873-1874). During this time, Spain experienced a period of growing nationalism and urbanization, and prostitution began to be interpreted as a threat to the nation in terms of public health and decency. Between 1923 …

Exhume Cedaw From Its Grave: An Analysis Of The Actors Who Helped To Bury The Convention On The Elimination Of Discrimination Against Women In The United States, Kasie Durkit

Honors Projects

In November of 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed what was one of the most comprehensive women’s rights treaties of its kind: the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. Authored by United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women, “CEDAW” was designed to galvanize states to take all appropriate measures to modify existing laws, regulations, customs and practices that constitute discrimination against women. As of April of 2014, 187 world countries have signed and ratified CEDAW, thereby adopting many of its principles. Yet, the United States is one of only seven countries (including Iran and Sudan no less) not …

Holes In The Historical Record: The Politics Of Torture In Great Britain, The United States, And Argentina, 1869-1977, Lynsey Chediak

CMC Senior Theses

While many politicians gain national or international acclaim, domestic political activists are rarely remembered for their dedication and, similarly, their sufferings. More specifically, the acts of female political activists, and the harsh punishments they endure following government pushback, are not appreciated or acknowledged by popular histories.

Across Great Britain, the United States, and Argentina, three women played crucial roles in advancing reform against unjust government policies. Josephine Butler (1828-1906) was a pivotal character in repealing laws allowing for the government regulation of prostitution, the Contagious Diseases Acts, in Great Britain. Similarly, Alice Paul (1885-1997) was essential in achieving the ratification …

Unpacking The Suitcase: The Real Last Chapter Of Alice Paul And Peg Edwards’S Activism, And Why These Stories Matter, Clark Edwards

Honor Scholar Theses

I was fortunate enough to find a thesis topic within my own family. My paternal grandmother was guardian ad litem for Alice Paul in the later 1970s. Paul was instrumental in securing the passage of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote, and author of the Equal Rights Amendment among other contributions for women’s rights. Fortunately my grandmother saved court records, letters, her notes, and more for her period of activism with Paul and as part of the Ridgefield Connecticut National Women’s Political Caucus. I knew nothing of my grandmother’s work until last year. My thesis seeks …

Finding The Witch’S Mark: Female Participation In The Judicial System During The Hopkins Trials 1645-47, Shannon M. Lundquist

Departmental Honors Projects

Between the years of 1645 and 1647 in East Anglia, a series of witch trials known as the Hopkins Trials took place. In all, 250 witches were accused and 100 hanged. The ability to convict a person of the crime of witchcraft relied heavily on evidence which was hard to come by given the nature of the crime of witchcraft. Tangible proof of an intangible crime was needed; this came in the form of witch’s marks. To the learned population, marks were a symbol of the witch’s covenant with the devil. To the lay person, they were called ‘teats’ and …

Whores And The Law: A Case Study Of The Sexual Double Standard And The Contagious Diseases Acts In Mid-Nineteenth Century England, Alexandra Wallis

Theses : Honours

This thesis examines how the sexual double standard in mid-nineteenth century England disempowered women and female prostitutes through the Contagious Diseases Acts of the 1860s. The Acts were created in an attempt to lower venereal disease among the soldiers in the British army. The method for this was to target prostituted women suspected of being infected and have them examined after which they could be interned in a lock hospital for three to nine months. Radical feminism has done much to highlight the harm experienced by women in prostitution. Thus using radical feminism, in particular the theoretical perspective of Catharine …

“Like Husband And Wife”: The Role Of Susan B. Anthony And Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Friendship In Advancing Their Personal And Professional Successes, Maritza Mestre

Honor Scholar Theses

None