Student Presentation Abstracts
Students will present their research at the 2nd Annual Utah Southwest Regional Conference on Student Research in Gender and Women’s Studies on March 31, 2023. Read each student's full abstract below.
Session 1- 9:00 - 9:50 a.m.
-
Session 1A: Shepherd Union 320
- Grace Chipman (BYU) - "For the Enemy Is No Longer Men, But Our Own Sisters; Anti-ERA Activists Within the Feminist Narrative"
- Dianne Fife Kay, an anti-ERA leader in Hawaii, described the period of the fight to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment as "the enemy was no longer men, but our own sisters.” The battle between pro-ERA and anti-ERA activists was ruthless, turning women against each other as both sides decided if the ERA was the way to provide equality for women. History books have determined that the heroes of this story are the “feminists” or the pro-ERA activists as they will be referred to in this paper. The narrative reflecting the anti-ERA women is often laced with negative sentiment toward those who choose to live a traditional lifestyle. Many of these women who combatted the ERA were made out to be brainwashed homemakers because they did not support radical feminist issues. The problem is that women and historians have not given conservative women credit for their involvement as they left their homes and husbands to defend themselves in the political arena as an act of feminism. These women's actions were in no way passive or submissive as the general narrative suggests. If we look at these actions through the lens of feminism in practice as the anti-ERA activists acted for women’s rights, it is a triumph.
- Emily Peterson (BYU) - "Vanguards of Change in the 'Georgia of the North:' Young Women's in the Civil Rights Movement in New Jersey from 1935-1955"
- On February 17, 1948, as Somerville, New Jersey began its preparations for its annual Brotherhood Week, a national effort to combat racial, ethnic, and religious prejudice, the following letter from a local high school student appeared in the local newspaper: “Every February…Brotherhood Week rolls around…what about the other 364 days in the year?.. Nothing ever comes of these meetings. We, the youth of Somerville, feel there should be a continual effort along these lines, and we plan to do something about intolerance in our community.” After holding their own Brotherhood Week meeting featuring a panel of students, the youth garnered national attention when they canvassed local shops to eliminate segregationist practices against Black patrons. This exchange is just one example of how youth in New Jersey, particularly young women, led important efforts to advance local and national civil rights initiatives. Building on the work of historians Rachel Devlin, Rebecca de Schweinitz and Thomas Bynum, which have examined the role of youth, largely in the South, in propelling the civil rights movement beyond litigation strategies. This will also build off of scholars like Martha Biondi and Tomas Sugrue who have established the significance of the Black freedom struggle in the North. Drawing on the NAACP youth council files and various newspapers, this paper examines the role of youth, particularly young women, in New Jersey from 1935 to 1955, investigating how they helped lay the groundwork for the larger civil rights movement on a local, state, and national basis.
- Amanda Reece (BYU) - "Creating a Lifeboat for Deaf Women: An Analysis of the Experiences of Deaf Women in the 1988 Deaf President Now Movement"
- In the field of historical research of Deaf history in America, the Deaf community is often minimized into an entity with a singular experience; the lives of people defined solely by their deafness. Scholars of the American Deaf community like: Harlan Lane, David Armstrong, Katherine Jankowski, and Melvia Nomeland offer scholarship on the Deaf Community; although most research does not record the Deaf community the diverse and intersectional group it is. Research on the Deaf Community has only recently begun to analyze the different experiences of the Deaf based on gender, race, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic class. My project seeks to fill the gap by introducing the experiences of Deaf women and analyzing how that experience is different from the male dominated popular narrative of the Deaf experience. This project is specifically about the role of women in the 1988 Deaf student protest and civil rights movement, “Deaf President Now.” Many of the primary source materials are the oral narratives of women who participated in the protest like Nannette Hix, Bridgetta Bourne-Firl, Carol Padden, Dr Jane Norman, Jackie Roth, Dr. Mary Keane, and Vicki Hurwitz. Other sources include: videos of the protests, rally pamphlets, tv interviews, newspaper articles, news reports, and more. I found that female students at Gallaudet chose to protest for Deaf President Now, because it gave them an opportunity to advocate for themselves as Deaf people, the outside influence of peer culture and community, and it gave them a platform to empower themselves as women.
- Grace Chipman (BYU) - "For the Enemy Is No Longer Men, But Our Own Sisters; Anti-ERA Activists Within the Feminist Narrative"
-
Session 1B: Shepherd Union 316
- Apeksha Gandotra (Amity University, India) - "Myth vs. Fact: Portrayal of Harba bai (Jodha) in Hindi Cinema"
- History and mythology share a very peculiar relationship with each other. There comes a point when it becomes extremely difficult to chisel out fact from fiction. To derive a historical fact from available source and verifying its authenticity is an uphill task. However, the importance of mythology in history cannot be undermined. History and mythology together, help us understand and provide an entry into the inaccessible doors of values, shared ideals and varied perspectives that existed amongst the long-forgotten cultures as well as the people who inhabited the earth once. The identity of Jodha Bai has for long been a matter of continuous discussion among historians. The recent debate in the media whether Jodha Bai was the wife or daughter-in-law of Akbar has created fresh public controversy. The research article would examine the cinematic portrayal of Jodha in Hindi cinema through examining films Mughal-e-Azam & Jodha Akbar & serial Jodha Akbar, as well as the disputes that erupted at the time of their release. Since movies & serials that depict history have always been an essential source of influencing societal discourse, they play vital function since they bring alive the past & have the capacity to either refute prevalent beliefs or propagate certain views. This paper would be a probe into Jodha’s relationship with Akbar or as what relationship between Jodha and Akbar is defined in above mentioned movies & serial.
- Brendan Helm (WSU) - "Unbearable Freedom: Social Conformity in Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Nella Larsen's Quicksand"
- Literary works like Kate Chopin's The Awakening and Nella Larsen's Quicksand feature female protagonists that explore their own individuality and innate desire within the backdrop of a socially conforming society. Throughout both works the characters of Edna Pontellier and Helga Crane suffer tragic endings as a result of the expectations placed on them by surrounding characters and the conflicting views these characters have compared to both protagonists. This paper seeks to analyze the social conformity seen within both Chopin and Larsen's texts through the psychoanalytical lens of Erich Fromm's 1941 text, Escape from Freedom. Fromm's critical theory regarding an individual's place in a larger social role is an important social/psychological lens to analyze both of these novels through. Throughout Fromm's work he discusses key concepts of individual desire, society's desire for the individual, and how these concepts come into direct conflict, eventually leading the individual to experience intense feelings of isolation and powerlessness. My paper seeks to prove the connection between Fromm's work and Chopin and Larsen's novels. I look at Fromm's ideas regarding the "healthy" individual, internalized authorities and economic factors limiting individual desire, as well as Fromm's notions regarding the burden of freedom, and how something associated with individuality and personal desire can eventually lead both of these characters towards intense feelings of vulnerability and helplessness. The connection made between Fromm's work and The Awakening and Quicksand highlight the individual powerlessness that these two women endure. The strict racial guidelines, maternal and marital roles, and other social expectations placed onto these women signify Edna and Helga's powerlessness compared to their larger social surroundings.
- Kristine Watterson (WSU) - "Look At Me"
- Look At Me is an original creative non-fiction work, written by me. It is a story of a woman that is experiencing the phenomenon of becoming invisible as she ages. The story begins in the woman's fourties' and works backwards from there, to her thirties, twenties, and as a sixteen year old girl. Each decade the woman comes to know herself through her own eyes and the perceptions of her mother, husband, and others. Each decade brings a new awareness and challenge. This story is relatable for men and women, it transcends gender.
- Apeksha Gandotra (Amity University, India) - "Myth vs. Fact: Portrayal of Harba bai (Jodha) in Hindi Cinema"
-
Session 1C: Shepherd Union 312
- Brook Hutchinson (USU) - "'Not Queer Enough:' Influence of the Sexuality Binary on BI+ Individuals in Utah"
- Scholars have begun to explore the sexuality binary and the way it is experienced by and reinforced among bisexual individuals. However, extant research has not yet analyzed the experiences of bi+ individuals in heterosexual relationships, including those who have never experienced a non-heterosexual relationship. The current study seeks to fill this gap through a case study of bi+ individuals in Utah. Relying on in-depth interviews with sixteen bi+ identified individuals, this study explores the experiences of bi+ individuals engaged in heterosexual relationships and how these individuals define their sexuality and negotiate their identity. Preliminary analyses reveal unique experiences among this population, including feelings of invalidity from ‘not being queer enough’, lack of representation and inclusion within queer communities, religious influences that push participants into more socially acceptable relationships, and the often-unacknowledged intersection between asexuality and bi+ identities. In addition, many participants discussed experiences of ‘straight-passing’, as well as the ways in which they are made to feel like allies to rather than members of the LGBTQIA+ community. When analyzing the intersection of race with sexual identity, further findings reveal the unique ways in which bi+ research in Utah may center a white experience. Future research recommendations are included to encourage more racially inclusive study designs. I conclude with policy and program recommendations for queer support groups and universities that would work toward increasing inclusion of diverse populations of bi+ individuals.
- Jessi Ivie (BYU) - "Conflict and Community: Queer Identity in Post-War Japanese Cinema"
- Funeral Parade of Roses, written and directed by Toshio Matsumoto in 1969, raises interesting questions on a fractured identity portrayed through metafictional cinematography. By focusing on Eddie’s life, a transgender hostess on the rise, Matsumoto shows the subversive queer culture of Tokyo right on the cusp of Japan’s great social movement. Like Eddie is pulled between her personal ambition and secrets, the film is pulled between avant-garde and documentary styles, drawing the audience deeper into affective confusion and visceral violence. Ultimately, by showing us a fractured film starring a fractured identity, viewers are left to rely on Eddie’s controversial yet enchanting figure as a throughline across the film’s abundance of abstract themes. With his celebration of the unusual and queer, Matsumoto created this film to challenge the audience’s acceptance of normative forms and identities.
- Maddison Tenney (BYU) - "Belying Legitimacy: Jay Hulme and LDS Queerness"
- During the Covid-19 Pandemic, transgender author Jay Hulme stole a bible, devoured its pages, and found God. He met weekly on a park bench six feet from his local priest, found Christianity outside of culture, and connected with Christ through imperfect people and brittle bible pages. I will use the theoretical background of liberation theology, feminism, and queer religious ethics to explore how Hulme’s work expands the religious praxis of queer Mormonism. By understanding the implications of Hulme’s claim to divine legitimacy, his poetry expands the current understanding of how LGBTQ+ Latter-Day Saints balance the conflict between religious rejection and heavenly legitimacy.
- Brook Hutchinson (USU) - "'Not Queer Enough:' Influence of the Sexuality Binary on BI+ Individuals in Utah"
-
Poster Session: Shepherd Union 321
- Maria Argyropoulou (WSU) - "Sexualization of Women in Media"
- Since the birth of media, television, and Hollywood movies, women have been viewed as objects of admiration and possession according to their external appearance. As technology has progressed over the years, so did media inventions. For example, Instagram is one of the most recent media in our time where women are being judged and compared for their appearance and compete for likes from others. The impact that the use of those inventions has had on the younger generation's psyche and view of themselves has been significant. My research will focus on unveiling the experience of women in the Weber State community with different ethnic, economic, and age backgrounds and their interaction with media, and what are their views on sexualization in several forms of media thru conducting a survey.
- Michelle Morris (WSU) - "The Rape of the Land: Oil on Water and the Women of the Nigerian Oil Conflict"
- Helon Habila's novel Oil on Water gives a glimpse into how the Nigerian oil conflict has affected the land and the Nigerian people, dividing the country and throwing it into chaos while destroying the natural resources that people, plants, and animals need to survive. One way the novel illustrates the horrors of the Nigerian oil conflict is by using women to personify the Niger Delta. Many of the tragedies that affect the women in the novel are emblematic of how the landscape has been impacted by oil companies. However, Habila’s depictions, while impactful in terms of the novel, do little to acknowledge how real women have participated in the conflict, instead reinforcing the sexist attitudes that have left women out of considerations and deliberations for finding solutions to restore the Niger Delta. Habila casts women in supporting roles to the men who are the active participants in the story, but Nigerian women are enacting change in their communities despite the gender biases working against them through grassroots movements and protests.
- Shirley Paxtor (WSU) - "Perspectives on undocumented students in higher education"
- This article will examine Weber State University students' perspective towards undocumented students. How their personal identities and experiences effect the way they view undocumented students. What are the things that they know about undocumented student and have they ever met an undocumented student before. Are these thoughts about undocumented students come from real personal interactions with undocumented students. How does the students' experiences with being discriminated on campus effect how they view undocumented students. How does their intersectional identities (gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicities, etc.) affect the way they create campus culture for undocumented students.
- Sydney Stevenson (WSU) - "Discrimination in Healthcare on the Basis of Gender"
- Our presentation will be on how gender affects care or level of care in the health care field along with how that may affect a person's physical or mental health. We will also be exploring how certain genders or sexual orientations are disproportionally affected by discrimination.
- Maria Argyropoulou (WSU) - "Sexualization of Women in Media"
Session 2- 10:00 - 10:50 a.m.
-
Session 2A: Shepherd Union 320
- Maddison Tenney (BYU) - "Holy Disobedience Through the Ethics of Care in Marilynn Robinson's Gilead"
- The most common question in Marilynn Robinson’s Gilead is the application of the expansiveness of grace within Christianity, namely Calvin theology. This ultimate retelling of the prodigal son invites the reader to consider the requirements of a fully encompassing perspective of grace and individual worth, especially when it contradicts social, cultural, or legal structures. Within the frame of rural America in the 1950s, Robinson wrote a more nuanced and progressive faith than was commonly found within American Christianity then or today.
- Maddison Tenney (BYU) - Queer Liminality as the Key to Interiority in Woolf's The Waves"
- Woolf's seminal work, The Waves, utilizes internal dialogue to track external events. A literary experiment in the theories of impressionism, Woolf argues that reality is not the events that occur externally between people but it is the experience individuals create within their minds. Instead of capturing light with brushstrokes and contrasting colors, Woolf uses the theories of impressionism to depict reality in The Waves through a communal stream of consciousness. This paper utilizes the theoretical framework of literary impressionism to comprehend why Woolf achieves the ultimate goal of Impressionism in The Waves through Neville. As a distinctly queer character, his identity is foundational to his ability to see the intimate emotions of his friends. While heteronormativity prevents the rest of the group from achieving this level of external interiority, the liminality Neville navigates as a queer man allows him to truly see his friends' souls. Through him, queerness becomes intimately unifying instead of divisive.
- Ashton Welker (BYU) - "Lugar de Fala: Lessons on Generating Empathy from the Brazilian Favela"
- Do we have the right to tell stories from the perspectives of others who are different from ourselves? Or should we limit our creativity to only working within our own perspectives? Lugar de fala is a Portuguese term which addresses the idea of who has the right to speak for others from different backgrounds. Many authors and artists take liberties in writing characters whose life circumstances do not reflect their own, be it in terms of socioeconomic status, race, gender, etc., and many critics raise the question of whether or not this is an ethical practice. Geovani Martins is a young, Brazilian author whose short stories present a very raw and difficult-to-swallow depiction of life in the Brazilian favela—the life which he grew up living. However, like many other authors of human rights fiction, not all of his characters possess the same traits as he himself. In this paper I analyze comments about lugar de fala from an interview given by Geovani Martins as well as his short story, “Espiral,” a narrative about a young man from a favela who is discriminated against because of his appearance. Using Geovani’s own theory about lugar de fala, I analyze “Espiral” in terms of how it generates empathy for both those who are discriminating and for those being discriminated against. I end by calling readers to reflect on how reading and writing literature from the perspective of others in a respectful and loving way can create more empathy from individual to individual.
- Maddison Tenney (BYU) - "Holy Disobedience Through the Ethics of Care in Marilynn Robinson's Gilead"
-
Session 2B: Shepherd Union 316
- Catherine Butler (WSU) - "Give Me Liberty and Give me Singlehood: Redefining the Role of the Spinster in Twentieth-Century Women's Literature"
- Prior to the onset of the modernist era, women who had not married by the age of thirty were considered a threat or nuisance to the social and economic order of the day. The word “spinster” became a popular label used for women who did not or were unwilling to marry. Consequently, the literary spinster is often portrayed as unnatural, deserving of pity, unfulfilled, desperate, or, on the extreme end, repulsive and horrifying. The structure of late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century novels reinforced these unfavorable ideas of singlehood for women. Women who remained unmarried were deemed odd and queer, while marriage and abiding by the mores of society led to happiness for the heroines. In the early twentieth century, with the Women’s Rights Movement, the World Wars, and the rise of the middle class, the spinster archetype evolved toward a more modern, feminist understanding of women’s identities. Drawing on Barbara Pym’s Excellent Women, Sylvia Townsend Warner’s Lolly Willows, and Elizabeth von Arnim’s Father, my paper will argue that the spinster role was redefined by these writers in the twentieth century. I will review each novel’s techniques of concentration and narration to demonstrate how the protagonists gain liberty and personal independence by choosing to remain single. Examples include liberty gained by the characters exploring creative and artistic expression, pursuing professions and vocations, and finding self-determination in the private and public spheres.
- Kye Davis (BYU) - "Dancing Across Boundaries: exploring the expansion of women's roles in Brazilian Gaucho dance"
- I had the opportunity to conduct research on southern Brazilian cultural Dance at the beginning of this year. The project led to many discoveries on gender roles and women's participation in the cultural heritage of these dances. The project has also led to the unique participation of a woman in a traditionally masculine cultural dance—at the suggestion and encouragement of well-known Brazilian choreographers—that is being performed by BYU's International Folk Dance Ensemble on tour in Colorado.
- Mary Daylin Paul (BYU) - "Subtle Flexes: Symbols of Female Power in Sofonisba Anguissola's Portrait of Isabel de Valosim"
- Portraits of European women during the 15th and 16th centuries are, for the most part, a means of communicating to the world the wealth and power of her husband. Most male artists would emphasize feminine features and jewels, but they would leave their subjects devoid of a personality or any indication of intelligence. An Italian female artist, Sofonisba Anguissola, chose to paint King Philip II of Spain’s third wife Isabel de Valois with the power and intelligence these other portraits lack. In my paper, I highlight the artistic choices Anguissola makes to give Isabel de Valois a sense of intelligence and power as she is taking on her new role as Queen. I argue that though these choices are subtle, Anguissola is taking portrait customs of the day and changing them to create an image that shows Isabel de Valois’ power independent of her husband, and how she is much more than a symbol of his power.
- Becca Driggs (BYU) - "From Fjords to Fields: The Journeys of Early Swedish Mormon Women"
- Between the years of 1850 to 1920 over 10,000 Latter-day Saint women immigrated from Scandinavia to Utah settling Cities all across the state, from Saint George to Logan. While a few Scandinavian men made their places in the annals of history, the lives of these women continue unstudied. For example, the “Scandinavian Saints” portion of Utah’s History-to-go page includes the words “she” and “her” a mere 12 times compared to the 125 mentions of “he” and “his” (Papanikolas). For my research I transcribed over 750 pages of census data from the years 1860-1920 noting women born in Scandinavian countries and their American-born daughters. I researched these women in depth, and parceled out common trends: consumption of coffee, child-death from the harsh frontier conditions, the continuation of Scandinavian traditions, and participation in church and religious life. While each woman's experience with conversion, immigration, and settlement were uniquely their own, from this list I extracted four women that through combined biographical analysis articulate generally the lives of these women. As a result of this research, I located the burial place of two children while Eva Charlotta Andersson was in hiding for her polygamous marriage and am now working with the Orem City Council to create a plaque and garden commemorating the suffering these women experienced. This paper chronicles these women’s hopes, difficulties, and lives.
- Catherine Butler (WSU) - "Give Me Liberty and Give me Singlehood: Redefining the Role of the Spinster in Twentieth-Century Women's Literature"
-
Session 2C: Shepherd Union 312
- Rachel Lyons (BYU) - "An Analysis of Maria Martinez Abello's 'Entre los riesgos de amor sostenerse con amor: La Laureta'"
- My paper examines the play "Entre los riesgos de amor sostenerse con honor: La Laureta" by Maria Martinez Abello, who is a fairly unknown eighteenth century Spanish writer. I examine its themes, evaluate how women are depicted throughout the piece, and identify the meanings from the play that relate to women’s studies. My analysis of Abelló’s play emphasizes themes that relate to women’s studies, such as the depiction of female characters and the feminine experience described throughout. It answers questions like “how are the female characters of the play depicted? And, do these depictions demonstrate a feminist perspective of the female experience?” It delves into the overall themes of the work and identifies how they relate to women’s studies in either positive, negative, or neutral ways. The play deals with themes such as love, marriage, social class, leisure activities, and honor, and my analysis of these themes emphasizes how they affect the lives of the female characters, especially that of the main character, Laureta. All of these themes relate to the social and gender norms that affect Laureta’s experience as a woman in her place and time and deeply influence her experiences throughout the play. Overall, my analysis will highlight the female experience as depicted in the play and provide commentary on such.
- Emily Slater & Kadie Kunz (USU) - "Exploring female, non-binary, or genderqueer scientists' intersections of experience when engaging in science communication"
- Marginalized groups along racial, gender, and socioeconomic identities face barriers to both informal and formal science education in the dominant Western culture (Avraamidou, 2020). In STEM education and professional STEM fields there are many barriers to inclusion which are exacerbated for underrepresented and marginalized groups. Females, low-income individuals, Hispanic/Latino, African-Americans, and Native Americans are under-represented in most STEM post-secondary degrees and career paths (National Science Foundation, 2020; Stromholt & Bell, 2018). Researchers are focusing on finding innovative ways to integrate STEM education and challenge preconceptions of limited STEM identities. Mobilizing popular media and community building has potential to achieve this. Comic cons are a unique informal learning environment where diverse audiences who do not usually interact with traditional informal learning environments such as museums gather (Feinstein, 2017). Our work is situated in the perspectives of accessibility, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion to promote science communication via cosplay, an innovative informal STEM experience. We used a qualitative research design which included observing cosplaying scientists at comic con, conducting one-on-one in-depth interviews, and facilitating focus groups. Our broader project indicates that scientists used effective framing of messages, constructed narrative to connect with visitors, and felt pride in representing minoritized groups in science. For the purpose of this conference and future work, we explore the intersectional experience of participants who are scientists that identify as female, non-binary, or genderqueer to interpret their experiences of informal science communication.
- Jade Velazquez (USU) - "Microaggression, Is It a Compliment or an Insult?"
- As a student who grew up under mentors who excelled in academics, I lacked an understanding of the multiculturalism around me. In my senior year of high school, I took a diversity discovery course that opened my eyes to cultural awareness. An important topic that influenced the way I perceive the world was microaggressions. Not only does this paper talk about my experiences with microaggressions, but it also has the research behind this topic and how awareness about this word can help minority groups feel seen and heard. It also challenges some of the brightest mindsets about the word meditation and whether or not they have stated a microaggression before.
- Rachel Lyons (BYU) - "An Analysis of Maria Martinez Abello's 'Entre los riesgos de amor sostenerse con amor: La Laureta'"
Session 3- 11:00 - 11:50 a.m.
-
Session 3A: Shepherd Union 320
- Cayden Bro (BYU) - "Every Rose Has Its Thorn: Gendered Perpectives in Adriana Lisboa's 'Gloria'"
- Can a white woman tell a black woman’s story? Should authors be creating characters and narratives from backgrounds different from their own? The question of who can speak for whom has become ever more prominent considering questions about rising social inequalities, the effects of colonization, and concerns about cultural appropriation. The works of Adriana Lisboa, a prominent Brazilian author, present a potential answer to this question, in that she creates characters with lives very different from her own to explore the gray areas of life's experiences. Her novels and short stories focus on how important life events are often multi-dimensional, and she pushes readers to gain skills and insights that inspire introspection. In this paper I will analyze Lisboa’s comments in an interview she gave specifically about the role of literature representing others, along with her short story "Glória," which explores the detrimental effects of rape through the life of the working-class narrator, who confronts her abuser on his death bed 55 years later. In my analysis, I argue that Lisboa shows that no single experience is totalizing and that literature helps us explore our own doubts and questions about life in productive ways.
- Xana Furtado (BYU) - "A Book a Day Keeps the Doctor Away: Healing Toxic Masculinity through Sacolinha's Short Stories"
- The anecdote “boys will be boys'' and other subtle forms of toxic masculinity are instilled worldwide starting at a young age. Brazilian author Sacolinha addresses such toxic masculinity in his short stories “Eu já tive hemorróidas” [I’ve already had a hemroids] and “A valsa dos 15 anos” [The 15-year-old Waltz]. In “Eu já tive hemorróidas” he exposes the toxic effects of avoiding medical attention and throughout satirical comments unmasks the everyday phenomenon that jeopardizes male health worldwide. Meanwhile, in “A valsa dos 15 anos” a father’s attraction to his daughter and ultimate abandonment can be analyzed as a separate form of toxic masculinity. In this paper, I analyze the two short stories and their effectiveness in portraying the effects of toxic masculinity within the Brazilian society as well as how they affirm Judith Butler’s theory on gender performativity. I end employing excerpts of an interview with the author and analyze how he has used literature as a vaccine to eradicate toxic masculinity in his own life.
- Kyla Peterson-Cannon (WSU) - "Sapphic Violets and the Writing of Alice Dunbar-Nelson"
- This paper examines the use of violets as a queer-coded symbol in the writings of Alice Dunbar-Nelson, including her poetry and her personal diary.
- Cayden Bro (BYU) - "Every Rose Has Its Thorn: Gendered Perpectives in Adriana Lisboa's 'Gloria'"
-
Session 3B: Shepherd Union 316
- Mariah Hawkins (WSU) - "Feminism in War"
- In Redeployment, Phil Klay gives the reader short stories about war, and few of them include women in military positions. However, in stories such as “War Stories” and “Money As a Weapon,” we see women who’ve seen the combat zone. Using Looking for the Good War by Elizabeth Samet, professor at West Point, as a framing device, I want to identify aspects of the hyper-masculine culture of war and explore how women reconcile existing among them. I will evaluate the use of women in Redeployment as well as if and when they are allowed to be feminine. Further, I’d like to urge consideration that feminism isn’t just female based, but the repression of feminine characteristics and how those characteristics are treated by male soldiers in Redeployment. For example, in “Prayer in the Furnace” a Chaplin is seen as lesser for being a non-combatant because the trait is typically considered feminine.
- Sarah K Mayers (WSU) - "Second-Wave Reactions to Abortion Criminalization"
- My paper argues that the second-wave feminist movement’s decision to support legalized abortion was a reactionary response to the changes in the criminalization and control of abortion in the decades after the first world war. While many historians and intellectuals have analyzed the second wave's victories and shortcomings and how this affects us today, I have found none that apply the term "reactionary" to this movement. I apply this term specifically to the wave's response to abortion. This is critical to understand and characterize the movement correctly, especially in today's political environment in the aftermath of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Under a definition of reactionary by Louis Althusser, the second-wave feminist movement's position on abortion is reactionary in the way that it emerged in pure recognition, before discussions of ideology. This is evident in the fact that previous feminist movements had been ideologically opposed to abortion. As long as abortion was outlawed but rarely penalized, women were largely unconcerned with its legal status and even spoke out against its liberalization. It was only when abortion became much more dangerous and risky in the 1950s and 1960s that women began to take action in support of abortion's legalization. The earliest organizations for abortion emerged without ideological discourse, created by women in response to unpleasant and difficult experiences with abortion. They understood that abortion had once been a relatively safe, often legal procedure in the years before World War II and decided to take action after experiencing this shift in their own lifetime. The same understanding can be found in the earliest ideological works of the second wave, namely the Feminine Mystique. Understanding these experiences and women's reactions to such policy changes is critical given abortion's complicated legal status today.
- Lindsey Meza (BYU) - "Mujeres Latinas en Acción: Latina Pragmatism, Feminism, and Grassroots Activism in Chicago"
- Mujeres Latinas en Acción is a women 's organization based in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. After attending a National Mujeres Conference in 1973, Latinas decided to start a women’s organization in Chicago. This organization continues today despite cultural, religious, and financial pushback. Amidst multiple challenges and setbacks within the community and the broader movement for Chicana/o civil rights, this paper investigates how Mujeres Latinas en Acción survived and thrived in Pilsen. The answer to the research question posed above is that Mujeres Latinas en Acción intuitively moved within Pilsen, being “a politic born of necessity,” which enabled them to become a foundational pillar in the community and metropolitan Chicago. They utilized pragmatic feminism which combined their subjectivities as women of color, mothers, daughters, and partners committed to building and empowering their community through education, community outreach, and social services. This, I argue, accounts for their longevity, a rarity among similar grassroots organizations. While little scholarship exists surrounding Mujeres Latinas en Acción, this conclusion provides further insight into how Chicana Latina feminists intersected and responded to contemporary mobilizations like the Chicano Movement and Women’s Liberation. Chicana-Latina feminists commonly worked within community organizations in an attempt to better their community from within. Nevertheless, some within the Chicano Movement felt that “Chicanas were opposed to their own liberation” by pushing against gendered roles within the Chicano Movement. Through the organization’s grassroots activism with women and children, Mujeres Latinas en Acción formatted ideals from Women’s Liberation to challenge gendered cultural norms within Latino culture while also depending upon organic movement in the community, thus, allowing them to sustain their presence in Pilsen.
- Mariah Hawkins (WSU) - "Feminism in War"
-
Session 3C: Shepherd Union 312
- Colette Burton (BYU) - "Blood, Milk, and Pregnancy: Exegetical Semiotics in the Iconostasis of Agia Panagia Aglogaloussena"
- The beating heart of the Greek Chiot town Agio Galas has for millennia been below visitor’s feet, at the center of a winding cavern where two breast-shaped stalactites steadily drip milky white liquid to the cave floor – the reason for the town’s being and the town’s current name: Agio Galas. Holy Milk. Diverse accounts exist of miraculous interaction with this liquid, some even pre-Hellenic. With the advent of Christianity, the milk became associated with the Virgin Mary. Continuous throughout these narratives, though, is the theme of medicinality and healing. To access the site today, one has to enter through the Agia Panagia Agiogaloussena, a church built into the hillside within the entrance of the cave. The church, dedicated to the Virgin of the Holy Milk, features a bizarre iconostasis, where peppered throughout the whole program time are little swollen bellies. Miniature human figures, dragons, angels, even the male figures like Adam, almost every figure appears to be pregnant. The most prominent are the repeated angels, which despite being theologically sexless beings, appear with rounded stomachs. The Agia Panagia Agiogaloussena’s iconostasis, wholly tied to the Holy Milk, is a work of paradox and semiotic slippage. The pregnant creatures on the iconostasis coalesce into visuals ancient and medieval associations of the site as incarnationally significant for the health and fertility of women. With the cave’s chamber of the Holy Milk being a womb-like and, alternatively, a tomb-like space, when looked at in terms of Orthodox incarnation theology, these impregnated figures serve as powerful embodiments of miraculous conceptions and put into dialogue eucharistic entanglements of birth and death inherent to Christian salvation.
- Alexandra Carlile Butterfield (BYU) - "The Ancestresses of Christ: Female Role Models and Viewers in the Golden Miracle Altarpiece"
- The sixteenth-century Golden Miracle altarpiece in Dortmund, Germany is unique in that it features scenes not only from the life of Christ, his mother Mary, and his grandmother St. Anne but also includes Christ’s apocryphal great-grandmother St. Emerentia, who was only rarely featured i1n art. Previous scholarship has found that this altarpiece had many patrons, including women of the community, meaning that the messages of the paintings were meant for an audience of both genders despite being created for a Franciscan monastery. This presentation will explore how the lives of Christ’s female ancestresses served as spiritual role models for the male and female viewers; this creates a blurring and conflation of gender as both the Franciscans and laypeople were meant to identify with these holy women in their female roles as mothers and wives. In contrast with previous scholarship, which has described the altarpiece as containing a strictly chronological narrative, this presentation will identify the interactions between the altarpiece panels. These anachronistic interactions between Christ’s ancestresses support the idea of imitating the holy women of the past while also indicate how the viewer is meant to spiritually experience the altarpiece apart from the normal constraints of time and space. The tiered nature of this altarpiece presents a hierarchy to spirituality, in which virginity is valued above normal marriage and child-bearing; this makes sense because the primary audience was the celibate Franciscan friars. However, the very presence of Emerentia on the altarpiece helps indicate the essential role that the laywomen were meant to play in the spirituality and salvation of a community, and the interweaving of generations equates the laywoman’s role with the very life and salvation of Christ himself.
- Raissa Rohbock (WSU) - "Pregnacy in Prison: A legal review of the female prison experience"
- Prisons and other correctional institutions have historically been designed for the male offender, however, recent data reveals that a small percentage of those currently imprisoned are female, with many of those females being of childbearing age. Incarcerated females have experiences unmatched by their male counterparts, including menstruation, pregnancy, postpartum complications, lactation, and menopause. This study reviews legal cases related to pregnancy and birth in jails and prisons. the criminal justice system response, and review best practices for the treatment of menstruating, pregnant, postpartum, and menopausal inmates.
- Colette Burton (BYU) - "Blood, Milk, and Pregnancy: Exegetical Semiotics in the Iconostasis of Agia Panagia Aglogaloussena"