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Description
In this paper, I explore the ways in which the radical feminist activist group W.I.T.C.H. (Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell) uses the figure of the witch to establish a collective identity as a social movement by using the theoretical framework of identity work. I first draw on the existing scholarship surrounding the history of witchcraft, witch persecution, and radical feminism, and I then apply this history in conjunction with identity work theory to analyze the public persona of the recently revived W.I.T.C.H., specifically the group that brought this movement back: W.I.T.C.H. PDX. By looking at the strategies that W.I.T.C.H. employs in their protest, social media presence, website, and interviews, I examine how W.I.T.C.H. has historically and currently built a collective identity despite being a loosely-connected network of local groups.
ContributorsSchweigert, Laisa (Author) / Fahs, Breanne (Thesis advisor) / Swank, Eric (Committee member) / Kirsch, Sharon J. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Menstruation curricula in elementary schools presents an opportunity to better examine the early teachings about menstruation, as this is often the first time that young people learn about gender difference within school sanctioned curricula. A closer examination of this pedagogical moment from the perspective of educators helps us to understand the dissemination of the shame narrative present in menstrual socialization. Six teachers were interviewed about their experiences with administering the menstrual health curriculum in elementary schools across a large southwest metropolitan area. A discourse analysis of these interviews was completed in order to find themes of language used surrounding menstrual health curriculum. Themes of shame, legislative restrictions on sex education curriculum and personal narratives surrounding menstruation are discussed in addition to the current neo-liberal structure of public health curriculum. Future research into alternative modes of education on menstruation is proposed.
ContributorsGonzalez, Jaqueline Jean (Author) / Fahs, Breanne (Thesis director) / Grzanka, Patrick (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This essay explores the role of religion, science, and the secular in contemporary society by showing their connection to social and political legitimacy as a result of historical processes. In Chapter One, the essay presents historical arguments, particularly linguistic, which confirm science and religion as historically created categories without timeless or essential differences. Additionally, the current institutional separation of science and religion was politically motivated by the changing power structures following the Protestant Reformation. In Chapter Two, the essay employs the concept of the modern social imaginary to show how our modern concept of the political and the secular subtly reproduce the objectified territories of science and religion and thus the boundary maintenance dialectic which dominates science-religion discourse. Chapter Three argues that ‘religious’ worldviews contain genuine metaphysical claims which do not recognizably fit into these modern social categories. Given the destabilizing forces of globalization and information technology upon the political authority of the nation-state, the way many conceptualize of these objects religion, science, and the secular will change as well.
ContributorsBianchi, Joseph Anthony (Author) / Bennett, Gaymon (Thesis director) / Wetmore, Jameson (Committee member) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
In what has been coined the postfeminist era, successes of the second wave feminist movement have been distorted by sociopolitical and economic structures to proclaim that sexism and inequality no longer exist within liberal American society, and thus feminism as a movement is no longer necessary. While theoretical and quantitative work has examined women’s relationship with feminist identity, limited research exists on women’s subjective, qualitative accounts of feminist identity. Furthermore, there is a dearth of research on women’s subjective identification across the spectrum of feminist identity, particularly from non-college and non-white populations. Using thematic analysis this study critically analyzed 20 qualitative interviews from a community sample of women in a large Southwest city (Age range: 18-52; Mean age: 35.35, SD: 12.0). Narratives revealed four themes surrounding women’s identification with feminism and conceptions of sexuality: 1) Feminist self-labeling associated with a collective identity 2) Empowerment as a personal endeavor 3) Female empowerment and relationships with men and 4) Investments in femininity and sexual empowerment. This data supports the notion that feminist ideals of equality and agency have been distorted by postfeminist and neoliberal ideology to prevent women from identifying as feminists. Additionally, data postulate that this distortion has permeated ideologies of feminist women, thereby discouraging collective action for change.
ContributorsCarlyle, Madison S (Author) / Fahs, Breanne (Thesis advisor) / Swank, Eric (Committee member) / Przybylo, Ela (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017