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- Creators: Department of Psychology
Description
Language is powerful. The words we use define our perceptions. They label what we see and paint a picture for those with whom we are communicating. Words serve as heuristic when assigning value to an object, experience, or person. My thesis, Eye of the BeholdHer, focuses on the language used in American pop-culture to describe women. I comment on the dehumanization of women through the use of animal names used to describe personality, appearance, and genitalia, as well as the way the English language implies domestication and inferiority of women through the use of the certain words. Examples include, but are not limited to: bitch , chick, pussy, beaver, cougar, catty, heifer, old bat, mousy, foxy, and vixen. Eye of the Behold(her) reflects upon my observations and calls for social change. Eye of the BeholdHer is a call for action. It is time to make conscious word choices and realize the impact words have on shaping our society. It is time for us to empowHer through words.
ContributorsGibly, Sophia (Author) / Maxwell, Kathryn (Thesis director) / Ellsworth, Angela (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This thesis utilizes Black queer studies and speculative fiction as an analytical framework for examining issues of racialized homophobia and the policing of sexuality, specifically in the context of Lil Nas X and his music videos. By contrasting the evolution first of Lil Nas X himself and second of the reception to his "Old Town Road" and "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" music videos, this thesis reveals the intricacies of the relationship between predominant white, cisheteronormative, patriarchal, capitalist society and representations of Black queer sexuality. Through his music videos, Lil Nas X performs elements of Black queer worldmaking, futurity, and imagination in ways that actively disrupt normative notions of gender, identity, and sexuality in mainstream popular culture. Analyzing Lil Nas X’s music videos through the framework of Black queer studies and speculative fiction reveals how these elements function to subvert limited notions of humanism and freedom while cultivating the potential for alternative ways of being.
ContributorsWinner, Kylee (Author) / Van Engen, Dagmar (Thesis director) / Ward, Mako (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor)
Created2022-05