In Wilkie Collins’s Heart and Science, gender is handled very carefully and intentionally. The women within this novel are characterized into two categories: sexually inexperienced and intellectually provocative. Women in the novel that represent the ideal English woman, such as Carmina, are presented as sexually inexperienced and full of compassion for animals. The ideal woman was child-like in her sexual inexperience and naivety towards topics easily understood by men. Meanwhile, women who represented the New Woman, such as Mrs. Gallilee, are presented as intellectually provocative and cruel. The New Woman was a woman who did not conform to societal expectations of women in the 19th century, and Collins’s interpretation of the New Woman as void of compassion reflects the public tensions against the insertion of women into male-dominated fields during the Women’s Rights Movement. This strain is integral to understanding the insurmountable pressures placed upon Victorian women in a society, such that society would dissect her choices and presentation regardless of which category she fell in.<br/><br/> Both the ideal woman and the New Woman in Wilkie Collins’s “Heart and Science” are repeatedly compared to children and animals, exposing the degraded stance of women within nineteenth-century society. Women were viewed as having lesser intellectual and emotional capabilities than their male counterparts, resulting in the association of women with other “lesser” beings. Collins’s negative portrayal of the New Woman and the pedophilic sexualization of the ideal woman represent how the Victorian woman was “vivisected” by patriarchal society. The meticulous and nonconsensual dissection of a woman’s entire being, from her sexuality to her intellectual capacity, resulted in women identifying with vivisected animals and thus resulted in a strong feminine presence in the Anti-Vivisection Movement. <br/><br/>The connection between women, the Anti-Vivisection Movement, and female sexuality provides context for the success of the Women’s Rights Movement. Victorian women stood against vivisection because they understood what it was like to have their bodies be used without their consent, and they understood the battle between men’s desires and women’s rights to their bodies. Women also identified with being picked apart by society, as a woman’s worth lay in her physical appearance and her sexual and intellectual reputation. Through the Anti-Vivisection Movement’s success, women realized that they could insert themselves into scientific conversation and succeeding at helping those who are voiceless. The traction from the Anti-Vivisection Movement carried into the fervor for the Women’s Rights Movement, because women stood together in a way that had never been done before and rejected all preconceived notions of their status in society.

This thesis examines the current polarization of news media, specifically written journalism, either in newspapers or on news websites. Americans increasingly get their news from polarized sources, and that is leading to a large divide in information. This issue is also exacerbated by political idealogy. Furthermore, I explore how the traditional business model of advertising-based revenue is leading to more polarized news coverage. To combat this, I offer interventions for news organizations, including the importance of journalistic ethics and the possibility of more news organizations transferring to nonprofit status, which has gained traction in recent years. Access to accurate news and information is essential in a functioning democracy, and if polarization and issues in news continue, it will be harmful to America as a whole.

The rigid hierarchical social structures that dictated nineteenth-century English society were capped at the municipal level for anyone who was not an Anglican citizen of Britain. Rather than shirk this exclusion, many communities who fell outside of the upper echelon of society mimicked this practice internally. One such example of this adoption was the Jewish community in Britain; in order to be accepted into aristocratic Britain, a handful of generationally wealthy Anglo-Jews conducted a campaign to elevate themselves across the Victorian era through demonizing their less assimilated Jewish brethren. In 1828, Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters were granted parliamentary access, and the absence of this ability shot to the forefront of concern in Jewish High-Society. What ensued was an attempt to mold their Jewishness into a form as close to Protestantism as possible, and a campaign to separate their community from the vast majority of Jews who were not Anglo-born. In an effort to distance themselves from the less palatable Jews, England's most privileged Jews placed perpetuations of antisemitic stereotypes upon other Jews in order to show their demonstrable difference. Anglo-Jews, successfully, made the case that the form of Judaism which they practiced was a more refined version of the exotic savagery that was the other type of Judaism. The influx of Eastern European refugees in the 1840s fleeing pogroms and antisemitic legislation aided Anglo-Jews in making the case for their separation from Ashkenazim. By othering, their non-anglo counterparts, the highest class of the Jewish society in Britain mimicked the British colonial mentality in verbalizing and specifying their superiority.

1. Across modern literature focusing on Victorian views of animals, scholars have observed that Victorians compare non-European people, women, and children to animals via anthropomorphization or the attribution of human characteristics to an animal. It is crucial to look at non-Europeans, women, and children because they represent a Populus that Victorians perceived as needing to be civilized. During this time period, colonization by Britain was rampant, women were questioning the validity of their societal roles, and children needed to be a successful generation for the future of Britain. The Victorian novels, Heart and Science and The Island of Doctor Moreau both provide fascinating examples of anthropomorphization in entirely different ways. Heart and Science takes place in the British metropole and merely fantasizes about anthropomorphization while The Island of Doctor realizes that fantasy on a remote island controlled by a French scientist who turns animals into humanized Beast People. Analysis of these novels allows readers to see how Victorians fantasized about anthropomorphization and how that connects back to their need for control and dominance. Furthermore, the various scholars brought up in this thesis discuss how non-Europeans, women, and children were all alike compared to canines, birds, and primates across Victorian literature and art. These scholars begin to point out the anthropomorphization that occurred in Victorian society and literature, but they either downplay the role of anthropomorphization or fail to address it. This failure leads to an inability to see the full subtly of British dominance over people regarded as undisciplined and could lead to ignorance of how long anthropomorphization has existed.

For immigrants around the world, the United States represents hope for a new life and new opportunities. Colleen Vesely, Bethany Letiecq, and Rachael Goodman, in their article “Parenting Across Two Worlds: Low-Income Latina Immigrants’ Adaptation to Motherhood in the United States” provide examples of how real-world Latinx immigrant mothers view their experience in the United States. Many of the stories they include tell idealized versions of the American dream, what all people hope for when they immigrate to America. The immigrants they interviewed commonly talk about how they want to create a better life for their children and how by creating a better life for them it made the entire struggle worth it. Vesely, Letiecq, and Goodman do not just focus on the positives of immigration, they also explore the different barriers they must overcome in order to even try and achieve the ideal immigration experience they dream of. Cristina Henríquez perfectly embodies both the hopes and struggles of immigrants in her novel The Book of Unknown Americans (2015) by using the viewpoints of multiple immigrants to tell their specific immigration stories. This project uses Vesely, Letiecq, and Goodman’s article about the challenges of Latinx immigrant mothers’ experiences in the United States as a basis for my argument. In this thesis I postulate that motherhood, as it others women, has a negative impact on the ability of these Latinx immigrant mothers to create a place for themselves and feel a sense of belonging as depicted in Cristina Henríquez’s The Book Unknown of Americans (2015).

Colonialism is the practice of conquering lands of already established individuals for the<br/>greater good of Western civilization. These actions are often rooted in the idea that the ways of<br/>the indigenous people are almost primitive in comparison to the ways of the West. Many forms<br/>of modern-day oppression are rooted in the disastrous acts against marginalized groups during<br/>colonial eras. In discourse relating to colonialism, it is necessary that the topic of the sexualization of<br/>Native groups are mentioned. Sexualization can be referred to as the act of sexualizing both<br/>humans and objects that are not intended to be innately sexual.<br/>Many literary texts were written during the nineteenth century expose the trends of<br/>sexualization towards indigenous peoples. More specifically, Heart of Darkness brings light to<br/>colonialism and provides insight into the European man’s sexualization for the Native woman.<br/>Within the text, the sexualization for the Native Congo woman is undeniably present all<br/>throughout the novel. Within the novella, the main character, Marlow, is infatuated with many<br/>aspects of the Native culture. He takes a particular interest in the land, when describing the land<br/>he uses verbiage such as “impenetrable” to describe lands that have yet to be discovered by<br/>Westerners. He describes the ways in which he no longer finds interest in lands that have been<br/>“penetrated”. These sexual undertones of virginity used to describe the Native land can be<br/>compared to that of a Native woman. Various aspects of the Native culture were sexualized in<br/>this similar manner, the sexual perspective they had on the Native women was so strong that<br/>they viewed all aspects of the Native sexually due to their linkage to the Native woman. This<br/>thesis serves to address the sexual connections made between the land and culture of the Congo<br/>to the Native woman. Many scholars praise the author for including a Native woman of power<br/><br/>within the text, however, this thesis contradicts these claims and analyzes the ways in which this<br/>The native woman is only powerful due to the European male gaze.<br/><br/>to how Africans within the congo were treated during their colonial era. The text provides<br/>insight into the unhealthy environments the Africans were forced to live in. They were forced to<br/>eat hippo meat and many physically looked as if they were on the verge of death while their<br/>white counterparts were dressed in luxury. Additionally, there was carelessness for the bodies<br/>of the Africans. Many were oversexualized and taken advantage of, due to the power systems<br/>placed upon them they were unable to deny any advances even if they wanted to. These systems<br/>of oppression are still in place, literary analysis of the remnants of colonialism can be found<br/>through twentieth and twenty-first-century texts.

The media often portrays and the public often percieves white women and women of color politicians experience feminist obstacles, such as the masculine-feminine double bind and being dehumanized in the same way. Many of these representations of women of color politicians in society do not incorporate the impact of intersectionality and confining gender schemas; therefore, women of color politician’s experiences are often lumped together with that of their white women counterparts. This phenomenon ultimately contributes to the persistence of color-blind racism in the United States, which negatively effects the life outcomes of women of color politicians and women of color in general. In effort to help lessen the effects of color-blind racism locally and in government, some tools on how to reflect on one’s own biases are provided and avenues for change are proposed.

The goal of this research was to analyze the impact of consumer behavior on the sustainability of the fast fashion industry, specifically in regards to the framework of the Triple Bottom Line. First, a review of relevant literature investigating the three aspects of the Triple Bottom Line (environmental, social, and economic) as it pertains to the fast fashion industry was conducted to provide context for this research. Research methods utilized scholarly articles and journals along with companies’ CSR reports to determine the course of development of the fast fashion industry over time. Additionally, the impact of consumer behavior was investigated and linked to trends observed in the production and business practices of the industry over time. Based on the analysis of the influence of past consumer behavior on the industry, it was clear consumers play a major role in the industry and its sustainability in terms of the Triple Bottom Line. This suggests that the unsustainability of the fast fashion industry is due in part to consumer behavior and the retailers themselves, which is important to understand for the industry going forward as it aims to improve overall sustainability.

The goal of this research was to analyze the impact of consumer behavior on the sustainability of the fast fashion industry, specifically in regards to the framework of the Triple Bottom Line. First, a review of relevant literature investigating the three aspects of the Triple Bottom Line (environmental, social, and economic) as it pertains to the fast fashion industry was conducted to provide context for this research. Research methods utilized scholarly articles and journals along with companies’ CSR reports to determine the course of development of the fast fashion industry over time. Additionally, the impact of consumer behavior was investigated and linked to trends observed in the production and business practices of the industry over time. Based on the analysis of the influence of past consumer behavior on the industry, it was clear consumers play a major role in the industry and its sustainability in terms of the Triple Bottom Line. This suggests that the unsustainability of the fast fashion industry is due in part to consumer behavior and the retailers themselves, which is important to understand for the industry going forward as it aims to improve overall sustainability.