A prominent aspect of traditional Japanese dance is that it contains parts or dances that are called “male” or “female” that can be danced by dancers of either sex. This study analyses the parts...Show moreA prominent aspect of traditional Japanese dance is that it contains parts or dances that are called “male” or “female” that can be danced by dancers of either sex. This study analyses the parts called “male” or otoko-furi and “female” or onna-furi within yosakoi dance, a modern style of Japanese folkdance through movement analysis and questionnaires. The research question is as following: What are the features of otoko-furi and onna-furi within yosakoi dance, and do these parts resist or affirm gender stereotypes? It becomes clear that it is hard to define otoko-furi and onna-furi, even though the parts contain contrasting movements. Furthermore, contrary to traditional dance the gender of the body of the dancer matters for the execution of the part. This forces dancers to conform their dancing part to the sex of their body, and affirm gender stereotypes rather then resisting them.Show less
Anxieties about writing and privacy are often at the heart of Edith Wharton’s fiction. In the two works discussed in this thesis, Wharton’s early novels The Touchstone (1900) and The House of Mirth...Show moreAnxieties about writing and privacy are often at the heart of Edith Wharton’s fiction. In the two works discussed in this thesis, Wharton’s early novels The Touchstone (1900) and The House of Mirth (1905), private letters written by women acting outside the domestic sphere, a woman writer and an adulterous wife, play a central role. Wharton uses these letters to explore the boundaries between the private and public spheres and to ask questions about the position of woman writers at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, whether they can function in the public realm and make themselves heard, or are destined to remain in the private sphere and be silent. The principal female characters in The Touchstone and The House of Mirth are, in a sense, both “authors” who are unable to break free from the limitations of their lives. In spite of their moral superiority, they remain subordinate to men who misread their writing, with disastrous consequences. Although Wharton criticises the male-dominated society of early twentieth-century America, she suggests that woman writers had better stayed within their domestic confinement, and, as a consequence, that private letters by women had better be burnt than published.Show less
It has been said to write what you know and literature has made use of this fact in no uncertain terms. Especially the film industry, and within that the romantic comedy genre, tell stories of...Show moreIt has been said to write what you know and literature has made use of this fact in no uncertain terms. Especially the film industry, and within that the romantic comedy genre, tell stories of everyday lives. Girl meets boy, they fall in love, they have a fight, they make up, they get together or get married and we laugh, or die of embarrassment at the impossible situations they get themselves into. These are scenes we all know too well. Romantic comedies have been a part of not only our modern culture but they also date back to at least the early modern English periods where Shakespeare entertained the masses. In our modern film culture, romantic comedies seem to be all the rage. Hollywood is popping out one after the other and they seem to have great success all over the world. Due to the fact that romantic comedies make use of a great amount of stereotyping (Neale & Krutnik, 1990), they make interesting cases for gender specific sociolinguist analysis. And that is what I intend to research: Language and gender in dialogue between head male and head female characters in romantic comedies. And also due to the developments that have occurred during the feminist and post feminist periods, I will compare some language features from 1960’s romantic comedies to the early 2000’s. The research will be based on a theoretical background in gender-specific sociolinguistics given by Lakoff (1995), Spender (1989), and Meyerhoff (2006). I will also consult film theoretic literature on romantic comedies given by Neale and Krutnik (1990) and Thompson and Bordwell (2010) to place my research in context. The research data will consist of evidence and examples from fifteen 1960’s romantic comedies, and fifteen of their early 2000’s counterparts.Show less
The artist-as-archivist is not a new concept. Artists have been dealing with the archive for some time, mostly employing personal or found material. There is a small group of artists that works...Show moreThe artist-as-archivist is not a new concept. Artists have been dealing with the archive for some time, mostly employing personal or found material. There is a small group of artists that works with fictional archives, meaning that the archives they produce are made from scratch. These archives do not necessarily represent actual events but rather point towards issues surrounding the archives that seem problematic. This thesis will look at three of these fictional archives and bring them in connection with postmodern archival theory. This theory advocates a more open and active archive, and in this context it seems possible to discuss fictional archives and their implications. Aspects such as identity, minorities, production of knowledge, Institutional Critique, trauma and the writing of history will be considered. As the three main case studies will serve The Fae Richards Photo Archive (1996) by Zoe Leonard, Fauna Secreta (1985) by Joan Fontcuberta and Pere Formiguera and The Atlas Group (1989-2004), initiated by Walid Raad.Show less
This thesis focuses on the discourses on women and conflict in the context of the conflict of 2012 in Northern Mali. There are various actors involved in this conflict: the United Nations, the...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the discourses on women and conflict in the context of the conflict of 2012 in Northern Mali. There are various actors involved in this conflict: the United Nations, the Dutch government, the soldiers on the ground, local women, local women’s organizations,independent researchers, and the occupying groups. The main question I’ve answered is ‘What are the perspectives that various actors involved in the Malian conflict have about the role of gender, women and the conflict of 2012, and what do these tell us about the effectiveness of the gender policies of MINUSMA?’. Analyzing these different discourses, it is clear that the stories of the different actors are disconnected. Only with better communication between all actors involved, effective implementation of gender policies can be achieved.Show less
This thesis explores the correlation between gender roles and the use of the high rise pattern in declarative sentences, and whether the High Rising Terminal is an indicator of insecurity, as...Show moreThis thesis explores the correlation between gender roles and the use of the high rise pattern in declarative sentences, and whether the High Rising Terminal is an indicator of insecurity, as Lakoff (1973) suggests. The Introduction gives an overview of the field and the relevant issues and literature and the concepts of gender roles (particularly the phenomenon of the ‘power woman’) and the High Rise are explained. The Methodology for the research consists of two tests. First, five minutes of speech of twenty women in Dutch media were analysed for frequencies of the End Rise. The two women who displayed the highest and lowest frequencies were then subjected to further research (with transcribed speech samples consisting of ten minutes) to investigate the nature and context of their End Rises and whether these End Rises constitute occurrences of the High Rise. The results for both tests, which show that there is little correlation between the High Rise and assumed insecurity, are presented in the Results chapter. In the Conclusion, the results are discussed in relation to the research questions and the implications of the research and its results are also discussed.Show less
Until this moment the presence of female friendship, in contrast to male friendship, in Italian literature has been very rare. That is why in this thesis the topic of female friendship in Italian...Show moreUntil this moment the presence of female friendship, in contrast to male friendship, in Italian literature has been very rare. That is why in this thesis the topic of female friendship in Italian literature will be examined, focusing on one novel in particular, “L’amica geniale”, which lends itself perfectly to analyse this phenomenon. In the first chapter of the thesis the authoress Elena Ferrante and her writings will be introduced. This is necessary because her novels have been published very recently. The second chapter is dedicated to the narratological analysis of the novel, which is necessary to get a complete overview. The analysis of “L’amica geniale” will be able to show how female friendship is related to the process of personal identity and how this is expressed in Italian literature. This is why in the third chapter the focus will be on the Bildungsroman, which is characteristic for exposing the personal development of an individual. Comparing the novel to the narrative model of the Bildungsroman will make it possible to examine which aspects and elements of the Bildungsroman are presented in “L’amica geniale”. This will give the opportunity to discuss how female friendship influences the personal development of an individual and to examine how this is exposed in the novel and in Italian literature in general. In the fourth chapter the aspects of female friendship in the novel will be examined. In the conclusion all the statements and arguments will be put into perspective.Show less
This thesis examined whether gender-based stereotypes played a role in the campaigns of female candidates who were running for a seat in the Senate of the State Florida in the years 2012 and 2014....Show moreThis thesis examined whether gender-based stereotypes played a role in the campaigns of female candidates who were running for a seat in the Senate of the State Florida in the years 2012 and 2014. It argues that gender-based stereotypes did not play a role in the campaigns of the female candidates. The female candidates did not campaign differently from the male candidates.Show less
This research aims to investigate the effects of gender and ethnicity on language use and how social contexts (e.g. in- and intragroups) affect the way people express their social identies with...Show moreThis research aims to investigate the effects of gender and ethnicity on language use and how social contexts (e.g. in- and intragroups) affect the way people express their social identies with respect to their gender and ethnicity. This research was inspired by Brewer's Optimal Distinctiveness theory (1991), Brown & Levinson's Politeness theory (1978), West & Zimmerman's theory on 'Doing Gender' (1987) and Giles' Communication Accommodation theory (1979).Show less
The ‘Comfort Women’ issue is an ongoing discourse that continues to shape the unstable relations between Japan and Korea. Since the 1990's, Korean women who were coerced into sexual slavery by...Show moreThe ‘Comfort Women’ issue is an ongoing discourse that continues to shape the unstable relations between Japan and Korea. Since the 1990's, Korean women who were coerced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II have come forward to fight for recognition of the war crimes committed by Japan. The contestation of various nationalist historical remembering however has sidelined feminist issues regarding the brutality women faced in order to prioritize state nationalism. This article extends McClintock’s critique of the term ‘post-colonialism’ and historical linearity to analyze the restraints of a singular embedded history that does not allow space for other historical experiences to be legitimized. This article examines how the state, organizations, and 'comfort women' survivors propagate a specific historical rhetoric in the redress movement against Japan where they are constrained to a post-colonial ‘condition’ that does not look beyond the nation nor takes into consideration the harm done to women’s’ bodies themselves.Show less
In dit onderzoek wordt er gekeken naar de verschillen in genderrollen tussen animeseries uit de jaren ’80 en recente series rond 2010 op basis van vier case studies. De verwachting was dat huidige...Show moreIn dit onderzoek wordt er gekeken naar de verschillen in genderrollen tussen animeseries uit de jaren ’80 en recente series rond 2010 op basis van vier case studies. De verwachting was dat huidige animeseries sterk geseksualiseerd zijn ten opzichte van series uit de jaren ‘80. De uiteindelijke conclusie is dat genderrollen iets zijn veranderd, en dat recente animeseries inderdaad sterk geseksualiseerd zijn, maar ook dat de mannelijke identiteit problematisch is geworden.Show less
Deze scriptie onderzoekt de representatie van de man in hedendaagse Chinese films. Door middel van films poogt dit werkstuk een interpretatie te maken van de man en mannelijkheid in de huidige...Show moreDeze scriptie onderzoekt de representatie van de man in hedendaagse Chinese films. Door middel van films poogt dit werkstuk een interpretatie te maken van de man en mannelijkheid in de huidige Chinese samenleving.Show less