The discrimination of women is still a current topic around the world and specifically in the favelas in Rio de Janeiro. Furthermore, women are silenced and ignored in the work of NGOs and even...Show moreThe discrimination of women is still a current topic around the world and specifically in the favelas in Rio de Janeiro. Furthermore, women are silenced and ignored in the work of NGOs and even academic texts are often focused on the point of view of men in the region. In the following essay, the work of a local NGO AfroReggae Cultural Group is examined by discussing the respresentation and self- representation of women through the website, lyrics, and videos. Doing so, critical discourse analysis will be used, exploring the feminist theory of different scholars, such as Judith Butler and Joan Scott.Show less
This thesis aims to look into the effects of the 2001 American intervention - both military and humanitarian - in Afghanistan on Afghan women. More precisely, it will analyze the effects of the...Show moreThis thesis aims to look into the effects of the 2001 American intervention - both military and humanitarian - in Afghanistan on Afghan women. More precisely, it will analyze the effects of the discourse around women used by the United States to justify their invasion on the agency of local women.Show less
The role of women in late nineteenth century American literature as a reflection of the position that women in America had leading up to women's suffrage.
This thesis compares a book by Mary Wollstonecraft to a book by Rebecca Solnit. Both books are related to feminism and their depiction of feminism will be explored. As Wollstonecraft's book was...Show moreThis thesis compares a book by Mary Wollstonecraft to a book by Rebecca Solnit. Both books are related to feminism and their depiction of feminism will be explored. As Wollstonecraft's book was written in 1792 it will show the earliest notions of female independence, this will then be compared to a book written in 2014 by Solnit. It will look at whether feminism has progressed in any way, and if the issues raised by Wollstonecraft are still seen as relevant by Solnit over two hundred years later.Show less
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that many research papers, books and articles have been written about Jane Austen. Ever since Mary Lascelles put Austen studies firmly on the map with her...Show moreIt is a truth universally acknowledged, that many research papers, books and articles have been written about Jane Austen. Ever since Mary Lascelles put Austen studies firmly on the map with her 1937 publication Jane Austen and Her Art, there have been ongoing debates about Austen, led by academics like Janet Todd, Deirdre Le Faye, and David Selwyn. One of these debates is about whether or not she should be called a (proto)feminist writer, and authors such as Miriam Ascarelli, Margaret Kirkham, and Claudia L. Johnson have contributed a lot to this subject. This thesis aims to show that Austen was a radical author for her time, who displays some very proto-feministic views in her novels. To prove that Austen was a proto-feminist author, this thesis will analyse Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, Pride and Prejudice and Northanger Abbey, and relate these novels to the views and opinions of one of the first proto-feminists, Mary Wollstonecraft, written down in Vindication of the Rights of Woman.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
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The purpose of this dissertation is to establish to what extent the wolf and the hunter in Little Red Riding Hood stories have, over time, developed into complex characters that will allow for a...Show moreThe purpose of this dissertation is to establish to what extent the wolf and the hunter in Little Red Riding Hood stories have, over time, developed into complex characters that will allow for a wide variety of masculine role models. To achieve this, four versions of the tale have been analysed and compared: “Le Petit Chaperon Rouge” by Charles Perrault, “Rotkäppchen” by the Brothers Grimm, “The Company of Wolves” by Angela Carter, and Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George. This dissertation is meant as an addition to the existing feminist discourse on gender and fairy tales and the theoretical framework exists mainly of historical context to Perrault’s version of the story, Judith Butler’s theory of gender as a construct, Alexander Boon’s definition of the hero figure as masculine role model, and Riki Lane’s views on the relation between nature and nurture. Concluded, these male role models have become more complex, but they still offer only a limited array of masculine role models accepted by contemporary mainstream culture. It is important for this to change and more research into this topic is advisable.Show less
This essay will focus on the ways in which the house, and indeed the right to own property, shaped female experience in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1843), The Spoils of Poynton (1897) and Howard’s...Show moreThis essay will focus on the ways in which the house, and indeed the right to own property, shaped female experience in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1843), The Spoils of Poynton (1897) and Howard’s End (1910). The relationship between houses and female power will be explored through three chapters. The first will focus on The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and will examine the relevance of the house as a physical space within women’s lives. The second will look at The Spoils of Poynton in the context of female homelessness, shedding light on the importance of the female home in wielding power, as women without property are left disenfranchised throughout, as well as the precarious nature of female inhabitance of the home. The third and final chapter will examine Howard’s End in light of this. Women, able to take full ownership of the home, are able to exert control over their environment and exercise a relatively high degree of independence. Howard’s End, then, I will examine in terms of legal female ownership of the house and female inheritance. This essay will examine the role of the house in female agency within the novel, and how these novels emerge from, and form part of, the shifting political, social and legal context of the 19th Century.Show less
Focusing on second-wave feminism, this thesis explores the representation of gender and the expression of the predominant feminist ideas in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness (1969),...Show moreFocusing on second-wave feminism, this thesis explores the representation of gender and the expression of the predominant feminist ideas in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), Joanna Russ’s The Female Man (1975) and Pamela Sargent’s The Shore of Women (1986).Show less
In this thesis, I am going to interrogate what might be meant by ‘feminism’ in the 1810s, what Austen might have understood by it, what we now understand by it and how we might apply those ideas to...Show moreIn this thesis, I am going to interrogate what might be meant by ‘feminism’ in the 1810s, what Austen might have understood by it, what we now understand by it and how we might apply those ideas to Austen’s fictions. I shall argue that, although Austen uses the rather conservative genre of the courtship novel, or according to Marilyn Butler, the conservative partisan novel, she employs this genre to subversively express her radical ideas (Butler 3). I shall explore the idea that Austen rarely made her views explicit in her work, due to the prejudice that was attached to feminist opinions at the time due to the life story of Mary Wollstonecraft; I shall trace the effect of Wollstonecraft’s biography on Austen in the next chapter. By investigating different aspects of the family in Austen’s novels, I shall demonstrate how Austen did express her ‘feminist’ opinions through her works, albeit subversively. In particular, I shall examine the weakness of authority figures in her novels. The weakness of these authority figures allows Austen’s heroines to exert more power and therefore have a greater sense of their own agency. I shall further argue that Austen employs the weakness of authority figures in her novels to inspire more feminist behaviour in her heroines, who are not the ‘perfect’ image of Georgian femininity but are nevertheless, as is clear to the reader, favoured over the other characters by Austen. I attempt to show that Austen’s ‘feminist’ tendencies can be seen in her praising her heroines beyond all other characters while these are the characters that display the most agency and therefore are seen to possess ‘masculine’ properties.Show less
Since the beginning of the 1980s, much debate in the jurisprudential literature on freedom of speech has been about the (alleged) right to produce and publish pornography. Law professor and...Show moreSince the beginning of the 1980s, much debate in the jurisprudential literature on freedom of speech has been about the (alleged) right to produce and publish pornography. Law professor and feminist Catherine A. MacKinnon produced an interesting argument to justify censorship: pornography itself silences women (and we are allowed to silence silencing speech). This thesis seeks to investigate this normative defence of the 'silencing of the silencing', particular in the form promulgated by Rae Langton from the 1990s on. It argues that Langton and other feminists are right to conclude that free speech implies more than a mere 'right to locution' -- there must also be a right to be heard. Yet, it puts into question the premise that that fact alone could justify a censorship. That usually constitutes an offence against the spirit of autonomy, one of the main reasons to accept free speech in the first place.Show less
In the past decades, great improvements have been made in relation to the societal position of women. However, non-Western women artists are still forced to face double colonization due to the...Show moreIn the past decades, great improvements have been made in relation to the societal position of women. However, non-Western women artists are still forced to face double colonization due to the application of patriarchal and Orientalist discourses in relation to the interpretation of their art, and the artists themselves. Since the 1980s, Chinese women artists have experienced increased recognition both in the mainland and internationally, however, they are still not freed from orientalism and patriarchy. This research focuses on the reality of China and—through close reading—examines the interviews with two Chinese women artists, Chen Lingyang and Lin Tianmiao which are then juxtaposed with claims of scholars, art critics, and curators. By incorporating the insights from theories of feminism, postcolonialism, and intersectionality, the presence of structural discourses can be revealed and used to identify ongoing oppression directed towards Chinese women artists. The thesis aims to contribute to the discussion about Chinese women artists and to challenge this oppressive reality which can potentially lead to an effective change in terms of avoiding patriarchal and Orientalist interpretations of these artists and their works.Show less
