Write the Ship • A Journal of Student Writing 2022-2023

WRITE THE SHIP

A Journal of Student Writing

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Cristina Rhodes

Student Editor: Sydney Kunkel

Student Associate Editor: Pierce Romey

Committee Members:

Alaina Conaway

Cynthia Dodd

Emily Dziennik

May Holm

Josiah Horst

Allen Peterson

Cover:

Study Buddy by Josiah Horst

Jenny Russell

Megan Williamson

Shippensburg University

2022-2023

Write

Student Editor's Preface

Reader,

The student work you are about to indulge yourself in is some of the best our campus has to offer. Shippensburg University students work extremely hard to be successful, and these select few are no different. Therefore, I wish to congratulate these students for their exemplary work. It is no small feat to be given publication status in our university’s journal.

Write the Ship is Shippensburg University’s undergraduate journal of student academic writing. The publication highlights student accomplishments within the previous academic year. My amazing editing team has worked tirelessly on selecting the best of the best student essays and research to be published in this year’s edition of Write the Ship.

I want to take a moment to thank my talented editing team: Pierce Romey (Associate Editor), Alaina Conaway, Emily Dziennik, Megan Williamson, Josiah Horst, Jenny Russell, Allen Peterson, May Holm, and Cynthia Dodd. I could not have created this astonishing piece of work without you all. It has been an honor and a privilege to work beside you. I would also like to thank our faculty advisor, Dr. Rhodes. Throughout the process of creating Write the Ship, Dr. Rhodes has been a constant source of comfort and understanding. Without her help and dedication to our work, I honestly do not think we would have reached our current level of success. In addition, Jessica Kline deserves all the recognition. Due to her consistent effort and expertise, we were able to pull together the beautiful piece of literature you are about to read. To the faculty of Shippensburg University who graciously and excitedly submitted student work from this past academic year, thank you. You have encouraged amazing students and helped them create academically excellent pieces of literature. The guidance and enthusiasm you have provided these students will never be forgotten.

Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank everyone who submitted to this year’s edition of Write the Ship. Thank you for your contribution and persistent strive for academic excellence. It was an honor for our team to read your work. Please never stop exploring your academic goals. You are outstanding.

Sincerely,

Sydney Kunkel Student Editor

Committee Members' Prefaces

Pierce Romey, Associate Editor

This semester working as the Associate Editor for Write the Ship was one that I was nervous about starting. I was not really sure what exactly would be in store for the ten of us. However, after getting to work with Sydney and the rest of the team, all of my worries went out the window. This entire process has been able to go so smoothly because of the impeccable teamwork that I witnessed during our working hours. All of the work that we received from the undergraduate students on campus made the decision process even harder. Every writer that submitted to the journal should feel proud that they made our decision such a challenge. I could not be more proud of what we were able to accomplish, and I hope that you enjoy the 2022 - 2023 edition of Write the Ship

Emily Dziennik - Working on Write the Ship this semester has been such a valuable and rewarding experience. I loved working with this amazing team of people, and I am so glad we were able to put together such a wonderful display of student work from right here on campus. Thank you to this entire team, and to all of the students who submitted their writing this year!

Alaina Conaway - I have to admit, taking on Write the Ship in my final semester was daunting, but I am so grateful for the experience. I could not have asked to work alongside better editors. To help cultivate such an outstanding journal has been an irreplaceable, enriching experience. Thank you, students, for submitting stellar work; we hope you submit in the future!

Megan Williamson - Being a part of Write the Ship has been an extremely rewarding and invigorating process that I was honored to be a part of. Reading the student works and connecting with academic literature was wonderful. This years Write the Ship Journal will be superb because of the amazing work of my peers and the head editors’ devotion and work ethic. I am proud to be an editor for Write the Ship.

Allen Peterson - It has been great working with this amazing group on Write the Ship. Thank you to everyone who submitted and good luck to anyone who plans to submit in the future.

May Holm - This has been a great opportunity to read and edit student papers. Everyone should be proud of the work they put into this journal, writers and editors alike.

Josiah Horst - I am so happy to work on Write the Ship alongside this exceptional and talented group of individuals. I am delighted that I had the opportunity to read many remarkable papers on numerous topics! A big congratulations to all the students whose work got accepted into this incredible journal, and thank you to everyone who submitted their work! This years Write the Ship academic journal is going to be something special!

Jenny Russell - Working on Write the Ship in my first year on campus has been an interesting and beneficial experience to say the least. It was great to work alongside an experienced editorial team and learn from who I would consider to be some of the best students on campus. Thank you to this fabulous team, and thank you students for submitting!

Cynthia Dodd - It was an honor to work on Write the Ship. I look forward to doing this again.

Student Writings

Provost's Award: College of Arts & Sciences

Silent Suffering: Assessing the Adolescent Male Mental Health Crisis through Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Narrative Therapy, and the Epistolary Form

by Alaina Conaway

ENG 460: Senior Seminar

Dr. Michael Bibby

Assignment:

The purpose of this assignment is to analyze a primary text in its relation to crisis in literature. This essay should be thesis-driven, and it should encapsulate the research conducted throughout the semester.

The United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 3,518 adolescent males aged ten to twenty-four died by suicide in 1999. As of 2021, the CDC estimates that 5,560 adolescent men, again aged ten to twenty-four, died by suicide. Due to its gradual growth, the increase in suicide rates among adolescent males often goes unnoticed by the general public. In response, many contemporary authors of young adult literature have informed their works with an understanding and expression of characters struggling with mental illness. In 1999, the same year the United States saw 3,518 adolescent male suicides, Stephen Chbosky released his debut novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

This contemporary, young adult, epistolary novel follows fifteen-year-old Charlie as he navigates his freshman year of high school. Plagued by severe anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Charlie struggles to make friends, come to terms with his past, and become an active participant in his life. Through his freshman year, Charlie unearths his deeply-rooted trauma and experiences emotional upheaval via a series of letters addressed to his unnamed friend. I will examine how Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower responds to the adolescent mental health crisis through the protagonist’s critical self-examination, reflection, and development through narrative therapy. I contend that the progression of Charlie’s writing as it relates to his personal and social development functions to deepen the understanding of mental health in adolescent males as presented through the epistolary form.

Narrative therapy stems from the broader field of narrative medicine and has gained traction over the last

thirty years. According to Hutto et. al, “Narrative therapy, developed by Michael White and David Epston in the early 1990s, stands out in seeking to empower individuals and groups by getting them to look again at their habits of self-narration and to explore the possibility of telling new stories about their individual or collective lives,” (311). With this framework, narrative therapy strives to help individuals recognize harmful or negative thought patterns and behaviors and repair them accordingly. Due to its recent development and employment, clinicians and patients remain skeptical of narrative therapy’s efficiency. However, narrative therapy incorporates elements of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), one of the most effective and widelyused contemporary forms of therapy.

Moreover, narrative therapy allows further accessibility due to its self-reflective nature. This facet of narrative therapy benefits adolescent cognitive development in particular, as author David Moshman highlights, “Cognitive development often continues long beyond childhood, especially in cognitively rich and challenging environments that encourage active engagement and reflection,” (203). The trials of adolescence progress as teenagers invest in their relationships with themselves and others; whether platonic, romantic, or familial, navigating relationships during adolescence requires extensive engagement and reflection of the developing mind. Thus, narrative therapy can alleviate the stresses associated with personal and social growth. The positive processes and effects of narrative therapy inherently aid the individual, but they also exert influence on others. Hutto et. al add, “A major way narrative therapy combats the effects of life-limiting stories is through externalizing

conversations,” (311). As the reach of narrative therapy extends, so do the positive impacts, but society often discourages mentally ill adolescents from sharing their experiences. One of the most discrete and widespread methods of externalizing the influence of narrative therapy amongst adolescents is through literature.

Due to its epistolary composition, Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower exemplifies the externalization of mental illness in adolescent males through narrative therapy. As the novel opens, Charlie establishes his naivety and confusion in respect to his inner world. At only fifteen, Charlie’s fragile and volatile emotional state impacts his perception of his circumstances; it ebbs and flows with his personal development. In his first letter, he confides, “I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be,” (Chbosky 2). Charlie’s explicit candor regarding his headspace echoes the awkward and underdeveloped communicative capabilities of adolescents. Moreover, his transparency about his emotional state and the consequent confusion he experiences parallels that of adolescent readers. After divulging the details of his late friend’s suicide and the death of his Aunt Helen, Charlie admits, “I don’t know why I wrote a lot of this down for you to read. The reason I wrote this letter is because I start high school tomorrow and I am really afraid of going,” (Chbosky 6). This confusion in response to the death of loved ones highlights the dismissive attitude towards emotional expression ingrained in adolescent males. However, Charlie’s silent admittance to his fear authorizes a vulnerability with which adolescent males can relate. By including this range of emotion in his short expository letter, Charlie establishes a sense of relatability and empathy for the audience.

One of the key concerns surrounding adolescent mental health representation in young adult literature is its accuracy because it is written by adults. In her article discussing the evaluations of adolescent mental health through literature, author Alison Monaghan identifies the primary signifier of well-executed representation as, “The protagonist/narrator accurately reflects the knowledge of someone his age under the circumstances in which he finds himself,” (39). In the earlier passage, Chbosky paints Charlie’s clouded articulation of his emotional state through simple, yet age-appropriate language. Although Charlie undergoes significant change, Chbosky correlates Charlie’s personal growth and understanding in respect to his circumstances. For example, after Charlie tells his parents about his sister’s abusive boyfriend, he recounts, “My sister is still mad at me, but my dad said I did the right thing. I hope I did that, but it’s hard to tell sometimes,” (Chbosky 28). He grapples with his actions because of the disturbance they have caused in his household,

and he blames himself for his sister’s emotional distress. This rumination fosters Charlie’s anxiety at home, leading him to, “[wonder] if he has problems at home, which leads him to think about how many other people have it worse than he does–a thought that manifests itself repeatedly throughout the rest of the narrative,” (Monaghan 36). Charlie’s anxieties surrounding his home life and persistent reflection cause him to minimize the severity of his mental illness, as well as the environments that influence it. Chbosky’s inclusion of self-doubt and denial of the adolescent male in respect to mental health further highlights the accuracy of the novel’s representation of it.

As Charlie divulges more details about his family dynamics, the audience discovers that his mental illness extends beyond general anxiety and depression. In his letter recounting his family’s Thanksgiving, Charlie remarks that he enjoys family holidays because, “[he is] very interested and fascinated by how everyone loves each other, but no one really likes each other,” and “the fights are always the same,” (Chbosky 56). Charlie derives a sense of comfort despite the implications that his family is disagreeable and argumentative. By finding comfort in the chaos of his dysfunctional family, Charlie reflects the survival tactics and mindset adopted by adolescents. In revealing his family’s dysfunction, Charlie allows the addressee of his letters to, “maintain a discrete distance while absorbing potentially valuable information,” (Berger 14). Berger’s argument applies both in the identification with Charlie, his circumstances, and his past traumas. Consequently, Charlie invites adolescent readers to assess and reflect on the situational and environmental factors that influence his emotionally dysregulated state, equipping them with the tools to evaluate their own experiences.

Charlie continues to evaluate his interpersonal relationships and their impact on his mental health, constantly reverting to the relationship with his late Aunt Helen. Throughout the novel, Charlie discusses the deep love he holds for Helen and the guilt he feels for her death. In his final letter, Charlie recalls a dream following an intimate moment with his friend, Sam: “My brother and sister and I were watching television with my Aunt Helen. Everything was in slow motion. The sound was thick. And she was doing what Sam was doing. That’s when I woke up. And I didn’t know what the hell was going on,” (Chbosky 204). Charlie’s dream serves as a catalyst for his nervous breakdown that follows just a few pages after. His fragmented recollection of memories surrounding his sexual assault accurately reflect those of abuse victims, and his disoriented state further illustrates how his developing mind struggles to comprehend the complex emotions he feels. Charlie processes this revelation as it occurs, incorporating the adolescent reader to process

it with him. Children’s literature professor and author, Kimberley Reynolds, explains, “Despair and depression constitute mental wounds: they may be both responses to and forms of trauma,” (90). In applying Reynold’s argument to Charlie’s revelation, the audience further understands that Charlie’s mental illness manifests as a response to his past traumas. Though his external circumstances detriment his psychological state, they are not the sole cause. Charlie’s disoriented reaction to his late aunt’s abuse parallels that of the adolescent male who has experienced similar traumas, fostering feelings of self-doubt, guilt, and shame.

Soon, the overwhelming guilt and shame consumes Charlie, throwing him into a depressive spiral. As he devolves, he writes, “I just don’t want you to worry about me, or think that you’ve met me, or waste your time anymore. I’m so sorry that I wasted your time because you really do mean a lot to me and I hope you have a very nice life because I think you deserve it. I really do. I hope you do, too. Okay, then. Goodbye,” (Chbosky 206). Due to his deteriorating psychological state, Charlie’s relationships with those around him, in this case the addressee, suffer. His incessant apologizing and fears of wasting his addressee’s time reveal his self-hatred and self-blaming; Charlie believes his existence is burdensome, wasteful, and insignificant. Though worrisome, Charlie’s poor emotional state mirrors the quiet suffering many adolescent males experience. Moreover, Charlie’s apologies and selfdeprecating remarks signal a distinct aspect of young adult literature in which, “characters frequently blame themselves both for what happens to them and for the way they feel,” (Reynolds 91). Charlie’s final epistle illustrates not only his self-blame for his trauma and its subsequent effects but his implications that they are burdensome. Charlie’s letter reflects his internalized self-loathing and feelings of helplessness; however, he cannot ask for help from anyone for fear of burdening them. This silent self-sabotaging behavior serves as another identifying factor for adolescent male readers who, like Charlie, have been conditioned by their environment to show no emotion and resist seeking help. Accordingly, Charlie’s behaviors and reactions correspond to his emotional turmoil, allowing adolescent male readers to further explore circumstances they can relate to in a contained setting.

Although his anxiety and depression dominate Charlie’s epistles and document his steady psychological decline, the act of writing substitutes his need for verbal processing. Charlie often writes his letters as though the events are still unfolding before him, indicating his fixation on his distress. During an anxiety-inducing acid trip, he notes, “I’m going to write it down because maybe if I do I won’t have to think about it. And I won’t get upset,” (Chbosky 96).

His quiet admittance to the internalization of his problems aligns with that of the afflicted adolescent male. Charlie expresses his need to purge his spiraling thoughts in order to avoid the emotional and physical repercussions. Charlie fails to comprehend that the feelings he evades are processed through his writing. According to scholar Angel Matos, Charlie, “focuses on the internalization of his problems, turning to writing as a therapeutic way of soothing the tension between the pressures of the outside world and his inability to cope with them,” (87). Charlie sparingly mentions his psychiatrist, and the entries that include him are vague; the psychiatrist’s presence, or lack thereof, highlights the stigma surrounding mental illness, especially in the cases of adolescent males. Thus, Charlie’s journaling acts as a temporary, though efficient, solution to his repressed emotions. With Charlie as the messenger, Chbosky offers adolescent male readers the act of writing as an accessible and discrete alternative to active therapy.

Furthermore, Chbosky emphasizes the impact of narrative therapy on the adolescent male in respect to processing repressed emotion. Though Charlie discloses his anxious and depressed thoughts, he often expresses them with hesitation. On the verge of his total breakdown, Charlie thanks his addressee, describing them as, “The kind of person who wouldn’t mind receiving letters from a kid. The kind of person who would understand how they were better than a diary because there is communion and a diary can be found,” (Chbosky 206). Despite the epistle’s grim tone and implications, Charlie admits that writing letters as opposed to diary entries grants him a feeling of belonging, an insecurity with which he struggles for the entirety of the novel. Even as he bids his addressee goodbye, Charlie finds comfort in knowing that his emotions and experiences are heard, providing him the closure he so desperately seeks. Author Marie Dücker explains that, in the case of Charlie, “the writing of letters can, moreover, fulfill a psychotherapeutic purpose and help the writer face suppressed emotions of the past,” (162). Chbosky’s employment of the epistolary form further reinforces the efficiency of narrative therapy in its application to adolescent male mental health. Expressing his emotional upheaval through letters permits Charlie, and the adolescent male, to articulate the overwhelming manifestations of mental illness that otherwise go unaddressed. Chbosky allows the adolescent male to process Charlie’s repressed traumas through the narrative, lending them the opportunity to reflect on their own suppressed emotions through the safety and privacy of writing.

Throughout the novel, Chbosky maintains the importance of discretion amongst adolescent readers, especially that of the adolescent male. Due to its

turbulent nature, adolescence often strips teenagers of the privacy to which they cling; in a society that diminishes adolescent men for expressing emotion but chastises them for seeking help, privacy proves to be a precarious force. In his introductory letter, Charlie discloses, “Please don’t try to figure out who she is because then you might figure out who I am, and I really don’t want you to do that. I will call people by different names or generic names because I don’t want you to find me. I didn’t enclose a return address for the same reason,” (Chbosky 2). He identifies the addressee as his unnamed friend, simply addressing them as “you.” The direct address inclines the reader to assume the role of the addressee, pulling them into the story as it unfolds. However, Charlie clarifies that all names, including his own, have been changed so as to maintain privacy. These alterations distance the reader, but they function to soften the landing of Charlie’s emotionally charged epistles. This separation between the audience and Charlie allows for the, “exploration of this complex problem by the teenage population,” (Berger 14). The novel serves as neutral ground on which adolescent readers can evaluate both Charlie’s experiences and their own of similar accord. Although Charlie’s anonymity eliminates a factor of character identification, his desire for discretion permits the audience to analyze his words without bias.

Chbosky depicts the mentally ill adolescent male through his protagonist’s self-reflection and stream of thought, but the novel’s epistolary form functions as an opportunity for the reader to deepen their relationship with the narrative. Ensuring an environment free of judgment is an essential component to the epistolary novel’s efficacy. In his opening letter, Charlie pleads, “I just need to know that someone out there listens and understands and doesn’t try to sleep with people even if they could have. I need to know that these people exist,” (Chbosky 2). Charlie’s pleas for someone to hear and validate his thoughts permits a sense of trust between him and his addressee. Chbosky inserts Charlie’s trust in his reader’s hands, leaving them to decide whether or not they will accept the responsibility. By creating a trusting atmosphere free of judgment and preconceptions, Chbosky invites adolescent readers to, “gain insights into themselves and those around them that may have positive long-term social and emotional benefits,” (Reynolds 89). Through Charlie’s pleas for compassion, Chbosky turns his audience’s focus inwards; it is within the reader’s jurisdiction to nurture the safe and nonjudgmental environment he lays before them. Adolescent readers navigate the complex emotions and experiences that Charlie recounts from a detached, yet understanding point of view. As a result, Chbosky enables adolescent readers with the skills and

mindset to guide themselves and their peers through similar encounters.

The novel’s epistolary form highlights the emotional breakthrough of the adolescent male, allowing the audience to cultivate a deeper understanding of themselves through Charlie’s emotionally-charged entries. Throughout the novel, his letters drive his psychological development, leading to his breakthrough in his final letter: “I was crying because I was suddenly very aware of the fact that it was me standing up in that tunnel with the wind over my face… And I was really there. And that was enough to make me feel infinite,” (Chbosky 213). Charlie’s realization fulfills one of his initial goals of becoming an “active participant” in his own life. His past traumas and mental illness do not disappear because of this revelation, rather the epistles allow Charlie to accept the psychological and situational factors influencing his emotional state. Dücker argues, “Charlie has matured in the course of the novel and has gained an understanding of his surroundings, which has been primarily made possible through the act of writing,” (171). Charlie alludes to the obsessive rumination of his negative thoughts and behaviors prior to writing his letters, which inhibit both psychological and social development. While writing can foster dwelling, Chboksy employs it as a form of silent externalization; the epistles allow Charlie a controlled, quiet place to express, reflect, and accept his thoughts, behaviors, and interactions with those around him.

At the start of his journey, severe anxiety, depression, and PTSD plague Charlie’s thoughts. In his final epistle, Charlie discloses the profound effect writing has had on him through the novel’s progression. When signing off, he remarks, “I’m not sure if I will have the time to write any more letters because I might be too busy trying to ‘participate.’ So, if this does end up being my last letter, please believe that things are good with me, and even when they’re not, they will be soon enough,” (Chbosky 213). Charlie’s acknowledgement that “things” may not always be good is imperative to readers’ understanding of the narrative and themselves. He recognizes that healing and growth are not linear concepts, which, “is made possible through Charlie’s attachment to writing, which aids in the regaining of his emotional stability as well as his understanding of why he is both happy and sad, as he wonders in his first letter,” (Dücker 173). Charlie’s persistent reflection and writing teaches him to cope with his mental illnesses and their impact on his daily life. His unique perspective offers readers insight on shared adolescent experiences, allowing them to identify and process their own circumstances in respect to their mental health.

Stephen Chbosky employs the epistolary form in The Perks of Being a Wallflower as a method of narrative

therapy to articulate and externalize the adolescent male mental health crisis. Despite its primary focus on the adolescent male, Chbosky’s representation of mental illness and its impact on everyday life in young adult literature promotes a deeper understanding of the adolescent mental health crisis as well as the benefits of narrative therapy. Twenty-three years after its initial release, the themes and topics that Charlie explores in the novel continue to resonate with adolescent readers. The Perks of Being a Wallflower has grown to be a cult classic in the world of young adult literature because of its accurate, accessible, and relatable portrayal of mental illness. This representation in young adult literature will not eradicate nor prevent the adolescent mental health crisis; in fact, nothing will. Nonetheless, novels like The Perks of Being a Wallflower provide a discrete, safe space for adolescents and adults alike to further explore, understand, and improve the mental health of adolescents.

Works Cited

Berger, Paula. “Suicide in Young Adult Literature.” The High School Journal, vol. 70, no. 1, 1986, pp. 14-19. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/40364966.

Chbosky, Stephen. The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Gallery Books, New York, 1999.

Dücker, Marie. “Form and Emotion in Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” Writing Emotions: Theoretical Concepts and Selected Case Studies in Literature, edited by Ingeborg Jandl et al., Transcript Verlag, 2017, pp. 159-174. JSTOR, https://www.jstor. org/stable/j.ctv1wxt3t.11.

Hutto, Daniel D., Brancazio, Nicolle Marissa, and Aubourg, Jarrah. “Narrative Practices in Medicine and Therapy: Philosophical Reflections.” Style, Penn State University Press, vol. 51, no. 3, 2017, pp. 300-317.

Matos, Angel. “Writing through Growth, Growth through Writing: The Perks of Being a Wallflower and the Narrative of Development.” ALAN Review, vol. 40, no. 3, 2013, pp. 86-97.

Monaghan, Alison. “Evaluating Representations of Mental Health in Young Adult Fiction: The Case of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” Narrative and Medicine, special issue of Enthymema: International Journal of Literary Criticism, Literary Theory, and Philosophy of Literature, vol. 16, 2016, pp. 32-42.

Moshman, David. “Adolescents and Their Teenage Brains.” Human Development, Karger, vol. 54, no. 4, 2011, pp. 201-203.

Reynolds, Kimberley. “Self-harm, Silence, and Survival: Despair and Trauma in Children’s Literature.” Radical Children’s Literature, Palgrave MacMillan, 2007, pp. 88-113.

Student Reflection:

The following paper discusses the adolescent male mental health crisis by thorough analysis of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I examine and evaluate the psychosocial development of the protagonist, Charlie, as he navigates his first year of high school during a resurgence of long-repressed traumatic memories. Additionally, I assess the practice of “narrative therapy” in its effectiveness on Charlie’s psychological state as well as its contribution to the novel’s composition. Further, I argue the novel’s epistolary form functions to deepen the understanding the mental health of adolescent males. I contend that The Perks of Being a Wallflower, narrative therapy, and the epistolary form cooperate to emphasize and respond to the adolescent male mental health crisis.

Provost's Award: College of Business

Work-Life Balance and Women’s Career Participation and Advancement

by Taylor Gemmell

HON 440: Business and Society

Dr. Wendy Becker

Assignment:

Research Project. You will complete a two-part project, consisting of a class presentation and a research paper. This project gives you a chance to apply the theories and concepts that you have learned in this class. Search the primary academic literature using library databases (i.e., EBSCO, JSTOR, PsychInfo) to gain background for your research. Analyze a topic regarding ethics, sustainability, or social responsibility in organizations. The written paper should be twenty double spaced pages – you have to be concise. General criteria for evaluating the written report include:

• Clarity and organization of ideas (structure of the paper);

• Content (quality of research effort);

• Evidence of independent research, and application of issues discussed in class; and

• Professionalism (executive summary, appearance, grammar, spelling).

Abstract

Work-life balance policies are frequently used by organizations to attract employees and to help reduce work-family conflict. These policies have many benefits for both the organization and its employees, including lower turnover, increased productivity, lower stress, and higher life satisfaction. Although these policies are intended to help, they can serve as a major barrier to women’s career participation and advancement. Four main themes relating to work-life balance and women’s career participation and advancement are explored throughout this paper including issues with advancement, conflicting identities, issues with company/ industry culture, and solutions to the problems created by work-life balance policies. Two case studies are also used to illustrate the benefits of effective work-life balance policies. It is essential that companies implement successful work-life balance policies in order to remain competitive in today’s business environment and to help men and women achieve career equality.

Keywords: women, work-life balance, work-life balance policies, work-family conflict, flexible work arrangements, career equality, career participation, career advancement

Work-Life Balance and Women’s Career Participation and Advancement

Work-life balance is a buzzword that companies big and small are utilizing to entice potential and current employees to work for them. Corporate programs that support work-life balance see benefits such as increased

productivity, lower turnover, and better employee mental and physical health (Kalev & Dobbin, 2022). Although the benefits of these programs and the practice of work-life balance itself is very well known, the impact of work-life balance on particular groups of professionals is not immensely clear. The purpose of this research is to examine work-life balance and its impact on women’s career participation and advancement. Work-life balance occurs when work cultures and structures are perceived as supporting a person’s ability to thrive in family and personal life roles while also progressing in a career (Kossek & Lee, 2022). Individuals who experience work-life balance do not feel that they have to compromise on any nonwork identities, such as a parent or caregiver, to succeed at work, and they also would not have to give up participation in personally meaningful activities, such as hobbies or socializing with friends, to advance their careers (Kossek & Lee, 2022).

Work-life balance is essential for both men and women in the workplace in order to foster a healthy personal and work life. However, work-life balance policies and procedures, such as a flexible work schedule or remote working, are often used more by women than men. This can be attributed to the gender norms that women put others before themselves and that men are the family breadwinners, as well as that women are more likely to take on family and caregiving responsibilities as compared to men (Bowels, Thomason, & Bear, 2019). As explained by Padavic, Ely, and Reid (2020), this is known as the work-family narrative

and is used by executive leadership to explain women’s lack of success. It can be defined as the fact that many high-level jobs require long hours and women’s family commitments conflict with these required long hours, thus demonstrating why women are forced off of their career paths and their climb up the corporate ladder (Padavic et al., 2020). Moreover, as a result of the flexibility stigma, which is the negative perception that professionals who use flexible work arrangements for family or caregiving reasons are not as committed to work, women are more adversely impacted than men since women are more likely to use accommodations (Kossek & Lee, 2022). This stigma contributes to the lack of women who participate in full-time careers and also the absence of women in top leadership positions.

As shown throughout this paper, work-life balance policies and procedures can have unfavorable impacts on women’s career participation and advancement because women are more likely to partake in an unequal share of family and caregiving responsibilities over men. This causes women to derail their careers by exiting the workforce, or to stall their advancement by using flexible work options that stigmatize women and essentially inhibit their careers even if they remain in the workforce. Accordingly, organizations should strive to attain career equality, which is the degree to which both women and men have equal access to and participation in career opportunities and experience equal work and nonwork results that are both intrinsic, such as job, family, or life satisfaction, and extrinsic, such as pay or promotions (Kossek, Su, & Wu, 2017). This paper will examine four main themes related to work-life balance and women’s careers, including issues with advancement, conflicting identities, issues with company/industry culture, and solutions to the problems created by work-life balance policies that negatively impact women’s careers. While the benefits of work-life balance are clear, the harmful influence such policies and procedures can have on women’s careers must be addressed so both women and men can experience the benefits of work-life balance while also experiencing career equality.

Issues with Advancement

Women’s issues with advancement in the workplace have existed for many decades and likely even longer, with the earliest example being during World War Two. During the war, there was a labor shortage for U.S. employers and the government which prompted a record number of women to enter the paid workforce (Runté & Mills, 2006). As a result, it would be expected that women would start to be active participants in the workforce starting from their wartime labor participation, however, this is not the case. Instead, women’s participation in the workforce during wartime

was viewed as an expansion of their duties of being a homemaker, which created tension between traditional norms of women as mothers and wives with the realities of wartime work that was done by a large number of women (Runté & Mills, 2006). Thus, this is one of the most illustrative examples of the earliest incidents of women failing to continue to participate in the workforce, much less advance in the workplace, and also shows the existence of work-life balance issues at a very early stage. This same story continued throughout the rest of history and is still in existence today.

Accordingly, traditional norms of male and female roles in society are something along the lines of this: the male occupies the work sphere, and the female gets the house (Runté & Mills, 2006). While this sounds extremely outdated, the reality for women professionals today is not one of stark advancement. In fact, in a study done on working women in Cyprus, only 8 out of 154 women who were surveyed had top management positions, and of the 154 women, 47.4% were in the first line management level, 15.6% were in the middle management level, 5.2% were in the top management level, and 31.8% were in positions below the first line management level (Michailidis, Morphitou, & Theophylatou, 2012). Although women have made considerable progress in society since World War Two, this same narrative of women’s lack of advancement exists today in the form of women being underrepresented in top leadership throughout organizations small and large.

One consistent factor that keeps women out of top management levels is work-life balance policies. Although this seems counterintuitive, this is the actuality for many working women. One reason for this is that when childcare falls through or when partners’ work schedules change, women are more likely to quit their jobs, which sets their tenure back to zero when they take a new job, resulting in a delay of opportunity for promotion (Kalev & Dobbin, 2022). Due to the lack of work-life balance policies in many organizations, women are forced to quit their jobs when this happens, thus keeping women from being able to work toward promotion and tap into top management positions.

Furthermore, work-life balance policies that companies do have in place also contribute to the lack of women’s advancement. When women move into part-time jobs or reduce their working hours as a way to provide more work-life balance, they experience serious career consequences that reinforce gender inequality structures in the organization and within their family (Chung & van der Horst, 2018). This can be attributed to the idea that when women are working part-time or significantly less hours, they are not viewed as serious candidates for a promotion, and

these arrangements are not suitable for the demands of top management positions, therefore effectively keeping women below the middle management level. In addition, women are often more encouraged than men to take accommodations, and in a study of a global consulting firm, employees who took accommodations, all of whom were women, were stigmatized and their careers were derailed (Ely & Padavic, 2020). Since women take advantage of work-life balance policies more often than men because they are more likely to have a greater share of familial and caregiving responsibilities, these policies have become stigmatized and viewed by others as women not being as committed to their jobs. For example, in an interview with a female professional, she recounted how at a job interview she was asked if she was engaged or was planning to be engaged soon, to which she answered no, but later learned that women who had children or who were planning to have children were rejected from the job because they were viewed as not being as committed as they needed to be (Michailidis et al., 2012). As a result, work-life balance policies, when not implemented correctly, contribute immensely to keeping women in lower-level management positions, making innocent intentions a harmful reality.

Consequently, the perception of women as professionals must also be considered to fully understand their lack of advancement in the workplace. A study was conducted by van Esch, Hopkins, O’Neil, and Bilimoria (2018) that examined 253 individuals who responded to a survey where they read a job description and candidate profile and made decisions whether or not to hire the candidate for the job after examining their profile. As a result of this study, moderately qualified women were perceived as significantly more risky than moderately qualified men for senior leadership positions, and “highly qualified women were more than 8 times more likely to be selected for a senior leadership position than moderately qualified women, whereas highly qualified men were less than 4 times more likely to be selected than moderately qualified men” (van Esch et al., 2018, p. 924). This demonstrates that women are more likely to be perceived as risky compared to men, and in order to be perceived as less risky, they have to have outstanding qualifications. This contributes to women’s lack of advancement because they must have stellar credentials to break into senior leadership as compared to men. The reasoning for women to be perceived as more risky for top leadership positions can most likely be attributed to bias, as well as the fact that women are more likely to take accommodations to achieve better work-life balance, which causes them to be viewed as less committed to their jobs and thus more risky to the organization.

Also, since women do take more accommodations, they are less likely to have stellar credentials compared to men since they may reduce their working hours and take time off, which thus limits their advancement to top leadership positions. Overall, work-life balance policies provide numerous benefits to both men and women, but when they are not evenly promoted to both men and women and do not incorporate opportunities for advancement and promotion, these policies can serve as a monumental barrier to women’s advancement in the workplace.

Conflicting Identities

Society instills stereotypical identities for women and men starting during childhood. Little girls are encouraged to play “house” with baby dolls and a play kitchen, while little boys are encouraged to play with army men or Legos. This fosters a sense of identity, starting from a young age, that girls will grow up to be homemakers and boys will grow up to be breadwinners. While stereotypical identities are rapidly changing today, most women who work full-time are the main caregivers of the young and the old (Kossek & Lee, 2022). Although men experience conflicting identities between work and family roles, women are more likely to experience conflicting identities between these roles due to the fact that they are also more likely to be the main caregivers of the family and to take on an unequal share of familial responsibilities.

In most organizations, the expectation of all employees is that they will be fully committed to work and will always put their work first, which will lead them to promotions and a successful career. These expectations conflict with societal pressure to fit into the “ideal mom” identity, which include things like never missing a sporting event and making sure that children complete all of their homework (Kossek & Lee, 2022). On the other hand, men face opposite pressures, such as being the breadwinner for their family, that lead them to be able to justify putting work first, thus successfully advancing their careers (Kossek & Lee, 2022). Since most organizations do not have successful worklife balance policies or have work-life balance policies that make women victim to the flexibility stigma, women continue to experience conflicting identities that negatively impact their careers because women are more likely to take accommodations that stall their careers or exit the workforce altogether in order to reconcile their conflicting identities. In contrast, men often do not experience such a great conflict between their work and family identities because they are encouraged to put work first, making them adept to advance their careers and break into top level management while relying on the normative contributions of women.

Women who do not reconcile their conflicting identities by exiting the workforce or taking accommodations still face harsh backlash. At a global consulting firm, female partners who had children were described as bad mothers, and “‘horrible women’ who were not ‘positive role models of working moms’”(Ely & Padavic, 2020, p. 67). Therefore, women are faced with a dilemma where if they take accommodations to meet family demands, they derail their careers, but if they continue to be full-time working professionals, they are seen as terrible mothers (Ely & Padavic, 2020). This fosters gender inequality in the workplace because women take more accommodations to avoid being viewed as a bad mother, which limits their career advancement, or if women do not take accommodations, their reputation still remains tainted even if they are successful professionals because they are seen as terrible moms. Additionally, younger career women who are thinking about or who are starting to have children see the negative reputation of women who are successful and have children as being bad mothers and they are more likely to take accommodations to evade the backlash they see happening to those women. This effectively keeps women from reaching top level leadership positions because most young women who are the future of the organization are going to take accommodations and stall their careers to resolve their conflicting identities and evade backlash which keeps this vicious cycle in perfect condition.

The future implications of conflicting identities and the lack of work-life balance impacts on women’s careers is exemplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. A study of 249 employees who worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic showed that the burden of interruptions was not shared equally among men and women, with women experiencing higher nonwork interruptions, and women were also less likely to have a dedicated unshared workspace (Leroy, Schmidt, & Madjar, 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic and working from home has exacerbated work-life balance issues by making both men and women more available in their family roles while still having to tend to their work roles, but women experienced more of the increased family role demands than men. Looking forward, it can be assumed that women will see less career equality and advancement than men following the pandemic since they had to take on even more personal roles, such as being their child’s teacher, to meet family demands at the expense of their professional obligations.

Altogether, women encounter conflicting identities between being a good employee and being a good mother. As a result of inadequate work-life balance policies, women are forced to either stop participating in the workforce or to take debilitating accommoda-

tions that effectively inhibit their career aspirations to reconcile these conflicting identities. In order to achieve career equality, organizations must install advantageous work-life balance policies to prevent the work and family identities of both men and women from conflicting so that all employees have a fair shot at paving a strong career path.

Issues with Company/Industry Culture

Overwork cultures are becoming commonplace in many different organizations, especially in the wake of the pandemic where the line between work and home became virtually nonexistent. Historically, overwork cultures are prevalent in corporate and professional organizations. Overwork cultures foster gender inequality because they require men and women to put in long hours and to make their job their first priority, but as previously discussed, the “ideal worker” identity inherently conflicts with the “ideal mother” identity, forcing women to have to pay higher career costs over men in overwork cultures (Kossek & Lee, 2022). Work-life balance policy issues combined with company/industry culture issues is one of the main culprits of the lack of women’s career participation and advancement.

Work-life balance policies, while promoted by many organizations, are often either not distributed or promoted evenly, or are not as advertised. For example, in 64% of companies that offer accommodations, the arrangements for them are informal (Kalev & Dobbin, 2022). Since arrangements for work-life balance are more likely to be informal, they are also more likely to be stigmatized because they are viewed as being the exception and not the norm, thus securing the flexibility stigma into place. Women, who take these accommodations more often than men, are viewed as not being committed to their careers since the use of these accommodations is not standard, which hinders their opportunities for career advancement. Consequently, while many organizations claim to be supportive of work-life balance and offer accommodations to cultivate it in their employees, they still show employees that their ideal worker is one that is unaffected by family duties and can meet grueling work demands by not evenly applying work-life balance policies and punishing women who do take their offered accommodations by stalling their career advancement while rewarding those, mostly men, who have the ability to put their work first (Kalev & Dobbin, 2022).

Another issue that prevails in impeding women’s careers is the use of the work-family narrative as an unconscious social defense to deflect away from organizational cultures of overwork (Padavic et al., 2020). As suggested by Padavic et al. (2020) from a study done on a global consulting firm, the work-family narrative, which explains women’s lack of advancement as being

caused by women’s work-family conflict that prevents them from being able to put in the long hours required for career advancement, is used as a way to deflect the firm’s responsibility for deficit of women in top leadership positions while also allowing them to avoid confronting the real problem: their culture of overwork. Additionally, by instituting work-life balance programs that implement accommodations to assist with developing work-life balance for employees, organizations appear to be invested in solving the work-family narrative issue, however, they are actually keeping it intact because these accommodations derail women’s careers. Since executives can deflect the blame onto the work-family narrative that impacts women instead of their own organization’s culture, they are able to keep their power while appearing as being concerned about the lack of women in top level leadership positions by using accommodations that will guarantee women’s stalled advancement in the organization (Padavic et al., 2020). Therefore, women’s stalled advancement must be kept intact in order to avoid a change in the culture of overwork which is viewed as crucial for making the profits most executives prioritize and so executives can maintain their power relations.

Ultimately, a strong issue that negatively impacts women’s careers is the culture of overwork that exists in many different organizations. It may be assumed then that overwork, while undesirable for men and women alike, is necessary for organizations to succeed. This assumption would be incorrect because long hours have been associated with decreases in performance and increases in sick-leave costs, therefore not raising productivity and actually costing the organization more money (Ely & Padavic, 2020). The culture of overwork exists for both men and women, but its impact is not as equally shared. This culture forces women, who take on more family roles, to exit the workforce altogether or take accommodations that thwart their career advancement to cope with the demanding hours and expectations of most organizations. As a result, the lack of effective work-life balance policies combined with the culture of overwork makes for a perfect combination to severely stall women’s career participation and advancement.

Solutions to These Problems

Work-life balance policies are used by organizations as a solution to work-life conflict that both men and women feel when it comes to their work and family roles. However, as discussed previously, work-life balance policies that are not constructed and implemented properly can serve as staggering barriers to women’s career participation and advancement. Even so, worklife balance policies are not a bad thing and should continue to be used by organizations to help eliminate

work-life conflict, but they need to be created and administered in a particular way that will not limit women’s career participation and advancement but help to increase it. There are three main areas that need attention when discussing effective work-life balance policies: types of benefits offered and their implementation, hiring and promotion practices, and leadership’s attitude towards work-life balance.

Types of Benefits Offered and Their Implementation

Taking accommodations to help deal with family demands has proven to be a significant factor that limits women’s career advancement due to the flexibility stigma, which is the negative perception that professionals who use flexible work practices are not as committed to their work as others. Accommodations, however, can be quite successful in helping employees solve work-life conflict and can help women to remain in the workforce as active participants when they are realized in the right way. Organizations should put all work-life balance benefits in writing and should offer them to all employees at every level of the company (Kalev & Dobbin, 2022). Putting the policies in writing makes them official and offering them to every employee takes away the negative perception of accommodations because they will not be seen as an informal option offered only to women but as a formal company policy available to every employee of the organization. Since the benefits will be viewed as a part of the organization and available to everyone, the flexibility stigma will be significantly reduced.

There are many different types of accommodations that organizations can offer. Two of the most effective accommodations include flexitime, which is defined as employees’ ability to change the timing of their work, such as the number of hours worked per day or week or the starting and ending times of their work, and also teleworking, which is allowing workers to work outside of their normal place of work, such as working from home (Chung & van der Horst, 2018). As shown from a study done on a large household panel survey with data on flexible work, an association between flexitime and teleworking and mothers’ likelihood of reducing their working hours was found for all mothers (Chung & van der Horst, 2018). As a result, accommodations like flexitime and teleworking do indeed help women to remain active participants in the workforce while also balancing the demands of their family roles. However, in order to have these advantages for women’s careers, these benefits must be offered equally to everyone so they do not turn into a hindrance for women’s career participation and advancement.

Some other types of benefits that organizations can offer include scheduling meetings only during school time hours, such as 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, to ensure

that all employees will be able to attend the meeting (Kossek & Lee, 2022). Organizations can also offer help with childcare through childcare referral services that do not provide any financial help but give contact information for childcare centers, childcare vouchers that subsidize childcare for employees, or company childcare centers that are onsite for employees to bring their children to (Kalev & Dobbin, 2022). By offering assistance with childcare in many different forms, organizations can decrease employee turnover, increase employee engagement, and foster employee loyalty and trust (Kalev & Dobbin, 2022). When organizations start offering benefits that foster work-life balance in all employees without negatively impacting their career advancement, they can expect to see advantageous benefits to their company, such as reducing turnover costs, retaining valuable employees, and increasing productivity.

Hiring and Promotion Practices

While offering work-life benefits equally to all employees is important for implementing work-life balance policies effectively in an organization, the way that organizations hire and promote employees also sends a considerable message about what the organization truly values. If an organization says it values employee work-life balance and offers work-life balance benefits in their formal ethical culture system but it is a norm in their informal ethical culture system that only employees who always put their work above anything else and frequently work overtime will be promoted, they are sending a completely different message about what the organization really values. Thus, it is extremely important that organizations ensure that their hiring and promotion practices align with their commitment to promoting work-life balance in all employees to help achieve career equality for men and women alike. Setting clear criteria, expectations, and requirements can help to reduce bias and discrimination in the evaluation process for hiring and promotion (Kossek & Lee, 2022). By making selection and performance measures objective, bias will be reduced which will allow women and minority groups a better shot at advancing their careers. For hiring, successful practices at reducing bias include making sure there is a diverse pool of candidates, using blind resumes with no names or identifiers, and having diverse interview panels (van Esch et al., 2018). For promotion, measuring the output of employees, not the amount of time they put in, is a more effective strategy for evaluating performance because it focuses on what they produce, which is a more objective measure than how many hours a week they work (Kalev & Dobbin, 2022). Consequently, if organizations eliminate bias from the selection process women will have a greater chance of

advancing their careers due to the perceived riskiness associated with hiring females into top leadership positions as previously discussed. Moreover, by focusing on more objective measures of performance to evaluate employees for promotion, women will also have a better chance to advance their careers because the amount of time put in will not be as important as the results of the work, making the playing field more level for women who are more likely to use accommodations that may reduce the number of hours they work. In order for organizations to effectively implement work-life balance policies for all employees, they need to make sure their hiring and promotion practices support those policies as well.

Leadership’s Attitudes Towards Work-Life Balance

In any organization, employees observe the actions and attitudes of management and use these observations in their determination of what the organization values and what to do to advance their careers. Therefore, if the leadership of the organization sends a message of little support for work-life balance policies and does not use the policies themselves, employees will perceive that work-life balance is not valued by the organization and they should avoid using work-life balance benefits if they want to advance their careers. Accordingly, leadership in an organization needs to send a strong message in support of work-life balance policies if they want these policies to be effective for the employees in their organization.

One way leadership can send a positive message in favor of work-life balance policies is to continuously converse about it with employees (Kalev & Dobbin, 2022). By openly discussing and promoting these policies whenever they get the chance, such as in meetings or in company newsletters, leaders send the message to employees that these policies are for everyone and are valued by the organization, so employees will be more likely to take advantage of them. Additionally, leaders need to “walk the walk” by using these policies themselves (Kalev & Dobbin, 2022). If employees hear the message from leaders that work-life balance policies are important, but they never see these same leaders use the policies themselves, employees will get mixed messages about what is actually valued by the organization. For these reasons, it is crucial that leaders openly discuss work-life balance policies and take advantage of these policies themselves if these policies are to be successfully implemented for all employees in the organization.

There are numerous benefits to having leaders promote work-life balance in their organization. For example, women tend to experience better career outcomes when they perceive support for work-life initiatives across the company (Kossek & Buzzanell,

2018). Furthermore, when management sends positive messages to employees to invest in their work and non-work roles, emotional exhaustion caused by the conflict between work and family roles can be significantly reduced (Trzebiatowski & del Carmen Triana, 2020). Thus, leadership support of work-life balance policies will help to bring a great number of benefits to the organization.

Work-life balance policies, when implemented correctly, are extremely powerful tools for both organizations and employees. They help organizations to reduce turnover, increase talent retention, and increase employee engagement and productivity. For employees, they help men and women achieve more career equality and also reduce work-life conflict. In addition, work-life balance policies are crucial for helping women’s career participation and advancement. Therefore, it is vital that organizations adopt effective work-life balance policies if they want to help men and women achieve career equality in order to remain competitive and productive in today’s business environment.

Case Studies

The benefits of well-founded work-life balance policies are obvious: they help both employees and employers to create a work environment that allows employees and the business to thrive. These benefits are best illustrated by real examples of the profound impact such policies can have on organizations, as shown by two cases by Maxwell (2008), “Organizational Culture and Working Hours at W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.,” and “Job Sharing at Motorola.”

Organizational Culture and Working Hours at W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

W.L Gore & Associates, Inc. creates proprietary technologies with versatile polymer polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) for the health care and leisure industries and is a privately held global company with headquarters in Newark, Delaware and 45 locations worldwide (Maxwell, 2008). Their organizational culture includes a team-based environment where employees have no defined job titles, teams consist of leaders and followers that can change from task to task, and leaders emerge not from organizational power but from personal influence (Maxwell, 2008). The company prides itself on the fact that associates manage themselves by, “being fair, meeting commitments, and consulting others as appropriate” (Maxwell, 2008, p. 6). Therefore, the company has very few explicit policies and rules but

their approach to fostering work-life balance is seen by the cultural norms of working hours, in which there are no set working hours and employees can choose to work at the office or from an alternate location (Maxwell, 2008). Additionally, personal and family commitments are expected, and employees do not have to explain the reasons why they will not be at work, employees make their own commitments and are expected to act on them, and when certain jobs require set hours, the team as a whole decides what the individual working hours will be based off of everyone’s needs (Maxwell, 2008). As a result, their culture that creates a healthy work-life balance for employees has created the company’s award-winning success since its founding in 1958 and is the reason they continue to attract and retain some of the best talent in the industry (Maxwell, 2008).

Although W.L. Gore and Associates, Inc. does not develop specific work-life balance policies since explicit policies and rules are not included in their organizational culture, the benefits of developing work-life balance in employees are still very clear. Employees have the freedom to choose the work hours and workspace that meets their individual needs which helps them to reduce feelings of work-life conflict. Employees are not evaluated on the number of hours in the office they log but on the quality of work they produce. As an HR associate put it, “because we are not telling people what to do and when to be here, there is more chance work is going to be done better” (Maxwell, 2008, p. 6). Since this is a company norm and every employee chooses their own hours, there is no flexibility stigma that exists for women in the company to limit their career advancement. Moreover, since employees are not expected to put in a certain number of hours and are only evaluated based on the quality of their work, women in the company are not held back by a crushing culture of overwork that makes it impossible for them to succeed due to increased family demands. Lastly, since the norms for working hours were created by top leadership, there is an obvious support for work-life balance from said leadership which helps to make the work-life balance norms effective for the organization. Overall, W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. has all of the makings for successful work-life balance for employees. They evenly apply work-life balance norms, evaluate every employee on objective measures, and show support from leadership. As a result, they have created a very successful company that employees enjoy working at, and other companies can learn valuable lessons when examining their organizational culture.

Job Sharing at Motorola

Motorola operates in an extremely competitive environment using wireless, broadband, and Internet to create embedded chip system-level and end-to-end network communication solutions (Maxwell, 2008). The company was founded in the United States in 1928 and employs over 100,000 people all over the world (Maxwell, 2008). In East Kilbride, Scotland, 1,530 employees operate the plant 24 hours a day, seven days a week in order to remain competitive (Maxwell, 2008). The company offers a variety of work-life balance benefits that include part-time work, special shift arrangements, study leave, and much more (Maxwell, 2008). At the East Kilbride plant, employees work seven 12-hours shifts in a two-week time frame, with four shifts one week and three shifts the next (Maxwell, 2008). These working hours were introduced in 2000, and to help employees with the change, a job sharing program was offered, in which two employees share a full-time job and split the number of hours worked equally among them (Maxwell, 2008). Additionally, job sharers are assessed based on the effectiveness of the partnership for annual reviews and get frequent feedback on their performance as a whole (Maxwell, 2008). The job sharing program has been extremely valuable for employees, especially those with families, who report being able to give Motorola all of their energy when they are at work and say it is beneficial for family life (Maxwell, 2008). As a result of the job sharing program, managers report that it is a key factor that allows the East Kilbride plant to remain competitive, as well as to retain highly qualified and well-trained talent and avoid external recruitment (Maxwell, 2008). While most employees who use the job-sharing program are women, job sharing and the other work-life balance policies have allowed Motorola to remain as a competitive employer who attracts top talent with their employment practices (Maxwell, 2008).

Motorola’s job sharing program offers a great example of a work-life balance policy that betters both the employees and the employer. Employees are able to maintain their status in the workplace but also better meet family demands by splitting the number of working hours with another employee. On the other hand, employers are able to retain quality talent and avoid the cost of having to recruit and train new employees, which also allows them to remain competitive in the business environment. Moreover, employees in this program are assessed on objective measures of the partnership’s performance, not on the number of hours they put in, which helps women to advance in the workplace since their increased family demands

often limit the number of hours available for work. Leadership also shows support for the job sharing program by stating that they believe it is the main reason why they are able to remain competitive and with one HR manager at the East Kilbride plant saying, “any negatives of work-life balance arrangements are outweighed by the positives” (Maxwell, 2008, p. 9). The only negative of this program is the fact that it is used mostly by women, which could lead to the flexibility stigma that limits women’s advancement, but it is not clear whether or not this has happened at Motorola, and this may need to be examined further. Altogether, Motorola offers another example of how work-life balance policies can have a significant impact for both employees and the employer and can serve as another great example for other organizations to follow.

Summary and Conclusion

Work-life balance policies serve as a double-edged sword for women’s career participation and advancement: when not implemented properly they can serve as a tremendous barrier to women’s careers, but when executed correctly, they significantly enable women to continue to participate in and advance their careers. The purpose of this research was to examine work-life balance and its impact on women’s career participation and advancement. As a result, three main themes were identified that negatively impact women’s careers, including issues with advancement, conflicting identities, and issues with company/industry culture. In order to rectify these issues that negatively impact women’s careers, organizations need to develop robust work-life balance policies that are offered to every employee at every level of the organization, make sure their hiring and promotion practices are rewarding objective measures of performance that evaluate employees on the quality of their work, and organizations need to have leaders promote and take advantage of the policies themselves in order to ensure successful implementation.

As shown by the case studies, work-life balance policies are crucial for organizations to succeed in today’s business environment. They help organizations to reduce turnover, increase employee engagement and productivity, and retain quality talent. For employees, they reduce work-life conflict, which leads to lower stress and higher life satisfaction. Work-life balance should not exist as an empty buzzword for organizations to attract employees, but rather, it should represent a necessary investment into an organization’s employees that will bring great success for the organization and will create a better life for the organization’s most important resource: its people.

References

Bowles, H. R., Thomason, B., & Bear, J. B. (2019). Reconceptualizing what and how women negotiate for career advancement. Academy of Management Journal, 62(6), 1645–1671. https://doi.org/10.5465/ amj.2017.1497

Chung, H., & van der Horst, M. (2018). Women’s employment patterns after childbirth and the perceived access to and use of flexitime and teleworking. Human Relations, 71(1), 47–72. https://doi. org/10.1177/0018726717713828

Ely, R. J., & Padavic, I. (2020). What’s really holding women back? It’s not what people think. Harvard Business Review, 98(2), 58–67.

Kalev, A., & Dobbin, F. (2022). The surprising benefits of work/life support. Harvard Business Review, 100(5), 98–107.

Kossek, E. E., & Buzzanell, P. M. (2018). Women’s career equality and leadership in organizations: Creating an evidence-based positive change. Human Resource Management, 57(4), 813–822. https://doi.org/10.1002/ hrm.21936

Kossek, E. E., & Lee, K.-H. (2022). Work-life inclusion for women’s career equality: Why it matters and what to do about it. Organizational Dynamics, 51(2), 1-11. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2020.100818

Kossek, E. E., Su, R., & Wu, L. (2017). “Opting out” or “pushed out”? Integrating perspectives on women’s career equality for gender inclusion and interventions. Journal of Management, 43(1), 228-254. https://doi. org/10.1177/0149206316671582

Leroy, S., Schmidt, A. M., & Madjar, N. (2021). Working from home during COVID-19: A study of the interruption landscape. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(10), 1448–1465. https://doi.org/10.1037/ apl0000972

Student Reflection:

Maxwell, G. (2008). Case study series on work-life balance in large organizations. Society for Human Resource Management. https://www.shrm.org/certification/ educators/Documents/Worklife%20Balance%20 Case%20Final_SW.pdf

Michailidis, M. P., Morphitou, R. N., & Theophylatou, I. (2012). Women at workequality versus inequality: Barriers for advancing in the workplace. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(20), 4231–4245. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2012. 665071

Padavic, I., Ely, R. J., & Reid, E. M. (2020). Explaining the persistence of gender inequality: The work–family narrative as a social defense against the 24/7 work culture. Administrative Science Quarterly, 65(1), 61–111. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001839219832310

Runté, M., & Mills, A. J. (2006). Cold War, chilly climate: Exploring the roots of gendered discourse in organization and management theory. Human Relations, 59(5), 695–720. https://doi. org/10.1177/0018726706066174

Trzebiatowski, T., & del Carmen Triana, M. (2020). Family responsibility discrimination, power distance, and emotional exhaustion: When and why are there gender differences in work-life conflict? Journal of Business Ethics, 162(1), 15–29.

van Esch, C., Hopkins, M. M., O’Neil, D. A., & Bilimoria, D. (2018). How perceived riskiness influences the selection of women and men as senior leaders. Human Resource Management, 57(4), 915–930. https://doi. org/10.1002/hrm.21902

Writing this literature review was one of the hardest but most rewarding experiences in my academic career so far. I enjoyed being able to pick a topic that was of interest to me, and I chose to explore work-life balance and its impact on women’s career participation and advancement. It was exciting to take my classroom knowledge and be able to apply it in a way that challenged me while also letting me grow my knowledge on an issue I care about as an emerging female professional in the field of accounting. I made some valuable discoveries and insights about how important feelings of work-life balance are in order to advance female professional careers and I also found that work-life balance policies are delicate and need to be implemented very carefully to help women’s careers without serving as a detrimental barrier to their participation and advancement. I am very grateful to have had this opportunity as a part of Dr. Becker’s Honors Business and Society class to explore a topic that was so fascinating to me and to have been able to tremendously improve my research and critical thinking skills.

Provost's Award: College of Education and Human Services

The Psychological Autopsy

by Mikayla Greech

CRJ 396: Criminal Profiling and Behavioral Analysis

Dr. Cyndi Koller

Assignment:

Psychological Autopsy: According to Bartol and Bartol (2013, p. 244) psychological autopsies are useful for these primary activities: research, clinical practice and civil cases. Investigate and describe the concept of, and processes involved in, psychological autopsies. Also locate and detail a real case in which this procedure was utilized.

In 1958, the Los Angeles (L.A.) County Medical Examiner’s Office consulted the director of the L.A. Suicide Prevention Center, Edwin Shneidman, seeking assistance in determining the cause of a high number of unexplained deaths in the area (Bartol & Bartol, 2013). To resolve this issue, they developed a procedure that would occur after a person’s death to determine their mental state and the circumstances that were present in their life prior to their demise. Shneidman later labeled this procedure as the “psychological autopsy” and other researchers began establishing guidelines regarding how the process should properly take place for it to begin gaining credibility (Bartol & Bartol, 2013).

As identified by La Fon (2008), two basic types of psychological autopsies exist, which are suicide psychological autopsies (SPA) and equivocal death psychological autopsies (EDPA). A suicide psychological autopsy occurs when there is no doubt that the individual died from taking their own life, and it attempts to gain an understanding of the psychosocial factors that contributed to their decision to commit suicide. On the other hand, an equivocal death psychological autopsy works to clarify the mode of death and the accompanying reasons for a person’s loss of life (La Fon, 2008).

Both types of psychological autopsies use a reconstructive process designed to evaluate the emotions, behaviors, thoughts, and incidents that led up to a person’s death. Professionals work to gather information from third-party sources, such as having conversations with an individual’s loved ones, acquaintances, and health care providers, all within six months of the decedent’s death, as it is important for this procedure to be done in a timely manner to prevent reductions in the accuracy of the informant’s memory (Bartol & Bartol, 2013). The 24-72 hours before one’s death are the most crucial to gain information about.

Other critical insights investigators receive about a person’s mental state in their final moments alive may be from personal diaries, letters, social media posts, search histories, and medical/financial records. Written records have been found to greatly assist psychological autopsies due to the intel they provide, potentially revealing previous suicide attempts, history of abuse, financial struggles, emerging stressors, or psychiatric conditions (Knoll, 2008). Furthermore, police, toxicology, and coroner’s reports are reviewed to identify or rule out substance abuse. Investigators also look for any pre-death behaviors that an individual may have been exhibiting, such as giving away personal possessions or altering insurance policies (Bartol & Bartol, 2013).

The best way for data to be gathered is by visiting the deceased individual’s place of residence and work, since people are known to unintentionally leave behavioral residue, which are physical traces left in a living space due to their everyday actions, and decorate the locations that they spend most of their time in with items that reflect them as an individual. At some point in the investigation, the location where the death took place also needs to be examined for evidence that could point to the planning of the incident or ways the victim took precautions about being rescued, especially for incidents of suicide. The forensic psychologist or mental health professional in charge of conducting the psychological autopsy is then expected to write a detailed report with their findings about any significant events that occurred prior to the death and all the relevant factors discovered at the conclusion of their investigation (Bartol & Bartol, 2013).

Lastly, a professional opinion can be stated regarding the manner of death, making a distinction between if the death was natural, a suicide, an accident, a homicide, or whether it remains undetermined. It is essential for everyone involved in the case to approach

informants in an empathic manner while displaying great sensitivity and making ethical considerations, like getting consent from participants, establishing mutual respect, and ensuring confidentiality (Knoll, 2008).

According to Bartol & Bartol (2013), psychological autopsies are conducted for three primary purposes, which are research, clinical practice applications, and litigation. In terms of research, individuals involved in the study of suicide typically conduct psychological autopsies to identify and understand the mental states that contribute to someone taking their own life. In turn, the understandings gained by researchers are used to improve suicide prevention programs and therapeutic interventions. Likewise, psychological autopsies can be conducted by clinicians in mental health facilities when their patients in treatment commit suicide. By doing so, these professionals can gain information about what treatment approaches or practices may have worked better for the individual, or what might have contributed to their patient’s decision to take their own life (Bartol & Bartol, 2013). Like conducting psychological autopsies for research, the goal is to make improvements to specific practices or recognize the need for new strategies to better serve future patients (Knoll, 2008).

The third and final stated purpose of psychological autopsies is for legal matters. Psychological autopsies are commonly used in civil cases where questions arise around whether a decedent’s death was the result of suicide, foul play, or an accident. These questions are usually asked in a financial context and by insurance companies but are just as common in legal settings for establishing responsibility of an individual for another person’s suicide, worker’s compensation cases, and within the private sector about what events happen at a workplace to cause an individual to end their life (Bartol & Bartol, 2013).

Case Example

A case in which a psychological autopsy took place was in the death of Howard Hughes, who was a former billionaire film-producer, aviator, and businessman. Despite being a well-known person in society in the 20th century, his mental health was often overlooked. Once Hughes was diagnosed with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), he slowly began to withdraw from society to live in isolation (Singh, 2022). He constantly felt paranoid about germs and illness, so he compulsively washed his hands and wanted to avoid contact with other people or objects that he suspected to be contaminated. Hughes’ phobia of germs became so severe that it led to an addiction to codeine in the decade prior to his death, and at the

same time he ironically was neglecting his own health by not sleeping, eating, or maintaining good hygiene. Howard Hughes eventually died at the age of 70 in 1976 due to a stroke (Dittman, 2005).

After his death, Hughes’ estate attorney contacted a clinical psychologist, named Raymond Fowler, to conduct a psychological autopsy to determine Hughes’ emotional and mental state in the years prior to his death, as well as to gain an understanding of the origins of his mental illness (Dittman, 2005). To carry out the autopsy, Fowler interviewed over two hundred people that personally knew Hughes. He talked to family members, friends, and former employees in addition to looking at old newspaper reports, letters Hughes’ mother wrote about him, transcripts from his phone calls, pilot logs, and court dispositions. By doing so, Fowler claimed that a picture began to form of a child that grew up socially isolated into a man that became overly concerned about his own health (Singh, 2022).

Hughes’ fears about his health were found to have likely emerged from how his mother was overly worried about her son’s exposure to germs when he was young, especially because polio was a huge concern in society at the time (Singh, 2022). Hughes had a daily routine in which he was checked for disease by his mother, and she heavily restricted what he ate. Medical documents and family letters revealed to Fowler that Hughes was paralyzed and unable to walk for a short period of time in his adolescent years. His symptoms lasted for a few months and eventually disappeared, which Fowler believes was psychologically based and one of the first occurrences of how Hughes tended to withdraw from situations in times of stress (Dittman, 2005). The interviews with individuals close to Hughes and the information gained from written sources painted a picture of his life and provided a better understanding to researchers about why he chose to live as he did, taking into consideration the magnitude of his mental illness and germ phobia. The findings of this psychological autopsy were later used in civil lawsuits that were filed by people that made claims to Hughes’ estate since he had died without a will (Singh, 2022). Not only does the case of Howard Hughes illustrate how a psychological autopsy is performed, it also reinforces why it may be necessary for one to be conducted.

Conclusion

Although decades have passed since the psychological autopsy was first established, many people remain skeptical of its reliability and validity. Definitive procedures for how a psychological autopsy should

be performed are still yet to be agreed upon, leaving no standardized procedure for professionals to follow. Despite these limitations, the information this procedure can provide to professionals is very useful for research purposes, resolving legal matters, and in clinical settings (Bartol & Bartol, 2013). In conclusion, the psychological autopsy is a type of profiling that clearly differs from all other forms as it is conducted on a deceased individual to acquire unique information about their life, behavior, and personality prior to their death. There are many benefits that come from using this procedure, however, more research continues to be needed for the psychological autopsy to gain the trust of scholars as a greater scientific endeavor.

References

Bartol, C. R., & Bartol, A. M. (2013). Criminal & behavioral profiling. Sage Publications.

Dittman, M. (2005). Hughes’s germ phobia revealed in psychological autopsy. Monitor on Psychology, 36(7). https://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug05/hughes

Knoll, J. L. (2008). The Psychological Autopsy, Part I: Applications and Methods. Law and Psychiatry, 14(6).

La Fon, D. S. (2008). The psychological autopsy. In B. E. Turvey (Ed.), Criminal Profiling: An introduction to behavioral evidence analysis (3rd ed., pp. 419–429). Elsevier Academic Press.

Singh, H. (2022, April 28). Howard Hughes and His Mental Health: The Untold Story. Mantra Care. https:// mantracare.org/ocd/about-ocd/howard-hughes/

Student Reflection:

The focus of this writing assignment is to analyze the processes involved in psychological autopsies, as well as the significance of this type of procedure for looking into equivocal deaths. The psychological autopsy is a type of criminal profiling and behavioral analysis that undoubtedly differs from all other forms since it is conducted on deceased individuals. However, the information it provides regarding the circumstances occurring in one’s life leading up to their death is incredibly useful. I chose the case of Howard Hughes, a well-known film producer, record-setting pilot, and businessman, to illustrate this. Due to his wealth and fame, many people often overlooked Hughes’ mental health. It was a shock to many when he passed away, so the parties in charge of his estate sought the assistance of psychologists to dig deeper into Hughes’ life to gain a better understanding of the origins of his mental illnesses, in addition to how they may have played a role in his death. The psychological autopsy conducted on Howard Hughes remains to be one of the most notable, not only because of his notoriety in society, but also because of the various legal, medical, and research purposes the findings served.

Editor's Choice: Upper Level First Place

The Female Body in Julia Alvarez’s Butterflies

and García Girls

by Megan Gardenhour

ENG 344: Studies in Single Author

Dr. Cristina Rhodes

Assignment:

The purpose of this final paper is to analyze a primary text in its relation to crisis in literature. This essay should be thesis-driven, and it should encapsulate the research conducted throughout the semester.

The female body has historical roots in objectification, abjection, and possession through male-oriented powers, especially for women of color. Julia Alvarez is a Latina author who immigrated to the United States after her family was forced to flee the Dominican Republic, which was under the rule of dictator Rafael Trujillo. Alvarez, best known for her stake in the world of children’s and Latinx literature, delves into the landscape of darker themes such as political corruption, sexual assault, and dictatorship in her adult novels. Although mostly composed of historical fiction, her works symbolize the ways in which women are able to rebel against the societal pressure to remain in the home. Alvarez utilizes the female body and sexuality as a signifier for gender empowerment and political revolution in the Dominican Republic against patriarchal oppression through the female characters in her books, In the Time of the Butterflies and How the García Girls Lost their Accents. Through the female body, she is able to build the groundwork for revolution, retribution, and renewal.

Desire and Revolution in Butterflies

In the Time of the Butterflies is a historical fiction novel about the lives of the Mirabal sisters leading up to their assassinations in 1960. Located in the Dominican Republic, the sisters navigate through their own familial bonds and political trauma while simultaneously building a revolution against dictator Rafael Trujillo. The novel switches between the sisters, allowing the reader to see critical and personal insight into their thoughts, feelings, and desires. Patria is the oldest Mirabal sister, and she continuously fights against her desire in order to pursue a life of religion and chastity. Towards the beginning of the novel, Patria is introduced as being comfortable in her religion. She is ready and willing to devote her sense of self to

the Lord by becoming a nun, but a noticeable change takes place in her body. Through the thoughts of Patria, Alvarez states, “My shoulders, my elbows, my knees ached to be touched. Not to mention my back and the hard cap of my skull” (Butterflies 47). These physical aches emanating from her body showcase her emerging femininity and desire, which eventually overpower her devotion to nunhood. She begins to see desire everywhere from the physical touches she encounters, to the men passing through her vicinity. Choosing to abandon her dream of becoming a nun, she instead decides to pursue starting a family with her husband. According to the research on Latinx bodies and their representation, there is a heavy stress on the incorporation of marianismo, or family/moral virtue (N. Mendez 3). Patria views her body and its wants as an indication of starting a family and settling down. Through this, she is able to both express her own desires with her body while still practicing religion, which she would not have been able to do as a nun. Alvarez utilizes Patria’s innermost struggles with desire to exemplify the body’s transformation from a dormant entity into another form of political freedom for her. Her insistence to embrace her sexuality acts as a rebellious stance against male control. While the other sisters find their immediate conceptualizations of freedom in the war against Trujillo, Patria’s freedom begins in the home and her own sexual desires, which then progress into a political movement.

The political activism in Butterflies is led entirely by women through the Las Mariposas movement with the Mirabal sisters. Through this female-driven revolution, Alvarez pushes a “mother” nation to the forefront in which power is found inside the bodies of female characters. Alvarez brings these body politics into play through Patria’s progression into the revolution with a focus on motherhood and pregnancy.

Patria struggles with miscarriage at the beginning of her story, having to bury her child and mourn the loss of the baby that she carried as well as who she was before as a holy matriarch. With each time she becomes pregnant, Patria becomes more conscious of the political upheaval created by Trujillo. It is with her final pregnancy that she reaches her full social power by naming him after a famous revolutionary figure, stating, “I looked down at my belly as if Our Lord might write out the name on my cotton housedress. And suddenly it was as if His tongue spoke in my mouth. On my own, I would never have thought of naming my son after revolutionaries” (Butterflies 151). The likeness of a developing fetus and the blooming of the revolution the sisters launch occurs as each sister bears children. Not only are they crossing the thematic borders of home and their homeland, but they are also creating the next generation of free people in the Dominican Republic. The creation and rebirth that Alvarez pours into her works and female characters are intentionally targeted towards matriarchal ideologies. Scholar Daniel Broome writes, “While writing about these gynecological changes in the Mirabal sisters, it is as if Alvarez describes the act of writing like childbirth. Writing can be traced to a childbirth metaphor. As a fetus is created out of its mother’s flesh and blood, so are the words created by the flesh and blood of their author” (Broome 5). Alvarez uses her writing as a form of giving these characters and Dominican women life; she equates the birth of a revolution similar to that of a newborn child from socially powerful women. Childbirth, revolutions, and the female body all tie into what Alvarez is trying to create in her writing – a new beginning.

García Girls, Fetishization, and Oppression

How the García Girls Lost their Accents is a fiction novel set in the switching landscapes of both New York and the Dominican Republic. The story centers around the four García sisters: Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofia. The novel’s narrative begins with their adulthood, and then progresses into their turbulent and often violent childhoods. Their maturity and female development are significant plot points in the novel, signaling a shift in not only their physical bodies but their aspirations as well. Yolanda is Alvarez’s makeshift self-insert in the novel who persistently struggles with voice and identity even as a successful poet because of her failed relationships. During one of Yo’s poetry nights, her lover listens to her mother explain Yo’s loss of hair and discomfort with her own body. Alvarez writes, “The lover knew Yolanda would not have wanted him to know about this indelicacy of her body…An immediate bathrobe after her bath. Lights

out when they made love. Other times, she carried on about the Great Mother and the holiness of the body and sexual energy being eternal delight” (García 48). Yo’s conflicting opinions on her own body exemplify the warring side of western culture and her Dominican side, but they also clue the reader into how she views herself through a poet’s lens. The different angles that she approaches signify her attempt to reclaim her body and voice, especially in the shifting world of transmodernity. Author Kathryn Mendez writes, “In some cases, this means both “giving birth” to a new concept of the female body and its role in art and other realms; it can also mean ‘committing matricide’ by killing off the antiquated perceptions of women in order to make space for new conceptions” (K. Mendez 2). As her story progresses and readers are able to witness Yo’s feminism shift throughout her adolescence, there are clear themes of destruction and renewal based on her sexuality and how she adapts to western culture. Poets are drawn naturally to what they fear, and Yolanda uses her language in order to destroy her old world sense of self, only to build herself back up again into a new, tentative body in her adulthood.

Yolanda’s relationship with her own sexuality is also one of the key themes of the novel. She begins her blooming adulthood as a virgin, admitting that the idea of sex is not similar to poetry, which is reserved for only “deep feelings and lofty sentiments” (García 93). This estrangement with sexuality showcases how it is perceived as an almost foreign language; Yo does not understand it and does not attempt to have sex in order to fit in with her classmates. During her years in college, she recounts her infatuation with a male classmate named Rudy Elmenhurst. Notorious for his playboy behavior, he continuously makes advances on her in order to have sex with Yolanda. In one particular scene, Rudy explains her own female anatomy in an attempt to convince her to sleep with him. Through the words of Yolanda, Alvarez states, “To me, vagina, cervix, ovary were synonyms. Via diagrams he introduced me to my anatomy; he drew the little egg going down its hour glass into the sticky pocket of the uterus” (García 97). Yo endures his behavior even as her infatuation crumples, as he repeatedly tries to tell her the “safe” days of her period cycle. In Rudy’s attempt to teach Yolanda her own body, he aims to steal it. Despite not being familiar with her own sexuality and body, Yo is stuck on the idea that it is sacred, even if she does not fully understand what that means. When Rudy’s advances persist, Yo states, “His vocabulary turned me off even as I was beginning to acknowledge my body’s pleasure…But I didn’t want to just be in the sack, screwed, balled, laid, and fucked my first time around with a man” (García 97). The tenacious theme of

male possession and domination over the female body appears in both of the Alavarez novels like it does here, with complete control and ruination of female bodies despite their unwillingness.

Male domination over the female body continues throughout both of Alvarez’s novels. Similar to how Trujillo oppressed and snatched women off the street in history, the men in García Girls smother the female characters until their voices are gone and their minds broken. Alvarez pointedly utilizes male antagonists as an oppressor due to the political and societal oppression placed on Latina women. In reference to the hypersexualized latina image, a post from a Princeton blog details the following:

Once these modern conquistadors have had their fill and satisfy their curiosities though, we are thrown to the side and subsequently devalued and disregarded as having fulfilled our purpose of submitting to their male domination. This then feeds into the idea of how certain minority subgroups, like Latina women, are further marginalized through fetishization to the point of losing their sexual agency and feeling that their value is solely located in sexually satisfying men. (Perales)

The characters in Alvarez’s García Girls oversee the battle against this hypersexualization and displacement of body, especially in the sisters’ childhood and abrupt immigration to New York. The boys on the playground throw rocks at the sisters, bullying them for their looks and developing bodies. In one scene, Carla recounts her hatred of puberty and its change. More than anything, she wishes “she would stay herself…a girl who had just begun to feel could get things in this world” (García 154) Puberty is equated with a loss of control for the females in Alvarez’s novels. There is this heavy, unsettling weight to the scenes in which Minerva from Butterflies and Carla from García Girls realize they are becoming women. In a sense, menstruation and developing bodies symbolize a target on the backs of the women because of male oppressors. Since their periods represent womanhood, they are now able to be taken advantage of or stolen. In opposition to this theory, Broome writes, “menstruation does not ordinarily figure in either idealized or earthly erotic descriptions of the female body; it is usually one aspect of women’s sexuality of no interest to men. In other words, the female body can be read as an allegory of political resistance and enacts a ‘writing the body’ as an act of resistance to patriarchal law” (3). Although

menstruation signals a body able to be stolen, it also holds the ability to metaphorically spill blood in war. It is a weapon to wield, such as the moment in which Lucinda uses her period as an excuse to expose Sofia’s escapades with her boyfriend to her parents (García 128). Broome continues, “a woman’s body has long been associated with her “otherness” with respect to man, and this “otherness” is often interpreted as either mystical, repulsive, or simply threatening in its foreignness” (3). Alvarez’s weaponization of female abjection through menstruation and the “othering” of the Latina body are the prominent themes that strike against the male oppressors in her narratives, countering patriarchal ideals of dormant sexualities and plasticity.

Alvarez uses the female body as synonymous with the political state of the Dominican Republic and its people. Revolution and rebellion against hierarchical powers take precedent as the backbone of her novels considering the dictatorship Trujillo reigned over. Not only does she examine the subliminal powers of the female body, but she seeks to redefine it. These stories of strong, female characters attempting to retake their country from male oppressors while finding their own femininity and social power is a reclaiming in its own. By taking back their bodies, the women in Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies and How the Garcia Girls Lost their Accents also reclaim the bodies of Latina women whose own voices have been silenced and are still being silenced today.

Works Cited

Alvarez, Julia. How The García Girls Lost Their Accents. Algonquin Books Of Chapel Hill, 1991.

Alvarez, Julia. In The Time Of The Butterflies. Algonquin Books Of Chapel Hill, 1994.

Broome, Darren K.”Writing the Female Body in Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies’’, The Coastal Review: An Online Peer-reviewed Journal: Vol. 3 : Iss. 1 , Article 2, 2011. DOI: 10.20429/cr.2011.030102, https:// digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/thecoastalreview/ vol3/iss1/2

Mendez, Kathryn. “Sublimity and Identity: Portrayals of the Female Body by Latin American Women Poets in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries”. The City University Of New York, 2015.

Mendez, Narolyn. “Afro-Latinx Caribbean Women’s Body Image: A Mixed-Methodology Inquiry On Gender, Race, And Culture”. Columbia University, 2021.

Perales, Courtney. “The Misrepresented and Hypersexualized Latina”. The Stripes, 2014, https://thestripes.princeton. edu/2014/02/the-misrepresented-and-hypersexualizedlatina/. Accessed 29 Mar 2022.

Student Reflection:

In conducting my research for Studies in a Single Author, I wanted to explore areas of feminine sexuality in Julia Alvarez’s writing. It’s certainly not the main focus of Alvarez’s works, but the significance of its presence in In the Time of the Butterflies would not leave my head for weeks leading up to the paper. Why would Alvarez bother sneaking in these snippets of budding sexuality and the female body in the middle of a sociopolitical war? My research took me to different areas of body politics and female desire within politics. Alvarez using her novels as a way to further emphasize the weaponization – and oppression – of female bodies in relation to their surrounding environment is pure genius, and I hope there is more research surrounding this one day. I would like to graciously thank Dr. Rhodes for providing the kindling to my crazed theories and sponsoring me for this publication. Without you, I would not have discovered Alvarez and fell in love with the complexities of research, and for that I am forever grateful.

The Interconnection of Magic Realism and Ecofeminism in Louise Erdrich’s Tracks

by Emily Dziennik

ENG 359: Native American Literature

Dr. Matthew Cella

Assignment:

For this final paper, you will offer and defend an original argument about one or more of our assigned texts. In addition to close analysis of literary texts you examine, you will substantiate your argument with a minimum of six scholarly sources. The topic/argument for the research paper will be self-generated, but if you would like a starting point you can build off of any of the course learning objectives listed in the syllabus.

Louise Erdrich’s novel Tracks follows the story of two narrators living on a South Dakota reservation, both with conflicting views on how Native American tribes should adapt to colonialism, loss of land, and reservation life. Woven into this story is the life of Fleur Pillager, a young woman deeply connected with nature and the sacred land of her tribe—the Ojibwe or Anishinaabe. Through the hardship that her tribe faces, she remains true to the more traditional practices and lifestyles of Native Americans, refusing to assimilate. Fleur’s deep connection to nature and Erdrich’s use of magic realism surrounding her character solidifies the idea that it is Fleur’s connection to nature that empowers her and sets her apart from the stereotypical, harmful image of Native American women that is often depicted in modern literature.

Magic Realism in Native American Literature

Magic Realism is a literary technique in which realistic fiction is intertwined with elements of fantasy. This writing style has a long history within Native American literature. Rose Hsiu-li Juan writes, “Many contemporary Native American writers resort to a magic realist way of writing in their attempt to do justice to the spiritual and the physical realities coexisting in their cultures. In their works this world and the spiritual world are inseparable” (160). Often, Native American authors use magic realism to depict their worldview, or the views of their tribe. Because of their strong connection to not only the natural world, but also the spiritual world, many Native American cultures already see the world in this way—this just gives a name to that technique.

It is also important to note that magic realism may be used as an act of defiance, as it is a style that goes against the normative way of writing that Euro-

Americans use. Hsiu-li Juan explains that it can be used as an “insurgent force” against invading cultures and identities: “The literary transgression of the boundaries undermines realism, and challenges its complicities, the dominant Western discourses and rational paradigms” (163). Just by using this writing style, Native American authors are pushing back against other imposing cultures and staying true to their cultural roots in oral storytelling and community imagination.

Erdrich employs this strategy in several of her novels, but most notably in Tracks. Caleb Tankersley writes, “Louise Erdrich’s work fits into the magical realism tradition by employing supernatural elements in her fiction but also by instilling a sense of the unreal in her language” (21). Erdrich delicately weaves magic realism into Tracks, almost entirely surrounding her character Fleur Pillager to establish her position in the novel as a dominant female character. But, to understand Fleur’s important role in not only this story but in the genre of Native American literature, we must first understand the harmful stereotype of Native American women that Erdrich is fighting back against.

The Stereotypical Native Woman Character

To study the harmful stereotypes about Native American women that are reinforced in modern literature, we need look no further than E. Pauline Johnson’s essay “A Strong Race Opinion.” In this essay, Johnson explains in detail some of the tropes associated with female Native American characters in modern Euro-American literature and offers reasoning to support why they are so harmful to Native American communities.

She first argues that these Native women are not allowed to be anything other than their race, stating she is not allowed any sense of identity or originality

(Johnson 1). Along with this, Johnson points out discrepancies in these characters and actual Native American culture. She explains that while these characters are often depressed and driven to self-harm, this is almost unheard of in Native communities. She also points out the use of kissing as another prominent example. Kissing is not a common way to show affection in most tribal communities, but authors always include these Native women kissing their loved ones (2-3). Perhaps the most harmful stereotype, however, is the ways in which Native American women are often depicted as falling hopelessly in love with a white man, doomed to forever be alone. Because of this love affair, the female characters almost always end up disrespecting their tribe and being cast out in dishonor, returning to the idea that these women have to be depressed or wish harm upon themselves (Johnson 3). These harmful stereotypes perpetuate negative views of Native American women created by white people and used against these communities. This leaves the reconstruction of these female Native American characters up to authors like Erdrich, who have the ability to create a strong, positive depiction of a Native American woman in her stories. It is with characters like Fleur that readers begin to experience what real Native women are like, and how they connect to the world around them. Though Erdrich’s narrative predates Johnson’s analysis of modern literature, it is clear that Fleur represents the strength and power that true Native American women have—a strong contrast to how these women have been portrayed in literature for centuries.

Fleur Pillager as Erdrich’s Ecofeminist Rebellion

Though Tracks is never told from Fleur Pillager’s point of view, it becomes clear very early in the novel that she is the main character and focal point of the narrative. Both narrators, Nanapush and Pauline, have a strong connection to Fleur, whether it be positive or negative. Pauline takes the side of assimilation, frustrated that the members of her tribe will not convert to Christianity and abandon Native practices. Nanapush, in contrast, still believes in the more traditional Ojibwe ways of life.

Erdrich establishes Fleur’s deep connection to nature and the spirit world almost immediately through her descriptions of the character. One of the first things the reader learns about Fleur is her connection to the lake on their reservation, Lake Matchimanito. The members of her tribe associate her ability to use magic as a connection to Misshepeshu—the water spirit that lives in the lake (Tankersley 26). In her narration, Pauline explains, “The fish struck hungrily at dawn and dusk, and no boats were lost. There were some who declared they were glad Fleur has come back because—we didn’t like to think how she did this—she

kept the lake thing controlled” (Erdrich 35). When Fleur returns to her tribe at the beginning of the novel, while the other characters are surprised, they feel a sense of relief that she has returned. They see her as the only person who can tame Misshepeshu, allowing them to safely fish on the lake.

Her tribe theorizes that her connection to the lake spirit goes much deeper, as discussed by Mumtaz Ahmad, Nighat Ahmad, and Amara Javed in their article on environmental performativity in ethnic women’s fiction. They write that “The character of Fleur suggests a deep intimacy between a human and the environment” (52). Not only does Fleur have a connection with the lake spirit, but it is described as an almost romantic or sexual connection, members of her tribe describing the spirit as “maddened for the touch of young girls, the strong and daring especially, like Fleur” (Erdrich 11). While it is unclear what the true intentions of the lake spirit are throughout the novel, it becomes clear that Fleur’s connection to it protects her from the wrongdoings of the men in her tribe. Pauline explains that men avoid her because of several drownings that have occurred since her return, seemingly as a result of a man attempting to harm Fleur in some way (11). Even Fleur is drawn in by the power of the water, almost drowning three times over the course of the novel. Nanapush states that while many would assume she would be weakened by these near-death experiences, she instead gained strength back from the lake spirit (218).

Though the lake spirit is never physically described or present, it situates Fleur’s story in the world of magic realism, allowing Erdrich to continue building upon this foundation with other supernatural or surreal events throughout the novel. Erdrich next employs this technique of subtle magic realism when Fleur gives birth to her first child, Lulu. Nanapush describes an occurrence of a bear breaking into their supplies on the reservation, breaking open a container of alcohol, and going on a drunk rampage around the reservation. This bear then later returns when Fleur goes into labor, and Nanapush suggests that the bear may have heard her cries and came to help her by bringing the voices of nature into the delivery room, where she almost dies after giving birth but manages to survive (Erdrich 59-60). Fleur’s connection to bears is evident throughout the novel, as she is described to be bear-like in her hunting practices, and at times characters even suggest she leaves behind bear tracks when she walks.

This magical relationship between Fleur and the bear once again solidifies her strong connection to the natural world. Shilaja explains, “Erdrich emphasizes the fact that in Native American culture, there is a sense of interconnectedness and relationship between all things, peoples and their language, animals, and

land” (68). Fleur is a demonstration of this worldview, as she understands the ways that she is tied to the nature and animal spirits around her, calling on them when she is weakened by her difficult pregnancy. This is a strong contrast to many other characters in the story—especially Pauline, who closes herself off to the natural and spiritual worlds, focused only on conversion and assimilation, resulting in her complete ignorance of the suffering around her (65).

The final, and perhaps most important, act of magic realism surrounding Fleur’s character occurs at the very end of the novel after the majority of the tribe’s reservation land has been taken away and destroyed. Fleur’s magic appears to weaken towards the end of the novel, as she insists they will be able to find food one final time, but every member of her family returns empty-handed (170). This weakness in her magic is likely caused by the destruction of land all around her, disconnecting her from the nature and animal spirits she had used as protection. Fleur does, however, get one final act of revenge against the American government before her cabin is destroyed.

The trees around Fleur’s own cabin are the last to be destroyed as the reservation land was bought and sold without the permission of the Ojibwe tribe over the course of the novel. Nanapush explains that “as I neared Fleur’s cabin, the woods were still untouched in sameness, so high, so cool” (Erdrich 209). Fleur has managed to use her last bit of magic and strength to hold onto her land for as long as possible, while the rest of the land was destroyed. When it becomes clear that Fleur will have no choice but to finally surrender her land, she performs one last grand act of magic.

Instead of allowing the workers to cut down all of the trees around her cabin, Nanapush describes Fleur as using nature to break down all of the trees herself: “With one thunderstroke the trees surrounding Fleur’s cabin cracked off and fell away from us in a circle, pinning beneath their branches the roaring men, the horses” (Erdrich 223). Fleur seems to call upon nature one last time to help her take control of the situation, allowing her to be the one to break down the trees on her land, not the white construction workers. Sana Tariq and Bahramand Shah explain that “Fleur is shown as the embodiment of nature so natural forces avenge the people who harm Fleur” (229). Fleur’s magic can be read as not only protection of her body and life, but also as a power to be wielded against those who put her tribe and cultural history at risk. Tariq and Shah continue, “With this, the novel shares the thought that humans have a reciprocal relationship with their environment and harming nature can destroy the balance of human life too” (226). In the end, Fleur uses traditional Native American practices

to enact one final rebellion against the government that has wronged her tribe, her people, and the environment.

Though by the end of the novel Fleur’s magic has faltered and the land was lost, she still has been able to exercise these magical acts of rebellion. While it is possible to read this ultimate loss of land as a sign of Fleur’s limitations, it is also possible to read it in a positive light, demonstrating how Erdrich provides an end to one story and the beginning of another. Tankersley writes, “Although Fleur’s supernatural abilities fail her and her family in Tracks, a new way of living is begun.” He explains that Erdrich’s novel has a sense of “hopeful resistance,” and while the tribe has lost a lot of land, they are still resilient and decide not to give up on their cultural and tribal history. Though Fleur is gone, they are able to gather what resources they have and continue pushing forward (32).

It is with all of these examples that I would suggest the character of Fleur Pillager also breaks free from the harmful, negative stereotypes often forced upon Native American women in modern literature and allows Tracks to be read through an ecofeminist lens. Mumtaz Ahmad, Nighat Ahmad, and Amara Javed explain in their article, “The thrust of ecofeminism as well of this study is upon the rationalization that the full spectrum of women’s liberation involves the liberation of nature too and that the women cannot be said to be fully liberated unless nature is liberated also” (49). The character of Fleur embodies this statement, as she is intertwined with nature and uses it to protect herself and others in her tribe whom she is close to. When men try to assault Fleur or harm her in any way, she is able to use her connection to nature to either protect herself or enact revenge upon those who wrong her.

Fleur does have an individual identity, and she does not fall hopelessly in love with a white man, doomed to disgrace her tribe like the Native women in so many Euro-American stories. Instead, Fleur is a powerful Native American woman with a strong connection to the past, tribal tradition, and the natural and spiritual worlds who is able to use her magic to protect herself and her community for as long as she can, never backing down to the pressure of any man or government.

Conclusion

As E. Pauline Johnson explains in “A Strong Race Opinion,” Native American women are often shrouded in negative and harmful stereotypes in modern EuroAmerican literature. Unable to have an individual identity or happy life, they are often only used to perpetuate the agenda of assimilation into white culture. Through the character Fleur Pillager, Erdrich is able to combat some of these stereotypes, creating a strong and

powerful Native American Woman. Erdrich’s use of magic realism to connect Fleur to the natural and spiritual world demonstrates that the source of her power is in tradition, and allows her to resist oppression and abuse from not only the men around her, but from the government attempting to take sacred land away from her tribe without permission or compensation. And, though Fleur is eventually forced to surrender her land to the government, she is able to take control of the situation and use the remnants of her fading magic to break down the trees herself, never allowing another person to destroy what gave her power.

Fleur Pillager is an example of what a female Native American character can look like when they are written correctly by Native American women, and it is important to continue to study and uplift these positive representations of Native individuals above those that are harmful and inauthentic. It is the responsibility of the reader, then, to take in these ecofeminist lessons from authors like Erdrich, and move forward towards ecological and sociological balance, just as Fleur attempts to do.

Works Cited

Ahmad, Mumtaz, et al. “Environmental Performativity in Native American and Afro-American Women’s Fiction: An Ecofeminist Critique of Erdrich’s Tracks and Morrison’s Beloved.” Global Social Sciences Review, vol. 6, no. 1, Winter 2021, pp. 48–56. EBSCOhost, https:// doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2021(VI-I).06.

Erdrich, Louise. Tracks. New York: Harper Collins, 1988.

Hsiu-li Juan, Rose. “Magic and Realism The Tribal Imagination in Louise Erdrich’s Novels.” Realism/AntiRealism in 20th Century Literature, 2010, https://www. researchgate.net/publication/334890371_Magic_and_ Realism_The_Tribal_Imagination_in_Louise_Erdrich’s_ Novels.

Johnson, E. Pauline. “A Strong Race Opinion: On The Indian Girl in Modern Fiction.” Canadian Literature, 2013.

Shilaja, C. L. “An Emancipatory Space: Environment in Louise Erdrich’s Tracks and Sivakami’s The Taming of Women.” IUP Journal of English Studies, vol. 13, no. 2, June 2018, pp. 63–71. EBSCOhost, https://search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso& db=hus&AN=130775792&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Tankersley, Caleb. “Magical Resistance: Louise Erdrich’s Use of Magic Realism in Tracks and The Plague of Doves.” University of Southern Mississippi, 2016, https:// www.se.edu/native-american/wp-content/uploads/ sites/49/2019/09/AAA-NAS-2015-ProceedingsTankersley.pdf.

Tariq, Sana, and Bahramand Shah. “Environment and Literary Landscape: An Ecological Criticism of Louise Erdrich’s Novel Tracks.” Global Social Sciences Review, vol. 4, no. 1, Winter 2019, pp. 226–34. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.31703/gssr.2019(IV-I).21.

Student Reflection:

This course on Native American literature quickly became one of my favorite classes I have taken here at SU. Every story we read was unique and powerful in its own way, and it was always enjoyable to see how the author crafted their story to share not only words on a page, but also to weave in historical and cultural significance that their readers can truly appreciate. For this paper, I was able to combine my interest in ecofeminist literary criticism and the ideas surrounding magic realism in Native American stories to write about Erdrich’s famous novel Tracks. Thank you to Dr. Cella for creating such a fun and engaging class and for helping me to learn more about these cultures—both of which came together to help generate ideas for this final paper.

Editor's Choice: Upper Level Third Place

e.l.f. Cosmetics Brand Assessment

by Megan Fix

MKT 205: Principles of Marketing

Dr. Mohammad Rahman

Assignment:

This marketing research paper focuses on the popular cosmetic company, e.l.f., and more specifically, the company’s branding strategies. The paper takes an in-depth look at how the company markets its brand by creating and capturing customer value, as well as by customer engagement through social media.

Brand Overview

The brand that I have chosen to analyze is e.l.f. Cosmetics. e.l.f. is a makeup and skincare brand that stands by the motto, “for every eye, lip, and face,” which is the acronym for e.l.f. (e.l.f. Cosmetics, 2022). The brand offers many different types of cosmetic products, such as eye shadow, foundation, concealer, lip gloss, moisturizer, face serum, eye cream, and makeup tools, such as brushes and sponges (Ulta Beauty, 2022). e.l.f. products are sold on their website and mobile app, as well as in several large retailers, such as Target, Walmart, CVS, Rite Aid, and Ulta. For convenience, there is a tab on the brand’s website where customers can locate the nearest store to them that sells e.l.f. Because their products can be obtained in so many ways, e.l.f. is a very accessible brand (e.l.f. Cosmetics, 2022). e.l.f. also used to have 22 physical locations; however, they were all shut down in 2019 (Hopkins, 2019). e.l.f.’s website also offers tutorials to help educate its customers about its products and how to properly use them (e.l.f. Cosmetics, 2022). All of e.l.f.’s products are 100% cruelty-free, vegan, and clean, therefore making them “leaping bunny certified.” The brand also focuses on sustainable packaging and low-priced products. These qualities are all a part of “e.l.f.’s cares,” which are basic beliefs that the brand values as important (e.l.f. Cosmetics, 2022).

e.l.f. promotes and showcases these values when marketing its products; therefore they are known for being a clean brand that offers products with good ingredients and quality at low prices. The prices for their makeup and skincare generally range anywhere from $3 to $18 (e.l.f. Cosmetics, 2022). e.l.f.’s skincare generally tends to be priced higher than its makeup (Ulta Beauty, 2022). e.l.f. also offers a rewards program known as “Beauty Squad,” which allows customers to receive rewards and free products (e.l.f. Beauty, 2022). Because they are considered to be a drugstore makeup brand, e.l.f.’s prices are significantly lower

than popular high-end makeup brands. For example, Tarte and Urban Decay, which are considered high-end brands, have prices that typically range from $20 to $60 (Ulta Beauty, 2022). Because of this, e.l.f. can be a good alternative for consumers with lower incomes or anybody that does not want to spend as much money on cosmetic products. In this paper, I will be analyzing how e.l.f. Cosmetics creates and captures customer value and how they engage with customers through social media.

Creating and Capturing Customer Value

McGraw Hill defines customer value simply as an equation: what customers get out of a product minus what they gave up to get said product. Furthermore, the text discusses that value creation takes place when a customer’s needs and wants are satisfied by a product. The consumer needs to feel as though their lives were benefited and enriched due to that product. Finally, capturing value happens when the company receives value from its customers, typically through profits (Connect Master, 202, p. 16- 22). The combination of these three concepts together will be one of the main topics for this paper: creating and capturing customer value.

Today, more and more consumers, especially Millennials and Gen Z, are becoming more conscientious about what products they use, where those products come from, and how they affect the environment. Consumers want to see words such as “vegan” and “cruelty-free” on the products that they are buying, especially in the cosmetics and beauty industry. Because of this boom in health consciousness, there is an increasing demand for products that align with customers’ values, such as vegan, cruelty-free, and sustainable products (Thomas, 2018). A 2015 report by Deloitte found that the new basis for consumer value is health, wellness, and responsibility. Therefore, consumers are more attracted to brands that act in sustainable ways and communicate those actions (Brown

& Washton, 2015, p. 119). Analysts have found that, as of 2019, “45% of people are looking to live sustainable lives, and 75% are concerned about ingredients’’ (Chain Drug Review, 2019). Another important note is that 46% of consumers seek out clean beauty brands (Mintel, 2022).  This means that customers seek more value from brands that they feel are better for their health and the environment. Consumers also look for products with lower prices due to inflation rates following the pandemic. A 2022 survey conducted by Kintal Profiles/Mintel found that three out of four consumers in the United States have concerns regarding inflation, which in turn is causing them to look for cheaper products (Mintel, 2022). e.l.f. Cosmetics creates and captures customer value by basing its brand on these consumer needs and wants.

e.l.f.’s core values are that they are cruelty-free, 100% vegan, sustainable, and affordable. At the bottom of the brand’s website, they discuss how clean and high-quality makeup should be accessible to everyone, which is why they sell their products at a lower price. The message also states, “Always vegan, our professional quality cosmetics are filled to the brim with cruelty-free goodness, and never tested on animals” (e.l.f. Cosmetics, 2022). In 2016, e.l.f. decided to switch their makeup brushes so that they would no longer be made using animal hairs but instead synthetic bristles (Cosmetics Business, 2016). e.l.f. Beauty also started a sustainability campaign known as “Project Unicorn,” which was created to reduce their impact on the environment (e.l.f. Cosmetics, 2022). This project allowed e.l.f. to cut back on packaging, thus making it more sustainable, allowing for the presentation of the product itself to be more visible, and taking up less shelf space (Beauty Packaging, 2021). By implement-

ing this project, e.l.f. Cosmetics was able to eliminate nearly 1,000,000 pounds of material that would have been used for packaging, as shown in figure 1 (e.l.f. Cosmetics, 2022).

e.l.f. values the concept of high-quality products at a low price. We see this with their slogan, “Be extra without paying extra,” which is highlighted on their website (e.l.f. Cosmetics, 2022). e.l.f. also has a rewards program, known as “Beauty Squad,” that allows their customers to save money and earn rewards. The rewards program offers 10 points for every $1 spent on e.l.f. products. Once enough points have accumulated, they can be redeemed for prizes and rewards, such as gift cards and free e.l.f. products (e.l.f. Cosmetics, 2022). Dara Mohsenian, an analyst for Morgan Stanley, said, “One of the reasons she likes e.l.f is its low prices, specifically in this current period of high inflation” (Palumbo, 2022). This demonstrates the fact that consumers find value in the brand’s low prices.

Customer Engagement through Social Media

their makeup brushes so that they would no longer be made using animal hairs but instead synthetic bristles (Cosmetics Business, 2016). e.l.f. Beauty also started a sustainability campaign known as "Project Unicorn," which was created to reduce their impact on the environment (e.l.f. Cosmetics, 2022). This project allowed e.l.f. to cut back on packaging, thus making it more sustainable, allowing for the presentation of the product itself to be more visible, and taking up less shelf space (Beauty Packaging, 2021). By implementing this project, e.l.f. Cosmetics was able to eliminate nearly 1,000,000 pounds of material that would have been used for packaging, as shown in figure 1 (e.l.f. Cosmetics, 2022).

A paper by the Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research defines customer engagement as an emotional connection that occurs between the customer and the brand. This connection can be created by consumer involvement, specifically through social media (Kujur & Singh, 2020, p. 33). According to McGraw Hill, social media engagement is a resource that companies use to get immediate customer feedback on their products (Connect Master, 2021, p. 86). Consumer engagement can lead to a consumer-brand relationship, which is typically based on trust, satisfaction, and commitment (Kujur & Singh, 2020, p. 40). The mixture of these two concepts presents the second main topic of this paper, which is customer engagement through social media.

Figure 1

Figure 1

From https://www.elfcosmetics.com/elf-cares/

From https://www.elfcosmetics.com/elf-cares

e.l.f. values the concept of high-quality products at a low price. We see this with their slogan, “Be extra without paying extra,” which is highlighted on their website (e.l.f. Cosmetics, 2022). e

From https://twitter.com/

Social media engagement also gives e.l.f. insight into what their customers want to see more of and use their criticism as a way to improve their products. Figure 3 shows a customer commenting on one of e.l.f.’s Instagram posts suggesting that they add more foundation shades. .l.f. replied saying that they will pass along this feedback to their innovation team. This demonstrates how the brand can acknowledge the customer's feedback by directly engaging with their comment.

As social media continues to grow more popular with people, companies have begun using these platforms as a resource to help them better understand their consumers (Curtis, 2022). Therefore, social media is a fantastic way for brands to get an insight into how their customers interact with the brand and its products, as well as what they want (Vinerean & Opreana, 2021, p. 2633). Customer engagement on social media also is a factor in creating and keeping customer loyalty, as well as creating a customer relationship (Vinerean & Opreana, 2021, p. 2634). A study found that “50% of decision processes and acquisitions are impacted by brands’ social media presence” (Vinerean & Opreana, 2021, p. 2633).

Figure 2

From https://www.twitter.com

media engagement also gives e.l.f. insight into what their customers want to see more of their criticism as a way to improve their products. Figure 3 shows a customer commenting on one of e.l.f.’s Instagram posts suggesting that they add more foundation shades. d saying that they will pass along this feedback to their innovation team. This demonstrates how the brand can acknowledge the customer's feedback by directly engaging with comment.

e.l.f. is present on Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, and Facebook. On these platforms, e.l.f. is very interactive and engaging with its customers through comments, hashtags, posts, and tweets. This gives e.l.f. the ability to directly address issues or complaints that their customers have, get direct feedback or suggestions, and develop a “community” within their social media pages. For example, figure 2 shows a tweet that was made by a customer whose e.l.f. brush broke only one month after use. e.l.f. replied to the tweet asking the customer to direct message them. This demonstrates how e.l.f. can directly address customers’ issues through social media engagement.

When a company interacts with its customers, it helps them feel more important to that brand. The vice president of e.l.f. stated, “The role of beauty is to create an emotional connection with the consumer.” Therefore, customers want to feel as if they are connected to the brand and a part of its community, especially whenever they go onto their social media pages (Chain Drug Review, 2013). Communities, particularly brand communities, are derived from the desire to belong and to be a part of a group with similar interests (Mintel, 2022). This sense of connection and community can be created when customers engage with other customers on social media, as shown in figure 4.

From https://www.instagram.com/

From https://www.instagram.com

Social media engagement also gives e.l.f. insight into what their customers want to see more of and use their criticism as a way to improve their products. Figure 3 shows a customer commenting on one of e.l.f.’s Instagram posts suggesting that they add more foundation shades. e.l.f. replied saying that they will pass along this feedback to their innovation team. This demonstrates how the brand can acknowledge the customer’s feedback by directly engaging with their comment.

When a company interacts with its customers, it helps them feel more important to that brand. The vice president of e.l.f. stated, “The role of beauty is to create an emotional connection with the consumer.” Therefore, customers want to feel as if they are connected to the brand and a part of its community, especially whenever they go onto their social media pages (Chain Drug Review, 2013). Communities, particularly brand communities, are derived from the desire to belong and to be a part of a group with similar interests (Mintel, 2022).  This sense of connection and community can be created when customers engage with other customers on social media, as shown in figure 4.

Figure 4

From https://www.twitter.com

In this figure, we see a customer who commented on one of , and another customer replied to her. They both had similar opinions about e.l.f.'s tweet, and therefore, they share a common interest. These types of interactions help customers fee ough they are part of a community because they all have a similar opinion as a consumer (Mintel, 2022). Customer

Figure 3

Figure 3

From https://www.tiktok.com/en/

In this figure, we see a customer who commented on one of e.l.f. ‘s tweets, and another customer replied to her. They both had similar opinions about e.l.f.’s tweet, and therefore, they share a common interest. These types of interactions help customers feel as though they are part of a community because they all have a similar opinion as a consumer (Mintel, 2022). Customer engagement that creates a sense of community can also occur when the brand interacts with its customers in a manner that makes them feel like the brand cares about them. An example of this can be seen in figure 5.

In this figure, we see e.l.f. responding to a customer’s comment on the brand’s TikTok page. customer was complementing e.l.f. 's eyeshadow palettes and the brand responded saying happy they were that the customer was enjoying that product. Types of engagement like this customers know that e.l.f. not only values their opinion but also cares about developing a community and relationship with their customers. e.l.f. also uses the hashtag “elfingamazing” their social media platforms (e.l.f. Cosmetics). This hashtag allows customers to share their makeup looks with the brand and other customers, as shown in figure 6.

From https://www.tiktok.com/en/

From https://www.tiktok.com/en

In this figure, we see e.l.f. responding to a customer’s comment on the brand’s TikTok page. The customer was complementing e.l.f. ‘s eyeshadow palettes and the brand responded saying how happy they were that the customer was enjoying that product. Types of engagement like this let customers know that e.l.f. not only values their opinion but also cares about developing a community and relationship with their customers. e.l.f. also uses the hashtag “elfingamazing” on their social media platforms (e.l.f. Cosmetics). This hashtag allows customers to share their makeup looks with the brand and other customers, as shown in figure 6.

In this figure, we see e.l.f. responding to a customer’s comment on the brand’s TikTok page. The customer was complementing palettes and the brand responded saying how happy they were that the customer was enjoying that product. Types of engagement like this let customers know that e.l.f. not only values their opinion but also cares about developing a community and relationship with their customers. .l.f. also uses the hashtag “elfingamazing” on their social media platforms (e.l.f. Cosmetics). This hashtag allows customers to share their makeup looks with the brand and other customers, as shown in fi

As seen in the figure, the hashtag currently has over 73,600 posts. Based on this number by using this hashtag, e.l.f.’s customers can meet and interact with thousands of other customers with similar interests.

Conclusion

To successfully market their brand, e.l.f. Cosmetics focuses on customer engagement through social media and creating and capturing customer value. e.l.f. can demonstrate customer value by focusing its brand on the same values as its customers, as well as their needs and wants. The brand also demonstrates customer engagement by directly interacting with its customers over multiple social media platforms. e.l.f. has been able to maintain a loyal community of customers who get value from their products and also are engaged with the brand.

From https://www.instagram.com

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 5

References

Beauty Packaging. (2021). 4 FINALISTS: Beauty Packaging’s Beauty Company of the Year. Beauty Packaging. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https:// search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&Au thType=sso&db=bth&AN=148954965&site=eho st-live&scope=site&custid=s3915936

Brown, R., Washton, R. ( 2015, August). American Consumer in 2020. Packaged Facts. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://www.marketresearch.com/ academic/Product/5678282

Chain Drug Review. (2019, March). Concerns over ingredients mount. Beauty Care Report Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthT ype=sso&db=bth&AN=135560693&site=eho st-live&scope=site&custid=s3915936

Chain Drug Review. (2013, August). E.l.f. has a knack for customer engagement. Retrieved November 3, 2022, from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tr ue&AuthType=sso&db=bth&AN=89907640&site=eho st-live&scope=site&custid=s3915936

Connect Master. (2021). Principles of Marketing (2.0). McGraw-Hill Education, New York.

Cosmetics Business. (2016, March). E.l.f. makeup brushes are 100% cruelty-free. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://reports.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen/display/ id=766039?fromSearch=%3Ffreetext%3De.l.f.%2520m akeup%2520brushes

Curtis, W. (2022, September). Market research in the US. IBISWorld. Retrieved November 2, 2022, from https://my.ibisworld.com/us/en/industry/54191/ industry-at-a-glance#key-statistics-snapshot

e.l.f. Cosmetics (2022). Affordable Drugstore Makeup & Skincare Products. e.l.f. Cosmetics. Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://www.elfcosmetics.com/

Hopkins, K. (2019, February). E.l.f. beauty to close its twenty-two stores. WWD: Women’s Wear Daily Retrieved November 3, 2022, from https:// search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&Au thType=sso&db=bth&AN=134986814&site=eho st-live&scope=site&custid=s3915936

Kujur, F., & Singh, S. (2020). Visual Communication and Consumer-Brand Relationships on Social Networking Sites - Uses & Gratifications Theory Perspective. Journal of Theoretical & Applied Electronic Commerce Research. Retrieved October 31, 2022, from:https:// search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&Aut hType=ip,sso&db=bth&AN=136737742&site=b si-live&custid=s3915936

Thomas, E. (October 2018) Vegan Makeup: The Latest Millennial Beauty Fixation. WWD: Women’s Wear Daily. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https:// search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&Aut hType=ip,sso&db=bth&AN=132545812&site=b si-live&custid=s3915936

Palumbo, A. (2022). E.l.f beauty is ‘well positioned’ thanks to its lower-priced products:

Analyst. Barron’s (Online). Retrieved November 1, 2022, https://go.openathens.net/redirector/ ship.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/tradejournals/e-l-f-beauty-is-well-positioned-hanks-lower/ docview/2716336110/se-2

Mintel. (2022, January). Diversity and inclusivity in beauty. Retrieved November 3, 2022, from: https://reports. mintel.com/display/1124039/?fromSearch=%3Ffreetex t%3Dbrand%2520community%26resultPosition%3D8

Mintel. (2022, June). The impacts of inflation on US consumers: 2022-23. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://clients.mintel.com/trend/the-impact-ofinflation-on-us-consumers-2022-23?fromSearch=%3F freetext%3Dcheaper%2520options%2520due%2520 to%2520 inflation%26resultPosition%3D1

Twitter. (2022). Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https:// twitter.com/elfcosmetics?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ct wcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Ulta Beauty. (2022). Ulta Beauty: Official Site. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://www.ulta.com

Vinerean, S., & Opreana, A. (2021). Measuring Customer Engagement in Social Media Marketing: A HigherOrder Model. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research.  Retrieved November 2, 2022, from: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?di rect=true&AuthType=ip,sso&db=bth&AN=154392842 &site=bsi-live&custid=s3915936

Student Reflection:

I chose e.l.f. Cosmetics to be the focus of my brand assessment paper because I feel they are a company that truly cares about inclusivity, sustainable marketing, and customer relationships. They have managed to create makeup that is accessibly priced, while still maintaining vegan and cruelty-free values. Because e.l.f. markets in a way that has allowed the brand to gain immense popularity and success, I wanted to better understand the strategies and thought processes behind their marketing decisions. The extensive research I did while writing this paper gave me a lot of insight into the complex and strategic processes that go into branding and marketing a company. I was also able to better understand customer behavior and value, and how it relates to marketing, specifically with a focus on e.l.f. Cosmetics. I am looking forward to using the knowledge I have obtained through my research and applying it to future classes and careers.

The Use of Psychedelics in Therapies Targeting

Alzheimer’s Disease: A Literature

by Cole Pearson

HON 113: First-Year Seminar

Dr. Christine Senecal

Review

Assignment:

This paper is a review on the extant body of scholarly work regarding the potential for psychedelics as a treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. It examines both how psychedelics may have promise as a treatment of the psychiatric comorbidities of Alzheimer’s Disease as well as the root cause of the disease itself.

The field of psychedelic psychiatry a relatively new one, emerging in a psychedelic renaissance since the 1990s.1 Classical psychedelics like lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and psilocybin were developed in the late 1950s and fueled an explosion in research regarding the compounds during the 1960s, but the recreational use of the drugs (especially associated with anti-Vietnam war activists) and the subsequent “War on Drugs” of the 1970s effectively ended research on the compounds.2 Despite the pause lasting over two decades, researchers’ attention had not shifted from the possibilities presented by psychedelics, especially due to the potential for simultaneous treatment of psychiatric disorders alongside neurological conditions.3 Eventually the FDA began to allow for limited trials to take place in the mid-1990s, manifesting over the following two decades in a promising, yet lacking body of research.4 The bulk of existing scholarly work pertains to the application of psychedelic therapies to psychiatric disorders, and the general consensus among scholars in the field agrees there is a severe gap of research regarding psychedelic therapies and their potential use in treating neurodegenerative disorders.5

Alzheimer’s Disease can present with a number of comorbidities including neuropsychiatric disorders such as major depressive disorder (MDD), anxiety, and apathy.6 The literature does cover an extensive degree of trials in which psychedelics are used to target these psychiatric issues independent of Alzheimer’s Disease, with a primary focus on the nature of existing agonist drugs’ interactions with the serotonergic system of 5-HT2A receptors.7 The work discusses how antidepressant 5-HT2A receptor agonists (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors/SSRIs) work to desensitize the targeted receptors in the hopes of causing synaptic adjustments to take place, an epigenetic process that fundamentally rewrites one’s cognition.8 Disfunction and dysregulation of 5-HT2A receptors contributes to anxiety and depressive disorders (as well as neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s Disease and Parkinson’s Disease)9

It is thought that over time, the (previously thought to be simple) “chemical imbalance” develops into rote actions of thought that are patterns of perception with physical pathways within the brain that are incredibly difficult to break.10 The most recent litera-

1 David Nutt and Robin Carhart-Harris, “The Current Status of Psychedelics in Psychiatry,” JAMA Psychiatry 78, no. 2 (July 2020): 121, https://doi.org/10.1001/ jamapsychiatry.2020.2171.; Robin L. Carhart-Harris et al., “Psilocybin with Psychological Support for Treatment-Resistant Depression: An Open-Label Feasibility Study,” The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7 (May 2016): 620, https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(16)30065-7.

2 Nutt and Carhart-Harris, JAMA Psychiatry 78, no. 2: 619.

3 Neiloufar Family et al., “Safety, Tolerability, Pharmocokinetics, and Pharmocodynamics of Low Dose Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) in Healthy Older Volunteers,” Psychopharmacology 237 (December 2019): 842, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-019-05417-7.

4 Antonio Inserra, “Current Status of Psychedelic Therapy in Australia and New Zealand: Are We Falling Behind?” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 53, no. 3 (January 2019): 191, https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867418824018.

5 Carhart-Harris et al., The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7: 626.

6 Family et al., Psychopharmacology 237: 841.; Genis Ona and Jose Carlos Bousa, “Psychedelic Drugs as a Long-Needed Innovation in Psychiatry,” Qeios (April 2020): 7, https://doi.org/10.32388/T3EM5E.

7 Alexander Bryson et al., “5-HT2A Agonists: A Novel Therapy for Functional Neurological Disorders?” International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology 20, no. 5 (February 2017): 422, https://doi.org/10.1093/ijnp/pyx011.; Robin Carhart-Harris et al., “Trial of Psilocybin versus Escitalopram for Depression,” The New England Journal of Medicine 384 (April 2021): 1402, https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2032994.; Jeffrey L. Cummings, D. P. Devanand, and Stephen M. Stahl, “Dementia-Related Psychosis and the Potential Role for Pimavanserin,” CNS Spectrums 27, no. 1 (August 2020): 7, 10, https://doi.org/10.1017/ S1092852920001765.; Inserra, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 53, no. 3: 190.

8 Carhart-Harris et al., The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7: 625.

9 Ona and Carlos Bousa, Qeios: 7.

10 Nutt and Carhart-Harris, JAMA Psychiatry 78, no. 2: 122.

ture has been asking questions and looking at both historical examples of psychedelic use and the limited trials taking place to examine psychedelics’ potential in treating these complex psychiatric disorders, with the consensus agreeing that the basis for the effectiveness of psychedelics is largely based on small trials and anecdotal histories of recreational use.11 The scholarship covers the lasting potency and effectiveness of these psychedelic compounds in treating various psychiatric disorders after a single administration. Antonio Inserra includes one of these historical (but rather anecdotal) examples: “The authors reported that a single dose [of ayahuasca] resulted in rapid antidepressant effects compared to placebo [which is] remarkable considering the depressive history of these patients…[MDD] had persisted for 11 years and four medications had been trialed with no benefit.”12 The suggested difference in the psychedelic treatments’ rapid and potent qualities versus the less sure and lengthy process characterized by the traditional SSRI antidepressants appears to originate from the psychedelics’ more integrative and sweeping ability to downregulate 5-HT2A receptors with practically no delay in the desensitization process, thereby affecting the entire serotonergic system in a single administration.13

In spite of the aforementioned optimistic literature regarding the potential for potent effects after a single use, a degree of cautious and scientific realism is observed in the literature, reinforcing the fact that most trials have been short and small in scope, and a lot of the scholars promoting the single-use, lifelong treatment include historical anecdotal effects of recreational use. 14 In a study that espouses the aforementioned ideas of scientific cautiousness, Robin Carhart-Harris found only secondary correlations in the therapeutic effects of psilocybin versus escitalopram (a traditional antidepressant) treatments that are not necessarily causal, contributing to the desire among scholars for further studies and data-based evidence.15 The suggested connection to Alzheimer’s Disease in a great deal of the literature is twofold: the application of these serotonergic agonist psychedelics in treating the comorbidities of the disease as well as treating the

11 Carhart-Harris et al., The New England Journal of Medicine 384: 1411.

12 Inserra, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 53, no. 3: 190.

disease itself through similar means of dismantling and rebuilding various rote networks and brain circuitry.16

The topic of using psychedelics to treat Alzheimer’s Disease itself is one with limited clinical evidence, but a multitude of scholars in the field believe that the results could be groundbreaking.17 The literature discusses a major need for treatments that target Alzheimer’s Disease on a causal basis, as existing treatments target the symptoms and effects of the disease.18 The work covering the topic of psychedelics as therapies for neurodegenerative disorders often reports on the question of the effectiveness of current pharmacological medications and the basis on which they are thought to work. For decades now, the field of psychiatry has been dominated by the “chemical imbalance” approach, but in the last decade this has become discussed as a problematic approach for its lack of innovation, spiraling treatment costs, and the results of over-prescription of medication.19

In response to this problem, scholars have sought to better understand the causes of various neurodegenerative disorders and to build treatments based on that data: the literature seems to universally suggest that neurodegenerative disorders coincide with (and are potentially caused by) a decrease in functional and neural plasticity, an increase in neuroinflammation, and the atrophy of protein-processing loops and 5-HT2A receptor systems in areas vital to cognitive functioning and memory-retrieval like the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus.20 Using the information available regarding how psychedelics interact with mood disorders also affected by 5-HT2A receptor systems and the information of how psychedelics promote an increase in plasticity, the literature concludes that the potential for psychedelics to treat Alzheimer’s Disease at the source is high, though it is still unclear about the function in which the actual treatment would be facilitated.21

In one proposed method of treatment, some scholars refer to the ability of psychedelics to promote neurogenesis through serotonergic systems, modulating gene expression with regard to neuroplasticity (the ability of the neural system to reshape itself), thereby improving and revitalizing the brain’s built-in immune

13 Carhart-Harris et al., The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7: 625; Cummings, Devanand, and Stahl, CNS Spectrums 27, no. 1: 7, 10.

14 Carhart-Harris et al., The New England Journal of Medicine 384: 1402.

15 Carhart-Harris et al., 1411.

16 Bryson et al., International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology 20, no. 5: 422; Family et al., Psychopharmacology 237: 841.

17 Carhart-Harris et al., The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7: 626; Family et al., Psychopharmacology 237: 841; Kathy Liszewski, “Transforming Psychedelics into Approved Medicines,” Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News 42, no. 10 (October 2022): 44, https://doi.org/10.1089/gen.42.10.13.

18 Ona and Carlos Bousa, Qeios: 1.

19 Ona and Carlos Bousa, 2.

20 Bryson et al., International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology 20, no. 5: 422; Carhart-Harris et al., The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7: 623, 626; Oskar Hougaard Jefsen et al., “Transcriptional Regulation in the Rat Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus After a Single Administration of Psilocybin,” Journal of Psychopharmacology 35, no. 4 (November 2020): 483, 491, https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881120959614.

21 Carhart-Harris et al., The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7: 626; Family et al., Psychopharmacology 237: 842.

system of synaptogenesis (the formation of new and alterable neural circuitry and pathways).22 The literature supporting this idea of how psychedelics may treat Alzheimer’s Disease presents neuroimaging evidence that appears to show how psychedelic treatments do not work within existing neurological pathways and processes (as traditional psychiatric medication does), but “completely disrupt those brain systems and circuits that encode these repetitive thoughts and behaviors.”23 This literature, positing that Alzheimer’s Disease itself is a process (or processes) of entrenchment and deterioration of neural circuitry, then suggests that more trials are necessary to understand how psychedelics may be used to disrupt this process of atrophy in neurodegenerative diseases.24

Another common view within the literature examines the inflammation that universally accompanies Alzheimer’s Disease and how psychedelics target it also through modulation of the serotonergic receptor system.25 The literature suggests that though neuroinflammation may not be the root cause of neurodegenerative disorders, its universal accompaniment with the diseases and its ability to enable the spread and acceleration of neural atrophy makes it more than just a symptom or comorbidity, and that treating the inflammation has the potential to treat the same root cause of the disease itself.26 Across the literature of both suggestions for targeting Alzheimer’s Disease is the agreement that more research is needed.

Standing in the way of said research for over two decades was the United States’ “War on Drugs” that responded to widespread psychedelic recreational use and association with the anti-Vietnam War movement, resulting in a ban on psychedelics ratified across the planet in the 1971 UN Convention on Narcotics.27 Even today, FDA restrictions (and that of most other countries) hinder the ability to conduct trials at a scale comparable to clinical trials for existing pharmacological drugs, ailing scientific progress.28 The literature agrees that there are a number of ways to conduct trials that compare to the safety of traditional pharmacological drug trials, including an emerging four-step treatment model for the administration of psychedelic drugs (primarily targeting psychiatric

disorders) in randomized controlled trials, outlined by Nutt and Carhart-Harris: first, a patient is assessed for suitability of psychedelic therapy; second, the patient is prepared by their trained therapist for the variability of outcomes in the “psychological journey” and how to navigate the experience to achieve the most beneficial outcome; third, the patient undergoes the experience session that involves the drug administration, a comfortable setting, possible music and eyeshades, and the continuous presence of the therapist; and fourth, an integration session takes place for the patient to discuss with the therapist how the experience relates to the psychological condition of the patient and how to integrate that experience with life and daily existence.29 This treatment model that Nutt has named “drug-facilitated psychotherapy” can be employed in psychedelic trials (and potentially clinical treatment) going forward in the research of the compounds, with any adjustments made to adjust to new evidence.30

Another potential mode of clinical testing and treatment with psychedelics discussed often by the literature is in the administrative technique of microdosing. A major challenge of researching and administering psychedelics is their “behavioral liability and psychoactivity”, but modulation of 5-HT2A receptor serotonergic systems and the subsequent effects of increased neuroplasticity and synaptogenesis and decreased neuroinflammation appears to be achievable via the administration of non-behaviorally active doses of psychedelics, paving the way for safe methods of administration in future trials and therapeutic use.31 Family’s article is specifically about the safety and tolerability of LSD microdoses in “healthy older volunteers,” which puts it at a place of specific interest within the literature regarding psychedelics being used to target Alzheimer’s Disease and other neurodegenerative diseases that most often occur in older individuals.32

Other influential factors and challenges in the administration of psychedelic therapies and future clinical trials discussed frequently by the field’s scholars include concerns about the very psychological nature of large-dose psychedelics and how intensive the patient-therapist relationship must be throughout

22 Carhart-Harris et al., The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7: 623; Jefsen, Journal of Psychopharmacology 35, no. 4: 491; Liszewski, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News 42, no. 10: 46.

23 Nutt and Carhart-Harris, JAMA Psychiatry 78, no. 2: 122.

24 Bryson et al., International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology 20, no. 5: 422; Ona and Carlos Bousa, Qeios: 7.

25 Family et al., Psychopharmacology 237: 842.

26 Family et al., 842.

27 Nutt and Carhart-Harris, JAMA Psychiatry 78, no. 2: 121.

28 Carhart-Harris et al., The New England Journal of Medicine 384: 1411; Carhart-Harris et al., The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7: 619; Inserra, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 53, no. 3: 190.

29 Nutt and Carhart-Harris, JAMA Psychiatry 78, no. 2: 121.

30 Nutt and Carhart-Harris, 121.

31 Family et al., Psychopharmacology 237: 842.

32 Family et al., 841.

the administration and integration process. Scholars contend that in a field that is already burdened by high treatment costs, a lack of practitioners to meet the psychiatric demands of the public, and extensive training barriers for prospective therapists, adding another entirely new mode of therapy that could be utilized by tens of millions suffering from psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases may strain the psychiatric healthcare system past its upper limit.33

Moreover, the literature discusses the wide variability of psychedelic experiences based on personal, social, and cultural contexts and backgrounds.34 Scholars recognize how medical sciences often fail to account for ethnic, racial, and cultural differences when conducting research, and in psychiatric health these differences are especially significant.35 The general consensus across the literature of the field is one of cautious optimism with careful regard for the questions on how to navigate the various individual and cultural stigmas surrounding psychedelics (especially the popular classical psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin which is derived from “magic mushrooms”) in a manner that meets the evidence and need to research the possibility of treatment options.36

The literature surrounding the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease and other neurodegenerative disorders with psychedelic therapeutics lacks direct evidence and trials testing the effectiveness of the potential treatment.37 However, the literature does contain a great deal of discussion regarding the need for more

33 Nutt and Carhart-Harris, JAMA Psychiatry 78, no. 2: 122.

research and the regulatory and societal challenges facing that research.38 Scholars have written recently about the evidence that psychedelics can play a role in serotonergic 5-HT2A receptor systems to modulate neuroplasticity and neuroinflammation reduction to treat psychiatric comorbidities of Alzheimer’s Disease with potential value in treating the disease itself.39 Apparent gaps in the literature include an understanding of how classical psychedelics (LSD, psilocybin, DMT, and ayahuasca) compare to non-classical psychedelics (derivatives of lysergamide, tryptamine, and phenethylamine) in their interactions with serotonergic systems and subsequent treatment of psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. There is also an apparent lack of discussion regarding sociological, psychological, and public opinion research regarding the methods by which pharmaceutical companies and researchers can overcome the stigmas of bringing psychedelics to clinical trials and market after decades of government spending that declared the drugs as having “no currently accepted medical use.”40 Despite the advances made and the literature developed over the last two decades regarding the psychedelic treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease, scholars continue to discuss the need for further evidence-based research to fully understand the nature of the disease and how psychedelics can interact and potentially treat the psychiatric disorders and neurodegenerative problems that define Alzheimer’s Disease for its millions of patients across the globe.41

34 Carhart-Harris et al., The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7: 626; Nutt and Carhart-Harris, JAMA Psychiatry 78, no. 2: 122.

35 Carhart-Harris et al., The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7: 626.

36 Carhart-Harris et al., The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7: 626; Carhart-Harris et al., The New England Journal of Medicine 384: 1411; Family et al., Psychopharmacology 237: 842; Inserra, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 53, no. 3: 191; Nutt and Carhart-Harris, JAMA Psychiatry 78, no. 2: 121.

37 Carhart-Harris et al., The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7: 626.

38 Carhart-Harris et al., The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7: 626; Nutt and Carhart-Harris, JAMA Psychiatry 78, no. 2: 122.

39 Carhart-Harris et al., The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7: 623, 626; Cummings, Devanand, and Stahl, CNS Spectrums 27, no. 1: 7; Family et al., Psychopharmacology 237: 841-842.

40 Liszewski, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News 42, no. 10: 44.

41 Carhart-Harris et al., The New England Journal of Medicine 384: 1411; Family et al., Psychopharmacology 237: 842; Inserra, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 53, no. 3: 191.

Bibliography

Bryson, Alexander et al. “5-HT2A Agonists: A Novel Therapy for Functional Neurological Disorders?” International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology 20, no. 5 (February 2017): 422-427. https://doi.org/10.1093/ ijnp/pyx011.

Carhart-Harris, Robin L. et al. “Psilocybin with Psychological Support for Treatment-Resistant Depression: An Open-Label Feasibility Study.” The Lancet Psychiatry 3, no. 7 (May 2016): 619-626. https:// doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(16)30065-7.

Carhart-Harris, Robin et al. “Trial of Psilocybin versus Escitalopram for Depression.” The New England Journal of Medicine 384 (April 2021): 1402-1411. https://doi. org/10.1056/NEJMoa2032994.

Cummings, Jeffrey L., D. P. Devanand, and Stephen M. Stahl. “Dementia-Related Psychosis and the Potential Role for Pimavanserin.” CNS Spectrums 27, no. 1 (August 2020): 7-10. https://doi.org/10.1017/ S1092852920001765.

Family, Neiloufar, et al. “Safety, Tolerability, Pharmocokinetics, and Pharmocodynamics of Low Dose Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) in Healthy Older Volunteers.” Psychopharmacology 237 (December 2019): 841-842. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s00213-019-05417-7.

Student Reflection:

Inserra, Antonio. “Current Status of Psychedelic Therapy in Australia and New Zealand: Are We Falling Behind?” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 53, no. 3 (January 2019): 190-192. https://doi. org/10.1177/0004867418824018.

Jefsen, Oskar Hougaard et al. “Transcriptional Regulation in the Rat Prefrontal Cortex and Hippocampus After a Single Administration of Psilocybin.” Journal of Psychopharmacology 35, no. 4 (November 2020): 483493. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881120959614.

Liszewski, Kathy. “Transforming Psychedelics into Approved Medicines.” Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News 42, no. 10 (October 2022): 44-49. https://doi. org/10.1089/gen.42.10.13.

Nutt, David, and Robin Carhart-Harris. “The Current Status of Psychedelics in Psychiatry.” JAMA Psychiatry 78, no. 2 (July 2020): 121-122. https://doi.org/10.1001/ jamapsychiatry.2020.2171.

Ona, Genis, and Jose Carlos Bousa. “Psychedelic Drugs as a Long-Needed Innovation in Psychiatry”. Qeios (April 2020): 1-21. https://doi.org/10.32388/T3EM5E.

Writing this paper was at first a challenge because of my unfamiliarity with literature reviews prior to entering the course, but it became easier to approach once I understood the place reviews hold in the academic process. Understanding that the review form is the precursor to the argument and stands to direct oneself or others into researching areas that are lacking data was key to understanding how to write it. From that point, it was a matter of simply finding prominent pieces of scholarly discussion and developing the paper in a synthetic “weave” of the literature. Rather than covering the literature piece-by-piece, the review covers the various themes and topics frequently covered by the literature and integrates the relevant discussion into an ideally seamless paraphrase of the work.

Codependency in Toni Morrison’s "Beloved"

by Kaitlyn Zeigler

ENG 250: Introduction to Literature

Dr. Cristina Rhodes

Assignment:

This midterm assignment asks that you write an original analysis of a text that we have discussed in class or that is related to course discussions (i.e. another banned book). The analysis should contain a clear and argumentative thesis statement (claim), cogent textual analysis (close reading), and a conclusion that indicates the significance and implications of your work. You should also conduct some secondary research to help support your claim and main points.

“Beloved”, a neo-slave narrative by Toni Morrison, primarily focuses on how the trauma of one’s past can continue to haunt them. Within the context of the novel, this haunting presents itself in the form of a literal ghost, the titular “Beloved”. The story centers around Sethe, an escaped slave who seeks sanctuary and freedom in house 124 in Cincinnati until everything begins to fall apart. After a brief period of peace, she is soon tracked down by slave catchers who hope to drag her and all her children back to Sweet Home, the farm that had enslaved her. In a moment of pure panic and denial, Sethe kills her two-year-old daughter and attempts to kill the other three children, deducing that death would be better for them than a return to the horrors of slavery. Though her freedom is eventually preserved, she is never able to return to normalcy as her daughter’s ghost begins haunting 124, causing mischief and driving out Sethe’s two sons. After another figure from Sethe’s past, Paul D, exorcises the spirit from the house. Beloved returns in physical form--assuming the body of an eighteen-year-old--and begins living with Sethe and her other daughter, Denver. In this essay, I will explore how and why Denver and Sethe each fall into a severe codependent relationship with Beloved, one that consumes their individuality throughout the novel.

Codependency:

As the novel exposes the long-term mental impacts of slavery and the power that trauma can hold over a person, Beloved can be studied from the psychoanalytical perspective. A literacy theory in which the reader focuses on the subconscious mental and/or emotional state of the characters. From this perspective, it is clear that the strained interpersonal relationships circulating 124 are not just unhealthy but dangerously codependent. Although the term codependency is often used in reference to a relationship between an addict and an

enabler, codependency can be qualified as any “...psychological state characterized by a strong disquietude and extreme emotional, social, and sometimes physical dependence on a person or an object” (Milushyna 1). A codependent person will often equate someone else’s happiness to their own self-worth, creating a compulsion to keep that person satisfied no matter what. The result is a severe form of self-denial as the codependent person heavily prioritizes the welfare of the other person above their own. Along with this, the “Suppression of feelings and sacrificing of needs and desires to please one’s partner are symptoms of codependency and loss of self at the same time” (Cowan 3). By making their own needs inferior, codependent individuals often endure relationships with a power imbalance, wherein the other person may take advantage of their devotion and further deny their needs. Throughout the novel, these indicators of codependency are clear within Denver and Sethe.

Trauma and Self-esteem:

Before elaborating on the codependent relationships between the three central women of the novel, I want to emphasize the factors that can contribute to codependency. These factors, trauma and low self-esteem, may explain why these relationships were formed so quickly and how they grew to the extent that they did. Since codependency can often be linked to trauma (especially trauma experienced during childhood), Sethe is especially susceptible to codependent tendencies. In modern research of codependency, it has been discovered that “...the construct of codependency has been associated with exposure to any chronic stressful events within the family environment such as physical, sexual, emotional abuse, neglect or excessive trauma” (Milushyna 2). During her time at Sweet Home, Sethe was forced to endure extreme physical abuse as her back was mutilated and scarred for life in

addition to sexual abuse at the hands of Schoolteacher and his gang of students who “took my [Sethe’s] milk” (Morrison 20). Sethe’s emotional abuse while at the farm also cannot be understated as her feelings were often invalidated by the Garners (the owners of Sweet Home)--like when her hopes for an official wedding were squandered--and treated as less-than-human by Schoolteacher, who compared her to an animal during one of his lessons. Due to the severity and frequency of this abuse, even after her escape to 124, Sethe faces continuing trauma from her horrific experiences as “...every mention of her past life hurt. Everything in it was painful or lost. She and Baby Suggs had agreed without saying so that it was unspeakable” (Morrison 69). As memories of this abuse, especially the taking of the milk, continue to haunt Sethe throughout the novel and flood her thoughts, her traumas are relived, and she is put in an unfortunately vulnerable position to become codependent. Beloved gladly manipulates this vulnerability to take revenge against her mother.

In addition to trauma, codependency can also result from a low self-esteem and an unsureness in one’s individuality, something that both Sethe and Denver struggle with. In studying the link between self-esteem and codependency, “Whitfield (1987) related codependency directly to internalized shame... He described shame as feeling bad about the ‘true’ self, as a sense of ‘being’ defective or intrinsically inadequate” (Wells 2). Sethe experiences a vast amount of low self-esteem throughout the novel due to her upbringing as a slave and the heavily-imposed idea that she is somehow inferior due to her race. She explains that “anybody white could take your whole self for anything that came to mind. Not just work, kill, or maim you, but dirty you. Dirty you so bad you couldn’t like yourself anymore” (Morrison 295). With a heartbreakingly low opinion of her own value, Sethe is even more prone to seek validation from someone else’s opinion. Which further leads her down the path of codependency. Meanwhile, though it’s not as explicit throughout the novel, Denver also experiences a low self-esteem and a lack of individuality due to her upbringing. Morrison establishes early on in the novel that Denver experienced a lonely and isolated childhood as her brothers both leave her, her grandmother dies, and other kids her age have somewhat shunned her out of fear of the 124 apparition and Denver’s association with it. As a result, “Denver lives an empty life. She does not have anyone or anyone in the world that makes her feel good about herself. She also misses the feeling of belonging somewhere” (Chouchane 1). So, out of abject loneliness and a desire to be seen and heard by someone, Denver clings to the mischief of a baby ghost. Before Paul D drives her out, Beloved’s company is the only solace to Denver’s low self-esteem. Like Sethe, this makes Denver extremely vulnerable to the

development of a codependent relationship, especially when Beloved returns in human form.

Denver and Beloved:

Upon Beloved’s physical arrival to 124, Denver feels an immediate and strong attachment to her and takes it upon herself to be the woman’s primary caretaker. Morrison writes that, “Denver tended her, watched her sound sleep, listened to her labored breathing and, out of love and a breakneck possessiveness that charged her, hid like a personal blemish Beloved’s incontinence” (64). Although Denver’s dedication and concern for Beloved may have originated from a place of compassion and hospitality, this caretaking quickly dominates her daily life and crosses the line into obsession, “So intent was her nursing, she forgot to eat...” (Morrison 64). Denver begins to show the warning signs of codependency as she sacrifices her own needs--ones that are necessary for survival--to make Beloved well. And as Beloved rapidly becomes the center of her attention and the subject of her loyalty, Denver begins to fall into a dependence that only escalates after Beloved’s recovery.

As the two girls spend an increasing amount of time together, Denver becomes extremely emotionally reliant on Beloved. This worsens significantly after Denver’s discovery of Beloved’s true identity: her deceased sister and supernatural childhood friend. From Denver’s perspective, “Nothing was out there that this sister-girl did not provide in abundance: a racing heart, dreaminess, society, danger, beauty” (Morrison 90). By seeking all joy, companionship, and, contentment from one person and by ignoring what the rest of the world has to offer, Denver unwittingly makes herself further dependent on Beloved. As Denver later recounts the story of her birth to an enthralled Beloved, her happiness hinges on her ability to satisfy her sister. Morrison writes that, “The monologue became, in fact, a duet as they lay down together, Denver nursing Beloved’s interest like a lover whose pleasure was to overfeed the loved” (92). Once again, Denver demonstrates sure aspects of codependency as she primarily links her own emotional fulfillment to another’s, only feeling joy when Beloved is as well.

However, the moment in which Denver’s codependency becomes abundantly clear to the audience is when she watches her mother being nearly strangled by the person she values most. Although she loves her mother and is filled with concern for her, “...Her excessive dependence on Beloved makes her remain passive when she sees Beloved’s attempt to choke Sethe. She realizes that she is so needy of Beloved that she can do nothing...” (Chouchane 2). Despite the serious pain that Denver now knows that Beloved is capable of inflicting, she remains helplessly attached to her as she would rather endure Beloved’s malevolence than

lose her completely. Although Denver does attempt to confront Beloved about the near-murder afterward, Beloved pleads innocence and runs off. This dismissiveness from her sister invalidates Denver’s feelings and makes her crave Beloved’s approval even more. In the end, Denver is the one seeking forgiveness for upsetting Beloved with her valid accusation, while Beloved has become the power-holder in the codependent relationship.

As the novel progresses, Morrison continues to craft an eerie depiction of codependency by emphasizing Denver’s obsession with Beloved’s gaze. By chapter twelve, Denver finds herself the most emotionally satisfied when Beloved looks at her as “The look takes Denver to a ‘place beyond appetite,’ to where she is ‘Needing nothing. Being what there was’ (118). To be recognized by the beloved is all the nourishment one needs; it brings one into coherence, into meaningful existence” (Schapiro 7). Although Denver herself recognizes that Beloved only looks at her when she needs something from her in return, she ignores the blatant manipulation and is still overjoyed to be the subject of Beloved’s attention. In Denver’s eyes, her entire purpose is now only to please her sister and her worth is the longevity of Beloved’s gaze. Her identity apart from Beloved means little to her, and when losing sight of Beloved for a few minutes in the shed, she terrifyingly exclaims that “Death is a skipped meal compared to this” (Morrison 145) as she wholeheartedly believes that life is not worth living without Beloved; even her will to live no longer belongs to herself but to her sister. Denver’s codependency has evolved into its most severe form, as her mental health takes a massive toll and her self-esteem is lower than ever. It isn’t until much later in the novel, when Sethe begins to fall into a similar codependent relationship with Beloved, that Denver is finally able to find her individuality once again and learn to be self-sufficient.

Sethe and Beloved:

After the realization that Beloved is her resurrected daughter, Sethe falls into a rapid and intense codependent relationship with her, one even more detrimental than Denver had experienced. She immediately devotes the majority of her time to this miracle child, carelessly allowing their games to take over all other aspects of her life. She begins ignoring Denver entirely, stops showing up to work on time (if at all) in order to be with Beloved. After being fired, “instead of looking for another job, Sethe played all the harder with Beloved, who never got enough of anything: lullabies, new stitches, the bottom of the cake bowl, the top of the milk. If the hen had only two eggs, she got both” (Morrison 282). The symptoms of codependency are clear in Sethe as she indulges Beloved’s every desire, casts off all her other relationships (including that of

her maternal responsibility to Denver), and yields her ability to provide for herself financially. The signs of her emotional dependence on Beloved are also obvious as “Sethe was happy when Beloved was happy...” (Morrison 286). Like Denver, Sethe’s emotional contentment is solely rooted in Beloved’s, compelling her to further please her daughter and relinquishing her own autonomy in the process. As Sethe waits on Beloved hand and foot, she becomes less of a mother and more of a servant.

As Beloved’s behavior worsens over the next few months, Sethe’s inability to discipline her further illustrates her codependency. Beloved grows incredibly greedy and self-absorbed, yet Sethe makes few attempts, as her mother, to correct the narcissistic attitude or reprimand her for it. Morrison writes, “But it was Beloved who made demands. Anything she wanted she got, and when Sethe ran out of things to give her, Beloved invented desire” (283) and “She took the best of everything—first. The best chair, the biggest piece, the prettiest plate, the brightest ribbon for her hair” (284). Sethe not only excuses Beloved’s self-adulation but completely submits to it, nursing Beloved’s ego and giving her all the power in the relationship. As a result, Beloved’s behavior soon morphs into outright belligerence the moment Sethe tries to take back any power for herself. Morrison details, “When once or twice Sethe tried to assert herself—be the unquestioned mother whose word was law and who knew what was best—Beloved slammed things, wiped the table clean of plates, threw salt on the floor, broke a window pane” (284). However, as Sethe has become so codependent on Beloved by this point, rather than discipline her for these tantrums, she simply cleans up her messes (much to the embarrassment of Denver). Similar to Denver after the suffocation of her mother, Sethe continues to tolerate Beloved’s violence and narcissism because she can’t bear the thought of losing her--can’t continue on without her as she had for years. As a result, this “egocentric behavior of Beloved as well as Sethe’s necessity for balancing out for the years without her develops into a vast codependent relationship between them” (Portillo 18). Essentially, Sethe can’t lose any more time with Beloved, and Beloved knows this, using that intense yearning to keep Sethe submissive.

As Sethe becomes increasingly mentally and emotionally dependent on Beloved, her physical condition begins to reflect this as well. Predictably, Sethe’s lack of an income begins to take a toll on the family as food becomes scarce. As a result, Sethe begins to starve herself while “Denver watched her mother go without— pick-eating around the edges of the table and stove: the hominy that stuck on the bottom; the crusts and rinds and peelings of things. Once she saw her run her longest finger deep in an empty jam jar before rinsing and putting it away” (Morrison 285). Sethe continues

to sacrifice her own needs to make sure that Beloved is fed, but now the consequences are far more deadly as Sethe is slowly killing herself in order to maintain the relationship with her daughter. Morrison details that “The bigger Beloved got, the smaller Sethe became; the brighter Beloved’s eyes, the more those eyes that used never to look away became slits of sleeplessness... Beloved ate up her life, took it, swelled up with it, grew taller on it. And the older woman yielded it up without a murmur” (295). As the novel reaches its climax, the two women have transformed into the physical manifestation of their relationship dynamic: Sethe is small and subservient and the massive Beloved takes full advantage of it. The murdered toddler finally has had her revenge for “Through this codependent toxicity, Beloved feeds off this guilt relentlessly, never satisfied and slowly we start to lose Sethe to her” (Danley 58). Sethe’s guilt over the harm she inflicted on her child has made her blind to the harm her child is inflicting on her within the relationship, and so Sethe literally shrinks to a fraction of the person she was at the beginning of the novel. Sethe’s codependency is so strong that even after Beloved’s unexplained disappearance at the end of the chapter, she still finds herself held captive by the memories of Beloved. She is only able to find herself once again after Paul D reminds her of her own worth outside of her eldest daughter as he claims, “You your best thing, Sethe” (Morrison 322). The statement shocks her but allows her to finally move on.

Conclusion:

Throughout the novel, Morrison depicts two unique yet comparably unhealthy relationships, both of which have become codependent. Using both Denver and Sethe as examples, Morrison displays how one’s excessive need for emotional validation from another (Beloved) can quickly develop into loss of one’s self or even, in Sethe’s case, into life-threatening situations. She also emphasizes how sacrificing one’s own needs for the prioritization of another’s can, if done excessively, reach similar dangerous results. It is important for readers to analyze these codependent elements

within the novel in order to familiarize themselves with the warning signs and identifiers of a codependent relationship and avoid them. Such a relationship is unhealthy for both people involved and can be a source of even more insecurity, so it is essential for people to realize if and when they might be in one of these situations (as it is unfortunately common that people don’t realize it). Meanwhile, the novel also provides a glimmer of hope for those currently in codependent relationships since both women in the novel are eventually able to break free from their own; Morrison provides the reader with courage to do the same. At the end of the day, Beloved encourages its audience to always remember their self-worth.

Works Cited

Chouchane, Selma. “A Womanist Reading of Denver in Toni Morrison’s Beloved.” The Criterion, vol. 4, no. 2, Apr. 2013, www.the-criterion.com. Accessed 21 Oct. 2022.

Cowan, Gloria, and Mimi Bommersbach. “Codependency, Loss of Self, and Power.” Psychology of Women Quarterly, vol. 19, no. 2, 1995, pp. 221-36. Academic Search Main Edition. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.

Danley, Mallory. “A Feminine Gothic Revival: The Haunting of Shirley Jackson and Toni Morrison.” Master of Liberal Studies Theses, 2021, scholarship.rollins.edu/ mls/100/. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.

Milushyna, Marina. “Foreign Studies of the Codependency Phenomenon.” Humanities and Social Sciences, vol. 20, 2015, pp. 51-61 Accessed 21 Oct. 2022.

Morrison, Toni. Beloved. First Vintage International, 1987.

Portillo, Estibaliz Cortázar. “The Infanticide in Toni Morrison’s ‘Beloved’- a Mother’s Desperate Cry.” Trabajos Académicos-Facultad De Letras, 2019, addi. ehu.es/handle/10810/43446. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.

Schapiro, Barbara. “The Bonds of Love and the Boundaries of Self in Toni Morrison’s ‘Beloved.’” Contemporary Literature, vol. 32, no. 2, 1991, pp. 194-210, www. jstor.org/stable/1208361. Accessed 21 Oct. 2022.

Wells, Marolyn, et al. “Codependency: A Grass Roots Construct’s Relationship to Shame-proneness, Low Self-esteem, and Childhood Parentification.” American Journal of Family Therapy, vol. 27, no. 1, 1999, pp. 63-71. Sociological Collection. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.

Student Reflection:

As a current high school senior in the Ship Start program, this literature class was my first experience on a college campus and quickly became one of the most memorable English classes I've ever taken. The idea of reading banned books had easily sparked my interest, and I was soon challenged to analyze these books at a deeper level, considering their impact on society and the disputed reasons for which they were banned. However, of all the books that we read (and the insightful discussions surrounding them), Beloved by Toni Morrison has had the greatest impact on me since there are so many lessons to be learned from its honest and heartbreaking portrayal of slavery. Before I had even finished the book, I had noticed many clear signs of codependency among the main characters and was confident that this would be the topic of my Midterm paper as I feel that it isn't often talked about and would be a great opportunity for research.

Editor's Choice: Lower Level Third Place

The Environment’s Impact on Engineering in Ancient Mesopotamia

by Kayla Vosburg

HON 122: Historical Foundations of Global Cultures

Dr. Christine Senecal

Assignment:

To write a ten to twelve page argumentative essay about a historical topic of your choice. The time period for the selected topic must be prior to the 1800s, as that is the first time period not covered in class. Additionally, topic must be related to world history and not American history.

Ancient Mesopotamia provides some of the earliest examples of engineering, which supported the growth of urban cities in the region. Some scholars argue that the development of Mesopotamian engineering was influenced by the will of the ruling class, stating that Mesopotamian kings utilized engineering as a way to gain political strength. In fact, it was likely the different environmental factors in Mesopotamia that promoted the development of engineering. First, the physical geography of Mesopotamia contributed to the development of hydraulic engineering systems, as canals were needed to sustain agriculture. In addition, the climate of this region supported the use of hydraulic engineering to provide water to the different civilizations. Lastly, the local environment provided many of the materials that were utilized in civil engineering projects completed by Mesopotamian engineers.

Engineering in ancient Mesopotamia can be divided into two distinct categories: civil and hydraulic engineering. Mesopotamians used civil engineering when developing structures important for city life. One such structure were the city walls, which were built to protect the city’s residents from outside attacks.1 Many cities utilized multiple protective walls to increase their overall protection.2 These walls were typically constructed using mud-bricks, and could

have ranged anywhere from 10 meters to 25 meters tall, depending on which city the walls were built in.3 In addition to city walls, Mesopotamian engineers also constructed ziggurats, which were stepped pyramids that served as religious temples.4 Like city walls, these temples were also constructed using mud-bricks, and occasionally were paired with reed mats to improve stability.5 Hydraulic engineering was also essential in the development of urban cities. Canals would bring water into the city, where it could be used in different ways.6 First, Mesopotamians utilized canals as a means for travel, which allowed for goods to be imported into and exported from cities.7 Additionally, canals also provided water for irrigation, which was essential for the growth of crops in the region.8 Another hydraulic system developed by Mesopotamian engineers was the sanitary system.9 These systems used clay bricks and pipes to collect rainwater and wastewater throughout the city.10 After collecting the sewage, drainage systems would either carry it outside the city through canals, or to a sewage pit located inside the city.11

While many scholars agree on the different ways engineering was utilized in Mesopotamia, they dispute the reasons for its development. Some scholars suggest that Mesopotamian kings used engineering to increase their power.12 Many kings, such as Nebuchadnezzar II,

1 Gwilym Roberts, “Middle Eastern Archaeology,” Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Engineering History and Heritage 164, no.1 (February 2011), 5.

2 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 105.

3 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 106-107.

4 Gwilym Roberts, “Middle Eastern Archaeology,” Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers. Engineering History and Heritage 164, no.1 (February 2011), 5.

5 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 135.

6 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 41.

7 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 40.

8 Aldo Tamburrino, “Water Technology in Ancient Mesopotamia,” in Ancient Water Technologies, ed. L.W. Mays (London: Springer, 2010), 29.

9 Aldo Tamburrino, “Water Technology in Ancient Mesopotamia,” in Ancient Water Technologies, ed. L.W. Mays (London: Springer, 2010), 38.

10 Aldo Tamburrino, “Water Technology in Ancient Mesopotamia,” in Ancient Water Technologies, ed. L.W. Mays (London: Springer, 2010), 39.

11 Aldo Tamburrino, “Water Technology in Ancient Mesopotamia,” in Ancient Water Technologies, ed. L.W. Mays (London: Springer, 2010), 39.

12 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 9.

focused much of their attention on the development of engineering projects.13 Nebuchadnezzar promoted the development of walls and moats in Babylon to increase the security of the city.14 Additionally, he used canals to divert enemy troops, further implementing higher security standards for the city.15 Irrigation via canals was also a source of economic stability for the Mesopotamian kings.16 The canals brought water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which could be utilized for agriculture.17 Agriculture was necessary for the stability of Mesopotamian cities, as it provided a constant source of revenue.18 Civilians also paid taxes on agriculture, which because of its connection to the canals, allowed engineering to provide more economic benefits for the kings.19 The importance of engineering for Mesopotamian kings was also evident in their royal inscriptions.20 In their royal inscriptions, such as the ones provided by the Assyrian king Sennacherib, Mesopotamian kings stated the engineering accomplishments completed during their reign.21 In one of his annals, Sennacherib stated that he “had [slaves] build a palace out of ivory, ebony, boxwood, musukannu-wood, cedar, cypress and spruce”.22 Sennacherib only focused on the action of constructing his palace, rather than describing how it was built. In this way, he was able to build up the image of the city of Nineveh, thereby improving his image as a ruler.23 While kings certainly had an impact on the development of engineering, the environmental conditions of Mesopotamia were the most influential in providing the basis for which engineering could thrive. The environmental conditions of Mesopotamia could

be divided into two parts: the geography of the region and its climate. Mesopotamia is home two major rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, which provided the region with much of the water used for irrigation.24 Hydraulic engineering structures, such as canals and flood gates, were utilized to bring water from the rivers to the agricultural fields.25 While these rivers carried water throughout Mesopotamia, the topography changed as the rivers flowed from their starting point, the Anatolian highlands, down to the Persian Gulf.26 These changes ultimately resulted in differing engineering practices between civilizations living in northern Mesopotamia and southern Mesopotamia.

The environment of southern Mesopotamia was characterized by its alluvial floodplain.27 In the alluvial plain, the speed of the water flow decreases due to a shallower gradient, resulting in a flatter landscape.28 Due to the low gradient, sediments are often deposited in the riverbed, which resulted in the formation of levees in the riverbeds of both the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.29 The river flows above these natural levees, which sit two to four meters higher than the floodplain.30 These levees create a natural slope in which water can flow down and into the floodplain.31 While Mesopotamian engineers did not create these levees, the development of canals was necessary in order to get water from the levee system to the fields for irrigation.32 The levee system of the floodplain increased the overall velocity of the water as it exited the river, which the engineers could utilize when digging canals for agricultural fields.33 Additionally, the levee system allowed for Mesopotamian engineers to avoid prob-

13 Nasrat Adamo and Nadhir Al-Ansari, “Babylon in a New Era: The Chaldean and Achaemenid Empires (330-612 BC),” Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering 10, no. 3 (March 2020), 87.

14 Nasrat Adamo and Nadhir Al-Ansari, “Babylon in a New Era: The Chaldean and Achaemenid Empires (330-612 BC),” Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering 10, no. 3 (March 2020), 87.

15 Nasrat Adamo and Nadhir Al-Ansari, “Babylon in a New Era: The Chaldean and Achaemenid Empires (330-612 BC),” Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering 10, no. 3 (March 2020), 88.

16 Nasrat Adamo and Nadhir Al-Ansari, “Babylon in a New Era: The Chaldean and Achaemenid Empires (330-612 BC),” Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering 10, no. 3 (March 2020), 88.

17 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 2.

18 Nasrat Adamo and Nadhir Al-Ansari, “Babylon in a New Era: The Chaldean and Achaemenid Empires (330-612 BC),” Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering 10, no. 3 (March 2020), 88.

19 Nasrat Adamo and Nadhir Al-Ansari, “Babylon in a New Era: The Chaldean and Achaemenid Empires (330-612 BC),” Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering 10, no. 3 (March 2020), 88-89.

20 Jason Ur, “Sennacherib’s Northern Assyrian Canals: New Insights from Satellite Imagery and Aerial Photography,” Iraq 67, no.1 (Spring 2005), 317.

21 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 304.

22 Sennacherib, “The Palace Without a Rival,” in The Annals of Sennacherib, trans. Daniel David Luckenbill (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 690 B.C.E.), 100.

23 Jason Ur, “Sennacherib’s Northern Assyrian Canals: New Insights from Satellite Imagery and Aerial Photography,” Iraq 67, no.1 (Spring 2005), 317.

24 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 2.

25 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 2.

26 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 3,5.

27 Tony J. Wilkinson, “Hydraulic Landscapes and Irrigation Systems of Sumer,” in The Sumerian World, ed. Harriet Crawford (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010), 35.

28 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 3,5.

29 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 5.

30 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 5.

31 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 5.

32 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 5.

33 Stephanie Rost, “Water

Mesopotamia

the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 5.

Management in

from

lems that would have risen if they had utilized a low gradient.34 Due to the low gradient of the floodplain, any slight change in elevation would have affected the overall velocity of the water in a canal.35 Since water was able to flow down the levees at a constant speed, it was easier for engineers to construct their canals so that water flowed down the levees, as opposed to digging large canals which ran across the floodplain.36 Lastly, due to the low gradient of the floodplain, the rivers tended to branch out and wind throughout the region.37 Not only could these branches serve as canals to carry water to the irrigated fields, but they also provided more starting points for engineers to use to construct their canals.38

The geography of northern Mesopotamia is different from the geography of southern Mesopotamia. Northern Mesopotamia is a “large piedmont zone” surrounded by “semiarid highlands”.39 Northern Mesopotamia is also home to the Zagros Mountains, which due to their high elevation, cause rainfall to flow into both the Tigris river, as well as the wadis, or valleys, located in the region.40 Its proximity to the mountains as well as the highlands creates sharp gradients in the land, making it difficult to channel water out of the riverbed and the wadis.41 To bring water to the irrigation fields, Mesopotamians devised different solutions which modified and utilized the surrounding landscape.42 First, engineers chose to create canals by cutting through the rocks prevalent in

the region.43 This is evident in the inscriptions written by the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I.44 When constructing the Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta Canal, it was carved “straight like a string through rocky terrain”.45 Next, Mesopotamian engineers utilized the surrounding landscape to direct and control their canals. Canals such as the Faida and Khinis canals, which were developed under Sennacherib, were almost entirely controlled by the changes in the topography of the surrounding landscape.46 While canals were influenced by the changes in the topography of Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian engineers also utilized the landscape as a way to store water.47 One reservoir was created by Nebuchadnezzar II, and was located near the ancient city of Sippar.48 Water was stored in this reservoir, so it could be released back into the Euphrates during the dry season.49 The reservoir also served canals that carried water to and from the Euphrates.50 Lastly, engineers of Upper Mesopotamia had to use additional sources of water in order to irrigate their fields.51 It was harder for engineers to use the water in the upper Tigris than it was to use the water in the southern Euphrates and Tigris.52 This was due to the difference between the plain levels and the water level in the northern Mesopotamian region.53 Unlike southern Mesopotamia, the northern part of the Tigris river can run “below the level of the plain”.54 This meant that engineers could not use gravity as a means to extract water from the Tigris river, as they had done

34 Tony J. Wilkinson, “Hydraulic Landscapes and Irrigation Systems of Sumer,” in The Sumerian World, ed. Harriet Crawford (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010), 36.

35 Tony J. Wilkinson, “Hydraulic Landscapes and Irrigation Systems of Sumer,” in The Sumerian World, ed. Harriet Crawford (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010), 36.

36 Tony J. Wilkinson, “Hydraulic Landscapes and Irrigation Systems of Sumer,” in The Sumerian World, ed. Harriet Crawford (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010), 36.

37 Aldo Tamburrino, “Water Technology in Ancient Mesopotamia,” in Ancient Water Technologies, ed. L.W. Mays (London: Springer, 2010), 31.

38 Tony J. Wilkinson, “Hydraulic Landscapes and Irrigation Systems of Sumer,” in The Sumerian World, ed. Harriet Crawford (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010), 41.

39 Aldo Tamburrino, “Water Technology in Ancient Mesopotamia,” in Ancient Water Technologies, ed. L.W. Mays (London: Springer, 2010), 30-31.

40 Jason Ur, “Sennacherib’s Northern Assyrian Canals: New Insights from Satellite Imagery and Aerial Photography,” Iraq 67, no.1 (Spring 2005), 320.

41 Jason Ur, “Sennacherib’s Northern Assyrian Canals: New Insights from Satellite Imagery and Aerial Photography,” Iraq 67, no.1 (Spring 2005), 320.

42 Jason Ur, “Sennacherib’s Northern Assyrian Canals: New Insights from Satellite Imagery and Aerial Photography,” Iraq 67, no.1 (Spring 2005), 322.

43 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 307.

44 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 307.

45 Tukulti-Ninurta, Assyrian Rulers of the Third and Second Millennia BC (to 1115 BC), trans. Albert Kirk Grayson (Toronto: The University of Toronto Press, ND), 273.

46 Jason Ur, “Sennacherib’s Northern Assyrian Canals: New Insights from Satellite Imagery and Aerial Photography,” Iraq 67, no.1 (Spring 2005), 332.

47 Nasrat Adamo and Nadhir Al-Ansari, “Babylon in a New Era: The Chaldean and Achaemenid Empires (330-612 BC),” Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering 10, no. 3 (March 2020), 93.

48 Nasrat Adamo and Nadhir Al-Ansari, “Babylon in a New Era: The Chaldean and Achaemenid Empires (330-612 BC),” Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering 10, no. 3 (March 2020), 93.

49 Nasrat Adamo and Nadhir Al-Ansari, “Babylon in a New Era: The Chaldean and Achaemenid Empires (330-612 BC),” Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering 10, no. 3 (March 2020), 93.

50 Nasrat Adamo and Nadhir Al-Ansari, “Babylon in a New Era: The Chaldean and Achaemenid Empires (330-612 BC),” Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering 10, no. 3 (March 2020), 93.

51 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 309.

52 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 309.

53 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 309.

54 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 310.

in the south.55 Mesopotamian engineers instead collected their water from springs in the surrounding mountains.56

Much like the topography, the climate varied between the southern and northern parts of Mesopotamia. Southern Mesopotamia was characterized by a semiarid climate, along with hot summer and cooler winters.57 Hot, arid summers resulted in little rainfall, and Mesopotamians utilized irrigation in order to bring water to their crops and cities.58 In addition, the cool winter climate supported the growth of winter crops such as wheat and barley.59 However, the sowing and harvesting periods of these plants do not line up with the flood cycles of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.60 The rivers have decreased water levels during the months of September and October, which coincide with the sowing period of the crops, and have the highest water levels during the harvest season.61 To generate the amount of water that was needed for irrigation during the sowing period, engineers created longer canals which would extract more water during times of low water levels.62 In addition, agricultural fields needed to be protected during the harvest season as higher water levels resulted in a greater risk for flooding.63 Engineers utilized dikes to prevent the flooding, ensuring that the harvest was kept safe during the peak flood season.64

Unlike southern Mesopotamia where irrigation was essential to crop growth, northern Mesopotamians could utilize rain as a source of water for agriculture.65 Rainfall averages in the region surpassed the minimum of 200 mm to 250 mm, which was needed for the use of rain-fed agriculture.66 However, the amount

of rainfall in the region varied considerably from year to year.67 Like in the south, rainfall was most prevalent during the winter months of March through December.68 Nonetheless, rainfall varied during this period in both the “distribution and total amount”.69 This variability in rainfall could determine the success or failure of crops grown in the region.70 In northern Mesopotamia, irrigation was used to supplement dry-farming.71 Canals were utilized by northern Mesopotamians as irrigation ensured that crops received sufficient amounts of water during the growing season.72 Overall, the environment of Mesopotamia played an important role in developing the hydraulic engineering systems in the region.

The local environment also provided Mesopotamian engineers with the materials that they needed to pursue civil engineering structures. Three of the most common materials used in Mesopotamian engineering were mud-bricks, bitumen, and reeds.73 Mud-bricks were typically created using the earth, specifically using clay, water, and occasionally materials such as “straw and grass” to increase its strength.74 These materials were common in the Mesopotamian region, as the Greek historian Herodotus noted that “as they dug the trench; and they made bricks of the mud that was carried out of the trench”.75 The mud dug from the trenches was later used in the development of mud-bricks.76 In Mesopotamia, mud-bricks could either be hand-shaped or formed using a mold.77 Molded mud-bricks had a “plano-convex” shape, with a rectangular base and sides.78 These mud-bricks typically had a hand-shaped rounded top, which was part of

55 Tony J. Wilkinson, “Hydraulic Landscapes and Irrigation Systems of Sumer,” in The Sumerian World, ed. Harriet Crawford (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010), 35-36.

56 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 308.

57 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 3.

58 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 302.

59 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 3.

60 Tony J. Wilkinson, “Hydraulic Landscapes and Irrigation Systems of Sumer,” in The Sumerian World, ed. Harriet Crawford (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010), 39.

61 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 3.

62 Tony J. Wilkinson, “Hydraulic Landscapes and Irrigation Systems of Sumer,” in The Sumerian World, ed. Harriet Crawford (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010), 39.

63 Tony J. Wilkinson, “Hydraulic Landscapes and Irrigation Systems of Sumer,” in The Sumerian World, ed. Harriet Crawford (Abingdon: Routledge, 2010), 39

64 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 12.

65 Jason Ur, “Sennacherib’s Northern Assyrian Canals: New Insights from Satellite Imagery and Aerial Photography,” Iraq 67, no.1 (Spring 2005), 317.

66 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 3.

67 Jason Ur, “Sennacherib’s Northern Assyrian Canals: New Insights from Satellite Imagery and Aerial Photography,” Iraq 67, no.1 (Spring 2005), 320.

68 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 309.

69 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 309.

70 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 309.

71 Stephanie Rost, “Water Management in Mesopotamia from the Sixth till the First Millennium B.C,” WIRES Water 4, no. 5 (September 2017), 3.

72 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 309.

73 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 105.

74 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 215.

75 Herodotus, In The History, trans. David Grene (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 425 B.C.E), 114.

76 Herodotus, In The History, trans. David Grene (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 425 B.C.E), 114.

77 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 215.

78 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 215.

the mold.79 Mud-bricks differed in size, ranging from 200 mm to 400 mm long, and a width around half of its length.80 There were two styles of mud-bricks that were used throughout Mesopotamia: sunbaked bricks and oven-baked bricks.81 Sun-baked bricks, because of its susceptibility to moisture, was used on the inside of structures such as ziggurats.82 On the other hand, oven-baked mud-bricks were used for the exterior of buildings as they were able to resist the Mesopotamian climate.83 Specifically, structures such as city walls used a combination of these two types of mud-bricks, with the outer walls constructed using oven-baked bricks and the inner walls with sunbaked bricks.84

In Mesopotamian engineering, sunbaked mudbricks were used more often than oven-baked bricks, as they did not have enough fuel to mass-produce this type of brick.85 Unlike oven-baked bricks, sunbaked bricks were more susceptible to the weather, as they would decay due to moisture.86 Mesopotamians would use bitumen to cover their bricks, thereby making them waterproof.87 Bitumen is a “natural asphalt” that is commonly found throughout the Mesopotamian region.88 In addition to its use as a way to waterproof different materials, bitumen had many other uses.89

First, bitumen was used as a mortar for the different buildings of ancient Mesopotamia.90 This mortar was created by mixing bitumen with “straw, clay and

sand”.91 This mortar was used in both the houses of city-dwellers as well as in the religious temples as a way to secure the mud-bricks used in these structures.92 Secondly, because of bitumen’s waterproofing capabilities, it was used as caulk.93 For example, bathtubs and water pipes were covered in bitumen to prevent leakage of water.94

Like bitumen, reeds were another material that Mesopotamian engineers would mix with mud-bricks in their structures.95 When constructing their city walls, engineers would add a layer of matted reeds at every thirtieth row of bricks.96 These layers of reed mats would fortify the city walls, increasing their stability and strength.97 In addition, reeds were an essential part of the construction of vaulted gardens, such as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.98 These gardens were mainly supported by brick terraces and stone beams.99 Reed mats, along with bitumen, baked bricks, and lead, were used to prevent the moisture coming from the gardens to seep through and weaken the infrastructure of the supporting terraces.100 Like with city walls, ziggurats also used reed mats to improve their stability and increase their strength.101 One such ziggurat was the Aqar Guf ziggurat, located near Baghdad.102 This ziggurat had reed mats located at every sixth row of bricks.103 In addition to reed mats, reeds were utilized in the Aqar Guf ziggurat to create

79 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 215.

80 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 215.

81 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 215-216.

82 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 215.

83 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 215-216.

84 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 106.

85 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 217.

86 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 217.

87 Jaques Connan et al., “Use and Trade of Bitumen in Antiquity and Prehistory: Molecular Archaeology Reveals Secrets of Past Civilizations [and Discussion],”

Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences 354, no. 1379 (January 1999), 34.

88 Jaques Connan et al., “Use and Trade of Bitumen in Antiquity and Prehistory: Molecular Archaeology Reveals Secrets of Past Civilizations [and Discussion],”

Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences 354, no. 1379 (January 1999), 33.

89 Jaques Connan et al., “Use and Trade of Bitumen in Antiquity and Prehistory: Molecular Archaeology Reveals Secrets of Past Civilizations [and Discussion],”

Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences 354, no. 1379 (January 1999), 34-38.

90 Jaques Connan et al., “Use and Trade of Bitumen in Antiquity and Prehistory: Molecular Archaeology Reveals Secrets of Past Civilizations [and Discussion],”

Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences 354, no. 1379 (January 1999), 34.

91 Jaques Connan et al., “Use and Trade of Bitumen in Antiquity and Prehistory: Molecular Archaeology Reveals Secrets of Past Civilizations [and Discussion],”

Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences 354, no. 1379 (January 1999), 34.

92 Mark Schwartz and David Hollander, “Annealing, Distilling, Reheating and Recycling: Bitumen Processing in the Ancient Near East,” Paléorient 26, no. 2 (2000), 84.

93 Jaques Connan et al., “Use and Trade of Bitumen in Antiquity and Prehistory: Molecular Archaeology Reveals Secrets of Past Civilizations [and Discussion],”

Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences 354, no. 1379 (January 1999), 34.

94 Jaques Connan et al., “Use and Trade of Bitumen in Antiquity and Prehistory: Molecular Archaeology Reveals Secrets of Past Civilizations [and Discussion],”

Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences 354, no. 1379 (January 1999), 35.

95 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 105.

96 Herodotus, In The History, trans. David Grene (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 425 B.C.E), 114.

97 Joan Goodnick Westenholz, “Ur – Capital of Sumer,” in Royal Cities of the Biblical World, ed. Joan Goodnick Westenholz (Jerusalem: Bible Lands Museum, 1996), 8.

98 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 184.

99 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 184-185.

100 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 185.

101 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 135.

102 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 135.

103 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 135.

cables.104 These cables ran throughout the ziggurat, further increasing its stability.105

While uncommon, another important material used in Mesopotamian engineering was limestone.106 Limestone was imported from the mountains.107 Mesopotamian kings would use this material in buildings such as temples and palaces.108 In one of his annals, the Assyrian king Sennacherib describes the construction of one of his temples, the “Temple of the New Year’s Feast”.109 This temple was constructed using limestone as its foundation, as well as for its walls.110 Sennacherib also used limestone in the remodeling of building and tombs, typically as a replacement for brick.111 This choice to replace brick with limestone was likely due to how plentiful it was near the capital city of Nineveh.112 In addition to temples, Sennacherib also used limestone in other engineering projects.113 One such project was the aqueduct at Jerwan.114 This aqueduct was used to carry water to the agricultural fields surrounding Nineveh.115

As the first civilizations developed in Mesopotamia, so did the first examples of engineering. Many factors played a role in its development, but none were as important as the environment’s role. Early hydraulic engineering systems designed by Mesopotamians demonstrate how the topography and the climate throughout the region influenced both where water was collected from and how it was extracted. Materials that were extracted from the local environment were used in all the civil engineering projects completed by the Mesopotamians.

Although the Mesopotamians lived thousands of years ago, many of their engineering practices are used by engineers today.116 The fact that some of these practices are still used today is proof of the incredible strength and influence that Mesopotamian engineering had.

104 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 135.

105 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 135.

106 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 105.

107 Sennacherib, “The Temple of the New Year’s Feast,” in The Annals of Sennacherib, trans. Daniel David Luckenbill (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 690 B.C.E.), 136.

108 Sennacherib, “The Temple of the New Year’s Feast,” in The Annals of Sennacherib, trans. Daniel David Luckenbill (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 690 B.C.E.), 137.

109 Sennacherib, “The Temple of the New Year’s Feast,” in The Annals of Sennacherib, trans. Daniel David Luckenbill (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 690 B.C.E.), 137.

110 Sennacherib, “The Temple of the New Year’s Feast,” in The Annals of Sennacherib, trans. Daniel David Luckenbill (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 690 B.C.E.), 137.

111 Sennacherib, “The Temple of the New Year’s Feast,” in The Annals of Sennacherib, trans. Daniel David Luckenbill (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 690 B.C.E.), 136.

112 Sennacherib, “The Palace Without a Rival,” in The Annals of Sennacherib, trans. Daniel David Luckenbill (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 690 B.C.E.), 108.

113 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 320.

114 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 320.

115 Ariel M. Bagg, “Irrigation in Northern Mesopotamia: Water for the Assyrian Capitals (12th-7th centuries BC),” Irrigation and Drainage Systems 14, no. 4 (November 2000), 320.

116 Dick Parry, Engineering the Ancient World (Stroud: Sutton, 2005), 135.

Student Reflection:

When selecting my topic for this research paper, I wanted to focus on some of the earliest examples of engineering in human history. In early engineering examples, people tend to focus more on the work of Romans, who designed and constructed aqueducts. I wanted to focus on a less discussed example of Ancient engineering, so I decided to research Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia was one of the earliest examples of human civilization and had some of the earliest examples of engineering. Throughout my research, I found it fascinating how important engineering was to Mesopotamians. Without it, many of the cities in the region would not have been developed. I also found it interesting how some of the practices that Ancient Mesopotamian engineers used are similar to those that are used by engineers today. One aspect of my research that stuck out to me were the differences in engineering between northern and southern Mesopotamia. This showed that different environments require different engineering practices, and this knowledge will help me achieve my goal to be an environmental engineer. Overall, the information that I gathered from my research gave me a deeper appreciation of engineering and its development throughout history.

Badass Moms and Wiring Bombs: An Analysis of Patria Mirabal in Julia Alvarez’s In the

Time of the Butterflies

by Alaina Conaway

ENG 344: Studies in Single Authors

Dr. Cristina Rhodes

Assignment:

This midterm assignment asks that you write an original and well-researched analysis of a text that we have discussed in class or that is related to course discussions. For example, you could write about In the Time of the Butterflies, but you’re also welcome to look at one of Alvarez’s essays, or to engage with two or more essays, or analyze both Butterflies and Before We Were Free, or read ahead to How the García Girls Lost Their Accents and beyond. Your analysis should contain a clear and argumentative thesis statement, cogent textual analysis, and a conclusion that indicates the significance and implications of your research.

Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies retells the martyrdom of the Mirabal sisters under the Trujillo regime. Though based on real accounts, this fictionalized version both informs the world of these heroines and explores the internal revolution of female sexuality. Alvarez’s retelling of Patria, the eldest sister, finds herself in the crossfires of religion and sexuality. Confronted with the pressures of her familial and societal obligations, Patria’s exploration of her sexuality shames and discourages her–at first. However, as she dives deeper into her desires, she finds both spiritual and political fulfillment. This essay will examine the significance of Patria’s religious and sexual development in relation to her maternal and revolutionary investments.

At the start of the novel, Alvarez portrays each sister at the start of their adolescence. In Patria’s first chapter, she leaves the family home to attend Catholic boarding school to pursue her religious studies. Early on, Patria grows overwhelmed by her, “immortal soul [wanting] to take the whole blessed world in” (Alvarez 45). Flooded with the stirrings of her piety and her own hormones, Patria meditates on these desires, further cultivating those of body and mind. Her budding sexuality manifests as her piety, but she exists in a society where women, nonetheless young girls, are encouraged to explore their desires. In attempts to further investigate the longings of her “immortal soul,” Patria speaks with one of the nuns at school who encourages her to listen for the word of God. As she prays to hear her celestial calling, Patria recounts, “It came in the dark, evil hours when the hands wake with

a life of their own. They rambled over my growing body, they touched the plumping of my chest, the mound of my belly, and on down. I tried reining them in, but they broke loose, night after night” (Alvarez 47). Patria’s attempts to further nourish her faith result only in masturbation. She has been socialized to believe that the exploration of her sexuality is inherently evil, and, in consequence, she grows ashamed of the “dark, evil hours” and her hands that “wake with a life of their own.”(is citation needed?) She views her exploration of her desires as a betrayal of God, her family, and her country. As a result, Patria wallows in the muddied waters of her understanding of her own sexuality.

Soon, Patria’s confusion clears; the knowledge she gains only makes her feel worse–for a while. After coming to terms with her regular masturbation, Patria concludes, “it was my body, hungering, biding its time against the tyranny of my spirit” (45). By assigning her spirit as tyrannical, Patria further submits to the toxic, oppressive perceptions surrounding female sexuality. As she lives under the Trujillo dictatorship, she views her “betrayal” to God as a betrayal to her country as well. In examining similarly restrictive, misogynistic environments such as 1940s Dominican Republic, scholars Renu Khanna and Janet Price find, “Forms of sexuality that do not fit the norm (male homosexuality, lesbianism, and assertive female sexuality) are viewed as deviant” (29). As a young woman living in a patriarchal society, Patria’s sexuality exists as a perceived threat. The more she embraces and explores her sexuality, the more power she gains. However, a public exclamation of such power threatens Patria, and other women like

her, in more ways than one. First, her sexuality poses a threat to her and her family’s reputation: “gendered… non–sexually normative subjects are granted secondary status if not excluded entirely from cultural nationalist constructions of the family” (Rodriguez 62). As the eldest daughter, Patria’s “purity” heavily influences the family’s social standing; should she indulge in sexual deviance, she would not only tarnish her reputation but the reputation of her entire family. Second, Trujillo was known to have many “girlfriends,” young women he found attractive and forced into relationships with him. To be one of Trujillo’s girlfriends meant to be his property; disobeying him was equivalent to disobeying God. Such betrayals result in severe punishments, only complicating matters for Patria. Regardless, openly embracing her femininity and sexuality make her a social deviant, a plague to her family, and a disgrace in the eyes of God.

Filled with confusion, guilt, and desire, Patria meditates on her sexuality. As she stares at her blossoming youth, she recalls, “I put my hands up against the glass to remind her that she, too, must reach up for the things she didn’t understand ” (Alvarez 45). Though she does not quite understand her desires, nor the restrictive society in which she lives, she does the unfathomable: she questions them. By confronting her desires head on, Patria embarks on a revolution of her own. As she continues her years at Inmaculada Concepción, she further studies her religious yearnings as well as her physical ones. In fact, Patria seeks to understand her sexual desires through her religious obligations. On one Holy Thursday, Patria washes the feet of parishioners, but one foot particularly strikes her: “I washed that foot thoroughly, lifting it by the ankle to soap the underside as one does a baby’s legs in cleaning its bottom. Then, I started in on the other one. I worked diligently, oblivious to the long lines stretching away in the dark” (Alvarez 48). Patria’s sexual desires surface once more, manifesting as a religious act of service. She praises the foot of the parishioner, careful to wash it. This cleansing serves as an act of transference; she channels her desire through her religious work, bridging the gap between her sexuality and her faith. Through this cleansing, Patria begins to understand the coexistence of her sexual and religious pursuits.

We later learn that the foot belongs to Patria’s future husband, Pedrito. After proper introduction, Patria remarks, “At last, my spirit was descending into flesh, and there was more, not less, of me to praise God. It tingled in my feet, warmed my hands and legs, flared in my gut” (Alvarez 49). Interestingly, the “fall” of Patria’s spirit gives way to her body, allowing the two to become one. Patria’s descent into flesh mirrors the fall of Lucifer. Unlike Lucifer, Patria’s submission to

her desire reinforces her devotion to and praise of her faith. This juxtaposition emphasizes the cohabitation of Patria’s sexual nature and her fierce piety. In this fall, Patria destroys what Macciocchi refers to as, “the jesuitism and hypocrisy of society, and the anxieties fed by sexual guilt which prepare the ground for repressive tyranny” (73). Through the destruction of the antiquated beliefs surrounding female sexuality, Patria whets her appetite for revolution. She overcomes the guilt forced upon her by her restrictive society and embraces her newly-found power. Her spirit, once tyrannical as well, takes on a new form, one that allows her to be free both religiously and sexually. Patria triumphs over the institutionalized misogyny surrounding her own sexuality, reclaiming her power and parking her revolutionary spirit.

As Patria steps into her sexual power, she soon enters motherhood. However, the pressure to be the “good Catholic girl” evolves into the pressure to be the “good Catholic mother.” Now, it is socially acceptable for Patria to indulge her sexual desires so long as she uses them to reproduce. For Patria, “A new image [comes] to the fore… that of woman as the responsible (or irresponsible) reproducer of her family” (Khanna and Price 30). Patria’s pursuit of her desires is reduced to her ability to procreate; her exploration of her desire is acceptable, so long as it leads to a child. As she continues to have children, the pressure to be the “good Catholic mother” only grows. Several months pregnant with her third child and speaking with her most political sister, Minerva, Patria recalls “And suddenly, I was crying in her arms, because I could feel the waters breaking, the pearl of great price slipping out, and I realized I was giving birth to something dead I had been carrying inside me” (Alvarez 52). The ambiguous language Alvarez utilizes implies Patria’s literal miscarriage as well as a miscarriage of her beliefs; when she loses a child, a product of her sexuality, she also loses her faith. The breaking waters and “pearl of great price” allude to her previously held religious beliefs and the years spent cultivating them. Then, as if it were a punishment from the heavens, Patria is forced to deliver her deceased beliefs. Once again, Patria must reconcile the desires of her body and of her spirituality.

In coping with the death of her child, Patria seeks reconciliation between both her body and her faith. Seemingly betrayed by both, Patria’s understanding of her desires begin to slip away. In true Patria fashion, she finds solace through sex:

Every night I gave him my milk as if he were my lost child, and afterwards I let him do things I never would have before. ‘Come here, mi amor,’ I’d whisper to guide him through the dark bedroom when he showed up after having been out late in the fields. Then I was the one on horseback, riding him hard

and fast until I’d gotten somewhere far away from my aching heart (53).

The dichotomy Alvarez presents implies both Patria’s submission to her husband and her power over him. Breastfeeding creates a strong bond between a mother and child; without a child to breastfeed, Patria seeks comfort for both her and her husband by substituting him in the lost child’s place. She first takes on a maternal role to comfort her husband, but she quickly shifts gears when she allows him to “do things [she] never would have before.” Patria momentarily relinquishes her power to Pedrito, reverting back to the antiquated practice of submitting to one’s husband.

According to Khanna and Price, “Sexuality has often been regarded as a source of male power and female oppression” (34). In this scene, Patria reverses the antiquated notion and utilizes sex as a means to reclaim not just power but peace. She quite literally mounts her husband, asserting her feminine dominance and reclaiming control over her body. Her reclamation of peace serves as a reunion with her body and her sexuality. Patria’s return to sex after the traumatic loss of her child expresses her revolutionary spirit, for she confronts the one thing that brought her such grief. Her solace-through-sex approach highlights her revolutionary spirit.

Ready for yet another awakening, Patria seeks to further her knowledge surrounding the external revolution. Aware of her sisters’ involvement, Patria remains hesitant to join the cause because of her children. For a while, she remains rooted in her role of the “good Catholic mother,” focusing on the matters of her children, her home, and her faith. However, she soon recognizes, “Snug in my heart, fondling my pearl, I had ignored their cries of desolation” (53). Patria registers her ignorance surrounding the revolution; dwelling on her physical and spiritual miscarriage distracts her from the injustices of the Trujillo regime, further driving her towards a life of complacency and restriction. In coping with her loss, Patria confronts the role of “good Catholic mother” imposed upon her by doing what Macciocchi refers to as: “[strangling] the angel of the house… one of the tasks for revolutionaries, for women in politics and for militant feminists” (73). Patria’s devout faith and maternity make her a perfect example of the “angel of the house,” a role imposed upon women to prohibit any self-serving pursuits. Traditionally, women were restricted by their religious and familial obligations, consequently stripped of any power. However, Patria revels in her religious and familial investments while pursuing her desire; in turn, she kills the “angel of the house” and gains power. By asserting her sexual and religious power, Patria successfully strangles the “angel of the house,” establishing herself as a true revolutionary both internally and externally.

Typically in a male-dominated society, Patria’s maternity would rule her incapable of revolutionary affairs. At the start of Patria’s involvement in the revolution, she discovers she is pregnant once more: “I’d like to think, since my cycles stopped in January, that Raul Ernesto began his long campaign into flesh the first day of this hopeful new year” (150). The conception of her youngest son correlates directly to the conception of her revolutionary obligations. Patria gives birth to both a son and her own political ideologies. Unlike others, Patria refuses to “voluntarily accept the ‘royal attributes’ of femininity and maternity” (Macciocchi 77). She does not allow her maternity to interfere with her revolutionary involvement. Rather, she embraces both entities, and she cultivates a symbiotic relationship between the two; she joins the revolution for a better future for her children, and her children serve as a constant reminder for why she joined. After his birth, Patria notes, “On my own, I would never have thought of naming my son after revolutionaries. ‘Ernesto,’ I said, ‘I’m going to name him Raul Ernesto.’” (Alvarez 151). Patria names her son after two revolutionaries, interpolating her revolutionary commitments with her familial ones. Her young son inherits her revolutionary spirit before he can even form coherent thought. The development of her youngest mirrors the development of her revolutionary investments. Through her sexuality, Patria yields two revolutionaries, both her and her son.

Through the pursuit of her religious and sexual desires, Patria cultivates her own inner revolution that parallels the outer revolution of the 1960s Dominican Republic. Rather than submit to the social norm of rejecting her sexuality, Patria embraces it. She connects her sexual nature with her spiritual side, finding fulfillment and power. Patria then utilizes this power to become the ultimate badass mother and join the underground revolution. She obliterates the role of the “good Catholic mother” imposed upon her, disproving the idea that women are constrained, one-dimensional beings. Patria’s unrelenting bravery, unwavering sexuality, and unapologetic approach invites and encourages women to partake in their own revolutions.

Works Cited

Alvarez, Julia. In the Time of the Butterflies. Chapel Hill, Algonquin, 1994.

Khanna, Renu and Price, Janet. “Female Sexuality, Regulation, and Resistance.” Focus on Gender, vol. 2, no. 2, 1994, pp. 29-34.

Macciocchi, Maria-Antoinetta. “Female Sexuality in Fascist Ideology.” Feminist Review, no. 1, 1979, pp. 67-82.

Rodriguez, Richard. “Family.” Keywords for Latino/a Studies, edited by Deborah R. Vargas, Nancy Raquel Mirabal, and Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, NYU Press, 2017, pp. 61-64.

Student Reflection:

This essay centers on the character of Patria Mirabal from Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies. Though based on the stories of the real-life revolutionary Mirabal sisters, Alvarez’s novel retells the sisters’ respective stories and involvement in the revolution against fascist dictator Rafael Trujillo in 1960s Dominican Republic. Patria, a devout Catholic woman, struggles to reconcile her intense sexuality with her piety, often leaving her confused, ashamed, and weak. However, through the involvement of tangible, exterior revolution, Patria embraces her autonomy and overcomes her shame, deriving both religious and sexual fulfillment. This essay explores the methods by which Patria’s participation in the nationwide revolution aligns with her own inner revolution.

Assignment:

Corporeal feminism as the mental in Save me the Waltz

by Jennifer Gildner

ENG 363: Modernism

Dr. Erica Galioto

This was an essay meant to demonstrate student’s understanding of Zelda Fitzgerald’s novel Save me the Waltz. I chose to examine the novel through the lens of corporeal feminism and demonstrate that the novel employs the use of corporeal feminism to go against the female madness narrative and does so by not presenting the body/ mind as a binary-opposition.

Zelda Fitzgerald’s modernist novel Save Me the Waltz follows the life of Alabama Beggs and her increasingly turbulent relationship with both her marriage and mental health. In the novel, Fitzgerald takes a subtle yet nuanced approach to the portrayal of feminine experience with mental illness by her use of Alabama’s physical decline as a means to represent her underlying mental illness, which allowed for a counter narrative to be made regarding the portrayal of the feminine experience with mental illness. Through this essay I contend that Zelda Fitzgerald’s Save Me the Waltz goes against the typical narrative of female madness by not adhering to the idea of a body/mind binary-opposition but rather employs elements of corporeal feminism through the use of the body as a vehicle to represent the mental.

Save Me the Waltz presents itself as a piece with a plot in which the narrative of the feminine experience with mental illness is grounded in the corporeal body. The body is typically used through physical actions or descriptions of proximity to others, specifically between Alabama and whichever person she relies upon the most in the moment. Fitzgerald’s choice of using the body as a vehicle to oppose the typical portrayal of feminine madness allowed for her to regain some control over the female experience with mental illness and does so in a way that employs elements of the modern idea of corporeal feminism. The practice of corporeal feminism is reminiscent of Fitzgerald’s counternarrative of the dualism of the body/mind, as corporeal feminism focuses on the deconstruction of certain ideologies regarding gender and sex through a focus on the corporeal female body (Mambrol). The concept of corporeal feminism can be further explored in an article by Nasrullah Mambrol, in which she summarizes the findings of Elizabeth Grosz, whose work

entitled Volatile Bodies: Toward a Corporeal Feminism focuses on the exploration of theories regarding the body along with feminist talking points about the deconstruction of the gender/sex binary opposition. Mambrol emphasizes Grosz’s issue with the typical conversations around the societal binary-oppositions that many feminists attempt to overcome. These conversations are typically split into two main talking points, the first of which being the psychoanalytic or theoretical discussions regarding the body and the second talking point being the modern feminist approach that attempts deconstruction through a focus on the societal conceptions of gender. Grosz asserts that rather than focusing on the intangible, these groups should focus on the corporeal body itself to make progress. “Where gender de/constructionism has focused on the sociocultural construction of gender, Grosz instead uses the corporeality of sex and sexual difference as a framework and starting point for a feminist discussion of subjectivity” (Mambrol). Grosz’s advocacy for a focus on the corporeal body itself ties into Fitzgerald’s use of the body to discuss female mental illness, since both Grosz and Fitzgerald focus on the use of the female corporeal body as a vehicle to deconstruct societal issues in an attempt to overcome them.

Fitzgerald uses various actions and placements of the body to represent Alabama’s mental state or underlying emotions, which are constantly under stress due to the pressures of the ever-present patriarchal figure. Alabama uses physicality to gain some sense of comfort and freedom to explore her desires which is demonstrated through her physical closeness to others and most significantly, her dance career. Throughout the novel it is apparent that Alabama seems to always be under the influence of some patriarchal force to act as a judge or commanding presence of sorts. From the

beginning of the novel, during Alabama’s childhood, she struggled to identify who she was and relied upon the perception of others, specifically her mother and father. “Tell me about myself when I was little,’ the youngest girl insists. She presses against her mother to realize some proper relationship… The young girl had been filled with no interpretation of herself… Alabama came to realize that the bones of her father could indicate only her limitations” (Fitzgerald 4). It is interesting to focus on the embodiment of physicality that is used to describe Alabama’s attempts to understand herself and her world, she presses against her mother to develop a bond, she was “filled with no interpretation,” and “the bones of her father” are what shaped her life. In this passage Fitzgerald uses physical action to convey Alabama’s desire to understand herself and the opportunities that lay before her. As Alabama grows older and finally meets David Knight, her husband, he takes a part of Alabama and becomes the primary patriarchal influence in her life. Along with this, Fitzgerald subtly uses actions of the body and relation of self to describe the relationship between Alabama and David. When Alabama allows herself to admit that she is in love with David she describes how her vision of him becomes distorted and reminds her of the feeling of looking into herself in the mirror. She also describes a feeling of herself being stretched thin and pulled until her reality is no more. “So much she loved the man, so close and closer she felt herself that he became distorted in her vision, like pressing her nose upon a mirror and gazing into her own eyes.. She felt the essence of herself pulled finer and smaller like those streams of spun glass that pull and stretch till there remains but a glimmering illusion” (Fitzgerald 43). The choice of language to describe this feeling of loss of self reflects onto the future of the relationship that awaits the Knights, as Alabama often feels a need to compare herself to David and his success. The pulling and illusion of Alabama’s form acts as a sort of manipulation of self and molding into David, allowing for him to exert patriarchal power and limits over the relationship.

The use of physicality as a vehicle to address the topic of mental illness or subconscious desires is largely depicted through dancing, the first example of which being the waltz. In the early years of the Knight’s relationship, they would spend a lot of time keeping up with social appearances and dancing at parties. From the outside they were viewed as an ideal couple that appeared to naturally move in tandem, when in reality they were out of sync and stepped on each other’s toes.

“David for God’s sake will you try to keep off my feet?’

‘I never could waltz anyway” (Fitzgerald 54). Their inability to dance the Waltz speaks to the underlying differences between the two, as they are unable to

move as one in a unified manner without one intruding on the other. This incompatibility represents the dynamic of the two, especially regarding Alabama’s feeling of irritation when her husband intrudes on her space. David constantly steps into Alabama’s space and has an overbearing presence in the relationship dynamic. Alabama makes it known that she wants David to physically stop stepping onto her, but this could also be used to represent Alabama’s desire for David to stop overshadowing her in regards to the way that they are perceived by others, oftentimes she discusses her feelings of inferiority or slight jealousy in comparison to David. Her desire through physicality is further shown through the affair that she had with the pilot Jacques Chevre-Feuille. Alabama uses her body and Jacques’ as a means to explore her desire, which is something that she was unable to do with David. “The music stopped. He drew her body against him till she felt the blades of his bones carving her own.. She felt him naked underneath the starched linen. She didn’t think of David” (Fitzgerald 103-104). Alabama yet again uses physicality to express her internal strife, she desires something that is lacking in her relationship with David, to attain this object, she tries to absorb it into her physical being yet ultimately fails to do so.

Lastly, one of the most compelling examples of Fitzgerald’s use of the body as a substitute for the feminine experience with mental illness is through Alabama’s strenuous efforts to become a ballerina. When Alabama makes the decision to put all of her effort into the ballet, she shifts her attention from David and her family onto Madame and her profession. Now Madame and those in the studio act as a commander of her life, their seemingly un-achievable expectations send Alabama into a hyper-fixation on reaching Madame’s standards. This new focus in Alabama’s life is yet another dance, the ballet, a dance that demands the dancer to conform to its traditions and standards. Although ballet is something that Alabama pushes herself to work for, she compares life to dancing in a sense that is an obligational laborious duty. ‘I see what you mean. Life has begun to appear as tortuous as the sentimental writhings of a rhythmic dance’ (Fitzgerald 122). While many of the descriptions of Alabama’s experience with the ballet are quite negative, it can also represent her desire to have a safe space away from David, where he was unable to outshine her or step onto her toes. However, her retreat from David allowed her to move into yet another space to be critiqued, but this critique is more so focused on her body and physicality. Alabama becomes very aware of her body; through this awareness she becomes increasingly driven to reach the demanding and seemingly unhealthy expectations that the studio and madame hold. When

Alabama is unable to reach these expectations, she becomes very hard on herself and her body, as if they are two separate entities. “It was humiliating that Madame should have to touch her pupil’s ankles when they were so hot. The human body was very insistent. Alabama passionately hated her inability to discipline her own… She said to herself, ‘My body and I,’ and took herself far an awful beating: that was how it was done” (Fitzgerald 146). Alabama’s distinction between the body and mind demonstrates her awareness of the separation of the body/mind and emphasizes that her obsession with the physical represents the underlying theme of mental illness that Fitzgerald intended to convey.

Fitzgerald’s choice to make Alabama use her physical body as a means of connecting with others and exploring her emotions ultimately expresses her struggles with mental illness. The focus on female corporeal body allowed her to deconstruct the typical narratives of female mental illness during her time and acted as an early example of feminist literature regarding its nuanced portrayal of female mental illness. However, it also showcased an early example of the feminist theory of the corporeal body, through the way that Fitzgerald focuses on the corporeal body as a vehicle to deconstruct misogynistic ideologies.

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, Zelda, and Erin E. Templeton. Save Me the Waltz. Bath, Handheld Press, 2019.

Mambrol, Nashrullah. “Literary Theory and Criticism/ Corporeal Feminism.” Literary Theory and Criticism, edited by Nashrullah Mmabrol, 11 Jan. 2018, literariness.org/2018/01/11/corporeal-feminism/. Accessed 29 Apr. 2022.

Student Reflection:

This essay took a great deal of time and effort to complete. Originally, in the Modernism class that this piece was written for I often struggled to delve deep into the theories that were taught along with our readings. In my essays Dr. Galioto would constantly encourage me to try and push myself to explore the topics further and I would get so frustrated with myself for not being able to do so. However, with this specific unit I really pushed myself to tackle the essay topic that would give me the greatest challenge and I’m so thankful that I did. This essay about corporeal feminism pushed harder than any other essay topic has before and required a tremendous amount of effort on my part to apply the theoretical concepts to Save me the Waltz. Working with the theoretical texts has been such a pleasurable learning experience and all of the time and effort put into it was worth it as this essay is my proudest academic achievement.

Assignment:

The Diplomat, Michael Metrinko

by Ali Sina Sharifi

ENG 113: Introduction to Academic Writing

Dr.

Cristina Rhodes

For your final project in this class, you will choose a historical, but often forgotten figure, to research and write about. Consider the way that Morgan Jerkins explores Jessie Redmon Fauset in the article we read. In that article, Jerkins provides information about Fauset’s work, her life, and incorporates information from scholars and other sources to explain Fauset’s legacy. For this project, you will do the same for a historical “hero” of your own choosing. You will be required to locate at least 2 academic articles and 1 book/ebook for your project. You may have any number of reputable non-academic sources. You will then pull important information from these sources into your final project via synthesis, paraphrase, and direct quotation. You should also have proper in-text citations and an MLA style Works Cited page.

The Iranian hostage crisis is one of the most significant political events in the 20th century which led the U.S. to end its diplomatic mission in Iran. Since then, the U.S. has not had an embassy in Iran. According to the State Department’s Office of the Historian, on November 4, 1979, the Iranian student revolutionaries captured the U.S. Embassy in Tehran by force and held more than 50 U.S. diplomats as hostages (“The Iranian Hostage Crisis” para. 1). One of the names among the hostages repeatedly mentioned was Michael J. Metrinko, a U.S. Embassy political officer in Tehran at the time. Michael Metrinko, a Pennsylvania-born former U.S. diplomat and advisor, is mostly known for his patriotic resilience during 444 days as a political hostage in Iran (Bowden 397). He also served in other countries like Turkey, Afghanistan, Israel, Poland, Yemen, and Iraq, mostly in times of chaos, insecurity, and instability, which adds to his reputation as a diplomat. This article focuses on Metrinko’s early life, a brief summary of his diplomatic journey, mostly in the Middle East, and what sets him apart as a diplomat.

Michael John Metrinko was born in Pennsylvania in 1946 right after World War II. He comes from a European family. He told Charles Stuart Kennedy in an interview with the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training in 1999:

Metrinko is Ukrainian. We are LemkoUkrainians, from the Carpathian Mountains in southern Poland or, as it is today, southern Poland. At the time my grandparents left, it was Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire. My grandfather got his citizenship in America in 1896, so the family has been here since the early 1890s. It’s more than a hundred years now, (Metrinko Oral History 5).

He was raised in a middle-class bilingual family. They lived in Olyphant, a small coal-mining town where he went to public elementary school, but for high school he took the entrance exam for the Scranton Prep along with his friend who had asked him to come with him. In the end, Metrinko passed the exam; his friend didn’t. Of course, this big shift from a small school to a better school motivated him to apply for a scholarship to Georgetown University after graduation from high school. He enrolled in the Language and Linguistics School and then transferred to the Foreign Service School, not to become a foreign service officer, but– as he explains, “it was the only school I looked at that did not require you to take science or math” (Metrinko Oral History 18). Georgetown was a place where he met Bill Clinton, who after Metrinko had just moved to the dorm, knocked on the door and said, “’ Hi, my name is Bill Clinton, and I’m running for president of the freshman class, and I’d appreciate your vote’” (qtd. in Metrinko Oral History 18). Additionally, he met other international students. This motivated him to join the Peace Corps after exploring Washington D.C. and Georgetown with all its international students.

Metrinko started his exploration of the world in 1968 by joining the Peace Corps and traveling to Turkey as his first assignment and then to Iran. He taught English literature at Heceteppe University in Ankara for two years where he learned Turkish, although he had learned Turkish and Persian in the U.S.

Turkey was in the middle of tensions between the left and the right-wing, the war in Vietnam was going on, Martin Luther King Jr. had been killed, and many other tensions were taking place in the world. Right after Turkey, he was assigned to Iran, the place he calls the land of Biblical stories (“Hostages”). He went to

Songhor-e-Kolyayee, a Turkish-populated village in Tabriz, which was a major city in western Iran, where he lived a less developed lifestyle than the majority had adapted to. This meant that he hitchhiked, walked, or hiked most of the time between Turkey and Iran. He stayed in Iran from 1970 to 1973. During his time in Iran teaching English, he often faced suspicion by the Iranians referring to him as a foreign spy, which was publicized during the hostage crisis in 1979 (qtd. in Michael Oral History 32). Before that, he joined the Foreign Service at the Department of State in 1973, pulling him back to the Middle East for a lifetime.

Many of the Peace Corps volunteers took the Foreign Service exam in 1973. Among them was Metrinko, who also passed. He joined the Foreign Service in spite of being offered a fellowship to finish graduate school in the U.S in 1974. His first assignment was to go to Turkey since he knew Turkey. In the meantime, Cyprus had been invaded and the State Department put together a Cyprus task force. Metrinko volunteered, and that was part of his first course as a junior officer. He was a consular officer and part-time political officer. As a diplomat, he liked Turkey considering his language proficiency, which gave him an opportunity to communicate with the locals and officials until 1976. He got back to Washington D.C. and was willing to go to Iran, this time as a diplomat, but heard that there would be no vacancies for years. Two months later, he was told to go to Iran. He described that “it was like totally bizarre. Someone else in the same office two months before had told me nothing available, nothing would be, too popular, etc. and here they were trying to sweeten the pot to get me to Teheran” (Metrinko Oral History 56). The only condition to go to Iran was to work in the visa section in Damascus, Syria for six months, since the Embassy in Beirut had closed down and Syrians and Lebanese were coming to Damascus to get visas. Finally, Metrinko was appointed as the consular officer in Tehran to work in the visa section, and then went to Tabriz as the consul in 1978. The book by the name of Razi Crossing by Tom Burchill was dedicated to him because of his efforts to rescue American prisoners in Tabriz. Protests were going on against Reza Shah, led by the clerics. He kept reporting this as a warning that a revolution was approaching, and finally, it did in the year 1979 when he was in Tehran, working as a political officer. He knew he had contacts with both sides, the officials and many top revolutionary leaders who were often grand Ayatollahs or religious leaders. As part of his political job at the Embassy, he would interact with political figures in Iran, considering the fact he knew Persian. Ayatollah Khomeini, the unknown Iranian political and religious leader until 1978 as Metrinko says in the Journal of the Middle East and Africa, landed in Tehran after living

in exile for years (Simpson 235). On November 4th, 1979, a group of revolutionary students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took over 50 American diplomats and security guards to prisons. Metrinko was taken to prison and was separated from the other hostages. According to the University of Florida, International Review, he spent most of his 444-day detention in solitary confinement (Cosica 24). In the Takeover in Tehran, Masoomeh Ebtekar, former Iranian vice president and a member of the student group who had taken Metrinko and his colleagues as hostages, describes Metrinko as, “the other CIA officer whom we thought to be deranged, hated everyone and was hated in return” (Ebtekar 164). She refers to Metrinko as the CIA agent. Metrinko was well-known because of his language and diplomatic skills, and contacts with officials and leaders of the Shah’s government and his opposition, and it had created an assumption that he was a spy. He was the only one who did not give any interviews during his time in prison, and it distinguished him apart from the other hostages;. It was problematic for him until he left Iran as the last hostage in 1981.

Furthermore, after almost a decade of teaching and political missions, Metrinko got his master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University in 1983, but quickly got back to work after learning the Polish language. He was appointed as the principal officer of the U.S. Consulate in Krakow, Poland in the same year till 1986. He stayed there during a strange time, as he describes, since the Pope was Polish and the U.S. had sanctioned Poland (Metrinko Oral History 143). He served as the Deputy Director of the Northern Gulf Desk at the time of the Iran-Iraq war, and in 1989, he went to Tel Aviv as the consul general and worked until 1993. He had also worked as the Director of the Refugee Bureau. Finally, he retired in 1996. However, t did not seem like he had retired because in 2001 he was on temporary duty, in charge of the State Department supporting the USS Cole investigation in Yemen.

The September 11th incident is significant in many diplomats’ lives. After the American occupation of Afghanistan in 2001, Metrinko volunteered to go to Afghanistan to help reopen the U.S. Embassy after a long gap since 1989. He was previously supposed to go to Afghanistan as the chargé in 1989, but it never happened because the U.S. government closed the embassy. He was assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, an embassy that was closed since 1989 without any orientation from the State Department, and none of the individuals assigned spoke the local language (Metrinko Oral History 217). Metrinko describes Kabul as a city without electricity. Almost all of the city was leveled after the civil war. There was no healthcare system, and everybody had to start from scratch.

Metrinko says he watched Kabul and Afghanistan grow over the years in a speech at the BYU Kennedy Center (“U.S. Afghan Policy”). He arrived in Kabul in 2002, was present when the new flag of Afghanistan was raised at the Presidential Palace, became the head of the political section at the Embassy, and was active in Afghan American politics until 2010 when he stopped working for the government. A part of his exploration was a small school in western Kabul with talented art students who were mostly Hazaras, an ethnic group in Afghanistan. He helped them sell their first pieces of art to the Americans. Jeffrey Stern has written a book about that school and its story of Michael Metrinko and his time in Kabul, not only as a diplomat but also as a foreigner who was helping students of a warafflicted country. During his service in Afghanistan, he helped NATO and the American military as an advisor. The result of his consultation is the book The American Military Advisor: Dealing with Senior Officials in the Islamic World, published by the Strategic Studies Institute and the U.S. Army’s Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, which discusses how to deal with the Islamic world’s senior officials if you are an advisor or a diplomat.

In brief, Michael Metrinko is a diplomat and military advisor who studied and lived in the Middle East. In his interview with Charles Stuart Kennedy, he says there is no way to be a good diplomat without knowing the local language, having lived in the assigned country, and having real knowledge about society and culture (64). He knew Turkish, Persian, and Polish, and had lived in the parts of the world that spoke those languages. He learned to deal with foreign politicians and officials practically, and, moreover, he learned about himself as he talks about in an interview with the WNEP (“Rare interview”). In addition, Metrinko has sent tons of pieces of art from around the world, especially the Middle East, to his high school in Scranton, Pennsylvania in order to show the students that “the world is changing. It is changing all around us. It is no longer a white Christian world. It is a multicolor, multigender, [and a] multiethnic [world],” as told to the WNEP (“Rare interview”). He

focuses on diversity which brings all human beings together regardless of their genders, races, ethnicities, and religions.

Works Cited

Bowden, Mark. Guests of the Ayatollah: The First Battle in America’s War with Militant Islam. Grove Atlantic, 2018. Burchill, Tom. Razi Crossing: A True Story. Trafford, 2005. Coscia, Monica L. “The Fateful 52: How the American Media Sensationalized the Iran Hostage Crisis.” University of Florida, International Review, University of Florida, 2016, https://www.e-ir.info/pdf/65421.

Ebtekar, Massoumeh, and Fred A. Reed. Takeover in Tehran: The inside Story of the 1979 U.S. Embassy Capture. Talonbooks, 2001.

“Hostages | Official Trailer | HBO.” YouTube, uploaded by HBO, 15 Sept. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=VEljH0YYAVM. Last accessed: 4 November 2022

Metrinko, Michael J. The American Military Advisor: Dealing with Senior Foreign Officials in the Islamic World Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute and Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, 2008.

Metrinko, Michael. Interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy. The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, 26 August 1999, https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/ Metrinko,%20Mike.toc.pdf. Last accessed: 4 November 2022

“Rare Interview: Iran Hostage Crisis Survivor Michael Metrinko Shares His Story 40 Years Later.” YouTube, uploaded by WNEP, 28 Jan. 2021, https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=iICnXKYChPw. Last accessed: 4 November 2022

Simpson, George L. “Seeking Gandhi, Finding Khomeini: How America Failed to Understand the Nature of the Religious Opposition of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the Iranian Revolution.” The Journal of the Middle East and Africa, vol. 8, no. 3, 2017, pp. 233–255., https://doi.org/10.1080/21520844.2017.1368825.

“Iranian Hostage Crisis - Office of the Historian.” U.S. Department of State, https://history.state.gov/ departmenthistory/short-history/iraniancrises. Last accessed: 4 November 2022

“U.S.–Afghanistan Policy: Prospects for Success.” YouTube, uploaded by NYU Kennedy Center, 12 June 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57wyiwnAf8Y. Last accessed: 2 November 2022

Student Reflection:

Diplomacy and understanding diplomatic skills are part of my Political Science (International Concentration) studies. After the project was announced by the Professor, I thought of writing about a diplomat’s life and his diplomatic career as an example of how a diplomat functions in the countries they are assigned to. Mr. Michael Metrinko is a retired U.S. diplomat who has served in Afghanistan, Poland, and much of the Middle East. He has received medals of valor from the Department of State and the Congressional Gold Medal for his service and bravery in Iran. This project was an opportunity to conduct research with instructions from Dr. Cristina Rhodes.

Assignment:

Effects of Caffeine as an Ergogenic Aid in Bench Pressing

by Jusitn LaManna

ESC 343: Foundations of Exercise Physiology

Dr. William Braun

The purpose of this assignment was to identify an equipment item or substance (ergogenic aid) that is claimed to improve performance in a sports context. We were to describe the proposed ergogenic properties of the item, use published research to evaluate the claims, then use this information to draw our own conclusions about the benefits of the aid.

Introduction

In the world of sports, ergogenic aids are equipment or substances that help to improve an athlete’s physical capabilities. One of the most common ergogenic aids in sports would be caffeine, as it can be found in foods such as pre-workouts, energy drinks, protein bars, and gums. Caffeine is an adenosine receptor antagonist; meaning that the caffeine is able to bind to the adenosine receptor sites without interfering with neural activity (Lazarus et al. 2011). This pushes off the fatiguing effects of adenosine. Due to this effect, caffeine is used religiously by many athletes, especially by powerlifters. Powerlifting is generally referring to only three lifts: deadlift, squat, and most importantly here, bench press. Bench press is frequently used in studies because of its low learning curve, ease to replicate, and it is the best of the three to evaluate upper body strength. With caffeine being so popular in the area of powerlifting, many studies have used bench press as a tool to help determine its effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to accumulate some of these studies and find a general consensus of the effect caffeine has on a person’s ability to perform the bench press.

Discussion

Filip-Stachnik et al. (2021) conducted a study that evaluated the effects of varying levels of caffeine on maximum strength and strength endurance exercise among women habituated to the substance. This study consisted of 21 healthy females with an average age of 23.0 ± 0.9 years and average mass of 59.0 ± 6.6 kg. Participants had to be habitual users of caffeine. Use averaged a daily intake of 5.8 ± 2.6 mg/kg of body mass. This was measured by having participants fill out the Food Frequency Questionnaire prior to participant selection. Another criterion for participation was a minimum of two years of experience with resistance

training, in order to minimize risk of learning effects. It was also mandated that subjects engage in resistance training a minimum of three times per week for the six-month period leading up to performing the experiment. Any potential participants using medication, dietary aids, ergogenic aids, or supplements (including but not limited to beta-alanine, creatine, or preworkouts) were excluded from the study.

This experiment was conducted as a randomized crossover, meaning that each participant was randomly selected to receive different treatments throughout the trial; however, it is important to note that all participants eventually received each treatment. It was also a double-blind study, meaning that neither the participants nor evaluators knew who was receiving what treatment or when they received it. This helps to eliminate potential performance effects or biases in subjects and researchers, which allows focus to be placed strictly on the results.

At the beginning of the study, the subjects performed a bench press familiarization protocol that featured the performance of a one repetition maximum (1RM) and a strength endurance test performed to failure at 50% of the 1RM. Each woman in this stage of the experiment served as their own control, as at this point no ergogenic aids had been introduced. This process was then replicated three times with one week of rest in between each trial period. For each trial, each participant was also randomly prescribed a capsule 60-minutes prior that contained either a placebo (all-purpose flour), a 3mg/kg caffeine dose, or a 6mg/kg caffeine dose. During each testing period, measurements were recorded of bar-velocity, force output, repetitions performed, and time under tension. The data of the aforementioned familiarization drill was not included in this study, and neither were the individuals’ statistics. This makes it difficult to show direct improvement from condition to condition for

individuals. However, the average 1RM bench press for the placebo group was 40.48±9.21 kg. Maximums then improved in the following two conditions as 3 mg/kg averaged 41.68±8.9 kg and 6 mg/kg averaged 42.98±8.79 kg (Filip-Stachnik et al. 2021). Increases in 1RM from placebo to 3mg and 3mg to 6mg doses were labeled trivial with an effect size of 0.11 and 0.14 respectively. The increase from placebo to 6mg doses was labeled moderate as it was rated with an effect size 0.28. The only other notable improvement under the effects of caffeine would be a moderate improvement (effect size 0.61) in time under tension between the placebo and 6mg conditions (Filip-Stachnik et al. 2021). Overall, the experiments by Filip-Stachnik et al. (2019) showed only a slight improvement in performance of 1RM and time under tension when using caffeine as an ergogenic aid in female weightlifters.

Another study, conducted by Giráldez-Costas et al. (2021), focused on acute pre-exercise caffeine intake and the effects it had on bench pressing results in a healthy population. The subjects of this study consisted of 16 healthy individuals (12 men, 4 women) with an average age of 27.9±7.2 years (total age range 18-45 years old). Pre-experiment, participants produced an average bench press 1RM of 60.4±17.8 kg. Potential participants were also excluded if they: were not adapted to some sort of caffeine intake (<0.99 mg/ kg daily); had sustained an injury within the last six months; were using medication or using oral birthcontrol; were habitual smokers; had an allergy to caffeine. Participants who were selected were encouraged to continue their normal physical activity routines; however, they were asked to not participate in vigorous activity within 48 hours of training for the study and to follow and record general nutritional guidelines. Men were asked to maintain a diet of >2,600 calories per day, while women were asked to maintain a diet of >2,200 calories per day. Subjects were also asked to keep a journal to record calories among other qualities of the food that was ingested during the study (Giráldez-Costas et al., 2021).

The design of this study was a longitudinal, double-blind, randomized experiment. It lasted four weeks, during which subjects participated in 12 training sessions which were conducted on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. Training took place a minimum of three hours after eating. Participants were divided randomly into placebo and testing groups, with there being seven members of the placebo group and nine members of the experimental group. Pre-training, participants performed a 1RM bench test. This was followed by a force-velocity test from 10-100% based off of the initial 1RM test. No supplements had been introduced at this point. After the initial baseline was established, capsules were prepared by another member of the research group who was blind to the objective

of the experiment. The placebo capsules contained cellulose, and the experiment group contained caffeine sourced from supplement supplier Bulk Powders and dosed at 3mg/kg. Capsules were given to subjects approximately one-hour prior to training sessions.

The baseline results for 1RM bench press for the placebo group was 58.0±15.98 kg and 62.50±19.02 kg for caffeine. Both groups showed similar relative increases in 1RM ability on bench press as the placebo group improved to 64.19±17.12 kg and the caffeine group improved to 70.13±20.08 kg. Clearly, there was some effect to enhance their performance with both groups improving in average bench pressed by 6.19 kg (placebo) and 7.63 kg (caffeine). In other measurements such as mean velocity, peak velocity, and mean power, examiners found no change (Giráldez-Costas et al., 2021). So, while there is improvement shown when using caffeine as an ergogenic aid, this study found that this improvement was slight at best. A big limiting factor for this study is the selection of participants. Men were represented three times more than women in the study, and it was also not disclosed how many men or women were inserted into each group. This, along with age differences, could have had an impact in the accuracy of results from this study as age and gender are two massive influencers to physical performances such as bench press.

A similar study conducted by Wilk et al. (2019a) focused on the effects caffeine has on bench press with the measures being time under tension, number of repetitions, and movement velocity. This study was composed of 20 men with an average age 25.7±2.2 years (20-31 years old). The average body weight for these participants was 87.3±7.7 kg. The requirements for this study included at least two years of resistance training, refraining from using caffeine during the study, adherence to general fitness and dietary guidelines, and abstinence from heavy exercise or alcohol within 48 hours of training sessions. Exclusions for this experiment included caffeine allergies or intolerance, medical complications, or ingesting <200 mg of caffeine per week.

This study was completed as a randomized, doubleblind, placebo-controlled experiment. The 20 men were randomly split evenly into placebo and caffeine groups. A familiarization session was completed to start the study, where 1RM was measured on bench press and general procedures were explained. Hand placement on the barbell was also recorded to ensure distance or unevenness was not a detractor from the lab data. During this section of the study the average 1RM for the study was recorded at 102.3±8.5 kg. Afterwards, two training sessions took place one week apart. Capsules were given to subjects 60 minutes prior to the start of each training session. One half received placebo capsules filled with all-purpose flour and

prepared by Olimp Labs. The other half was prescribed 5mg/kg in capsules of varying sizes (300 mg, 50 mg, and 5 mg of caffeine) for the experiment. These capsules were also prepared by Olimp Labs. Each training session then consisted of a warm-up period of 20, 40, 60% of an individual’s 1RM prior to a set at 70% of 1RM being performed to failure. During this set, measurements of time under tension, number of repetitions, and movement velocity were recorded.

This resulted in some findings of statistical significance. Time under tension had a significant drop between the placebo group (15.332 sec) and the caffeine group (13.689 sec). Similarly, there was an increase in eccentric velocity from 0.609±0.05 m/s in the control group to 0.690±0.08 m/s in the caffeine group (Wilk et al. 2019a). Caffeine, however, did not lead to significant changes in the number of repetitions performed. In this study it seems that once again caffeine does provide an ergogenic aid to athletes, or the aid it provides is small at best.

All of this was built upon in another study done by Wilk et al. (2019b), where they aimed to assess the effects of caffeine on bench performance at doses of 9 and 11 mg/kg. Participants of this study consisted of 16 men with strength training experience and an average age of 24.2±4.2 years. This group also had an average weight of 79.5±8.5 kg. Qualifications for this study included at least three years of experience with strength training, prior or current involvement with team sports, and high habitual usage of caffeine (average 411±136 mg/day). Volunteers were excluded from the study if they had suffered any injury or pathology, could not bench press at least 120% of their body mass, or averaged less than 4 mg/kg daily. Participants were also asked to exclude all medicines, dietary supplements, tobacco, or alcohol from their lives during the course of the study.

Design for this experiment was constructed as a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover. A familiarization period was performed and the pre-experiment 1RM was recorded (118.3±14.5 kg). Members were then randomly assigned to either the placebo or caffeine group. The experiment then consisted of three separate training sessions. Each session was separated by one-week to limit any carry over effect and to completely wash caffeine from their bodies. Caffeine was distributed in capsule form 60-minutes prior to exercise and at least two hours after the individual’s last meal. These capsules were created by Olimp Labs and contained all-purpose flour for the placebo group and 9 or 11 mg/kg for the experimental group.

The warm-up period for each session consisted of 10-12 repetitions at 50% 1RM, 3-5 repetitions at 75% 1RM, and ending with one repetition of 95% 1RM. If

the participant was able to complete their final warmup repetition, then 2.5-5 kg were added or subtracted varying person to person and the 1RM was completed. Following the 1RM test and a brief resting period, a muscle endurance test was performed until failure at 50% of 1RM. Results were recorded as total repetitions, time under tension, as well as peak and mean concentric velocity and power. Caffeine groups showed little to no significant differences from the placebo group in many of these categories. One measurement that showed significant improvement was the 1RM. The placebo group averaged a 1RM of 118.3±14.5 kg, which improved up to the 9mg/kg at 122.3±15.3 kg and continued to trend up with the 11mg/kg group at 124.2±11.4 kg. Another interesting measurement was concentric time under tension which rose from 17.1±3.29 sec in the placebo group to 19.1±3.29 sec in the 9 mg/kg group. This then dropped between the caffeine groups as the 11mg group measured in at 16.9±3.39 sec (Wilk et al. 2019b). Researchers of this study suggest that the habitual high dosage use of caffeine in this sample inhibited any acute ergogenic effects of caffeine on strength. Improvement in 1RM category is still consistent with other studies with increased caffeine dosage.

Conclusion

The data of these studies has been fairly consistent in pointing to caffeine as an ergogenic aid that has its most prominent effect in doses around 6 mg/kg of body mass, but only when caffeine is not habitually consumed. Effects of this substance seem to lessen with increased frequency or dosage. Improvements in weight moving ability is consistently shown from study to study as seen through 1RM achievements. It seems that the most effective use of caffeine when bench pressing is low habitual use with a slight uptick in small doses as competition approaches. A good recommendation for dosage in the unhabituated would be between 6-9 mg/kg, approximately 60 minutes prior to performing the lift. This allows for peak caffeine spike which is expected to assist in fighting fatigue effects under maximum stress from the bench press. Going above 9 mg/kg, as shown by Wilk et al. (2019b), seems to be where the cut off is as a slight negative effect is seen in time under tension and eccentric movements. This study also suggests that dosing in the 11 mg/kg range may offer a short window of negligible improvement in concentric strength (Wilk et al 2019b). The effect of a dosage higher than 11 mg/kg is unclear, but not recommended. Dosages of caffeine in the context of power lifting should be tailored to an individual’s needs and goals to achieve the best results.

References

Filip-Stachnik, A., Wilk, M., Krzysztofik, M., Lulinska, E., Tufano, J.J., Zajaz, A., Stastny, P., Del Coso, J. (2021)  The effects of different doses of caffeine on maximal strength and strength‐endurance in women habituated to caffeine. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 18, 25 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-021-00421-9

Giráldez-Costas, V., Ruiz-Moreno, C. Gonzalez-Garcia, J., Lara, B., Del Coso, J., Salinero, J.J. (2021). Pre-exercise Caffeine Intake Enhances Bench Press Strength Adaptations. Frontiers Nutrition. https://doi. org/10.3389/fnut.2021.622564

Lazarus, M., Shen, H., Cherasse, Y., Qu, W., Huang, Z., Bass, C.E., Winsky-Summerer, R., Semba, K., Fredholm, B.B., Boison, D., Hayaishi, O., Urade, Y., Chen, J. (2011). Arousal Effect of Caffeine Depends on Adenosine A2A Receptors in the Shell of the Nucleus Accumbens. The Journal of Neuroscience 31(27) 1006710075 (2011); DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/ JNEUROSCI.6730-10.2011

Student Reflection:

Wilk, M., Krzysztofik, M., Maszczyk, A., Chycki, J., Zajac, A. (2019a)  The acute effects of caffeine intake on time under tension and power generated during the bench press movement. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 16, 8 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12970-019-0275-x

Wilk, M., Krzysztofik, M., Filip, A., Zajac, A., Del Coso, J. (2019b). The Effects of High Doses of Caffeine on Maximal Strength and Muscular Endurance in Athletes Habituated to Caffeine. Nutrients. 11(8). 1912. https:// doi.org/10.3390/nu11081912

When I was given this paper on ergogenic aids, I viewed it as an opportunity to assess some of the substances I was using during my time at the gym. The most relevant supplement to me was pre-workout, a substance largely coveted for its heavy use of caffeine. Pre-workout is something I (and many others) once felt was needed for a workout, and I used it for years without question. After all, there are so many brands, substances, doses, and promises from these preworkout companies that target the resistance training consumer. Eventually, after no longer feeling any effects in the way I worked out, I figured I needed to take more. I was ingesting so much pre-workout I had to question if I should be taking this at all. This prompt from Dr. Braun gave me the perfect chance to explore that question.

The Effects of Pre-Exercise Caffeine Consumption on High Intensity Interval Training Performance

by Hannah Weagley

ESC 421: Exercise Physiology II

Dr. William Braun

Assignment:

This assignment was based on a lab that targeted the effects of caffeine on high-intensity interval training. Caffeine is one of the most studied supplements in the world and has been shown to increase exercise performances. This is what our class was trying to evaluate, with not only research but conducting our own experiment. This assignment educates not only the students in the exercise science department, but can educate individuals everywhere, at any age, because of the widespread use of caffeine around the world.

Introduction

Caffeine is a drug that stimulates and increases the activity of your brain and nervous system. Caffeine is also the most widely used psychoactive substance in the world, while being known to increase alertness, give most people a temporary energy boost, and improve mood (Powers et al., 2021). There have been many research studies done to support this. There is also an extensive volume of research suggesting that caffeine may boost exercise performance. Our lab was designed to study how the consumption of caffeine affected physiological measures, to examine the effects on blood metabolites, and to determine whether it can enhance intense exercise performance.

Methods

Materials: Monark 828e ergometers, bioimpedance analyzer, heart rate monitor, lactate analyzer, glucose meter, blood sampling supplies, caffeine, blood pressure cuff, and stethoscope

Activity:

Prior to testing, each student had to establish their personal workload in Watts. To establish the load in watts, we first determined our lean body mass using the Bioimpedance Analyzer. This instrument provides the body fat percentage. Then, students multiplied their fat percentage by total body mass (kg) to determine fat mass. Students then subtracted their fat mass from body mass to arrive at the lean body mass. When determining the load setting for each subject, we used 3.5 w/kg of lean body mass. After determining that, the students then converted the load in watts to kpm/ min, then derived the total kp (kilopond) of resistance to apply to the flywheel for the exercise test.

Prior to beginning the lab there were three different groups that students were arranged into: caffeine, non-caffeine, and true control groups. The order of treatment for the experimental group was randomized: one week the students would consume caffeine and the other week they would not. If they were in the caffeine group one week, then the second week they were not. The doses of caffeine varied among students: 200 mg were supplied for naïve users and 300 mg for habitual users. Caffeine was consumed approximately 45 minutes prior to exercise. We had 11 participants in the experimental group (control and caffeine trials) and we had a true control group (n = 3) of students who completed the protocol both weeks but who did not consume caffeine either day.

To begin the test, each subject obtained a resting heart rate, blood pressure, lactate, and glucose measurement prior to performing the warm-up. After that, the subjects warmed-up for 2 minutes at 1.0-1.5 kp while cycling at 70-80 rpm. During the last 15 seconds of the warm-up, heart rate was recorded again. Once the warm-up was complete, the subject stopped cycling. The test load was then set to the predetermined resistance (kp) for the test. An important key of the test was to make sure to re-zero the ergometer display before beginning each interval. This allowed distance cycled per interval to be determined.

Once the display was zeroed, the trial began with the subject cycling for 50 seconds at the appropriate test resistance at 60 RPM. Once the clock hit the 50 second mark, a 10-second sprint commenced. Once the clock hit 1 minute, the distance in km, heart rate, and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded. The subjects returned to a self-selected cadence of 40-60 RPM until the clock hit 1 minute and 50

seconds and then repeated the 10-second sprint. This process was completed through the first three intervals, making sure to record all data at the end of each minute. Following completion of the third interval, a 2–3-minute recovery was administered, and subjects obtained their glucose and lactate measures during this time. After recovery, the ergometer was zeroed again. Then, the subject repeated the same protocol as above, cycling at 60 RPM at the fixed kp and beginning the first sprint at 50 seconds on the stopwatch for three additional intervals, obtaining distance, heart rate, and RPE after each interval as above. Upon completion, glucose and lactate were obtained once more along with recovery heart rate and blood pressure. Useful calculations for this laboratory included:

Watt load = lean body mass (in kg)

x 3.5 watts/kg of mass

1 watt = 6.12 kpm/min

kpm/min = (Total Distance in meters/180 seconds) x kp of resistance x (60 sec/1min)

This derivation reflects the mean power within one set of three intervals.

Results

For our results, we recorded the distance that was completed (km), heart rate (bpm), and RPE for each interval. We also recorded lactate and blood glucose responses pre-exercise, after intervals 1-3, and after intervals 4-6. Caffeine consumption in the experimental group’s caffeine trial showed a higher overall heart rate as shown in Figure 1. The results show that at the beginning of interval 1 (following warm up), heart rate was low and increased over the intervals, partly recovered after interval 3 (recovery period), and then increased rapidly again after interval 4. Heart rate response (averaged for the two days of testing) for the true control group is shown in Figure 2. The response mimics that of the experimental group described above.

As mentioned, distance covered on caffeine vs. control was also recorded. This was important to show whether caffeine led to a higher power vs. the non-caffeine trial. For the control trial, distance was highest at interval 1 and interval 5. For the caffeine trial, distance was highest at interval 2 and interval 5. These results are shown in Figure 3. The distance for the true control group (non-caffeine group) is shown in Figure 4.

The total distance covered for the experimental group and for the true control group were evaluated. The control trial for the experimental group showed the greatest distance, while the true control day 1 showed the least distance. The true control day 1 might have the lowest scores due to being unfamiliar

with the exercise protocol for the laboratory, because for true control day 2, the distances increased slightly.

These results are displayed in Figure 5.

Responses to Lactate for the experimental group (control vs. caffeine) and the true control group (mean of day 1 and day 2) are displayed in Figure 6. As expected, lactate increased with exercise. The results are very similar for the three groups, with pre-exercise being low, mid-exercise increasing rapidly, and postexercise continuing to increase.

Glucose responses between the experimental group (control vs. caffeine) for pre, mid, and post exercise were recorded. The caffeine trial had a higher pre and post exercise result, while the control trial had a higher glucose level for mid-exercise. This is displayed in Figure 7.

My average power output in watts for each set of intervals (1-3, 4-6) for both days are displayed in Table 1. Next, my average RPMs and velocity (m/sec) for each interval set for both testing days were recorded and shown in Table 2. These results were established from the equations above in the methods.

Table 1. Average Power for Each Interval Sets on Both Days

Table 2. Average RPM and Velocity for Each Interval Sets on Both Days

Looking at the data, we can see that there were differences between the control and caffeine groups. For me personally, caffeine made a difference when it came to my performance of high intensity interval training. Though my heart rate was higher during the caffeine day, I achieved a greater distance, and I overall felt like I could perform better as opposed to the control day without caffeine. Though I felt this way, the group data does not display this. The control trial was recorded to have a higher distance than the caffeine trial. This may be due to some people not being used to consuming caffeine.

The lactate responses were as expected, they were low pre-exercise, increased rapidly after the first set of three intervals, and then continued increasing post-exercise. There were not any great differences between the control, caffeine, and non-caffeine groups, but the caffeine group did display the higher lactate levels. Research shows that caffeine does increase blood lactate levels, due to the increased production of muscle glycogenolysis (Forbes et al., 2020). For the glucose responses, the results were very different. For pre- and post-exercise, blood glucose was higher for the caffeine group. During mid-exercise, the control group had slightly higher blood glucose levels, but there is no great significance for this as these are minor fluctuations in concentration. Research has shown that caffeine does not raise glucose levels, and up to 400 milligrams of caffeine is considered safe for adults (Powers et al., 2021).

For blood pressure, the caffeine trial displayed higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared to the control trial for both pre- and post-exercise, as with heart rate. Caffeine causes your adrenal glands to release more adrenaline, which is why blood pressure and heart rate both increase. RPE did not change much between the two groups. For RPE, most subjects started off low, (9-11), and gradually increased (12-19) RPE which is expected during high intensity interval training.

Caffeine has been studied widely for potential ergogenic benefits for high intensity interval training. Forbes et al. (2020) completed a study like our laboratory protocol. In this research study, they compared combining nutritional strategies with high intensity interval training to see if it results in more favorable outcomes. For the caffeine section, they were trying to see if caffeine may improve sprint performance in trained subjects. Each subject consumed 3-5 mg/kg of caffeine 45-60 minutes before exercise. Their results concluded that caffeine consumption prior to sprint interval training resulted in greater total work in the first interval, with better power maintenance, but did not lead to an increase in total work in later sprints.

These results align with ours. Caffeine did not show a greater amount of work or distance compared to the control groups.

Caffeine usage for athletes is very common. It is often a popular go-to performance enhancer for them. Types of athletes and players that I believe would benefit most with caffeine would include endurance athletes, such as runners, cyclists, rowers, and swimmers. I believe that caffeine would benefit them greatly because they exercise over a long period of time, and though they are trained to do so, caffeine could help lead to being more alert and help delay fatigue which may support performance. Aside from endurance athletes, I also believe that athletes that use a great amount of muscular strength could also benefit from caffeine. Athletes such as wrestlers, shot putters, and discus could see benefits. I conclude this because I know that caffeine has ergogenic potential to improve both maximal strength and power.

As mentioned, caffeine is proposed to provide an ergogenic benefit. But how? Mechanisms associated with the ergogenic effects of caffeine stemmed from adrenaline (epinephrine)- enhanced free-fatty acid oxidation after caffeine ingestion and glycogen sparing, which overall improved endurance performance (Powers et al., 2021). In similar terms, caffeine uses its stimulating effect on the central nervous system and reduces the sensation of fatigue, perception of work, and even sometimes pain. I would expect that lactate would be impacted by caffeine, but not glucose unless you are drinking a high in sugar caffeine supplement. I conclude that lactate would increase with caffeine consumption due to active muscles or decreased blood clearance.

I have mentioned the positive effects of caffeine for athletes, but what about the negative? Caffeine use could potentially interfere with sports performance. If an athlete that is not used to ingesting caffeine takes it before a game, it could lead to some negative side effects that they are not used to. Also, too much caffeine could lead to negative side effects which could affect an athlete’s ability to perform. Athletes could experience headaches, nervousness, irritability, and a fast heart rate. These factors could hurt exercise performance.

The main outcomes of this lab, despite the individual variation, were that caffeine was not found to be ergogenic for the group. Fatigue was not all that different between the caffeine and non-caffeine groups either. If we would have seen more of an ergogenic effect, the perceived exertion and time to exhaustion would also have been lower compared to the noncaffeine group. A limitation to our study includes not being able to have a placebo control. Having a placebo control with caffeine administration would be difficult due to the side effects caffeine may have on a non-

habitual caffeine user.

In summary, caffeine usage is beneficial when used in moderation, and is perceived to be one of the most effective exercise supplements available for sport. I know that, personally, caffeine has always helped me feel more alert and perform better when it comes to exercise. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers 400 milligrams to be a safe upper limit of caffeine for healthy adults to consume daily. For athletes, 350 milligrams are recommended because greater than 500 milligrams per day can become addicting and the negative side effects of caffeine can start to kick in. It is just important to remember caffeine has ergogenic properties but it can also impair performance if not used appropriately.

References

Forbes, S. C., Candow, D. G., Smith-Ryan, A. E., Hirsch, K. R., Roberts, M. D., VanDusseldorp,

T. A., Stratton, M. T., et al. (2020). Supplements and Nutritional Interventions to Augment High-Intensity Interval Training Physiological and Performance Adaptations—A Narrative Review. Nutrients, 12(2), 390.

Powers, S. K., & Howley, E. T. (2018). Exercise Physiology: Theory and Application to Fitness and Performance (11th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

Student Reflection:

Exercise Physiology was my favorite class I had taken at Shippensburg University. Exercise Physiology is so important to us as individuals because it identifies the important effects of exercise on the body, and how we respond and adapt to exercise. This class is unique because we were able to complete laboratories in class. Being able to incorporate labs into classes is very important. Labs help provide students with various opportunities to learn and experiment, while giving appreciation to research complexities. Labs such as this one about caffeine, can continue to be modified and further studied down the road, but laid a good foundation of skills necessary to further study and research. I think that this lab report would be beneficial in the aspect of being duplicated and modified. I also believe that this lab report can be beneficial to students across campus who partake in exercise and use caffeine as their supplement. It is important to know the positives and negatives of taking caffeine while participating in exercise, and a lot of people may not realize these.

Engaging Reader Response in Social Issues: Personal Connection vs. Strictly Informational

by Megan Kapacs

HON 106: Writing Intensive First-Year Seminar

Dr. Thomas C. Crochunis

Assignment:

For this writing assignment, students were to write a 2-4+ page paper comparing and analyzing the approaches two source articles take when discussing related topics. In the comparison, students were to address a range of different issues through giving specific evidence from the texts. Students were assessed on the following criteria: controlling idea/thesis statement/research question, logic and order, evidence, sources, and control of language and mechanics.

Housing, or lack thereof, is currently one of the biggest problems in post-Covid America. Whether it is the struggle to afford a house or the problem of rent on the rise, people are losing their jobs, getting sick, struggling to make payments, and being forced onto the street every day. The two articles, “The Homeownership Trap” by David Dayen and “‘Can’t Pay May’: Making Rent In New York City During the Pandemic” by Emily Witt, both discuss the struggles of being unable to afford housing, with the former focusing on buying a house and the latter setting her sights on the sky-rocketing rent in New York City. Although one article focuses on buying and the other on renting, they share the common theme of trying to inform readers about the housing crisis and the number of human beings affected. However, within the articles, Witt’s casual language as well as the inclusion of her personal experience and interviews with those affected by the crisis presents the issue in a much more effective and persuasive way than Dayen’s mostly informational, hypercritical take on his respective topic.

The two journalists start their articles in drastically different ways by using drastically different tones. The article “‘Can’t

Pay May’: Making Rent In New York

City During the Pandemic” begins with the author setting up the scene of a New York neighborhood during the pandemic, complete with a description of the location, the price of rent, and the social lives of the tenants living in the apartment complex. She even includes how it is described on StreetEasy as “Aventurine, a green quartz crystal with specks of gray, has healing properties and is known as the comfort stone” (Witt). The reader is almost able the form in their mind the picture of a few apartment buildings, with neighbors chatting and watering the plants that grow in the limited space near their steps. From there, Witt is able to segue into the main point of her article by mentioning the reasons that the tenants, all learning

about each other’s hardships brought about by the pandemic, decided to go on strike. Witt beginning her article in such a way sets up a feeling within the reader that the article deals not only with the issue of impossibly high rent in New York but also with the residents affected by it and their worry of being evicted.

As for Dayen’s introduction, the article begins much more gravely than Witt’s, referencing the Twin Towers’ collapse, the Titanic’s sinking, and the California wildfires. He uses the number of people dead and amount of properties damaged by these tragic events to lead into the discussion of housing loss by mentioning the unknown number of Americans who lost their homes during the Great Recession, saying that “The Government simply didn’t tally up the damage, which tells you everything about how much the victims mattered to those in charge” (Dayen). Right off the bat, Dayen takes almost an aggressive stance against the government and criticizes those who overlook the people who have had their hard-earned picket fences torn from their grasp. The second paragraph dives straight into statistics about foreclosures and short sales, causing the reader to quickly realize that Dayen will be taking a more serious and stern approach to this topic rather than an emotional one (Dayen).

Dayen’s main evidence he chooses to support his argument comes in the form of numbers and historical events, as opposed to Witt’s main points being most effectively demonstrated through the portraits of the people she interviewed. Even during the parts of Witt’s article that are chiefly informational in order to give context in terms of the scale of an issue, the statistics Witt mentions often include the more ‘human-interest’ aspect of them. As opposed to simply giving the readers numbers, Witt gives the readers numbers or quotes and a following statistic or story that adds depth to them. For example, when talking about the homelessness issue in New York, she states, “More than sixty-two

thousand people stayed in New York City municipal shelters, more than twenty thousand of them children” (Witt). This article does not mention children not having a roof over their heads at any time other than in this piece of information. Additionally, when speaking to a woman who began to organize her neighbors in a building that did not have gas, Witt says that the building was rent-stabilized and many of the people there were elderly and too afraid to strike (Witt). This article is not about the elderly either, but she includes details about more vulnerable populations (such as children and the elderly) nonetheless in order to appeal to the reader’s empathy as opposed to solely their logic.

However, in “The Homeownership Trap,” Dayen uses an informational as opposed to a personal approach. He makes use of evidence derived from industrial analysts and large organizations like the Federal Housing Administration and the National Association of Realtors to demonstrate his argument. The other bulk of supporting information is in the form of a semi-timeline throughout the article describing how loans for houses were paid and the various ways mortgage lenders took advantage of borrowers since before the Great Depression (Dayen). The only lighter, more personal-feeling source Dayen used was when he referenced a fictional family in the novel The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. Dayen does not seem to be trying to make a human connection to the reader, rather he is forcibly demonstrating his point with concrete yet complex information as well as adjectives with negative connotations to criticize the institutions he believes are at fault for homeowners losing their houses. For instance, his distaste for today’s mortgages is demonstrated using heavy language. Dayen says, “Installment loans like today’s mortgages, with a down payment up front and smaller monthly payments thereafter, were seen as sleazy products peddled by unscrumptious door-to-door salesmen, which delivered a false sense of security for workers who would inevitably fall into excessive debt” (Dayen). Dayen’s use of words like “sleazy,” “unscrumptious,” “peddled,” and “excessive debt” clearly signifies his dissatisfaction with the way homeowners are, in his view, exploited, implying the method that people are to pay mortgages is not only outdated but formerly was only used in order to take advantage of people. From there in the article, Dayen details the thousands of people who lost their homes during the Great Depression, interventions by the government such as the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation and the Federal Housing Administration, and the resulting reason for the racial wealth gap (Dayen).

Despite Dayen’s in-depth explanations of the history of home loans to demonstrate the notion that borrowers have always been taken advantage of, I felt as though Witt made her ideas clearer in “‘Can’t Pay

May’: Making Rent In New York City During the Pandemic” than Dayen did in “The Homeownership Trap.” Witt presented her argument to readers on a more human level and used a more personal rather than analytic tone. She even included her own experiences of seeing people overpay for less than adequate housing, such as referencing the cheap and hasty development of houses she saw living in Florida during the “real estate bubble of the mid-two-thousands” and her admittance that even she looks at the houses back in her hometown because deep down she hopes to own a home one day and the ones in Minneapolis are hundreds of thousands of dollars cheaper than some one-bedrooms in New York (Witt). Witt’s voice is blatantly present, which she uses to help prove to the reader that she is justified in writing on the topic. For example, Witt’s inclusion of the fact that she lives in a New York flat with rent that is steadily increasing helps the reader to gain a sense of trust towards her level of understanding of the issue, since she has experienced it first-hand (Witt). It gives the reader a feeling of connection to not only the people Witt interviews but also towards Witt herself.

Witt is informed by personal experiences, so the information and examples that she offers readers is presented in an engaging way—as opposed to Dayen, who is much less personally invested. The readers do not get a sense of who Dayen is as a person in “The Homeownership Trap,” making it much more difficult for the reader to hear his voice or form an emotional connection toward Dayen and his words. Furthermore, he does not give us very much insight into the justification or experience he has writing about the issue, making the readers much more vulnerable to skepticism.

The flow and language of Witt’s article also felt smoother than Dayen’s Witt introduced ideas fairly well, giving each new person interviewed a brief profile before quoting their views and each organization/ policy mentioned a description before detailing their impact. Dayen writes as if the reader already has a decent amount of knowledge on the issue, discussing the information he presents at a faster pace with barely any introduction to newly brought-up people, ideas, policies, laws, and organizations. One source was not described at all, causing me to resort to Google and for a moment believe that the reference was an actor as opposed to an author. Even at the very end, Dayen abruptly bashes Republicans (even though distinct political parties were barely mentioned throughout the article) and then moves on to the next paragraph, abandoning the idea as quickly as it was introduced (Dayen). Although Dayen’s presentation of ideas is very unstable, Dayen’s language itself is strong, but not concise or clear to a reader not educated on the subject matter. His language is also very wordy. For

instance, early in the article, Dayen asks us, “Should we reconsider homeownership as an end goal? Should federal policy put home purchases within reach of young people suffering from sky-high housing costs and student debt? Do the risks of homeownership outweigh the benefits? And is there a way to democratize those benefits so everyone can attain them?” (Dayen). Dayen puts numerous questions forth very early and his answering of them comes off just as staggering and mind-boggling as the way he asks. It is possible Dayen’s intent was to make the reader feel overwhelmed in connection to the anxiety that the people who aim to own a home/people who may lose their home feel, but I personally felt as though Dayen overloads the reader right from the start and rarely eases up as the article continues.

Lastly, the two articles view their opposing argument with different stances. The people that the tenants in Witt’s article are striking against are also considered by Witt to be human beings who need to collect rent as a source of income. She even interviews a landlord and inquires about his thoughts on the people unable to afford rent. Not only that, but she gives a bit of backstory as to how he came to live in New York, how many buildings he owns, and the pizza place he opened (Witt). Witt makes an effort to humanize the people that she at first seems to be against because they are just that: humans. The fact that Witt values their point of view as well gives her piece a well-rounded feel, as opposed to Dayen’s much more aggressive approach that makes the reader feel a sense of hostility toward mortgage lenders along with him. By the end of Dayen’s piece, even if the reader did

not fully comprehend the intricate information he was describing, they were left feeling as though there was one concrete ‘enemy’ trying to take advantage of home loan borrowers without any reason other than selfish monetary gain. There is no humanization in Dayen’s article, only bombastic condemnation.

Although Witt and Dayen both present their views on the topic of the inability to afford housing (on rent and homeownership, respectively), they demonstrate their main points using tones, main sources of evidence, and language different from one another. I felt as though Witt’s “‘Can’t Pay May’: Making Rent In New York City During the Pandemic” used much clearer language and was more effective in her presentation of evidence than Dayen was in using his more complex, hostile approach. The housing crisis that the two journalists wrote about is ongoing and faced by others every single day. There is no telling when, or if ever, these crises will ever be resolved. We can only hope that rent in big cities like New York will go down soon, and that home mortgage lenders will ease up on borrowers whose only dream is to own a house of their own.

Works Cited

Dayen, David. “The Homeownership Trap.” Jacobin, Spring 2019, www.jacobin.com/2019/06/the-homeownershiptrap. Accessed 3 October 2022.

Witt, Emily. “‘Can’t Pay May’: Making Rent In New York City During the Pandemic.” The New Yorker, 18 May 2022, www.newyorker.com/news/our-localcorrespondents/cant-pay-may-making-rent-in-newyork-city-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic. Accessed 3 October 2022.

Student Reflection:

For this assignment, I chose to compare-and-contrast two articles relating to the rise in cost of housing since it is a topic that interested me; as someone whose newsfeed is filled with articles speculating about the future of the housing market and dreams of being a real estate developer, I genuinely felt informed reading both articles. However, as I originally was going to choose the job research option as opposed to the article comparison option for this writing assignment, I was changing directions within a week or two of it being due. As I tried to take in as much information as I could as quickly as I could reading the articles, all I was able to think of was how much more I was drawn to Witt’s personal approach, while Dayen’s was so frantic, I did not even know if I would be able to work with his piece. Even when I slowed down and focused on every word, his aggressive tone and my whiplash remained. At first this frustrated me, then it inspired me.

Assignment:

Family Ties

by Daeshawn Ford

ENG 114: Writing Intensive First-Year Seminar

Dr. Thomas C. Crochunis

You will have a chance to experiment with the process of interviewing in class. The first stage in this assignment is to think about an issue related to people’s work you’d like to look into further, come up with a list of 4-6 people who might have something to say about that issue, and then make some notes what about questions and follow-ups you could ask; or alternatively, you might identify a person whose working life interests you, come up with a list of 4-6 broad topics you might want to ask her/him about, and then make some notes what about questions and follow-ups you could ask. You will then choose one kind of work or one particular person whose experiences with work you want to investigate.

I started to feel resentment toward my dad as a young child when I first saw him strike my mother with no regret. The first lash I felt from his withered leather belt only amplified this feeling. From what I know, my siblings’ feelings are like mine. I remember as a child being whooped for something my siblings did but wouldn’t own up to. My father would say, “If one of y’all don’t tell me who did it, y’all all getting y’all ass whooped.” For much of my childhood, I feared random unexpected spurts of anger and abusiveness from him. This has caused me to be cautious of what I say to my father and how I say it. I am way more comfortable talking to my mom about things going on in my life. I’ve witnessed him do unspeakable things to my mother and siblings. Things such as whooping my eldest brother – while he was naked – with an extension cord, hitting him in the head with a frying pan, or blacking my mother’s eye. That’s just the tip of the iceberg, but I’m not writing this to destroy my father’s character. I am writing this to gain insight into my father’s past so that I can be more empathetic toward him and his actions. I’ve always wondered why he committed such horrible acts of aggression toward the people he claimed to love the most. Does he hate us? Does he not know how to express his anger without physically harming us? Since he was recently released from incarceration, coupled with his transition to Islam, he has made the effort to change his abusive nature. While at times he may be verbally or mentally abusive, the physical abuse is obsolete. Now, as I am coming into adulthood, I have gained the courage to ask him why so that I could understand the reasoning for his abusive nature, in hopes of mending our relationship.

Don’t get me wrong, my father was horribly abusive for much of my childhood, but I haven’t had all negative experiences regarding him. My dad was the breadwinner, and for as long as I can remember

my mom has been a stay-at-home parent. He provided greatly for us. Growing up, every year we would go to Clementon Amusement Park in New Jersey with friends and family. He also organized an annual cookout that was extremely fun. In the daytime music was bumping, food was served, kids were playing, and it was just good energy. Once it got dark out the nighttime activities began. Fireworks were shot, fights broke out, dumpsters were lit on fire, the fire department came. Now, this may seem hectic, but I’ve had some of my best experiences at this cookout. What factors played a role in who you were as an individual and parent? My dad grew up in a two-parent household in South Philadelphia along with his 4 younger siblings. His father sometimes worked days at a time and his mother – who was very church-going – was also busy with work, so he had to mature and care for his younger siblings even though he himself was a child. My dad said that while both his parents were “loving, caring, and great providers,” his father was, “extremely stern and a lot of times abusive.” I asked him to go further, delving into a specific situation where his father displayed this abusive nature. An experience instantly came to mind that occurred when he was about 4 or 5 years old. He said, “I had went to the bathroom, dropped the toilet paper roll in the tub and it got wet.” A little while after my grandfather went into the bathroom & asked, “Who wet the toilet paper?” When my dad told him he dropped it mistakenly, he started “snapping and hit him with his belt.” As my grandma tried to intervene and mediate things, my grandpa hit her as well. Concluding this story my father stated, “Like that right there, like I’ll never, I’ll never forget that… it was like damn, a little toilet paper being wet started all that.” This abusiveness made him believe that was the way to go about parenting because he’d experienced it since the young age of three years old; it was engrained into his character.

Even though he had to endure the abusiveness of his father, when asked about the good times he had in his childhood he said, “I had a lot of good times.” He remembered my grandma taking him to IHOP every Sunday, sometime before and sometimes after church before his siblings were born. Whether it was breakfast or lunchtime, he got the same order: cheeseburger and french fries. He also recalled a day him, his brother, mom, and dad spent together. He was about 7 and my uncle was about 2. He said, “They took us to the movies, out to eat, and to the arcade and I just had a bunch of fun. It seemed like we were out all day and it was no arguing or nothing.” This highlights that even when faced with hardships there is good to be recognized. His experiences also show that family is very complex, and love is expressed in many ways – some being better than the others.

As I mentioned above, my dad grew up in South Philadelphia, which he described as a “dog-eat-dog world.” When asked to share an experience in this tough environment, he told me a very traumatizing story I never knew. When he was around 8 years old, he was walking home from school with friends, which was about six blocks, when gunshots started to be fired. When he crossed the street, “It was a dude laying there with blood and brains coming out his head, blood coming all out of his mouth. That was traumatizing –just to see that.” Being in an environment like this his father instilled in him at an early age to be tough and stern because in his neighborhood “you couldn’t go for anything, or you would be perceived as soft.” Initially, this tough personality was in his words: “To let people know I ain’t sweet – I ain’t the one to try to bullcrap with. Then, it got to the point where I used that as a tool to get from people what I wanted. It became more than a defense mechanism; it became a way to manipulate people.” At the time, his neighborhood was very drug-infested. His parents’ absence allowed him the opportunity to be involved in the streets, doing stuff he knew they wouldn’t approve of – hanging with the wrong crowd, smoking, dealing weed, and carrying guns. Reflecting on this he said, “With me learning Islam it’s softening my heart… showing me another way living by the rules and laws of Islam compared to living by the rules and laws of the streets.”

How has your approach to parenting changed? He replied: “With all my children it was the same up until now. I’m trying to implement everything I’m learning from Islam and what Islam stands for, so If I could do it all over again, I would totally change the way I raised my children. Seeing how other people parent and thinking back… thinking back like yo… you know how you felt so why would you want your children to feel that way? We have a relationship but there’s always room for improvement… and in this case, there’s room for a lot of improvement.”

Do you feel as though you have done a good job in raising your children? “I’m like fifty-fifty, like as far as morals and all that; yes, I did; with providing; yes, I did. But I know I could’ve been way more compassionate.” He regrets carrying over his father’s abusive nature and recognizes that it has put a divide between him and his children. “All I can do now is fix it and not dwell on it. A lot of times when you dwell on things it’ll hinder it, so I’m not dwelling on it, but I know I can do better and that’s what my goal is. I want to bridge that gap and have that compassion. My love for my children is strong.”

Reflecting on all the information I’ve received from conducting this interview and drafting a paper on it has really allowed me to be empathetic toward my father’s reasoning for being abusive. No, that doesn’t take away from what he’s done but I now better understand why he was that way. I’ve been able to recognize that we’ve had similar experiences with abuse – outrageous and random acts of anger committed for small, innocent mistakes. He was influenced by his father, and it was shown in his tough, abusive persona. Noticing this pattern has made me more able to not follow it as my dad did. Before now I could care less about his reasoning because I felt as though there was no possible reason for being that way. Despite his past abusive nature my father is and will always be great in my eyes. Like he said with his father; at times yes, he can be abusive but that doesn’t take away from the great times we’ve had as a family. I’m fortunate to be mature enough to have this conversation with him instead of just harboring hatred for him in my heart – which was the case for many years. In a way, this interview brought us closer, and I am glad to have done it.

Student Reflection:

I really enjoyed drafting this paper; not only was it a graded assignment, it also was meaningful and the content in it was valuable. This piece was an improved revision of my initial interview-based paper. After reinterviewing my dad, adding more detail to the paper, and connecting past experiences to present ones, I came up with the finished revision. In the process of drafting and revising this paper my relationship with my father was strengthened. I was able to understand and be sympathetic toward his upbringing and the influence it had on him. I am glad to have had the opportunity to write this paper because otherwise I don’t know if I would’ve ever tried to better understand my father and his actions.

Assignment:

Framing of Age/Teens in the Media

by Rylee Swalis

COM 245: Diversity and the Media

Dr. Dhiman Chattopadhyay

This assignment helps students learn a key research method and using that method of research, analyze how mass media depicts/frames different aspects of diversity. Students examine (a) how inequality may be perpetuated/reinforced via media messages (b) how identity formation is shaped by media messages and (c) how media framing may happen. Specifically students watch eight (8) episodes of a TV series of their choice, “code” each episode to find how an aspect of diversity is framed (e.g. sexuality, age, disabilities, race) and then write a short analysis explaining what they found.

In today’s society, we often hear the phrase, “age is just a number.” This statement relates to intimate relationships, job opportunities, level of common knowledge, or the expected role to be played by those of a certain age. Our media has done an excellent job of portraying people to be much older or younger than they are. The media is inevitable, as several platforms surround us in our everyday lives. Specifically, on television and in films, countless actors and actresses play the part of a character who is in an entirely different age. Author of the online article Adolescence and the Media, Thomas Frissen writes, “For instance, traditional media (e.g. television shows) provide adolescents with ‘scripts’ about how adults are supposed to act; media portray, for instance, the ‘norms’ of conflict resolutions, not uncommonly in a context of violence and aggression; and media teach them about gender roles, stereotypical behavior, and sexual gratification.” It is important to keep this in mind, as adolescents and teens are watching very closely and using the media’s depiction of characters their age to decide who they wish to be and determine the life they wish they could have.

Ageism in the media is a topic I have always been aware of, even before studying and analyzing it more thoroughly. Growing up, I was always the girl who would look up to people on television and decide what I wanted my appearance to be when I was older. I was quite the trend follower, as I always desired to fit in with everyone else. I thought that maybe if I looked, talked, and acted the way my favorite characters on television did, I could be just like them one day. The harsh reality of this was that the 17-year-old characters on TV were actually in their 20s in real life. For example, Rachel McAdams played the role of 17-year-old Regina George in the series Mean Girls when she was

26. These shows were negatively depicting the roles of people of several different age groups. Now that I am majoring in communications and media, I am able to realize that the film media industry is guilty of using ageism tactics by hiring actors and actresses to play roles of characters much younger or older than they are in real life. I believe that is why so many consumers of media have self-esteem, behavioral, and cognitive struggles, and it is important we research and correct this societal downfall. I decided to try and illustrate this common universal issue by analyzing the popular TV drama Pretty Little Liars.

Theory

I watched eight consecutive episodes of Pretty Little Liars on HBO Max to understand how teenagers were framed in the show. Specifically, I focused on how popular series, such as Pretty Little Liars, incorporate ageism to depict young adult actors and actresses. Pretty Little Liars is a TV drama mystery-thriller series consisting of seven seasons that aired originally on ABC Family in 2010. I chose to analyze Season 1 of Pretty Little Liars, which originally aired in June 2010. The television series was created shortly after the publishing of the original novel with the same title, written by Marlene King, and the demographic of this show ranges from age 14-30. The series follows the lives of four high-school girls, Aria Montgomery, Emily Fields, Spencer Hastings, and Hannah Marin, whose clique falls apart after the disappearance of their friend, Alison DiLaurentis. One year after her disappearance, the girls begin to receive anonymous messages from someone named “A,” threatening to reveal their darkest secrets, even the ones they thought only their missing friend knew. They think that these messages are from Alison at first, but when her body is found, the girls realize that someone else is trying to ruin their lives.

This is not my first time watching this series, however, I paid more attention to detail this time rather than watching leisurely. Specifically, I was looking for young characters being sexualized because a study from our textbook shows how negative framing of teenagers on television can affect young watchers: “ Eventually, as more and more teenagers were allowed access to televisions in their bedrooms, often out of sight of their parents, more sexual teen content was developed ” (Luther, 2018). Also stated in our textbook, not all teenagers were depicted negatively; some were framed in a positive way, as they displayed much academic and social responsibility, qualities that every parent would want their child to see, as, “...some of these past programs featured teenagers who exhibited high levels of responsibility and who were more focused on academic work and family than sex” (Luther, 2018). I found it interesting that when taking notes and writing down dialogue between characters that stood out to me, I was able to see a notable theme of ageism. I divided my notes into four categories: the sexualization of teenagers, criminal inclusion of teenagers, guiltiness/lies, and unrealistic societal roles. I then further gathered these ideas into bigger categories, such as the negative and positive framing of teenagers.

Findings

Before beginning my own analysis, I decided to do more research to back myself up. The study before me has described in-depth how television shows, such as Pretty Little Liars, have poorly depicted young women, “...[identifying] several risk behaviors such as being bullied on school property, youth consumption of alcohol, and failure to use condoms or other birth control during sexual activity. Illegal or unethical behaviors related to lying, trespassing, vandalism and age of consent violations [are] also identified” (Hall, 2015). To follow this statement, I will first share how ageism in Pretty Little Liars negatively depicts teenagers by relating the characters to crime and the police. My analysis was consistent as I watched the second season, beginning with the first episode and ending with the eighth. In Season 1, Episode 2, the four girls are waking up from a sleepover in Spencer’s house, when they walk downstairs to see all of their parents gathered in the kitchen. Spencer’s mom, Melissa, says to Spencer, “The accusations you made about Ian have cast a bright spotlight on all of you, and Spencer you are still a person of interest in Alison’s murder investigation ” (S2, E1 6:28). Melissa then follows, by including the other teenagers: “...and now the police seem to think that you three are also involved” (S2, E1 6:30). These quotes would affect a younger viewer, by encouraging them to be wanted by the police. If their favorite char-

acters on television are, why shouldn’t they be? Later on, in Episode 2 of Season 2, Spencer is seen outside on a park bench at night with her boyfriend, Toby. The two are talking about whether or not they should go to the police and fess up for their wrongdoings. Toby then states to Spencer, “When was the last time the cops did either of us any good?” (S2, E2 33:45). Ageism is present, again, here as it is not normal for teenagers in high school to have multiple experiences with the police officers in their hometown. For example, in Episode 8 of Season 2, I took note of when Spencer, Aria, Hannah, and Emily were sitting in a parked car spying on the new police officer in their town’s squad, Garrett. They saw him suspiciously pull into the driveway of Toby’s house, which Spencer suspected as odd as her boyfriend was not home at the time. However, they run up to the house to try and get a peak where Garrett is, and they suddenly see Toby’s sister, Jenna (also in high school) begin to undress with the new police officer’s hands wrapped around her waist.

If this inappropriate hook-up was not enough to convince a young viewer that this connection is the norm, Pretty Little Liars has yet another scandalous couple. Aria Montgomery was a high-school junior in Season 1 of the show when she entered a bar and met a man named Ezra Fitzgerald, who was drinking alcohol, so we as viewers know that Ezra is at least 21 years old. When they get to talking, they find out they share a common interest in English, and the scene quickly changes to a hot makeout in the bathroom. The next day, Aria and her friends are in English class at school when the new teacher turns around, and she realizes it is the same guy she was making out with the night before. With that in mind, Ezra decides to resign from his high-school teaching position and relocate to a college setting in Season 2, Episode 2. He informs his class aloud, but keeps eye contact with Aria the entire time, “I never thought I would have the connection I did with you all, I will not forget your faces” (S2, E2 38:22) After class is dismissed, viewers experience Aria’s sadness over the age-gap hookup with her English teacher. She decides to run outside and try and catch him one last time, in Episode 2. She screams, “Ezra!” (39:33), jumps into his arms, and kisses him goodbye. In the following episode, the four friends are seeing what everyone’s plans were for the night. Aria’s friends roll their eyes as she tells the three of them that she is registering for a class at the college Ezra just took a position at: “If I happen to bump into Ezra, it’s just a bonus” (S2, E3 5:59). Her friends’ eye roll illustrates the wrong in this show’s ageism because it is illegal to be dating a minor; however, the friends do nothing to stop her or advise her otherwise, which shows the negative depiction. Luckily for Aria, she runs into her crush

later on in Episode 5 and tells Ezra she is convinced they can work things out between the two of them, regardless of the situation: “Clearly we both need to find a way to warm the idea of us up as a couple” (S2, E5 9:44). Pretty Little Liars did an excellent job at glamo rizing an inappropriate student-teacher relationship. It was fun to watch on TV, but in real life, that is illegal and unacceptable.

The title of the series describes the plot quite well. This friend group tells lies left and right. At their age, it is common for teenagers to lie and try and avoid rules at all costs; however, Pretty Little Liars idealizes lying and the feeling of guilt, which negatively depicts the characters and the societal expectation from teens watching. In Season 2, Episode 2 the girls are trying to put together the pieces and find their missing friend, Alison. Emily has a flashback of something that Alison always told the girls: “When I hide something, it stays hidden. I decide I want to be honest when I feel like it” (S2, E2 21:10). The girls begin to plug the pieces together about how their friend who always told lies and hid from the truth is now missing. Emily reflects on Alison’s emotions later on in Episode 4 by feeling them herself. Aria asks Emily how she is doing, and Emily replies sarcastically, “Great. Ever since I got that fake scholarship letter, my mom thinks I can do no wrong. I am living a lie that I did not even tell ” (S2, E4 2:16). Aria, Emily, Spencer, and Hannah are all current high school students in the series, and although it is occasional for teens to lie and feel guilty of their actions, this series takes it to another level. The media is negatively depicting teenagers yet again by essentially normalizing lying and lying about legal-related issues.

The core of Pretty Little Liars’ conflict is the anonymous foe who begins sending the four girls messages threatening to reveal their darkest secrets shortly after their missing friend, Alison, is declared deceased. These messages were signed with “-A,” so obviously the girls thought that their friend Alison was not actually dead but just trying to manipulate them, as she always did in their little clique. The messages began with Emily, who was on the high school swim team and trying to get recruited for college. At school one day, she sees a trashed newspaper with the headline “Murder Solved ” and a picture of Alison on the cover. Immediately after, she gets a text message on her phone that reads, “Hey, Em. Is it just me? Or does that suicide note look familiar? -A” (S2, E5 3:30). It is very uncommon and concerning for high school girls to be receiving blackmail and threats via cell phone. Soon after, in Episode 6, Spencer’s older sister receives a text from the anonymous blackmailer questioning her about where her fiance, Wren, had gone: “Do you miss your honey? Don’t worry, he is safe with me. -A” (S2, E6).

Melissa tells her sister, and Spencer quickly recruits her friends to get together and go to the last location Wren was at. They follow Melissa to this random barn and hear her scream. The scene shows Wren’s character tied up so tight that he could not breathe, sitting in a pool of blood (S2, E6 41:44). Personally, I am very sensitive when it comes to seeing gore, even though I would consider myself to be one of a mature audience. Keeping in mind that Pretty Little Liars is geared toward watchers as young as 14 years old, I think that this content is inappropriate. If a young teenager is watching this from home, they may begin to visualize themselves taking part in these acts, which is beyond concern for today’s youth.

On a more positive note, there are some couples on Pretty Little Liars that illustrate acceptable, healthy love interests at the high school age. Spencer Hastings falls in love with Toby Cavanaugh, who lived down the street from her. She fell in love with his honesty and charm. In Season 2, Episode 2, Spencer reveals to Toby her true feelings toward him: “I’ve never had a safe place to land, and now I feel like I do” (S2, E2 1:00) and then leans in to kiss him. The two have always been shown getting along and caring for each other without sexual connections. Hannah Marin, the fashionista of the clique, is very independent and confident in herself as she has the freshest outfit in school each day. Her ego is so high that she sees Caleb Rivers in the school hallway one day. He is not quite the ideal Ken doll of a guy, but his personality is to die for. He tries to get with Hannah, but she plays hard to get. In Season 2, Episode 4 Caleb opens up to Hannah that he is a foster child and does not have the best life. Hannah, the spoiled only child, feels sympathy for him and opens her heart to let him in. She says to him, “Put your arm around me” (S2, E4 28:50) with a smirk on her face, and Caleb replies, “Say less” (S2, E4 28:52). In my opinion, this was one of my favorite moments of Season 2 as it positively illustrates acceptance and selflessness. Teenagers today lack common respect for others at times and are seen as cocky and ignorant, but Hannah’s character is a good role model for teenagers to look up to.

Conclusion

Through research and my own content analysis, I was able to describe the framing of teenagers in the media better. Watching eight consecutive episodes of Pretty Little Liars, I found both negative and positive depictions of teenage characters. Now that I have found themes of corruption of minors, sexualization, and unrealistic societal roles, I feel confident that if someone were to review this series or an article related, they, too, would become more media literate and be able to decipher the effect of ageism. Some may

even gear toward caution, depending on the age of the viewer. As we all know, it is extremely unrealistic for four teenage girls to be solving a murder mystery, essentially on their own, trespassing, threatening, and vandalizing their hometown. However, the media is able to manipulate us into thinking that we must fit into fictional roles that negatively depict those in real life of their age. I feel happy that even prior to analyzing the episodes myself, I was able to relate my findings to diverse articles that had already been written. Overall, the moral of this content analysis is to be aware of what you are seeing on your favorite television shows and films, as it may not be as it seems in real life.

References

Calvert, Sandra L., and Barbara J. Wilson. 2011. The handbook of children, media and development Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.

“Adolescence and the Media.” Obo, https://www. oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo9780199756841/obo-9780199756841-0101. xml#:~:text=For%20instance%2C%20traditional%20 media%20%28e.g.%2C%20television%20 shows%29%20provide,about%20gender%20 roles%2C%20stereotypical%20behavior%2C%20 and%20sexual%20gratification

Hall, Cougar, et al. “Pretty Risky Behavior: A Content Analysis of Youth Risk Behaviors in ‘Pretty Little Liars.” Health Educator, Eta Sigma Gamma Inc. Http:// Www.etasigmagamma.org, 30 Nov. 2014, https://eric. ed.gov/?id=EJ1153612.

Luther, Catherine A., et al. Diversity in US Mass Media. Wiley, 2018

“It’s Alive.” King, Marlene, director. Pretty Little Liars, Season 2, Episode 1, 14 June 2014.

“The Goodbye Look.” King, Marlene, director. Pretty Little Liars, Season 2, Episode 2, 21 June 2011.

“My Name Is Trouble.” King, Marlene, director. Pretty Little Liars, Season 2, Episode 3, 28 June 2011.

“Blind Dates.” King, Marlene, director. Pretty Little Liars, Season 2, Episode 4, 5 July 2011.

“The Devil You Know.” King, Marlene, director. Pretty Little Liars, Season 2, Episode 5, 12 July 2011.

“Never Letting Go.” King, Marlene, director. Pretty Little Liars, Season 2, Episode 6, 19 July 2011.

“Surface Tension.” King, Marlene, director. Pretty Little Liars, Season 2, Episode 7, 26 July 2011.

“Save the Date.” King, Marlene, director. Pretty Little Liars, Season 2, Episode 8, 2 August 2011.

Student Reflection:

Diversity and the Media allowed me to further understand the diverse groups of people and social injustices the media covers. This assignment, specifically, allowed me to choose one of the several different categories of diversity we learned in class, and use my skills to acknowledge and break down one of my favorite television shows: Pretty Little Liars. The series is about high school students solving the murder mystery of their best friend, all while being blackmailed by an anonymous person. I felt that it was very important to analyze this show, as the entire plot illustrates a very unrealistic depiction of teenagers. Our media has the power of influencing the youth, depending on what types of media they are exposed to, and although this show is intriguing to watch, we must recognize that it is not a normal scenario for teenagers to be a part of. I was able to find multiple scenes and quotes from the actors/actresses that adhere to my analysis. If it weren’t for me taking this class, I would not have been able to take a deeper look at the depiction of diverse groups in the media.

Framing of Women in HBO’s Game of Thrones: A Content Analysis

by Hannah Cornell

COM 245: Diversity and the Media

Dr. Dhiman Chattopadhyay

Assignment:

This assignment helps students learn a key research method and using that method of research, analyze how mass media depicts/frames different aspects of diversity. Students examine (a) how inequality may be perpetuated/reinforced via media messages (b) how identity formation is shaped by media messages and (c) how media framing may happen. Specifically students watch eight (8) episodes of a TV series of their choice, “code” each episode to find how an aspect of diversity is framed (e.g. sexuality, age, disabilities, race) and then write a short analysis explaining what they found.

Introduction

As a Women’s and Gender Studies minor, one of the most influential parts of Diversity and the Media as a class has been learning about gender depictions and the effects that media portrayal of gender can have on influencing viewer perception. As our textbook states, “In his influential book Public Opinion, Walter Lippmann asserted that stereotypes were basically ‘pictures in our head’ and that they were necessary in order to take our complex environment and impose some form of order upon it (Lippmann 1922: 3)” (Luther, Lepre and Clark 11). Stereotyping has been a large part of gender perception throughout time, where typically women have been associated with the qualities of being soft, kind, compassionate, emotional, beautiful, feminine, artsy, gentle, motherly and more. In contrast, men have been typically associated with the qualities of being strong, rough, stoic, masculine, violent, dominant, hardworking, etc. However, in a modern world that is seeking to perhaps eliminate the gender binary and break away from gendered stereotypes, it is important to note the ways that media perpetuates (or breaks) these stereotypes and the effects that gender depictions in the media have on viewers and their perceptions of gender. Specifically, I sought to understand the way that women were represented within popular media by studying HBO’s Game of Thrones. As arguably one of the most popular shows in U.S. television history, as according to data in 2022 that illustrated that Game of Thrones “was the fifthmost popular TV series in the US over the last 30 days as of June 21” (Clark), despite it being three years after the show’s conclusion in May of 2019. Game of Thrones is a well-loved and highly ridiculed fantasy series that features a diverse world of creatures and characters

alike. One of the most questioned aspects of the show is the treatment of female characters, particularly the sexualization of female characters and the perpetuation of sexual violence against them. One article notes that “…Game of Thrones perpetuates the societal idea that men are superior to women by voyeuristically fetishizing female sexuality. Frequent rape scenes in the series code male sexuality as superior; the ubiquitous male gaze appears in sexually themed scenes in which women appear disproportionately naked more often than men” (Needham 3). Another article published in 2018 in Ohio State Law Journal Furthermore suggested that Game of Thrones was part of a growing trend of sexual violence being portrayed on TV that “suggests a cultural normalization of and desensitization to rape” (Elwood 133). Possibly supporting Elwood’s statement, one study from 2021 also found that when asking men and women to watch scenes from Game of Thrones, “women rated the scenes as more aversive than men, especially those involving moral and sexual disgust” (Puthillam and Karandikar).

I chose this topic primarily because of personal experience and what I have seen in the world around me, both in real life and in the media. As a femaleidentifying individual, I have felt the pressures from society to conform to “ideal” standards for women throughout my life. When I was in elementary school, I was bullied for my hair, which was short, curly, and all over the place, because no one knew how to style it. As a result, when I got to the 6th grade, I straightened it every day, and suddenly, I wasn’t bullied for my hair anymore. In middle school, being skinny and fitting into the smallest American Eagle or Aeropostale jeans meant you were pretty, so I developed an eating disorder. In high school, I forgot to put mascara on one morning and begged my friend to bring me some from

her house because I was so worried people would stare at me all day for having no makeup on. While I have come a long way and no longer let beauty standards and society’s expectations for women run my life, I remember the way that the media, like television and social media, influenced my view of myself and the world around me at that time. I also know what it is like to still face those pressures as an adult, from being catcalled and honked at while walking down the street in the summertime, to being expected to look and behave in certain ways in the dating world. Therefore, I chose to watch Game of Thrones, a show that has been both revered and ridiculed for its depiction of powerful, yet highly sexualized and brutalized female characters.

Method

For this analysis, I watched eight episodes of Game of Thrones on HBO Max to attempt to understand how the show depicted gender throughout its eightseason storyline. Specifically, I sought to understand how female characters were portrayed as the narrative progressed from the first season to the last. Each episode served as a unit of analysis. I chose episodes to watch based on their basic synopsis, in order to make sure I was choosing an episode that featured more scenes with female characters. The episodes I chose to analyze were Season 1, Episode 2, “The Kingsroad,” Season 2, Episode 6, “The Old Gods and the New,” Season 3, Episode 4, “And Now His Watch Is Ended,” Season 4, Episode 3 “Breaker of Chains,” Season 5, Episode 10, “Mother’s Mercy,” Season 6, Episode 9, “The Battle of the Bastards,” Season 7, Episode 7, “The Dragon and the Wolf,” and Season 8, Episode 4, “The Last of the Starks.” The show aired from April 17th, 2011 to May 19th, 2019. Following the storylines of nine noble families, the show features a diverse cast of characters who fight for control over the continent of Westeros after the death of King Robert Baratheon. As the show progresses, these characters must unite to defeat a common enemy, the Night King and his army of white walkers, who seek to take the Seven Kingdoms for themselves.

To gain an overall picture of the themes that emerged from my analysis of the show, I organized my notes and highlighted instances where I found the female characters to be sexualized from the ways they were dressed (or the ways they were not dressed) to the ways that male characters interacted with them. I specifically took note of derogatory statements made towards or about female-identifying characters by male-identifying characters. I also noted of when the female characters experienced sexual assault vs. when they engaged in sexual actions that were consensual. The overarching themes that emerged were women as sexual objects and women as equals. Many female

characters, especially the noble characters, fit into both categories over the course of the show.

Findings

Women as Sexual Objects

As previously mentioned, many studies and fan discourses have recorded and addressed the sexual violence that many of the female characters face, as well as the general sexual objectification of women within the show. I found this to be overarchingly true throughout the course of the show, where rape, female nudity, and demeaning conversations about or to women were a regular feature in most of the episodes that I watched. This was apparent from the first episode I viewed, “The Kingsroad,” where a young Joffrey Baratheon, son of King Robert, says, “Better looking bitches than you’re used to uncle” (6:43) and “I can’t stand the wailing of women” (7:12) while talking to Lord Tyrion, his uncle (Benioff and Weiss Season 1, Episode 2). While Lord Tyrion slaps him for this and reprimands the behavior, it is clear where Joffrey perhaps got his views of women from, as later in the episode, his father, King Robert Baratheon of the Seven Kingdoms, states “What do you say, just you and me on the Kingsroad, swords at our sides, a couple of tavern wenches to warm our beds at night” (23:13) and “There was that one. Oh, what was her name? That common girl of yours. Becca. With the great big tits you could bury your face in…Bessie. Thank the gods for Bessie, and her tits” (Benioff and Weiss Season 1, Episode 2). It is clear from King Robert’s statements that he cares more about her body and what the women offered than remembering her name. In Season 2, Episode 6, Daenerys faces objectification at the hands of Xaro Xhoan Daxos and the Spice King while trying to build her army. At 31:40, Xaro Xhoan Daxos says “Of course, you could have avoided this embarrassment if you married the wealthiest man in Qarth. You are far too young to be a widow forever, and far too beautiful.” He also states that he has traveled very far in his life and “met many women, but none that are immune to flattery” (Benioff and Weiss Season 2, Episode 6). Immediately after, Daenerys interacts with the Spice King, who also praises her beauty and continually refers to her as “little princess” (Benioff and Weiss Season 2, Episode 6). While Daenerys is trying to build an army to take the Iron Throne, Xaro Xhoan Daxos and the Spice King are only focused on treating her as an object of beauty and desire.

Later in Episode 2 of Season 1 at 26:22, we see the rape of Daenerys Targaryen by Khal Drogo, her husband, through an arranged marriage orchestrated by her brother. The act is violent, and while Daenerys does not resist, it is clear that she is suffering from the tears in her eyes and the displeasure on her face

(Benioff and Weiss Season 1, Episode 2). This scene is rather graphic, giving viewers a complete view of what is occurring and almost glorifying it in a pornographic manner by allowing the scene to continue until 26:52, a whole 30 seconds. Many of the assaults in the show are prolonged and explicit. A later episode in Season 2, “The Old Gods and the New,” features a group of peasant men attempting to rape Sansa Stark, the daughter of Ned Stark, Warden of the North. At 29:18, they chase her in the streets of King’s Landing, pin her to the ground, hold her down, and say things like “You ever been fucked little girl?” (Benioff and Weiss Season 2, Episode 6). While they are stopped before they can complete the act, the scene is rather graphic, especially because Sansa is only 14 years old in Season 2. However, one of the most graphic and disturbing rapes of the show happens in Season 4, where at 16:17, Sir Jaime Lannister rapes his sister Cersei Lannister in front of their son’s dead body. While Sir Jaime and Cersei had a consensual yet incestual relationship throughout the show, this scene is a very clear, and very graphic rape as Cersei repeatedly tells Jamie, “Don’t” and “It’s not right,” while he repeats, “I don’t care” (Benioff and Weiss Season 4, Episode 3). This scene lasts until 16:56, depicting the graphic rape for over half a minute. Aside from the violent nature of these assaults and the way they appear to be glorified in a pornographic way, the characters who commit these assaults against Daenerys and Cersei never face the consequences and actually continue their sexual relationships with the women. A later part of Season 1, Episode 2 illustrates this with an interaction between Daenerys and a servant woman named Doreah. At 34:38, Doreah reveals her past as a prostitute, saying, “Men like to talk when they’re happy. Before your brother bought me for you, it was my job to make men happy” and “I was nine when my mother sold me to the pleasure house” (Benioff and Weiss Season 1, Episode 2). Doreah then teaches Daenerys how to pleasure Khal Drogo at 39:59, and the scene is rather erotic as Doreah sits atop Daenerys and mimics the movements she says Daenerys should make. They are surrounded by candlelight, and the scene feels rather provocative. Daenerys later uses what she has learned at 42:07, where she attempts to control the relations between her and Khal Drogo. While at first he resists and attempts to assault her again, she is successful and the interaction becomes a consensual and erotic experience.

I also found that the sexual assaults in the show were not limited to physical assault, but female characters also experienced visual and verbal assaults. In Season 5, the episode “Mother’s Mercy” features Queen Cersei’s walk of atonement after being accused of murder, adultery, and incest. While walking naked through the streets of King’s Landing, several men and

women expose themselves to Cersei. One woman at 51:48 opens her dress to expose her breasts and calls, “I’ve had half as many cocks as the queen!” (Benioff and Weiss Season 5, Episode 10). Two more men expose themselves to her at 52:07 and 52:34, one yelling, “I’m a Lannister. Suck me off! Suck me off, you bitch! (Benioff and Weiss Season 5, Episode 10). In the background, the angry crowd yells things like “whore,” “cunt,” “sinner,” and “brother fucker.”

While the noble female characters experience their fair share of assaults and sexualization, lower-class women also experience this sexualization throughout the course of the show. Several of the scenes feature servant women within the castle at King’s Landing, who tend to be dressed in clothing that is more revealing than that of most of the nobility. In Season 2, Episode 6, “The Old Gods and the New,” Shae, a prostitute-turned-servant, cares for Sansa after her near rape. At 50:18, you can see the differences between them. While Sansa, a noble, is dressed relatively conservatively, Shae’s dress is light, tight to her body, and reveals parts of her chest, shoulders, and back (Benioff and Weiss Season 2, Episode 6). Lower-class women were also more often depicted as sexual features in scenes, especially as prostitutes, who appeared alongside several main characters but had very few speaking lines and instead were mostly performing sexual acts during the scenes. One scene at 33:27 in “Breaker of Chains” shows an orgy occurring in a whorehouse between several female prostitutes, one male prostitute, Prince Oberyn Martell and his lover, Ellaria Sand. While the male prostitute talks with Prince Oberyn and Ellaria Sand amicably, the female prostitutes continue to engage in sexual activities in the background, slightly out of focus (Benioff and Weiss Season 4, Episode 3). They have no speaking lines in this scene and instead exist as figures to make the background more interesting. Sex slaves are also a common feature within the show, especially on the continent Essos. These women are often only referenced in conversation or are depicted as being assaulted in the backgrounds of scenes, barely noticeable. A conversation between Doreah and Daenerys Targaryen illustrates part of the lives of these sex slaves at 39:59 in “The Kingsroad” where Doreah says, “Men want what they’ve never had, and the Dothraki take slaves like a hound takes a bitch. Are you a slave, Khaleesi? [Daenerys shakes her head no] Then don’t make love like a slave” (Benioff and Weiss Season 1, Episode 2). Some of the lower-born characters even attempt to wield sex to their advantage, like Osha, a wildling captured by Prince Theon. In “The Old Gods and the New,” Osha attempts to seduce Theon, offering her body in exchange for her freedom. At 49:35, Osha says “It comes at a price,” and Theon responds, “I’m not killing you, that’s your price,” illustrating his belief that his position of power

as a man and as a noble permits him to do what he wants with Osha’s body (Benioff and Weiss Season 2, Episode 6).

Women as Equals

When I refer to the label “women as equals,” I am referring to instances where the female characters are treated with respect and decency compared to their male counterparts. Essentially, this category refers to women being treated as human beings and not as objects. While the sexualization of women in Game of Thrones is rather overt, there was not a blanket of sexualization and objectification that covered every character and situation. In fact, as the show progressed, the main female characters became seemingly stronger, gathering respect and loyalty from the men around them rather than being treated as sexual objects.

Season 4’s “Breaker of Chains” shows the loyalty and respect that Daenerys Targaryen has gained over the course of the show through a scene outside the slave city, Meereen. At 51:53, Sir Jorah, Sir Barristan Selmy, Grey Worm, and Daario Naharis all vie to be Queen Daenerys’ champion, saying things like “Allow me this honor, Mother of Dragons” and “Let me kill this man for you” (Benioff and Weiss Season 4, Episode 3). Some of the noble women also fought back or sought revenge for the assaults against them, like in Season 6’s “Battle of the Bastards” when Sansa Stark gets revenge on Ramsay Bolton for his sexual, physical, and mental abuse of her. At 56:36, Ramsey wakes up in the kennels, beaten,bloody, and tied to a chair. Sansa stands outside the bars, looking in, as he tries to taunt her saying, “You can’t kill me. I’m part of you now.” Sansa replies, “Your words will disappear. Your house will disappear. Your name will disappear. All memory of you will disappear” (Benioff and Weiss Season 6, Episode 9). Then she watches as Ramsey’s own dogs tear him apart.

Other female characters changed the narrative by using their sexuality to their advantage or by illustrating sexual prowess, like Lady Melisandre and Margaery Tyrell, who both use their bodies to seduce the men and gain power. I noted several instances across the show where Margaery Tyrell dressed in a more provocative way, like in Season 3, in the episode “And Now His Watch Is Ended” where at 16:36 she is dressed in a tight, low-cut gown, with a large back cut-out and no sleeves (Benioff and Weiss Season 3, Episode 4). This episode also shows the stark contrast in dress between her and another noble woman, Sansa S tark. At 33:48, Lady Margaery meets with Lady Sansa and wears a low-cut, blue and gold dress with no sleeves and a large back cut out. Comparatively, Sansa wears a higher-cut gown with full-length sleeves, showing much less skin (Benioff

and Weiss Season 3, Episode 4). Both Lady Margaery’s kindness and beauty seem to help her acquire power, which she does so by being married to not only one king, Joffrey Baratheon, but also to his younger brother, King Tommen Baratheon, after Joffrey’s death. Even while mourning Joffrey’s death at the beginning of Season 4, Lady Margaery wears a black and gold gown. However, despite it being a mourning dress, it is low-cut and sleeveless, showing off much of her skin (Benioff and Weiss Season 4, Episode 3). Lady Melisandre, a priestess for the Lord of Light, also gains power through the use of her body as she seduces multiple men in the show, including Stannis Baratheon, the brother of the late King Robert. “Mother’s Mercy” in Season 5 depicts her relationship with Stannis at 4:17, where she touches him openly and intimately, hoping to gain his favor, despite his role as nobility and his marriage with another woman.

Two female main characters in the show seem to escape the pressures of sexual objectification, Arya Stark and Brienne of Tarth. Both still face threats of sexual assault throughout the course of the show, like Brienne of Tarth, who in Season 3, Episode “And Now His Watch Is Ended” addresses at 26:02 how Jamie Lannister saved her from sexual assault by telling their captors that she was the daughter of a very rich Lord (Benioff and Weiss Season 3, Episode 4). However, they both seem to escape sexualization by taking on more stereotypically masculine traits, becoming warriors in their own ways. Brienne of Tarth lives like a knight, which is evident from her dress and large stature in Season 2, Episode 6, where at 42:50, she walks in the background wearing a suit of armor (Benioff and Weiss Season 2, Episode 6). She even sets herself apart from other women in Season 3, where she states, “You sound like a bloody woman” at 25:34, after berating Sir Jamie for giving up and complaining about his misfortune (Benioff and Weiss Season 3, Episode 4). Arya Stark similarly escapes the sexualization that comes from conforming to traditional gender roles by becoming a sort of vigilante and assassin. Her journey as a warrior starts in “The Kingsroad,” when at 15:07 Jon Snow gifts her with a small but mighty sword that she names Needle, despite it being very non-traditional for noble women to own or wield weapons (Benioff and Weiss Season 1, Episode 2). She even pretends to be a boy several times after she escapes from King’s Landing after the execution of her father and is relatively successful in doing so, like in the episode “The Old Gods and the New” where only Tywin Lannister seems to notice that she is a girl (Benioff and Weiss Season 2, Episode 6). Because of her identity as a warrior, she escapes gendered oppression to an extent and is able to exert her power over the men that have done her and her family wrong – like in “Mother’s Mercy” when

she stabs Ser Meryn Trant to death at 21:44 (Benioff and Weiss Season 5, Episode 10) and in “The Dragon and the Wolf” where she slits Petyr Baelish’s throat at 1:00:05 (Benioff and Weiss Season 7, Episode 7). Considering the fact that she is 15 years old in Season 5 and 17 years old in Season 7, this is a rather large feat as she takes on men who are more than twice her age and have decades of fighting experience.

Conclusion

After analyzing all of the data, I think it is clear that, overarchingly, women within Game of Thrones are highly sexualized and depicted in an objectifying way, especially in the first few seasons of the show. While this seems to be a changing trend as the show progresses and the female characters gain power and control over their male counterparts, the sexual violence that many of the female characters experience clearly puts the male characters in a position of dominance within the context of the show, at least for the first few seasons. I would say that considering what we know about how framing can influence the beliefs of viewers (cultivation theory), this can be a problematic thing because it illustrates to viewers the ideas that men hold a position of dominance over women, that women are sexual objects, and that sexual violence against women is okay. The study I addressed in the introduction (Puthillam and Karandikar) illustrated the ways in which women were made more uncomfortable by the scenes of moral and sexual disgust in Game of Thrones than their male counterparts. This, to me, emphasizes an alarming trend - that men are perhaps becoming more desensitized to rape due to the depiction of it in modern entertainment media.

Given that I have seen Game of Thrones previous to this assignment, Ihave experienced desensitization to the scenes within the show over time. My reactions to rape and violence within the later seasons of the show were lesser than they were when I watched the first few seasons; I had begun to normalize those events. This is a cause for concern because if viewers are constantly being exposed to sexual violence to the point where they normalize it, like in Game of Thrones, they will also likely begin to normalize sexual violence in the real world due to cultivation theory. If they normalize this violence, it becomes more likely that people will commit acts of sexual violence against others, believing that it is okay and that they will not face consequences for doing so. I believe this is an issue that fans of the show have brought up over time, especially after the rape of Cersei Lannister by Jamie Lannister in Season 4, which many viewers felt pushed the boundaries of what is acceptable for TV. Perhaps this is the reason that the show seemed to become less extreme towards the last few seasons, where if sex was depicted, it was

usually between two consenting characters. The last few seasons also featured stronger female leads like Sansa Stark, Lady Yara Greyjoy, Queen Cersei, and Queen Daenerys, who, aside from Jon Snow, held the most power. HBO’s new Game of Thrones spinoff, House of the Dragon, will reportedly not focus as heavily on sexual violence and instead focus on the effect it has on the characters who experience it, in an attempt to call attention to the patriarchy inherent in the Game of Thrones world (Lopez). I would like to think that this is the result of viewer pushback against the graphic and porn-like depictions of sexual violence in Game of Thrones and that production companies are paying attention to the effects that their shows have on impressionable audiences. Ultimately, Game of Thrones is an excellent example of a show that features the sexualization of female characters and how that depiction has direct effects on viewer perception of women and sexual violence.

Works Cited

Benioff, David and D. B. Weiss. “The Kingsroad.” Game of Thrones. Season 1, Episode 2. HBO. 2011.

Benioff, David and D. B. Weiss. “And Now His Watch Is Ended.” Game of Thrones. Season 3, Episode 4. HBO. 2013.

—. “Battle of the Bastards.” Game of Thrones. Season 6, Episode 9. HBO. 2016.

—. “Breaker of Chains.” Game of Thrones. Season 4, Episode 3. HBO. 2014.

—. “Mother’s Mercy.” Game of Thrones. Season 5, Episode 10. HBO. 2015.

—. “The Dragon and the Wolf.” Game of Thrones. Season 7, Episode 7. HBO. 2017.

—. “The Last of the Starks.” Game of Thrones. Season 8, Episode 4. HBO. 2019.

Benioff, David and D. B. Weiss. “The Old Gods and the New.” Game of Thrones. Season 2, Episode 6. HBO. 2012.

Clark, Travis. Insider. 27 June 2022. 28 November 2022. <https://www.businessinsider.com/game-of-thronesstill-one-of-worlds-biggest-shows-data-2022-6>.

Elwood, Rachel L. “Frame of Thrones: Portrayals of Rape in HBO’s Game of Thrones.” Ohio State Law Journal Furthermore (2018): 113-133.

Lopez, Lindsey Hunter. No, House of the Dragon Will Not Depict Explicit Sexual Violence. 2 August 2022. <https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/08/ house-of-the-dragon-sexual-violence-game-of-thrones>.

Luther, Catherine A., Carolyn Ringer Lepre and Naeemah Clark. Diversity in US Mass Media. Wiley Blackwell, 2018. Print.

Needham, Jessica Kathryn. “Visual Misogyny: An Analysis of Female Sexual Objectification in Game of Thrones.” Femspec 17.2 (2017): 3-19.

Puthillam, Arathy and Sampada Karandikar. “Watching Disgustedly? Game of Thrones and Disgust Sensitivity.” Sage Journals 124.6 (2021): 2384-2402.

Student Reflection:

As an English major and an avid reader of fantasy novels, I loved HBO’s Game of Thrones from the power dynamics, to dragons, to epic characters with amazing storylines. However, as a Women’s and Gender Studies minor, I wanted to analyze the depiction of female characters within episodes across all eight seasons of the show to attempt to understand differences in the portrayal of characters based upon gender and the potential impacts of these depictions. After viewing the episodes, I found that Game of Thrones depicted female characters in a highly sexualized and objectified manner. While I had seen the show in the past, rewatching various episodes and taking notes on the violence that occurred against the female characters was a difficult task, especially after doing additional research that illustrated the impacts that this show had on viewer perception of women and violence against women. Ultimately, Game of Thrones was an excellent subject for a content analysis and understanding the impacts of cultivation theory on viewer perception.

Assignment:

From Cheesesteaks to Chalkboards

by Emma Fasnacht

HON 106: Writing Intensive First-Year Seminar

Dr.

Thomas C. Crochunis

The essay assignment centered on creating an interview-based paper. Each student was responsible for choosing an individual, formulating a series of questions, and, ultimately, interviewing them about specific aspects of their working lives. Responses were then compiled into a cohesive first-person story that presented the interviewee’s work in a new light.

Family lore says that I was working on the grill and ringing up customers since I was in the womb. My parents opened an Italian restaurant thirteen months before I was born, thus making it the only life that I have ever known. Being a restaurant owner is not simply an occupation, it is a lifestyle. I am fortunate to come from a family of extremely driven, overachieving entrepreneurs who have all been wildly successful in various avenues of the restaurant industry. It can be intimidating to be surrounded by generation after generation of successful individuals who always seem to have the right answers or the solution to every situation. You start to wonder if they have ever faltered or made a mistake. How can I measure up? Self-doubt plagued me. Our lives were consumed with the business and its success, as my parents instilled a work-around-the-clock mentality in me that proved extremely detrimental early in life. I always felt a constant urge to work longer and harder, never quite feeling that I had accomplished enough when the day ended. Working in my family’s restaurant was exhilarating and extremely rewarding but also limiting. In my mind, I was forced to follow their model and, ultimately, sacrifice my dreams in order to further their success.

Even with my BA in English from Albright College, I was unable to forge my own path in the world. Was I only able to be successful if I followed their exact plan? There were moments, days, and weeks when it definitely felt that way. I was trapped in a situation that people praised and admired me for, serving as an active participant in my own emotional and physical torture. Yet, I do not mean to imply that the years spent toiling in a bustling kitchen were worthless. On the contrary, my family’s attitude towards work shaped my future aspirations, guiding me to achieve goals previously thought unattainable. Without their guidance and adherence to the principles of hard work and perseverance almost always paying off, I am not sure that I would have secured my dream job and had the fortitude to overcome all of the challenges that stood before me in achieving this objective.

Working in my family’s restaurant for so many years, I always felt a tug at my heart as summer rolled into fall and the air became crisp and cool. When a new school year was about to begin, a strange sadness would wash over me. As much as I loved working in the restaurant industry and helping my family attain their goals, I yearned to be in the classroom inspiring young minds. Teaching was my career of choice on all of my elementary school beginning-of-the-year questionnaires and coloring pages that hung on my parents’ refrigerator and the school hallways. I gained great satisfaction from helping others, and I believed that being a teacher was a natural evolution of that desire. Yet, it was a dream that I had pressed pause on in order to assist others.

When I was younger, I always thought that the longer I worked, the more dedication I had. I believed that pushing myself beyond my limits made me a better person. I sacrificed precious time with my husband and daughter in order to devote myself to work. I missed moments that cannot be duplicated in photographic images, such as first steps taken with trepidation and nonsensical babbling that rapidly evolved into rudimentary words. I found out that my daughter had learned to ride a bike without training wheels through a video that my husband sent me while I was at work. I watched the video and heard her squeals of joy as she turned the pedals, and the April sun gleamed off her auburn hair. The hot tears streamed down my face because I was not present. That was my choice. Countless moments that I can never reclaim happened in my absence. As I lie awake in my darkened bedroom at night, I still feel pangs of regret over the precious time that was lost with my family due to my blind ambition.

I was overwhelmed and brimming with sadness, sobbing every night as I drove home from work to a household that had gone to sleep hours before. I was despondent. Over time, I realized that overworking myself and missing out on the joys of life did not make me a better employee, person, or daughter. Sixteen-

hour workdays were not indicative of a successful life. On the contrary, it was counterproductive to my personal happiness and growth. Therefore, I completely changed my mindset and slowly began to focus on fulfilling my goals and placing my desires above the demands of my profession. I became acutely aware that I could no longer let my occupation dictate the terms of my life. Thus, I prioritized what was truly important and focused on finding my bliss. The events that followed truly shifted the course of my life.

As the years progressed and my daughter began school, the yearning to pursue my dream of teaching became more painful and urgent. I knew I had to act before my opportunity to have my own classroom slipped through my fingers like sparkling sand on the beach. Cautiously, I approached my parents and shared my desire to embark upon a new adventure. I shared that leaving behind the comfort of what I have always known and forging a new path as an English teacher was something that I could no longer place on the back burner. It was an ever-present thought invading all aspects of my life. I had helped them achieve their personal and financial goals, and it was now time to chase my dreams. Surprisingly, they were one-hundred percent supportive of my next steps. In this moment, they closed a chapter of their lives in order for me to begin writing my own story. I am eternally grateful for their sacrifice, as it willingly allowed me to cut the ties that had bound me for so long. Having their blessing meant everything to me and provided me with the spark to traverse this uncertain road.

The next few months passed in a blur of emotional events with a swift sale of the restaurant that I had learned to walk in and the realization that my life was truly now my own. Within a matter of weeks, I joined the Cocalico School District as a daily substitute, working with all grade levels and subject areas. As a per diem substitute, I was thrust into a multitude of different environments, ranging from thoroughly rewarding to absolutely terrifying. On the best days, I would guide students through a dramatic reading of a Shakespearean play. One of my fondest memories as a per diem substitute involved a classroom performance of Macbeth in which all of the students utilized Scottish accents with varying degrees of success. In the darkest moments of my sojourn, I was forced to dodge whiteboards thrown at my head by an angry room of emotional support students. The inconsistency of being a substitute with no roots did not sit well with me. I knew that I needed more in order to be fulfilled. I found that fulfillment in a new position as a long-term substitute, primarily sharing my passion for literature and composition with secondary scholars.

For three years, I transitioned from one building to the next, hopping grade levels like a skilled circus

performer. I was a chameleon, transforming into whomever my current classroom needed me to be. With each passing day, I became more skilled at my craft, honing my classroom management and pedagogical skills. The students’ exhilaration was contagious, yet the classrooms were never truly mine. I was always a visitor. This fact was made abundantly clear by the students, who do not view long-term substitutes as actual teachers. This sentiment was shared often in my final long-term substitute placement at Cocalico High School. Almost daily, I was reminded that I was not the teacher who had started the school year or that Ms. Nuhfer handled a certain situation differently than I had. The days became more challenging as I was constantly fighting a ghost. At this moment, I recognized that I needed my own classroom instead of living in a space that was curated by someone else. I yearned to cultivate my own learning environment, and the time to apply for a permanent teaching position had arrived.

After years of dedication to Cocalico School District as a long-term substitute, an opportunity presented itself for a permanent position in eighth grade. I was encouraged every step of the way by colleagues and administrators. Even though I found a sense of purpose working with students of all grade levels, I have always wanted to teach eighth grade. It is a critical time in the students’ lives, as they are preparing for four years of challenges that will allow them to forge a path beyond their high school graduation. To say my confidence level was high would be an understatement. I walked into the interview more sure of myself than I have ever been in my life. I breezed through a multitude of questions as only a district employee could and floated out the door, almost certain that I would receive a job offer. I was mistaken. The next day, the middle school principal gingerly knocked on my door at the end of the day. I was so nervous that I could barely stand to open the door. As he began to speak words I never anticipated, the room began to spin, and I had the sensation of being underwater. Everything slowed down as I came to the realization that I would not be getting my dream job. I smiled through the pain and said all the appropriate words of understanding. I hid my devastation behind a mask of politeness. I was passed over for an eighth-grade position for a newly-graduated administrator’s daughter. I thanked my executioner as he walked away and promptly began to sob as the door gently closed. It was not an easy loss to handle and, to be perfectly honest, was the most demoralizing moment of my life.

The next morning, I sat in my car in the parking lot and willed myself to enter the building. Walking into my classroom with a weary mind and a heavy heart was not what I envisioned coming out of the interview. Due to the support I was receiving from

staff, I felt that the eighth-grade position would most definitely be mine. Unfortunately, fate had a different plan for me. The feedback I received from my colleagues over this disappointment was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. They heard and saw that I was doing a phenomenal job and believed that I was worthy of this position. The support made my heart soar. They went to bat for me, they spoke up for me, and they expressed their discontent over the decision. In a stroke of luck, or simply fate leading me to where I truly belonged, a permanent position for a seventh-grade English teacher opened the very last week of school. My faithful colleagues and supportive administration strongly encouraged me to apply. To be honest, I was unsure if I had the strength in me to go through the highs and lows of the process again. Nonetheless, I applied and received a job offer an hour after my interview.

As a result of my newly acquired position, I am currently a part of the most collaborative and supportive team that I have ever encountered in my career. To say it has been paradigm-shifting would be an understatement. While I savored every moment teaching high school courses, all the planning and preparation were completed with almost no collaboration on content or assignments. It was frustrating and incredibly lonely. My life at the middle school is vastly different. I am fortunate that my team has two English teachers, allowing us to create lesson plans together. We work tirelessly to craft engaging lessons that convey class content in a creative manner. Emails fly between our laptops as we regale the triumphs and defeats of the day’s classes. During our shared planning period, we revise lessons to make them more effective for afternoon classes. In short, we function as a unit. Knowing that my colleagues have my back and are supportive, both professionally and personally, has made all the

difference in my mood and perspective. I no longer feel adrift, searching for a life preserver to cling to in a stormy sea. I know that my team is there to support me through the darkness and the light, thus bringing a sense of contentment to my days.

Often, I ponder what my life would look like if I had never taken a detour on my journey into the educational field. I cherish the time spent in my family’s business, but I do wonder what type of educator I would be if I had more experience in the classroom. Yet, I think that my life experiences in the restaurant industry and as a parent have informed my teaching exponentially. I believe that the connections I made, the orders I served, and, most importantly, the values I lived by led me to embark on the most inspiring journey of my life. I am a different human because of my time in the business world and because of my family. I recognize that there are varying ways to achieve success and that it is not necessary to sacrifice yourself in order to be prosperous. My two decades in the restaurant industry made me a more compassionate and thoughtful human through my interactions with a myriad of customers and employees. I believe it provided me with a greater respect for the challenges of the human condition and the tools to aid others through unexpected experiences. As my parents always reminded me, life is challenging, and you must be adaptable in order to attain success and contentment. Ultimately, I wouldn’t change a single moment when it comes to my unique journey in this unpredictable and ever-evolving game of life. Every step and misstep has led me to this exact point in time, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with the result.

References

Fasnacht, Tricia. Personal interview. 3 Sept. 2022. Fasnacht, Tricia. Personal interview. 7 Nov. 2022.

Student Reflection:

When I was presented with this assignment, I immediately knew whom I wanted my final paper to be centered around– my mother, Tricia Fasnacht. She has been an incredible inspiration to me as a Shippensburg student and as a young woman. Her life in terms of her work has led to a complex, yet compelling story of how she ended up in her current position as a seventh-grade educator in the school district that both of us have graduated from. While I have played a major role as a supportive daughter throughout the story, this was an opportunity to reveal the innermost emotions that ran through her head during this period of personal growth.

It is an honor and a blessing to get to share this narrative with the Shippensburg University community. I would like to thank my family, especially Tricia, for supporting this paper’s journey. Their strength has been a critical component in my success. I would also like to thank my Honors Writing-Intensive Seminar professor, Dr. Thomas C. Crochunis. His guidance throughout every step of this assignment has allowed me to effectively polish the story while challenging myself as a collegiate writer.

Assignment:

The Gendering of Perfection and its Implications in Paradise Lost

by Hailey Embree

ENG 213: Writing and Research About Literature

Dr. Jordan Windholz

For this final paper assignment, students were asked to write a research essay modeled on the form of peer-reviewed scholarly articles. They had to situate their thesis-driven analysis of Paradise Lost (or another literary text of their choosing) in relation to a current scholarly debate or research area of their choosing, and then draw upon a literary theory or methodology to frame their interpretations, arguments, and textual evidence.

The topic of John Milton’s representation of women throughout Paradise Lost has been heavily studied and debated by feminist critics. This debate stems from the disagreement between the opposing sides regarding the labelling of Milton as a feminist, as some view him, or as an antifeminist, as others believe him to be. A prominent voice in this discussion belongs to Joseph Wittreich, the author of Feminist Milton, who argues against critics, such as Christine Froula, Mary Poovey, and Sandra Gilbert, who claim that Milton writes Paradise Lost in a way that encourages female inequality and a patriarchal society. He goes on to argue himself that Milton instead expresses a patriarchal structure in Eden with the intent of exposing the prevalent injustice and bringing it to the ground (Turner 193). There are many conflicting opinions various critics hold, all circling around the dilemma of defending Milton and his misogynistic writing, or holding him accountable for his actions. I personally have to disagree with Wittreich’s argument, simply because of the indisputable objectification of the female body and the male empowered society written throughout Paradise Lost, displayed through Eve and her interactions with the male figures of power surrounding her, residing in both Heaven and the Garden of Eden.

I believe that Milton’s Paradise Lost is written in an immensely misogynistic and patriarchally structured way, painting women as hyper-sexualized, goddess-like figures, existing under men and created for the purpose of tending to all their needs and desires. Along with myself, many feminist critics have taken notice of the stark contrast between the portrayals of both Adam and Eve, along with the societal roles each takes on, with Adam standing in as the dominant figure and voice, and Eve as his counterpart and fairer shadow. The difference in visual attention Milton devotes to each character through his writing is immensely interesting due to the potential feminist analyses

and interpretations that can be derived from such an obvious inequality between genders. What some critics have neglected to pick up on, however, is the gendering Milton has created in some aspects of the text that are not human. Throughout the reading of the entire epic poem Paradise Lost, the reader is continuously reminded of Eve’s perfection, whether it be through the word of the narrator, of Adam, or the one responsible for Creating her to bask in the seemingly ethereal light of perfection, God. The reader is provided with a very clear image of the beauty and sensuality of Eve’s physical appearance, which limits the depth of her characterization, ultimately transforming her into nothing but a shallow being with the primary purpose of feeding into the male gaze, which many times, is sadly what female characters throughout literature are limited to. After taking notice of this idealized portrayal of the female form through the descriptions of Eve throughout the poem, I argue that this repetition of “perfection” in her characterization has not only transformed the notion of “perfection” into a gendered idea, reserved for women only, but is also present in order to mask the unavoidable imperfections in women that may not be socially accepted through some men’s misconstrued ideas of what a woman truly is.

Throughout this essay, I plan to incorporate feminist and psychoanalytic theories and tie them to gender along with its apparent inequality throughout Paradise Lost by utilizing ideas from two well-known critics who came before myself; Laura Mulvey and her gaze theory, and Sigmund Freud with his idea of unconscious displacement. Mulvey’s gaze theory, though it was originally intended to be applied to film, specifically camera angles and the way they are set up in various films in order to set the viewers up to look through the eyes of the character, can also be considered in literature. It has transformed into what is commonly referred to now as “the male gaze” and

focuses on the way text and film commonly have the audience look through the eyes of a masculine figure with attention directed towards a woman, creating a style that highlights the male as a figure of power, and the female as a sexualized object under the control of her male counterpart (Parker 175). This idea will be applied to Eve later on, seeing as the reader only receives descriptions of her physical appearance and actions through the eyes of the narrator, Adam, and God, all of whom identify themselves as male. Mulvey’s gaze theory supports the idealized female form that is portrayed throughout Paradise Lost. While Freud is not known as a literary critic, psychoanalytic criticism was founded based off of his theories surrounding dreams and the workings of the mind, so many of his ideas are applicable to literature. Freud’s displacement refers to “… the psychic process of representing one desire by another, less threatening and more acceptable desire,” (Parker 131). Freud intended this idea of replacing one desire with another that is subconsciously deemed as safer to explain certain actions that take place in one’s dreams. Pertaining to Paradise Lost, I will later describe the potential displacement taking place in the workings of the mind of God, having to do with the continued repetition of female perfection that is impossible for the reader to overlook, and its implications in the meaning of “perfection” and the epic poem itself.

The first glimpse of Adam and Eve that the reader is provided with seems to portray both as equally special in their own way. The subtle tones of hierarchy and the beginning of a long journey of referring to Eve only through her physical appearance undermines Milton’s attempted development of a utopia of gender appreciation and equality.

Truth, wisdom, sanctitude severe and pure, Severe, but in true filial freedom placed, Whence true authority in men. Though both

Not equal as their sex not equal seemed:

For contemplation he and valor formed, For softness she and sweet attractive grace:

He for God only, she for God in him (4.293-299).

This passage is very interesting from a feminist perspective because though it advocates for appreciation and recognition on both sides of the gender spectrum on the surface, it is actually full of contradictions that stand for quite the opposite, tilting the appreciation and recognition more towards males rather than an equal spread to both. For example, Milton states himself, “Whence true authority in men. Though both / Not equal as their sex not equal seemed.” These

two lines not only clarify that men deserve and have more power than women, but also blatantly state that the two sexes are not equal. The later inclusion of the line, “He for God only, she for God in him,” also supports this idea of inequality because it seems to imply that while men are free to worship God, women are limited to the worshipping of the God present in their male counterparts. This automatically creates a social structure with the men stationed at a higher level than the women since men were apparently Created to be worshipped along with the Heavenly Father. The hierarchy that exists between Adam, Eve, and God is so prevalent throughout the entirety of the text, but is not clear simply from the surface due to the distracting descriptions Milton includes of the characters themselves that draw equal attention to their individual attributes. As stated above, “For contemplation he and valor formed, / For softness she and sweet attractive grace.” With Milton’s dispersal of compliments to both Adam and Eve, recognizing Adam’s intellectual thoughts and bravery, and Eve’s gentle nature and beauty, the reader is almost able to look past the sexist remarks from before. Though these compliments seem generous in their contributions to the characterization of Adam and Eve, even they hold some degree of sexism. Although it is obvious that Eve is being objectified as she commonly is, recognized primarily by the beauty that her physical features provide, this description is not only shallow, but also demotes her to a lesser intelligence than her partner Adam, due to his descriptions targeting him from within. While no attention is paid to any feature of Eve, inside or out, other than her apparent beauty, Milton looks inside Adam and notes his admirable characteristics stemming from his mind. Barely any text is devoted to the physical description of Adam, causing the power of his head and the strength of his heart to be the primary focus of the reader. With this depth that is given to the character of Adam compared to the mere surface level depiction regarding the character of Eve, it is almost as if Milton is implying that women are not only physically inferior to men, but mentally and intellectually as well, leaving them to be thought of as decorative objects, present in the world for the aesthetic pleasure.

As the plot of the poem progresses, the descriptions of Eve slowly become more and more dramatic, pinnacling when she is discussed by Adam and the angel Raphael, and is described by Adam as, “With Goddesslike demeanor forth she went; / Not unattended, for on her as Queen,” (8.59-60). Eve is a human obviously flawed, proven by her later act of sin through the consumption of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, yet in this exerpt, through the incorporation of Mulvey’s gaze theory, it is revealed that Adam views her as not only “Goddess-like” but also as “Queen.” This is startling for the reader to come across, because up until

this point in the epic poem, there had been very clearcut divisions in the social structure of Eden, with God as the ruler, Adam as second-in-command, and Eve as the weak link between all, with beauty as her only obvious value. This sudden shift in the power structure causes the reader to question just how much value the male figures truly put in Eve in order to elevate her to such a status. God obviously is a God, but He is also commonly referred to as the King of Heaven. Since Eve is now referred to as both a Goddess and a Queen, does that put her at the same level as her Creator? Does that now mean that she is held at a higher regard than her used-to-be authority figure on Earth, Adam? It becomes very confusing due to the consistent presence of patriarchy in Eden, and it is odd for that dynamic to suddenly flip. When looking at the way that Eve has been described all throughout the poem, however, it really is not surprising at all.

On many occasions throughout Paradise Lost, Eve has been referred to or described as “perfect,” by Adam, again relating back to Mulvey’s gaze theory. We as readers always receive imagery of the character of Eve through the eyes of a male, furthermore idealizing her and her body due to the obvious attraction Adam holds for her, seeing that the two were Created as romantic partners in order to populate the Earth. While many times Eve’s beauty is the item of recognition from Adam, such as her “perfect beauty adornd,” (4.634), Eve ultimately has rigid expectations of her and the way she is supposed to act, all falling into the realm of what Adam and God have deemed “perfect.”

What seemd in thee so perfect, that I thought

No evil durst attempt thee, but I rue

That errour now, which is become my crime,

And thou th’ accuser, (9.1179-1182).

At this point in the poem, both Adam and Eve have eaten the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and are starting to feel the guilt settle in resulting from their mortal sin. In this passage, Adam is taking his frustrations out on Eve, since she is at fault for eating the fruit first herself, and he is in shock that she could have done such a thing because of her supposed perfection. All along, Eve has had the reputation of being a beautiful, sensual, woman of perfection, causing her to be viewed in a way, as mentioned above, that is almost comparable to a Goddess. We as the readers know that Eve is not a Goddess, and that she, just like every human that has ever lived, makes mistakes and has flaws. Despite this, Adam is absolutely appalled at the actions of Eve, to the point he deems his misjudgment in her “That errour now, which is become my crime.” Describing his incorrect assumptions about Eve as a

person and her capabilities as a criminal are extremely dramatic, yet it provides the reader with context to the extremity of the expectations for Eve to fit into this mold created by the empowered male figures surrounding her. Why isn’t Adam held to the same level of expectation?

“Perfection” is a common term used throughout the entirety of Paradise Lost yet is not used to describe many characters. Though Adam is occasionally described as “perfect,” usually by his wife, the term is primarily assigned to Eve, as shown in the passage above. As I have discussed throughout this essay thus far, most of the time, Eve is only described in the sense of her complete perfection and the beauty of her physical features. Adam on the other hand, does not receive such a heavy amount of visual description. This contrast between the two creates a gendering of the notion of “perfection,” skewing the idea towards the female gender. There are many divisions of gender throughout Paradise Lost, in the form of social structure, patriarchy, social roles and expectations, and many more, all having to do with humans, which in this case would be Adam and Eve. It is less common to see the gendering of something that isn’t a physical object, yet so much more interesting. Milton has created a world of gender inequality and divisions through the writing of Adam, Eve, and the Garden of Eden in Paradise Lost, primarily circling around this idea of what “perfection” truly is. While God and Adam may like to think that Eve is perfect, she is the reasoning for the downfall of humanity, so that clearly is not the case. God Created her with the intent of the perfect woman, evident through her irresistible charms and beauty, but seemed to devote his focus of the Creation of the perfect being primarily to her, and not so much Adam. This is interesting considering that she was the first to sinfully eat from the Tree of Knowledge, despite all of the attention devoted to her to ensure that she could never be anything less than perfect.

Why devote so much energy to the Creation of the “perfect” woman, who turned out to not actually be perfect at all? Prior to the Creation of Man, God faced a devastating betrayal from Satan and the archangels, all of which He had believed were faithful and trustworthy. God states,

Whose fault?

Whose but his own? Ingrate! He had of Me

All he could have. I made him just and right, Sufficient to have stood though free to fall, (3.96-99).

These lines were taken from God’s speech in Book Four pertaining to the revolt of Satan and the arch-

angels. Though what He is saying makes sense from His perspective, the way He is saying it creates a very insecure tone, causing the reader to take note of a figure of such power as God funnily feeling the need to convince His angel followers that He had no influence on the evil residing in Satan and the fallen angels. Based on God’s defensive reaction towards revolt from some of His prior followers and his proclaimed belief that He made them perfect, in the sense of “just and right, / Sufficient to have stood though free to fall,” it is possible that He came upon the realization that whether He would like to admit it or not, something went wrong in the Creation of Satan and the archangels for events to play out in the fashion that they did. Could that catastrophic betrayal have had some influence on the way God Created Man and his high expectations of them, particularly Eve? God, obviously displeased with the fate of Satan and the fallen angels, would not have wanted history to repeat itself with the sin and disobedience of Man as well.

As I have mentioned before, Eve receives a repetitive description of “perfect” throughout Paradise Lost, implying that in God’s vision, that was what she was intended to be. Due to this same perception God seemed to hold of Satan and the archangels up until their fall, it seems as though God is displacing this unrealistic expectation of perfection from the original target, who ultimately failed, onto the new target, Eve, fresh from her Creation in the Garden of Eden. As the original focus group failed to maintain their faith and loyalty to God and succumbed to their evil desires, God may have felt the pressure to Create a new object of perfection that could never fall to the same fate as Satan in order to maintain His reputation of Creator of good. She may be regarded as perfect by both Adam and God, but that does not mean that she is, especially when taking the bias from both of those male figures into consideration. God is her Creator and Adam is her husband, so it is unsurprising for both of them to hold her in such a high esteem that she could be viewed in such a way. Of course, Eve did eventually fall victim to an evil that lay inside her in the form of curiosity, but that repetition of “perfection” surrounding Eve could have been made present by God in order to mask the inevitable flaws that are present in her character.

Of course, this may be an explanation to the repetitive nature of Paradise Lost surrounding this notion of “perfection,” but a deeper meaning to the work as a whole lies hidden in the misogynistic writing of Milton. I have mentioned Eve’s perfection an abundance of times throughout this work thus far, yet the idea of God Creating Eve as “perfect” is actually a contradiction in itself. It has been well established throughout the epic poem that there is some degree of patriarchy present in the structuring of the Garden

of Eden, but if Eve truly is perfect as God and Adam claim her to be, then why does the unequal social structure by gender exist in the first place? If the characters of Paradise Lost are being honest in their description of Eve as “perfect,” then shouldn’t she be at the top of the social hierarchy rather than at the bottom, simply due to her female gender? Despite the words of Adam quoted above, referring to Eve as “Goddess-like” and as “Queen,” both of which elevate her to somewhat of a position of reverence and power, Milton has made it clear throughout his writing that ultimately, Adam is superior to Eve due to his sex, which has supposedly been deemed more worthy of a position of authority. With statements such as, “Whence true authority in men,” (4.295), and “to know no more / Is woman’s happiest knowledge and her praise,” (4.637-638), there can be no other meaning taken from Milton’s writing other than that he perceived women to be both physically and mentally inferior to men.

When analyzing the text in such a manner as this, it becomes immensely clear that Milton did not intend God’s infliction of perfection onto Eve to be understood as her being unable to do any wrong. Perfection is defined as “having all the required or desirable elements, qualities, or characteristics; as good as it possibly can be,” and after the ultimate sin committed by Eve after eating the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, that clearly is not her. For a majority of the epic poem, Eve is unable to form thoughts for herself. She simply regurgitates the words that God and Adam feed her, and acts in the way that is ideal for them. Since she ultimately lacks in complex intelligence and independence, two typically admirable traits in people, the only thing she really has in her favor is her physical beauty and sensuality, which is very well noticed and complimented by Adam. Because of this notion of “perfection” so commonly brought up throughout Paradise Lost is not gendered in the sense of advocating for female empowerment, recognizing Eve as the perfect woman as a whole, but rather gendered in the physical sense, so that Eve is considered perfect for no reason other than her male idealized physical appearance. To many men back in Milton’s time, and even today, women hold no value other than in their physical characteristics, which coincidentally, but really not, is about the extent to which Milton characterized Eve. This kind of thinking not only puts women who don’t fit into that idealized mold down, but also causes the imperfections all women hold to be wished into nonexistence, setting women with unrealistic standards in order to be socially accepted. Perfection throughout Paradise Lost is a heavily gendered concept, skewed towards the female form, but not in the female empowering way that it should be.

Works Cited

Turner, James Grantham. “Book Reviews.” Criticism, vol. 31, no. 2, 1989, pp. 193–200. JSTOR,https://www.jstor. org/stable/23113353. Accessed 24 Apr. 2022

Parker, Robert Dale. How to Interpret Literature: Critical Theory for Literary and Cultural Studies. 4th ed., Oxford University Press, 2015.

Milton, John. Paradise Lost. 2nd ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2005.

“Perfect English Definition and Meaning.” Lexico Dictionaries | English, Lexico Dictionaries, 2022, https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/perfect

Student Reflection:

Paradise Lost by John Milton is a complex epic poem with many underlying implications and meanings. My final research assignment required me to dive into those implications head-on and make my own meaning out of it. This assignment proved very difficult for me due to all of the contradicting opinions coming from various scholars with a higher level of expertise on the subject than myself. It was only when I took the time to search for implications woven throughout the text, rather than going off the work of previous scholars that the assignment finally clicked, and I was able to create a solid argument. Making meaning out of text that may not have intended to hold that meaning at all is very difficult, and at times, very frustrating. That, however, is the beauty of interpretation and analysis. Once you find your argument and the proper way to frame it in order to convey the message you wish, it is very rewarding. The process of writing this analysis paper gave me a lot of stress, but the final product and the knowledge gained from completing it have helped me to gain confidence as a writer and overall, better my writing ability.

Assignment:

Handling Diversity: A Look into Diversity in Shippensburg University Classrooms

by Pierce Romey ENG 238: Technical/Professional Writing I Dr. Carla Kungl

This assignment was a research report, and the topic was up to the students decision to make. The student needed to have the report broken up into five different sections the introduction, research methods, results, conclusion, and recommendations. The way the students went about gathering their research was up to them, but they needed primary sources in this report.

Abstract

This report covers the subject of diversity and how it is managed on the Shippensburg University campus and in classrooms. Background about how campus can implement diversity into a classroom setting, and how what already exists can be improved upon will be discussed in this report. This report contains four different secondary sources and four interviews. The secondary sources cover how students need an environment that makes them feel comfortable with what makes them diverse. The secondary sources also covered issues about LGBTQ+ students and how college class should move away from a heteronormative teaching style. The secondary sources also cover past demographics of the university, gender wise and race wise. This report contains four primary sources in the form of interviews. The interviews were done with four members of staff and faculty from Shippensburg University. The individuals who were interviewed each have a different background when it comes to the subject of diversity. The interviews covered organizations on campus like the PAGE Center, Building Bridges, and the Anti-Racism Task Force. Each of these organizations on campus focus on trying to provide a safe place for students to explore and talk about their diversity. When it comes to looking at what can be done to help improve diversity on campus there are many things this paper covers. Getting funding for organization on campus is one way that diversity on campus can be supported and showing the importance of safe spaces for students on campus. This report aims to inform the reader on how diversity can be improved on campus, and the classroom.

Introduction

The original topic for this report was the lack of English courses being offered in the United States and on Shippensburg University’s campus. However, during the process of finding research on the subject, the report changed. I decided to look into how diversity is being taught in classrooms, and the benefits that would come from teaching diversity in the classroom. On campus, I’ve noticed that there seems to be an attempt at teaching diversity, but mostly racial diversity. One area of diversity that I have noticed lacking in the classroom setting is diversity in sexuality. So, along with still looking into racial diversity, I plan to look into sexual diversity within the Shippensburg university campus.

Background

Diversity is something that people have had conversations about for years, but in the last few years protests have been held all over the world, and conversations about the diversity are becoming more common. However, more action can still be taken to bring diversity into people’s lives. This report will focus on:

• How diversity is being integrated into campus.

• How it can be improved in Shippensburg University classrooms.

• How these conversations can build a sense of community.

The topic of diversity should be involved in college level education for many reasons. College is a place where people from many backgrounds are coming together for a common goal: an education. Education should be the main focus for students at a university, so issues involving another student’s identity should be included in the conversations.

Importance

When looking for information to help support the ideas that will be presented in this report, I held interviews with faculty and staff members of Shippensburg University. Kapri Brown and Dr. Laurie Cella were two of the four members of campus who I interviewed. Both of these individuals mentioned an event from 2016 that made the news. This event was covered by abc27 news where reporter Chris Davis wrote, “The post, written by what administrators said is a former student, describes Black students as ‘dark meat’ and says the school brought in ‘inner city garbage’ to make it more diverse.” This is important information because this incident is what sparked conversations about diversity on campus. This was an inciting moment that brought back programs like Building Bridges. This moment of racial insensitivity also brought about the Anti-Racism Task Force. Later in this report both groups will be mentioned in more detail.

Research Methods

Research for this report was done with two different methods. While looking through databases to find secondary sources, and I interviewed four members of faculty and staff from the Shippensburg University campus. I will go into detail about what each of the four secondary sources and the four interviews conversation of diversity.

Secondary Sources

Melissa Dennihy wrote the first source, Beyond English: Linguistic Diversity in the College English Classroom, and it looks into how students on college campuses view academic language. This paper looks at how ‘Standardized English’ is seen as the only form of academic language in English teachings. Dennihy looks at how students who might not use an academic vernacular feel about the use of this standardization. I know that at Shippensburg the faculty works with students to help with understanding how to work with standardized English academic language, especially in the writing center. However, I also know that maybe if we make more of an effort to try and cater towards the language/vernacular of the students who use it, it could be beneficial. The students would feel more welcomed in the classes

Dennehy’s paper will be looked at in this report because it covers the topic of college- level diversity from a linguistic standpoint. This source will help to show just how wide of an area the topic of diversity covers, and just how Shippensburg University might benefit from looking at the ideas of linguistic diversity.

The second is a paper by Joshua Paiz who looks into how English classes should consider including LGBTQ+ voices into their curriculum. I first looked into this source because it was one of the only ones that I found that was looking into diversity from a queer viewpoint. Paiz writes that college English courses should work towards forgoing a heteronormative teaching style. Shippensburg University has done a lot when it comes to teaching racial diversity, but one area I’ve noticed that could use some more work would be on the queer side of teaching. There are places outside of the classroom where someone can learn about these ideas, yet rarely anything in a classroom setting.

This source goes into detail about how LGBTQ+ voices can be used in the college classroom setting. Although this source has a preference towards English courses, the core ideas can be carried and applied to other areas of college education as a whole. This paper does an excellent job of explaining how these voices can fit into a curriculum.

The third source is a paper by David Akombo that looks at how colleges and universities manage the diversification of their campuses. I was drawn to this source because it looks at more than just one factor of racial diversity. Akombo writes about how language, teaching styles, and college demographic can all affect how diverse a university can be. I know that as a campus Shippensburg is already working on diversity, and celebrating racial diversity is something the university is doing a respectable job at. However, that does not mean it shouldn’t look for ways it could improve.

This article will be used in my report because it gives a wider view on racial diversity within a university. I feel that this more surface level information will still be beneficial to my report. Akombo’s paper will be useful in helping to introduce some ideas about racial diversity.

The last secondary source that I selected to use for this report is DataUSA. A website that has information on the diversity of Shippensburg University up until 2019. This website looks at enrollment rate based on race and ethnicity, and break down of student information based on gender. With charts to help readers see the data, this website takes the time to show how the University is handling the conversations and recruitment of diversity.

Interviews

To gather primary sources for this report, I interviewed four members of the staff and faculty on campus. Each of the interviews consisted of the same seven base questions:

• Have you noticed a lack of conversations about diversity within the classrooms from a student’s standpoint on campus?

• Have you noticed a lack of conversations about diversity within the classrooms from a facility standpoint on campus?

• Have Students you’ve encountered noticed/ mentioned anything about diversity on campus and in classrooms?

• Have other faculty members you’ve encountered noticed/mentioned anything about diversity on campus and in classrooms?

• Within your years at Shippensburg University have you noticed a change of material/and subjects being taught?

• Do you think that classrooms on campus should involve more discussions about diversity as a whole?

• Should diversity, both racial issues and sexual issues, be equally discussed in a classroom setting?

Primary Sources

I held four interviews with faculty and staff members of Shippensburg University. Each of the members had a different background and connection to diversity and the problems on campus. In this section, I will go over what information I was able to gain from each of the interviews. Refer to the appendix at the end of this report for full interviews.

The first interview I conducted was with Dr. Laurie Cella, an English professor at Shippensburg University. The Interview with Dr. Cella took place over a series of emails. Dr. Cella was a major source of information pertaining to classroom settings, and the views of other professors on campus. During this interview Dr. Cella informed me of the hesitancy that students have when it comes to talking about diversity in the classroom. While the other members of faculty and staff have plenty of conversations about diversity and how they can get students involved in the conversation, Dr. Cella was the person who suggested I look into interviewing the individuals of my other three interviews.

One of the people mentioned by Dr. Cella was Arielle Catron, the head of the PAGE Center at the University for the academic year of 2021-2022. The acronym PAGE stands for Pride and Gender Equity. This organization on campus provides a safe place for students both queer and non-queer identifying. As someone who does not do work in classroom settings, Catron was not the best person to go to for answering those questions. However, as someone who works with queer students on campus, she was a reliable source for information involving sexual and gender diversity.

Another recommendation from Dr. Cella was Kapri Brown, a staff member at Shippensburg University who works with MSA. MSA is the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs. This is an organization on campus that works with all students no matter the background and gives them a place to share their stories. While most of the students are people of color (POC), they are not the only students that are worked with. During my interview with Brown, she mentioned information about diversity from a classroom setting and an outside setting. She also brought up Building Bridges, a program that members of MSA and Dr. Cella helped to bring back to campus around 2018. Building Bridges will be discussed in more detail in the results section of this paper.

My last interview as with Dr. Kirk Moll, a librarian at the University. Along with two of my other interviewees, Dr. Moll was a recommendation from Dr. Cella. Dr. Cella mentioned that Dr. Moll was a part of the Anti-Racism Task force, which will be discussed in the results section of the report. During the interview with Dr. Moll, I asked him the same seven questions that my three other interviewees were asked, and I also asked him to describe what the Anti-Racism Task Force’s mission was on campus.

Results

This section of the paper will look at in-depth information that was gathered from the research for this report. All of the information that was gathered from the research will split into three distinct groups of information: Types of Diversity, Campus Programs, and Faculty and Staff Response.

Types of Diversity

Three of the secondary sources for this report looked into a different area of diversity: Language, Sexuality, and Education. My fourth secondary source, from DataUSA, looked into actual statistics of Shippensburg University, and the diversity of both emissions and graduation rates.

Statistics

When looking into diversity, I knew that getting numbers about Shippensburg University would be beneficial. This led to me find a website called DataUSA where information was given about different areas of the university. This website covered data on categories such as admissions, graduation rates, and cost.

The areas that best fit with the idea of this report were enrollment and graduation rates. Both of these sections had breakdowns of data that involved ethnicity; however, the graduation rate section also includes a gender breakdown. The following two graphics will show data from the year 2019.

This graphic shows Shippensburg University is still a majority white institution. This bar graph is from 2019, making it three years old. So, the numbers might have gotten closer together, but I do not expect it to be anything significant.

The next graphic is one that shows graduation rates based on two different factors, race and gender. This chart is also from 2019, and as stated before these numbers, referring to racial and gender disparities, could be closer together than they were three years ago. Based on this data you can see the majority of students who graduated from Shippensburg University, in 2019, were white females.

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 2 Graduation Rates at Shippensburg University Based on Gender and Ethincity “Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania.” Data USA, https://datausa.io/profile/university/shippensburg-university-of-pennsylvania/#graduates.

Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1 Shippensburg University Enrollment Rates Based on Ethnicity in 2019. “Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania.” Data USA, https://datausa.io/profile/university/shippensburg-university-of-pennsylvania/#graduates.

Written Papers

As previously mentioned, there were three other sources looked at besides the DataUSA website. The other three sources were articles and papers from online databases:

• Scholarship and Diversity in Higher Education by Dr. David Akombo

• Beyond English: Linguistic Diversity in the College English Classroom by Melissa Dennihy

• Queering Practice: LGBTQ+ Diversity and Inclusion in English language Teaching by Joshua Paiz

These three articles all mention how each university has their own way of handling diversity, “Colleges and universities have their own ways of diversifying their institutions… Indeed, colleges and universities also have their own policies that govern the diversification efforts” (Akombo 3). This shows that people know that there needs to be steps in place in order for diversity to be a topic of conversation.

Another point that two of these sources, Dennihy’s and Paiz’s, make is when language engages in learning it should not be solely focused on Standard American English. Universities should be able to encapsulate all of different dialects and terminology that comes with the diversity of college campuses.

Campus Organizations

Interviews with faculty and staff members on campus provided me with information about programs that have been established on campus to talk about diversity. The two programs that were touched on are Building Bridges and Anti-Racism Task Force. Before this report goes into detail about each of those organizations, the PAGE center should be mentioned briefly.

PAGE Center

The Pride and Gender Equity Center is a place for women, LGBTQ+ students, and anyone who needs a safe place to have conversations about what makes them different from the other students they might know. The PAGE Center focuses on encouraging students to embrace what makes them unique and give students on campus a place to safely express themselves.

Building Bridges

When doing my interviews, Dr. Laurie Cella and Kapri Brown spoke on the Building Bridges program on campus. When asked what the mission of Building Bridges was, Brown said, “The mission is really to connect students with students of uniqueness and different some of those students that they connect with in the classroom and some of those students who they hear

stories from that are different from them.” Dr. Cella shared the same sentiment when it came to what the mission of the building bridges program was.

It should also be mentioned that all four interviewees have found that students on campus are finding trouble talking about issues of diversity. Whether the diversity issues are stemming from race, or the fact that someone refuses to use the correct pronouns. I gathered from the interviews, Dr. Cella’s interview is one where this idea is present, that students are hesitant when it comes to having conversations about diversity.

Anti-Racism Task Force

The Anti-Racism Task Force is a fairly new organization at Shippensburg University. This organization is made up of faculty and staff of the university. Dr. Kirk Moll, a librarian at Shippensburg University, was one of the individuals who I interviewed for research on the topic of diversity. He is also the head of the Task Force. During the interview, Dr. Moll mentioned to me that the Task Force wants to get more student involvement and hear about their experiences with diversity. However, as mentioned before, students are showing hesitancy when it comes to having conversations about diversity.

Dr. Moll also said in his interview that the mission of the Anti-Racism Task Force actually covers two topics. One being the goal to give training to faculty and staff on campus, so they are able to handle conversations on diversity. The other goal of the task force is to find a way to fit more diversity into the general education curriculum at the University.

Conclusion

This section of the report will focus on bringing together the ideas from all of the research and interviews that took place, in order to see where ideas on topics might differ, and where the ideas of all the people and works involved might converge.

Shippensburg University/College Campus Diversity

There seems to be a consensus on the lack of student engagement with diversity. Students are not really wanting to have conversations about what makes them diverse or diversity as a whole. I have found a number of reasons for students not wanting to engage in conversation about diversity:

• Feeling there is no safe place to talk about their stories.

• Feeling a lack of respect from the people around them.

• Feeling it’s not their place to speak on such issues.

• Feeling their language skills are not where they should be.

However, these are not all of the reasons that students might not feel comfortable talking about diversity in a campus classroom setting. It should also be noted that this isn’t just a problem on the student’s front.

Staff and faculty have a role to play in the topic of conversation about diversity in college classrooms. I have come across the understanding that without proper training on the topic of diversity college, staff and faculty cannot properly hold conversations/work with students who might be having trouble within an area of the subject of diversity. It is not that there is a lack of conversation between members of college faculty and staff; it is just a lack of the tools, effort (in some cases), and methods needed to engage students on the topic of diversity.

Recommendations

This section of the report will look at what steps colleges and universities could take in order to help build the conversation of diversity within a classroom and campus setting. The following section of text will look at both actions students and faculty can take to help diversify campus.

Taking Action

When it comes to what can be done in order to help diversity become more common on campus there are a number of things that can be done. When it comes to programs like Building Bridges and the Anti-Racism Task Force the main focus needs to be one funding and building up the programs.

• Getting the funds to keep these programs running.

• Giving those individuals involved training.

• Getting involvement from the college campus.

All of these are steps that can be taken in order to have effective groups on campus that are able to bring diversity to front of conversations in classrooms on campus.

Another solution would be to find a way to keep the curriculum up to date with the ways conversations on diversity are changing. It is one thing to learn about other people’s cultures and backgrounds, but diversity has moved past that, now identities and stories are in the forefront of conversations. Finding a way to get students and faculty to become comfortable with sharing conversation on diversity starts with a change in material being taught in the classrooms.

One last idea is the importance of safe spaces. Groups like Building Bridges and the PAGE Center are safe places for students on campus to go and share any trouble they might be having with diversity. These groups are also places where students can find people like themselves on campus. So, highlighting the importance of these organizations is something that

will bring a higher level of comfortability for students on campus when it comes to having conversations about diversity.

Appendix

The appendix below provides two of the four interviews that were conducted for this report. The two interviews, Dr. Cella’s and Arielle Catron below are the email interviews, and the two interviews not featured, Kapri Brown and Dr. Moll, were in person interviews with recorded audio. Due to the lack of resources to gain a transcript of the two recorded interviews, they will not be featured below.

Dr. Laurie Cella’s Interview

Have you noticed a lack of conversations about diversity within the classrooms from a student’s standpoint on campus?

It is hard to speak for students – but – I do notice that students in general are reluctant to talk about diversity in the classroom. They are just reluctant to share any personal information and after COVID, it has been even hard to generate honest or real conversation in class (as you likely noticed in ENG 113!). To remedy this issue, I have invited Building Bridges into my 101 classroom, and they have absolutely helped students to be honest with each other and talk honestly about diversity in the classroom.

Have you noticed a lack of conversations about diversity within the classrooms from a faculty standpoint on campus?

From what I have seen, faculty talk quite a lot about diversity – but students don’t always engage in these discussions. Maybe they feel uncomfortable? I’m not sure. At least in 101, there is a requirement to address issues of diversity in the classroom. I’ve seen some pretty nasty student evaluations when they feel like they are “forced” to read diverse authors.

Have Students you’ve encountered noticed/mentioned anything about diversity on campus and in classrooms?

I was lucky to be part of the discussions to bring Building Bridges back to life in 2018. Building Bridges was brought back to campus in response to a racist comment, made on FB: https://www. abc27.com/news/after-dark-meat-facebook-postshippensburg-university-takes-on-race/

When we started the requirement for students to take 101, we invited students to tell us what they needed, and they really wanted to bring

back Building Bridges – a student centered program, that centers on student facilitators to begin discussions of challenging topics of race and diversity. I have seen my students open up to each other in ways they never would if I started the conversation, I think first year students should start feeling more aware of difference, and be willing and able to talk about difference in the classroom.

Have other faculty members you’ve encountered noticed/mentioned anything about diversity on campus and in classrooms?

As I mentioned, my faculty colleagues have shared nasty evaluations from students who did not feel like they should have to read texts by diverse authors.

Within your years at Shippensburg University have you noticed a change of material/and subjects being taught.

Yes – over the years I have taught at Ship – I have been made more aware that my texts need to be more representative of the students in my classroom. My former Writing Fellow, Nia Primus, told me explicitly, that I needed more diversity in the texts that I taught. So, I started changing my syllabus to reflect more diverse authors. I included Nia’s essay, “Dark Girl,” in my syllabus, and students really respond positively to that essay.

Do you think that classrooms on campus should involve more discussions about diversity as a whole?

YES! Absolutely. I wish we could fund Building Bridges for the entire campus!

Should diversity, both racial issues and sexual issues, be equality discussed in a classroom setting?

YES - all aspects of diversity should be addressed in the classroom.

Arielle Catron’s Full Interview

Have you noticed a lack of conversations about diversity within the classrooms from a student’s standpoint on campus?

I am not often in classrooms, so it’s hard for me to say, but I have heard from students that diversity is not discussed enough, or when it is discussed, that professors sometime use problematic language. There are still some professors on campus who refuse to use students’ correct pronouns, which is very detrimental to the learning environment.

Have you noticed a lack of conversations about diversity within the classrooms from a facility standpoint on campus?

It’s hard to say again because I’m not usually in the classrooms, but students have told me that professors tend to see diversity as something to check off a list, and not something to integrate into the whole classroom experience.

Have students you’ve encountered noticed/mentioned anything about diversity on campus and in classrooms?

I recently had a student come to my office because she said she was having a hard time finding community around campus. She is a black woman from Philadelphia, and she said she didn’t feel at home on campus. She had tried to find community with groups in MSA, but felt that she didn’t really fit in. It’s hard for me to hear stories like this, because unfortunately there’s not a lot we can offer students like this. We’re glad to have students from diverse backgrounds on campus, but we are still very much lacking in the support and community we can offer them.

Have other faculty members you’ve encountered noticed/mentioned anything about diversity on campus and in classrooms?

Yes, many faculty are concerned that there is not enough support for students of color, or students who are gender variant. We also recognize that there is not enough staff/faculty of color employed here. Hiring professionals of color to work at Ship is challenging, because the surrounding community is so homogenous and not always welcoming.

Within your years at Shippensburg University have you noticed a change of material/and subjects being taught.

I’m not sure.

Do think that classrooms on campus should involve more discussions about diversity as a whole?

Yes, I would like to see diversity integrated more into everyday learning, and not just a specialized class or subject.

Should diversity, both racial issues and sexual issues, be equality discussed in a classroom setting?

Yes, students should be taught about the diversity of human experience and how that impacts our interactions with each other. The more we can encourage empathy and mutual respect, the more we can create a productive learning environment.

Works Cited

Akombo, David O. “Scholarship and Diversity in Higher Education.” Journal of Cultural Diversity, vol. 20, no. 1, Spring 2013, pp. 3–6. EBSCOhost, https://search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso& db=asn&AN=86263392&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Brown, Kapri. Personal Interview. 22 April 2022.

Catron, Arielle. Personal Interview. 21 April 2022.

Cella, Laurie. Personal Interview. 19 April 2022.

Davis, Chris. “After ‘Dark Meat’ Facebook Post, Shippensburg University Takes on Race.” ABC27, ABC27, 29 Sept. 2016, https://www.abc27.com/news/ after-dark-meat-facebook-post-shippensburg-universitytakes-on-race/.

Dennihy, Melissa. “Beyond English: Linguistic Diversity in the College English Classroom.” MELUS, Volume 42, Issue 4, Winter 2017, Pages 192–212, https://doi. org/10.1093/melus/mlx066

Moll, Kirk. Personal Interview. 22 April 2022.

Paiz, Joshua M. “Queering practice: LGBTQ+ diversity and inclusion in English language teaching.” Journal of Language, Identity & Education 18.4 (2019): 266-275.

Student Reflection:

This report started out with a narrow area of focus. Originally this report was going to look at teaching a children literature course at Shippensburg University. The report would have covered areas like interest in the course, benefits of the course, and what the impact could be on students. However, after speaking with Dr. Kungl the idea shifted from something narrow to looking at diversity as a whole on campus. As a student of color this topic is something that is important to me. I want to be apart of an institution that works towards letting diversity be apart of the community and classroom settings. Doing interviews for this report was the best part because of the people who are so committed to bettering the Shippensburg University community.

Human Trafficking Victimization Against Immigrants

by Paige Stanley

CRJ 396: Selected Topics in Criminal Justice

Dr. Laura Beckman

Assignment:

An in-depth description of human trafficking at the United States borders and the effects victimization has on immigrants. Describing and evaluating policies and plans of action the United States has taken to help victims of human trafficking at the border, listing their strengths and weakness, and providing policy change ideas.

In 2021, according to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), research concluded that out of 1,000 individuals, 16.5 were subjected to some form of violent victimization (Department of Justice, 2021). In particular, immigrants are vulnerable to all victimization types, such as exploitation, abuse, and violence, and fail to report when they are victimized (Xie & Baumer, 2021).

Victimization that is uniquely high for immigrants includes violence and death at the border, exploitation when working as day laborers and domestic workers, and suffering violence in the home and the community (Zatz & Smith, 2012). This paper will mainly focus on violence and death at the border, specifically human trafficking when crossing the border and what policies and practices have been put into effect to aid victims of human trafficking. This topic is essential to be educated on, so the harm that is inflicted at the border and to immigrants crossing the border is identified and understood by a broader audience.

Background on Victimization: Human Trafficking

Victimization refers to involuntary, personal exposure to criminal acts that can be damaging economically, physically, psychologically, and emotionally. Human trafficking is a type of victimization that is considered a form of modern-day slavery, defined as “a crime involving the exploitation of an individual for the purposes of compelled labor or a commercial sex act through the use of force, fraud, or coercion” (Beckman, 2022).

Trafficking exploits all genders and ages as these individuals, especially immigrants, are coerced into believing they will obtain a better life and an excellent job in return for their acts (Human trafficking, 2023). Trafficking has been used in the United States for centuries and has developed over time to be more physically and psychologically abusive. Traffickers do not only rape and sexually abuse their victims but often deprive them of adequate sleep, shelter, and nutrition (Human trafficking, 2023). Traffickers threaten their victims with harm to them or their family members, deprive victims of their documents and identification,

and threaten deportation so the immigrants cannot live free (Human trafficking, 2023).

When traffickers force their victims into work, they are mainly appointed to work in “domestic service, agriculture, sweatshop and factory work, restaurant and hotel work and in the sex industry” (Human trafficking, 2023). Human trafficking, although it differs from human smuggling, where individuals voluntarily agree to work with and follow a smuggler to gain illegal entry into a foreign country and are moved across an international border, they at times go hand in hand (Beckman, 2022). According to Zatz & Smith, “in some cases, what begins as smuggling may turn into trafficking when migrants are held against their will and threatened with physical violence or forced into indentured servitude or prostitution while money is extorted from family members in return for their safe release” (2012, p. 148). Human trafficking is in high demand as cheap labor is still a top desire along the border and throughout the country. In the 1800s and 1900s, cheap labor was desperately needed, and the workers originated from other countries, such as Mexico and Asia, to come work for the United States (Beckman, 2022). Even during these times, these individuals were exploited through fraud, coercion, or force and held against their will to work or perform acts. To this day, immigrants suffer from victimization like the United States saw centuries ago.

Increase in Human Trafficking

Over the more recent years, there has been a significant increase in human trafficking due to more zero-tolerance policies and crackdowns at the borders. Border control and law enforcement policies have increased at the border, creating a rise in immigrants who are now at risk for death and life-threatening situations due to the remote areas that they travel through not having a decent number of life-saving resources (Zatz & Smith, 2012). In a scheme to help immigrants cross the border without risking their lives, human smugglers who help these individuals get into the United States promise the immigrants to shelter

and to get into the United States safely. However, due to victims being vulnerable and scared that they will be caught entering illegally, they obey the smugglers, and some may get handed over to trafficking networks, starting more victimization (Zatz & Smith, 2012). Human traffickers use force, coercion, and deception toward the victims in hopes the victim will obey them and hand over money, perform sexual acts, or work for them (Zatz & Smith, 2012).

Statistics on Human Trafficking

Immigrants in the United States face high rates of victimization; however, a majority of victimizations go unreported, creating a dark figure of crime, which has resulted in a lack of data on immigrant victimization. However, as history repeats itself, global profits of forced labor from human trafficking is estimated to be 150 billion dollars annually, making human trafficking the second largest criminal industry worldwide (York, 2022). It was determined that up to 17,500 victims are trafficked across the United States’ borders each year, and 72% of these victims are immigrants (York, 2022). Among all of the federal human trafficking cases filed in 2021, identified risk factors for victimization included undocumented immigration status (49%) and limited English proficiency (47%), showing that immigrants are the individuals who suffer to a large extent when it comes to human trafficking (York, 2022). Immigrants, particularly undocumented immigrants, are often reluctant to report victimization due to fear of deportation. Other consequences of human trafficking on immigrants include a hold on the physical process of bettering their life as well as psychological and emotional consequences. When an immigrant is victimized, they often have trouble trusting others and finding the correct resources to help them, as they are undocumented and do not want to risk getting deported. Furthermore, the victims begin to have trauma, substance abuse issues, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety and develop other mental health disorders as they feel themselves deteriorating from who they once were. Victimized immigrants cannot obtain the correct resources to aid their deteriorating mental health or substance abuse issues as they are afraid to access or seek help due to being undocumented, causing the trauma to worsen and have a negative impact on mental health.

Evaluation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000

Although there are laws that punish human traffickers and the services traffickers force their victims to undertake or perform, trafficking continues to exist globally and is a significant concern regarding immigration around the border. Under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), the United States government has attempted to remove modern-

day forms of slavery domestically and internationally. The TVPA has developed a framework around protection, prevention, and prosecution, “the 3 P’s,” that helps explain their goals and desires to protect victims of human trafficking (U.S. Department of Justice, 2022). The Trafficking Victims Protection Act fights for the protection of victims and ensures that victims have access to services and benefits regardless of their citizenship status. Visas such as the “T visa” have been developed to ensure that victims of human trafficking that meet eligibility requirements can remain in the United States to ensure personal safety (Zatz & Smith, 2012). Regarding prevention, the TVPA helped strengthen government intervention by ensuring funding and creating teams to help combat human trafficking (U.S. Department of Justice, 2022). Lastly, the TVPA helps prosecutors bring human traffickers to their rightfully deserved punishment by adding new criminal provisions prohibiting any forms of human trafficking and strengthening the penalties traffickers face when prosecuted (U.S. Department of Justice, 2022).

Weaknesses of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000

Although there are not many limitations regarding the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 due to the act being created to address preexisting limitations of laws at the time, there are a few weaknesses that can be linked in reference to T visas and the limited assistance the visas provide to victims. One weakness of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act is the strict eligibility requirements regarding safety. T nonimmigrant statuses help a victim of severe human trafficking remain in the United States for up to four years if they have complied with the investigation and law enforcement officials. If these victims believe they would suffer extreme hardships if they do not remain in the United States, then they are eligible to obtain a T visa to ensure safety and protection (Department of Homeland Security, 2021).

An additional weakness that stems from the T visa is the number of visas the government allows to be issued yearly, which is capped at 5,000 visas (Zatz & Smith, 2012). Around only 600 T visas are estimated to be issued yearly, which equals about 12%; however, although only the estimated 600 are issued per year, what if there is a significant increase in trafficking victims in years to come? In 2022 it was estimated that more than 2 million migrants came into contact with the US border and attempted to enter the country legally and illegally. Even though the government has never needed over 5,000 T visas, expanding the number to 20,000 or more and allowing a victim any time needed to recover may help immigrants feel safer and more protected and understand that the government is strongly advocating for their safety and

overall well-being. T visas should also be offered to all immigrants that were victims of human trafficking, regardless of the intensity, as it is physically, emotionally, and psychologically damaging to a high degree, and resources like therapy should be provided to aid in mental health well-being, and recovery.

Awareness Resources and Initiatives

The Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Department of Transportation have congregated in numerous initiatives and plans to identify potential traffickers and human trafficking victims. Initiatives such as the Blue Lightning Initiative have aided airline personnel in identifying victims and those who may be exploiting them to report it to law enforcement (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 2022). The No Te Enganes/ Don’t Be Fooled campaign was created by the U.S. Customs Border and Protection administration to fight against human trafficking and raise awareness among potential migrants. The campaign informs potential immigrants of the dangers of attempting to enter illegally and attempts to prevent others from becoming victims of human trafficking (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 2022). The Blue Campaign is another national public awareness campaign to help educate others on the indicators of human trafficking and how to respond by developing general awareness training and offering educational resources (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 2022). These departments coming together to raise awareness shows the significance behind the issue of human trafficking and how the United States is trying endlessly to prevent immigrants from being exploited.

Conclusion

Although the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 has significantly helped human trafficking victims and their families, some still fear deportation, distrust law enforcement, worry for their families, and lack knowledge about laws and acts (Zatz & Smith,

2012). Educating individuals on the TVPA, human trafficking resources, and initiatives will help increase awareness of the significant problem America is facing at the border and terminate the exploitation of immigrants and their families.

References

Beckman, L. O. (2022). Class notes.

Department of Homeland Security. (2021). Victims of human trafficking: T nonimmigrant status

U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services.

https://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/victimsof-human-trafficking-and-other-crimes/ victims-of-human-trafficking-t-nonimmigrant-status.

Department of Justice. (2021). National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs. ojp.gov/data-collection/ncvs

Human trafficking: Modern enslavement of immigrant women in the United States. American Civil Liberties Union. (2023). https://www.aclu.org/other/human-traffickingmodern-enslavement-immigrant-women-united-states

Kercher, G. & Kuo, C. (2008). Victimization of immigrants. Crime Victims’ Institute, Sam Houston State University.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection. (2022). Human trafficking. https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/ human-trafficking

U.S. Department of Justice. (2022, September 28). Key legislation. Human Trafficking. https://www.justice.gov/ humantrafficking/key-legislation

Xie, M., & Baumer, E. P. (2021). Immigrant status, citizenship, and victimization risk in the United States: New findings from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). U.S. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC8849556/

York, H. (2022). U.S. immigration policy and human trafficking: Two sides of the same coin. Human Trafficking Institute. https://traffickinginstitute.org/u-simmigration-policy-and-human-trafficking-two-sidesof-the-same-coin/

Zatz, M. S. & Smith, H. (2012). Immigration, crime, and victimization: Rhetoric and reality. Annual review of law and social science, 8, p. 141-159.

Student Reflection:

I immensely enjoyed researching human trafficking against immigrants at the United States border because it was all new information to me. There is a significant stigmatization in the United States when it comes to undocumented immigrants entering the country, and the media is not always an unbiased platform to trust. Media coverage on the United States border and the events around the border are not always portrayed correctly and fail to show remorse to immigrants who are victims of trafficking, abuse, and other forms of exploitation and indentured servitude. Writing this paper and taking this course over winter break opened my eyes to the reality of what immigrants go through when attempting to obtain a better life and how their journey does not always make their life better. Acts and laws that are in place immensely help immigrants who are victimized but in this paper I go more in-depth on what other countermeasures the government can take to open up more resources to those victimized at the border. I believe this paper will share a new perspective on the border with readers and hopefully impact those who read it in a substantial, life-changing way.

Influential Latinx Values during Trujillo’s Regime

by Theresa Weber

ENG 344: Studies in a Single Author

Dr.

Cristina Rhodes

Assignment:

This midterm assignment asks that you write an original and well-researched analysis of a text that we have discussed in class or that is related to course discussions. For example, you could write about In the Time of the Butterflies, but you’re also welcome to look at one of Alvarez’s essays, or to engage with two or more essays, analyze both Butterflies and Before We Were Free, or read ahead to How the García Girls Lost Their Accents and beyond. Your analysis should contain a clear and argumentative thesis statement, cogent textual analysis, and a conclusion that indicates the significance and implications of your research.

As a product of forced immigration from the Dominican Republic, Julia Alvarez felt compelled to shed light on Rafael Trujillo’s regime through her writing. The misconception about Latinx family conflicts and disagreements may be boiled down to differing perspectives of the role of family. However, Alvarez aims to construct characters and families as a powerful force against Trujillo’s regime. In this paper, I will be analyzing the effects of Trujillo’s regime on the Dominican families and characters depicted in Julia Alvarez’s work to argue that, ultimately these families made sacrifices because they believe so deeply in their Latinx values, most importantly the value of family.

Characters do not act alone when defying Trujillo, but rather their family plays a huge role in their involvement and their motivation. This will be investigated by taking a closer look at the Latinx values of familismo, marianismo, machismo, simpatía, and respeto and the role they play in Alvarez’s novel: In the Time of the Butterflies. Familismo refers to “the family as a safety net” and is an important value in Latinx culture (Foucault 441) which I will explore through an analysis of Dedé Mirabal’s character in In the Time of the Butterflies because her perspective narrates the grief and acceptance of losing three sisters. Marianismo refers to submissiveness and maintaining a nurturing household, while machismo creates and “implies different role expectations for males and females” (Foucault 442). Additionally, “simpatía implies a deep concern for group harmony and the needs of other people. Being dependent on others is commonly expected and brings no shame” (Foucault 441). Lastly, respeto refers to respecting the elders in the family as well as being respectful to others, which is a value that is expressed through “the need for parental monitoring” (GuilamoRamos 22) in Latinx culture. Ultimately, the upbringing of Alvarez’s characters influences their decisions, which are also largely motivated by their nuclear and extended families.

In the Time of the Butterflies follows a fictionalized narrative of the real-life Mirabal sisters, who were assassinated by Trujillo for their rebellious efforts against him. While this narrative is largely fictitious, Alvarez aimed to humanize Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Patria Mirabal instead of “imitating history books,” which fail to recognize their authenticity as people, not just as heroes (Medina 150). The novel is organized chronologically, beginning with the Mirabals in their youth and progressing onward to portray them as “mothers, wives, and eventually, as defenders of their country against the corrupt government” (Medina 149). Alvarez details how Minerva and Maria Teresa realized the truth of Trujillo’s rule during their youth. Minerva is the first perspective we hear, most likely because she was the most outspoken of the sisters and is often recognized for her refusal “to tolerate the rules, laws, and regulations set by the patriarchal system that prevails in her house, her school, and the government” (Medina 151). At the age of twelve, Minerva was sent to a private Catholic school where she met Sinita, who recounted the death of her father, uncles, and brother at the hands of Trujillo. Specifically, Sinita detailed that “her brother had been saying that he was going to a venge his father and uncles, and the rumor all over town was that Trujillo was after him” (Alvarez 18). This is the first main example of the significance of family. Sinita’s brother was willing to risk his life to avenge his family. As the last remaining male in Sinita’s family, his machismo meant that he had the responsibility to take on the “leadership or decision-making role that men individually and collectively assume in the home and community” (Guilamo-Ramos 19). As for Minerva, Sinita’s story was her introduction to her rebellious ideas and approximately nine years later, led to Maria Teresa’s (Mate’s) revelation about the Trujillo regime when she was roughly eleven years old. Mate learned that Minerva was attending secret meetings that discussed the opposition to Trujillo’s rule. According

to Minerva, she attended because she wanted Mate “to grow up in a free country” (Alvarez 39). From the age of twenty, Minerva believed in overthrowing Trujillo to protect her family, such as her younger sister Mate.

Ultimately, Mate’s understanding of Trujillo is influenced by the death of her father, Enrique Mirabal. Their father had been imprisoned as punishment for Minerva rejecting Trujillo’s sexual advances. As a result, Enrique Mirabal emerged from prison as “a broken man and never regained his physical or mental health, dying shortly after his release” (Robinson 176). Mate becomes skeptical of men, however, there is no specific catalyst for her involvement in the revolution. Rather, over the years, readers see the evolution of Mate’s beliefs through her journal entries. Additionally, Minerva’s protectiveness of Mate compels Mate to join. According to Mate, she did not “want to be babied anymore” (Alvarez 142). And so, initially Mate’s journal entries sound childlike at the age of eighteen, but ultimately reflect Minerva’s ideals by the time she is twenty-two.

Patria, as opposed to Minerva and Mate, joins the resistance when she is a mother because she believes that her involvement will save her children from a corrupt world. Patria is characterized as heavily religious, a virtue that gave her motherhood purpose and demonstrates the Latinx value of marianismo, which is derived from devotion to “the Virgin Mary, whose humility and virtue exemplify the decorum, caregiving, and often stoicism required in the female role” (Guilamo-Ramos 19). When readers first read from Patria’s perspective, she initially has feelings of guilt for not becoming a nun and having a family instead. There is “a greater expectation that adolescents assist, respect, and provide support to their families” (Foucault 441) so, as the eldest daughter, she ultimately felt that she was responsible for herself. Additionally, this mindset also supports the idea of marianismo because this ideal also expects women to display “stoicism and modesty” as opposed to their male counterparts (Foucault 442). While pregnant with her son, Patria attended a religious retreat in the mountains, which was shelled by Trujillo’s army in an attempt to eradicate any “liberators” hiding. In this instance, Patria prioritizes her family before her religion when she knocked down the statue of the Virgin Mary to protect her unborn child. Additionally, Patria has a strong maternal instinct, which on many occasions has led her to prioritize her family over her own well-being. During the shelling, Patria encountered “a boy no older than [her daughter] Noris” who was with the liberators (Alvarez 162). As quickly as Patria tells the boy to take cover, he is shot and dies in front of her. This moment is a revelation for Patria that someone’s sons and daughters are fighting in the resistance and getting killed too young. Her

whole perspective changed at that moment. She saw everyone as her child, not just biological, and prayed to God that she would not “sit back and watch [her] babies die” (Alvarez 162). Ultimately, Patria’s evolvement over time is symbolic, initially, she “conserves her passionate religious fidelity as observed in her accounts,” however “the Patria who dies on the road together with Minerva and Maria Teresa differs completely from the one [readers] first met” (Medina 156). At first, her religious obligations made Patria a bystander to the liberation efforts, but suddenly she believed that God and her maternal instinct had compelled her to join the fight.

Dedé Mirabal was not involved in the resistance, largely because she remained submissive to her husband and his wishes for her to stay out of the situation because he held authority in their household. According to the text, Patria, Minerva, and Mate were “married to men identified with the opposition to Trujillo and were political activists in their own right” (Robinson 173). In contrast, Jaimito displays the most machismo in his marriage to a Mirabal sister because of his opposition to Dedé’s involvement. Before the Mirabal sisters were married, they had learned of an individual named Virgilio Morales, Lío, who studied at the university in the capital city. Jaimito “called Lío a troublemaker, accusing him of cooking up plots and then running off to some embassy for asylum, leaving his comrades behind to rot in jail” (Butterflies 72-73). As it turned out, Lío was a part of a group of young professors who were making demonstrations in favor of communism. Essentially, Lío was vocal about his opposition to Trujillo’s regime and Jaimito was firmly against Lío’s involvement and tactics. Dedé’s discovery of Lío’s work made her realize “that they were really living-- as Minerva liked to say-- in a police state” (Alvarez 75). Lío ultimately changed Dedé’s perception of Trujillo’s regime and the world she lived in. Despite the fact that Trujillo’s regime was “characterized by repression, torture, intimidation, tortures, and assassination of his opponents,” Dedé would have no involvement in anything illegal because Jaimito did not stand for it (Vazquez 217). Additionally, Dedé was unable to see past Jaimito’s authority, believing that no one could truly control or say no to him because he was the “only son of his doting mother [and the] unquestioned boss of his five sisters” (Alvarez 74). Because he was given authority from the beginning of their relationship, Dedé was left to give Jaimito the respeto he believed he was entitled to by being the compliant female companion that he expected.

Overall, any individual fraternizing against Trujillo kept Jaimito on edge. It is important to note that Dedé and Jaimito married early and also had children when they were young, which

can be psychologically taxing for couples. Many Dominicans find themselves in this situation, especially women who tend to marry before reaching the age of 20. They sacrifice their education because once they have children they are expected to dedicate themselves entirely to child care. Although most Dominican men also marry very young, they feel entitled to go out with their friends and have a different sense of responsibility when it comes to caring for children. As long as they provide financially, they feel free to spend time outside the home (Vazquez

219).

As their marriage deteriorated, Dedé was inching closer to being involved in her sister’s secret operations. Dedé even tried to convince Jaimito to let Patria bury some boxes on their property, which angered Jaimito to think that “the Mirabal sisters like to run their men” because “in his house, he was the one to wear the pants” (Alvarez 177). While Jaimito’s remarks made Dedé consider uprooting herself from her marriage and joining her sisters in the resistance, she ultimately chose not to because she would leave the economic stability that she had with Jaimito as his housewife and caretaker of his children. Dedé could not make these sacrifices and dismantle her family as a Latina woman who values simpatía, which suggests that avoiding conflict is the better outcome as well as promoting a family life supported by “family solidarity, mutual obligations, and reciprocal support” (Guilamo-Ramos 19). Dedé felt as though she would never let her see her sons again on account that Jaimito was “more than possessive of his sons, claiming them as if they were parts of himself” and even branded them by giving them all his first name, only middle names gave them a sense of identity (Alvarez 182). Jaimito ultimately feels that he and Dedé hold a mutual obligation to raise their sons to continue their father’s legacy of machismo. As a mother, abandoning her children was simply not an option either. Thus, following the murder of Minerva, Patria, and Mate, Dedé was left as the remaining Mirabal sister to become “the surrogate mother to her many nieces and nephews” as well as facing “the daunting task of raising them during the difficult period which followed Trujillo’s assassination

in the Dominican Republic” (Robinson 175). Dedé may be alive because her husband resisted her involvement, but surviving means being left with nothing after the revolution and that she did not do her best to contribute to the world her children and her sister’s children live in.

In conclusion, The Mirabal family as depicted in Julia Alvarez’s novel, In the Time of the Butterflies, is highly influenced by the Latinx values of familismo, marianismo, machismo, simpatía, and respeto. Alvarez constructs female characters who make sacrifices that reflect these cultural values, while also challenging the toxicity of marianismo and machismo in unique ways. Ultimately, the sacrifices that Minerva, Maria Teresa, and Patria made were because they prioritized their family over their own well-being. At first, they were met with resistance, but ultimately their efforts benefitted the Dominican Republic from the corrupt world they were living in all because of their dedication to their Latinx values.

Works Cited

Alvarez, Julia. In the Time of the Butterflies. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2010. Foucault, Darlene C., and Barry H. Schneider. “Parenting Values and Parenting Stress Among Impoverished Village and Middle-Class Small City Mothers in the Dominican Republic.” International Journal of Behavioral Development, vol. 33, no. 5, Sept. 2009, pp. 440–50. EBSCOhost, https://doi. org/10.1177/0165025409340094

Guilamo-Ramos V, et al. “Parenting Practices Among Dominican and Puerto Rican Mothers.” Social Work, vol. 52, no. 1, Jan. 2007, pp. 17–30. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/52.1.17.

Medina, Manuel F. “Writing from Memory: History, Stories, and Narrative Voices in In The Time of The Butterflies by Julia Álvarez.” Ilha Do Desterro: A Journal of Language and Literature/Revista de Língua e Literatura, vol. 59, July 2010, pp. 147–61. EBSCOhost, https:// search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&Aut hType=ip,sso&db=mzh&AN=2014392032&site=e ds-live&scope=site

Robinson, Nancy. “Women’s Political Participation in the Dominican Republic: The Case of the Mirabal Sisters.” Caribbean Quarterly 52.2-3 (2006): 172-183.

Vazquez, Carmen Inoa. “Dominican Families.” Ethnicity and Family Therapy 3 (2005): 216-228.

Student Reflection:

I took this class with Dr. Rhodes as a Sophomore and was really interested in learning about Julia Alvarez, a Dominican author! Studying a single author gave me and my fellow classmates a complete understanding of Alvarez’s experiences as an immigrant and the connecting themes across her texts. As a Latina American, I valued reading and analyzing her work as it helped me understand my own identity. My paper allowed me to investigate the toxic traits of machismo and think about how it is relevant to my own life and family. If I had the opportunity to take another class constructed like this one, I would not hesitate to register.

Assignment:

Julia Alvarez and the Importance of the Non-traditional Bildungsromane

by Emily Dziennik

ENG 344: Studies in a Single Author

Dr. Cristina Rhodes

This midterm assignment asks that you write an original and well-researched analysis of a text that we have discussed in class or that is related to course discussions. For example, you could write about In the Time of the Butterflies, but you’re also welcome to look at one of Alvarez’s essays, or to engage with two or more essays, analyze both Butterflies and Before We Were Free, or read ahead to How the García Girls Lost Their Accents and beyond. Your analysis should contain a clear and argumentative thesis statement, cogent textual analysis, and a conclusion that indicates the significance and implications of your research.

There is a long history of Latinx authors writing about their struggles, especially after immigration to the United States. These stories are often grouped together into one large category known as “The Latino Novel.” Some common themes within these novels include the importance of family, the importance of religion, cultural displacement, assimilation, racism, machismo, and generational differences, among others (Sirias 14). It is within this large umbrella category of stories that we find author Julia Alvarez.

Julia Alvarez was born in the Dominican Republic in 1951. She spent only the first 10 years of her life there before her family immigrated to the United States. Her family was fairly affluent, and they were able to escape from the Dominican Republic while it was still under the control of the dictator Trujillo. Alvarez had to learn how to adjust to American life and learn to speak fluent English at a very young age. Because Alvarez was so young when she moved to the US, she was able to learn English fairly quickly and has been quoted many times explaining how her native language shifted from Spanish to English, leaving her with an American accent when speaking Spanish (Sirias 1).

Alvarez published her first novel, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, in 1991, and has since become one of the most celebrated Latina-American authors (Sirias 1). She is often thought of as one of the only Dominican American authors who has achieved widespread recognition in the US for her writing (Sirias 13). Alvarez often writes about the struggles of being a Latinx immigrant in the United States, focusing on issues of language and the feeling of being caught in the liminal space between two very different cultures. She is very cognizant of not only her own struggles

as an immigrant, but also the general immigration experience of all Latinx people who chose to relocate to the US.

Over time, Alvarez has shifted from writing only adult novels that fall into the general “Latino Novel” category and has since written and published several children’s novels. Before We Were Free was one of Alverez’s first attempts at writing children’s literature. This book follows the story of the young girl Anita, whose family is involved in the revolution against Trujillo’s regime in the Dominican Republic. Because of this involvement, her family quickly becomes a target for Trujillo’s police force. Anita and her mother go into hiding, living out of a walk-in closet in another house until they are finally rescued and sent to America. In America, Anita still faces many problems regarding language, education, and culture. This novel discusses many different issues that young immigrants may face both in their own country and in America upon arrival.

Along with its inclusion in the “Latino Novel” category, Before We Were Free is also often considered an example of a Bildungsroman, or a coming-of-age novel. While this story does have several characteristics that are indicative of this genre, I argue that it transcends the boundaries of this genre and can be considered a non-traditional Bildungsroman. This is demonstrated by the use of a young female protagonist and how the problems she faces contrast the problems traditionally presented in the white, male-centered Bildungsroman. This shift away from the traditional Bildungsroman is important to recognize, as educators should be focusing on the usage of these nontraditional coming-of-age novels in the classroom as a replacement for those traditional white, male-centered narratives.

The Traditional Bildungsroman

The Bildungsroman, often referred to as the coming-of-age novel, has become an increasingly popular genre in recent years with many different variations on its traditional style. The origin of the Bildungsroman, however, is rooted in the idea of a white male protagonist going on a journey that begins with his innocence and ends with his enlightenment (Meneses 70). Bildungsromans are novels of formation, education, and maturation (Barnett-Woods 614).

Most commonly, a white male protagonist is depicted as gaining intelligence and rising up from a lower social class as he learns about the world around him and finds his rightful place within society. This commonality of white male protagonists serves to demonstrate the historical disadvantage of women and people of color. People within these groups were not allowed to become educated, rise to a higher class, or find their place within society. Minorities were not afforded this luxury of transcendence for a very long time, and it is only recently that these stories have been able to be shared by these female authors and authors of color (Barnett-Woods 614). This is a problematic reality within the Bildungsroman genre, as many educators and scholars are trying to push for more inclusive literature in the classroom. Alvarez’s Before We Were Free is one example of the shift away from young, white, male protagonists within the Bildungsroman genre.

Before We Were Free as a Nontraditional Bildungsroman

The non-traditional Bildungsroman, also referred to as the anti-Bildungsroman, is a much more diverse branch of children’s literature. As Di Orio explains in her article about the Latinx Bildungsroman, “…Latinx writers are writing their own versions of the bildungsroman, but with a twist.” These Latinx narratives branch off from the norm and give readers access to much more diverse and intersectional narratives. Some scholars even go as far as to suggest that the Latinx Bildungsroman can be considered its own genre, as it can so strongly contrast the traits of the traditional Bildungsroman (Meneses 59).

Alvarez’s Before We Were Free breaks the stereotypes of the Bildungsroman in several ways, the first of which is her usage of a female protagonist. Anita, a young girl living in the Dominican Republic during the Trujillo regime, is the main protagonist of the story. It is Anita who goes on a journey, loses her innocence, and is trying to find her place in society after being forced to leave her home. Meneses explains in her analysis of this story, “Here, the nontraditional

goals of Bildung seem to flourish: a young Dominican female growing up under turbulent political times who immigrated to the United States as an exile” (Meneses 71). Anita as a character is very different from the traditional white male protagonist, giving the reader insight into the mind of a young woman of color. Not only is this beneficial for white readers who are seeking education surrounding Latinx culture, but it can also help young Latinx readers feel a sense of representation within this novel that they would not be able to find within a traditional Bildungsroman.

It is also important to note that Anita did not choose to go on her Bildungsroman journey or seek out the experiences she was placed into. As most eleven-year-olds do, Anita wanted to grow up and be like her older sister. But, as soon as she was forced to grow up so suddenly, she became depressed and withdrawn (Alvarez 68). Anita had her childhood innocence stolen from her very abruptly while she was still living in the Dominican Republic. She only gets to be a child for the first 11 years of her life, as her parents could only shield her from the truth of Trujillo’s dictatorship for so long before it became a danger to her as well. Once the revolution against the dictator is in full force and her father is one of the men leading it, she is suddenly exposed to the harsh reality of the world she lives in. Losing her innocence was not a gradual process for Anita, it was sudden, painful, and terrifying. This is a contrasting theme from the traditional Bildungsroman, where the young white protagonist is usually not forced into protecting himself and his family from danger or death.

Finally, this story also differs from the traditional Bildungsroman because of its resolution. This story does not quite end with Anita finding her place in the world, or with her feeling educated or well respected. Instead, the reader sees the beginning of another journey for Anita—one where she has to become familiar with living in the United States as a Dominican immigrant (Meneses 71). The reader is able to witness the beginnings of this adjustment period for Anita as she learns to cope with speaking only English and attending an American school (Alvarez 117). She also faces issues out in public, the most notable situation resulting in her being kicked out of a store because the owner thought she was stealing even though she had done nothing to provoke this harsh response (Alvarez 120). Anita does her best to balance both halves of her life, fighting to keep her Dominican heritage alive but also fit in with the other American school children. This is an issue many young people of color can relate to, making it very separate from the traditional Bildungsroman.

Novels like Alvarez’s Before We Were Free use these non-traditional characteristics to challenge and rewrite the white-dominated narrative. She helps to share the coming-of-age stories of children who do not get to choose when their childhoods end, as is often characteristic of minority groups in the United States. Meneses explains why this is so important, writing:

The Bildungsroman of these disenfranchised Americans—women, Blacks, Mexican-Americans, Native Americans, homosexuals—portrays the particular identity and adjustment problems of people whose sex or color renders them unacceptable to the dominant society[…]This new Bildungsroman asserts an identity defined by the outsiders themselves or by their own cultures, not by the patriarchal Anglo-American power structure. (61)

The ways in which these stories diverge from the traditional Bildungsroman are representative of the ways that people who are considered part of a minority group can take control of their identity and write their own narrative that is separate from that of white Americans. Alvarez achieves this shift with Before We Were Free, as do many other authors familiar with the non-traditional Bildungsroman style of writing.

The Importance of Teaching the Nontraditional Bildungsroman

When examining a genre as common and influential as the Bildungsroman, it is important to consider which of these narratives are being taught. Much of English education is dominated by the white narrative, only exposing young readers to one version of the coming-of-age story. Many scholars and educators have examined the benefits of culturally responsive literature in the classroom. One scholar explained in their article about multicultural education that, “Literature has been considered a bridge among people, their languages, and their culture…” (Dimas 207). Books help people share their stories and allow the reader to learn about the lives of others that may be very different from their own.

Many of the common themes that surface in Latinx Bildungsroman literature are true to real life experiences that people face. One of the most important topics that these stories focus on is the liminal space between two contrasting cultures: one’s country of birth, and the United States. Alvarez explores this idea

in Before We Were Free and much of her other work, but it is also a universal experience among people who immigrate from other countries to the United States. People may feel like they no longer fit into either culture, too American and too “other” all at once, leaving them to feel alone somewhere in between. This can be confusing, difficult, and painful for many people (Suárez 118, 126). Reading and examining the way that authors write about diaspora and their feelings of liminality help us to understand both the cultures “they were both part of and alien to” (Dimas 207). Students who may have experienced these challenges likely do not see themselves represented in the traditional Bildungsroman, where a white child is allowed to transcend boundaries and move forward. Instead, they may relate more to the struggles that authors like Alvarez describe, helping them to feel less alone in a country that is unwelcoming and foreign.

Gloria Anzaldua, a well-known scholar of Chicana studies, feminist studies, gender studies, and more explains:

The art of composition, whether you are composing a work of fiction or your life, or whether you are composing reality, always means pulling off fragmented pieces and putting them together into a whole that makes sense. A lot of my composition theories are not just about writing but about how people live their lives, construct their cultures, so actually about how people construct reality (Dimas 210).

It is important not only for these multicultural stories to exist, but for them to be read and taught and studied in schools. This helps white audiences to understand the lives of people of color and the struggles they face, while simultaneously allowing people of color to see themselves and their lives in literature instead of only reading about white people. This representation is incredibly important starting at a very early age and is essential to helping battle prejudice that begins at a very young age. Teaching books like Before We Were Free, a non-traditional Bildungsroman, is a step in the direction towards a more diverse classroom full of more knowledgeable, empathetic students who are understanding of the world outside of the United States—a very important skill that is difficult to teach without the help of great literature.

Works Cited

Alvarez, Julia. Before We Were Free. Ebook, Dell Laurel-Leaf, 2002.

Barnett-Woods, Victoria. “Models of Morality: The Bildungsroman and Social Reform in The Female American and The Woman of Colour.” Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, vol. 45, no. 5–8, July 2016, pp. 613–23. Taylor and Francis Group, https://doi.org/1 0.1080/00497878.2016.1225400.

Di Iorio, Lyn. “Writing the Latinx Bildungsroman.” Public Books, 10 Mar. 2020, https://www.publicbooks.org/ writing-the-latinx-bildungsroman/.

Dimas, Héctor Manual Serna. “Literature and Literacy Education in Multicultural and Multilingual Settings from the Perspectives of Gloria Anzaldúa’s ‘Borderlands’ and Édouard Glissant’s ‘Poetics of Relation.’” The Journal of Educational Thought (JET) / Revue de La Pensée Éducative, vol. 46, no. 3, 2013, pp. 207–18, JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24713040.

Student Reflection:

Meneses, Gizella. “The Latina Bildungsroman and the Paradigms of Space: The Search for Identity in Julia Alvarez’s Before We Were Free.” Ámbitos Feministas: Revista Crítica Multicisplinar Anual de La Coalición Feministas Unidas, vol. 7, 2017, pp. 59–76. EBSCOhost, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true& AuthType=sso&db=mzh&AN=2017321273&site=e ds-live&scope=site.

Sirias, Silvio. Julia Alvarez: A Critical Companion. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001. EBSCOhost, https://search. ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso& db=e000xna&AN=192785&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Suárez, Lucía M. “Julia Alvarez and the Anxiety of Latina Representation.” Meridians, vol. 5, no. 1, Jan. 2004, pp. 117–45. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/ stable/40338651.

During this class with Dr. Rhodes, I was encouraged to follow the journey of Julia Alvarez through many of her different publications, from novels to creative nonfiction to poems. After becoming acquainted with her characters, I was interested in how I could incorporate what I learned in this class into my own classroom in the future. I really enjoyed taking the time to study one author in depth in this way, and it was a very fascinating class with much to discover. Thank you to Dr. Rhodes for giving me the opportunity to study Alvarez’s works and apply them to my own future.

Monster High: Beautiful and Beastly Behavior

by Cynthia Dodd

ENG 114: Writing Intensive First-Year Seminar

Dr. Shannon Mortimore-Smith

Assignment:

This midterm assignment asks that you write an original and well-researched analysis of a text that we have discussed in class or that is related to course discussions. For example, you could write about In the Time of the Butterflies, but you’re also welcome to look at one of Alvarez’s essays, or to engage with two or more essays, analyze both Butterflies and Before We Were Free, or read ahead to How the García Girls Lost Their Accents and beyond. Your analysis should contain a clear and argumentative thesis statement, cogent textual analysis, and a conclusion that indicates the significance and implications of your research.

“Freaky Just Got Fabulous” is the catchphrase for popular girls’ brand, Monster High. Upon further inspection, the franchise may be a little freakier than one would expect. While Monster High preaches inclusivity, the depiction of some characters can be harmful with the slightest critical thought. Most of the characters have harmful stereotypes mixed into their personalities, on top of being unrealistically thin and beautiful.

Monster High is a line of dolls created by Mattel in 2010. They were created to market to young girls who were “too old” for Barbie but still wanted to play with dolls. Inspired by Hot Topic and the goth trends of the era, these dolls include a lot of macabre jokes, fishnets, and bizarre color palettes when compared to other girls’ toys. While they originally were going to look more like Barbie, their bodies and faces were changed to look more like Tim Burton’s characters. They have large eyes, pouty lips, long beautiful hair, and revealing clothing.

The main cast of ghouls include six different girls. Frankie Stein is the daughter of Frankenstein’s monster, with green skin, stitches, black and white hair, and bolts on her neck. Her best friends are Draculaura, the vegan daughter of Dracula, who wears primarily gothic vintage clothes with pink accents, and Clawdeen Wolf, the daughter of a werewolf, who is seen in gothic purple and neon prints, with long curly hair. Cleo de Nile is the daughter of Egyptian royal mummies, wearing gold, Egyptian blue fabrics, and tight bandages. Cleo’s sidekick, Ghoulia Yelps, the daughter of a zombie, is a non-verbal nerd, who wears her gray hair long, with bright candy-colored clothes. The last ghoul is Lagoona Blue, the daughter of a sea monster and ocean nymph, and is the sporty swimmer of the group.

As the well-known critic of women in advertising, Jean Kilbourne, has said “The body language of girls is usually passive, vulnerable, and very different from the body language of boys and men. Women are

often shown in very silly poses” (Kilbourne) This can be very easily seen in the art of these ghoulish gals. They’re posed with their feet in towards each other and their hands in hyper feminine poses, even for the characters who wouldn’t naturally stand like this. The nerdy autistic-coded zombie Ghoulia Yelps is very reserved in character, but she stands with a sheepish smile and her hand on her glasses. Similarly, Lagoona Blue is posed in a swimsuit with fishnet detailing, wearing bulky gold jewelry, perfect for her swimming career. While these girls have diverse faces and skin tones, they all share a scary thin body, bordering on being anorexic and having scoliosis. Their curved backs and thin waists are upsetting to some. One character, otherwise unmentioned in this essay, is a skeleton, and she has breasts made of her rib cage. Is it a lot to ask that a skeleton, of all monsters, be anatomically correct?

Feminist author bell hooks says “there really is a conscious manipulation of representations. Media is not about magical thinking, it’s not about pure imagination or creativity, it’s about people consciously knowing what kinds of images will create a certain impact [on viewers].” (hooks) This can be shown in how Clawdeen Wolf, a black woman, is aggressive and sassy. She wears primarily neon and purple dresses in form fitting silhouettes. She also tells young girls that they should shave their body hair. “I cut myself shaving this morning ‘cause my razor was dull” (Clawdeen Wolf’s Basic Diary). One of her favorite activities is flirting with boys, just because she can. “While they’re yelling for the boys, I’m in the stands flirting with the boys.” (Clawdeen Wolf’s Basic Diary) The only black woman of the main cast having such vain and promiscuous tendencies is a deep rooted stereotype of black women, having origins as far back as the 1600s. The Jezebel is a version of black women that are seductive in nature, described as fiery hot and concubines. Considering

Clawdeen is the only black character of the main group, she is the only ghoul to have her skin tone changed in four different doll lines. Her skin has been lightened in some merch, while changed to completely different colors, including white, in others.

Cleo De Nile, the daughter of the mummy, is a bitchy, mean popular girl. Wearing gold accessories and old bandages, her royal attitude is a result of her mother being an Egyptian queen. She is shown to not regard her friends in the slightest. When it comes to makeup and fashion, she and Clawdeen have a nasty rivalry. The only thing they can seemingly agree on is gold. Cleo is also depicted as making Draculaura a mess when being asked for help, smearing her makeup all over the vampire’s face. While this worked out in the vampire’s favor, it certainly was not the intent. The Middle Eastern girl being the villain of the early series is no coincidence in the ‘00s. After the 9/11 attacks, Middle Eastern characters of all kinds have been primarily evil terrorists set on destroying the American way of life. As a children’s show, she’s not as obviously evil, but being the top dog of the social sphere of titular school Monster High, ruling with an iron fist, is not the best look.

The dolls faced major backlash from parents. Mommy blogger, Frances Locke, claims that “they look like something Charlie Sheen would need to make disappear out of his trunk after a coke binge.” She also exerts that “You gotta admit, there is something very dead hookerish about these dolls.” While her opinion is a little harsh to the designs of these teenage characters, she has a point in that these girls are pushing the

limits of what is appropriate for young girls. They are scantily clad, in miniskirts and fishnets; Frankie and Draculaura having both.

While the dolls are significantly less riddled in stereotypes now, the original dolls are a scary depiction of unrealistically thin bodies and nasty character choices. Monster High has come a long way, removing outlandish accents, adding more body types, and making some characters non-binary. The way Mattel has battled these poor choices is clearly a marketing ploy to drive sales, but it will help young kids in being who they really are, as the original helped me.

Works Cited

“Clawdeen Wolf’s Basic Diary.” Monster High Wiki, https://monsterhigh.fandom.com/wiki/ Clawdeen_Wolf%27s_Basic_diary. hooks, bell, director. “Cultural Criticism and Transformation.” YouTube, ChallengingMedia, 2006, www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQUuHFKP-9s. “The Jezebel Stereotype.” Ferris State University, https:// www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/jezebel/index. htm.

Kilbourne, Jean, and TEDxTalks. The Dangerous Ways Ads See Women. YouTube, 2014, www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Uy8yLaoWybk.

Locke, Frances. “6 Reasons I Hate Monster High Dolls” Mommyish, 4 September 2013, https://mommyish. com/6-reasons-i-hate-monster-high-dolls/ Mhdiaries. “Monster High Diaries Frankie Stein.” Tumblr, 24 May 2020, https://mhdiaries. tumblr.com/post/619023419431878656/ wave-1-frankie-stein-diary-the-30th-day-of-june.

Student Reflection:

I chose this essay topic because this doll line was a huge fascination of mine as a child. It was valuable to reflect on the aspects of the franchise that may have flown over my head as a child. The rose-tinted glasses have not been completely removed, but I feel more responsible about my endorsing of this series with the knowledge of the stereotypes behind the characters I have procured. The research I had to do for this paper was a good trial in sorting through historical accounts and public opinion.

Assignment:

Orientalist-Focused Capitalism and the Nostalgic Zombie in Ling Ma’s Severance

by Megan Gardenhour

ENG 460: Senior Seminar

Dr. Michael Bibby

This midterm assignment asks that you write an original and well-researched analysis of a text that we have discussed in class or that is related to course discussions. For example, you could write about In the Time of the Butterflies, but you’re also welcome to look at one of Alvarez’s essays, or to engage with two or more essays, analyze both Butterflies and Before We Were Free, or read ahead to How the García Girls Lost Their Accents and beyond. Your analysis should contain a clear and argumentative thesis statement, cogent textual analysis, and a conclusion that indicates the significance and implications of your research.

Nostalgia and the post-apocalyptic novel intertwine in their conception; there is no future without reminiscing about the past. Ling Ma’s Severance is a novel set in 2011 New York entitled before “the End” where the main character, Candace Chen, is desperately trying to flee to Chicago with a group of survivors. The world has fallen victim to Shen Fever, an airborne illness that is contracted through the respiratory system and makes its victims perform mindless tasks until they die. The illness originates from Shenzhen, China, and spreads globally until the world is left with nothing but husks of humanity. Candace is a millennial who has just recently learned she is pregnant and is desperately trying to find her ex-boyfriend, Jonathan. As she navigates racial tensions and dangerous hierarchies in her group, she quickly realizes how her world will never be the same. Ma’s novel represents a world in which dominant Western culture alienates Asian American bodies through capitalism and orientalism. She creates this reality as cut off from the typical narrative by having the novel told through different segments in Candace’s life before and after the “End”. This plays on temporality through Candace’s literal and emotional movement across two different timelines and places serves to represent another form of an immigration story. In this essay, I trace Candace’s severing of identity against the typical immigration story to suggest that capitalism, orientalism, and nostalgia all serve a part in creating a new, postmodern outlook on Asian American bodies.

Ma’s Severance is marketed as a post-apocalyptic novel and a tale of survival, but it also serves as another story of immigration in disguise. Candace is ChineseAmerican, but she feels a strong disconnect from her immigrant parents. She speaks Mandarin but not enough to truly be immersed in the language. She also feels separated from her place in America and is the

butt of many racialized jokes by her friends. While remembering a party before the End, Candace reflects, “In keeping with the vaguely Orientalist theme, Jane had bought a mah-jongg set that we were all supposed to play after dinner, but no one could figure out the game. Candace, I thought you knew how to play this, someone yelled at me. Why, because I’m Asian?” (Ma 53). The constant back-and-forth between “Asian” and “American” is a prevalent theme throughout the novel, especially as she tells the story of her parents’ immigration and how she grapples with her tumultuous relationship with her mother. Unlike most immigration stories, the plot of Severance is captured in a sequence of non-linear memories from Candace’s point-of-view. Since her parents passed away before the End, they appear as traces of memory or, in the case of her mother, as metaphysical apparitions that appear to her. This deviation from a traditional memoir or retelling of events marks the beginning of a new immigrant storytelling era. According to author Aanchal Saraf, “the dystopic novel as a genre could provide, within its impasse, a way to think beyond capitalism’s restructuring of global temporalities along the lines of race and nation” (19). Ma’s Severance stands as a novel that both explores and challenges perceptions of immigrant identity. By having the narrative rely on Candace’s non-linear memories and the very concept of her physical survival as she travels between two places, Ma opens the novel up to a different societal commentary that challenges how capitalism goes hand-in-hand with immigration.

One of the ways in which Ma situates Severance as another take of an immigration story is through Candace’s emotional and physical movement throughout the novel. Candace does not have any semblance of home throughout the novel–she is continu-

ously moving locations and views New York as only a temporary residence. She states, “To live in a city is to take part in and to propagate its impossible systems. To wake up. To go to work in the morning. It is also to take pleasure in those systems because, otherwise, who could repeat the same routines, year in, year out?” (Ma 290). She views her residence in New York as a sacrificial offering to the city, but recognizes that she can’t stay long. In this way, she fails to form an attachment to any one place. Scholar Sonja Pyykkö states, “the question of belonging is a politically charged one, as is the vocabulary one uses for its discussion. How we choose to frame Candace’s experiences of rootlessness, uprootedness, and belonging is therefore something worth questioning” (74). Not only is Candace conscious of her social displacement, but she is able to recognize her own alienation from both New York and China. Due to the death of her parents, she has no connection to China or its culture, but she feels the weight of it in every interaction she has with her white coworkers. She also doesn’t feel like she belongs in New York because of her inability to stay there, stating, “There was very little keeping me here. I didn’t own property. I didn’t have family. I’d be priced out of every borough in another decade” (Ma 13). The underlying theme of Severance traces Candace’s desire to belong somewhere, which can be seen in her interactions with her daughter, Luna. She says, “I have been an orphan for so long I am tired of it, walking and driving and searching for something that will never settle me. I want something different for Luna, the child of two rootless people. She will be born untethered from all family except me, without a hometown or a place of origin” (Ma 287). The end of the novel sees Candace traveling into the unknown city of Chicago with Luna, desperately trying to find some semblance of home. This carries the traits of an immigration story by Candace’s physical movement across the country, but also through her emotional lack of connection to either culture. Ma uses the ending of the story to suggest a new era of immigrant storytelling by having Candace travel into the unknown in search of a new home.

Capitalism is a prominent yet omnipotent character in Severance. Candace feels the weight of it as she continuously shows up to her job in New York City, and she frequently fights with her ex-boyfriend Jonathan over leaving everything behind. At one point in the novel before the “End”, Jonathan begs Candace to leave everything behind. He claims, “The future is more exponentially exploding rents. The future is more condo buildings, more luxury housing bought by shell companies of the global wealthy elite…The future just wants more consumers” (Ma 13). Although Candace acknowledges this to be the truth, she can’t bring herself to drop everything and run away with him. She

regards this possibility as a mere fantasy. She tells him, “The way you choose to live is a luxury. It’s only possible for a while, when no one depends on you. But it’s not sustainable” (Ma 201). Candace’s role in the novel centralizes itself around her inability to make this decision because she has strong ties to her economic role in society. Without her job, she feels like she has nothing. This strongly correlates with Asian American identity, where most Asian American citizens find themselves irrevocably linked to capitalism and their economic standing. In her theoretical work Minor Feelings, Cathy Park Hong reflects, “It was made clear to me that the subject of Asian identity itself was insufficient and inadequate unless it was paired with a meatier subject like capitalism” (17). Hong’s quote engages with this idea of the American correlation with Asian American identities and capitalism. In the eyes of the American workforce, Asian Americans only retain economic value, but are invisible in all other social aspects. This image so deeply permeates the collective Asian American identity that it influences self-perception on an individual scale.

Capitalism is a weighted presence in Candace’s journey as the only Asian American survivor. Bob, the leader of the survivor group, leads everyone to a shopping mall in Chicago he owns at the climax of the novel. There, he locks Candace up in one of the store outlets and begins his descent into becoming fevered. The metaphoric trapping of Candace represents capitalism’s hold on her, both as the novel suggests with her character and her identity as Asian American. Saraf contends:

Asian people give the abstract processes of capitalism material form, since they themselves are as mutable in the eyes of white settlers as is the value of their labor. Constantly resignifiable, the Asian American body echoes the flexibility of capital, constructed as cheap or efficient labor in concert with the needs of the settler nation.

(13)

When Candace becomes physically and metaphorically trapped by capitalism, her value to the group is revealed, and she is merely wanted only for her ability to give birth. Similar to how white settlers value Asian identities for their potential labor, Bob sees Candace only for the child she could give to the group. After locking her in a Sephora store, he tells her, “The fact that you’re pregnant, it means something for our group. Maybe you don’t know it, but it does. It makes us feel hopeful” (Ma 167). Even when Candace has finally broken out of her mold of valuing money and routine as freedom, she is dragged back into it by Bob and his mall. The child is another body Bob can control in the group, similar to how the American economy controls Asian American citizens.

Candace’s Asian American identity finds itself tied within Bob’s capitalist ideologies, but the underlying orientalist themes in the novel largely contribute to the fetishization of Asian American bodies as a whole. Asian bodies and disease have long been linked together due to the SARS global crisis in 2003. Their bodies and presence in crowds are used to represent anxieties of contagion, creating the uneasy feeling of an “unknown threat”. On the matter of masked Asian American women in media, author Clare Ching Jen states, “They symbolize the Other’s feminized cultural difference as inscrutable and secretive - as unknowns hidden behind veils and masks. The drive to penetrate the veil and mask is a masculine colonialist project” (113). Although not physically masked throughout the novel, Candace falls under the image of the masked Asian American woman so frequently feared in American media. To the rest of her coworkers and survivor group, she is a silent outsider. Candace often observes her discomfort with the rest of the group, pointing out their constant inside dynamic she doesn’t quite fit into. She states, “There was nothing preventing me from unzipping my tent and joining them. I could lay claim to a log and make bad jokes, contribute gossip, wax and wane about group politics. But a part of me always felt like I was interrupting” (Ma 108). She stands out from the others because they view her as the new, dangerous outsider, which is similar to how Jen defines the masked Asian American woman. She reiterates, “Yet, racialized as culturally different, she [the masked Asian American woman] cannot help but fail: she is part of a masked, perpetually foreign, and potentially lethal yellow horde” (Jen 110). The growing uncertainty of the fevered makes the group purposefully alienate Candace from their dynamic, despite her attempts to follow along with Bob’s leadership. When Bob and the group begin to develop the idea that it is their duty to kill the fevered, Candace speaks up for the first time against his authority. This further sets her apart from the role of a survivor because instead of following blindly, she begins to question the authority Bob has set in place, which inevitably leads to her own survival.

Asian American identity in post-apocalyptic novels plays into the fear of disease associated with orientalist ideologies, but Severance plays a pivotal role in changing that narrative. Candace as an Asian American main character is a huge step for the genre, as before it predominantly emphasized the concept of the white savior stepping in to save the day. In this case, Bob plays a pseudo-white savior in which he is convinced he is leading them towards salvation. He frequently alienates Candace from the group purely because she is “Other”; she’s not religious, she defies him, and she is one of the few women. After he traps her in the mall, Candace

even remarks, “He doesn’t see you. It doesn’t mean he’s not a person. It doesn’t mean he’s not vulnerable… You make excuses for him, often to yourself. You think that if you just work with him a little, then eventually things will get better” (Ma 227). Although Bob is not a cut-and-dry antagonist of the novel, he still serves as an embodiment of what superiority complexes and “us versus them” thinking contributes to racialization. After New York becomes desolate from Shen Fever, Candace recalls an interaction with a cab driver where he exclaims, “Besides, now that all the white people have finally left New York, you think I’m leaving?...You should put on your blog something about how New York belongs to the immigrants, how it was once the first point of entry for foreigners” (Ma 261). Ma creates underlying tension between white and immigrant populations in the United States through these specific character interactions. Although the world has ended, the perpetuated racialization of minorities carries over into the claiming of territories and formation of hierarchies like Bob has established within the group. According to author Birgit Däwes, the post-apocalyptic genre is used as a tool to intervene in these ideologies, particularly with the imbalance of power between Candace and Bob. She claims, “the masked figure not only embodies strategies of the in/visibility of discursive power, but it ultimately dissolves, in quite literal ways, the boundary between identity and alterity, inside and outside, or Self and Other” (Däwes 7).  The novel’s end presents itself as Candace escaping the group, but the veiled meaning behind it is the escape of the Other from oppression.

The theme of the Other is common among post-apocalyptic fiction, but it often takes the form of a glorified monster. The monster most popular is that of the zombie, or a human-turned-cannibal that decomposes and hungers for human flesh. Originally, the zombie was created from the historic events of the Haitian Revolution. According to Saraf, “the monster has alternatively stood in for…an endless consumer as well its expendability from the body politic mirroring the expendability of human labor to global capital” (13-14). Slavery during the Haitian Revolution revolved around the value of human labor over humanity itself, resulting in the death of countless slaves. Zombie narratives tend to situate themselves in the middle of dangerous capitalistic structures, especially if global capital is placed in the center of everything. Saraf contends that the zombies in Severance are directly affected by global capitalism’s influence over their day-to-day lives, resulting in an inevitable death from the virus (14). Even though the survivors conclude that they may have a coincidental immunity from the virus, they have already been exposed to it through their labor and ties to capitalism.

The zombies in Severance do not carry the same foundations of a typical zombie, and instead they are just portrayed as decomposing iterations of mindless humans. Once they are infected with the virus, they are doomed to repeat an action that brings them comfort from childhood nostalgia. In one scene, Candace and the survivors stumble upon a family of fevered where they were all stuck as time loop zombies. When Candace sees a little girl in the back room trapped in a loop, she is horrified to see her decomposing while reading a book. Candace reflects, “She turned a page, looked at it for a few seconds, and then turned the page again. It was upside down…As she read, she chewed her hair, a strand in her mouth. In fact, she was literally chewing all of her hair off” (Ma 68). This scene, although horrifying to picture, serves as the embodiment of what the fevered are like through Candace’s eyes. She is horrified at their grotesque appearance, but finds herself sympathizing with them like the little girl she sees in this scene. They are lost souls with no direction of what to do except to continue with their task until they inevitably die by their own hands. Ma creates a subliminal connection between Candace and the zombies by their connections with comfort in capitalistic structures. Since both Candace and the fevered are unable to part with their repeated routines, they remain distanced from the concept of what it means to be human.

Ma creates an indistinguishable factor between the fevered and Candace through their attachments to repetition. The virus itself is believed to have developed through a facet of capitalism, by means of fungal spores in a Chinese factory under unsafe working conditions (Ma 210). The repeated movements of the fevered prevent them from maintaining their humanity, especially when they are no longer able to work. According to researchers Bryan Yazell and Hsuan L. Hsu, “Frequent parallels between the repetitive movements of the fevered and the routines of labor (whether in an office, home, shop, or factory) suggest that, in addition to being caused by capitalism, the disease merely exaggerates capitalism’s tendency to extract value from repeated movements” (39). Candace frequently finds herself relating her job and going to work every day as a sort of comfort to her, as she would get lost in the repetitive motion of it all. This directly correlates with how humanity has grown used to capitalism’s presence in their daily lives. According to Saraf, “it is unclear why Candace remains working at her job for as long as she does, though one can surmise, mirroring the fevered, it is partially habit, and partially an acknowledgement of capitalist determinism” (18). In this context, capitalist determinism is the framework for attachments to capitalistic structures, like how Candace and the fevered fall victim to routines without any choice.

Similar to the othering Ma represents through Candace’s lack of involvement in the group, the more obvious Other in the novel is the zombies surrounding Candace and the group in this post-apocalyptic setting. Dan and the other group members view their situation as an “us versus them” crisis, where the zombies pose a threat to their survival. Bob frequently claims that he “releases” the fevered as opposed to killing them. Their group members repeatedly state, “Rather than having them cycle through the same routines, during which they degenerate, we put them out of their misery right away” (Ma 70). At one point, sensing Candace’s reluctance to harm the fevered, Bob orders her to execute a young fevered girl. She reluctantly shoots her without choice, but she fires multiple rounds in an effort to put the girl out of her misery. Candace disagrees with the group’s violent mindset and the first time she speaks out against Bob’s authority is by claiming the fevered are not harming anyone. The similarities between the fevered and Candace is a stable pattern through the novel, and its implications are a result of the othering the group makes towards them. When Candace speaks out against the group, she reveals herself to them as a potential threat similar to how they view the fevered. Saraf adds, “the Other often can and does mean migrants, who rarely have access to individuation and instead always manifest as mob, as invasion, as wave, as yellow peril” (16). The survivor group begins to see Candace as this Other, indistinguishable from the fevered mob. This creates a new racialization of contagion where Candace is viewed as a collateral member because of her sympathy towards the fever. When Bob and the other survivors become fevered at the end of the novel, she manages to escape by kicking the fevered Bob. She states, “It’s a fury of kicks and blows, quickly, furiously accelerating before he even has a chance to react, if he can even react. Because he doesn’t so much as raise his arms in defense” (Ma 282). Candace’s brimming rage is a shift from her previous sympathy for the fevered. She takes revenge on Bob after he is fevered because of her anger towards his obnoxious control and superiority over the group. It is a symbolic act of not only the millennial experience fighting back against capitalism, but also the Other rejecting conformity and bureaucracy.

Even though the Shen Fever remains a mystery to the characters, Candace believes the key to the virus is nostalgia. Nostalgia serves as the primary trigger for the virus; as soon as a character visits a location that was comforting to them in their childhood, they begin to cycle into repetitive behavior. For example, Ashley defaults to trying on dresses in her childhood home and Bob walks through the mall like he did when he was a teenager, and both become fevered almost immediately. The subliminal nostalgia associated with

these acts is the reason humanity falls victim to the virus. According to Pyykkö, “As the ‘fever of repetition,’ nostalgia first transformed from a literal disease into a metaphorical malaise, capable of reducing not just the ‘fevered’ but all of ‘us’ into zombie-like soulless bodies, mutely repeating mundane tasks on a 9-to-5 schedule” (77). Nostalgia is what allows the characters in the novel to form attachments because of their emotional and physical connection to their sense of humanity, which inevitably leads to their downfall. Nostalgia connects itself with capitalism as a form of illness in the novel, transforming the characters into mindless beings that rely on routine. Nostalgia’s role as a force in the novel stems from the feeling of belonging to one place, which is a theme that Candace struggles with. It is both a relief and a curse, and Candace remains separate from the rest of humanity because of it. When Candace arrives in Chicago, she feels a faint recollection of home by remembering a childhood memory of her mother taking her to the city. Pyykkö states, “by claiming Chicago as her home, she claims America as her homeland. This new foundation does not erase her ties to China… but a person must belong somewhere, and Candace has chosen to belong in Chicago” (75). The ending of Severance is left up to interpretation, but since Candace begins to form that attachment to Chicago, it is assumed she does not have much time left before she is fevered. This conclusion to Candace’s character represents nostalgia’s hold on her, but also her defiance against it. She wants to provide a new future for her and her child, and by traveling to a new place, she is rejecting a routinized life.

Ma’s Severance is an essential take on the Asian American body reclamation and immigrant identity. It is a story surrounding an Asian American main character who breaks free of ties that she forges and is forced into by capitalism, orientalism, and the pressure

to feel like she belongs somewhere. Candace defies the societal expectations that are placed on her by running away from Bob and the group to start a new life with her baby in Chicago. The novel is a warning of humanity’s inevitable demise through capitalism, but it also stands as a hopeful message on Asian American identity and perseverance despite the racialization stemming from an increased global health crisis. It’s a story the world needs now more than ever, and the only possible solution is to keep walking towards the uncertain like Candace.

Works Cited

Däwes, Birgit. “‘Untenanted by Any Tangible Form’: Illness, Minorities, and Narrative Masquerades in Contemporary Pandemic Fiction.” On Culture, vol. 11, July 2021. Directory of Open Access Journals, https://doi. org/10.22029/oc.2021.1189.

Hong, Cathy Park. Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning. One World Trade, 2020.

Jen, Clare Ching. “How to Survive Contagion, Disease, and Disaster: The ‘Masked Asian/American Woman’ as Low-Tech Specter of Emergency Preparedness.” Feminist Formations, vol. 25, no. 2, July 2013, pp. 107-28. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/43860688.

Ma, Ling. Severance. Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC, 2018.

Pyykkö, Sonja. “Longing to Belong: Disease, Nostalgia, and Exile in Ling Ma’s Severance.” AMLit-American Literatures, vol. 2, no. 1, 2022, doi:10.25364/27.2:2022.1.4.

Saraf, Aanchal. “Global Racial Capitalism and the Asian American Zombie in Ling Ma’s Severance.” Studies in the Fantastic, vol. 7, 2019, pp. 12-23. Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/sif.2019.0001.

Yazell, Bryan and Hsuan L. Hsu. “Naturalist Compulsion, Racial Divides, and the Time-Loop Zombie.” CR: The New Centennial Review, vol. 20 no. 3, 2020, pp. 23-46. Project MUSE, muse.jhu.edu/article/798165.

Student Reflection:

I read Ling Ma’s Severance 3 years ago in Dr. Galioto’s Women’s Literature class. This was during the height of the pandemic, where we attended class behind thick, glass shields with the distinct haze of Lysol staining the separated desks. At the time, the story was scary and unsettling because the Coronavirus pandemic echoed the disease Ma wrote about, and it never fully left my brain. When it came time to write my final paper for my English undergraduate degree, I knew this was going to be the story I revisited. Ma’s novel continues to make an impact on my life and our surrounding American culture. As we emerge from a global crisis, it’s important now more than ever to turn to literature in order to write, reflect, and remember.

Protect Asian lives. Report hate incidents and donate to the Monterey Park Lunar New Year Victims Fund at stopaapihate.org. The hatred won’t stop unless we find our voices and show our support.

Assignment:

The Origins of Syphilis

by Larissa Cooper

HON 122: Historical Foundations of Global Cultures

Dr. Christine Senecal

The assignment was to write a persuasive research paper on a topic relating to our majors. I am a biology major interested in infectious diseases, so I chose to write about the sexually transmitted infection, Syphilis.

In 1495 the scourge that is Syphilis became a severe and prevalent disease throughout Europe. Scholars argue that Columbus brought the sickness to the European continent. However, others say that it existed before Columbus returned from his voyage but was misidentified. Others still argue for a Unitarian idea that supports the existence of Syphilis in the New and Old Worlds and that the disease evolved into a more virulent strain in the late 15th century after they were introduced to each other. I argue that the evidence shows that the Columbian hypothesis is the most wellsupported of the three theories due to archaeogenetics and literature from the time. It is also important to note that the Syphilis of the 1400s is not the Syphilis of today, which makes it harder to identify how Syphilis came about during the period. The similarities between Treponema pallidum (Syphilis) and other Treponema strains are difficult to tell apart due to the similar effects each disease has on human remains.

When Syphilis first came onto the scene in 1495, it was an unknown and mysterious disease. This led to much uncertainty and distrust among nations at the time. For instance, the disease was so prevalent and horrendous that different countries named it after their enemies, as if it was transported into the country by the opposing state.1 The disease spread rapidly throughout Europe.2 Ulrich Von Hutton, afflicted himself, wrote about the symptoms in his book De Morbo Gallico. Hutton said, “They had boils that flood out like Acorns, from whence issued such filthy stinking

matter that whosoever came within the scent, believed himself infected.”3 The syphilis of the 1400s and into the 1500s was a very virulent and unyielding sickness that was spread quickly from person to person, but the striking thing is that it seems to have just come out of nowhere. This, of course, is not true but is no less a widely debated question.

As mentioned above, there are three stances that historians take, the Columbian, Pre-Columbian, or Unitarian Hypotheses.4 Supporters of the Columbian hypothesis argue that when Christopher Columbus contacted the new world, he brought Syphilis back with him to Europe.5 A study completed in 2008 looked to genetic sequencing to answer the question. They used a phylogenetic tree to look at the species of T. pallidum and found that subspecies pallidum is most closely related to subspecies pertinue. 6 They also found that in the different Treponema subspecies, two genes that are important in pathogenicity, tpr1 and tp92, were found to be mutated, which suggests that the mode of transmission among the different strains is unique.7 The newer report acknowledges the limitations of their findings because the DNA was extracted from skeletal remains and that carbon dating is flawed because it can be impacted by moisture, making it possible that the remains studied weren’t from the period they think.

A separate article that primarily focused on treatments of the disease states that at the time of the epidemic, syphilis was widely believed to have come

1 Robert J. Knell, “Syphilis in Renaissance Europe: rapid evolution of an introduced sexually transmitted disease,” Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences, 271 (November 2003): S174.

2 Ulrich Von Hutton, De Morbo Gallico, trans. Daniel Turner (London: Bible under the Royal Exchange, 1730), 1.

3 Von Hutton, De Morbo, 4.

4 Kristin N. Harper et al., “The Origin and Antiquity of Syphilis Revisited: An Appraisal of Old World Pre-Columbian Evidence for Treponemal Infection” American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 146, no. S52 (2011): 100.

5 Ibid., 100.

6 Kristin N. Harper et al., “On the Origin of the Treponematoses: A Phylogenetic Approach” PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2, no. 1 (January 2008): e148.

7 Ibid., e148.

from the Americas. Hence, people looked to the New World for treatments.8 This can be further supported by a line in Francastor’s poem Syphilis in which he writes, “[…] on those shores recently discovered beyond the Atlantic; this disease is habitual and general.”9 Francastor’s line directly shows that Syphilis was not a previously known disease in the Old World, something that scholars adamantly argue.

Another interesting reoccurrence is that there was no art about Syphilis until after the 1495 outbreak. One popular and well-known painting of the time is Bronzino’s An Allegory with Venus and Cupid. To the untrained eye, it looks like any other Renaissance-era painting: full nudity and sensuality being depicted front and foremost, but taking a closer look, there is evidence that the painting has a secret meaning behind it. Hidden in the background is a man wracked in pain (See Appendix A). Margaret Healy cites De Morbo Gallico for an in-depth analysis of what this man stands for. In his book, Ulrich Von Hutton stressed that joint pains, raised swellings, and stubborn headaches were prevalent in Syphilis patients that these symptoms altered the complexion of the sick.10 The man hidden in the corner has swollen joints and is grabbing his head in pain; his complexion is also pale and sickly, similar to the description by Von Hutton (See Appendix A).

Christopher Cook writes about the Allegory as well in his article and talks about the playful child11 that can be seen to the right of Venus in the painting (See Appendix A). The child is throwing rose petals but is also stepping on a thorn, signifying how engrossed he is in the sexual passion unfolding.12 He is “foolishly indifferent to the damage being caused in the pursuit of that passion.”13 Bronzino’s allegory is an important work of art for Columbian theorists because of the time period it was made and its implications.14 The painting was made when higher-ups wanted to “sweeten the bitter pill” of the disease that hit Europe during the 15th century.15

The Pre-Columbian theory is supported by scholars who state that Early doctors misidentified syphilis until the outbreak in 1495. The epidemic was an especially virulent strain that was imported from the America’s, but that a less virulent strain already existed in Europe.16

In a painting by Christopher d’Alton, a woman’s arm is pictured covered in what are syphilitic lesions (See Appendix B). The lesions are small sores that can characterize other diseases such as leprosy.17 This supports the idea that syphilis was misidentified. The syphilitic marks in the painting could easily be misidentified or confused with different illnesses and combined with the fact that other defining characteristics of syphilis are confusion, sore throat, and swollen lymph nodes, it can be seen how this could have happened.18 Supporters of the Pre-Columbian theory recognize that if the disease was prevalent in Europe before 1495, it was a different strain than that described by medical physicians after the epidemic because of how distinct the symptoms were.19 This statement supports the Columbian theory, but it does not state that the epidemic in the late 1400s was the first time Europe was exposed to syphilis.

Radiocarbon dating has been used to place remains that seem to have syphilis lesions in the appropriate time periods. Some researchers have combined radiocarbon dating with indirect dating methods such as dating artifacts like architectural structures alongside the remains themselves.20 By doing this, researchers can gain a more accurate time frame for the specimens being studied.21 One study used archeological data combined with knowledge of how northern Dalmatia tribes constructed boats to date a swath of skeletons before the Iron Age.22 This data was necessary because the researchers found evidence of a bowed femur due to syphilis sereditarian tarda from the antique period excavation.23 The femur was examined for evidence of Paget’s disease, unilateral femoral hypoplasia, and

8 Fred L. Willard, Victor G. Aeby, and Tracy Carpenter-Aeby, “Sassafras in the New World and the Syphilis Exchange” Journal of Instructional Psychology, 41, no.1 (June 2009): 4.

9 Girolamo Francastor, Syphilis, trans. Martin Solomon Claiborne (Missouri: The Philmar Company, 1911), 13.

10 Margret Healy, “Bronzino’s London Allegory and the Art of Syphilis” Oxford Art Journal, 20, no. 1 (1997): 6.

11 Christopher Cook, “An Allegory with Venus and Cupid: A story of syphilis,” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1 (2010): 459.

12 Ibid., 459.

13 Ibid.

14 Healy, “Bronzino’s,” 3-4.

15 Healy, “Bronzino’s,” 10.

16 Harper et al., “The Origin,” 100-101.

17 Naveena Gvl et al., “Prevalence and clinical spectrum of childhood leprosy in a tertiary care hospital in Kolar,” Turkderm-Turk Arch Dermatol Venereol, 55, (2021): 132.

18 Von Hutton, De Morbo, 5.

19 Harper et al., “The Origin,” 126.

20 Harper et al., “The Origin,” 103-105.

21 Kristin N. Harper et al., “The Origin,” 104.

22 Ivana Anteric et al., “Which Theory for the Origin of Syphilis is True?” International Society for Sexual Medicine, 11, (2014): 3113.

23 Anteric et al., “Which Theory,” 3115-3116.

syphilis and tested negative for Paget’s disease and unilateral femoral hypoplasia.24 These three diseases are the only ones known to cause such a pronounced bowing of bones.25 Thus it is evidence for the pre-Columbian theory because of the

The final theory used to explain the origins of syphilis is the Unitarian hypothesis. This theory combines both Columbian and Pre-Columbian ideas, but mostly the view has to do with the evolution of the disease over time.26 Evolution is part of the founding principles of biology, and so this can be applied to the changes that Syphilis underwent during the 14001500s. As for most diseases, parasites, and pathogens, it is advantageous for the host organism to live longer so that the disease can also continue to live and reproduce. Because of this, Unitarian supporters believe that the rapid decline in severity had to do with the evolution of the disease after its introduction to a new host population.27 Francastor wrote of how the disease that afflicted the European continent was prevalent and not as virulent in the New World,28 and genetic data collected recently also supports that the disease was introduced to the Europeans.29

This evidence seems to support the Columbian hypothesis, but it uniquely supports the Unitarian idea when combined with genetic transformation. Horizontal gene transfer allows organisms to acquire pre-existing adaptive characteristics from other microorganisms.30 This is especially important in microbiology because, in today’s world, it can confer antibiotic resistance and just like in 1495, increase pathogenicity.31 It is possible that if there was a strain of Treponema that was not as virulent in Europe before Columbus’s voyage that after he returned, the two strains met and converged into a more virulent strain that then caused the epidemic in the 15th century.

Ulrich Von Hutton wrote of the sudden change in his

24 Anteric et al., “Which Theory,” 3115.

25 Ibid., 3115

26 Vladimir D. Elkin and

book De Morbo Gallico when he stated, “[…] for it tarried not long above the seventh year before the disease abated of its fierceness, and that the succeeding one, which yet remaineth, became not so filthy.”32

It is also important to note that the introduction of the “American” strain of syphilis was particularly fostered in the 1490s because of the socio-economic status of the continent.33 The continent was engaged in a power struggle concerning four of the major kingdoms of the time: France, England, Italy, and Spain, as well as involvement from Pope Innocent VIII.34 The ensuing war between France and Italy, in coalition with Spain, allowed the gathering of hundreds of troops from across the continent to come together in a single city.35 This allowed the rapid distribution and the potential transformation of Treponema strains throughout Europe.36 The return of the mercenary-fill army allowed for the dissemination of the disease across Europe.37

The evidence collected most fully supports the Unitarian Hypothesis because of archaeogenetic discoveries and the literature and art from the time. Genetic sequencing is used in molecular biology for a comprehensive study of many different organisms and was used in many studies cited in this paper. One such study created a phylogenetic tree to determine which T. pallidum subspecies are most closely related to modern-day syphilis. Many scientists consider the syphilis of today to be different from the syphilis of the 1495 epidemic because it is not as virulent as the other species.38 This is supported by genetic sequencing that grouped subspecies pallidum with a separate T. pallidum subspecies endemicum which causes bejel.39 This evidence points to the possibility that Columbus and his crew brought back a form of Trepanomatosis that was not originally venereal but that evolved to be.40

late 15th to early 16th centuries,” History of Medicine, 5, no.3 (2018): 194.

27 Knell, “Syphilis,” S174.

28 Francastor, Syphilis, 13.

29 Harper et al., “On the Origin,” 11.

30 Gregory P. Foumier, Cheryl P. Andam, and Johann Peter Gogarten, “Ancient horizontal gene transfer and the last common ancestors,” BMC Evolutionary Biology, 15, (2017): 1-2.

31 Foumier, Andam, and Gogarten, “Ancient,” 3.

32 Von Hutton, De Morbo, 4.

33 Elkin and Sedova, “On issues,” 195.

34 John M. Currin, “To Play at Peace: Henry VII, War against France, and the Chieregato-Flores Mediation of 1490,” North American Conference on British Studies, 31, (1999): 209.

35 Currin, “To Play,” 209-210.

36 Elkin and Sedova, “On issues,” 195.

37 Harper et al., “On the Origin,” 1.

38 Harper et al., “On the Origin,” 11.

39 Harper et al., “On the Origin,” 7.

40 Harper et al., “On the Origin,” 11.

Tatiana G. Sedova, “On issues concerning the European syphilis epidemic of the

Syphilis’s rapid evolution to a less virulent strain caused genomic changes that, essentially, turned it into a different disease. Ancient subspecies pallidum was discovered in Mexico and Europe and are phylogenetically distinct from contemporary strains of the disease, as both appear to be in closer relation to the common ancestor of T. pallidum than to modern strains.41 This is further supported by research published in 2020 that sequenced DNA obtained from nine samples throughout Europe, as only four of the samples contained Treponemal disease.42 Two of the four isolated strains were identified as causing Syphilis, but the two strains form a sister clade to today’s known strains.43

Archaeogenetic studies are an essential factor in determining the origins of syphilis because only looking at bone deformations can be misleading. A documentary published by PBS bypassed the peer review process, and instead, they released inaccurate data to the public that has been used to support countless PreColumbian hypothesis papers.44 The evidence chosen supports the PBS opinion from human remains in England.45 Scientists have since reviewed the data from the documentary and found that the argument for periosteal reactions is, in fact, valid, but that conditions ranging from tuberculosis to varicose veins can cause the calcium deposits seen in the Hull Friary cemetery.46 While there are many supporters of the Pre-Columbian theory, skewed data must be considered due to cited inaccurate information and variations in radiocarbon dating, which is often pointed out to prove PreColumbian dates.47 Due to this, data supporting the Pre-Columbian hypothesis must be carefully evaluated before coming to conclusions.

Literature from the time points to the Columbian hypothesis as the universally accepted theory due to direct quotes from scholars and the fact that art depicting the scourge did not appear until after the epidemic.

One such woodcut is entitled The Syphilitic Man and was completed by Albrecht Dürer (See Appendix C) and is one of the earliest known representations of Syphilis in the Old World.48 Further analysis reveals that the clothing of the man is that of a mercenary, the very people responsible for spreading the disease across the continent.49 Above the head of the victim is a sphere with the year 1484 within.50 Some may argue that this is evidence for the Pre-Columbian theory, but it, in fact, refers to an astrological date when five plants “met in the sign of Scorpio.”51

Other works include An Allegory with Venus and Cupid, as previously mentioned, and the poem “Syphilis” by Francastor. A unique and drastically important sculpture comes not from Europe but from 4th Century Peru. The statue depicts a mother disfigured by syphilis holding a small infant child (See Appendix D). The sculpture date supports the Columbian hypothesis because it accurately describes a strain of Trepanomatosis that may or may not be the strain of syphilis that caused the 1495 epidemic.

The evolutionary history of Syphilis is vast and brutal to trace at specific points in history due to the inaccuracies of carbon dating and the difficulty of distinguishing between Treponema lesions and other diseases.52 On top of these problems, Treponema pallidum pallidum seen in populations today causes different symptoms than were seen in the 1495 epidemic. According to the CDC, Syphilis has four stages: primary, secondary, latent, and tertiary.53 The primary stage consists of a small open sore at the site of infection, usually on the genitals, which is painless and often unnoticed.54 In comparison to the description by Von Hutton in his book is night and day, he wrote that boils erupted on the skin and were a dark green color that released stinking pus.55 Von Hutton, who was afflicted himself, acknowledges later on in his book that

41 Mathew A. Beale and Sheila A. Lukehart, “Archaeogenetic: What Can Ancient Genomes Tell Us about the Origin of Syphilis?” Current Biology, 30, no. 19 (October 2020): R1093.

42 Majander et al., “Ancient,” 3798.

43 Majander et al., “Ancient,” 3796.

44 George J. Armelagos, Molly K. Zuckerman, and Kristin N. Harper, “The Science behind Pre-Columbian Evidence of Syphilis in Europe: Research by Documentary,” Evolutionary Anthropology, 21, no. 2 (2012): 7.

45 Armelagos, Zuckerman, and Harper, “The Science,” 2-3.

46 Armelagos, Zuckerman, and Harper, “The Science,” 2.

47 Majander et al., “Ancient,” 3792 and 3794.

48 Colin Eisler, “Who is Dürer’s ‘Syphilitic Man’?” John Hopkins University Press, 52, no. 1 (2009): 48.

49 Eisler, “Who,” 54.

50 Eisler, “Who,” 53.

51 Johanna Pollick et al., “’Your body is full of wounds’: references, social contexts and uses of the wounds of Christ in Late Medieval Europe,” Science Museum Group, 15, (2021): 21.

52 Majander et al., “Ancient,” 3789 and 3791.

53 Division of STD Prevention, National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, “Syphilis—CDC Fact Sheet (detailed),” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022, accessed April 13, 2022, www.cdc.gov/std/syphilis.

54 CDC, “Syphilis.”

55 Von Hutton, De Morbo, 4.

the disease changed progressively within a few years to be less virulent.56 This statement is further proven in Francastor’s poem Syphilis 57

The secondary stage typically has a rash and sometimes white or grey sores in warm moist places, such as the mouth.58 Syphilis can also manifest itself as other diseases because it is considered “The Great Pretender,” making the condition sometimes challenging to identify and treat.59 This is on par with the epidemic of 1495. Von Hutton again wrote, “sometimes the disease transforms itself into the gout; at others, into a palsy and apoplexy, and infects many also with a leprosy […].60 There are similarities in this stage between modern and old syphilis. Still, the tertiary stage of syphilis comes quickly after the secondary stage,61 whereas in contemporary syphilis infections, the tertiary stage follows the latent stage.62

The latent stage of syphilis makes the disease seem like it has gone away.63 This stage may be present for up to 20 years in which the bacteria is still present within the body, but it is not actively producing any symptoms.64 After this stage then, the tertiary stage sets in. In the final stage of syphilis, the bacteria attack organs.65 Often, the bacteria attack the eyes, brain, heart, or bones, potentially causing lasting damage.66 What can be identified as the tertiary stage within De Morbo Gallico the sores that first cover the body then turn into cancerous holes and fistulas that eat into the bones, causing the sick to grow lean, “his flesh wasting away, so that there remains only the skin as a cover for them.”67 On top of this, the skin became bloated like it was filled with water, and other organs were attacked, causing them to become “quite spoiled,” in Von Hutton’s words.68

Comparing the disease of then with the STI of now brings the changes and evolution of the disease to light. These changes put the genetic disparities that archaeogenetic discoveries have found by highlighting the differences in virulence that the evolved genes have conferred.

The three origin theories discussed in this paper bring separate but similar data to the table for discussion. All three cite archaeogenetic and radiocarbon dating, however flawed they may be, to prove their hypotheses. Still, a closer in-depth analysis of the archaeogenetic data quoted and literature and art from the time reveals that the Columbian hypothesis is the most fully supported of the three. However, there are limitations due to the rapid evolution of the disease after the original epidemic and the similarities between subspecies and different conditions. Further analysis is needed to answer the question of where syphilis came from fully, and hopefully, with the evolution of science over time, this will become clearer.

56 Von Hutton, De Morbo, 3.

57 Francastor, Syphilis, 13.

58 CDC, “Syphilis.”

59 Ibid.

60 Von Hutton, De Morbo, 7

61 Von Hutton, De Morbo, 8.

62 CDC, “Syphilis.”

63 CDC, “Syphilis.”

64 CDC, “Syphilis.”

65 CDC, “Syphilis.”

66 CDC, “Syphilis.”

67 Von Hutton, De Morbo, 7.

68 Ibid, 7.

Bibliography

Anteric, Ivana, Zelijana Basic, Katarina Vilovic, Kresimir Kolic, and Simun Andjelinovic, “Which Theory for the Origin of Syphilis is True?” International Society for Sexual Medicine, 11, (2014): 3112–3118. https://doi. org/10.1111/jsm.12674.

Cook, Christopher, “An Allegory with Venus and Cupid: A story of syphilis,” Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 1 (2010): 458-60. 10.1258/jrsm.2010.100201.

Eisler, Colin. “Who Is Dürer’s “Syphilitic Man”?” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 52, no. 1 (2009): 48-60. 10.1353/pbm.0.0065.

Division of STD Prevention, National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, “Syphilis—CDC Fact Sheet (detailed),” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2022, accessed April 13, 2022, www.cdc. gov/std/syphilis.

Armelagos, George J., Molly K. Zuckerman, and Kristin N. Harper, “The Science behind Pre-Columbian Evidence of Syphilis in Europe: Research by Documentary,” Evolutionary Anthropology, 21, no. 2 (2012): 50-57. 10.1002/evan.20340.

Francastor, Girolamo, Syphilis, trans. Martin Solomon Claiborne (Missouri: The Philmar Company, 1911).

Foumier, Gregory P., Cheryl P. Andam, and Johann Peter Gogarten, “Ancient horizontal gene transfer and the last common ancestors,” BMC Evolutionary Biology, 15, (2015): 70. https://doi.org/10.1186/ s12862-015-0350-0.

Healy, Margret, “Bronzino’s London Allegory and the Art of Syphilis” Oxford Art Journal, 20, no. 1 (1997): 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxartj/20.1.3.

Pollick, Johanna, Emily Poore, Sophie Sexon, and Sara Stradal, “’Your body is full of wounds’: references, social contexts and uses of the wounds of Christ in Late Medieval Europe,” Science Museum Group, 15, (2021): 1-49. http://dx.doi.org/10.15180/211503.

Currin, John M. “To Play at Peace: Henry VII, War against France, and the Chieregato-Flores Mediation of 1490.” Albion: A Quarterly Journal Concerned with British Studies 31, no. 2 (1999): 207–37. https://doi. org/10.2307/4052743.

Majander, Kerttu, Saskia Pfrengle, Arthur Kocher, Judith Neukamm, Louis du Plessis, Marta Pla-Díaz, and Natasha Arora et al., “Ancient Bacterial Genomes Reveal a High Diversity of Treponema pallidum Strains in Early Modern Europe” Current Biology, 30, no. 19 (October 2020): 3788–3803.e10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. cub.2020.07.058

Harper, Kristin N., Molly K. Zuckerman, Megan L. Harper, John D. Kingston, and George J. Armelagos, “The Origin and Antiquity of Syphilis Revisited: An Appraisal of Old World Pre-Columbian Evidence for Treponemal Infection” American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 146, no. S52 (2011): 99–133. https://doi. org/10.1002/ajpa.21613

Harper, Kristin N., Paolo S. Ocampo, Bret M. Steiner, Robert W. George, Michael S. Silverman, Shelly Bolotin, Allan Pillay, Nigel J. Saunders, and George J. Armelagos, “On the Origin of the Treponematoses: A Phylogenetic Approach” PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2, no. 1 (January 2008): e148. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000148

Beale, Mathew A., and Sheila A. Lukehart, “Archaeogenetic: What Can Ancient Genomes Tell Us about the Origin of Syphilis?” Current Biology, 30, no. 19 (October 2020): R1071–R1095. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. cub.2020.08.022.

Gvl, Naveena, Suresh Kumar Kuppuswamy, Rajashekar Talari Srinivas, and Hanumanthayya Keloji, “Prevalence and clinical spectrum of childhood leprosy in a tertiary care hospital in Kolar,” Turkderm-Turk Arch Dermatol Venereol, 55, (2021): 130-134. 10.4274/turkderm. galenos.2021.60490.

Knell, Robert J., “Syphilis in Renaissance Europe: rapid evolution of an introduced sexually transmitted disease,” Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences, 271 (November 2003): S174-6. 10.1098/rsbl.2003.0131.

Ulrich Von Hutton, De Morbo Gallico, trans. Daniel Turner (London: Bible under the Royal Exchange, 1730).

Elkin, Vladimir D., and Tatiana G. Sedova, “On issues concerning the European syphilis epidemic of the late 15th to early 16th centuries,” History of Medicine, 5, no.3 (2018): 193-195. 10.3897/hmj.5.3.32481

Willard, Fred L., Victor G. Aeby, and Tracy Carpenter-Aeby. 2014. “Sassafras in the New World and the Syphilis Exchange.” Journal of Instructional Psychology 41 (1–4): 3–9. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=tru e&AuthType=sso&db=asn&AN=102742799&site=eho st-live&scope=site.

Appendix A

Figure 1. An Allegory with Venus and Cupid. From The National Gallery in London, in An Allegory with Venus and Cupid: A story of syphilis.

Appendix C

Dürer, Albrecht, 1496. The Syphilitic Man. Hand-colored woodcut, The Albertina Museum, Vienna.

Appendix B

d’Alton, Christopher. 1858. Sores and Pustules on the Hand and Arms of a Woman Suffering from Secondary Syphilis. Pencil and Watercolor on Paper, Wellcome Collection, London.

Student Reflection:

Through the writing of this paper, I learned a lot about Syphilis, which is not a commonly talked about sexually transmitted disease. While this paper primarily focuses on the history of the disease, my research still intersected with current disease symptoms and the overall progression of the disease, which was crucial in understanding how Syphilis has evolved over time. I found it very intriguing that current archaeogenetic data supports the Columbian hypothesis (meaning that Columbus and his men brought the disease back from the New World to Europe) because it is commonly thought that the Columbian Exchange brought the disease from the Old World to the New World, not vice versa. Not only has this paper sparked my interest in infectious disease research, but it has allowed me to share my newfound intrigue in a way that can raise awareness for the misunderstood topic of Syphilis.

Unknown. Syphilitic mother with child. Fourth Century, Peru. Rose colored ceramic. Musèe de Phomme, Paris.

Assignment:

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972)

by Tara Czekner

PLS 391: Selected Topics in Political Science

Dr. Mark Sachleben

Analyze a film, novel, set of music, graphic novel, or other form of popular culture (medium) of your choice utilizing your analysis and research. Make sure to include the following: provide some background material, provide a brief description of what the medium is about, discuss some of the relevant points about the medium, and research and provide what other writers and/or critics may have thought about it. In the summary, discuss whether you think the medium is effective in helping people see other perspectives or issues that are not commonly understood.

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972) is a British glam rock album detailing the story of an Earth ravaged by hopelessness following the discovery that there are only five years left of life on the planet. In response to both the despair and the extreme outpouring of love emanating from the denizens of Earth, Ziggy Stardust, a ‘starman’ who realizes that the only way to save the world is through the transformative power of rock and roll, descends on the planet to spread his musical gifts and indulge in Earthen delights. Widely regarded as the quintessential glam rock album, Ziggy Stardust provides important social commentary regarding politics in 1970s Britain, especially concerning social class and environmentalism.

Both in Britain and worldwide, the early 1970s brought about a period of change and awareness through workers’ strikes and conflict in Britain following the 1971 Industrial Relations Act and the Stockholm Conference discussing environmental concerns in 1972. As the new decade was rung in with record levels of inflation, the tension between the working class and the Conservatives in parliament also shot skyward, as trade unions pushed for higher wages and Conservatives sought to repress the power of the unionized.1 The parliamentary measures taken in the 1971 Act that increased governmental and employer power were met with fierce resistance and workers’ strikes that exacerbated the British economic disaster.2 Furthermore, a different crisis was brewing abroad. In Sweden, in 1972, the governments of the United

Nations began to explore impending environmental effects as a result of human actions.3 The first of many such conferences, Stockholm was the beginning of a long conversation about the dangers presented by the disintegration of environmental health.

Beginning with the song “Five Years,” Bowie explains the plight of a society dealing with the sudden news of the impending end of the world. Although the initial reaction is extreme levels of despair, in “Soul Love,” love sweeps the planet, as, in the absence of a future, humanity turns to each other for solace. Such human responses draw extraterrestrial attention, including that of Ziggy Stardust, who first makes contact via radio (“Starman”) before descending upon humanity as a musical messiah figure. According to Bowie, rock and roll has a transformative power that can both save and destroy, which Ziggy uses to his advantage throughout the album. As explained in “Ziggy Stardust,” he captures the hearts and minds of the formerly despairing Earthlings through his eccentric, androgyny, and healing message before he is martyred on stage by his alien rivals and the very children he hoped to save. In the final song, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide,” he leaves the world with a motivational message: “You are not alone.”4

The most important points of the Ziggy Stardust narrative are Ziggy’s rejection of 1970s British culture, especially as seen through the song “Lady Stardust,” often violent social conflict, as detailed in “Ziggy Stardust,” and the environmental crisis that brought Ziggy to Earth, as explained in “Five Years.” Ziggy’s

1 S. C. Ghosh, “The British Trade Unions and the Labour Law: The Case of the Industrial Relations Act 1971,” Industrial Relations (1980), p. 251.

2 Ghosh, “The British Trade Unions and the Labour Law,” p. 254.

3 “United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, 5-16 June 1972, Stockholm,” United Nations.

4 David Bowie, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide,” recorded June 16, 1972, track 11 on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Jones/Tintoretto Entertainment Company LLC, 2015, Apple Music.

presentation is heavily androgynous, using outrageous fashion to its highest advantage, a far cry from the typical expectations of British masculinity at the time. Every aspect of his appearance is meant to reject British ideals, which is at first ridiculed: “People stared at the makeup on his face/Laughed at his long black hair, his animal grace” but then not only accepted but celebrated by the end of “Lady Stardust.”5 However, Ziggy’s presence on Earth was not accepted by all, and he was eventually killed by conflict born out of his hopeful messages. The actual method of Ziggy’s death is ambiguous; in “Ziggy Stardust,” the narrator claims that “the kids had killed the man,” referring to Ziggy.6 Later, Bowie explained that extraterrestrials called “the Infinites” destroy Ziggy onstage.7 Either way, violent conflict is the result of Ziggy’s messianic message, despite his urging humanity to turn to cooperation rather than despair. Finally, although environmentalism was merely a burgeoning concern in the early 1970s, the plot of the album is predicated on an environmental disaster that will bring about the end of life on Earth as the audience knows it. In “Five Years,” it is implied that the death of Earth is a result of human overindulgence, destroying the planet’s resources.

Many critics see the album as both a reaction to and a changing of British politics of the day. Because of the unfair economic crisis in Britain and strict norms of gender expression, the album’s rejection of typical ideals was an unprecedented success for the British working class.8 As symbolized in the initial reaction to Ziggy’s appearance and then the acceptance of his hopeful message, ideas about masculinity began to change in the glam rock era. According to Andrew Branch, glam rock albums, beginning with Ziggy Stardust, initiated a social movement surrounding both ideas about gender and how young male listeners in the working class saw social class.9 Furthermore, according to David Larsson Heidenblad, beginning in 1967, global conversation about environmentalism entered into vogue, which fully resonated with Bowie in his writing and with listeners upon the album’s release.10 Therefore, while Bowie reacted to global events throughout the album, his album is often credited as the inception of a social movement in Britain.

Taken at face value, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars represent two fictional factions, the extraterrestrials and the humans, as humanity struggles to cope with the news of imminent destruction. However, the groups described in the album more poignantly show the perspectives present in British politics. Given the industrial and political instability of the time, Ziggy’s followers are akin to the working class of Britain, and their adversaries, including the Infinites, are representative of the Conservative government, seeking to destroy their movement. However, the album also helps to conceptualize the effects of environmental damage; the events of the album are put into motion by unsustainable development, which destroys the Earth, leaving only five years left of survival. Therefore, the album is influential in providing understanding concerning alternative perspectives and complicated issues, especially since the affected population in both cases is represented in the album as humanity as a whole.

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is a whimsical and fun space odyssey that alludes to much deeper meanings. From the first song, Bowie warns of the results of overconsumption and human excess in reaction to the birth of environmentalism globally. Telling the story of a messianic figure rejecting conservative expectations, the album also inspired political change in gender and social class. Overall, both as a storytelling album and an impetus for change, Ziggy Stardust has left an undeniably effective mark on listeners for fifty years.

5 David Bowie, “Lady Stardust,” recorded June 16, 1972, track 6 on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Jones/Tintoretto Entertainment Company LLC, 2015, Apple Music.

6 David Bowie, “Ziggy Stardust,” recorded June 16, 1972, track 9 on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Jones/Tintoretto Entertainment Company LLC, 2015, Apple Music.

7 Jack Whatley, “David Bowie explains the concept of Ziggy Stardust to William S. Burroughs,” Far Out, July 25, 2020.

8 Keith Gildart, “Aliens in England: Slade, David Bowie, Ziggy Stardust, and Glam Rock,” in Images of England through Popular Music (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), pg. 1.

9 Andrew Branch, “All the young dudes: educational capital, masculinity, and the uses of popular music,” Popular Music, vol. 31 no. 1 (January 2012): pg. 26.

10 David Larsson Heidenblad, “David Bowie and the birth of environmentalism: 50 years on, how Ziggy Stardust and the first UN climate summit changed our vision of the future,” The Conversation, May 23, 2022.

Student Reflection:

As much as David Bowie’s music has had a personal impact on his listeners, so too has it affected and been a reaction to the politics of the time. When asked to develop a political analysis of a piece of popular culture, I felt that, given the state of the on-going labor disputes and environmental findings influencing Bowie’s work at the time, which can be prominently seen in the album, as well as the ensuing glam rock movement, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was an apt and interesting choice. Furthermore, having the ability to evoke an empathetic response to any underrepresented party is an important skill, and Ziggy Stardust is a study in doing so, as it offers the same message to all readers: to treat others, regardless of their differences, with compassion. This project was fascinating to work on, as it offered insight into the trials and tribulations of the early 1970s, as well as combining my interest in Bowie’s music and international politics. Over the course of my research, I realized that studying Bowie’s motivations made his music and his messaging all the more poignant.

Assignment:

Searching for the External World

by Josiah Horst

PHL 249: History of Modern Philosophy

Dr. James Edward

The ongoing search for knowledge of the external world has been a highly controversial topic in the field of philosophy. Philosophers strongly believe that knowing any information outside of the mind is far beyond any normality of human comprehension, making that form of knowledge insurmountable. Many theories question how humans are to perceive a world that is outside the mind, which is known as theories of perception. This paper will discuss three popular theories concerning perception, direct realism, indirect realism, and idealism. After clarifying the three theories in-depth and which philosophers have supported each approach, I will then argue why direct realism is the most plausible of the three methods.

Before getting into the theory of how humans perceive the external world, defining what philosophers mean by “external world” is crucial. Many would think the external world would be any object of the physical world that our sense of sight perceives. However, the concept is much more complicated than people would think. The external world can also be experiences of ideas that the human senses allow an individual to perceive. The question then arises, how does one know what their mind perceives is actually there? Is there any way of knowing if such a world exists outside the mind? Philosophers have given themselves the task of discovering if the world external to the mind is perceived directly, indirectly, or does not exist entirely.

Direct realism is the belief that what the human mind perceives through the senses is precisely the external world that is understood to exist. Therefore, humans engage with the external world with an immediate comprehension with no difference in what is outside the mind and what the mind perceives beyond human senses. Philosopher Thomas Reid supported direct realism through his theory of common sense. Reid’s common-sense philosophy states that the external world is what the mind perceives and projects before human eyes. Therefore, what the mind perceives is no different than what is exterior to the human mind. Ultimately, Reid considers that if humans were under the restriction of the mind then there can be

no certainty that an external world exists. However, through observation of empirical data, humans perceive the external world as it is because perceptions are not mental.

The counterpart of direct realism is indirect realism. Indirect realism considers that the external world is perceived indirectly. When a human perceives an object, they perceive a mental image from sense data that bounces off the external world and onto the mind. The philosopher John Locke supported indirect realism with his belief that objects in the world have the power to produce an idea, known as qualities. The concept of qualities can be either primary or secondary, depending on whether the qualities are mind-dependent or mind-independent. Locke describes primary qualities as being “inseparable from the body” (Locke 29). Therefore, primary qualities are objective as they can keep their solidity, extension, figure, and mobility regardless of what happens to the object that possesses those attributes. For example, someone could cut a single grain of rice into billions of pieces, but each piece still holds its original solidity.

Secondary qualities are mind-dependent as they are, “nothing in the objects themselves but powers to produce various sensations in us by their primary qualities” (Locke 29). Secondary qualities are subjective as they relate to attributes like color, taste, and smell and are simply ideas that do not exist inside an external object. For example, the figure of a grain of rice exists outside of the mind through an external reality, but the grain’s color, taste, and smell do not. Without seeing primary qualities, the grain of rice is simply a colorless and tasteless object. Due to the idea of primary and secondary qualities, indirect realists, like Locke, think that there is a possibility of an external world. However, there is no way to understand knowledge about the world itself.

The last theory of perception is idealism, which philosopher George Berkeley was highly known for supporting. Idealism is exemplified through the phrase esse es percipi, meaning to be is to be perceived. Berkeley believes that the universe is an idea and

I was given multiple questions I needed to answer for the class. However, I decided to combine two essays into one, describing the theories of perception and discussing debates on the external world.

that the search for knowledge of the external world is meaningless as it could not exist. Berkeley states, “various sensations or ideas imprinted on the sense... cannot exist otherwise than in mind perceiving them”(Berkeley 64), meaning that the only way for anything to exist is if there is a mind around to perceive. For example, Berkeley puts forward the famous philosophical question of whether or not a tree makes a sound if it falls and nobody is around to hear the sound. Berkeley’s answer to his question is no because if there is no mind to perceive the sound, then there is no way for an idea to cultivate and consequently cease to exist. Idealists are sure that objects are collections of ideas that only exist as they are perceived.

The most convincing idea among direct realism, indirect realism, and idealism has to be direct realism for several explanations. Beginning with Locke’s theory of indirect realism, the argument for contrasting primary and secondary qualities needs to be tenable. Locke’s main idea is that primary qualities are stagnant no matter what happens to the object, and secondary qualities are subject to appear differently to different minds at different times. Locke’s argument for indirect realism is wrong because primary qualities, like secondary qualities, have inconsistencies and are subject to change. For instance, if someone visits the Eiffel Tower, the closer they get to the object, the larger it becomes, but the further they move away from it, the more it begins to shrink. If that is the case, what are the correct building sizes and the appropriate manner of perceiving the extension quality of the Eiffel Tower? Locke also constructs the view that there is a potential of an external world, but there is no way of perceiving it as all the human mind can perceive are ideas. However, if Locke stands by his first claim, how can he argue that there is a chance of an external world, to begin with if humans cannot and will not ever be able to comprehend that reality? Therefore, Locke cannot assert that primary qualities differ from secondary ones and claim that an external reality could exist.

In terms of Berkeley’s idealism, there are also drawbacks to his assertion. If Berkeley argues that there is no external world, then there would not be a way to claim the regularity humans perceive in reality. Berkeley uses another example of books that exist inside a closet and claims that if there is no one to

perceive the books, there is “nothing to the purpose; it only shews you have the power of imagining or framing ideas in your mind” (Berkeley 71). The claim can easily disregard the fact that somebody could enter the closet with the books on the shelf and get a precise idea of the books’ size, shape, and color. The individual then leaves the room and later returns, only to find that all the books are precisely the way they were left. Regardless, Berkeley does make a counterargument that there is a divine being that can explain the realities of consistency. If Berkeley claims no external world exists, what does that mean for the rest of existence? Staying consistent with Berkeley’s claim would mean that every person in the world would be an idea. Also, there is a divine being that regulates the consistency of reality. In that case, all reality is part of a religious entity’s idea, which means no human would necessarily exist. Therefore, Berkeley’s arguments contradict one another.

Scholars highly scrutinize direct realism, but since it is not highly complex, it is the most accurate. In direct realism, perceptions are both direct and indirect, not simply ideas. Indirect realism states that an external world is possible, but how could that be if sensitive data is unattainable? The external world is how humans perceive reality because perceptions lead to knowledge. For example, when humans think of an object, they are not merely picturing a cognitive representation but the physical object itself. In terms of idealism, the thought that everyone and everything humans encounter during their lifetime is nonexistent in the world’s grand scheme is suspicious. Who plays the role of the divine being that Berkeley states to be? Is the concept of the divine being simply an idea? Direct realism has flaws similar to indirect and idealism, but it is the most comprehendible. The external world exists separate from one another, and how human senses project external objects is the external reality that exists in reality.

Works Cited

Beck, Lewis White, and George Berkeley. “Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge .” Eighteenth-Century Philosophy, Free Press, New York, 1966, pp. 63–90.

Beck, Lewis White, and John Locke. “Essay Concerning Human Understanding .” Eighteenth-Century Philosophy, Free Press, New York, 1966, pp. 23–61.

Student Reflection:

I have very much enjoyed writing on philosophy. Philosophy academic papers have very few representations, and I want to change that. Philosophy is a complex topic, and many people struggle to understand numerous philosophical viewpoints. I want to provide a more comprehensible way of reading and grasping the concept of philosophy. In the end, I hope to give others the joy of learning about philosophy that it has provided me.

Assignment:

Silence: Tool, Shield, and Arrow in The Age of Innocence

by Isabella Brignola

ENG 363: Modernism

Dr. Erica Galioto

This assignment tasked students with investigating Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence through a specific theoretical lens. The essay submitted follows a feminist and psychoanalytic perspective to observe how silence illuminates different forms of gender negotiation in a patriarchal society.

Silence in Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence allows the main female characters, Ellen and May, to negotiate gender in and through defiance of the patriarchy. Many scholars note how Ellen unknowingly challenges the social order and how May upholds the world of meaningless symbols in New York during the Gilded Age. At the same time, many note how the relationship between Newland Archer and Countess Ellen Olenska is a near textbook example of the psychoanalytic views of desire. While much can be discussed regarding the silencing tactics of the tribal families and the limited but self-renewing relationship between Newland and Ellen, utilizing the merits of both perspectives allows for a more significant investigation into May’s and Ellen’s character. For Countess Ellen Olenska, silence is rare and powerful as she uses it primarily in defense. At the same time, her ignoring of Newland is instrumental in their ongoing romance. May’s quiet and soft-spoken nature, on the other hand, leaves Newland to grow uninterested slowly. Even so, her secretive withholding of communication towards the latter end of the novel becomes a weapon she can use while staying within social codes. Ultimately, the silences of May and Ellen depict the ways both women negotiate gender in a severely patriarchal society while it impacts the surface level of Newland’s affection towards them.

Unlike many of the characters who subscribe to the social codes of New York high society, Ellen’s near lack of silence alienates her and highlights the times she remains silent. In discussing how silence in this novel worked to uphold patriarchal values, scholar Clare Eby argued that it is not even the content of Ellen’s speech but “her assumption of free speech that must be silenced” (97). Ellen’s naivety about the harsh codes instructing the women around her not to take charge of the situations nor say what would challenge the thoughts of others ultimately leads to changes in Newland Archer’s understanding of these symbols. On

the side of psychoanalysis, scholar Renata Salec points out, “When we are in love, the love object placed in the ego-ideal enables us to perceive ourselves in a new way” (187). For Newland, this idea goes one step further, altering his worldview. Such a change depicts the dangers of uncontrolled speech and expression from women. At the same time, this silence becomes self-defense for Countess Olenska, as it draws both speech and lack of it from Newland. When Newland challenges whether her freedom is worth the anger of society, Ellen ceases to respond, so that “[Newland] rambled on, pouring out all the stock phrases … to cover over the ugly reality which her silence seemed to have laid bare” (Wharton 36). Part of the power of her sudden quietness is its contrast to her earlier openness. Furthermore, her refusal to speak leaves Newland grasping at straws to justify his argument and avoid the awkwardness of a cut-off conversation. This silence forces him to confront the wrongness of his statement on his own while protecting Ellen from the pain of trying to describe her reasons. For Ellen, such sudden pauses in communication give her power over Newland and shield her from the possible scrutiny of her words if she had spoken.

The dynamic of Ellen’s hold of power through silence becomes all the more apparent in the romantic relationship between her and Newland. A classic example is the famous LimeRock scene, where Newland establishes an internally enforced rule that he will only go to her if she looks towards him. Notably, Ellen later explains she not only knew he was there, but she says, “‘I didn’t look round on purpose…I knew you were there… So I went down to the beach… To get away from you as far as I could”’ (Wharton 70). Therefore, Ellen’s distance from Newland, her ignoring of him, and lack of vocalizing her presence to him were intentional. At the same time, she did not flee Newland. Instead, she remained where she was so he would see her there, but she denied her obedience. Salec

highlights this dynamic, explaining, “Ellen thus has a special value precisely as a thing that is absent, inaccessible, as the object of Newland’s constant longings.” (186). For Newland, the young man with financial stability, assistance with a job, and the perfect fiancée, it seems the only thing he lacks is a lack of something. Thus, he fails to find any meaning and feels isolated. Therefore, Newland latches onto Ellen because she allows him to chase but denies him full consummation. In fact, Newland’s vague understanding of this appears as Wharton writes that while he is unsure if he wanted to meet her physically, “he had wanted… to see the place she was living in, and to follow the movements of her imagined figure” (67). Thus, Newland’s desire transcends the physical and goes into the psychological. For Newland, his desire can only survive in Ellen’s idealized reality being far away, so it may never fall from grace. Salec mentions that this need occurs because “Our perception of reality is linked to the fact that something has to be excluded from it: the object as the point of the gaze” (189). At the same time, because Ellen can deny Newland’s advances and reap the benefits of his desire, she achieves her own happiness. As Newland imagines her life away from him, she earns freedom from the patriarchal control of a husband yet still feels she is desirable. Thus, Ellen gains power from this exchange, and her silences act as a freeing tool of love.

In contrast to Ellen, May’s silence slowly goes from something Newland appreciates to something he resents. At first, the protagonist admires this telepathic-like connection between himself and his fiancée. Wharton writes that “the fact that he and she understood each other without a word seemed to the young man to bring them nearer than any explanation would have done” (8). Unlike the playful joy people get from finishing each other’s sentences, Newland deems this ability to transcend language as proof of perfect connection. Clare Eby agrees that the lack of words indeed proves closeness, although this scholar focuses on the idea that “Old New York’s capacity for silent communication indisputably reflects its cohesiveness” (94). Early on, Newland and May’s relationship appears to act as the ultimate example of this effect. This communication then means that the couple is becoming one being rather than two individuals. In terms of psychoanalysis, this should be impossible because no two people can ever overcome the gap that is the subconscious. Even so, if May fits Newland’s objet a too perfectly, and if she cannot fall from idealization in his eyes, then Newland lacks lack and losses subjectivity. Language is no longer needed without such desire for something not in reach, leaving silent communication such as Newland and May’s possible. Newland’s transformational relationship with Ellen

slowly changes his perspective, and thus he finds May’s perfection upsetting when he truly wants something unattainable. Wharton describes that “he felt himself oppressed by this creation of facetious purity… because it was supposed to be what he wanted…in order that he might exercise his lordly pleasure in smashing it like an image made of snow” (Wharton 17). For Newland, May’s complicit nature-or at least what appears to be a complicit nature, is disgusting due to how perfectly it fits his assigned role. Her submissive nature, the way she fails to voice any dissenting opinion for much time, leaves Newland undesirous of her.

While May’s silences fail to draw in the same desire Ellen receives from Newland, she once attempts to utilize language in their relationship. Clare Eby notes that May does speak clearly at one point, which “shatters the code of silence and steps outside the boundary of the ‘feminine’” (100). This speech occurs when May asks whether Newland loves another, saying, “I couldn’t have my happiness made out of a wrong—an unfairness—to somebody else” (Wharton 46). This statement clearly warns Newland that she would prefer to break off the engagement should he love another, which is only expressed clearer as she cries, “Newland, don’t give her up because of me!’” (Wharton 46). The tragedy is that Newland refuses to listen and respond honestly. His own silence here and the subsequent understanding that May figures out she was right, realigns May’s obedience to the patriarchal codes of remaining mute. After all, if speech fails to protect her or fix the situation, then May’s best form of survival is using the same codes she is bound by to attack those who still decide to cage her. Newlands earlier assumption that he fully knew May slowly falls away as Ellen changes him. So, in comparing them during May’s archery, he recognizes that “As he looked at May... he had the feeling that he had never yet lifted that curtain” towards deeper emotional understanding (Wharton 64). Newland never seemed to consider there was anything behind such a curtain until long after he had married her.

May’s archery prowess, which harkens all too easily to Diana, the war-like huntress she is compared to, provides ample room for analogy as her silences become her arrows. Just as Diana’s hunt requires hushed voices not to scare away prey, so does May’s plan to ensure her stability with Newland. The same telepathic dynamic Newland once loved becomes torturous, as May’s encouragement of Newland seeing Ellen implies, “I know you mean to see Ellen when you are in Washington… take the opportunity of letting her know what the course of conduct you have encouraged her in is likely to lead to.’” (Wharton 80). Her nonverbal body language and her insistence on explicitly telling Newland to see Ellen traps Newland

into doing so while acknowledging that she knows more than he usually gives her credit. Furthermore, using less direct methods, May’s actions are not easily pinned or challenged by her husband. He cannot argue with her on the subject when she agrees, and by being the one to suggest this, May sharply reminds him that it is her cousin he plans to meet. May manages to stay within the feminine roles of submissive and gentle while being vicious and manipulative. As Diana rallies her huntresses and the hunting dogs, Ellen’s farewell party draws her tribal family to her side. Newland must accept that “the separation between himself and the partner of his guilt had been achieved, and that now the whole tribe had rallied about his wife on the tacit assumption that nobody knew anything” (Wharton 99). Notably, not only May refuses to speak on Newland’s love for her cousin, but so does the whole of New York. This follows Eby’s argument that “The unity of old New York is that of a police state-its silences…used as a means of surveillance and control” (Eby 94). By not speaking on the fact that they all knew Ellen and Newland had a desire for each other, they take away the possible satisfaction that Newland could find in a declaration of his transgression. Because they all know, they can create uncomfortable situations and almost rub Newland’s nose in his loss of Ellen. Furthermore, their knowledge and solidarity prove that May can simultaneously follow the patriarchal

codes and powerfully secure herself. Therefore, through silence and non-verbal action, May reinforces her place as a stable wife to Newland while remaining within and encouraged by the patriarchal society as stable. Appearing as a tool of love, a shield of protection, and an arrow for safe revenge, silence shows how women in Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence can find the power within New York elites’ psychologically complex and patriarchal society. For Ellen, silence protects her from the probing of others’ questions while allowing her to draw in love as she creates a lack for Newland. May, whose silence fails to attract her husband, uses muteness as a weapon to secure herself in Newland’s life. The multifunctional act of refusing to speak expresses itself as unique as the women’s negotiation of their gender and the patriarchy.

Works Cited

Eby, Clare Virginia. “Silencing Women in Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence,” Colby Quarterly, vol. 28 no. 2, Colby College, June 1992, pp. 93-104. Salec, Renata. “I Can’t Love You Unless I Give You Up,” Gaze and Voice as Love Objects, edited by Renata Salec and Slavoj Žižek, Duke University Press, 1996, pp. 179-207. D2L, https://d2l.ship.edu/d2l/le/content/3235666/ viewContent/27770540/View. Accessed 25 March 2022.

Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence, The Two Columns of Hercules Publishing House, 2022.

Student Reflection:

This was an experimental piece for me, as it allowed me to practice combining different forms of theory in a deliberate way. Beforehand, I had been able to pull in various theoretical lenses, but often it was more coincidental than purposeful. By starting with two perspectives in mind from the beginning, the paper’s use of both lenses was more fluid than other pieces. This particular subject also allowed me to do some of my favorite form of analysis, where I investigate the same concept, in this case silence, in various characters and compare the differences between. Ultimately, I found this paper to be one of the works that interested me deeply, so that the final outcome was not just for a grade, but for the satisfaction of ordering my thoughts in a way that could be shared with others.

Teachers’ Unions in Response to COVID-19

by Casey Harper

HON 106: Writing Intensive First-Year Seminar

Dr. Thomas C. Crochunis

Assignment:

The purpose of this assignment was to write a research paper analyzing a social issue. There were two options for this assignment- to pick a topic already offered by Dr. Crochunis or to come up with your own issue to research. This paper was a topic I chose to come up with, find articles relating to, and write a research paper about.

The primary purpose of teachers’ unions is to represent their members and to advocate for teacher policy while doing so in the best interest of educators (Marianno). Teachers’ unions had much involvement in the COVID-19 pandemic as they were considered throughout the process of returning to schools. Teachers’ unions played a key role in advocating for their members throughout the COVID-19 pandemic through their efforts in raising wages, fighting for health protocols to take place in reopening schools, and mandating vaccination and testing within the educational environment.

When the initial hit of the pandemic took place in spring of 2020, schools were immediately shut down. In turning to virtual learning, teachers found themselves working harder than they had been in the classroom. Educators were expected to hold regularly scheduled classes while online. This included taking attendance, checking in with students on a regular basis, and having pre-recorded lectures and lessons to be presented in the online classroom (DeAngelis 2268). Many of these tasks, such as taking attendance and communicating with students, are a part of the expectations for an in-person classroom. Though, additional tasks were required for teachers in an online classroom. Teachers went extra lengths to work outside of their paid hours in making lectures and other additional curriculum to use in the classroom (DeAngelis 2268-2269). Virtual education was a struggle for most involved, but teachers took the brunt of the work. Educators were expected to work overtime and around the clock as they responded to emails, hosted Zoom sessions, and attended numerous virtual meetings in addition to teaching their typical classes. Teachers exceeded the level of commitment required of them and looked for compensation, which was fought for by the teachers’ union (Alphonso). Unions advocated for teachers to raise their wages for all of the time they spent working past their paid hours. These efforts were not only to compensate teachers for their overtime work, but also because teachers are underpaid in

general and there’s been ongoing debate about raising teachers’ salaries (Alphonso).

Throughout the summer of 2020, the topic of reopening schools was at the forefront of conversations. Since reopening schools had a lot to do with the safety of students during a health crisis, the teachers’ union played a huge role in determining this outcome (Marianno). The “crucial concern” that teachers’ unions had when it came to reopening schools was the “health effects and worsening of the virus” (DeAngelis 2267). At the time, the vaccine for COVID-19 was not available. This led to a greater risk of students and teachers contracting the virus and spreading it (DeAngelis 2267). Many unions pushed to keep schools virtual throughout the fall of 2020 to prevent a new surge of COVID-19. Teachers’ unions have a duty to maximize the well-being of their members (DeAngelis 2266-2268). While unions pushed to keep schools closed to protect union-members’ and students’ health, there were many unintended consequences, particularly for the students. There were negative effects on student achievement, an increase in the number of failing students, and a drastic climb in the rates of children’s mental health issues (DeAngelis 2269).

Not all school districts remained closed in the fall of 2020. Since unions played a large role in the reopening status of many districts, they looked at district size, current collective bargaining agreements, and union revenue throughout their decision-making (Marianno). Unions would proof all plans to reopen schools. This included analyzing plans such as hybrid learning, remote learning, or the option to slowly bring students back in person over the course of the school year (Marianno). Though teachers’ unions wanted districts to open in a safe manner, some districts did not want to reopen with the same safety parameters. Many districts fought back against the union, leading to union strikes advocating for the safety of teachers and students (DeAngelis 2267). The ultimate goal of unions was to keep teachers safe during this time

of uncertainty which is why teachers’ unions were so heavily involved in taking action to protect their members.

Another effort that teachers’ unions fought for was to mandate vaccination for COVID-19. Vaccination policy was already included in collective bargaining agreements as many vaccines are required for students to be enrolled in school (Ronan 874-876). Adding COVID-19 to the list of mandatory vaccines was a controversial topic. Unions advocated for the influenza vaccine in prior years and the COVID-19 vaccine was an additional undertaking union fought for (Ronan 875). Unions weren’t doing this based on a political stance, but wanted to fulfill their ultimate goal—of protecting their union members and maximizing their well-being. The COVID-19 vaccine was created to help protect people from the virus which led to many teachers’ unions pushing towards this being another vaccination needed to attend school. This ultimately led to unions then fighting for in-person education if the vaccine were to be readily available and mandatory (Ronan).

Connecting to mandatory vaccinations, unions wanted teachers to be seen as frontline workers so they could be placed at the top of the list in receiving COVID-19 vaccinations (Ronan 876-888). The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) agreed that teachers should be considered frontline workers so they could sooner receive the vaccine (Ronan 877). In order to safely learn in person, the health of teachers and students needs to be protected first. Having high vaccination rates among all teachers and staff is an essential part to keep schools open and to continue in-person learning (Ronan 874). Allowing teachers to be vaccinated sooner also allowed them to protect students, especially students that were not eligible for the vaccine because of age, medical reasons, and religious reasons (Ronan 874-878).

Alongside mandatory vaccinations, unions also wanted regular testing to be provided for both teachers and students. There were efforts made to allow for mandatory random testing within 10% or more of the students and teachers each month (Ronan 891). This was sought after in order to ensure the safety of all within the school. Consent from parents was not always given for mandatory random testing which led to many students being required to learn from home if they refused to be tested (Ronan 891-892). This ultimate push was where unions demanded better testing within schools alongside vaccination clinics at schools and better ventilation measures in the classroom to safely teach in person (Durkee).

The surge of the omicron mutation of COVID-19 led to unions pushing for a temporary shutdown in fall of 2021 (Durkee). Many teachers’ unions wanted

to have temporary shutdowns, particularly during the holiday season when people were spending their time indoors. This became a breeding ground for COVID-19 and unions wanted to protect individuals when they returned to the classroom (Durkee). Various unions in both Philadelphia and major cities in Massachusetts requested this extended closure after the holiday season (Durkee). This was requested in order to prevent a new surge of COVID-19 when schools reopened after much close contact with others outside of school (Durkee). There was a lot of push to return students to the classroom, but unions wanted to ensure their efforts to protect both students and teachers (Ronan 876).

Teachers’ unions dealt with many perceptions that they were preventing students from returning to school (Ronan 892). Their efforts in keeping individuals safe were not out of spite, or to deter from learning but were instead to prevent further spikes in COVID-19 (Ronan 864). Unions were often viewed as obstacles for families and students in allowing them to return to their “normal” lives. This is not what unions had in mind, but they were fighting to protect everyone as they returned to school during the pandemic.

Though many unions fought for these efforts within schools, not all unions agreed to fight for the same things. Political beliefs within the area played a key role in negotiating these factors (Marianno). Many of the decisions to reopen schools, mandate testing and vaccination, and raise wages became mostly political instead of scientific due to the health concerns surrounding COVID-19 (Ronan 866). For example, vaccine mandates were rarely executed in rural, Republican-led states (Ronan 866). These states also fought against vaccine and mask mandates along with refusing to implement health protocols in schools (Ronan 866). Political stances played a huge role in the COVID-19 pandemic and spread to unions. Primarily Democratic-led areas focused on health concerns and put those at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19. As President Joe Biden said, “Treat in-person learning like [the] essential service that it is” in his statement to protect teachers and mandate vaccination (Ronan 889). While many teachers’ unions tried to stay neutral in their efforts, political perspectives seeped into decision-making as well.

Overall, unions made a huge impact in supporting teachers throughout the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The unions kept their best interest focused on their members while also trying to protect others within the educational system. Ultimately, they advocated heavily for raising wages, reopening schools in a safe manner, and placing vaccination and testing at the forefront of those safety measures.

Works Cited

Alphonso, Caroline. “Ontario Teachers Launch Contract Talks; Educators Are Seeking Compensation That Reflects Time Invested during the Pandemic, Union President Says.” Globe & Mail (Toronto, Canada), 16 August 2022. Accessed 3 October 2022.

DeAngelis, Corey A., and Christos Makridis. “Are School Reopening Decisions Related to Union Influence?” Social Science Quarterly (Wiley=Blackwell), vol 102, no. 5, Sept. 2021, pp. 2266-84. Accessed 3 October 2022.

Durkee, Alison. “Teachers Unions Vs. In-Person Learning: Chicago Voting On Remote Learning Amid Covid Surge.” Forbes.Com, Jan. 2022, p. N.PAG. Accessed 3 October 2022.

Marianno, B. D., et. al (2022). “Power in a Pandemic: Teachers’ Unions and Their Responses to School Reopening.” AERA Open, 26 Jan. 2022. Accessed 3 October 2022.

Ronan, Seamus J. “Standardized (COVID) Testing? Vaccine Mandates and Teachers’ Union Collective Bargaining Agreements in Urban School Districts.” Fordham Urban Law Journal, vol. 49, no. 4, May 2022, pp. 861-914. Accessed 3 October 2022.

Student Reflection:

I found the research that I did to be impactful towards me and thinking about my future as an educator. I am an early education and special education major and joining a teachers union is something that I’ve considered for the future. I think it was interesting to see the dynamic that unions played with schools and the safety measures for the union members. The role that unions played was something I was not expecting to see as they were heavily involved in much of the reopening schools process and the parameters around that. I think this controversial issue with COVID-19 played a big role in influencing my research because it is such a recent event in society today. Overall, this research will definitely play a role in my future as a teacher.

How do I submit to Write the Ship?

Write the Ship is Shippensburg University’s Undergraduate Academic Journal.

The Write the Ship staff is seeking fiction, non-fiction, essays, feature writing, reports and scholarly research of outstanding quality; there are no restrictions on genre, style or subject matter. The journal welcomes submissions from all departments and colleges across campus, from introductory level to upper level courses.

We are now seeking student work for the 2023-2024 issue!

Students who wish to have their work published must be sponsored by a professor and are encouraged to seek sponsorship for papers they feel are of excellent quality. The application for submissions must be completed and turned in with a copy of the work to be considered by the due date.

Visit ship.edu/English/Write_the_Ship for a submission form, or contact our editor at writetheship@ship.edu with any questions.