Sibyl Volume 1 2013

sybil

the women’s college academic journal / volume 1 / 2013 /

EDITORIAL BOARD Dr Tiffany Donnelly Ms Gemma Easter Dr Rebecca Lesic Dr Olivia Murphy Ms Philippa Ryan Designed by Regina Safro

CONTACT DETAILS The Women’s College The University of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia Phone: +61 2 9517 5000 Fax: +61 2 9517 5006 Web: www.thewomenscollege.com.au Published by: The Women’s College within the University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia © 2013

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CONTENTS 4

INTRODUCTION

BY OLIVIA MURPHY

6

‘IT’S BARBIE, BITCH!’: IN DEFENSE OF NICKI MINAJ, BLACK FEMALE RAPPERS AND HIP-HOP FEMINISM

BY AUN QI KOH

16

THE IMPORTANCE OF ANATOMICAL UNDERSTANDING IN REPAIR OF EQUINE PERINEAL LASCERATIONS AND FISTULAS

BY LAUREN WALKER

22

SHAKESPEARE AND THE ROMANTICS

BY SUZANNE SHERRINGTON

32

THE NORTHERN TERRITORY INTERVENTION: A FOUCAULDIAN ANALYSIS

BY MARIE-ELLEN KARYKIS

40

LIBERATION OR OPPRESSION? THE EVOLUTION OF WOMEN’S DRESS IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

BY LINDSAY SCOTT

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INTRODUCTION WELCOME TO THE INAUGURAL EDITION OF SYBIL, A NEW JOURNAL SHOWCASING THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE UNDERGRADUATES OF THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE. THE PAST YEAR HAS BEEN AN EVENTFUL AND EXCITING TIME FOR THE COLLEGE, AS WE CELEBRATED OUR 120TH ANNIVERSARY. OUR STUDENTS CONTINUE TO EXCEL IN SPORTS, THE ARTS, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, AND IN EVERY DISCIPLINE TAUGHT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY. THE AIM OF SYBIL IS TO PROVIDE A FORUM FOR CELEBRATING OUR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ SUCCESSES IN THEIR UNIVERSITY STUDIES.

THE JOURNAL

S

ybil is published thanks to the support of the college Council and the Principal Dr Jane Williamson. Its editorial board is comprised of the Vice Principal, Dr Tiffany Donnelly, and the tutorial fellows, Ms Gemma Easter, Dr Rebecca Lesic, Dr Olivia Murphy and Ms Philippa Ryan. We are grateful for the assistance of Ms Regina Safro in readying the manuscript for publication.

The journal takes its name (and its cover image) from the central character of A Mask, a st play commissioned by Principal Louisa Macdonald to mark the college’s 21 anniversary, in 1913. The play is part of Sydney’s literary history, written for the occasion by poets John Le Gay Brereton (1871 – 1933), then a librarian at the university, and Christopher Brennan (1870 – 1932), at the time a lecturer in modern languages. For Brennan the play represents a rare moment of literary productivity during what was an extremely tumultuous period in his life, both professionally and domestically. We can surmise, therefore, that it was Brereton’s encouragement that allowed Brennan to complete the work. Both men were noted supporters of women’s education, and popular teachers. The play – or more properly, masque – reflects Brereton’s work as an Elizabethan scholar, and Brennan’s lifelong interest in classicism, philosophy and spirituality. It features famous women from history assembling before the Sybil, the prophetess of the ancient world, celebrating the achievements of women, and prophesying their future glory. Such entertainments were surprisingly popular in Sydney in the years leading up to and during the Great War, and reflected a revival of interest in early modern English culture, with an imperial slant. A copy of the play is available in the college library.

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THE COMPETITION

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ll students were invited to enter High Distinction essays from their university courses to be considered for the journal, provided they were no more than 3000 words in length. A great number of essays met the criteria for inclusion, and choosing the final five for publication was an extremely difficult exercise. This journal offers a small sample of students’ work across the humanities, fine arts and sciences—many more essays were considered from other academic disciplines.

The exigencies of reaching a final collection of five essays led the editors to privilege those submissions which were most accessible to a lay readership; were argued most compellingly; and which demonstrated the breadth of scholarship undertaken by students at the college. We are grateful to all those who submitted essays for consideration, and wish to stress that we felt each essay we read to be worthy of publication, had space allowed.

THE ESSAYS

T

he essays ultimately included are in the fields of cultural studies, veterinary science, Chinese studies, political theory and music. They were each composed as assignments for undergraduate units, and reflect both their disciplinary conventions and the usual constraints of undergraduate scholarship. We have kept all editorial amendments to a strict minimum, and retained the original referencing styles (which therefore differ between essays). As we would expect in light of our diverse student body, our contributors hail from regional NSW, interstate and overseas.

We are extremely proud of the academic successes of our students, and of the small sample represented here. We hope that Sybil joins other Women’s College traditions as the college grows into its second century.

Olivia Murphy Teaching Fellow, English Editor-in-Chief

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‘IT’S BARBIE, BITCH!’: IN DEFENSE OF NICKI MINAJ, BLACK FEMALE RAPPERS AND HIP-HOP FEMINISM

BY AUN QI KOH / THIRD YEAR ARTS LAW

Fig. 1: Album cover of It’s Barbie Bitch! (2009) by Nicki Minaj

INTRODUCTION

N

icki Minaj is, undoubtedly, the most popular female rapper in American mainstream music today. The reasons for her success have been hotly debated, however, with detractors accusing her of pandering to commercial tastes and dismissing the shallow and hypersexualized nature of her songs and image. In this article I examine the apparent tensions arising from the objectification and empowerment of Black female rappers in hip-hop. By using Nicki Minaj as a case study, and exploring the feminist issues and sociocultural history underlying the perception of Black female rappers and their work by various parties, I hope to explain the position and significance of Black female rap in contemporary American music and society.

I will first examine the historical objectification and subordination of the Black female body, along with its impact on hip-hop culture. Next, I will highlight Joan Morgan’s concept of ‘hip-hop feminism’ and apply it to Minaj’s experiences as a woman within the music industry.

I will then investigate the significance of Minaj’s multiple alter egos, in particular their contribution to her success and their impact on rap’s relationship with the LGBT community.

Finally, I will examine how Minaj has introduced a new ‘feminine’ dimension to Black female rap. I will show that ultimately, Nicki Minaj, far from being an objectified ‘video vixen’, rather embodies and challenges the contradictions inherent in hip-hop feminism, using rap as a means of forging new spaces for herself and other Black women to empower themselves and construct their own identities.

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FROM SLAVES TO ‘VIDEO VIXENS’: THE OBJECTIFICATION AND SUBORDINATION OF BLACK WOMEN THROUGHOUT AMERICAN HISTORY

A

s a youth movement and a way of life that began in the 1970s in the South Bronx, hip-hop has now developed into a global culture, with rap as its music (Pough 2004: 3). From its very beginning, hip-hop was viewed as ‘a man’s world’, with misogyny and inequality being recurring issues within the genre (Respers 2009).

In particular, female rappers occupy a ‘peculiar place of cultural antipathy’, often accused of selling out and blamed for participating in the exploitation of women (Sharpley-Whiting 2007: xi). Moreover, female rappers are perceived as subordinate to their male peers, with emphasis being placed more on their looks than their rapping ability (Smith 2008).

Such perceptions arguably stem both from historical and current sources. The historical sexualisation and commodification of the Black female body can be demonstrated by the true story of Saartje Baartman, a Khoisan woman (from modern-day South Africa) exhibited throughout nineteenth-century Europe as a novelty (Fleetwood 2011: 118). Baartman’s exhibition as ‘the Hottentot Venus’ has become a touchstone for scholarship on Black female bodies (Fleetwood 2011: 118), their portrayal as excessive and degenerate, and their commercialized objectification (Smith 2008). Parallels have been drawn between Baartman and the ‘video vixens’, or female extras, in rap music videos today (Smith 2008, Shalondadeisha 2008). Rap music videos arguably act as a channel for the ‘global touring’ and continual circulation of the Black female performing body (Fleetwood 2011: 133).

Importantly for female rappers, such videos further highlight the depiction of Black females as surplus populations within Black cultural representation, rather than as individual subjects (Fleetwood 2011: 133).

The socialising constructs of Black womanhood have also played a role in negatively stereotyping Black women. One such construct is the immoral Black Jezebel, a historical stereotype imposed upon enslaved African women which portrays the Black female as a promiscuous, lewd, and sexually-alluring creature who exploits men for her own interests (Richardson 2006: 58). Another construct is that of the ‘strong Black woman’, which portrays Black women as the backbone of African-American culture yet subordinate to Black men and white society (Richardson 2006: 59). In an examination of the perception of a grand jury towards female rapper Lil’ Kim during her 2005 trial for perjury, Elaine Richardson concludes that Lil’ Kim herself fell victim to both constructs (Richardson 2006: 70). Such stereotypes still exist in hip-hop today, with Jonah Weiner observing that hip-hop femininity is often described as a binary that consists of women who either celebrate their sexual and financial independence, or are ‘sluts’ (Weiner 2008).

How does all this apply to Nicki Minaj? Nicole R. Fleetwood previously argued that rapper Lil’ Kim’s ‘excess flesh performance’ in the sexually-explicit music video ‘How Many Licks’ engaged with and was shaped by the historical sexualization and commodification of the Black female body (Fleetwood 2011: 138). Similarly, Nicki Minaj is arguably a ‘video vixen’ who, like Lil’ Kim, is the ‘object, subject, and author’ of sexually explicit music videos (Fleetwood 2011: 138). In a painstaking scene-by-scene analysis, Minaj’s video for her hit song ‘Super Bass’ was criticized for ‘missing the point’, degrading and objectifying both men and women (Marynowski 2011). Additionally, her lyrics have been condemned for focusing on women’s sexual ability (Moody 2011: 49). Minaj has also fallen victim to the popular perception that female rappers achieve success by sleeping around, with rumours being circulated that she made a sex tape a few years ago with her mentor, rapper Lil’ Wayne (MTV 2011).

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Fig. 2: Nicki Minaj performing a lap dance in the music video for ‘Super Bass’ (2011)

IN DEFENSE OF BLACK FEMALE RAPPERS: HIP-HOP FEMINISTS STANDING UP FOR BLACK WOMEN

S

uch negative stereotypes, fostered through American history and embodied in the cultural and gender politics surrounding rap music today, have undoubtedly contributed to the significant dearth of female rappers in mainstream hip-hop music (Respers 2009). Black women are acutely aware of the constraints and constructs surrounding them, and those who rap use it as a medium to express themselves and highlight issues facing Black women and the African-American community as a whole.

The multilayered context of Black female rap music can be viewed through the lens of what cultural critic Joan Morgan calls ‘hip-hop feminism’, a position that claims ‘the powerful richness and delicious complexities inherent in being black girls now – sistas of the postCivil Rights, post-feminist, post soul, hip-hop generation’ (Morgan 1999: 56-57, quoted in Fleetwood 2011: 134). Importantly, ‘hip-hop feminism’ must be distinguished from mainstream ‘feminism’, which many female rappers (and Black women) reject as the label for a white women’s social movement, and an anti-Black male stance (Rose 2004: 303).

An example of the contradictions embodied in hip-hop feminism can be demonstrated by the apparent juxtaposition between Minaj’s hypersexual image and her awareness of feminist issues within the hip-hop music industry and Black community. Minaj acknowledges her position as a female rapper, and has shown herself to be an astute businesswoman aware of the importance of identity and the risk of exploitation in the music industry. She states: ‘What I’m concerned about is being a female and getting my business in order. … I hope that girls that come after me will remember that Nicki Minaj said, “Get your business in order first then do what you love to do”’ (Vibe 2009). Furthermore, in her song ‘I’m the Best’, Minaj raps, ‘All the girls will come in, as long as they understand/That I’m fightin’ for the girls that never thought they could win/Cause before they could begin you told ‘em it was the end/But I am here to reverse the curse that they live in’.

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In interviews, Minaj also expresses her frustration with the stereotypes and constraints foisted upon women in the rap industry, saying, ‘People never want to see females shine.

They want to keep you bobbed down and keep you in a box where all you do is fight. … I’m Nicki Minaj, bitch! It’s Barbie, bitch! That’s my catchphrase, “It’s Barbie, bitch!” Nothing else matters. Niggas know.’ (Vibe 2009). Minaj’s use of the word ‘bitch’ further underlines how female rappers have appropriated the once-derogatory term for themselves. Such verbal violence is used not as mere negativity but as a type of ‘hip-hop feminist symbolism’ by women to assert themselves, and to articulate rage and violence instead of victimisation (Richardson 2006: 60).

Equally important in hip-hop feminism is the power of autobiographical accounts and life stories, which can be deployed by female rappers to displace negative portrayals of Black womanhood (Pough 2004: 101). Minaj’s family history situates her within the continuum of Black community experiences, given her own experience of family instability and poverty in Harlem. In an interview, she paints a brief picture of her family history, emphasising her awareness and experience of hardship, while simultaneously defending her preference for happier songs, saying, ‘I have a song I wrote called “Autobiography”. I came from a very intense living situation, with having a parent on drugs and not having a lot of money. So I always want to talk about the real things. But I think 90 percent of my music, I want it to be “feel-good music”’ (Vibe 2009).

One might speculate that such songs provided a form of escapism for her, as demonstrated by her explanation surrounding her foray into theatre and music, ‘To get away from all their [Minaj’s parents’] fighting, I would imagine being a new person. “Cookie” was my first identity … I went on to “Harajuku Barbie,” then “Nicki Minaj”’ (Goodman 2010).

Again, hip-hop feminism comes into play, with Minaj’s ‘feel-good’ songs and career choices being contrasted with her personal story of struggle and family hardship. As Minaj’s story demonstrates, Black female rappers both embody and highlight the multilayered complexity that reflects the social realities of Black womanhood, both in the personal and public spheres.

AMBIGUITY, FLUIDITY AND IDENTITY DECONSTRUCTION: THE POWER OF NICKI MINAJ’S MULTIPLE ALTER EGOS

C

heryl Keyes identifies four distinct categories of female rappers, each of which mirrors certain images, voices and lifestyles of African-American women in contemporary urban society: ‘Queen Mother’, ‘Fly Girl’, ‘Sista with Attitude’, and ‘Lesbian’ (Keyes 2004: 266-274). Nicki Minaj is probably best viewed as a conflation between ‘Fly Girl’ – exemplified by her lyrics, such as those in her song ‘I’m the Best,’ which use material status (‘I might cop a million Jimmy Choos just for fun’) to validate her success – and ‘Sista with Attitude,’ as demonstrated by how Minaj defies those who thought she would not succeed in the music industry, rapping, ‘I’m the best bitch, doin’ it, doin’ it.’

Minaj is particularly well known, however, for her multiple alter egos, which to some extent transcend the categories identified by Keyes. Her ability to transform herself throughout and within the various stages of her career has arguably contributed to her rising success in the music industry. When starting out, she adopted the personality of ‘Nicki Lewinsky,’ as demonstrated by her song ‘I Get Crazy,’ which portrayed her as a rapper who conflated fly and hardcore attitudes in erotic lyrics and video performances (Keyes 2004: 272).

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However, in her major label release Pink Friday, Minaj explores a wide variety of alter egos, including ‘Barbie’ (whom Minaj describes as ‘an innocent little girl’), ‘Roman Zolanski,’ and ‘Martha’ (‘Roman’s mother, and a crazy lady from London’) (Degeneres 2010).

These alter egos have not only allowed Minaj to expand her theatrical range, but also enabled her to distinguish herself from hardcore female rappers, and expand her fan base.

Fig. 3: Nicki in her various alter egos (from left to right): ‘Nicki Lewinsky’ (Wikia 2012a), ‘Harajuku Barbie’ (Wikia 2012b) and ‘Roman Zolanski’ (Rap-Up 2012).

An interesting example of the impact of Minaj’s multiple personalities is her relationship with the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community. Through her alter egos, Minaj has, perhaps unintentionally, opened up a new space for female rappers to discuss and embrace homosexuality, in a manner unprecedented for a mainstream hip-hop artist.

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She seemingly approaches Keyes’s ‘Lesbian’ category through her alter ego ‘Roman Zolanski’, described as her ‘inner gay boy’ who allows her to unleash her inner creativity and flamboyance (Ganz 2010). Minaj has also utilized lyrics that imply that she is ‘sexually flexible’ (Ganz 2010), rapping in her song ‘Go Hard’: ‘I only stop for pedestrians or a real, real bad lesbian,’ and using equally suggestive rhymes in her rap on R&B singer Usher’s ‘Lil’ Freak’.

Fig. 4: Nicki Minaj suggestively seducing the female lead in Usher’s ‘Lil’ Freak’ (2010) music video Uri McMillan further highlights how, by neglecting the use of authenticity in her performance and image, Minaj’s use of alter egos creates a ‘campiness’ that sets her apart from other Black performers. By using ‘fakeness’ as an integral part of her identity as an artiste, Minaj has expanded her appeal to the gay community, given that the ‘camp’ genre is generally produced by and targeted at well-educated, white gay men (McMillan 2011: 8). McMillan even ventures to argue that Minaj’s ambiguity enables her to weave through various performance cultures and communities with greater fluidity and greater influence, than, for example, singer Lady Gaga, who is openly associated with the LGBT community (McMillan 2011: 8).

DEFYING THE ‘STRONG BLACK WOMAN’ STEREOTYPE: NICKI MINAJ AS THE FEMININE RAPPER

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ap’s unique relationship with love – associated with sex-filled lyrics rather than love in the traditional romantic sense – is a continuation of the way Black men and women were forced to express love during slavery and segregation (Pough 2004: 166-169). This stems from the lack of protection for slave marriages, which isolated Black women and resulted in sexual discord within the Black community, and the need for ‘tough love’ to protect families during the segregation era (Pough 2004: 169).

The socialising construct of the ‘strong Black woman’, which portrays Black women as quintessential mothers with infinite sexual, life-giving and nurturing reserves (Wallace 1979: 107), further helped shape stereotypes today of the independent Black woman (Moody 2011: 44).

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Indeed, it seems that female rappers themselves reinforce the ‘strong Black woman’ stereotype, whether it be through celebrating women’s physical and sexual power, or portraying themselves as resistant, aggressive participants in sexual power relations (Rose 2004: 296).

As such, Minaj has arguably emphasised yet another contradiction in hip-hop feminism: that of the ‘tough bitch’ celebrating sexual independence in contrast to the feminine, love-seeking Black woman. While Minaj is not afraid to ‘go hard’ on many of her songs, she has also released a number of what might be termed ‘rap ballads,’ such as ‘Your Love,’ ‘Right thru Me,’ and ‘Right by My Side.’ Moreover, her song ‘Super Bass’ (dedicated to ‘the boy with the boomin’ system,’ who ‘got my heartbeat runnin’ away’) was feted by music critic Ann Powers for introducing ‘a delightful new ideal’ in hip-hop music, that of the feminine female rapper (Powers 2011).

Although Minaj’s ‘girly,’ ‘hip-pop’ tracks, which blend hip-hop and R&B, have been criticised as being produced for commercial reasons (Powers 2012), or more specifically due to the difficulty of marketing female rappers in the hip-hop industry (Berman 2010), one could equally argue that Minaj is taking advantage of the relative absence of strongly-defined female voices in hip-hop to carve out yet another message for female rappers and Black women (Weiner 2010): that it is fine to embrace, and even celebrate, one’s feminine side.

Furthermore, the combination of singing and rapping on such tracks undoubtedly lends Minaj more versatility than other female rappers, with her singing ability used to convey a degree of tenderness and emotion.

Indeed, this ‘singer-rapper’ combination and unique blend of musical styles has allowed female rappers to innovate and move beyond the shadows of male rappers. Minaj is preceded in this by the likes of Grammy awardees Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes of TLC, and Lauryn Hill (Keyes 2004: 273).

Fig. 5: Nicki Minaj and her samurai lover in the music video for “Your Love” (2010)

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Additionally, the depiction of Minaj in fairy-tale fantasies in her music videos, such as ‘Your Love’ (where Minaj plays a geisha/martial arts student falling in love with her samurai mentor), and ‘Moment 4 Life’ (in which Minaj portrays Cinderella meeting her Prince Charming, played by rapper Drake) further counters the stereotype of the strong Black woman, and the assumption that Black women do not believe in romantic love (Pough 2004: 176).

Even if such dreams of heterosexual romance hint at a firmly established patriarchy in Black society (Pough 2004: 177), Minaj has clearly helped highlight the observation made

by Marcyliena Morgan, that African-American women within the hip-hop generation seem much more likely to challenge the image of the strong Black woman and forge their own identities, as compared to women from prior generations (Morgan 1999, as quoted in Collins 2006: 193).

CONCLUSION

T

he perception that female rappers, including Nicki Minaj herself, are participating in the sexual exploitation of Black women, and are sub-par to male rappers, stems from a historical objectification and subordination of Black women in American history. This includes the ‘global touring’ of the Black female performing body, which began with Saartje Baartman’s exhibition in early nineteenth-century Europe, and is perpetuated through the ‘video vixens’ featured in rap music videos today, along with socialising constructs of the immoral Black Jezebel and the strong Black woman, both of which were used historically to exploit Black women.

Through the lens of ‘hip-hop feminism,’ however, rap is arguably a source of empowerment for Black female rappers such as Minaj. Firstly, rap provides Black women with the ability to express themselves, and to inspire other ‘sistas.’ This is demonstrated by Minaj’s awareness of her position in the music industry as a female rapper, and her responsibility to inspire others, and protect herself from exploitation. Rap also allows Black women to highlight the multilayered complexity that reflects the social realities of Black womanhood, as demonstrated by Minaj’s personal story of family hardship and its influence on her work.

Secondly, Minaj’s adoption of various alter egos contributes to her success in the music industry, both in terms of expanding her theatrical range and appealing to various performance cultures and communities. Notably, it also creates a space for female rappers and hip-hop culture itself to discuss homosexuality. Finally, Minaj challenges the strong Black woman stereotype and expands the versatility of female rap by introducing a feminine dimension to her work. By releasing rap ballads that, in terms of style, lyrics and music video, showcase romance, tenderness and overt emotion, Minaj counters the assumption that Black women are skeptical of romantic love, and provides a fresh perspective on the meaning of ‘love’ in rap music. Ultimately this case study demonstrates that Black female rappers use rap as a means of empowering themselves, inspiring others, and challenging prevailing norms in rap music, hip-hop culture and American society.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Berman, J 2010, ‘Why is Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday So Bad?’, Flavorwire, accessed 11 June 2012, from http://www.flavorwire.com/131329/why-is-nicki-minajs-pink-friday-so-bad Collins, PH 2006, From Black Power to Hip Hop: Racism, Nationalism, and Feminism, Temple University Press, Philadelphia.

Degeneres, E 2011, ‘Interview with Nicki Minaj’, Youtube, accessed 11 June 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9LHD3NDs7w&feature=related Fleetwood, N 2011, Troubling Vision: Performance, Visuality, and Blackness, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Ganz, C 2010, ‘The Curious Case of Nicki Minaj’, Out, accessed 11 June 2012, from http://www.out.com/entertainment/music/2010/09/12/curious-case-nicki-minaj?page=0,1 Goodman, L 2010, ‘Nicki Minaj, the Rapper With a Crush on Meryl Streep’, New York Magazine, accessed 4 June 2012, from http://nymag.com/guides/summer/2010/66786/ Keyes, CL 2004, ‘Empowering Self, Making Choices, Creating Spaces: Black Female Identity via Rap Music Performance’, in M Forman and MA Neal (eds.), ‘That’s the Joint!’: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader, Routledge, New York, pp. 265-276.

Marynowski, J 2011, ‘Super Bass Misses The Point’, Sound And Noise, accessed 11 June 2012, from http://thesoundandnoise.com/2011/12/28/super-bass-misses-the-point/ McMillan, U 2011, ‘Gone Campin’: The Campy Paradox of Nicki Minaj’ (summary), in L McLean, ‘UCLA’s 2011 Queer Studies Conference’, UCLA Center for the Study of Women: CSW Update Newsletter, accessed 10 June 2012, from http://escholarship.org/uc/item/8nr5d4fq Moody, M 2011, ‘A rhetorical analysis of the meaning of the “independent woman” in the lyrics and videos of male and female rappers’, American Communication Journal, vol 13, issue 1, pp. 43-57.

Morgan, J 1999, When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down, Simon and Schuster, New York.

MTV 2011, ‘Nicki Minaj and Lil Wayne Sex Tape Surfaces?’, MTV.co.uk, accessed 11 June 2012, from http://www.mtv.co.uk/news/nicki-minaj/333745-lil-wayne-nicki-minaj-sex-tapeyoung-money Pough, GD 2004, Check It While I Wreck It: Black Womanhood, Hip-Hop Culture, and the Public Sphere, Northeastern University Press, Boston.

Powers, A 2011, ‘Entry 3: Nicki Minaj, Azealia Banks, and the rise of women in hip-hop’, Slate Magazine: The Music Club, accessed 4 June 2012, from http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/the_music_club/features/2011/music_club_2011/best_mus ic_2011_nicki_minaj_azealia_banks_and_the_rise_of_women_in_hip_hop_.html

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Powers, Ann 2012, ‘Fractured Femmes: Madonna and Nicki Minaj Man Up’, NPR: The Record with Ann Powers, accessed 11 June 2012, from http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/04/05/150056215/fractured-females-madonna-andnicki-minaj-man-up Rap-Up 2012, ‘Nicki Minaj Talks Grammy Performance, Madonna, M.I.A., & Starships’, Rap-Up, accessed 11 June 2012, from http://www.rap-up.com/2012/02/13/nicki-minaj-talksgrammy-performance-madonna-m-i-a-starships/ Respers, L 2009, ‘Where have all the successful female rappers gone?’, CNN, viewed 7 June 2012, from http://articles.cnn.com/2009-1014/entertainment/women.in.hip.hop_1_female-rappers-first-female-superstars-musicindustry?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ Richardson, E 2006, Hiphop Literacies, Routledge, New York.

Rose, T 2004, ‘Never Trust a Big Butt and a Smile’, in M Forman and MA Neal (eds.), That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader, Routledge, New York, pp. 291-306.

Shalondadeisha 2008, ‘Hottentot to Hip Hop: the exploitation of the Black Female’, Youtube, accessed 10 June 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lswe1kJjKmQ Sharpley-Whiting, TD 2007, Pimps Up, Ho’s Down: Hip Hop’s Hold on Young Black Women, New York University Press, New York.

Smith, N 2008, ‘Hip Hop, Capitalism and Taking Back the Music’, Feminist Law Professors, accessed 4 June 2012, from http://www.feministlawprofessors.com/2008/12/4419/ Vibe 2009, ‘Nicki Minaj Interview with Vibe (Speaks on Wayne as an Influence)’, New Lil Wayne, accessed 11 June 2012, from http://www.newlilwayne.com/2009/06/nicki-minajinterview-with-vibe-speaks-on-wayne-as-an-influence/ Wallace, M 1979, Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman, Verso, New York.

Weiner, J 2008, ‘Ladies! I Can’t Hear You! No, Really, I Can’t Hear You!’, Slate: The Music Box, accessed 11 June 2012, from http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/music_box/2008/11/ladies_i_cant_hear_you_no_really_i_c ant_hear_you.single.html Weiner, J 2010, ‘Who’s That Girl?’, Slate, accessed 11 June 2012, from http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/music_box/2010/02/whos_that_girl.2.html Wikia 2012a, ‘Dear Old Nicki (alter egos)’, Wikia, accessed 12 June 2012, from http://nickiminaj.wikia.com/wiki/Dear_Old_Nicki_(alter_egos) Wikia 2012b, ‘The Harajuku Barbie’, Wikia, accessed 12 June 2012, from http://nickiminaj.wikia.com/wiki/The_Harajuku_Barbie

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THE IMPORTANCE OF ANATOMICAL UNDERSTANDING IN REPAIR OF EQUINE PERINEAL LACERATIONS AND FISTULAS

BY LAUREN WALKER / SECOND YEAR VETERINARY SCIENCE

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uring parturition in the mare, particularly one that is primiparous, the foal’s hoof may be caught in the vestibular roof, damaging it and ultimately causing a fistula between the vestibule and rectum (Colbern et al., 1985; Embertson and Robertson, 1987). If the hoof position is not corrected during delivery, powerful contractions of the mare’s reproductive tract may lead to a severe laceration caudally through the rectovestibular shelf, perineal body and anal sphincter (Ansari and Matros, 1983). Although this condition is not life threatening, the passage of faeces into the genital tract may lead to contamination, inflammation and infertility if it is not repaired (Orsini and Sack, 2003). The method of repair of perineal fistulas and lacerations depends upon the tissues damaged during the foal’s exit. A sound knowledge of the anatomy and nervous innervations of the caudal genitalia and the perineal region is important in their repair.

Before a veterinarian sets about repairing the injury, an understanding of what structures make up the perineal region is imperative. The perineum is the region surrounding the anus and genital tract that closes the caudal pelvic cavity (Orsini and Sack, 2003). Surrounding the smooth muscle tunic of the caudal rectum is the levator ani muscle. The levator ani arises from the ischaitic spine and lies laterally to the rectum in three parts. The paired middle levator ani muscles run around the anus to meet ventrally, forming the subanal loop, a 1cm band closely associated to the external anal sphincter. The 2cm wide ventral levator ani muscles insert into the perineal septum. The ventral levator fibres also attach to the rectractor clitoridis; a 2cm wide muscle (also known as the suspensory ligament of the anus) originating from the coccygeal vertebrae (Habel, 1953). Surrounding the anus are the two parts of the anal sphincter: the internal and external anal sphincter. The internal sphincter can be seen as a thickening of pale circular muscle at the terminal end of the rectum with anal mucosa separating it from the anal canal. Surrounding this is the darker coloured external sphincter made up of striated muscle covered by a single layer of superficial fascia (Habel, 1953; Orsini and Sack, 2003). The external anal sphincter influences the position of the labia via its common attachment with the constrictor vulvae muscle to the perineal body.

The constrictor vulvae muscles run vertically within the labia to provide support, and join ventrally to form the ventral commissure of the vulva (Habel, 1953).

Laterally to these muscles the perineum is bordered by the sacrosciatic ligaments, superficial to which are the paired semimembranosus muscles which arise from the coccygeal vertebrae and ventral surface of the ischial tubers. The semimembranosus muscle is separated from the anus and perineal body by an ischiorectal fossa, a narrow cleft filled with fascia and fat. The cleft continues cranially for 7cm and terminates inside the caudal border of the sacrosciatic ligament. The deep ventral border of the perineum is the ischial arch, where the vestibule is found lying parallel to the ischial symphysis (Habel, 1953). The vestibule is an 8cm long region of the vulva that extends caudally from the labia of the vulva to the vagino-vestibular constriction at the external urethral orifice, but does not include the clitoris. It is surrounded by the circular muscle fibres of the constrictor vestibuli, except dorsally where it is covered by perineal septum (Habel, 1953; Orsini and Sack, 2003).

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The severity of a rectovestibular laceration is classified by the anatomical structures damaged. A first degree laceration is least serious, involving damage to the vulva mucosa and dorsal commissure of the vulva. The Caslick procedure is used to repair the dorsal commissure of the vulva. This technique is often used to prevent pneumovagina ‘wind sucking’ in older mares. (Embertson and Roberston, 1987).

A second degree laceration penetrates the vestibular submucosa and the constrictor vulvae muscle of the perineal body (Ansari and Matros, 1983). As alluded to previously, the perineal body is a complex of muscle and connective tissue that commences from the caudal superficial part of the external anal sphincter muscle, with fibres running ventrally to join the constrictor vulvae muscle. It is approximately 1.5cm square and anchors the rectovestibular shelf to its caudal position, preventing a sunken perineum which can lead to wind sucking and urine pooling (Habel, 1953; Ansari and Matros, 1983). A second degree laceration may also penetrate the perineal septum and the rectovestibular shelf, but does not enter the rectal lumen.

A third degree laceration penetrates the perineal body and septum, the floor of the rectum and the anal sphincter (Embertson and Roberston, 1987). The perineal septum is a 4cm square layer of internal levator fascia that courses obliquely cranially and dorsally between the vestibule and rectum. The perineal septum is continuous with the thick layer of fascia around the perineal body. It inserts into the smooth muscle of the rectal floor just caudal to the decussation of the retractor clitoridis muscle (Habel, 1953). A third degree laceration is likely to affect the retractor clitoridis due to the decussation of the muscle beneath the anus, deep to the levator ani muscle, and its passage caudally along the perineal septum to insert into the labia (Habel, 1953; Orsini and Sack, 2003).

Less commonly, perineal lacerations also occur cranially between the thin walled vagina and the rectum, or may even penetrate the peritoneal pelvic cavity (Embertson and Robertson, 1987). A laceration occurring immediately caudal to the pelvic cavity will interrupt the rectogenital septum; a fascial layer commencing cranial to the decussation of the retractor clitoridis (Constantinescu, 1991; Habel, 1953). This terminates when the cranial vagina and rectum pass into the pelvic cavity, where they are separated by a rectogenital pouch of peritoneum. A laceration or fistula resulting in entry into the peritoneal pelvic cavity can be fatal and requires immediate repair (Embertson and Robertson, 1987). Using vaginal palpation, the limit of the rectogenital pouch can be estimated 10cm caudal to the cervix (Orsini and Sack, 2003).

VESSELS

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he major vascular supply to the perineal region is via a single vessel: the internal pudendal artery. It is a branch off the internal iliac artery that runs deep to the sacrosciatic ligament and courses along the ischial spine until it emerges from the lesser sciatic foramen (Orsini and Sack, 2003). The vessel may be in a vulnerable position to be transected in severe lacerations or during surgery as it travels caudad laterally and ventrally to the levator ani muscles within the vascular canal of the ischiorectal fossa to give off its branches (Habel, 1953). Accidental surgical strokes beyond the lateral extremities of the perineal body or septum are likely to cause haemorrhage.

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The branches of the internal pudendal artery include the vaginal artery which supplies the vagina, the vestibular branch which supplies the vestibule and the ventral commissure of the vulva, and the caudal rectal branch to the rectum and anus (Dyce et al., 2010). The labia and anus receive the perineal arteries, which send tributaries lateral to the anus and gives off labial branches which run superficial and parallel to the retractor clitoridis muscle and continue ventrad along the labia of the vulva, providing the labia with extensive vasculation to allow swelling during oestrus (Habel, 1953; Orsini and Sack, 2003). Variable collateral circulation exists between individual mares from the obturator artery (Habel, 1953). The veins mirror the arterial pattern, however the venous circulation also drains a plexus in the ventral labia. This plexus should not interfere with surgery (Dyce et al., 2010; Habel, 1953).

LOCAL ANAESTHETIC

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he perineum is innervated by the ventral branches of sacral nerves 3-4; the pudendal and caudal rectal nerves, both approximately 2-4mm thick and contributories to the lumbrosacral plexus during their passage deep to and within the sacrosciatic ligament (Orsini and Sack, 2003). After passing ventral to the coccygeus muscle at the level of the ischiatic spine, the pudendal nerve gives off the deep perineal nerve which innervates striated muscles of the perineum (e.g. constrictor vestibuli) and provides sensory innervations to the anus, vulva and perineal skin (Dyce et al., 2010).

The ischiatic spine can be palpated vaginally and the nerve inhibited by bilateral injection of local anaesthesic where the nerve can be felt travelling down the spine to the ischiatic arch (Gadd and Kumar, 1981). The position of this nerve as it courses close to the dorsal constrictor vestibuli makes it vulnerable to being transected during surgery (Orsini and Sack, 2003; Habel, 1953).

The caudal rectal nerve runs obliquely along the wall of the rectum supplying the motor innervations to striated muscles and sensory innervations to the rectum and adjacent skin (Dyce et al., 2010). It gives off the superficial perineal nerves which emerge from the ischiorectal fossa and supply the labia of the vulva (Orsini and Sack, 2003). A local anaesthetic 8cm deep and lateral to the midline of the anus would inhibit the superficial perineal nerves and allow the labia to be sutured to the adjacent semimembranosus muscle to ensure they are not transected during surgery (Habel, 1953).

Despite the ability to block these two nerves individually, in order to repair a fistula or laceration, both the pudendal and caudal rectal nerves need to be inhibited with the horse standing. This can be done by injecting medial to the foramen formed in the sacrosciatic ligament where the caudal gluteal vessels emerge. By inserting a hand wrist deep into the rectum, the 15cm needle can be guided into position by inserting it into the ischiorectal fossa and feeling it pass laterally to the rectum and medial to the sacrosciatic ligament to the point where the foramen is palpated just ventral and lateral to sacral vertebrae 4-5 (Schumacher et al.,1985). This technique is often used for second stage repair of perineal lacerations or when epidural refractiveness occurs in a horse, however the results it produces vary between individual mares (Schumacher et al.,1985; Aanes, 1973).

Epidurals are often used to repair perineal lacerations and are simpler to give and provide more consistent results (Schumacher et al.,1985). They are administered in the interarcuate space between coccygeal vertebrae 1-2 (Heinze, 1972). The use of an epidural allows a catheter to be placed for further administration of anaesthetic, and it helps to control straining during surgery (Ansari and Matros, 1983).

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Despite the different methods of providing local anaesthesia, all three may lead to accidental inhibition of other proximate nerves such as the sciatic nerve, either by local infiltration or by injecting into the wrong location. Gadd and Kumar (1981) described the occurrence of ‘spraddle-leg’ following bilateral injection of the pudendal nerves. This was due to local infiltration into branches of the sciatic nerve (Gadd and Kumar, 1981), via passage through openings within the sacrosciatic ligament to nerves on the lateral side (Orsini and Sack, 2003; Schumacher et al., 1985). Infiltration to the gluteal nerves may also cause limb ataxia, given their role in supplying motor innervations to the extensors of the hip (Dyce et al., 2010; Schumacher et al., 1985).

REPAIR

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he repair can be done 6 weeks post injury in either one stage or two. Using the two stage method there is an interval of three weeks between repair of the rectovestibular shelf and reconstruction of the perineal body (Colbern et al., 1985).

The rectovestibular shelf is made up of the layers of tissue between the vestibule and rectum, including their respective smooth muscle tunics and perivaginal and perirectal connective tissue (Ansari and Matros, 1983). The surgery involves the creation of transverse vaginal and rectal mucosal shelves cranially and caudal to the laceration. The scar tissue is debrided from the dorsal commissure of the vulva to 5cm beyond the laceration on both sides of the laceration; this creates a broad site of contact for the sutures (Ansari and Martros, 1983; Aanes, 1973).

The rectal and vaginal components of the shelf are separated and the vaginal mucosa is reflected into the lumen of the vagina and sutured together (Aanes, 1973). Various suture techniques can be used to sew the vaginal shelf, peri-rectal tissue and rectal musculature together, one of which is shown at Fig. A. These tissues need to be sutured together to minimise the dead space between the rectum and vestibule/vagina, where faeces can be trapped (Aanes, 1973). All techniques avoid penetration of the rectal mucosa, as suture irritation causes the mare to strain, which may lead to wound dehiscence (Schumacher et al., 1985; Huber, 1998). Colahan (1982) demonstrated that the rectal mucosa does not require suturing as it is capable of forming a blood clot to prevent leakage, replacing it in time with granulation tissue and eventually with new rectal mucosa. The second stage of the repair process is the recreation of the perineal body. This involves removing a triangle of epithelium from each side of the perineal body to create a clean surface for the sutures – see Fig. B. The epithelial edges of the rectum are apposed and sutured together first, then the individual structures of the perineal body are sewn together, as in Fig. C. The anal sphincter is not sutured (Aanes, 1973).

There are several methods of repair for rectovestibular fistulas. This injury involves penetration of the tissues between the rectum and vestibule, excluding the perineal body (Ansari and Matros, 1983). Often the fistula is converted to third degree perineal laceration in order to repair it (Colbern et al., 1985; Embertson and Robertson, 1987). The perineal body muscular fibers are incised in some techniques (Huber, 1998), whereas other methods instruct that an incision be made between the anal sphincter and the perineal body (Ansari and Matros, 1983). The tissues between the rectum and vestibule/vagina are incised 3cm cranial to the fistula, and then repaired as discussed above, following closure of the fistula (Ansari and Matros, 1983). The rectal fistula is sutured longitudinally to achieve a transverse closure when the sutures are tightened (Embertson and Robertson, 1987). This minimises the impact on the sutures caused by peristaltic waves in the rectum (Colahan, 1982).

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Conversely, the vestibular tissues are inverted into the lumen and sutured transversely, creating a longitudinal closure that minimises stress to the vestibular muscosa (Embertson and Robertson, 1987).

Repair of perineal lacerations and fistulas is important to maintain the mare’s health and wellbeing and also to enable her continued use as a broodmare. In order for a veterinarian to provide local anaesthesia to inhibit sensation to the caudal genital and digestive tracts, and to perform the corrective surgery of a perineal injury, a sound knowledge of the complex anatomy of the perineal region is required. With successful repair of this injury, many mares are able to breed again within 3 months (Ansari and Matros, 1983).

Figures (from Aanes, 1973) Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

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REFERENCE LIST Aanes, W.A. (1973). Progress in recto-vaginal surgery. Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners 19: 225-240.

Ansari, M.M. & Matros, L.E. (1983). Surgical repair of rectovestibular lacerations in mares.

Compendium on Continuing Education for the Practicing Veterinarian 5: S129-S134.

Colahan, P.T. (1982). Female urogenital surgery. pp. 1367-1384 in Mansmann, R.A. & McAllister, E.S. (eds.). Equine Medicine and Surgery. Third Edition. Volume 2. American Veterinary Publications, Santa Barbera.

Colbern, G.T., Aanes, W.A. & Stashak, T.S. (1985). Surgical management of perineal lacerations and rectovestibular fistulae in the mare: a retrospective study of 47 cases.

Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 186: 265-269.

Constantinescu, G.M. (1991). Clinical Dissection Guide for Large Animals. Mosby–Year Book, St Louis.

Dyce, K.M., Sack, W.O. & Wensing, C.J.G. (2010). Textbook of Veterinary Anatomy. Fourth Edition. W.B Saunders, Philadelphia.

Embertson, R.M. & Robertson, J.T. (1987). Parturient perineal and rectovestibular injuries. pp. 550-555 in Robinson, N.E. (ed.). Current Therapy in Equine Medicine 2. W.B. Saunders, Philadelphia.

Gadd, J.D. & Kumar, M.S.A. (1981). New anesthetic techniques and instrumentation for equine cervical and vaginal surgery. Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners 26: 469-473.

Habel, R.E. (1953). The perineum of the mare. Cornell Veterinarian 43: 249-278.

Heinze, C.D. (1972). Surgery in the perineal area. pp. 839-845 in Catcott, E.J. & Smithcors, F.J. (eds.). Equine Medicine and Surgery. Second Edition. American Veterinary Publications, Wheaton.

Huber, M.J. (1998). Modified technique for single stage rectovestigular fistula closure in three mares. Equine Veterinary Journal 30: 82-84.

Orsini, P.G. & Sack, W.O (eds). (2003). Rooney’s Guide to the Dissection of the Horse.

Seventh Edition. Veterinary Textbooks, Ithaca.

Schumacher, J., Bratton, G.R. & Williams, J.W. (1985). Pudendal and caudal rectal nerve blocks in the horse – an anesthetic procedure for reproductive surgery. Theriogenology 24: 457-464.

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SHAKESPEARE AND THE ROMANTICS

BY SUZANNE SHERRINGTON / FOURTH YEAR MUSIC PERFORMANCE Shakespeare! Shakespeare! I feel as if he alone of all men who ever lived can understand me, must have understood us both; he alone could have pitied us, poor unhappy artists, loving yet wounding each other. Shakespeare!

You were a man. You, if you still exist, must be a refuge for the wretched.

It is you that are our father, our father in heaven, if there is a heaven.1

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hakespeare’s influence on artists from the sixteenth century through to the present day is unequivocal. Composers constitute a significant part of this group of artists, as emphasised by Christopher Wilson, who claims that ‘nearly every composer…since Shakespeare’s time had been inspired, directly or 2 indirectly, by our poet’. This essay has three aims: to examine Shakespeare’s influence on the Romantics, to investigate The Tempest as an exemplary text for Romantics to adapt, and to explore two compositions based on this play: Hector Berlioz’s Fantaisie sur La Tempête de Shakespeare (1830) and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s The Tempest, Symphonic Fantasia for Orchestra (1873).3 Many elements of Shakespeare’s plays appealed to the Romantics. Of these, perhaps the most important is expressed by Ludwig Tieck: ‘the touchstone of true genius is to be found in the fact that…the poet…so excites our imagination, even against our wishes, that we forget the rules of aesthetics, together with all the notions of our enlightened century, and abandon ourselves completely to the lovely delusions of the poet’.4 In other words, the Romantics could relate to the way in which Shakespeare went against established artistic rules and engaged the imagination (two notions widely associated with romanticism). Crucial to this Romantic idea of engaging the imagination is the fantastic: an issue featured in many Shakespearian plays, whether through fantastical elements such as witches and fairies, or the presentation of a complete dichotomy between reality and fantasy.

William Hazlitt’s view is that Shakespeare provides ‘the same insight into the world of imagination that he has into the world of reality,’ commending his ability to blend the real with the fantastical. Of course, Shakespeare’s fantastical elements also appealed to his own audiences, but it was due to the nineteenth-century exploration of the fantastic in response to enlightenment ideas that the rise of Romanticism and the growth of Shakespeare idolatry 5 were seen as ‘parallel phenomena’.

1

As expressed by Hector Berlioz in his Memoirs. Quoted in Jonathan Bate, Shakespeare and the English Romantic Imagination (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986).

2 Christopher Wilson, Shakespeare and Music (New York: Da Capo Press, 1977), xi.

3 This fantasy is now incorporated into Lélio, and it will be discussed in this context here.

4 Jonathan Bate (ed.), The Romantics on Shakespeare (London: Penguin Books, 1992), 60.

5 Bate, Shakespeare and the English Romantic Imagination, 6.

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Shakespeare’s 1611 play The Tempest ‘addresses itself entirely to the imaginative faculty’, which is undoubtedly why, of all Shakespeare’s plays, it has been the most popular with musicians.6 The possibilities for romantic adaptation lie in the wide array of fantastical elements which so preoccupied romantic composers. Firstly, the tempest itself and the enchanted island are representative of sublime, untamed nature, an area exploited by romantic artists of all kinds. The fact that the tempest and island are located away from the corruption and ugliness of the Court resonated with the Romantics, who sought refuge in the sublimity of nature when frustrated with the perceived difficulties of urban life.

There are many supernatural creatures in The Tempest, the best-known being Caliban and Ariel. Caliban is a manifestation of the grotesque, described by Miranda in the play as an 7 ‘Abhorred slave,/ Which any print of goodness will not take, being capable of all ill’.

Friedrich Schlegel likens him to ‘a mixture of gnome and savage, half daemon, half brute’.8 Ironically, it is Caliban whose imagination is most inspired by the island’s beauty, reflected in his well-known, eloquent speech: Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises, Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.

Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears: and sometimes voices, That, if I had wak’d after long sleep, Will make me sleep again… (3.2.130-38) The ethereal spirit Ariel, representing the air, contrasts with the monstrous Caliban who represents the earth.9 But as well as supernatural creatures, the supernatural human is also present, in the form of the magician Prospero. Fantastical elements can also be seen in his daughter Miranda: her own fantasy as she discovers for the first time a man other than her father (‘What is’t? a spirit?…I might call him a thing divine; for nothing natural I ever saw so noble’ [1.2.409-18]), and the fantasy she represents to Ferdinand as a beautiful virgin (‘Admir’d Miranda!…So perfect and so peerless, are created/Of every creature’s best!…I, /Beyond all limit of what else i’ th’ world,/Do love, prize, honour you’ [3.1.38-73]). Finally, Caliban’s mother Sycorax is a witch (although the presence of witches in The Tempest is less important than in other plays, such as Macbeth).

These characters allow Shakespeare to set up several contrasting situations. As well as the contrast between Ariel and Caliban, there is the contrast between Prospero and Caliban (art versus nature, and civilised versus savage), between Miranda and Ariel (natural versus supernatural), and between Miranda, Ferdinand and Caliban (royal blood versus offspring of a witch). The masque that Prospero commands Ariel to conjure up is also fantastical: three spirits in the mythological form of Iris, Ceres and Juno (respectively the goddesses of the rainbow, agriculture, and the Queen of the Gods) who perform to celebrate the lovers’ engagement.

6

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, quoted in Bate, The Romantics on Shakespeare, 529; Wilson, Shakespeare and Music, 134.

7 The Tempest, Act One, Scene Two, 351–352. Further quotations are included parenthetically in the text.

8 Bate, The Romantics on Shakespeare, 527.

9 Ibid.

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The mixture of reality and fantasy that held such fascination for the Romantics is aptly exploited in The Tempest. This dichotomy was relevant both to Shakespeare’s original audience and to the Romantics, as contextual issues such as shipwreck, exploration of new worlds and colonisation were balanced against the imaginary island and its unearthly inhabitants. Finally, it is worth pointing out that it is the overall fantastical setting of the magical island that allows Prospero to undergo his imaginative journey of discovery. No wonder then, that The Tempest was so easily perceived as such a tempting work for Romantic composers to adapt. Tieck confirms this: ‘It is primarily the marvellous, and Shakespeare’s way of treating it, that places these plays [The Tempest and A Midsummer 10 Night’s Dream] in a class of their own’.

The elements identified above are reflected in the music of the Romantic period. Because Tchaikovsky wrote his version of The Tempest after Berlioz and undoubtedly knew of it, Berlioz’s version will be examined first. Berlioz’s admiration for Shakespeare is well known, and he himself describes this fascination in his Memoirs: ‘This sudden and unexpected revelation of Shakespeare overwhelmed me. The lightning-flash of his genius revealed the 11 whole heaven of art to me, illuminating its remotest depths in a single flash’. Berlioz termed Lélio ou Le retour à la vie a ‘mélologue’ after hearing Thomas Moore’s use of the term to express the mixture of music and declamation.12 Lélio is the hero of Symphonie fantastique who has now recovered from his opium dream, 13 and can be identified with both Hamlet and Berlioz himself. The fact that the work blends music and verse allows the reader to associate the character Lélio with Berlioz the composer (in the spoken parts), and to use the character’s description of writing the Fantaisie as a partial explanation of why the play was so appropriate. Lélio, after deciding 14 that death is not the path for him, describes the solace he finds in music (‘O musique!’ ) and decides that his next composition will be based on The Tempest. What is particularly interesting is that he lists the aspects of Shakespeare’s play that he will depict, and these are the fantastical elements: ‘a magician who commands all the elements, gracious spirits 15 who obey him, a timid virgin, a passionate young man, a stupid savage…’. This confirms that in the eyes of a Romantic composer, the fantastical elements of The Tempest lend themselves well to musical adaptation.

Berlioz’s Fantaisie sur la Tempête de Shakespeare that forms part of Lélio is itself divided into four parts: Introduction, La Tempête, L’Action and Le Dénouement. In the Introduction, the chorus of spirits (marked in the score as ‘chœur d’esprits de l’air’) exclaims ‘Miranda, your predestined mate is coming, you will experience love, a new life will be drawn for 16 you’. By excluding basses from the chorus and using a generally high range – ‘scarcely a note [of the opening] falls below middle C’ – Berlioz signifies Miranda’s innocence as 17 well as the ethereal nature of the spirits.

10

Quoted in Bate, The Romantics on Shakespeare, 62.

Ernest Newman (ed., trans.), Memoirs of Hector Berlioz, from 1803 to 1865 (New York: Dover Publications, 1966), 66.

12 Peter Bloom, Hector Berlioz, New Edition of the Complete Works, V. 7, Lélio ou Le retour à la vie, (Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1992), ix.

13 Leon B. Plantiga, ‘Berlioz’ use of Shakespearian Themes,’ Yale French Studies 33 (1986): 75.

14 Bloom, Lélio, 69.

15 Ibid., my translation.

16 Ibid.

17 As stated by Roger Fiske, in Shakespeare in Music: essays by John Stevens, Charles Cudworth, Winton Dean, Roger Fiske, ed. Phyllis Hartnoll (London: Macmillan, 1964), 182.

11

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Soft, rapid, repetitive scalic figures in the high woodwinds (Fig. 1), and the use of muted strings, as well as tremolos and trills in the piano, add to this effect.

Fig. 1: bar 1

Ex. 2: bar 51

When Berlioz moves to the second section, La Tempête, swells are immediately introduced to represent the tumultuous seas (Fig. 2). Many examples of chromaticism can be found, with sustained notes rising by semitone throughout the passage, as well as semitonal movement within smaller fragments of the phrase such as the quavers of the woodwinds and strings in bar 112 (Fig. 3). Berlioz introduces polyrhythmic motives (particularly quavers against triplets) to emphasise the movement of the storm. The second section ends with the spirits announcing the arrival of Miranda’s beloved, and the music returns to its former ethereal nature.

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Judging from Berlioz’s clearly-painted duality of characters in the third section, one presumes that the “Action” of the third movement refers to the fundamental roles Ariel and Caliban play in The Tempest. The action is established from the dactylic rhythms and ever-searching chromaticism, contrasting with the stillness of the previous section.

Fig. 3: bar 112

The time signature then changes to 6/4, and a jolly, playful melody in A flat major is introduced to represent Ariel. At bar 289, ‘pesante’ is indicated in the score, the notes are accented, minor tonality is suggested, and the listener is not surprised to hear the chorus enter with ‘Caliban, Caliban, horrido monstro...’, his character having been so clearly contrasted with Ariel’s. At bar 331, Ariel’s ‘dolce’ theme returns. To conclude the section, the chorus of spirits wishes Miranda farewell. The majestic, triumphant Dénouement portrays the sense of merriment resulting from Miranda and Ferdinand’s union, and everyone being restored to their ‘correct’ social positions.

Tchaikovsky is also known to have been inspired by the Bard of Avon, and his inspiration from The Tempest is asserted by David Brown: ‘Tchaikovsky’s creative powers were fixed to the full by this so diverse assortment of imaginative challenges’.18 It was the scholar Vladimir Stasov (also known for providing ideas for composition to the so-called ‘Mighty Five’: Balakirev, Cui, Borodin, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov) who suggested to Tchaikovsky that he would ‘be able to write a most wonderful overture on this subject’ of The Tempest. 19 In his Fantasia, Tchaikovsky arranges key events of Shakespeare’s plot to suggest an interesting structural symmetry to the scenes he depicts. Beginning with the sea, he progresses through Prospero and his magic, the lovers, to the central dichotomy of Ariel and Caliban, and then back through the lovers, Prospero (now renouncing his powers), and ending with the sea once again. This is similar to what Berlioz does. Just as in Shakespeare’s play, the composers have structured their portrayal of fantastical elements to suit the symbolic meaning: the overall structure represents the journey of discovery.

Although he follows Shakespeare in beginning with the sea, Tchaikovsky’s sea is originally calm. This is depicted using some similar methods to those used by Berlioz: sustained woodwind chords, and the strings’ perpetual, legatissimo triplets and semiquaver figures (Fig. 4) which are analogous to the gently-undulating waves.

18

David Brown, Tchaikovsky: the man and his music (London: Faber and Faber, 2006), 79.

David Brown, Tchaikovsky: A Biographical and Critical Study, v. 1 (London: Victor Gollancz, 1978), quoted in V. Yakovlev (ed.), The Days and Years of Tchaikovsky (Moscow: Leningrad, 1940).

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Fig. 4: bar 9

Fig. 5: bar 79

Like Berlioz, Tchaikovsky makes extensive use of chromaticism. Diminished chords are introduced from bar 49, and in combination with the semitone movement in the flute part (prominent at this point due to the high pitch), they create a sense of foreboding. At the end of this section, a repeated horn figure appears to symbolise Prospero casting his spell (Fig. 5).

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This is reaffirmed by the fact that this horn figure remains throughout the following section, and serves as a reminder that the whole act of the storm’s creation is part of the enchantment of Prospero’s magic. The horn figure is interspersed with rapid flourishes in the woodwinds and ‘swells’ (crescendos and diminuendos, Fig. 6) which undoubtedly represent Ariel, who summons the tempest on Prospero’s command.

These swells are perhaps less effective than those depicted by Berlioz, whose crescendos suddenly drop and rebuild rather than getting softer gradually. At bar 104, the triumphant, chorale-textured phrase can be interpreted as Prospero casting his spell (Fig. 7).

Fig.6: bar 83

Fig. 7: bar 104

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Fig. 3 shows the figure upon which the swells occur, as it appears in its initial form.

It recurs throughout this section, and the tension provided by the final fall to the semitone is heightened by using diminished (rather than minor) chords, rising by tritones and by diminution from minims to crotchets, quavers, and finally semiquavers. To signify the storm reaching its full potential, tremolos and diminished seventh chords become extremely prevalent. The piccolo plays rapid chromatic flourishes, the brass sustain very loud notes, and the horns are instructed to play with bells in the air. The strings’ perpetual triplet motion of the waves is now continually ascending, in contrast to the beginning when it was rising and falling. The section climaxes with furious semiquavers in the strings and ever-rising chromatic passages. Christopher Wilson refers to Tchaikovsky’s painting of the storm, 20 describing it as ‘undoubtedly one of the most graphic imitations of nature in all musical art’.

This statement might be an exaggeration, but it nevertheless draws attention to Tchaikovsky’s musical painting, and to the sublimity of untamed nature.

The next section contains the lovers’ music. The texture is thinner, the key major, and the atmosphere very light through the use of muted strings and high-pitched instruments.

Again, Tchaikovsky employs semitonal movement and swells, but this time in a different context, rendering them expressive, yearning and representing the desire and passion of the lovers, especially Miranda who has never seen a man other than her father. The passionate melody becomes even more soaring and glorious when it modulates to B flat major in bar 308.

Tchaikovsky then establishes the contrast between Ariel and Caliban. Ariel is depicted in the fleeting semiquavers played on muted strings and woodwinds. The rapid alternation of notes in the semiquavers suggests flying, and the spiky staccatos suggest rushing around conjuring up magic.

Suddenly, the dynamic marking changes from ppp to fortissimo with accents. The strings are no longer muted, and the sound is much heavier. Quick octave leaps recall, probably not accidentally, the braying of the donkey in Mendelssohn’s Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Fig. 8). Ascending chromatic figures, acciaccatura, cymbal crashes and syncopation are then introduced to heighten the momentum, emphasising the mischief caused by Caliban.

Fig. 8: bar 371

20

Wilson, Shakespeare and Music, 145.

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At bar 462, Tchaikovsky moves back to A flat major for the lovers’ melody. This time, the modulation goes beyond B flat major to C major and, after an exciting build-up from furious semiquavers, climaxes at an incredible fffff, the loudest dynamic marking 21 Tchaikovsky ever wrote. Following this, Prospero’s triplet figure from the beginning is reiterated, as is the chorale-like phrase from bar 104. This is even more triumphant, because Prospero can now renounce his magic having achieved his tasks and having taught everyone the appropriate lessons. The work ends with the undulating triplets of the calmer sea, just as it began.

In Shakespeare’s play, the entire setting is fantastical as Prospero’s island is magical and imaginary. It is through this magical setting that Prospero undergoes his journey to becoming a renovated character (a journey upon which the audience also embarks, as they suspend their disbelief and reflect on the various themes of the play). The same applies to the works of Berlioz and Tchaikovsky. Both composers draw on the fantastical elements of Shakespeare’s play and then structure them to follow Shakespeare’s principle of depicting the imaginative journey. The fact that both composers have done this in different contexts shows that The Tempest allowed them to explore a crucial aspect of their age, demonstrating why Shakespeare’s plays are, as his contemporary Ben Jonson wrote, 22 ‘not for an age but for all time’.

21

22

David Brown, Tchaikovsky: the man and his music, London: Faber and Faber, 2006, 79.

Quoted in H. G. Sear, “Russian Music and Shakespeare,” The Musical Times 85 (1944): 78.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Ackroyd, Peter (ed.). The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. London: Harper Collins Publishers Ltd., first published 1951, this edition 2007.

Bate, Jonathan. Shakespeare and the English Romantic Imagination. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986.

Bate, Jonathan (ed.). The Romantics on Shakespeare. London: Penguin Books, 1992.

Bloom, Peter. Hector Berlioz, New Edition of the Complete Works, V. 7, Lélio ou Le retour à la vie. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1992.

Boulez, Pierre. “Berlioz and the Realm of the Imaginary.” Daedalus 115 (1986): 175–184.

Brown, David. Tchaikovsky: A Biographical and Critical Study, v. 1. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1978.

Brown, David. Tchaikovsky: the man and his music. London: Faber and Faber, 2006.

Elliot Jr., John R. “The Shakespeare Berlioz saw.” Music and Letters 57 (1976): 292–308.

Hartnoll, Phyllis (ed.). Shakespeare in Music: essays by John Stevens, Charles Cudworth, Winton Dean, Roger Fiske. London: Macmillan, 1964.

Newman, Ernest (ed., trans.). Memoirs of Hector Berlioz, from 1803 to 1865. New York: Dover Publications, 1966.

Palmer, D. J. (ed.). The Tempest. London: Macmillan & Co Ltd, 1968.

Plantiga, Leon B. “Berlioz’ use of Shakespearian Themes.” Yale French Studies 33 (1986): 72–77.

Sear, H. G. “Russian Music and Shakespeare.” The Musical Times 85 (1944): 78–83.

Wilson, Christopher. Shakespeare and Music. New York: Da Capo Press, 1977.

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THE NORTHERN TERRITORY INTERVENTION: A FOUCAULDIAN ANALYSIS BY MARIE-ELLEN KARYKIS / THIRD YEAR ARTS LAW INTRODUCTION

T

his article will investigate Foucault’s later theory of power relations and governmentality, and will discuss the extent to which it can be applied to consultations which occurred in June to August 2011 in the Northern Territory, which attempted to inform the Gillard Government’s proposed Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Bill 2011. The article shows that Foucault’s theory of governmentality can be applied to the case study to a large extent, in that it demonstrates the forms of political strategies and ontological assumptions that are embedded in the activities of ‘governing.’ It contends that within the complex network of power relations comprised of Government departments, bureaucracies and independent organisations, the members of the Aboriginal communities were nevertheless consistently constrained from exercising power, though significant dissent existed. It will ultimately contend that the consultations demonstrate the state’s power to shape and regulate the freedoms of the Indigenous residents of the Northern Territory, through the circulation and repression of particular forms of knowledge (Foucault 1991: 87). This is illustrated in a consideration of the structure and timeframe of the consultations, and the subsequent production of quantitative data arising from the surveys undertaken during the process. It will then explain how the application of the theory is limited, in that there is insufficient consideration of proactive instances of agency. The article also argues that the application is limited to the extent that Foucault’s methodology, namely his reliance on historical empirical studies, results in any conclusions drawn being ‘tentative and historically specific’ (1984: 35). It concludes that scope for error or erroneous judgment is also prevalent, due to the subjectivity involved in analysing transcripts.

CONCEPTUALISING POWER AS RELATIONS RATHER THAN A COMMODITY

P

ower is broadly argued as the power to make actions ‘easier or more difficult’ (Foucault 1993: 199). Foucault conceptualises power as ‘a mode of action which does not act directly or immediately on others’ (1993: 223). Instead, it ‘acts upon their actions…on existing actions or on those which may arise in the present or the future’ (Foucault: 1997: 69). According to Foucault’s analysis, ‘power is relations, not a thing’ (1984: 48). Therefore, it is the relationship between those that commissioned and facilitated the consultations, and the Indigenous residents of the Northern Territory, that is the focus of this article’s analysis. It is important that power is construed as a relationship rather than a commodity; it cannot be concentrated with any one group, class, elite or governmental body (Foucault 1984: 32). Therefore, the Minister’s power to gain support for the legislation within the consultations can only come into operation where a number of different actions are available to the Indigenous residents. The possible actions that the Indigenous residents could foresee would be: to agree with the proposed reforms; to disagree with governmental intervention through not attending the consultations; to not voice an opinion; to voice disagreement; or to protest actively.

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ONTOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF GOVERNMENTALITY

F

oucault’s analysis of governmentality exposes the ‘historical ontology’ of the process of governing; it focuses on the subversion of self-evident norms and aims to ‘rupture regimes of truth’ (1984: 45). It can be argued that a regime of truth operating in this case study is that the Government is solely responsible for both the implementation and any faults that may arise in the consultation process. This is reinforced by policy statements that contain statements such as ‘the Australian Government is now moving to do some of the urgent things you talked to us about’ (Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs [FaHSCIA] 2012(a): 3), ‘the Australian Government is also bringing in a jobs package’ (FaHCSIA 2011(b): 1) and ‘the Government wants to make sure women and children are safe’ (FaHCSIA 2011(a): 2).

Foucault conveys that the existence of a government cannot be reduced to a homogenous actor that exists prior to political action, but that ‘power is everywhere’ and is an ‘inescapable web’ (1988: 75).

Government is a site of strategic action that depends on the relations of plural, rational actors that operate in a network (Foucault 1991: 92). This is demonstrated in our case study in that the consultation process was implemented by Government Business Managers, Indigenous Engagement Officers, offices within the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), independent advocacy groups, and financial stakeholders (FaHCSIA 2011(b): 32). Therefore, the vast number of bureaucracies and independent organisations that were directly involved in the implementation of the consultation process conveys that a network of power relations exists, comprised of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals, and the cohesiveness of this network will affect the choice of strategies employed. These power relations indicate the historical transition from sovereignty defining statehood, to a new ontological understanding focusing on not the existence of the government, but the relationship between the government and civil society actors (Foucault 1988: 83). This corresponds to an ‘ascending analysis of power,’ rather than one focusing solely on governmental actions (Foucault 1993: 225).

GOVERNMENTALITY AS THE ‘CONDUCT OF CONDUCT’

F

oucault explains that ‘governing is a form of activity aiming to shape, guide or affect the conduct of some person or persons’ (Gordon 1990: 2).

Governmentality is therefore conceived as ‘a government with specific ends, means to these ends, and particular practices that should lead to these ends’ (Gordon 1990: 63). For example, facilitators informed residents that ‘the Intervention happened because the previous government did not have consultations’ (FaHCSIA 2011(b): 63), and that one option was to ‘throw the Intervention away and to tell the Government to stop interfering’ (FaHCSIA 2011(b): 67). However, considering that the last consultation was held on 23 August 2011, and the Bill was tabled in Parliament on 14 November 2011, it is arguably unlikely that their participation affected the Government’s conduct in any significant manner, and therefore likely that the Government employed strategies such as time constraints to exercise power in the context of the consultations (FaHCSIA 2012(b): 3).

Therefore, this conduct of the Government has impinged upon the available choices of conduct of the Indigenous individuals wishing to protest – ‘power relations have been progressively governmentalized … elaborated and rationalized…under the auspices of state institutions (Foucault 1997: 224).’

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Thus rather than insisting that the state is not the origin of power, it can be argued that the case study demonstrates that there is a particular set of networks through which power is exercised over other power relations within the social body (Foucault 1991: 92). Foucault conceives of the need for the Indigenous people to link into the institutional networks that conduct the consultations (1991: 87), and therefore to exercise power more effectively there has to be a reaction to the practices and strategies that are responsible for the implementation of the policy.

THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE WHEN EXERCISING POWER

F

oucault emphasises the ‘historical and systemic importance of political knowledge’ as a way in which power is dispersed and exercised within political networks (1997: 67). Foucault conveys that historically, the emergence and stability of state agencies is dependent on their ability to generate, collect, circulate and repress knowledge (1997: 71). For example, the consultations were two hours in length, and every FaHCSIA (2011(c): 8) facilitator was instructed that ‘it was important to focus only on the proposed areas for future action identified in the Stronger Futures Discussion Paper’ – these were mainly employment, alcohol addiction and education. Standard protocol for the request for more information on what the government had drafted in its proposed Bill was the response: ‘I’m not here to give you benchmarks or talk about outcomes, I’m here to find out what you think’ (FaHCSIA 2011(b) 87). The Discussion Papers were circulated ‘literally minutes’ before the consultation began, and not translated into Indigenous languages.

Although translators were present, some conversation was ‘paraphrased’ because some Australian colloquial phrases such as ‘we will get back to you’ have no equivalent (Cultural and Indigenous Resource Centre 2011: 46-48). Thus, this repression of key information demonstrates the ‘general tactics of governmentality’ and limits the capability of the Indigenous citizens to discuss collectively and determine future actions that would allow them to exercise power (Foucault 1988: 83).

Foucault conveys that knowledge creates a ‘differential frontier regime that establishes and reproduces structural gaps between private and public considerations’ (1988: 87).

Private considerations such as the consultation and symbolic gaining of permission of lawmen and lawwomen before entering communities were not adhered to (O’Brien 2012: 2).

Similarly, the community meeting in Tennant Creek was held the day after a death in the community, and so it was deemed disrespectful to attend the meeting (Cultural and Indigenous Research Centre 2011: 27). Further, the consultations that involved ‘stakeholder meetings on specific subjects held with relevant interest groups and Indigenous organisations’ are not referenced further in the policy statement and were not transcribed (FaHCSIA 2011(b): 37). This illustrates that, largely unintentionally, government actors utilised bureaucratic rules to repress knowledge from being transferred from individuals in Government to the individuals within the Indigenous communities. This demonstrates the theoretical contention that it ‘is the tactics of government which make possible the continual definition and redefinition of what is within the competence of the state and what is not’ (Foucault 1991: 103).

The case study illustrates the displacement of formal and informal techniques of government, and the pluralisation and decentralisation of government policy (Foucault 1991: 104). Though these actions were not intentional, the failure to consider private, cultural considerations meant that some Indigenous people’s capability to exercise power was constrained from the outset by making participation in the process the more difficult choice (Foucault 1991: 104).

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TECHNIQUES OF EXERCISING POWER WITHIN THE GOVERNING PROCESS

F

oucault claims that ‘epistemic power’ is also used to construct regimes of truth centering on the construction of a ‘target population’ as a unified identity (1993: 225-226). This can be demonstrated in that consultations were held in places that had facilities and amenities available, not according to the geopolitical location of the approximately seventy different Aboriginal ethnic groups (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011: 17). Further, of the approximately sixty four thousand Aboriginal citizens living in the Northern Territory (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011: 5), it is not clear how many were directly consulted, but it would appear to be less than one thousand (FaHCSIA 2011(a): 14).

This is demonstrated in the statement of one participant that commented: ‘you can’t take a banana smoothie approach…chuck all different community views into one blender and hope that we like what comes out’ (FaHCSIA 2011(b): 36). Further, the collection of ‘inscription devices’ is illustrated in Table One; the consultations involved detailed surveys which resulted in the collection of quantitative information and data for political action (Foucault 1988: 87). The facilitators were directed to only ask questions relating to how to ‘improve education for children, to expand employment opportunities and tackle alcohol abuse’ (FaHCSIA 2011(b): 67). However, this obscured other issues that have arisen since the Northern Territory Emergency Response, such as Indigenous imprisonment rising forty one percent, school attendance dropping by nearly a third, reported overcrowding in public housing, cases of social services assuming guardianship over children rising by thirty eight percent and cases of self harm and suicide amongst the Northern Territory Indigenous population doubling (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011: 6). The collection of these ‘inscription devices’ allowed the Government to exercise power by privileging some proposals, like the suspension of Centrelink benefits, over others, with the justification that this was a legitimate exercise of discretion because the collection of data allows them to claim ‘this is what we’ve been told’ (Office of the FaHCSIA 2012: 2).

Table One: Level of Support for Various Initiatives Described in the Stronger Futures Consultation Paper Proposal

Support amongst participants in the consultations (%)

Government should cut off Centrelink/ family payments for non-attendance

12

Parents need support/education to understand the importance of school

9

Parents should be fined for non-attendance

6

Want more community people involved in schools (parents and elders)

30

Want more Indigenous culture in schools

37

Need better infrastructure

33

Need a women’s safe house/shelter

46

Need a men’s safe house/shelter

41

Source: Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs 2011(a), Stronger Futures: Quantitative Analysis Report, AGPS, Canberra.

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Knowledge is an ‘apparatus of security’ in that this quantitative data is circulated and collected to legitimate the laws, regulations and policies that will eventuate (Foucault 1988: 83). For example, the issue of education has played a major role in gaining support within the media for the Government’s Stronger Futures Legislation. This is demonstrated in that Minister Macklin circulated the statement: ‘the Government has been told that schooling is very important and that parents should be responsible for sending their children to school’ (FaHCSIA 2011(c): 3). This can be compared with the FaHCSIA (2011(b): 48) guideline question asked at a majority of the consultations: ‘how can we make parents understand the importance of education?’ It is arguable that this question is value-laden, and employed as an ‘inscription device’ to define the problem, specify the area of intervention (the legislation will provide for the suspension of Centrelink payments for poor school attendance) the calculation of which issues will benefit from state resources, and the determination of political goals (Foucault 1991: 103).

This specific example also demonstrates the ‘reciprocal constitution of power techniques’, in that the Indigenous people were invited to answer the question, and the ‘regimes of representation’ operating to confirm education explicitly as a major issue arising out of the consultation process (Foucault 1991: 87). The fact that overcrowding of public housing, ‘major concerns with outstation roads,’ gunja (marijuana) and gambling addictions were often signaled as major community issues without such prompts (FaHCSIA 2011(b): 98) demonstrates the delineation of concepts, the specification of borders, and the utilisation of justifications within the consultation process (Foucault: 1991: 100).

LIMITATIONS: A CONSIDERATION OF AGENCY

U

nder Foucault’s analysis, agency, construed as acts of will power, can no longer be seen as part of human nature (1984: 45). It is the outcome of ‘the processes of subject formation carried out by institutional structures’ (Foucault 1984: 48).

In this analysis, the government is the ‘sum total of all the relations between its members,’ and so if these relations disintegrate, logically the government does also (Grace and McHoul 1993: 87). The ‘art of government’ therefore involves judging how much ‘control to cede to the governed’ (Grace and McHoul 1993: 92).

There are methodological concerns with this assertion. First, Foucault is concerned with being ‘contextual and specific’ in his analysis, and yet there would presumably be no qualitative evidence available of these discussions (1984: 47). Secondly, it is arguably paternalistic and does not conceive of situations where active forms of agency exist, such as protest or explicitly voicing dissent, and thus where structure has no independent causal power. For example, activism such as community initiated alcohol restrictions and regulations, through the consistent work of traditional owners making applications to the Northern Territory Liquor Commission was frequently highlighted in consultations, and contributed to the adherence to the Racial Discrimination Act (Cth) 1975 within the Bill (Herbert 2012: 3). Strong statements of dissent from Elders in the form of open letters sent to the Hon Jenny Macklin MP allowed for suggestions such as voluntary rather than compulsory leases, more respectful signage and a sunset clause of ten years, with the proviso of ongoing consultations (Hillsmith 2012: 1).

This argument also does not consider proactive instances of the assertion of agency.

Gordon (1980: 67) conceives that agents are ‘conscious, reflexive and strategic.’ Rather than privileging structures in the analysis, and by construing agency as permitted by those within public institutions, Foucault does not consider that agents can exercise strategic -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------36 / SYBIL / THE WOMEN’S COLLEGE ACADEMIC JOURNAL / VOL 1, 2013

action by changing the structural context and can change the structure’s preferences.

This view can be demonstrated in that opposition was often voiced in statements like ‘you should be listening…but you’re defending’, ‘I haven’t seen anything done’, ‘I just want it [the Intervention] wiped’ and ‘you can’t understand that we have our own law and our own culture’ (Herbert 2012: 3-4).

Further, in response to the consultations, a protest called ‘Stop Stronger Futures and Support Aboriginal Self-Determination in the Northern Territory’ was launched, and thirty three thousand signatures were presented to the Senate, ‘to demonstrate the overwhelming opposition to the legislation’ (O’Brien 2012: 1). Senator Siewert, of the Australian Greens, has led a Senate enquiry into the validity of the consultations, despite the fact that there exists an institutional boundary – the Agreement the Australian Greens signed to support the Gillard Government (FaCHSIA 2012(b): 15). These instances of agency have succeeded in garnering media attention, and illustrate the contention that agents are conscious and reactive to the structure, and can be successful in exercising power through participating in negotiations and public forms of dissent.

CONCLUSION

F

oucault's later theory of power relations within governmentality can be effectively applied to the case study of the Stronger Futures consultations in that it invites the political scientist to examine the everyday functioning and effects of relations of power, the effects of ontological assumptions and the implications of the generation and repression of various forms of qualitative and quantitative knowledge (Foucault 1997: 69). Foucault seeks not to define power in a concrete sense but to expose the actual governmental, bureaucratic and individual processes and techniques which influence and determine everyday social interaction (1984: 48).

The Stronger Futures legislation would result in the suspension of councils and community services, income management for those dependent on Centrelink payments, and the cessation of funding for homelands and community employment programs, among other measures – dissent is understandable and noted amongst the United Nations Human Rights Commission and Amnesty International (O’Brien 2012: 1). Therefore, in contrast to Foucault’s earlier works, which focused on ‘the carceral network…with its system of insertion, distribution, surveillance of the normalizing power,’ the theoretical implications of governmentality emphasise practices and technologies that can be observed more easily and analysed within any given case study (1977: 89).

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011, Aboriginality in the Northern Territory, Cat. no. 1338.1, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra.

Cultural and Indigenous Research Centre Australia 2011, Stronger Futures Consultations: Final Report, accessed 23 March 2012, http://www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/indigenous/pubs/nter_reports/Documents/circa_qa.pdf .

Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs 2012(a), Inquiry into Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory Bill 2011 and two related bills, AGPS, Canberra.

Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs 2012(b), The Hon Jenny Macklin MP Second Reading Speech, AGPS, Canberra.

Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs 2011(a), Stronger Futures Quantitative Analysis Report, AGPS, Canberra.

Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs 2011(b), Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory: Report on Consultations, AGPS, Canberra.

Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs 2011(c), Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory: Discussion Paper, AGPS, Canberra.

Foucault, M 1977, Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison, Allen Lane, London.

Foucault, M 1984, ‘What is Enlightenment?’, in P Rabinow (ed), The Foucault Reader, Pantheon, New York, pp. 32–50.

Foucault, M 1988 ‘Technologies of the Self,’ in L Martin, H Gutman & P Hutton (eds), Technologies of the Self. A seminar with Michel Foucault, University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, pp. 72-90.

Foucault, M 1991 ‘Governmentality,’ in G Burchell, C Gordon and P Miller (eds), The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality, Harvester Wheatsheaf, Hemel Hempstead, pp. 87–104.

Foucault, M 1993, ‘About the Beginning of the Hermeneutics of the Self,’ in M Blasius (ed), Political Theory, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 198–227.

Foucault, M 1997, ‘Security, Territory, and Population’, in P Rabinow (ed), Michel Foucault, Ethics: Subjectivity and TruthThe New Press, New York, pp. 67–71.

Gordon, C (ed) 1980, Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Other Writings 1972-1977, Harvester Wheatsheaf, Hemel Hampstead.

Grace, W & McHoul, A 1993, A Foucault Primer: discourse, power and the subject, Melbourne University Press, Victoria.

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Herbert, C 2012, ‘Indigenous Elder attacks Stronger Futures law,’ 24 February, accessed 4 April 2012, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-02-24/stronger-futures-bill-senate-committeehearing/3851596.

Hillsmith, F 2012, ‘Opposition to Stronger Futures Bill strengthens,’ 6 March, accessed 4 April 2012, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-06/more-opposition-to-stronger-futures-bill/3871408.

O’Brien, K 2012, ‘Stronger Futures attacked as “veil of exclusion,”’ Sydney Morning Herald, 30 March, accessed 4 April 2012, http://www.smh.com.au/news/2012-03-30/pat-dodson-on-stronger-futures-law/3922986.

Office of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs 2011(a), Community stores licensing strengthened to deliver more benefits, media release, accessed 4 April 2012, /bye.php?url=http://www.jennymacklin.fahcsia.gov.au/mediareleases/2011/Pages/ community_stores_licensing_231111.aspx.

Office of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs 2011(b), Further action to tackle alcohol abuse in the Northern Territory, media release, accessed 4 April 2012, /bye.php?url=http://www.jennymacklin.fahcsia.gov.au/mediareleases/2011/Pages/ alcohol_abuse_251111.aspx.

Office of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs 2011(c), Aboriginal people clear about their priorities for building stronger futures in the Northern Territory, accessed 4 April 2012, /bye.php?url=http://www.jennymacklin.fahcsia.gov.au/mediareleases/2011/Pages/ stronger_futures_181011.aspx.

Office of the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs 2012, Educating children for a stronger future in the Northern Territory, accessed 4 April 2012, /bye.php?url=http://www.jennymacklin.fahcsia.gov.au/mediareleases/2011/Pages/ stronger_futures_181011.aspx.

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LIBERATION OR OPRESSION? THE EVOLUTION OF WOMEN'S DRESS IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

BY LINDSAY SCOTT / FOURTH YEAR ARTS LAW Economic, appropriate, beautiful, generous, Loveliness on the body, loveliness in the mind.

Dress is a symbol of culture, Dress is an ideological phenomenon.

Socialism brings an everlasting spring.

We should have clothes appropriate to the season.23 Guo Moruo (1892-1978), Chinese poet laureate

D

ress is ideological, political, economic, cultural and personal. Burdened with significance, it is a front for the ceaseless struggles between tradition and modernity, beauty and utility, individuality and conformity. Dress is a tool of oppression or a sign of liberation under fascist and communist regimes, where aesthetics is ‘intrinsic…to the organisation of the…public sphere’.24 Tracing developments in Chinese women’s dress since the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), this article considers the extent to which Chinese Communist Party (CCP) directives on dress have signalled the liberation of women from patriarchal ideology and patrilineal kinship structures, which have defined gender relations for millennia.

In the 1950s and early 1960s, the gender-neutral Lenin suit was a sign of the equal role ostensibly accorded to women under the new regime. Gender difference was more emphatically denied in the Cultural Revolution, when young women dressed in military garb to proclaim their revolutionary credentials. Since the 1980s, Chinese women have shunned androgynous ‘uniforms’, with claims of reasserting their femininity through Western dress, hairstyles and cosmetics. At first glance, developments in women’s dress since 1949 signal the liberation of women from their traditional subservient role, as they have been recognised first as comrades, and later as female individuals. Yet closer analysis reveals that women have been subject to a new and subtler form of oppression. The CCP has engaged Chinese women in a politicised game of dress-up, clothing them in whatever garb best befits its economic or political objectives. The CCP does not recognise women as Chinese citizens, but rather recognises their utility as workers, revolutionaries or consumers.

23

Guo Moruo, Dagongbao (1 April 1956), quoted in A. Finnane, Changing Clothes in China: Fashion, History and Nation (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2007), p. 208.

24 A. Hewitt, Fascist Modernism: Aesthetics, Politics, and the Avant-Garde (Stanford: Stanford University Press, c1993), p. 6.

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Drawing on Marx and Engels, the CCP insisted that women would only be truly liberated in a classless society, but was willing to accord women ‘legal equality to begin with’ in the 25 new PRC. While the Marriage Law of 1950 represented an attempt to equalise the role and status of women, it was ineffectual due to its failure to strike at links between patriarchal ideology and the patrilineal kinship structure, and also because of its half-hearted 26 implementation at the hands of local cadres. Yet the idea of gender equality and women’s liberation entered popular consciousness through revolutionary slogans, which proclaimed that women were the equal of men and thus entitled to ‘half of a heaven’ encompassing both the sun and the moon.27 While the CCP ostensibly recognised women as Chinese citizens, it denied ‘female-specific 28 experiences’. Indeed, as early as 1919, Mao had questioned why women should dress in skirts or style their hair in buns ‘if a woman’s head and a man’s head are actually the same, and there is no real difference between a woman’s waist and a man’s’.29 The new regime conflated gender equality with gender sameness, attempting to invent a new androgynous category of person through language and propaganda images.30 The title ‘comrade’ embraced all Chinese citizens, eliminating the use of titles that denoted gender difference and class distinctions.31 CCP posters showed strong and assertive ‘iron maidens’ in roles equal to their male counterparts.32 Breaking from the conventional representation of women as delicate, restrained and sedentary, these bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked girls in unisex blue suits worked on farm machinery or in the industrial factory.33 The CCP ruled with an authoritarian fist in the 1950s and early 1960s, yet it did not promulgate formal regulations on women’s dress. Rather, propaganda images compelled women to adopt gender-neutral clothing, and with it an equal role in the workforce. As Croll cogently argues, the CCP ‘assumed the right to redefine the boundaries between public and 34 private…channeling desire, will and emotions in the directions of the new images’.

Responding to the ubiquitous images of ‘Iron Girls’ in unisex garb and Mao in his Sun Yatsen suit, Chinese women donned the Lenin suit, a double-breasted jacket with a turn35 down collar modelled on the Soviet army uniform. In both a public and private sense, a woman wearing a Lenin suit was engaged with the ideology and culture of the new regime, both ‘attuned to [her] times and linked to the historical, heroic period of Yan’an’.36 Despite one person’s protest that ‘being progressive’ was not ‘dependent on wearing drab colours’, the streets of China were a ‘great sheet of blue and black’.37

25

P. Andors, The Unfinished Liberation of Chinese Women 1949-1980 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983), p. 5.; Mao Zedong in conversation with Andre Malraux, quoted in Andors, The Unfinished Liberation of Chinese Women 1949-1980, unpaginated.

26 K.A. Johnson, Women and the Peasant Revolution in China (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983), p. 100-1.

27 E. Croll, Changing Identities of Chinese Women: Rhetoric, Experience and Self-Perception in Twentieth-Century China (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1995), p. 69.

28 Ibid., p. 70.

29 Mao Zedong, quoted in Finnane, Changing Clothes, p. 230.

30 Croll, Changing Identities, pp. 70-1.

31 Ibid., p. 70.

32 Ibid., p. 71.

33 Finnane, Changing Clothes, pp. 202-3.

34 Croll, Changing Identities, p. 77.

35 Finnane, Changing Clothes, pp. 204, 232.

36 Ibid., p. 225.

37 Participant in New Observer Forum (1955), quoted in V. Steele. and J.S. Major, China Chic: East Meets West (New Haven: Yale University Press, c1999), p. 58.; Ai Qing, Xin guancha banyuekan (16 April 1955), quoted in Finnane, Changing Clothes, p. 206.

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While the PRC of the 1950s and early 1960s presented a sombre sartorial spectacle, women still managed to express their gender identity through dress. Many civilian women wore brightly coloured shirts beneath their Lenin suits, turning out the shirt collar as a 38 display of individuality. Clothes of feminine cut and bright colour were worn for family or national celebrations, while high-ranking female CCP members had relative latitude in their choice of dress. Song Qingling, the Vice Chair of the PRC, typically wore a Lenin suit, but she donned the traditional qipao in meetings with foreign dignitaries as a sign of national pride.39 Indeed, in the brief intellectual reprieve of the Hundred Flowers Campaign, advocates of dress reform called for distinctively Chinese clothing, which would ‘proclaim the beauties of socialism to the world’.40 In the turmoil of the Great Leap Forward, however, the utilitarian Lenin suit became entrenched as the unofficial uniform of Chinese women.41 It was a conspicuous sign of the proletarian culture to which women were expected to contribute through their productive labour.

In the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution, a woman’s dress was taken to proclaim either her revolutionary credentials or expose her counter-revolutionary agenda. In his May Seventh directive of 1966, Mao envisioned a ‘totally integrated society’ in which the masses took an interest in military affairs and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was involved in 42 agricultural production and education. The militarist spirit forcefully expressed in Mao’s famous dictum ‘a revolution is not a dinner party’ rapidly infected the hearts and minds of young people.43 Lauded as liaobuqi (wonderful, fantastic, unbelievable), soldiers were admired and emulated by young women. While few women were soldiers, many faithfully copied the PLA uniform, attentive to the minor sartorial details of cut and colour.44 According to a female middle-school student, ‘it was considered very glorious…to wear [an] army uniform’ to assert one’s role as a ‘critic of the old world, as well as a constructor and 45 defender of the new’.

Dressed in the military garb of Jiang Qing and the heroines of model works such as The Red Detachment of Women, many young women felt empowered to take the revolution into their own hands.46 They saw no difference between themselves and their male counterparts. In her account of growing up in Beijing, Rae Yang observes that ‘we covered up our bodies so completely that I almost forgot I was a girl…I was a Red Guard’.47 Gender-neutral, homogenising military dress stifled individual, female identity, such that women wreaked violence with impunity. Along with its psychological and social power, the Red Guard ‘uniform’ had a practical utility: ‘the belts were our weapons…when we wanted to beat someone, all we had to do was take off our belts’.48

38

Finnane, Changing Clothes, pp. 205-6.

Ibid.

40 Ai Qing, Xin guancha banyuekan (16 April 1955), quoted in Finnane, Changing Clothes, p. 209.

41 Steele and Major, China Chic, p. 58.

42 M. Galikowski, Art and Politics in China, 1949-1984 (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, c1998), p.

138.

43 Mao, quoted in Finnane, Changing Clothes, pp. 234-35.

44 Ibid., p. 235.

45 Unnamed female middle-school student, quoted in E. Honig, ‘Maoist mappings of gender: Reassessing the Red Guards’ in S. Brownell and J.N. Wasserstrom, eds., Chinese Femininities/Chinese Masculinities: A Reader (Berkeley: University of California Press, c2002), p. 257.; Mao Zedong, quoted in Galikowski, Art and Politics, p. 138.

46 Honig, ‘Mappings of gender’, p. 255.

47 Rae Yang, Spider Eaters (1987), quoted in Honig, ‘Mappings of gender’, p. 257.

48 Unnamed female middle-school student, quoted in Honig, ibid., p. 257.

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Individuality and femininity in dress were emphatically denied during the Cultural Revolution.

Through propaganda and terror, women were compelled to dress either in the military garb 49 of a fervent revolutionary or the Lenin suit of the modest proletarian. The constant repetition of the word pusu (simplicity) in CCP directives and slogans prescribed the bounds of acceptable women’s dress, while the Red Guards’ violent attacks on the ‘stinking beauty’ 50 of tight dresses and long hair imposed sartorial conformity. Among the most notorious incidents of the Cultural Revolution was the struggle session against Wang Guangmei, wife of the ‘capitalist roader’ Liu Shaoqi. Mocking her dress on a state visit to Indonesia in 1963, Wang’s interrogators forced her to don a qipao, high-heeled shoes and a necklace of pingpong balls.51 Humiliated before a jeering crowd, the much-publicised image of the fallen President’s wife sent a clear message to the women of China: external looks betrayed inner 52 conviction, such that subversive looks were punishable as subversive conviction.

Reacting against the sartorial conformity of the Cultural Revolution, Chinese women have sought to reassert their female identity through dress since the late 1970s. The revolutionary slogan proclaiming that women were entitled to ‘half of a heaven’ encompassing both the sun and the moon has been replaced by the recognition that women are ‘not the moon’.53 This popular metaphor advocates that women should cultivate their ‘own brilliance’, rather than merely reflecting or emulating men.54 The CCP directs women to embrace their ‘innate female characteristics’, while the burgeoning consumer market supplies the Western dress, hairstyles and cosmetics necessary to realise media images of the ‘good life, beauty and 55 fulfillment’. The CCP recognises that the consumption of these products serves its economic objectives. Yet in repeatedly directing its citizens to distinguish between ‘acceptable’ imports of Western culture and those ‘unacceptable’ aspects, the CCP asserts its authority over women’s consumption habits and affirms the PRC’s status 56 as an independent nation.

While Chinese women have been accorded greater latitude in their choice of dress, their clothing rarely expresses their individual identity. Patriarchal ideology continues to define gender relations, such that women are pressured to dress in accordance with the feminine ideal. Burdened by the ‘wide rivers and high mountains’ of conflicting social and male expectations, women often sacrifice their individuality and independence to assume those ‘innate female characteristics’ so valued by the CCP and Chinese men.57 Some women flaunt luxury goods as a sign of their success, but most women merely aspire to be the ‘traditional virtuous wife and good mother’ represented in advertisements for 58 consumer goods.

49

Steele and Major, China Chic, pp. 59-60.

Ibid., p. 171.; Zang Xiao, ‘Huang junzhuang qingjie’, Hefei wanbao (11 September 2003), quoted in Finnane, Changing Clothes, p. 236.

51 Steele and Major, China Chic, pp. 60-1.

52 Ibid., p. 176.

53 Croll, Changing Identities, p. 156.

54 Ting Lan, ‘Nuren bushi yueliang’, Nuzi Shijie (June 1985), quoted in Croll, Changing Identities, p. 156.

55 B. Hooper, ‘“Flower vase and housewife”: Women and consumerism in post-Mao China’ in K. Sen and M. Stivens, eds., Gender and Power in Affluent Asia (London: Routledge, 1998), pp. 169-70.

56 Hooper, ‘Women and consumerism’, p. 186.

57 Croll, Changing Identities, p. 157.

58 Hooper, ‘Women and consumerism’, p. 169.; Article in Zhongguo funu bao (20 March 1992), quoted in Hooper, ibid. p. 167.; Evans, H., ‘Past, perfect or imperfect: Changing images of the ideal wife’ in S. Brownell and J.N. Wasserstrom, eds., Chinese Femininities/Chinese Masculinities: A Reader (Berkeley: University of California Press, c2002), p. 340.

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The economic liberation of the post-Mao era has not led to the sexual liberation of women.

Before the 1980s, visitors to China often remarked on the absence of sexualised images, but now the city streets are dominated by advertising that shows women as ‘objects of 59 consumption’. These images conflate style with sexuality, reflecting popular suspicion of glamorous, well-dressed women.60 Dress has also been used against the women of China’s minority groups. Bedecked in traditional costume and photographed with birds, lambs and butterflies, minority women are represented as ‘exotic others’ completely devoid of 61 individuality, who have been plucked from their primitive state into modernity.

At first glance, developments in women’s dress since the founding of the PRC signal the liberation of women from patriarchal ideology and the patrilineal kinship structure. Yet Chinese women have not been truly liberated. Patriarchal ideology continues to define gender relations and women have also been subject to a new and subtler form of oppression at the hands of the state. The CCP only accords women an equal role when it is expedient to do so. Yet directives for women to dress as workers, revolutionaries or consumers are couched in the rhetoric of equality and liberation. Dress has thus been used as a tool to compel women to perform those identities that befit the CCP’s economic or political objectives. Women’s dress has also served as a conspicuous sign of the CCP’s ostensible commitment to women’s liberation, which in truth is as flimsy and superficial as fashion itself.

In 1963, Mao composed a poem expressing his approbation of women in uniform: Five-foot rifles, flashing bravely, On the training ground, at break of day, How remarkable the spirit of Chinese women: They love martial dress, not dressing up.62 In nearly fifty years, little has changed. Chinese women may have substituted uniforms for designer wear, but the CCP still directs a politicised game of dress-ups, all the while proclaiming that it is giving women what they want.

59

Hooper, ‘Women and consumerism’, p. 167.

L. Edwards, ‘Sport, fashion and beauty: New incarnations of the female politician in contemporary China’ in F. Martin and L. Heinrich, eds., Embodied Modernities: Corporeality, Representation and Chinese Cultures (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, c2006), p. 150.

61 L. Schein, ‘Gender and internal orientalism in China’ in S. Brownell and J.N. Wasserstrom, eds., Chinese Femininities/Chinese Masculinities: A Reader (Berkeley: University of California Press, c2002), p. 390.

62 Mao, Poems by Chairman Mao (1963), quoted in Finnane, Changing Clothes, p. 231.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Andors, P., The Unfinished Liberation of Chinese Women 1949-1980 (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1983).

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Croll, E., Chinese Women Since Mao (London: Zed Books, 1983).

Edwards, L., ‘Sport, fashion and beauty: New incarnations of the female politician in contemporary China’ in F. Martin and L. Heinrich, eds., Embodied Modernities: Corporeality, Representation and Chinese Cultures (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, c2006), pp. 146-61.

Evans, H., ‘Past, perfect or imperfect: Changing images of the ideal wife’ in S. Brownell and J.N. Wasserstrom, eds., Chinese Femininities/Chinese Masculinities: A Reader (Berkeley: University of California Press, c2002), pp. 335-60.

Fan, H., Footbinding, Feminism and Freedom: The Liberation of Women’s Bodies in Modern China (London: F. Cass, 1997).

Finnane, A., Changing Clothes in China: Fashion, History and Nation (Sydney: University of New South Wales Press, 2007).

Galikowski, M., Art and Politics in China, 1949-1984 (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, c1998).

Garrett, V.M., Chinese Clothing: An Illustrated Guide (Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1994).

Heinrich, L. and F. Martin, ‘Introduction to Part II’ in F. Martin and L. Heinrich, eds., Embodied Modernities: Corporeality, Representation and Chinese Cultures (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, c2006), pp. 115-25.

Hewitt, A., Fascist Modernism: Aesthetics, Politics, and the Avant-Garde (Stanford: Stanford University Press, c1993).

Honig, E., ‘Maoist mappings of gender: Reassessing the Red Guards’ in S. Brownell and J.N. Wasserstrom, eds., Chinese Femininities/Chinese Masculinities: A Reader (Berkeley: University of California Press, c2002), pp. 255-68.

Hooper, B., ‘“Flower vase and housewife”: Women and consumerism in post-Mao China’ in K. Sen and M. Stivens, eds., Gender and Power in Affluent Asia (London: Routledge, 1998), pp. 167-93.

Johnson, K.A., Women and the Peasant Revolution in China (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983).

Judd, E.R., The Chinese Women’s Movement Between State and Market (Stanford: Stanford University Press, c2002).

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Liu, J., Gender and Work in Urban China: Women Workers of the Unlucky Generation (Oxford: Routledge, c2007).

McLaren, A.E., ‘Chinese cultural revivalism: Changing gender constructions in the Yangtze River delta’ in K. Sen and M. Stivens, eds., Gender and Power in Affluent Asia (London: Routledge, 1998), pp. 194-221.

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Schein, L., ‘Gender and internal orientalism in China’ in S. Brownell and J.N. Wasserstrom, eds., Chinese Femininities/Chinese Masculinities: A Reader (Berkeley: University of California Press, c2002), pp. 385-411.

Steele, V. and J.S. Major, China Chic: East Meets West (New Haven: Yale University Press, c1999).

Zheng, Z., ‘Urban young women’s fallacies in consumption’ in Chinese Education and Society: A Journal of Translations, Zito, A., ‘Bound to be represented: Theorizing/fetishizing footbinding’ in F. Martin and L. Heinrich, eds., Embodied Modernities: Corporeality, Representation and Chinese Cultures (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, c2006), pp. 21-41.

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