Transphobia in the Media: Crossdressing as a Point of Fear and Comedy

Film as a visual medium has been established as one of the most accessible displays of the human condition, nuanced philosophical discussion, and societal examination since its invention at the turn of the twentieth century. Despite its adolescence as a vehicle for narrative, film was, for a time, the most popular storytelling form, surpassing theatrical performances, stage plays, and technical innovations such as FM radio. However, due to the invention of television and its emergence as a separate genre, film has now emerged as one of many alternatives to experiencing moving, visual art. Artists began to utilize this art form to examine the human psyche and the environment from which it was constructed to more complex examinations such as the desire for self-discovery. Gender and sexuality when expressed in this fashion is often[i] used as a foil for this desire and can be utilized to grapple with one’s identity being either outside the norm or accepted at any capacity, the most contentious being identities under the trans hypernym (transsexuality, crossdressing, etc.)

“I Deserve Everything”: The Role of Confidence in 21st Century Women’s Sports

By Sabeehah Ravat, University of South Florida

Professional sport is one of the most highly consumed entertainment products in the world, making it both an accessible and unstable foundation for engaging in activism and championing sociopolitical change. Throughout its history, the foundation of heteropatriarchal white supremacy that sports is built on has been challenged, renegotiated, and reinforced.

Issue XContent EditorsMay 8, 2020sports, entertainment, women, gender, change, inequality, sexuality, race, LGBTQ+, athletes, queerComment

“What is this thing, Lord?”: Matthew O’Connor and the Queer Theology of the Catholic Church in Nightwood (1937)

By Olivia Harris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The modernist novel Nightwood by Djuna Barnes (1892-1982) is a celebration of difference. Published in 1937,[1] it precociously spotlights the voices of those who are often marginalized: homosexuals, women, Jews, starving artists, political activists, the working class.[2] The story focuses on a lesbian love triangle in Paris:

Editorial, Issue XContent EditorsMay 4, 2020modernist, queer, queer theory, history, LGBTQ+, Catholicism, literature, culture, gender, ChristianityComment

The Matter of the Mind in Mrs. Dalloway: How Woolf Reveals Gender Performativity Before Butler Reveals the Term

Judith Butler, in her work “Gender Trouble,” insists on a need for a radial philosophical movement towards the understanding that gendered experience is internalized due to compulsory gender actions and conventions, which pursue a completely derived and ultimately unachievable ideal.

Archives, Issue IXContent EditorsMay 7, 2019Virginia Woolf, literature, novel, author, gender, theory, womenComment

Hypermasculinity and Fetishized Martyrdom in Angela Carter's "The Bloody Chamber"

Rosalyn Stilling

Angela Carter’s “The Bloody Chamber” is a touchstone of postmodern fairy tale revisions, deftly marrying the latent content of Charles Perrault’s “Bluebeard” with her entrancing and opulent prose. She boldly addresses the sexuality, gender relations, and biblical comparisons inherent in Perrault’s tale in her prose, particularly by blending allusions to Judeo-Christian figures with sadomasochistic practices. Carter expands upon these elements present in “Bluebeard,” while keeping her focus on the representation of villainous Bluebeard and his abuses towards the innocent bride.

Archives, Issue VIIIContent EditorsJune 1, 2018Catholicism, sexuality, gender, feminism, symbolism, folk literature, literature, violence, ChristianityComment

Ormond’s Subversion of Heteronormative Gothic Characteristics

By Lindsay Brents

During his attempts to create American literature distinct from its European heritage, Charles Brockden Brown wrote Ormond; Or, The Secret Witness. Written and set in the 1790s in the United States, this novel establishes a recognizably Gothic plot, only to thwart the expected sexual violence by allowing the heroine to kill the man who threatens her.

Archives, Issue VIContent EditorsApril 11, 2016women, feminism, power, novel, sexuality, relationships, gender, heroismComment

Deciphering the Manic Pixie Mythos

By Julianna Joyce

Unnaturally colored hair, alternative style, an affinity for the Smiths, and just socially awkward enough to be lovable, the alternative girl has found her way out of the high school and college hallways and directly onto the silver screen. In the last twenty years, television and film have begun to feature the quirky, alternative female alongside the usual female characters who embody homogenized ideals of feminine beauty. Television shows such as New Girl, Girls, and even NCIS have featured the alternative girl as either a protagonist or an important secondary character. The acceptance of diverse and alternative female characters into mass media represents a move towards drawing in the “Indie crowd,” a now marketable demographic made viable by the hipster movement.

Volume 4, ArchivesContent EditorsSeptember 4, 2014television, film, stereotypes, feminism, theory, women, gender, fiction, relationshipsComment

Making Gender Reels

By Laura Stamm

As a fantasy structure, film acts as a privileged medium to conceive of formations, including identity formations, which are otherwise unthinkable under dominant ideology.

Archives, Volume 3Content EditorsAugust 25, 2014film, gender, LGBTQ+, performance, identityComment