Understanding how to read a utopian or dystopian is important and McBean compares these ideas and looks at how we have to look at the social and political systems surrounding the date these are published. “In opposition to over-arching theories of Utopia as a distant or perfect world, these arguments emphasise Utopia as a discursive practice of imagining historically specific and situated alternatives” (McBean 42). By looking at the feminist movements surrounding the publication of this novel, Piercy’s objective becomes clear. There are four main themes that she covers, while closer analysis could probably find even more. The biggest theme is the idea of gender equality, but she also spends a lot of time talking about race, sexuality and poverty. The majority of my data is based on the idea of gender inequality.
In the novel, Woman on the Edge of Time, Marge Piercy argues it is impossible to achieve true gender equality while functioning in a capitalist society that has been built by men. She also shows that in order for a woman’s full potential to be reached, that money and the present ideas of “motherhood” are two critical ideas that must be taken out of the equation. This is proven in the initial response of the main character, Connie, to the ideas presented by the utopian and dystopian futures that she is introduced to. As well as the progression of her feelings toward the possibility of a future like the one she is shown by Luciente throughout the novel.
Connie is a Mexican American woman living in New York in the 1970’s, who has repeatedly been a victim of the racist, patriarchal and capitalist society she was born in to. She seems inevitably trapped in a painful cycle, from watching her mother be abused to being abused herself. When she finally gets the courage to run from that abuse she finds herself in poverty and incapable of finding stable enough work to support her daughter.
“Consuela, my given name. Consuela's a Mexican woman, a servant of servants, silent as clay. The woman who suffers. Who bears and endures. Then I'm Connie, who managed to get two years of college—
till Consuela got pregnant. Connie got decent jobs from time to time and fought welfare for a little extra money for Angie. She got me on a bus when I had to leave Chicago. But it was her who
married Eddie, she thought it was smart. Then I'm Conchita, the low-down drunken mean part of me who gets by in jail, in the bughouse, who loves no good men, who hurt my daughter…” (Piercy 129)
In this passage Piercy shows the inner struggles that Connie has faced in trying to make ends meet in a world that seems to constantly work against her. Each time she feels like she is finally making progress she finds herself in a battle with a man or with money.
Connie tries to convince her mother to come with her when she moves to New York, but her mom has been brainwashed by the patriarchal ideas that she is in the life she is destined. Her mother tells her, “You’ll do what women do. You’ll pay your debt to your family for your blood.” “Nothing in life but having babies and cooking and keeping the house.” “There’s nothing for a woman to see but troubles.” (Piercy 45) The fact that she is raised to believe that the only use for women in her society is to have babies and belong to a man show the struggles she faces in finding any independence. Connie’s mother almost died giving birth to her last baby, a male, who was stillborn. “They took her womb in the hospital. Afterward that was a curse Jesús threw in her face: no longer a woman. An empty shell” (Piercy44). In Connie’s present world these seem to be the ideologies that she is constantly running from.
She also comes to realize that she has more than just the fact that she is a woman stacked against her. She says, “It was a crime to be born poor, as it was a crime to be born brown” (Piercy62). The fact that her only glimpse of hope or happiness in her current world comes from her dependence on men, shows the constraints held on her by the society she is a part of. She and her mother were dependent on her abusive father. Then she marries Martin and is happy but he is killed in a police shootout. She believes Eddie is going to take care of her because he has money but she finds herself in an abusive situation like her mother that she just can’t fathom remaining in. She meets Claud, a blind African American musician and professional pickpocket when she goes to tell Eddie that she is pregnant with his baby. Then she has to depend on her brother Luis when Claud dies from experimental testing in prison. This and the fact that men seem to control all of the money in her life is how Piercy shows the desperation Connie feels when Angelina tears up her shoes.
Connie’s first trip to the “bughouse” or mental hospital is voluntary. She knows that she has hit rock bottom and the fact that she has injured her daughter because of this weighs heavily on her. She thinks that she is going to get help so that she can be a good mother and have the opportunity to start over but when she finally gets out she realizes that Angelina has been adopted out and her only chance at motherhood has been taken away. No money, no job and no hope for a family even when she is trying to take care of her niece Dolly and her daughter Nita. Dolly has been forced into prostitution by her pimp boyfriend Geraldo, and has wound up pregnant. She seems sure that the baby is his and wants to keep it so he will marry her and she won’t have to be a prostitute anymore. He tells her “You think I sweat bricks for the kid of some stupid trick with dragging balls? You don’t even know what color worm you got turning in that apple” (Piercy8). Dolly is another example of women not having control of even their own bodies when Geraldo brings the doctor from Mexico to perform a backdoor abortion. Connie in an attempt to save Dolly and her baby hits Geraldo in the face with a gallon wine jug and breaks his nose.
“She had struck out not at herself, not at herself in another, but at Geraldo, the enemy” (Piercy15). “Geraldo was her father who had beaten her every week of her childhood. Her second husband who had sent her into emergency with blood running down her legs. He was El Muro, who had raped her and then beaten her because she would not lie and say that she had enjoyed it” (Piercy9).
This lands her back in the mental hospital severely injured by the beatings she received from Geraldo and his men and in the lineup for experimental neurological testing. “From an early age she had been told that what she felt was unreal and didn’t matter. Now they were about to place her in something that would rule her feelings like a thermostat” (Piercy 308). At the hospital she isn’t deemed to be rational enough to have any realistic opinion of what happened and even Dolly is threatened to lie and say that Connie attacked them. “The doctor had not even interviewed her but had talked exclusively to Geraldo, exchanging only a word or two with Dolly” (Piercy12). Then when her brother Luis signs the paperwork at the hospital she realizes that any control she may have held in her life no longer exist, “Some truce had been negotiated between the two men over the bodies of their women” (Piercy 28). This is the point when Piercy establishes that something is going to have to be done to change things and Connie can’t do it alone.
Even though we’ve been briefly introduced to Luciente before this point in the novel, this moment is when she becomes important. This is when she is able to time travel with Connie to show her Mattapoisett, Massachusetts in 2137. When she first meets Luciente I think it is important to note that Connie thinks she is a man but, she says “He lacked the macho presence of men in her own family, nor did he have Claud’s massive strength, or Eddie’s edgy combativeness” (Piercy 33) In the present both men and women are significantly repressed by harsh stereotypes.“In the time travel between Connie and Luciente, this split temporality is represented through a queer touch, so that Connie's contact with the future necessarily shakes her erotic present” (McBean 52). Even Connie can’t the the constraints that she is placing on gender identity in regards to Luciente and possibly others that she has come into contact with. “Really he was girlish” (Piercy 38). She is extremely shocked and embarrassed when she realizes that Luciente is a “she”. Not only is she angry with herself because she found herself attracted to her, which in her time she would have been frowned upon and ridiculed. “‘You’re well muscled for a woman.’ In anger she turned on her heel and stalked a few paces away. A dyke, of course” (Piercy 68). Her response initially is to push Luciente away. “When Luciente first appears to Connie she is mistaken for a man… By Contrast, women in Connie’s world are absurdly socialized according to men’s conceptions of their reality” (Maciunas 252).
When Connie is trying to explain the situation of how she got put into the institution there is not only a language barrier but also confusion due to the difference in the way Luciente’s society functions. “Prostitution? I’ve read of this and seen a drama too about a person he sold per body to feed per family” (Piercy64)! Because selling of anything does not exist, the idea that someone would be forced to sell their body doesn’t make much sense. Even though they have heard of it the concept remains unclear. It also seems that Luciente is of the mindset that ‘why would someone buy something that could be given away freely’?
In this utopian future that Luciente takes Connie to there are a lot of things that she struggles to understand in the way things are done because of her upbringing. The biggest of these is that men and women all share equal roles in the community even when it comes to making what would seem like political decisions. It does not seem like this future has a structured government just the idea that everyone comes together and is given the opportunity to speak. “We have a five-minute limit on speeches. We figure that anything person can’t say in five minutes, person is better off not saying” (Piercy161). Luciente explains that it is a planning council “Chosen by lot. You do it for a year: threemonth with the rep before you and three with the person replacing you and six alone” (Piercy161). Although originally skeptical Connie realizes after watching the process that it is a more efficient consideration of the communities needs and resources. Everyone seems to care about the needs of everyone else and because of the lack of a monetary system the greediness of people is subdued. “We don’t buy or sell anything” (Piercy64), Luciente explains. They realize that the only way to arrive at a solution is to compromise and therefore they tend to work their problems out on their own.
When it comes to sex Connie is even more confused. She has friends that she has met in the institution who have been persecuted for their sexuality. Sybil has been regarded as a lesbian by the hospital staff, while Connie knows her true feelings about sex. “Who wants to be a hole?... Do you want to be a dumb hole people push things in or rub against?” (Piercy 87). While the sexual encounters in Mattapoisett seem more strange because they only do so out of pleasure; “Fasure we couple. Not for money, not for a living. For love, for pleasure, for relief, out of habit, out of curiosity and lust. Like you, no?” (Piercy64). Connie has been raped and abused throughout her life and likely doesn’t understand why anyone would have sex with multiple partners just out of pleasure. Luciente tries to how their ability to have relationships with whomever they wish makes the coupling more enjoyable. Rather than finding one individual who is incapable of meeting all of your needs and having to sacrifice those needs for love or security. They don’t have to depend on their partners to provide support and they are able to pursue personal needs from multiple individuals typically without fear of jealousy. They also don’t have to live with one another, “We each have our own space! Only babies share space!” (Piercy 73), and Piercy seems to be saying that they are able to have a lot more peace and unity.
Another important fact about Mattapoisett is that babies are not born to individuals. In Connie’s present the stress of motherhood causes women a lot of hardship and pain, whereas the babies here are fed and born by a brooder. “What her soul could imagine is Mattapoisett, the village community of the year 2137 to which Connie time-travels, a community in which individuals are treated not as tools to serve other people’s ends, but as ends in themselves” (26). Connie is appalled by the idea that a machine is giving birth and feels that the women must feel cheated out of motherhood and even more so when she finds out that men are allowed to “mother” as well. She describes the babies of Mattapoisett as “bland bottleborn monsters of the future, born without pain, multicolored like a litter of puppies without the stigmata of race and sex” (Piercy 98). Then later gets angry again; “How can men be mothers! How can some kid who isn’t related to you be your child?” (Piercy 274) Connie is angry and this is the most difficult concept for her to grasp ahold of during her trips to the future. “Both men and women can mother and breastfeed, while men and women work in all the same jobs and activities and wear similar clothes. The personal pronouns that distinguish gender have been eliminated” (Trainor 32). With this Piercy makes a strong argument that even though this idea may be difficult for a lot of women to make sense of, because they enjoy the responsibility of giving birth and raising children. It may be complicated to accept the idea that it would be a beneficial choice for the whole of the community and the betterment of the future. Luciente says
“Birth! Birth! Birth!... That’s all you can dream about! Our dignity comes from work. Everyone raises the kids, haven’t you noticed? Romance, sex, birth, children--that’s what you fasten on. Yet that
isn’t women’s business anymore. It’s everybody’s” (Piercy 274).
Shortly he follows with “The need exist. I serve the need. After me the need will still exist and the need will be served. Let me do well what has and will be done as well by others. Let me take on the role and then let it go” (Piercy 275). This is happening when Connie has escaped the institution and she is trying to run away. It is possible that Piercy is trying to show that Connie is not only running from imprisonment of the hospital but also the imprisonment of the ideologies that she has lived under her entire life. Even with this revelation she is captured and taken back to the hospital where the doctors finally implant the device into her brain. This physical change alters her ability to meet with Luciente and sends her to an alternative dystopian future.
In this dystopia, Connie meets Gildina, who is a woman “contracty”. Women are property to be held under contract for any given amount of time and are subjected to be dismissed for any reason.
“All the flacks make contracts. Contract sex. It means you agree to put out for so long for so much. You know? Like I have a two-year contract. Some girls got only a one-nighter or monthly, that’s standard. You can be out on your ear at the end of a month with only a days notice… Course once in a while some real bulger ends up with a ten-year contract. I’ve never met one, but I’ve heard of them” (Piercy 316).
They must fulfil any duties given in the contract and while they are paid for their “labor” they have no ownership of any property or possessions. Piercy only designates fifteen pages to this part of the novel. She seems to be showing with the comparisons to Dolly’s prostitution that this future is not far off from where Connie currently lives. In this future beauty is even more important and when she is greeted by Gildina her feelings are hurt, “Nobody would take you for a contracty… If you’ve ever had a beauty-op, you’ve reverted… When I was fifteen I was selected, and I’m still on the fully shots and re-ops” (Piercy 314). This future is described as being “Segregated and Guarded” (Piercy 314) where everyone has a strict place that cannot be altered. The complete opposite of Mattapoisett. Even the groups designated for reproduction are looked down upon and seem to have a poor lot in life; “I’ve never had a contract call for a kid. Mostly the mom’s have them. You know they’re cored to make babies all the time. Ugh, they’re so fat” (Piercy 316). It is possible that this vision allows Connie to see the benefits of having the responsibility of childbirth taken off of women makes motherhood easier. Also the life expectancy is much shorter in this dystopia than it is in Connie’s time or especially in Mattapoisett where people mostly die old and happy surrounded by family and friends, Gildina says “She must have been forty-three. How long do you suppose to live? Only the richies live longer, it’s in their genes” (Piercy 317).
In her novel Piercy makes it seem that she is giving Connie several choices to make by showing her these alternative futures. She shows that by women allowing themselves to be continuously treated as property that they will eventually become just that, while if they push for equality that it is something achievable and something that could make humanity prosper. Luciente shows Connie that by taking the distinction out of gender and allowing people to participate in society where they feel the most useful they have a more prosperous community. One where sex is not a job or a duty but one in which people are able to find enjoyment, pleasure and companionship. Race is something in Mattapoisett that doesn’t segregate people but brings them together in unity. Poverty doesn’t exist in Mattapoisett because there is no such thing as money. Goods are traded according to need and while no one is wealthy there is also no one that is suffering in their communities. Connie has suffered greatly from Poverty and this is probably the most desirable concept to her. She sees this as the reason she lost her daughter and had money not been an issue she may have still had Angelina with her. By the end unfortunately it is unclear if Connie is able to make any choices that would lead her in the direction of either of these futures but Piercy makes a strong argument that the way out of this society would be to take the idea of money and motherhood out of the equation in order to make sure that women are treated as equals in society.
Works Cited
Piercy, Marge. Woman on the Edge of Time. Ballantine Books, 2016. originally published in 1976
McBean, Sam. “Feminism and Futurity: Revisiting Marge Piercy's ‘Woman on the Edge of Time.’” Feminist Review, no. 107, 2014, pp. 37–56., www.jstor.org/stable/24571888.
Maciunas, Billie. “Feminist Epistemology in Piercy’s Women on the Edge of Time.” Women’s Studies, vol. 20, no. 3/4, Jan. 1992, p. 249. EBSCOhost, bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=5832856&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Trainor, Kim. “‘What Her Soul Could Imagine’: Envisioning Human Flourishing in Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time.” Contemporary Justice Review, vol. 8, no. 1, Mar. 2005, pp. 25–38. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/10282580500044143.
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Surprising New Thesis Proposal Draft
Introduction
Due to the fact that I just changed my fake thesis topic on Monday this is going to be an extremely rough draft. However I have high hopes that by December 12th this will be an immaculate work of art that even Dr. Vrooman will be proud of. I’ve recently read a novel by Marge Piercy Woman on the Edge of Time and ultimately it has changed my life. Why you say, well it kind of combined an array of the types of literature that I thought I liked with the literature that my professors over the last three years have been trying to get me to make sense of. I didn't really expect to enjoy this novel even though I chose it to do a discovery project on during my Women Writers class with Dr. Johnston. My goal was to survive it as it was my last reading assignment before graduation. However after being introduced to Connie, a 37 year old hispanic mother living in poverty in New York, who is repeatedly abused by the patriarchal systems of the 1970’s and the idea that by either refusing to submit to a literal rewiring of the brain by male doctors in a mental institution or giving up on life, she had the power to choose a possible future for the world, I have found that there may be hope for me yet (I do understand that this sentence is in need of some punctuation but I will have to further seek advice from one Dr. Pamela Johnston to see where to put some commas, as Chelsea Box was unavailable at this time). The novel finally made me understand the purpose behind second wave feminism as I was kind of born right after all of the excitement of this decade but it totally explains why my dad has called my mom “Princess” all my life. Anyway, back to Connie, since I got sidetracked for a bit. For the majority of the novel Connie is a resident of 3 separate mental institutions in New York. This is her second visit however her first was voluntary (sort of) after she injures her daughter during a bout of depression following the death of her third husband.
Literature Review
These are the sources that I have made it through so far. I will attach the annotated list to this which also is not complete but has the quotes from these sources that I think will be relevant to making an argument. I will get through the rest of them by this weekend. And I just realized that I used the page numbers for the pdf and not the page numbers of the actual document itself. I will fix that as well.
McBean, Sam. “Feminism and Futurity: Revisiting Marge Piercy's ‘Woman on the Edge of Time.’” Feminist Review, no. 107, 2014, pp. 37–56., www.jstor.org/stable/24571888.
“feminism and futurity: revisiting Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time.”
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24571888?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
“This article moves away from a reading of Piercy's text as a fictional exploration of the concerns of second wave feminism to consider instead how it might be placed in dialogue with contemporary feminist and queer theorising on the relationship between futurity and the past. In my reading, Woman on the Edge of Time not only functions as a critique of the present through the Utopian genre, but also brings loss, mourning, haunting and futurity into close contact with each other—so that Connie's past losses are formative and productive of the future” (5)
“In opposition to over-arching theories of Utopia as a distant or perfect world, these arguments emphasise Utopia as a discursive practice of imagining historically specific and situated alternative” (7)
“In the time travel between Connie and Luciente, this split temporality is represented through a queer touch, so that Connie's contact with the future necessarily shakes her erotic present” (17)
“In thinking about time in feminism, Woman on the Edge of Time is an example of the various ways desires, attachments and political dreams cross temporal boundaries, blurring these bound” (18)
Maciunas, Billie. “Feminist Epistemology in Piercy’s Women on the Edge of Time.” Women’s Studies, vol. 20, no. 3/4, Jan. 1992, p. 249. EBSCOhost, bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=5832856&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
“Feminist Epistemology in Piercy’s Women on the Edge of Time.”
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=5832856&site=ehost-live&scope=site
“For Harding, science-as-usual, while functioning under cover of a supposed value-neutral ethics, is inherently sexist, racist and classist.” (1)
“When Lucienty first appears to Connie she is mistaken for a man… By Contrast, women in Connie’s world are absurdly socialized according to men’s conceptions of their reality” (4)
“Piercy shows, too the contradiction inherent in the socialization of women strictly for motherhood. Connie and her niece can afford to raise their children only at the cost of dependence on men who are for the most part abusive” (5)
“As soon as Connie has poisoned the doctors, she understands that she is no longer receptive to Luciente’s world. Piercy thus seems to conclude that the possibility of the world that she imagines is closed off by violence.” (9)
Trainor, Kim. “‘What Her Soul Could Imagine’: Envisioning Human Flourishing in Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time.” Contemporary Justice Review, vol. 8, no. 1, Mar. 2005, pp. 25–38. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/10282580500044143.
“‘What Her Soul Could Imagine’: Envisioning Human Flourishing in Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time.”
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=16358189&site=ehost-live&scope=site
“I argue that the opposition of a dystopian and utopian world in this novel asks
the reader to imagine first a diminishing and then a flourishing of her own human capa-
bilities and that, in this imagining, she gains essential insight in order to participate in
debates surrounding social justice” (1)
As she reviews the events of her life, she recognizes that “She had had too little of what her body needed and too
little of what her soul could imagine” (p. 274). What her soul could imagine is
Mattapoisett, the village community of the year 2137 to which Connie time-travels, a
community in which individuals are treated not as tools to serve other people’s ends,
but as ends in themselves. (2)
It is explained that this development was necessary in order to achieve equality
between the sexes. Connie expresses distaste for the artificial breeding of children, the
“bland bottleborn monsters of the future, born without pain, multicolored like a litter
of puppies without the stigmata of race and sex” (p. 98). Both men and women can
mother and breastfeed, while men and women work in all the same jobs and activities
and wear similar clothes. The personal pronouns that distinguish gender have been
Eliminated. (8)
The contrast with the visionary world of Mattapoisett is stark. As readers, we are
alerted to the difference in this newly imagined society when Luciente looks directly at
Connie as opposed to seeing right through her as the doctors and the case workers do.
Some of her first words to Connie are: “I see you as a being with many sores, wounds,
undischarged anger but basically good and wide open to others” (p. 49). Here, the
human potential which is discarded as garbage, tool, and test experiment is recognized
and nourished. (13)
In the utopian future of Mattapoisett she is recognized as an end in herself where all individuals have the opportunity to flourish.(14)
Afnan, Elham. “Chaos and Utopia: Social Transformation in Woman on the Edge of Time.” Extrapolation (Kent State University Press), vol. 37, no. 4, Winter 1996, pp. 330–340. EBSCOhost, bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=94625&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Chaos and Utopia: Social Transformation in Woman on the Edge of Time
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=94625&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Thomas More exploited the contradiction inherent in the term when he chose the title for his account of the imaginary island that enjoyed perfection in laws, politics, and economy. However, this paradox has also helped create a dichotomy with far-reaching consequences for modem readers for whom Utopia is often synonymous either with totalitarian social engineering or with impractical wishful thinking. Utopian works are often denigrate or dismissed as unrealistic and dull because readers insist on approaching them as either blueprints for creating a perfect, and therefore static, society or as purely fictional works of imagination that can be realized "nowhere." (1)
Luciente's role is analogous to that of the author: both of them not only present the distinguishing features of a new society, but they also try to stimulate in their auditor/reader the activism that will bring that society into being. (4)
Clearly concepts of order, particularly order concealed within or arising out of disorder, are central to the creation of a Utopian society. Chaos theory offers an understanding of the dynamics of emergent order that is applicable not only to physical systems but also, analogically, to cultural situations. Of particular relevance to Woman on the Edge of Time is the idea of the boundary between order and chaos. Gleick describes a computer program that generates fractal shapes by saying that "the boundary is where [it] spends most of its time and makes all of its compromises." The boundary serves as a threshold where the system "chooses between competing options" (Gleick 232-33). Connie spends much of her time in the novel in a similar region as she crosses and recrosses the "edge of time" separating her from Utopia (9)
These are the rest of my sources that I haven’t gotten to yet. I’ve strictly read the title and abstract but not the substance.
Ethics, Reproduction, Utopia: Gender and Childbearing in "Woman on the Edge of Time" and "The Left Hand of Darkness"
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4316482?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9502011103&site=ehost-live&scope=site
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=74628745&site=ehost-live&scope=site
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=160183&site=ehost-live&scope=site
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=26602135&site=ehost-live&scope=site
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=7389869&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Methods
As of right now my methods have consisted of trying to pick through the large amounts of feminist information. Dr. Johnston recommended taking a look at the idea that Connie has trouble accepting some of the values of Mattapoisett due to her more traditional values and the constraints that had been placed on women in her time. I’m seeing some discussion in that direction but I’m not sure if that has already been discussed or if I might be able to add something to it.
Data Analysis
Connie’s Current World:
Middle and upper class men have authority
“The doctor had not even interviewed her but had talked exclusively to Geraldo, exchanging only a word or two with Dolly” (12).
“She had struck out not at herself, not at herself in another, but at Geraldo, the enemy” (15).
“Some truce had been negotiated between the two med over the bodies of their women” (28).
“You’ll do what women do. You’ll pay your debt to your family for your blood.” “Nothing in life but having babies and cooking and keeping the house.” “There’s nothing for a woman to see but troubles.” (45)
“It was a crime to be born poor, as it was a crime to be born brown” (62).
“Prostitution? I’ve read of this and seen a drama too about a person he sold per body to feed per family!” (64)
“From an early age she had been told that what she felt was unreal and didn’t matter. Now they were about to place her in something that would rule her feelings like a thermostat” (308).
Connie’s Utopian Future:
Decisions are made in unity: men and women are equal
“The face of the young Indio smiling, beckoning, curiously gentle. He (Luciente) lacked the macho presence of the men in her own family” (33). “Really he was girlish” (38)
“We don’t buy or sell anything.” “Fasure we couple. Not for money, not for a living. For love, for pleasure, for relief, out of habit, out of curiosity and lust. Like you, no?” (64)
“Now she could begin to see him/her as a woman. Smooth hairless cheeks, shoulder length black hair, and the same gentle Indian face.” “You’re well muscled for a woman.” (68)
“We each have our own space! Only babies share space!” (73)
Connie’s Dystopian Future:
Women are property to be held under contract
Only 15 pages
“Segregated and Guarded” “Nobody would take you for a contracty… If you’ve ever had a beauty-op, you’ve reverted… When I was fifteen I was selected, and I’m still on the fully shots and re-ops.” (314)
“All the flacks make contracts. Contract sex. It means you agree to put out for so long for so much. You know? Like I have a two-year contract. Some girls got only a one-nighter or monthly, that’s standard. You can be out on your ear at the end of a month with only a days notice… Course once in a while some real bulger ends up with a ten-year contract. I’ve never met one, but I’ve heard of them” (316).
“I’ve never had a contract call for a kid. Mostly the mom’s have them. You know they’re cored to make babies all the time. Ugh, they’re so fat” (316).
“She must have been forty-three. How long do you suppose to live? Only the richies live longer, it’s in their genes” (317)
Conclusion
Obviously at this point I do not have a conclusion but I will by next week. I’m feeling accomplished. Sorry I prioritized preparing for my interview and submitting two job applications over this assignment.
Due to the fact that I just changed my fake thesis topic on Monday this is going to be an extremely rough draft. However I have high hopes that by December 12th this will be an immaculate work of art that even Dr. Vrooman will be proud of. I’ve recently read a novel by Marge Piercy Woman on the Edge of Time and ultimately it has changed my life. Why you say, well it kind of combined an array of the types of literature that I thought I liked with the literature that my professors over the last three years have been trying to get me to make sense of. I didn't really expect to enjoy this novel even though I chose it to do a discovery project on during my Women Writers class with Dr. Johnston. My goal was to survive it as it was my last reading assignment before graduation. However after being introduced to Connie, a 37 year old hispanic mother living in poverty in New York, who is repeatedly abused by the patriarchal systems of the 1970’s and the idea that by either refusing to submit to a literal rewiring of the brain by male doctors in a mental institution or giving up on life, she had the power to choose a possible future for the world, I have found that there may be hope for me yet (I do understand that this sentence is in need of some punctuation but I will have to further seek advice from one Dr. Pamela Johnston to see where to put some commas, as Chelsea Box was unavailable at this time). The novel finally made me understand the purpose behind second wave feminism as I was kind of born right after all of the excitement of this decade but it totally explains why my dad has called my mom “Princess” all my life. Anyway, back to Connie, since I got sidetracked for a bit. For the majority of the novel Connie is a resident of 3 separate mental institutions in New York. This is her second visit however her first was voluntary (sort of) after she injures her daughter during a bout of depression following the death of her third husband.
Literature Review
These are the sources that I have made it through so far. I will attach the annotated list to this which also is not complete but has the quotes from these sources that I think will be relevant to making an argument. I will get through the rest of them by this weekend. And I just realized that I used the page numbers for the pdf and not the page numbers of the actual document itself. I will fix that as well.
McBean, Sam. “Feminism and Futurity: Revisiting Marge Piercy's ‘Woman on the Edge of Time.’” Feminist Review, no. 107, 2014, pp. 37–56., www.jstor.org/stable/24571888.
“feminism and futurity: revisiting Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time.”
https://www.jstor.org/stable/24571888?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
“This article moves away from a reading of Piercy's text as a fictional exploration of the concerns of second wave feminism to consider instead how it might be placed in dialogue with contemporary feminist and queer theorising on the relationship between futurity and the past. In my reading, Woman on the Edge of Time not only functions as a critique of the present through the Utopian genre, but also brings loss, mourning, haunting and futurity into close contact with each other—so that Connie's past losses are formative and productive of the future” (5)
“In opposition to over-arching theories of Utopia as a distant or perfect world, these arguments emphasise Utopia as a discursive practice of imagining historically specific and situated alternative” (7)
“In the time travel between Connie and Luciente, this split temporality is represented through a queer touch, so that Connie's contact with the future necessarily shakes her erotic present” (17)
“In thinking about time in feminism, Woman on the Edge of Time is an example of the various ways desires, attachments and political dreams cross temporal boundaries, blurring these bound” (18)
Maciunas, Billie. “Feminist Epistemology in Piercy’s Women on the Edge of Time.” Women’s Studies, vol. 20, no. 3/4, Jan. 1992, p. 249. EBSCOhost, bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=5832856&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
“Feminist Epistemology in Piercy’s Women on the Edge of Time.”
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=5832856&site=ehost-live&scope=site
“For Harding, science-as-usual, while functioning under cover of a supposed value-neutral ethics, is inherently sexist, racist and classist.” (1)
“When Lucienty first appears to Connie she is mistaken for a man… By Contrast, women in Connie’s world are absurdly socialized according to men’s conceptions of their reality” (4)
“Piercy shows, too the contradiction inherent in the socialization of women strictly for motherhood. Connie and her niece can afford to raise their children only at the cost of dependence on men who are for the most part abusive” (5)
“As soon as Connie has poisoned the doctors, she understands that she is no longer receptive to Luciente’s world. Piercy thus seems to conclude that the possibility of the world that she imagines is closed off by violence.” (9)
Trainor, Kim. “‘What Her Soul Could Imagine’: Envisioning Human Flourishing in Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time.” Contemporary Justice Review, vol. 8, no. 1, Mar. 2005, pp. 25–38. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/10282580500044143.
“‘What Her Soul Could Imagine’: Envisioning Human Flourishing in Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time.”
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=16358189&site=ehost-live&scope=site
“I argue that the opposition of a dystopian and utopian world in this novel asks
the reader to imagine first a diminishing and then a flourishing of her own human capa-
bilities and that, in this imagining, she gains essential insight in order to participate in
debates surrounding social justice” (1)
As she reviews the events of her life, she recognizes that “She had had too little of what her body needed and too
little of what her soul could imagine” (p. 274). What her soul could imagine is
Mattapoisett, the village community of the year 2137 to which Connie time-travels, a
community in which individuals are treated not as tools to serve other people’s ends,
but as ends in themselves. (2)
It is explained that this development was necessary in order to achieve equality
between the sexes. Connie expresses distaste for the artificial breeding of children, the
“bland bottleborn monsters of the future, born without pain, multicolored like a litter
of puppies without the stigmata of race and sex” (p. 98). Both men and women can
mother and breastfeed, while men and women work in all the same jobs and activities
and wear similar clothes. The personal pronouns that distinguish gender have been
Eliminated. (8)
The contrast with the visionary world of Mattapoisett is stark. As readers, we are
alerted to the difference in this newly imagined society when Luciente looks directly at
Connie as opposed to seeing right through her as the doctors and the case workers do.
Some of her first words to Connie are: “I see you as a being with many sores, wounds,
undischarged anger but basically good and wide open to others” (p. 49). Here, the
human potential which is discarded as garbage, tool, and test experiment is recognized
and nourished. (13)
In the utopian future of Mattapoisett she is recognized as an end in herself where all individuals have the opportunity to flourish.(14)
Afnan, Elham. “Chaos and Utopia: Social Transformation in Woman on the Edge of Time.” Extrapolation (Kent State University Press), vol. 37, no. 4, Winter 1996, pp. 330–340. EBSCOhost, bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=94625&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Chaos and Utopia: Social Transformation in Woman on the Edge of Time
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=94625&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Thomas More exploited the contradiction inherent in the term when he chose the title for his account of the imaginary island that enjoyed perfection in laws, politics, and economy. However, this paradox has also helped create a dichotomy with far-reaching consequences for modem readers for whom Utopia is often synonymous either with totalitarian social engineering or with impractical wishful thinking. Utopian works are often denigrate or dismissed as unrealistic and dull because readers insist on approaching them as either blueprints for creating a perfect, and therefore static, society or as purely fictional works of imagination that can be realized "nowhere." (1)
Luciente's role is analogous to that of the author: both of them not only present the distinguishing features of a new society, but they also try to stimulate in their auditor/reader the activism that will bring that society into being. (4)
Clearly concepts of order, particularly order concealed within or arising out of disorder, are central to the creation of a Utopian society. Chaos theory offers an understanding of the dynamics of emergent order that is applicable not only to physical systems but also, analogically, to cultural situations. Of particular relevance to Woman on the Edge of Time is the idea of the boundary between order and chaos. Gleick describes a computer program that generates fractal shapes by saying that "the boundary is where [it] spends most of its time and makes all of its compromises." The boundary serves as a threshold where the system "chooses between competing options" (Gleick 232-33). Connie spends much of her time in the novel in a similar region as she crosses and recrosses the "edge of time" separating her from Utopia (9)
These are the rest of my sources that I haven’t gotten to yet. I’ve strictly read the title and abstract but not the substance.
Ethics, Reproduction, Utopia: Gender and Childbearing in "Woman on the Edge of Time" and "The Left Hand of Darkness"
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4316482?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9502011103&site=ehost-live&scope=site
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=74628745&site=ehost-live&scope=site
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=160183&site=ehost-live&scope=site
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=26602135&site=ehost-live&scope=site
http://bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=7389869&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Methods
As of right now my methods have consisted of trying to pick through the large amounts of feminist information. Dr. Johnston recommended taking a look at the idea that Connie has trouble accepting some of the values of Mattapoisett due to her more traditional values and the constraints that had been placed on women in her time. I’m seeing some discussion in that direction but I’m not sure if that has already been discussed or if I might be able to add something to it.
Data Analysis
Connie’s Current World:
Middle and upper class men have authority
“The doctor had not even interviewed her but had talked exclusively to Geraldo, exchanging only a word or two with Dolly” (12).
“She had struck out not at herself, not at herself in another, but at Geraldo, the enemy” (15).
“Some truce had been negotiated between the two med over the bodies of their women” (28).
“You’ll do what women do. You’ll pay your debt to your family for your blood.” “Nothing in life but having babies and cooking and keeping the house.” “There’s nothing for a woman to see but troubles.” (45)
“It was a crime to be born poor, as it was a crime to be born brown” (62).
“Prostitution? I’ve read of this and seen a drama too about a person he sold per body to feed per family!” (64)
“From an early age she had been told that what she felt was unreal and didn’t matter. Now they were about to place her in something that would rule her feelings like a thermostat” (308).
Connie’s Utopian Future:
Decisions are made in unity: men and women are equal
“The face of the young Indio smiling, beckoning, curiously gentle. He (Luciente) lacked the macho presence of the men in her own family” (33). “Really he was girlish” (38)
“We don’t buy or sell anything.” “Fasure we couple. Not for money, not for a living. For love, for pleasure, for relief, out of habit, out of curiosity and lust. Like you, no?” (64)
“Now she could begin to see him/her as a woman. Smooth hairless cheeks, shoulder length black hair, and the same gentle Indian face.” “You’re well muscled for a woman.” (68)
“We each have our own space! Only babies share space!” (73)
Connie’s Dystopian Future:
Women are property to be held under contract
Only 15 pages
“Segregated and Guarded” “Nobody would take you for a contracty… If you’ve ever had a beauty-op, you’ve reverted… When I was fifteen I was selected, and I’m still on the fully shots and re-ops.” (314)
“All the flacks make contracts. Contract sex. It means you agree to put out for so long for so much. You know? Like I have a two-year contract. Some girls got only a one-nighter or monthly, that’s standard. You can be out on your ear at the end of a month with only a days notice… Course once in a while some real bulger ends up with a ten-year contract. I’ve never met one, but I’ve heard of them” (316).
“I’ve never had a contract call for a kid. Mostly the mom’s have them. You know they’re cored to make babies all the time. Ugh, they’re so fat” (316).
“She must have been forty-three. How long do you suppose to live? Only the richies live longer, it’s in their genes” (317)
Conclusion
Obviously at this point I do not have a conclusion but I will by next week. I’m feeling accomplished. Sorry I prioritized preparing for my interview and submitting two job applications over this assignment.
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Public Perception of Statutory Rape and Teen Pregnancy and the Impact of MTV Reality Series “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom”
In the “old days” it was commonplace for a young girl to be married off to an older more established male in order to be provided for as well as to be the bearer of his children. The sign that a girl was ready to be married was menstruation. While this concept is no longer socially acceptable there are stigmas that center around young girls and sexual intercourse. Mr. Males, in his article, argues the inability to disentwine “adult” sex and “teenage” sex when approaching sexual education in schools. He presents that a “large majority of ‘teenage’ pregnancies are caused by adults” (1) as well as the possibility that “many adults model unhealthy sexual behaviors” (2). In an effort to change the perception of teen mothers Males quotes from a study by Arlene Stiffman and colleagues saying “the adolescent mother , in contrast with the sexually active adolescent who is not a mother, feels better about herself and engages in fewer overt undesirable behaviors” (4). Armed with this information it is important to move on to the next argument which addresses “teen pregnancy” in connection with statutory rape.
In a society that is finding ways to normalize teen pregnancy, in order to promote support for teen mothers, we often turn a blind eye to a bigger problem that is being created. Because of the fact that teen pregnancy and sexuality is being identified and glorified, in ways we place immense blame and responsibility on the shoulders of these young girls and often overlook the instances of sexual misconduct perpetrated by adult males. Kandaki and Smith argue that “teen pregnancy, child sexual abuse and statutory rape are commonplace behaviors in our society… not only common but also to some degree, immoral” (170). Another issue that must be contended with is that even the legal system is guilty of implicating the underage female in the sexual misconduct of the adult males which allows for public misperception of fault and responsibility in these particular situations (Kandaki and Smith 175). Another argument that Kandaki and Smith make is that victims of statutory rape, specifically those resulting in teen pregnancy are often further victimized by the idea that they are “willing participants of sexual acts with adults” (178). Depending on the age gap society adjusts the amount of blame they are willing to place on the victim, in order to justify and normalize this behavior within our society.
This victimization now being placed on these young teen mothers, makes a complex and difficult situation even worse. The statistics that are stacked against teen moms when it comes to finishing their education and living off of government support is a giant weight that has been placed upon our youth. Add in the sociological stigma of being a victim of statutory rape and the trauma that these young girls are dealing with is a recipe for disaster. In an interview with Alex Ronan, Malone and Vianna shed light on what exactly it is to be a pregnant teen in the United States. They each give examples of how they were supported by their peers however most of the adults created the difficult situations that they were forced to deal with. These girls were shamed and blamed for their predicament rather than given the support that they would need for success.
So why would our society have developed such a stigma against teen pregnancy when a hundred and fifty years ago this was the norm? Is it possible that shows such as “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” have forced us to see our youth differently. There are several conversations and even a book that was published on how these shows are affecting the “teen pregnancy” rates and whether or not they are promoting sexual promiscuity as well as “glorifying” the teenage mom. In her article Dockterman presents that the intent of MTV and the teens filmed on “16 and Pregnant” were hoping to discourage “teen pregnancy” and she even states that four years into recording that rates were at a “record low”. However “parents and educators worried that (the show) glamorized teen pregnancy… many of the show’s stars become celebrities… [which] doesn’t hurt the impression that having a child while in high school is one way to get attention” (Dockterman). Martins and colleagues also reiterate that “adolescents’ exposure to teen mom reality programming was related to an increased tendency to believe that teen mothers have and enviable quality of life, involved fathers, and active social lives” (1550). These shows however tend to omit the complicated financial and healthcare issues associated with teen pregnancy (Martins et al. 1554). Dockterman looks at several different studies that teeter on either side of the argument yet she ultimately places the responsibility on the “homes and schools” for the sexual education and reinforcement of associated risks to teens (9). Giggey in her review of the book “MTV and Teen Pregnancy: Critical Essays on 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom” discusses how television programs are using “unplanned pregnancy as a plot device to explore the consequences of sex, with the goal of containing sexuality by the end of the episode (177). She feels that these shows “reposition teen pregnancy as an individual problem… [and] erases the ways in which pregnancy contributed to and perpetuates systemic poverty” (Giggey 179).
Ultimately the combination of these sources encompass the areas of rape, teen pregnancy and the plausible perception of teens by shows presented on MTV regarding teen pregnancy however a vacancy I’m finding is how do these shows affect the perception of adults, such as lawmakers and educators, on teen mothers and furthermore does it perpetuate the stigma of blame we place on the young victims of statutory rape. I am looking to interview a victim or victims of statutory rape as well as administer a survey on the perception of young mothers and shows like the ones presented on MTV and also analyze an episode of both “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” in order to better understand the implications that these shows may have on the perceived fault and accusations in statutory rape cases.
Works Cited
Males, Mike. “Poverty, Rape, Adult/Teen Sex: Why `pregnancy Prevention’ Programs Don’t Work.” Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 75, no. 5, Jan. 1994, p. 407. EBSCOhost, bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9403303550&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Kandakai, Tina L., and Leonie C.r. Smith. “Denormalizing a Historical Problem: Teen Pregnancy, Policy, and Public Health Action.” American Journal of Health Behavior, vol. 31, no. 2, Jan. 2007, pp. 170–180., doi:10.5993/ajhb.31.2.6.
Vianna, Natasha, and Gloria Malone. “Teen Moms Need Support, Not Shame.” The Cut, 8 May 2015, www.thecut.com/2015/05/teen-moms-need-support-not-shame.html.
Dockterman, Eliana. “Does 16 and Pregnant Prevent or Promote Teen Pregnancy?” Time.Com, Jan. 2014, p. 1. EBSCOhost, bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=93722296&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Martins, Nicole, et al. “A Content Analysis of Teen Parenthood in ‘Teen Mom’ Reality Programming.” Health Communication, vol. 31, no. 12, Dec. 2016, pp. 1548–1556. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/10410236.2015.1089465.
Giggey, Lindsay. “MTV and Teen Pregnancy: Critical Essays on 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom.” Cinema Journal, vol. 57, no. 1, Fall 2017, pp. 177–181. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/cj.2017.0069.
In a society that is finding ways to normalize teen pregnancy, in order to promote support for teen mothers, we often turn a blind eye to a bigger problem that is being created. Because of the fact that teen pregnancy and sexuality is being identified and glorified, in ways we place immense blame and responsibility on the shoulders of these young girls and often overlook the instances of sexual misconduct perpetrated by adult males. Kandaki and Smith argue that “teen pregnancy, child sexual abuse and statutory rape are commonplace behaviors in our society… not only common but also to some degree, immoral” (170). Another issue that must be contended with is that even the legal system is guilty of implicating the underage female in the sexual misconduct of the adult males which allows for public misperception of fault and responsibility in these particular situations (Kandaki and Smith 175). Another argument that Kandaki and Smith make is that victims of statutory rape, specifically those resulting in teen pregnancy are often further victimized by the idea that they are “willing participants of sexual acts with adults” (178). Depending on the age gap society adjusts the amount of blame they are willing to place on the victim, in order to justify and normalize this behavior within our society.
This victimization now being placed on these young teen mothers, makes a complex and difficult situation even worse. The statistics that are stacked against teen moms when it comes to finishing their education and living off of government support is a giant weight that has been placed upon our youth. Add in the sociological stigma of being a victim of statutory rape and the trauma that these young girls are dealing with is a recipe for disaster. In an interview with Alex Ronan, Malone and Vianna shed light on what exactly it is to be a pregnant teen in the United States. They each give examples of how they were supported by their peers however most of the adults created the difficult situations that they were forced to deal with. These girls were shamed and blamed for their predicament rather than given the support that they would need for success.
So why would our society have developed such a stigma against teen pregnancy when a hundred and fifty years ago this was the norm? Is it possible that shows such as “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” have forced us to see our youth differently. There are several conversations and even a book that was published on how these shows are affecting the “teen pregnancy” rates and whether or not they are promoting sexual promiscuity as well as “glorifying” the teenage mom. In her article Dockterman presents that the intent of MTV and the teens filmed on “16 and Pregnant” were hoping to discourage “teen pregnancy” and she even states that four years into recording that rates were at a “record low”. However “parents and educators worried that (the show) glamorized teen pregnancy… many of the show’s stars become celebrities… [which] doesn’t hurt the impression that having a child while in high school is one way to get attention” (Dockterman). Martins and colleagues also reiterate that “adolescents’ exposure to teen mom reality programming was related to an increased tendency to believe that teen mothers have and enviable quality of life, involved fathers, and active social lives” (1550). These shows however tend to omit the complicated financial and healthcare issues associated with teen pregnancy (Martins et al. 1554). Dockterman looks at several different studies that teeter on either side of the argument yet she ultimately places the responsibility on the “homes and schools” for the sexual education and reinforcement of associated risks to teens (9). Giggey in her review of the book “MTV and Teen Pregnancy: Critical Essays on 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom” discusses how television programs are using “unplanned pregnancy as a plot device to explore the consequences of sex, with the goal of containing sexuality by the end of the episode (177). She feels that these shows “reposition teen pregnancy as an individual problem… [and] erases the ways in which pregnancy contributed to and perpetuates systemic poverty” (Giggey 179).
Ultimately the combination of these sources encompass the areas of rape, teen pregnancy and the plausible perception of teens by shows presented on MTV regarding teen pregnancy however a vacancy I’m finding is how do these shows affect the perception of adults, such as lawmakers and educators, on teen mothers and furthermore does it perpetuate the stigma of blame we place on the young victims of statutory rape. I am looking to interview a victim or victims of statutory rape as well as administer a survey on the perception of young mothers and shows like the ones presented on MTV and also analyze an episode of both “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom” in order to better understand the implications that these shows may have on the perceived fault and accusations in statutory rape cases.
Works Cited
Males, Mike. “Poverty, Rape, Adult/Teen Sex: Why `pregnancy Prevention’ Programs Don’t Work.” Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 75, no. 5, Jan. 1994, p. 407. EBSCOhost, bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9403303550&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Kandakai, Tina L., and Leonie C.r. Smith. “Denormalizing a Historical Problem: Teen Pregnancy, Policy, and Public Health Action.” American Journal of Health Behavior, vol. 31, no. 2, Jan. 2007, pp. 170–180., doi:10.5993/ajhb.31.2.6.
Vianna, Natasha, and Gloria Malone. “Teen Moms Need Support, Not Shame.” The Cut, 8 May 2015, www.thecut.com/2015/05/teen-moms-need-support-not-shame.html.
Dockterman, Eliana. “Does 16 and Pregnant Prevent or Promote Teen Pregnancy?” Time.Com, Jan. 2014, p. 1. EBSCOhost, bulldogs.tlu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=93722296&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
Martins, Nicole, et al. “A Content Analysis of Teen Parenthood in ‘Teen Mom’ Reality Programming.” Health Communication, vol. 31, no. 12, Dec. 2016, pp. 1548–1556. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/10410236.2015.1089465.
Giggey, Lindsay. “MTV and Teen Pregnancy: Critical Essays on 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom.” Cinema Journal, vol. 57, no. 1, Fall 2017, pp. 177–181. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1353/cj.2017.0069.
Sunday, September 23, 2018
Fall 2018 Thesis Pitch "Desensitizing Teen Rape and Sexual Assault: The Glorification of Teen Pregnancy in 'Teen Mom' Television Series"
"According to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services between 2009 and 2013 at least 63,000 children a year were reported to have been victims of sexual abuse. Studies show two-thirds of victims under the age of 18 are between 12-17 years old. Females ages 16-19 are four times more likely to be victims of rape or sexual assault than the general population." RAINN Statistics (https://www.rainn.org/statistics/children-and-teens)
My goal is to look through episodes of "Teen Mom" and identify the ways in which the show can be seen to desensitize the public eye to teen pregnancy, teen rape and sexual assault. What ways does this show make it difficult for teens to recognize and feel comfortable to report incidents? I want to look at different comment threads to see how the public reacts to the show and see how it affects the stigma around both the mother and the father. I'm looking specifically for evidence of victimization and cover-up of sexual assault or violence.
My goal is to look through episodes of "Teen Mom" and identify the ways in which the show can be seen to desensitize the public eye to teen pregnancy, teen rape and sexual assault. What ways does this show make it difficult for teens to recognize and feel comfortable to report incidents? I want to look at different comment threads to see how the public reacts to the show and see how it affects the stigma around both the mother and the father. I'm looking specifically for evidence of victimization and cover-up of sexual assault or violence.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Methods
So far I am still working on reading my text. I started by figuring some of the basic items such as writing down questions, like "why did the author choose to have chapters from the perspectives of four men and four women?" as well as the significance of the length of those chapters. I made a chart of characters and how they intertwine and highlighted the characters that actually have chapters. I also figured the number of pages allotted to each chapter which let to another question of "why have the women been given more pages than the men" and "why does the longest chapter belong to the high school girl involved in an affair with one of the main characters"
Moving on from this I would really like to focus on the multiculturalism aspect as well as the pornographic/vulgar language used in the novel. I definitely need to find more sources and branch out into the weeds to find specifics on these issues as well as bringing in examples from other text. I would really like to find a way to tie this into actual pornography issues in relationships and the problems that it tends to cause but I haven't been able to pinpoint that link just yet. I also don't know if it would be a stretch to bring in romantic and erotica literature as well as possibly excerpts from explicit pornographic literature to see the different analysis on the language and effects of the language. I don't know if where I am looking at going would require too much of a statistical analysis to be plausible for an English thesis or if this is too far down an "inappropriate" rabbit hole.
I am hoping to have my book completed by the first of November so that I can see what type of information I can add into this. By that point I should have enough from the novel to validate or invalidate my possible argument. If not I am also considering the link between pornography and family violence. It is very possible with approval I may add this in anyways especially if the novel continues the way it has been going so far.
Moving on from this I would really like to focus on the multiculturalism aspect as well as the pornographic/vulgar language used in the novel. I definitely need to find more sources and branch out into the weeds to find specifics on these issues as well as bringing in examples from other text. I would really like to find a way to tie this into actual pornography issues in relationships and the problems that it tends to cause but I haven't been able to pinpoint that link just yet. I also don't know if it would be a stretch to bring in romantic and erotica literature as well as possibly excerpts from explicit pornographic literature to see the different analysis on the language and effects of the language. I don't know if where I am looking at going would require too much of a statistical analysis to be plausible for an English thesis or if this is too far down an "inappropriate" rabbit hole.
I am hoping to have my book completed by the first of November so that I can see what type of information I can add into this. By that point I should have enough from the novel to validate or invalidate my possible argument. If not I am also considering the link between pornography and family violence. It is very possible with approval I may add this in anyways especially if the novel continues the way it has been going so far.
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Literature Review Outline
This is a working outline of the ideas and thoughts that I am including in my literature review:
Ethnicity
Diversity
age/gender/culture
Male and female perspectives of the opposite sex
Misogyny
Definition of misogyny
:a hatred of women lyrics that promote violence and misogyny
:a hatred of women lyrics that promote violence and misogyny
Sexuality
Pornography
Definition of pornography
1 :the depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement
2 :material (such as books or a photograph) that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement
3 :the depiction of acts in a sensational manner so as to arouse a quick intense emotional reaction the pornography of violence
Definition of pornography
1 :the depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) intended to cause sexual excitement
2 :material (such as books or a photograph) that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement
3 :the depiction of acts in a sensational manner so as to arouse a quick intense emotional reaction the pornography of violence
Adultry
Male vanity
Homophobia
Vulgarity
Porn sex
Class
BBQ @ Hector/Aisha’s Northcote inner city
Gary/Rosie inner east (low-rent) Richmond
Harry’s Family upper-middle class coastal suburb of Brighton
Anger
Motherhood
Literature Review Sources
I have not used all of these sources as of yet this is just my running list to keep track of what I have so far.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)