Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Perceptions(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2006) Muldoon, Dara Anne Hartman; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: N. R. PopeMy work is informed by the cultural construction of the ideal woman, i.e., a pretty, tidy, clean, little package; and by the women close to me, the women I encounter from day to day, and the representations of women throughout history. To this end, I want the representations of the female figures I create to possess a goddess-like quality, to show the beauty that all women possess, and to portray the reality of feminine struggles in a society obsessed with constructed images of beauty. I want to reference the idea of the male gaze and the objectification of the female body through the use of the torso but to also bring the viewers attention to the perceptions a woman may have about her own body. My intention is to place the object in front of the viewer in an effort to provoke, educate, and compel the viewer to think differently about the complexities of the female body.Item Edna O'Brien : censorship, sexuality and defining the 'other'(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2011) Massey, Kelly Jo; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Robert BennettThis thesis explores the works of Edna O'Brien, an Irish female writer whose works span from 1960-present. O'Brien is an imperative author for study as she broke the gender barriers of a double patriarchal system instilled by both Church and State in Ireland. O'Brien chose self-exile in London to write about her native women in spite of the rapacious Irish Censorship Board. In this thesis Judith Butler's theories of gender performativity and gender subversion, Michel Foucault's theories of power, and Chris Weedon's theories of patriarchy and feminism are utilized to demonstrate how O'Brien sought to expose the disenfranchisement of Irish women that persisted in the last half of the twentieth century. Regardless of how some Irish viewed O'Brien as a "fallen colleen", she continues to write stories of women's issues involving their sexuality, place in society, lack of education, lesbianism and even abortion.