Jennifer Higginbotham
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780748655908
- eISBN:
- 9780748684397
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748655908.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
The Girlhood of Shakespeare’s Sisters argues for a paradigm shift in our current conceptions of the early modern sex-gender system in England, challenging the widespread assumption that the category ...
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The Girlhood of Shakespeare’s Sisters argues for a paradigm shift in our current conceptions of the early modern sex-gender system in England, challenging the widespread assumption that the category of the ‘girl’ played little or no role in the construction of gender in early modern English culture. Girl characters appeared in a variety of texts, from female infants in Shakespeare’s late romances to little children in Tudor interludes to adult “roaring girls” in city comedies, and this monograph offers the first book-length study of the way the literature and drama of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries constructed the category of the ‘girl.’Less
The Girlhood of Shakespeare’s Sisters argues for a paradigm shift in our current conceptions of the early modern sex-gender system in England, challenging the widespread assumption that the category of the ‘girl’ played little or no role in the construction of gender in early modern English culture. Girl characters appeared in a variety of texts, from female infants in Shakespeare’s late romances to little children in Tudor interludes to adult “roaring girls” in city comedies, and this monograph offers the first book-length study of the way the literature and drama of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries constructed the category of the ‘girl.’
Laura Helen Marks
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780252042140
- eISBN:
- 9780252050886
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5622/illinois/9780252042140.003.0004
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter explores pornographic constructions of female sexual agency through the character of Lewis Carroll’s Alice. These films use the Alice narrative to play out fantasies of womanly sexual ...
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This chapter explores pornographic constructions of female sexual agency through the character of Lewis Carroll’s Alice. These films use the Alice narrative to play out fantasies of womanly sexual authority through humor and sadomasochism. These films constitute recuperative projects that rescue Alice from her pawn status and position her as object, subject, and author within the pornographic text. I demonstrate the ways in which cultural understandings of the Alice stories are used by pornographic filmmakers to depict Wonderlands as joyful fantasy spaces for re-visionings of the normative and for developing and directing a particular pornographic female sexual subjectivity.Less
This chapter explores pornographic constructions of female sexual agency through the character of Lewis Carroll’s Alice. These films use the Alice narrative to play out fantasies of womanly sexual authority through humor and sadomasochism. These films constitute recuperative projects that rescue Alice from her pawn status and position her as object, subject, and author within the pornographic text. I demonstrate the ways in which cultural understandings of the Alice stories are used by pornographic filmmakers to depict Wonderlands as joyful fantasy spaces for re-visionings of the normative and for developing and directing a particular pornographic female sexual subjectivity.
Janani Subramanian and Jorie Lagerwey
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781496806444
- eISBN:
- 9781496806482
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496806444.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
Shifting the focus from zombie epidemics in books to vampire invasions on the small screen, Subramanian and Lagerwey contemplate the “raced and gendered contradictions of postfeminist girl culture” ...
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Shifting the focus from zombie epidemics in books to vampire invasions on the small screen, Subramanian and Lagerwey contemplate the “raced and gendered contradictions of postfeminist girl culture” by concentrating on the character development of two of the show’s main characters, Bonnie Bennett and Caroline Forbes. In doing so, Subramanian and Lagerwey consider how The Vampire Diaries employs monstrosity to consider and represent what coming of age means for girls of different racial identities, especially in melodramatic television series targeted toward teen audiences that have been produced in the postfeminist era. Through this, Subramanian and Lagerwey offer new insight into postfeminist horror designed for young viewers, especially the young females who find themselves fans of such shows and films.Less
Shifting the focus from zombie epidemics in books to vampire invasions on the small screen, Subramanian and Lagerwey contemplate the “raced and gendered contradictions of postfeminist girl culture” by concentrating on the character development of two of the show’s main characters, Bonnie Bennett and Caroline Forbes. In doing so, Subramanian and Lagerwey consider how The Vampire Diaries employs monstrosity to consider and represent what coming of age means for girls of different racial identities, especially in melodramatic television series targeted toward teen audiences that have been produced in the postfeminist era. Through this, Subramanian and Lagerwey offer new insight into postfeminist horror designed for young viewers, especially the young females who find themselves fans of such shows and films.
Anna Pao Sohmen
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9789888083312
- eISBN:
- 9789888180844
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888083312.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
The author recalls her girlhood memories in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Being the first-born of the family, she was always reminded to set a good example for her siblings. Her mother was a typical ...
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The author recalls her girlhood memories in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Being the first-born of the family, she was always reminded to set a good example for her siblings. Her mother was a typical traditional Chinese woman whose life centered on the family. Sir Y. K. Pao, the author's father was a man of vision. His frugality and charity influenced his children. The author's volunteering experience encouraged her to learn more about how to bring changes to society. Due largely to her father's shipping business in Japan, she had a chance to visit the country. Her father's first new ship, the Eastern Sakura, came into existence in 1962, and she was invited to christen it. She later flew to the United States and studied at Purdue University.Less
The author recalls her girlhood memories in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Being the first-born of the family, she was always reminded to set a good example for her siblings. Her mother was a typical traditional Chinese woman whose life centered on the family. Sir Y. K. Pao, the author's father was a man of vision. His frugality and charity influenced his children. The author's volunteering experience encouraged her to learn more about how to bring changes to society. Due largely to her father's shipping business in Japan, she had a chance to visit the country. Her father's first new ship, the Eastern Sakura, came into existence in 1962, and she was invited to christen it. She later flew to the United States and studied at Purdue University.
Katherine Irwin and Karen Umemoto
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520283022
- eISBN:
- 9780520958883
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520283022.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
Chapter three examines girls’ early childhood experiences in families and at school, and we highlight the pressures that girls uniquely experienced while growing up. We look at how girls’ family ...
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Chapter three examines girls’ early childhood experiences in families and at school, and we highlight the pressures that girls uniquely experienced while growing up. We look at how girls’ family responsibilities, dress, demeanor, and their status in families and at school were constrained by numerous gender inequalities – a set of conditions that the girls thought of as inherently unfair and “unjust.” Considering these pressures, some girls spoke and struck out against those who harassed and targeted them, sometimes violently.Less
Chapter three examines girls’ early childhood experiences in families and at school, and we highlight the pressures that girls uniquely experienced while growing up. We look at how girls’ family responsibilities, dress, demeanor, and their status in families and at school were constrained by numerous gender inequalities – a set of conditions that the girls thought of as inherently unfair and “unjust.” Considering these pressures, some girls spoke and struck out against those who harassed and targeted them, sometimes violently.
Katherine Irwin and Karen Umemoto
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520283022
- eISBN:
- 9780520958883
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520283022.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Law, Crime and Deviance
We take up the subject of peer and school-based culture for teens in chapter four, where we outline at the femininity norms confronting female teens. In this chapter we note that notions of ...
More
We take up the subject of peer and school-based culture for teens in chapter four, where we outline at the femininity norms confronting female teens. In this chapter we note that notions of femininity were complicated and sometimes contradictory. In this way, girls’ violence is viewed against the backdrop of multiple constraints and contradictions.Less
We take up the subject of peer and school-based culture for teens in chapter four, where we outline at the femininity norms confronting female teens. In this chapter we note that notions of femininity were complicated and sometimes contradictory. In this way, girls’ violence is viewed against the backdrop of multiple constraints and contradictions.
Angela Davis
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719084553
- eISBN:
- 9781781702109
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719084553.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter addresses the process of educating women to be mothers. It asks whether commentators in these decades, and women themselves, felt that they needed to be taught how to mother or whether ...
More
This chapter addresses the process of educating women to be mothers. It asks whether commentators in these decades, and women themselves, felt that they needed to be taught how to mother or whether they thought it came naturally to them. It then considers the debate about where this instruction should take place, and who should provide it: home, school, or medical professionals. The chapter charts how changing attitudes about the roles women should be performing, both at a governmental and societal level, determined how girl were educated to become adult women. Through an analysis of the oral history interviews the influence of these national debates on individual experiences is shown. Three principal discursive models surrounding education for motherhood are discussed: motherhood as innate, commonsensical, or a skill that needed to be learnt.Less
This chapter addresses the process of educating women to be mothers. It asks whether commentators in these decades, and women themselves, felt that they needed to be taught how to mother or whether they thought it came naturally to them. It then considers the debate about where this instruction should take place, and who should provide it: home, school, or medical professionals. The chapter charts how changing attitudes about the roles women should be performing, both at a governmental and societal level, determined how girl were educated to become adult women. Through an analysis of the oral history interviews the influence of these national debates on individual experiences is shown. Three principal discursive models surrounding education for motherhood are discussed: motherhood as innate, commonsensical, or a skill that needed to be learnt.
Jennifer Higginbotham
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780748655908
- eISBN:
- 9780748684397
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748655908.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter investigates the way the discourse of girlhood produced gendered identities in George Gascoigne’s The Adventures of Master F. J., Shakespeare’s The First Part of Henry the Sixth and ...
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This chapter investigates the way the discourse of girlhood produced gendered identities in George Gascoigne’s The Adventures of Master F. J., Shakespeare’s The First Part of Henry the Sixth and Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker’s play The Roaring Girl. Writers of conduct manuals were acutely aware that female human beings had to be trained to be ‘women,’ and the vast literature attempting to regulate and control female behaviour and sexuality testifies to these concerns. When positioned in relationship to womanhood, girlhood was consistently marked as a time of transgression compared to womanhood, and the word ‘girl’ was subsequently extended to adults who refused to be made into the obedient women idealized in the conduct literature. The description of adult female characters as “girls” in the three texts examined shows that early modern writers turned to the category of the ‘girl’ to account for female characters who were not only sexually, but also more importantly, socially and politically resistant to gender norms.Less
This chapter investigates the way the discourse of girlhood produced gendered identities in George Gascoigne’s The Adventures of Master F. J., Shakespeare’s The First Part of Henry the Sixth and Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker’s play The Roaring Girl. Writers of conduct manuals were acutely aware that female human beings had to be trained to be ‘women,’ and the vast literature attempting to regulate and control female behaviour and sexuality testifies to these concerns. When positioned in relationship to womanhood, girlhood was consistently marked as a time of transgression compared to womanhood, and the word ‘girl’ was subsequently extended to adults who refused to be made into the obedient women idealized in the conduct literature. The description of adult female characters as “girls” in the three texts examined shows that early modern writers turned to the category of the ‘girl’ to account for female characters who were not only sexually, but also more importantly, socially and politically resistant to gender norms.
Jennifer Higginbotham
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780748655908
- eISBN:
- 9780748684397
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748655908.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter offers a literary history of the representation of female children in English Renaissance drama. The subversive potential of girlishness on the early modern stage became neutralised as ...
More
This chapter offers a literary history of the representation of female children in English Renaissance drama. The subversive potential of girlishness on the early modern stage became neutralised as girlhood became increasingly defined as a time of life rather than a gendered state of being, and this shift can be traced in the gradual decline of dynamic girl characters in morality plays and Tudor interludes to the later public stage genres of comedy, history, and tragedy.Less
This chapter offers a literary history of the representation of female children in English Renaissance drama. The subversive potential of girlishness on the early modern stage became neutralised as girlhood became increasingly defined as a time of life rather than a gendered state of being, and this shift can be traced in the gradual decline of dynamic girl characters in morality plays and Tudor interludes to the later public stage genres of comedy, history, and tragedy.
Michelle Ann Abate
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781496820730
- eISBN:
- 9781496820785
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496820730.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Comics Studies
Funny Girls: Guffaws, Guts, and Gender in Classic American Comics is the first full-length critical study to examine the important cadre of young female protagonists that permeated US newspapers ...
More
Funny Girls: Guffaws, Guts, and Gender in Classic American Comics is the first full-length critical study to examine the important cadre of young female protagonists that permeated US newspapers strips and comics books during the first half of the twentieth century.Many of the earliest, most successful, and most influential titles from this era featured elementary-aged girls as their central characters, such as Little Orphan Annie, Nancy, and Little Lulu. Far from embodying a now-forgotten facet of twentieth century print culture, these figures remain icons ofUS popular and material culture.
Recognizing the cadre of Funny Girls who played such a significant role in the popular appeal and commercial success of American comics during the first half of the twentieth century challenges longstanding perceptions about the gender dynamics operating during this era.In addition, they provide information about a wide range of socio-political issues, including the popular perceptions about children, mainstream representations of girlhood, and changing national attitudes regarding youth and youth culture.Finally, but just as importantly, strips like Little Lulu, Little Orphan Annie, and Nancy also shed light on another major phenomenon within comics:branding, licensing, and merchandising.
In discussing these are other issues, Funny Girls gives much needed attention to an influential, but long neglected, aspect of comics history in the United
States.Less
Funny Girls: Guffaws, Guts, and Gender in Classic American Comics is the first full-length critical study to examine the important cadre of young female protagonists that permeated US newspapers strips and comics books during the first half of the twentieth century.Many of the earliest, most successful, and most influential titles from this era featured elementary-aged girls as their central characters, such as Little Orphan Annie, Nancy, and Little Lulu. Far from embodying a now-forgotten facet of twentieth century print culture, these figures remain icons ofUS popular and material culture.
Recognizing the cadre of Funny Girls who played such a significant role in the popular appeal and commercial success of American comics during the first half of the twentieth century challenges longstanding perceptions about the gender dynamics operating during this era.In addition, they provide information about a wide range of socio-political issues, including the popular perceptions about children, mainstream representations of girlhood, and changing national attitudes regarding youth and youth culture.Finally, but just as importantly, strips like Little Lulu, Little Orphan Annie, and Nancy also shed light on another major phenomenon within comics:branding, licensing, and merchandising.
In discussing these are other issues, Funny Girls gives much needed attention to an influential, but long neglected, aspect of comics history in the United
States.
Michelle Ann Abate
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781496820730
- eISBN:
- 9781496820785
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496820730.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Comics Studies
Chapter One spotlights a fundamental, but under-examined, aspect of Harold Gray's popular newspaper strip: Little Orphan Annie as an orphan girl story.When Gray's eleven-year-old moppet made her ...
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Chapter One spotlights a fundamental, but under-examined, aspect of Harold Gray's popular newspaper strip: Little Orphan Annie as an orphan girl story.When Gray's eleven-year-old moppet made her debut in 1924, many of the most popular novels, poems, and films in the United States featured orphan girls as their protagonists.Given this situation, the comic's original audience would have immediately recognized Annie as participating in this phenomenon.Accordingly, this chapter demonstrates that, far from an incidental detail about the original historical context for Little Orphan Annie, the formula for orphan girl stories serves as both a creative starting point for the comic and its critical end point.Placing Little Orphan Annie back in the context of the orphan girl story-and tracing the way in which this phenomenon operates in Gray's strip-yields new insights about the strip's connection with popular culture, the factors fueling its success, and its primary artistic kinships.Less
Chapter One spotlights a fundamental, but under-examined, aspect of Harold Gray's popular newspaper strip: Little Orphan Annie as an orphan girl story.When Gray's eleven-year-old moppet made her debut in 1924, many of the most popular novels, poems, and films in the United States featured orphan girls as their protagonists.Given this situation, the comic's original audience would have immediately recognized Annie as participating in this phenomenon.Accordingly, this chapter demonstrates that, far from an incidental detail about the original historical context for Little Orphan Annie, the formula for orphan girl stories serves as both a creative starting point for the comic and its critical end point.Placing Little Orphan Annie back in the context of the orphan girl story-and tracing the way in which this phenomenon operates in Gray's strip-yields new insights about the strip's connection with popular culture, the factors fueling its success, and its primary artistic kinships.
Michelle Ann Abate
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781496820730
- eISBN:
- 9781496820785
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496820730.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, Comics Studies
Chapter Five explores the rich and interesting but critically neglected Li'l Tomboy comic book series.Released by Charlton Comics from 1956 through 1960, the series did far more than simply challenge ...
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Chapter Five explores the rich and interesting but critically neglected Li'l Tomboy comic book series.Released by Charlton Comics from 1956 through 1960, the series did far more than simply challenge traditional female gender roles in the 1950s; it also challenged the newly established Comics Code.In numerous issues, the title character engages in behaviors that could easily be regarded as delinquent:she commits petty theft, intentionally destroys private property, and sasses adult authority figures, including police officers.Moreover, Li'l Tomboy engages in these activities not simply under the watchful eye of the Comics Code Authority, but, astoundingly, with their official seal of approval.During a time when the censors employed by the Authority office were at their most powerful and restrictive, Li'l Tomboy engaged in antics that far exceeded those that had been forbidden in other publications.Accordingly, this chapter tells the story of how, with the creation of Li'l Tomboy, Charlton Publications demonstrated that postwar gender conformity could be resisted and, even more significantly, so too could the Comics Code.Less
Chapter Five explores the rich and interesting but critically neglected Li'l Tomboy comic book series.Released by Charlton Comics from 1956 through 1960, the series did far more than simply challenge traditional female gender roles in the 1950s; it also challenged the newly established Comics Code.In numerous issues, the title character engages in behaviors that could easily be regarded as delinquent:she commits petty theft, intentionally destroys private property, and sasses adult authority figures, including police officers.Moreover, Li'l Tomboy engages in these activities not simply under the watchful eye of the Comics Code Authority, but, astoundingly, with their official seal of approval.During a time when the censors employed by the Authority office were at their most powerful and restrictive, Li'l Tomboy engaged in antics that far exceeded those that had been forbidden in other publications.Accordingly, this chapter tells the story of how, with the creation of Li'l Tomboy, Charlton Publications demonstrated that postwar gender conformity could be resisted and, even more significantly, so too could the Comics Code.
Michelle Ann Abate
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781496820730
- eISBN:
- 9781496820785
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781496820730.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, Comics Studies
The Epilogue makes a case that the tradition of Funny Girls calls for a reconsideration of the history of American comics both during the mid-twentieth century and during the opening decades of the ...
More
The Epilogue makes a case that the tradition of Funny Girls calls for a reconsideration of the history of American comics both during the mid-twentieth century and during the opening decades of the new millennium.Remembering and recouping characters like Little Lulu, Nancy, Li'l Tomboy, Little Orphan Annie, and Little Audrey restores the important place and powerful status that young female protagonists had in early American comics.At the same time, an awareness of this cadre of female characters changes our perspective on the growing presence of girls in comics in the present day.Events taking place in American comics from the early twenty-first century can be connected to those from the early twentieth century.Far from embodying a radical shift in US comics, the rise of fun, feisty, and formidable female protagonists represent the continuation of a tradition.Accordingly, the Epilogue reveals that while the names of many of the characters profiled in these chapters include the diminutive "li'l" or "little," their cultural legacy has been big.Less
The Epilogue makes a case that the tradition of Funny Girls calls for a reconsideration of the history of American comics both during the mid-twentieth century and during the opening decades of the new millennium.Remembering and recouping characters like Little Lulu, Nancy, Li'l Tomboy, Little Orphan Annie, and Little Audrey restores the important place and powerful status that young female protagonists had in early American comics.At the same time, an awareness of this cadre of female characters changes our perspective on the growing presence of girls in comics in the present day.Events taking place in American comics from the early twenty-first century can be connected to those from the early twentieth century.Far from embodying a radical shift in US comics, the rise of fun, feisty, and formidable female protagonists represent the continuation of a tradition.Accordingly, the Epilogue reveals that while the names of many of the characters profiled in these chapters include the diminutive "li'l" or "little," their cultural legacy has been big.
