Friday, January 23^rd, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.

Embodying Resistance: Fatness, Gender and National Identity

As the dieting industry has grown richer, weight-loss surgery technologies have gained mainstream acceptance, and reality television shows have valorized the thin body and fetishized weight loss, fat activists and fat studies scholars have developed more stringent critiques of the ways in which body size intersects with gender, race, and class to produce models of ideal American citizenship.  This presentation analyzes these intersections and examines ways in which fat acceptance activists work to resist fatphobic ideals.  Cassandra Jones examines reality show The Biggest Loser in order to determine how the show portrays the patriotic American as a thin American.  Joelle Ruby Ryan surveys the history of feminist discourse surrounding weight-loss surgery and sexual reassignment surgery.  Andie Markijohn examines resistance to fatphobia in an autoethnographic piece, while Adrienne Hill observes fat women's burlesque performance in urban queer communities to analyze the efficacy of queer women's communities as sites of resistance to fatphobia.

Presenters:  Andie Markijohn, Graduate Assistant, Theatre & Film, Cassandra Jones, Graduate Assistant, Ethnic Studies, Joelle Ruby Ryan and Adrienne Hill, Graduate Assistants, American Culture Studies

Friday, February 20^th, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.

Whose Ideal Is It Anyway?: Presumed Media Influence and Pluralistic Ignorance
on the Norm of Ideal Thinness

The media are full of extremely thin, idealized images of women. As a consequence of exposure to the images, many women suffer physically, psychologically, and socially. In this presentation, Dr. Park will share her knowledge on the relationship between media and disordered attitudes toward body and eating that she learned from her years of research. Some of her research findings also illuminate our role in the process of the negative media influence on ourselves as well as on dating relationships.

Presenter:  Dr. Sung-Yeon Park, Assistant Professor, Telecommunications

Monday, March 30^th, 2:30 – 4:30 p.m.

Writing Women’s Narratives

Graduate students from Women’s Studies 680, “Representation & Presentation in Qualitative Research,” will share stories of diverse women's life experiences which will have arisen from class projects exploring ethical and pragmatic considerations of “representation;” i.e., how to be present others’ lived experiences.  Projects will emphasize marginalized voices, a variety of qualitative methodologies and narrative styles of writing, as well as application of the wide range of writing genres.

Presenters:  Dr. Vikki Krane, Director, Women’s Studies and Professor,
Human Movement, Sport & Leisure Studies, and her students

Friday, April 3^rd, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.

How Far Have We Come?  Examining the Perceptions of Title IX and Women in Sport

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, is a federal statute that was created to prohibit sex discrimination in education programs receiving federal financial assistance.  Despite the fact that Title IX applies to all educational arenas, the law is most often associated with athletics.  Since its inception, the number of women participating in collegiate athletics has grown significantly.  While there have been tremendous gains in athletic opportunities, female athletes still are not equal to their male counterparts. Men are still seen as “naturally” athletic, while women are viewed as encroaching upon male domains. This presentation will incorporate several of Dr. Paule’s research studies, and address perceptions of Title IX and women in sport.

Presenter:  Dr. Amanda Paule, Assistant Professor, Human Movement, Sport, & Leisure Studies

The Women’s Research Network
Scholarship ~ Dialogue ~ Advocacy
Sponsored by The Women’s Studies Program &
The Women’s Center
All WRN seminars are at The Women’s Center, 107 Hanna Hall