Argues that, without the publication of Charles Darwin's "Origin of Species," Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" and Oscar Wilde's novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" would not have been written with their distinct style and themes, as evolution clashes with degeneration and female power (and the sexuality derived from that power) clashes with the new science. Stoker and Wilde combine the science of the late 19th century with the characters of their imaginations. Natural and sexual selection plays a part in these characters' core development. The mixture of sexuality, science and power in these two novels all combine to formulate what is known as Victorian sexology.

published_or_final_version / Comparative Literature / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This thesis explores the construction of masculinity in novels written by New Women authors between the years 1881-1899. The fin de siècle was a period during which gender roles were renegotiated with fervour by both male and female authors, but it was the so-called New Woman in particular who was trying to transform the Victorian notion of femininity to incorporate the demands of the burgeoning women's movement. This thesis argues that in their fiction, New Women authors often tried to achieve this transformation by creating male characters who were designed to justify and to mitigate the New Woman protagonist's departure from traditional structures of heterosexual relationships. The methodology underlying this thesis is the notion that men and women were perceived as binary opposites during the Victorian period. I refer to this as the binary code of the sexes. This code assumes that men and women naturally possess diametrically opposed character attributes, and also that “masculine” attributes are perforce better than “feminine” ones. In the body of this work, I argue that New Women authors attempted to contest both of these assumptions by creating, on the one hand, traditional male characters whose masculinity is corrupted in crucial and recurring ways, and on the other, impaired male characters who cannot assume the traditional role of man. The comparison of the New Woman protagonist with the corrupt traditional man elevates her feminine attributes, while the impaired man's dependency legitimises her acquisition of what were otherwise considered “masculine” attributes and privileges, thereby contesting the notion that men and women possess sex-specific attributes at all. The second part of my thesis examines contrasting examples, in which this way of characterising masculinity – as traditional or impaired – is questioned and manipulated. It examines the limitations of the New Women authors' specific approach to reconstructing the binary code.

A sample of the top fifty songs of 1973 in Soul, Country-Western, and Easy Listening music is content-analyzed to determine dominant theme and type of love relationship presented. Most of the songs are about women and are sung by men. Hence, male artists continue to dominate the record industry. Criteria for evaluating direction of presentation are applied to lyrics to determine how men present women and women present men. Songs with the heterosexual theme are analyzed to determine conformity to six male and six female stereotypical traits. Males conform to the male stereotype in larger percentages than females conform to the female stereotype. Differences in female role expectations vary among the three genres.

by Chung Ka Man Amy. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 108-113). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgment --- p.iii / Abbreviations --- p.iv / Chapter Chapter I --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter II --- Sons and Lovers (1913): The Release --- p.20 / Chapter Chapter III --- The Rainbow (1915): Experiencing the State of Balance --- p.41 / Chapter Chapter IV --- Women in Love (1920): Articulating the Idea of Balance --- p.60 / Chapter Chapter V --- Lady Chatterley´ةs Lover (1929): Towards the Balance --- p.77 / Chapter Chapter VI --- Conclusion --- p.91 / End Notes --- p.102 / Bibliography --- p.108 / Appendix I --- p.114

Middle Tennessee State Univ., Diss.--Murfreesboro, 1992. / Literaturverz. S. [99] - 102.

This dissertation analyzes the use of speech (prise de parole ) in Marguerite de Navarre's works of fiction in conjunction with the place that the arguments of the Quarrel about Women hold in her writings. / The texts of the Quarrel about Women, which were very popular in sixteenth century France, tried to prove the superiority or the inferiority of women depending on which side of the debate the writer belonged to. The works of Marguerite de Navarre incorporate numerous arguments of this literary debate to deconstruct them and establish a certain balance between the qualities and the defaults of men and women. Contrary to the writers of the Quarrel who were using as examples women from the Bible or the Antiquity, the Queen of Navarre's works portray mainly characters from daily life in situations that illustrate the way the two sexes use speech differently. / Thus, in the religious poems, women communicate more quickly with the divine because they listen more to their heart which is the receptacle of God. Indeed, the only obstacle that stands between them and mystical union resides in a too strong attachment to a human being, whereas men encounter more hindrances linked, among others, to ambition, science and lust. As for profane poems, they highlight the value of feminine friendship by presenting a free and equal verbal exchange, among women only, based on mutual aid. In the Heptameron, men, in the novellas, hold a greater power than women and it is mirrored in the efficiency of their prise de parole, while there is a certain equality, in the cornice, between the devisants of both sexes. Finally, in the theater, women as well as men deliver God's Word. / Speech which constitutes the most important meeting ground for men and women, in Marguerite's writings, demonstrates how the main criticism directed at women by the detractors of the Quarrel, their unstoppable and slanderous chattering, as well as many other faults are rejected by using examples of women that speak wisely. This makes Marguerite de Navarre's writings modern, because while they deconstruct the binary opposition of man versus woman, with everyday life examples, they do not propose to establish a new hierarchy and thus they are open to plurality.

In this dissertation it is indicated that gender is a social construct, while sex is biologically determined. The concept of gender refers to that which is understood within a certain society to define masculinity and femininity, the power struggle between the two sexes, as well as the social limitations which are placed on people's behaviour as a result of gender. Children's and young adult's literature exert a great influence on the youth's idea of gender roles. The social and cultural history of South African society is used in this study to explore stereotypical gender roles in Afrikaans youth literature. The role of a patriarchal society, homosexuality, and changing perceptions of gender roles are investigated. It is indicated that in both English and Afrikaans children's and young adult's literature the portrayal of gender roles is often unrealistic, stereotypical, and contains sexist language. Two novels namely, Gooi horn in die slool (1971) and Skilpoppe (1998), are analysed using the following categories: male or female author, representation of gender roles, and use of sexist language. The teaching implications of the findings for the second language learner are then articulated. OPSOMMING In hierdie skripsie is aangetoon dat geslaglelikheid ("gender"), anders as geslag wat biologies bepaal is, 'n sosiale konstruk is. Geslagtelikheid hou verband met wat in 'n bepaalde samelewing onder manlikheid en vroulikheid verstaan word, asook met magsverhoudings tussen die twee geslagte en sosiale beperkings wat op grond van geslagtelikheid op mense se gedrag geplaas word. Jeugliteratuur oefen 'n groot invloed uit op jeugdiges se siening van geslagtelikheid. Die sosiale en kultuur-historiese agtergrond in die Suid-Afrikaanse samelewing word in die studie gebruik om die uitbeelding van geslagtelikheid in die Afrikaanse jeugliteratuur te problematiseer. Die rol van 'n patriargale samelewing, homoseksualiteit en veranderde sienings oor geslagtelikheidsrolle word onder andere uitgelig. Daar word aangetoon dat die uitbeelding van geslagtelikheid in sowel Engelse as Afrikaanse jeugliteratuur dikwels baie onrealisties is en wemel van stereotiperings en seksistiese taalgebruik. Twee jeugverhale, naamlik Gooi ham in die slool (1971) en Skilpoppe (1998), word aan die hand van 'n aantal kategoriee, naamlik outeur, uitbeelding van geslagtelikheid en seksistiese taalgebruik geanaliseer, voordat onderrigimplikasies vir die tweedetaalklaskamer aangedui word. / Thesis (M.A.) - University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

This thesis has examined some women writers of the 1950s in an attempt to discover if there could be a "women" school of writers as definable as the Black, Jewish or Southern schools which gained recognition during that ten-year period. During the 1950s American literature became fragmented as various minorities began to search into personal histories in order to discover human identities within the framework of race, religion or geography. It was the contention of this paper that women were involved in much the same type of identity search, that through their own literature they were searching out a human identity' within, but not confined to, their sexual role in society.The cliche of the decade is that this was a placid time in feminist history, a time when women docilely sacrificed education and personal talents to return to the in a search for their homes as wives and mothers. However, a study of the works of Sylvia Plath, Carson McCullers, May Sarton and Elizabeth Janeway shows a group of women in active rebellion against the sexual stereotyping so prevalent in the 1950s. Through art these women were rejecting traditional concepts of a "woman's place," and instead were exploring their own talents, strengths and potentials human identity.This thesis has sought to combine a study of the cultural influences operating on society of the 1950s with the literature being written by women during this period in order to more fully understand the female attitude toward herself and her role. This study indicates that the active rebellion of the women's liberation movement a decade later arose from the search for identity found in much literature by women of the 1950s.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 1996. / Inscribed by author. Includes glossary, bibliography, and appendices.