In this essay, I argue that issues of voyeurism and scopophilia raised in Laura Mulvey’s early essay, “Visual Pleasure in Narrative Cinema,” are closely related to the social and economic shifts which occurred during the post-war period. Specifically, I argue that Mulvey’s essay articulates a particular kind of formal technique associated with what she calls “non-narrative scopophilia,” a kind of long-take shot that is utilized to great effect by Alfred Hitchcock in two of his later films, Rear Window (1955) and Psycho (1960). I argue that these shots represent a disruption to the smooth functioning of the classical Hollywood model of narrative and gender ideology in the post-war period tied closely to the changing economic realities of the period. I further argue that such a disruption is closely related to a new model of consumerism that emerges during this period.

By looking at the hijab in context in the political, social, and domestic spheres of Tunisia, one gains a clearer understanding of the hijab’s complexity and a clearer understanding of each of those spheres. Politically, the condemnation of the hijab reveals the tension between the dominant, secular party and the Islamist movement, and the political oppression still prevalent in Tunisia. Socially, the wearing of the hijab reveals the tension between Orientalist perceptions of the hijab and the desire of Muslim feminists to create an authentically Islamic meaning of the hijab compatible with feminist ideas. Domestically, the hijab reveals the tension that remains between localized structures of patriarchy and individual women’s pursuit of liberation beyond emancipation and secularization. Despite the reforms established in the Personal Status Code and the secularization campaign by the government, they are not enough to completely alter negative domestic perceptions of women.

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This dissertation explores the connection between sustainability and dominant images of the future in contemporary film. The research uses an ecofeminist visual interdisciplinary methodology to investigate the importance of vision/images of the future in guiding the creation of ecologically sound and socially just futures, and how films, as a source of dominant imagery, may be interfering with our ability to envision positive futures as well as provide opportunities for positive visions. The research is in two parts: 1) a visual studies analysis of contemporary films based on critical futures studies (Causal Layered Analysis) ecofeminism, and 2) and interviews with filmmakers. The visual analysis explores and problematises patterns of images of the future in film, especially those of natural landscapes, animals, plants, human settlements, food, and water as well as racial and gender roles within human society. The interview data documents the filmmakers’ experiences within film industry and their commentary on the filmmaking process and practices. The research participants’ words also inform the exploration of opportunities for the transformation of the filmmaking industry. Filmmaking is theorised as a technology, based on Ursula Franklin’s interdisciplinary work on technology as systems of practice, and Albert Borgmann’s philosophy of technology. This dissertation argues that we need visions of sustainable, diverse, and socially just futures to inspire and guide our actions in the present, and that films can contribute to positive imagery. The research explores barriers to envisioning sustainable futures, such as dystopic Hollywood film images and scientific/ environmental professional and scholarly practices that discourage visioning work. As well as exploring why it is important that societies have visions of ecologically and socially just futures, and how the filmmaking industry can be part of the sustainability revolution. / Graduate

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This thesis explores the transforming embodiment of sex that is integral to the development of running/jogging culture between 1979-1995. Actor-network theory, a foucauldian approach and critical realism are each used to elucidate different aspects of running including the way it defines sex through the body, clothing, space and the rules and practices of running, jogging and racing.

In this thesis, I define 'Playculture' as a primary portal through which 'everyday life' is experienced in the US and the UK. I then argue that online 'cultural structures' have begun, more and more frequently and for a variety of reasons, to take the form of games - games that are destabilised by female participants. 'Feminist' methods of various kinds, 'intervention disruption', and iterative game design are all modes and methodologies I have chosen to apply to the creation of the practical parts of the research. Examples discussed at length in these pages illustrate the tensions between everyday popular culture and interventionist working practices, highlighting a process informed by feminist scholarship of marginalised groups. I argue that specific and identifiable historical play patterns and larger technological developments have been linked to gaming practices. If play has become an integral part of everyday life, then the history of 'banal' play - especially domestic play -- takes on new importance. Paper playhouses of the 19th Century reinforced the notion that the house was implicitly known as a gendered space, and I interrogate gender and play and girls' subversive resistance in this space. I argue that it is both possible and useful to identify three main types of subversion in operation by women players: reskinning, un-playing, and re-writing. I use these types of subversion to design artist's computer games as practical work in [rootings] and [domestic], and in the design of a larger collaborative work RAPUNSEL. I conclude the thesis by utilising my selected methodologies for a final feminist intervention and subversion, through a case study of the design and creation of the practical work [six. circles], which demonstrates how one might rework game goals and creating artists' games as a form of social activism. I end with a summary of the significance of this body of research as well as a summary arguement outlining the potential contributions of this study to future researchers, scholars and practitioners.

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