Abstract
Despite being written over 200 years apart, "A Father's Legacy to his Daughters" and "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" both have a similar agenda - to advise women on how to be more desirable to men. This paper explores exactly how and why this effect is attained and how the consequence of such advice constructs a 'natural' woman who, paradoxically, changes through history to suit the needs of the cultural moment. Finally, the paper refers to Thomas Lacqueur's "Making Sex" to make sense of this cultural phenomenon.

From the Paper
"In today's more enlightened era, we may expect the 'natural' woman to have been purged from conduct literature. On the contrary, Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, published over two hundred years later than A Father's Legacy, continues to attribute women's behavior to nature, for example, 'an instinctive need to talk about what's bothering them' . His implication here that the female stereotype has evolved according to the needs of survival is characteristic of the pseudo-scientific evidence often cited in conduct literature. In reality it is completely unfounded, and, what is more, highly improbable. In his space travel analogy, he makes an even more surprising claim: 'though from different worlds, they [men and women] reveled in their differences' (p. 9)."

Tags:advice, female, feminine, femininity, male, masculine, masculinity, sex, theory

Abstract
The paper explores the portrayal of the feminine gender through grave-goods and the light these grave-goods shed on the culture of a woman and her community. The paper examines three contrasting inhumations, one Saxon, one Anglian and one Kentish, in order to compare and contrast these different cultures and communities. The paper discusses the revelations of contrasting styles of dress, varying roles played by women, such as weavers, wives and mothers and the status afforded to the Anglo-Saxon woman through the fulfilment of these roles.

From the Paper
"In order to consider what is meant here by 'gendered grave-goods', it is first important to consider what is referred to by 'gender'. The term 'gender' is usually differentiated from the term 'sex' in that 'sex relates specifically to the biological, physical characteristics which make a person male or female at birth, whereas gender refers to the behaviours associated with members of that sex.' Sex, then, is defined biologically, and gender, culturally. Crawford says of the grave-goods associated with the pagan Anglo-Saxon inhumation ritual, that '[t]he clearest message conveyed [...] was the sex of the deceased', the sharp contrast between the '[w]eapons, including spears, shields and swords' almost exclusively found in male burials and the jewellery that is associated with female burials serving to highlight the very different types of goods used to symbolise the male and female sexes. Stoodley emphasises the contrast between masculine and feminine symbolism further still in his comment that the jewellery of the female inhumation ritual is not only an indication of the female sex, but is also involved in 'the creation of a feminine gender'."

Tags:burials, cultures, communities, rituals, status, weaver, wife, mother

Abstract
Historians have always looked to literature for insight into how a culture functioned, what it valued, and how its people lived. Today, when studying the Middle East, many would not only read the Qu'ran, but also "The Arabian Nights", the folklore. The paper shows that when we read "Arabian Nights" we understand a great deal more of how the Arabic people actually lived. Perhaps the most evident discrepancy between the teachings of the Qu'ran and the "Arabian Nights" tales pertains to the view and treatment of Middle Eastern women.

From the Paper
"This method of seclusion is dramatically illustrated in The Arabian Nights where we hear the story of the demon that locked his wife in a chest and carried her about as if she were his private property. Yet ironically the authors of the Arabian Nights convey in this same story that not even this extreme could prevent a willful woman from knowing other men."

Tags:koran, sha'aban

Abstract
The writer of this paper details the symptoms as well as the media's contribution to body dysmorphic disorder, also known as distorted body image. Body dysmorphic disorder has become a tremendous problem in today's society due to the barrage of negative messages sent to women by the media. This paper discusses the effect of the media, in all its forms - television, radio, print advertising, internet, etc., which has an enormous influence on what people deem as attractive in today's society. The unnecessary emphasis the media places on appearance tends to adversely affect the mental and physical health of those it comes in contact with. Body dysmorphic disorder can lead to damaged self-esteem, depression, and eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. This paper details the manner in which advertisers place heavy emphasis on physical appearance as a means of selling products. Too often in doing so, unnecessary pressure is placed on women to conform to unrealistic and oftentimes, unhealthy standards of beauty.

From the Paper
"Women want someone they can relate to. The Body Shop, a supplier of natural beauty products, offered a much-needed change from the typical message provided by advertisers; "There are three billion women who don't look like supermodels, and only eight who do. The Australian magazine New Woman included a picture of a heavy-set model on its cover recently. This action produced a lot of positive comments from the magazine's female readers. Despite this fact, advertisers threatened to pull their sponsorship. This shows that advertisers know what they are doing when they include a woman whose body is unattainable to society at large."

Tags:body, disorder, dysmorphic, image, media, women, anorexia, marketing, advertising, media, bulimia

Abstract
This paper examines how the influence of the arts on the development of the mid-Victorian population was a powerful due to the nation's move out of recession and into a capitalist frame of mind where wealth was celebrated as a sign of worth. Through an examination of literature and art of this time such as George Hicks triptych "Women's Mission" and Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles, it looks at how the culture of the mid-Victorian era proved to advocate a step back for woman from the public realm into the safety of an idealized, supposed domestic bliss.

From the Paper
"A quite different heroine is depicted in Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White. Collins presents two heroines: Laura Fairlie and Marian Halcombe. Laura is the story's heroine in that she is the person whose life the other characters revolve around, and whose happiness is the ultimate goal of the plot. She is the picture of a traditional female lead in that she is exceptionally beautiful and captivating that the hero, Walter Hartwright, falls in love with her at first sight. Collins devotes more than a page of description to every aspect of her countenance. However, Laura is not the real heroine of the novel, comparative to her sister, Marian."

Tags:bronte, browncollins, dickens, ford, george, madox, hardy, tess

Abstract
This paper outlines the concept of everyday life and establishes the relationship of the home to the everyday. It considers the contested notions of the everyday and also explores the competing views of the concept of the home and in turn, the different ways in which men and women are associated with the home through the construction of gender roles. It examines the writings of Felski and Lefebvre, who both emphasize the importance of the temporal and spatial qualities of the everyday in the construction of gender roles and validifies the claim that women are more immersed in the routine and repetition of the everyday than men.

From the Paper
"From the evidence so far, it would be tempting to agree unequivocally that women are indeed more immersed in the repetition and routine of everyday life, through their positions within the home. However, different sociological approaches disagree as to the extent to which these, along with relations between men, modernity and the public world are mutually exclusive. Lefebvre (1968) perceives all these concepts to be rigidly dualistic, hence his belief that women, through their relations to the home, are so engaged with the repetition of the everyday that they lack both the mindset and the opportunity to escape it. He sees the home as a symbol of anti-modernity, and the cyclical structure of the everyday as an encroachment on the nomadic, linearity of existentialism."

Tags:domesticity, everyday, lefebvre, life, linear, men, women

Abstract
This paper examines how the stories "Quicksand" and "Passing" illustrate the profound pressures felt by Nella Larsen as a female writer in the male dominated Harlem Renaissance. It looks at how Larsen grapples with the conflicting demands of her racial and sexual identities and the contradictory nature of a black and feminine aesthetic. It attempts to show that while Larsen's literature appears to project feminist concessions to the dominant ideology of romance, marriage and motherhood, it can equally be interpreted as a radical and original critique of female sexual experience, repressed in both literary terms and in Larsen's own contemporary society.

From the Paper
"The theme of racial identity is central to the exploration of black womanhood in both 'Quicksand' and 'Passing.' The main protagonist of 'Quciksand,' Helga Crane is portrayed by Larsen to suffer from a dual consciousness arising from her mixed parentage. Helga appears indifferent or even accommodating towards white racism as she accepts her uncle's new wife's racist attitudes, believing that she was 'an obscene sore in all their lives, at all costs to be hidden. She understood while she resented.' Helga is also ambivalent regarding Anne's ongoing racism towards whites in the form of sociological critique, and the condemnation of miscegenation."

Tags:mulatto, tragic, naxos

Abstract
The media has a large effect on society as a whole and there has been an increase in media exposure over the years. The thin, waif-like look is seen as the ideal, a standard for women to be measured against. The paper shows that women are under lots of pressure to conform to the ideals of society and the majority of women are on diets or have dieted at some point in their life. This leads to low self esteem and poor body image, which is a precipitating factor in eating disorders. This essay discusses whether the media is the catalyst for preoccupation with slimness and a major contributor to eating disorders in young women.

From the Paper
"The media is often quoted as a scapegoat for the increase in eating disorders. Linda Grant's opinion is that: "Women don't set out to become anorexic, they begin by thinking they're too fat because everywhere they go the media is telling them that they are right" (Barrett, 1997). This assumes that the causes of eating disorders are simply triggered by an individual feeling overweight, which is not the case. Eating disorders have many causes, some evidence suggests that an eating disorder can exist without this pathological fear of being overweight (Lai, 2000). If these effects of the media are obvious then why is it that only 1-3% of women suffer from an eating disorder? "

Tags:anorexia, bulimia

Abstract
The essay deals with the different roles of women in early medieval Europe and how they were affected by the spread of Christianity. Wives and the effect of new, Christianity inspired, marriage laws are discussed as well as the changing status of unmarried women, widows and female serfs. Female missionaries, nuns and saints all boosted the status of women. The role of Queens before and after the adoption of Christianity is covered, dealing with the positive and negative changes that took place. The essay concludes that overall Christianity had a positive effect on the role and status of women.500-1000A.D.

From the Paper
"The role and status of women in Western Europe between ca.500 and ca.1000 did change due to Christianity. However whether the female role and status in society was diminished or improved depends on a number of factors. Primarily, the type of woman in question must be taken into consideration. Queens, for example, were affected in a different way to female serfs. Secondly, we must also look at the role and status of women before the emergence of Christianity to make a valid judgment of change after ca.500. Thirdly, to a certain extent, the origin of the woman is a factor; Christianity affected different parts of Europe in a manner of different ways."

Tags:convents, dos, early, europe, female, laws, marriage, medieval, missionaries, monasteries, queens, saints, serfs, western, whitby

Abstract
This paper discusses how "Thelma and Louise" strayed from the typical "road movie" formula in terms of casting, theme and storyline. It shows how the film not only helped to redefine gender stereotypes but also paved the way for other women, as well as gays, people of color and other traditionally underrepresented groups, to become "road movie heroes" as well.

From the Paper
"The conventional road movie twosome, which is usually comprised of either two young males or a male and female with a romantic connection, has permeated the genre since its inception. Thelma and Louise broke that tradition by not only using two female protagonists, but by portraying men in a consistently negative light; essentially as either "rapists", "bullies" or "boy toys"."

Tags:action, adventure, film, gender, roles, theme, gay, color