Playground

Inscriptions: Verso: [stamped] Photograph by Freda Leinwand. [463 West Street, Studio 229G, New York, NY 10014].

Baby drinking from bottle

Inscriptions: Verso: [stamped] Photograph by Freda Leinwand. [463 West Street, Studio 229G, New York, NY 10014].

Mother and daughter

Inscriptions: Verso: [stamped] Photograph by Freda Leinwand. [463 West Street, Studio 229G, New York, NY 10014].

Mother and toddler

Inscriptions: Verso: [stamped] Photograph by Freda Leinwand. [463 West Street, Studio 229G, New York, NY 10014].

Playground

Inscriptions: Verso: [stamped] Photograph by Freda Leinwand. [463 West Street, Studio 229G, New York, NY 10014].

Mother and four children

Inscriptions: Verso: [stamped] Photograph by Freda Leinwand. [463 West Street, Studio 229G, New York, NY 10014].

Abingdon Square playground

Inscriptions: Verso: [stamped] Photograph by Freda Leinwand. [463 West Street, Studio 229G, New York, NY 10014].

Disabled mother and child

Inscriptions: Verso: [stamped] Photograph by Freda Leinwand. [463 West Street, Studio 229G, New York, NY 10014].

Mother and son

Inscriptions: Verso: [stamped] Photograph by Freda Leinwand. [463 West Street, Studio 229G, New York, NY 10014].

Mother teaching sons to play chess

Inscriptions: Verso: [stamped] Credit must be given to Leinwand from Monkmeyer Press Photo Service].

Eventual benefits : kristevan readings of female subjectivity in Henry James’s Late Novels

“Eventual Benefits: Kristevan Readings of Female Subjectivity in Henry James’s Late Novels” examine la construction de la subjectivité féminine dans les romans de la phase majeure de Henry James, notamment What Maisie Knew, The Awkward Age, The Portrait of a Lady, The Wings of the Dove et The Golden Bowl. Les personnages féminins de James se trouvent souvent dans des circonstances sociales ou familiales qui défavorisent l’autonomie psychique, et ces subordinations sont surtout nuisibles pour les jeunes personnages de l’auteur. Quant aux femmes américaines expatriées de ces romans, elles éprouvent l’objectification sociale et pécuniaire des européens : en conséquence, elles déploient des tactiques contraires afin d’inverser leurs diminutions et instaurer leurs individualités. Ma recherche des protocoles qui subventionnent l’affranchissement de ces femmes procède dans le cadre des théories avancées par Julia Kristeva. En utilisant les postulats kristeviens d’abjection et de mélancolie, d’intertextualité, de maternité et de grossesse, du pardon et d’étrangeté, cette thèse explore les stratégies disparates et résistantes des femmes chez James et elle parvient à une conception de la subjectivité féminine comme un processus continuellement ajourné.

Caring for the Celtic cubs: Discursive constructions of mothers and mothering in the Irish childcare debate

Drawing on an understanding of the public sphere as a multiplicity of communicative and discursive spaces this paper examines the constructions of mothers, mothering and motherhood which emerged in recent debates about childcare in Ireland. Preliminary analysis of these discursive constructions suggest that they are often based on rhetoric, informed by stereotypical assumptions and rooted in frames of reference which mitigate against the emergence of alternative ways of understanding the issues of mothering and childcare. It will be argued that the reductionist and divisive nature of the childcare debate which ensued prior to the 2005 budget, stymied childcare policy development at a time when its unprecedented prominence on the political agenda and the strength of public finances could have underpinned a shift in policy approach. The paper concludes with an exploration of the ways in which feminist scholarship can challenge the Irish model of childcare policy, which continues to be premised on an understanding of childcare and the reconciliation of work and family life as the privatised responsibility of individual women.

Black Femininity through the White Speculum: The Implications of Medicosocialism and the Disproportionate Regulation of Black Women’s Reproductive Autonomy

At the crux of health disparities for women of color lies a history of maltreatment based on racial difference from their white counterparts. It is their non-whiteness that limits their access to the ideologies of “woman” and “femininity” within dominant culture. As the result of this difference, the impact of the birth control movement varied among women based on race. This project explores how the ideology attributed to the black female body limited black women’s access to “womanhood” within dominant culture, and analyzes the manners in which their reproductive autonomy was compromised as the result of changes to that ideology through time. This project operates under the hypothesis that black women’s access to certain aspects of femininity such as domesticity and motherhood reflected their roles in slave society, that black women’s reproductive value was based on the value of black children within slave culture, and that both of these factors dictated the manner in which their reproductive autonomy was managed by health professionals. Black people’s worth as a free labor force within dominant culture diminished when the Reconstruction Amendments were added to the constitution and slavery was deemed unconstitutional—resulting in the paradigmatic shift from the promotion of black fertility to its recession. America’s transition to the medicosocial regulation of black fertility through Eugenics, the role of the black elite in the movement, and the negative impact of this agenda on the reproductive autonomy of black women from low socioeconomic backgrounds are enlisted as support. The paper goes on to draw connections between post-slavery ideology of black femininity and modern-day medicosocial occurrences within clinical settings in order to advocate for increased bias training for medical professionals as a means of combating current health disparities. It concludes with the possibility that this improvement in medical training could persuade people of color to seek out medical intervention at earlier stages of illness and obtain regular check-ups by actively countering physicians’ past transgressions against them.

The contribution of Victor Hugo to the liberation, emancipation, and changing perceptions of women in 19th century French society

The over-riding perceptions of Victor Hugo’s attitudes towards women are intensely coloured by his deep-seated Romanticism and his well-testified, stifling and over-bearing treatment of women in his personal life. As such, Hugo’s contribution to the feminist struggle of his time has been woefully overlooked in the larger scheme of his social and political activism. Through a close examination of his largely unstudied public discourse on women’s rights, this thesis situates Hugo’s feminist views firmly in the context of Enlightenment feminism and 19th century feminism, while also drawing heavily on the illuminating principles of Enlightenment feminism. In particular, this thesis examines Hugo’s support for several of the most determining issues of 19th century French feminism, including women’s right to education, equal citizenship, universal suffrage rights, and the issue of regulated prostitution. Further, by examining the way in which Hugo’s views on women’s maternal role extended far beyond the limited vision of domesticity bolstered by the ideology of ‘republican motherhood’, this thesis engages in a re-appraisal of Hugo’s literary representation of maternity which identifies the maternal as a universal quality of devotion and self-sacrifice to which all humankind must aspire for the creation of a just, egalitarian, and democratic society. Though at times inevitably constrained by his Romanticism, this thesis demonstrates the extent to which Hugo’s feminism is grounded in his wider vision of social emancipation and is underpinned by a profound empathy, compassion, and moral conscience – qualities which are just as fundamental today, as they were for Hugo when participating in the fitful, though decisive, feminist struggle in 19th century France.

Eventual benefits : kristevan readings of female subjectivity in Henry James’s Late Novels

“Eventual Benefits: Kristevan Readings of Female Subjectivity in Henry James’s Late Novels” examine la construction de la subjectivité féminine dans les romans de la phase majeure de Henry James, notamment What Maisie Knew, The Awkward Age, The Portrait of a Lady, The Wings of the Dove et The Golden Bowl. Les personnages féminins de James se trouvent souvent dans des circonstances sociales ou familiales qui défavorisent l’autonomie psychique, et ces subordinations sont surtout nuisibles pour les jeunes personnages de l’auteur. Quant aux femmes américaines expatriées de ces romans, elles éprouvent l’objectification sociale et pécuniaire des européens : en conséquence, elles déploient des tactiques contraires afin d’inverser leurs diminutions et instaurer leurs individualités. Ma recherche des protocoles qui subventionnent l’affranchissement de ces femmes procède dans le cadre des théories avancées par Julia Kristeva. En utilisant les postulats kristeviens d’abjection et de mélancolie, d’intertextualité, de maternité et de grossesse, du pardon et d’étrangeté, cette thèse explore les stratégies disparates et résistantes des femmes chez James et elle parvient à une conception de la subjectivité féminine comme un processus continuellement ajourné.