Conference Presentations by Dr Sarah Anne Dunne
Understanding New Rape Cultures
Friday 14th September 2018, Seminar Room, Humanities Institute,
... more Understanding New Rape Cultures
Friday 14th September 2018, Seminar Room, Humanities Institute,
University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Keynote speaker Dr. Debbie Ging.
Deadline for abstract submission Monday 11th June 2018.
Miriam Webster may have identified “feminism” as its coveted Word of the Year, but there is another term that garnered renewed interest in 2017: rape culture. The outrage and shock that the notorious Harvey Weinstein accusations brought with them not only revived discussions around the term “rape culture”; it brought with it a host of further accusations and a new legitimacy to the statements that anti-rape activists and theorists first made back in the 1970s.
Second Wave feminists, specifically those associated with the anti-rape movement of the time, first theorised Western, heteronormative culture as structured by sexual aggression and assault, violence against women, and misogyny and rape. Texts such as the New York Radical Feminist’s Rape: The First Sourcebook for Women (1974) and Susan Brownmiller’s Against Our Will (1975) first highlighted this normalising of rape and its supportive structures. Others followed suit, from Marta Burt’s study of rape myths (1980) and Mary Koss’s 1 in 4 women report (1989) to more racially and historically aware responses from bell hooks (1982) and Angela Davis (1981).
In this contemporary setting following the emerging responses to the multiple and troubling allegations against Harvey Weinstein, to the abuse of authority and power by men such as Roy Moore, Bill Cosby and Kevin Spacey, to the powerful narratives and truths brought forward by celebrity figures such as Jennifer Lawrence and Terry Crews and the broader community of victims and survivors through the digital campaign #metoo, we are left to ask: what does rape culture now mean? Has it been redefined? Has it changed? Or is it simply the same as it’s always been, only more mediatised? And where does Ireland fit into this context, what with the national response to the Belfast Rape Trial and vast calls for changes in both legal doctrine and sex education emerging as a result?
This one-day conference aims to reassess how changes in our communicative landscape – consistently advancing and invasive technologies, round-the-clock surveillance, the uptake of social and digital medias as essential life tools – have affected our understandings of rape culture. Through this conference, we propose to analyse the often intersecting ‘alt-right’ and MRA-style ‘shock culture’ responses to feminist ideology and discourse against rape culture and misogyny. Overall, this conference will assess what rape culture means in this new and increasingly mainstreamed, mediatised and technological environment.
The conference will accept proposals from a broad selection of disciplines (digital and media studies, literary and film studies, celebrity studies, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, politics and beyond) and on a variety of topics related to the conference theme, including but certainly not limited to:
• Online campaigning/hashtags
• Use of online/digital media
• Feminist theory and feminist activism
• Intersectionality and White Feminism
• Celebrity studies, defamation and celebrity status
• Rape myths
• Race and racism in relation to rape culture
• Media responses to rape
• Misogyny in/through rape culture
• Male rape/male victimhood
• LGBT rape
• Trans experiences of misogyny and rape culture
• Race, class, migration and rape culture
• Institutional violence and responses
• Hollywood Industry responses
• Sexual abuse/assault/harassment in the workplace
• Political responses to rape and rape culture
• Far-right discourses
• Men’s Rights activism, Pick-Up-Artistry, the Manosphere and Hybrid Masculinities
• The context of rape culture in Ireland – Belfast rape trial, Michael Colgan, Al Porter, etc
Conference organisers: Sarah Anne Dunne and UCD Centre for Gender, Feminisms and Sexualities (CGFS), conference is kindly funded by the School of Computer Sciences, College of Arts and Humanities and the Humanities Institute.
Abstract proposals of no more than 300 words accompanied by a short bio should be emailed to sarah.dunne.3@ucdconnect.ie in Word Doc format with the title “UNRC” by the 11th June 2018.
Responses on abstracts are expected for the end of June/early July.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Black or Feminist: The Intersections of Misogyny, Race and Anti-Feminist Rhetoric Pertaining to ... more Black or Feminist: The Intersections of Misogyny, Race and Anti-Feminist Rhetoric Pertaining to the Bill Cosby Allegations.
Presenter and Researcher: Sarah Anne Dunne
The intersections of race and sex historically depict a polarised and complex relationship which were only exacerbated by second wave feminist failures to incorporate the needs of Women of Colour into their politics. Through an analysis of data relating to the Bill Cosby rape allegations, this paper analyses how these intersections continue to undermine feminist politics through specifically racial rhetoric while reaffirming misogynistic dogma and manifestations of rape culture. The data, collected from Twitter during February 2016, depicts a notable correlation and polarisation between racial identity and feminist politics.
The data analysed suggests a condition of loyalty from African-America men and, specifically, women. In challenging those who do not support Cosby’s cause, the implication is made that they forfeit their racial heritage and identities to a predominantly white and feminist movement. The implication that African-American women cannot identify as feminist not only reaffirms the schisms originating in the second wave but, furthermore, limits women’s options and freedoms while designating the feminist identity as undesirable.
Within this equation, gender and sex are secondary to a racial identity which disputes feminist claims against Cosby. Further implicated within this already politically fraught issue is the figure of the “Black rapist” as an historically false myth utilised to justify excessive racial violence and mass lynching of Black men across the U.S.A. This paper will analyse how these intersections and historical events continue to influence rape allegations, gender politics and racial consciousness in the present day and what that means for a new feminist movement.
Speaking Sex in Mrs Brown’s Boys
The proposed presentation aims to review the critically acclaim... more Speaking Sex in Mrs Brown’s Boys
The proposed presentation aims to review the critically acclaimed television series Mrs Browns Boys and its representations of sex, sexual repression and pleasure, an even marital rape. The series relies on a bawdy a coarse humour which heavily incorporates the use of sexual innuendo and slapstick comedy to convey and address serious social issues such as that of marital rape – in a brief sketch, Mrs Brown describes her late husband ‘taking advantage of [her] whenever he likes’.
Mrs Brown’s Boys further develops on themes of sexual desire and female pleasure and its repression in Irish culture up until the 1990s (and perhaps even beyond). Moreover, when such themes and discussed, often between Mrs Brown and her incumbent friend Winny, ongoing sexual pleasure and need is identified and given voice in an attempt to destigmatise and challenge the view of older women as de-sexed or un-sexual beings.
Evidently, despite its (in)famous humour tones and comedic plotlines, Mrs Brown’s Boys is a series which frequently plays on and with narratives incorporating sexual pleasure – or a lack, thereof – and which, moreover, addresses the reality of marital rape at intervals.
Slides: https://sway.com/4pCzueiWRdV7MA2q?ref=Link&loc=mysways
The research paper I propose derives from my doctoral thesis examining discussions of rape cultur... more The research paper I propose derives from my doctoral thesis examining discussions of rape culture on microblogging platform Twitter. This paper will analyse a selection of tweets pertaining to allegations against African-American comic Bill Cosby collected during February 2016, the time of his deposition, and will evaluate the proliferation of rape myths and normalisation of rape culture which inherently disadvantages women’s freedoms, specifically as they are reiterated via social media networks. Moreover, this paper will highlight the racial element related to the case, particularly within the context of racism and black feminism and the limits of choice and freedom which are articulated through the data.
Certainly, both the historical mythology of the “black rapist” and his cult status as “America’s dad” coincide problematically with Cosby’s case; a result of this being a virulent defence of Cosby – particularly within the African-American community – notably to the detriment of the victims who are openly vilified and mocked with misogynistic slurs, their narratives marred by rape myths and manifestations of victim blaming.
Related to this is the historical failure of second wave feminism to ensure inclusivity and intersectionality of black women within the movement. This division is reaffirmed anew within this dataset, by setting criteria that is notably: black or feminist. A selection of the data openly challenges those of African-American heritage who support Cosby as failing their own communities and thereby relinquishing their racial identities. The implication that African-American women cannot identify as feminist not only reaffirms the schisms originating in the second wave but, furthermore, limits women’s options and freedoms while designating the feminist identity as undesirable.
There is a problematic history of racism and misogyny behind this data, which limits the identities, freedoms and choices available to women – Black women specifically – while reaffirming the misogynistic manifestations which support rape culture specifically. The aim of my paper will be to further examine this detrimental rhetoric through contextual analysis of the data thereby depicting how these historical concepts – rape culture, racism, misogyny – continue to divide and influence the greater feminist community while being exacerbated and reinforced via digital social networks.
Conference Presentation Link: https://sway.com/vOVr8VShrCUTtnZ3
The existence of a rape culture in the West has, in recent years, been widely contested. Unreliab... more The existence of a rape culture in the West has, in recent years, been widely contested. Unreliable data from surveys and difficulty in providing a staunch definition of rape culture have largely contributed to the backlash triggered so-called “backlash” feminists such as Camille Paglia and Katie Roiphe. Much of the contemporary research on rape culture details and challenges the rhetoric which these backlash texts produced in the 1990s and early 2000s; the aim of this research piece is to highlight the continued existence of – if not proliferation and bolstering of – a rape culture as a worldwide phenomenon most keenly experienced and evident through its propagation in digital media and social networking websites.
Through analytic examination of a selection of Tweets gathered from a preliminary search on Twitter, this paper will highlight how rape culture is reified on microblogging website Twitter. The tweets selected specifically reference the Steubenville rape case which became an international event in August 2012. The case itself is of particular interest owing to its complicated relationship with online networks: the rapes and assaults were captured consistently over the night via the rapists’ and other onlookers’ online profiles while online hacktivist group Anonymous subsequently became involved in the court case.
It is owing to such unusual elements that Steubenville has since become an internationally infamous event in which many cultural commentators have supplied their two cents. The tweets which emerged from a basic search of “Steubenville” on twitter reveal an image of rape culture as rife in online forums. Rape myths such as victim blaming are in substantial supply while stereotypes relating to “real rape” consistently question the language of consent. A vast amount of these tweets both trivialize and normalize rape and thus coincide with the most frequent definition of a rape culture proving it true.
Conference Presentation link: https://sway.com/eh9h0Ezt8MFIJ2gd
"In 1985 Donna Haraway published “The Cyborg Manifesto,” in which she praised the potentials of d... more "In 1985 Donna Haraway published “The Cyborg Manifesto,” in which she praised the potentials of digital networks for producing the post-human, post-gendered being; more recently, however, research into digital communities and social networking platforms has depicted a disconcerting growth in the use of misogynistic language, sexist discourse and physical threat against the female body. In this work, I intend to examine the alternating dialectic of the internet as an ideal non-corporeality as compared with the concurrent repositioning of the female body within hierarchical system. The proliferation of misogynistic and threatening dogma on social networking sites positions the female body not only as desirable, vulnerable or abject in its physicality but, furthermore, duplicates the methods detailed by Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punishment, through utilising online platforms in order to improve the surveillance and, if required punishment, of women (and specifically vocal feminists) who perform outside the hierarchical regime and therein threaten women’s ability to participate and access digital forums."
Presentation link: https://sway.com/iAquwn3I4Gc4LUIE
Teaching Documents by Dr Sarah Anne Dunne
Papers by Dr Sarah Anne Dunne
Computer Science and Information Techology, 2023
The rapid growth of Alt-tech platforms and concerns over their less stringent content moderation ... more The rapid growth of Alt-tech platforms and concerns over their less stringent content moderation policies, make them a good case for opinion mining. This study aims at investigating the topic models that exist in specific Alt-tech channel on Telegram, using data collected in two time points of 2021 and 2023. Three different topic models of LDA, NMF and Contextualized NTM were explored and a model selection procedure was proposed to choose the best performing model among all. To validatethe model selection algorithm quantitatively and qualitatively, the approach was tested on publicly available labelled datasets. For all the experiments, data was pre-processed employing an effective NLP pre-processing procedure along with an Alt-tech customised list of stop-words. Using the validated topic model selection algorithm, LDA topics with Ngram range = (4, 4) were extracted from the targeted Alt-tech dataset. The findings from topic models were qualitatively evaluated by a social scientist and are further discussed. The conclusion of the work suggests that the proposed model selection procedure is effective for corresponding corpus length and context. Future work avenues are suggested to improve the outcome ofAlt-tech topic modeling.
Powerful writing as writing ‘with’
What are the alternatives? Organising for a socially and ecolo... more Powerful writing as writing ‘with’
What are the alternatives? Organising for a socially and ecologically sustainable world
By Jannick Friis Christensen Sarah Dunne Melissa Fisher Alexander Fleischmann Mary McGill Florence Villesèche Marta Natalia Wróblewska
An examination of the Dunham-Perrineau scandal through an intersectional, feminist lens in the wa... more An examination of the Dunham-Perrineau scandal through an intersectional, feminist lens in the wake of #MeToo.
Uploads
Conference Presentations by Dr Sarah Anne Dunne
Friday 14th September 2018, Seminar Room, Humanities Institute,
University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Keynote speaker Dr. Debbie Ging.
Deadline for abstract submission Monday 11th June 2018.
Miriam Webster may have identified “feminism” as its coveted Word of the Year, but there is another term that garnered renewed interest in 2017: rape culture. The outrage and shock that the notorious Harvey Weinstein accusations brought with them not only revived discussions around the term “rape culture”; it brought with it a host of further accusations and a new legitimacy to the statements that anti-rape activists and theorists first made back in the 1970s.
Second Wave feminists, specifically those associated with the anti-rape movement of the time, first theorised Western, heteronormative culture as structured by sexual aggression and assault, violence against women, and misogyny and rape. Texts such as the New York Radical Feminist’s Rape: The First Sourcebook for Women (1974) and Susan Brownmiller’s Against Our Will (1975) first highlighted this normalising of rape and its supportive structures. Others followed suit, from Marta Burt’s study of rape myths (1980) and Mary Koss’s 1 in 4 women report (1989) to more racially and historically aware responses from bell hooks (1982) and Angela Davis (1981).
In this contemporary setting following the emerging responses to the multiple and troubling allegations against Harvey Weinstein, to the abuse of authority and power by men such as Roy Moore, Bill Cosby and Kevin Spacey, to the powerful narratives and truths brought forward by celebrity figures such as Jennifer Lawrence and Terry Crews and the broader community of victims and survivors through the digital campaign #metoo, we are left to ask: what does rape culture now mean? Has it been redefined? Has it changed? Or is it simply the same as it’s always been, only more mediatised? And where does Ireland fit into this context, what with the national response to the Belfast Rape Trial and vast calls for changes in both legal doctrine and sex education emerging as a result?
This one-day conference aims to reassess how changes in our communicative landscape – consistently advancing and invasive technologies, round-the-clock surveillance, the uptake of social and digital medias as essential life tools – have affected our understandings of rape culture. Through this conference, we propose to analyse the often intersecting ‘alt-right’ and MRA-style ‘shock culture’ responses to feminist ideology and discourse against rape culture and misogyny. Overall, this conference will assess what rape culture means in this new and increasingly mainstreamed, mediatised and technological environment.
The conference will accept proposals from a broad selection of disciplines (digital and media studies, literary and film studies, celebrity studies, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, politics and beyond) and on a variety of topics related to the conference theme, including but certainly not limited to:
• Online campaigning/hashtags
• Use of online/digital media
• Feminist theory and feminist activism
• Intersectionality and White Feminism
• Celebrity studies, defamation and celebrity status
• Rape myths
• Race and racism in relation to rape culture
• Media responses to rape
• Misogyny in/through rape culture
• Male rape/male victimhood
• LGBT rape
• Trans experiences of misogyny and rape culture
• Race, class, migration and rape culture
• Institutional violence and responses
• Hollywood Industry responses
• Sexual abuse/assault/harassment in the workplace
• Political responses to rape and rape culture
• Far-right discourses
• Men’s Rights activism, Pick-Up-Artistry, the Manosphere and Hybrid Masculinities
• The context of rape culture in Ireland – Belfast rape trial, Michael Colgan, Al Porter, etc
Conference organisers: Sarah Anne Dunne and UCD Centre for Gender, Feminisms and Sexualities (CGFS), conference is kindly funded by the School of Computer Sciences, College of Arts and Humanities and the Humanities Institute.
Abstract proposals of no more than 300 words accompanied by a short bio should be emailed to sarah.dunne.3@ucdconnect.ie in Word Doc format with the title “UNRC” by the 11th June 2018.
Responses on abstracts are expected for the end of June/early July.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Presenter and Researcher: Sarah Anne Dunne
The intersections of race and sex historically depict a polarised and complex relationship which were only exacerbated by second wave feminist failures to incorporate the needs of Women of Colour into their politics. Through an analysis of data relating to the Bill Cosby rape allegations, this paper analyses how these intersections continue to undermine feminist politics through specifically racial rhetoric while reaffirming misogynistic dogma and manifestations of rape culture. The data, collected from Twitter during February 2016, depicts a notable correlation and polarisation between racial identity and feminist politics.
The data analysed suggests a condition of loyalty from African-America men and, specifically, women. In challenging those who do not support Cosby’s cause, the implication is made that they forfeit their racial heritage and identities to a predominantly white and feminist movement. The implication that African-American women cannot identify as feminist not only reaffirms the schisms originating in the second wave but, furthermore, limits women’s options and freedoms while designating the feminist identity as undesirable.
Within this equation, gender and sex are secondary to a racial identity which disputes feminist claims against Cosby. Further implicated within this already politically fraught issue is the figure of the “Black rapist” as an historically false myth utilised to justify excessive racial violence and mass lynching of Black men across the U.S.A. This paper will analyse how these intersections and historical events continue to influence rape allegations, gender politics and racial consciousness in the present day and what that means for a new feminist movement.
The proposed presentation aims to review the critically acclaimed television series Mrs Browns Boys and its representations of sex, sexual repression and pleasure, an even marital rape. The series relies on a bawdy a coarse humour which heavily incorporates the use of sexual innuendo and slapstick comedy to convey and address serious social issues such as that of marital rape – in a brief sketch, Mrs Brown describes her late husband ‘taking advantage of [her] whenever he likes’.
Mrs Brown’s Boys further develops on themes of sexual desire and female pleasure and its repression in Irish culture up until the 1990s (and perhaps even beyond). Moreover, when such themes and discussed, often between Mrs Brown and her incumbent friend Winny, ongoing sexual pleasure and need is identified and given voice in an attempt to destigmatise and challenge the view of older women as de-sexed or un-sexual beings.
Evidently, despite its (in)famous humour tones and comedic plotlines, Mrs Brown’s Boys is a series which frequently plays on and with narratives incorporating sexual pleasure – or a lack, thereof – and which, moreover, addresses the reality of marital rape at intervals.
Slides: https://sway.com/4pCzueiWRdV7MA2q?ref=Link&loc=mysways
Certainly, both the historical mythology of the “black rapist” and his cult status as “America’s dad” coincide problematically with Cosby’s case; a result of this being a virulent defence of Cosby – particularly within the African-American community – notably to the detriment of the victims who are openly vilified and mocked with misogynistic slurs, their narratives marred by rape myths and manifestations of victim blaming.
Related to this is the historical failure of second wave feminism to ensure inclusivity and intersectionality of black women within the movement. This division is reaffirmed anew within this dataset, by setting criteria that is notably: black or feminist. A selection of the data openly challenges those of African-American heritage who support Cosby as failing their own communities and thereby relinquishing their racial identities. The implication that African-American women cannot identify as feminist not only reaffirms the schisms originating in the second wave but, furthermore, limits women’s options and freedoms while designating the feminist identity as undesirable.
There is a problematic history of racism and misogyny behind this data, which limits the identities, freedoms and choices available to women – Black women specifically – while reaffirming the misogynistic manifestations which support rape culture specifically. The aim of my paper will be to further examine this detrimental rhetoric through contextual analysis of the data thereby depicting how these historical concepts – rape culture, racism, misogyny – continue to divide and influence the greater feminist community while being exacerbated and reinforced via digital social networks.
Conference Presentation Link: https://sway.com/vOVr8VShrCUTtnZ3
Through analytic examination of a selection of Tweets gathered from a preliminary search on Twitter, this paper will highlight how rape culture is reified on microblogging website Twitter. The tweets selected specifically reference the Steubenville rape case which became an international event in August 2012. The case itself is of particular interest owing to its complicated relationship with online networks: the rapes and assaults were captured consistently over the night via the rapists’ and other onlookers’ online profiles while online hacktivist group Anonymous subsequently became involved in the court case.
It is owing to such unusual elements that Steubenville has since become an internationally infamous event in which many cultural commentators have supplied their two cents. The tweets which emerged from a basic search of “Steubenville” on twitter reveal an image of rape culture as rife in online forums. Rape myths such as victim blaming are in substantial supply while stereotypes relating to “real rape” consistently question the language of consent. A vast amount of these tweets both trivialize and normalize rape and thus coincide with the most frequent definition of a rape culture proving it true.
Conference Presentation link: https://sway.com/eh9h0Ezt8MFIJ2gd
Presentation link: https://sway.com/iAquwn3I4Gc4LUIE
Teaching Documents by Dr Sarah Anne Dunne
The group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/242661932850197/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
Admins facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/sarah.dunne.125
Papers by Dr Sarah Anne Dunne
What are the alternatives? Organising for a socially and ecologically sustainable world
By Jannick Friis Christensen Sarah Dunne Melissa Fisher Alexander Fleischmann Mary McGill Florence Villesèche Marta Natalia Wróblewska
Friday 14th September 2018, Seminar Room, Humanities Institute,
University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Keynote speaker Dr. Debbie Ging.
Deadline for abstract submission Monday 11th June 2018.
Miriam Webster may have identified “feminism” as its coveted Word of the Year, but there is another term that garnered renewed interest in 2017: rape culture. The outrage and shock that the notorious Harvey Weinstein accusations brought with them not only revived discussions around the term “rape culture”; it brought with it a host of further accusations and a new legitimacy to the statements that anti-rape activists and theorists first made back in the 1970s.
Second Wave feminists, specifically those associated with the anti-rape movement of the time, first theorised Western, heteronormative culture as structured by sexual aggression and assault, violence against women, and misogyny and rape. Texts such as the New York Radical Feminist’s Rape: The First Sourcebook for Women (1974) and Susan Brownmiller’s Against Our Will (1975) first highlighted this normalising of rape and its supportive structures. Others followed suit, from Marta Burt’s study of rape myths (1980) and Mary Koss’s 1 in 4 women report (1989) to more racially and historically aware responses from bell hooks (1982) and Angela Davis (1981).
In this contemporary setting following the emerging responses to the multiple and troubling allegations against Harvey Weinstein, to the abuse of authority and power by men such as Roy Moore, Bill Cosby and Kevin Spacey, to the powerful narratives and truths brought forward by celebrity figures such as Jennifer Lawrence and Terry Crews and the broader community of victims and survivors through the digital campaign #metoo, we are left to ask: what does rape culture now mean? Has it been redefined? Has it changed? Or is it simply the same as it’s always been, only more mediatised? And where does Ireland fit into this context, what with the national response to the Belfast Rape Trial and vast calls for changes in both legal doctrine and sex education emerging as a result?
This one-day conference aims to reassess how changes in our communicative landscape – consistently advancing and invasive technologies, round-the-clock surveillance, the uptake of social and digital medias as essential life tools – have affected our understandings of rape culture. Through this conference, we propose to analyse the often intersecting ‘alt-right’ and MRA-style ‘shock culture’ responses to feminist ideology and discourse against rape culture and misogyny. Overall, this conference will assess what rape culture means in this new and increasingly mainstreamed, mediatised and technological environment.
The conference will accept proposals from a broad selection of disciplines (digital and media studies, literary and film studies, celebrity studies, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, politics and beyond) and on a variety of topics related to the conference theme, including but certainly not limited to:
• Online campaigning/hashtags
• Use of online/digital media
• Feminist theory and feminist activism
• Intersectionality and White Feminism
• Celebrity studies, defamation and celebrity status
• Rape myths
• Race and racism in relation to rape culture
• Media responses to rape
• Misogyny in/through rape culture
• Male rape/male victimhood
• LGBT rape
• Trans experiences of misogyny and rape culture
• Race, class, migration and rape culture
• Institutional violence and responses
• Hollywood Industry responses
• Sexual abuse/assault/harassment in the workplace
• Political responses to rape and rape culture
• Far-right discourses
• Men’s Rights activism, Pick-Up-Artistry, the Manosphere and Hybrid Masculinities
• The context of rape culture in Ireland – Belfast rape trial, Michael Colgan, Al Porter, etc
Conference organisers: Sarah Anne Dunne and UCD Centre for Gender, Feminisms and Sexualities (CGFS), conference is kindly funded by the School of Computer Sciences, College of Arts and Humanities and the Humanities Institute.
Abstract proposals of no more than 300 words accompanied by a short bio should be emailed to sarah.dunne.3@ucdconnect.ie in Word Doc format with the title “UNRC” by the 11th June 2018.
Responses on abstracts are expected for the end of June/early July.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Presenter and Researcher: Sarah Anne Dunne
The intersections of race and sex historically depict a polarised and complex relationship which were only exacerbated by second wave feminist failures to incorporate the needs of Women of Colour into their politics. Through an analysis of data relating to the Bill Cosby rape allegations, this paper analyses how these intersections continue to undermine feminist politics through specifically racial rhetoric while reaffirming misogynistic dogma and manifestations of rape culture. The data, collected from Twitter during February 2016, depicts a notable correlation and polarisation between racial identity and feminist politics.
The data analysed suggests a condition of loyalty from African-America men and, specifically, women. In challenging those who do not support Cosby’s cause, the implication is made that they forfeit their racial heritage and identities to a predominantly white and feminist movement. The implication that African-American women cannot identify as feminist not only reaffirms the schisms originating in the second wave but, furthermore, limits women’s options and freedoms while designating the feminist identity as undesirable.
Within this equation, gender and sex are secondary to a racial identity which disputes feminist claims against Cosby. Further implicated within this already politically fraught issue is the figure of the “Black rapist” as an historically false myth utilised to justify excessive racial violence and mass lynching of Black men across the U.S.A. This paper will analyse how these intersections and historical events continue to influence rape allegations, gender politics and racial consciousness in the present day and what that means for a new feminist movement.
The proposed presentation aims to review the critically acclaimed television series Mrs Browns Boys and its representations of sex, sexual repression and pleasure, an even marital rape. The series relies on a bawdy a coarse humour which heavily incorporates the use of sexual innuendo and slapstick comedy to convey and address serious social issues such as that of marital rape – in a brief sketch, Mrs Brown describes her late husband ‘taking advantage of [her] whenever he likes’.
Mrs Brown’s Boys further develops on themes of sexual desire and female pleasure and its repression in Irish culture up until the 1990s (and perhaps even beyond). Moreover, when such themes and discussed, often between Mrs Brown and her incumbent friend Winny, ongoing sexual pleasure and need is identified and given voice in an attempt to destigmatise and challenge the view of older women as de-sexed or un-sexual beings.
Evidently, despite its (in)famous humour tones and comedic plotlines, Mrs Brown’s Boys is a series which frequently plays on and with narratives incorporating sexual pleasure – or a lack, thereof – and which, moreover, addresses the reality of marital rape at intervals.
Slides: https://sway.com/4pCzueiWRdV7MA2q?ref=Link&loc=mysways
Certainly, both the historical mythology of the “black rapist” and his cult status as “America’s dad” coincide problematically with Cosby’s case; a result of this being a virulent defence of Cosby – particularly within the African-American community – notably to the detriment of the victims who are openly vilified and mocked with misogynistic slurs, their narratives marred by rape myths and manifestations of victim blaming.
Related to this is the historical failure of second wave feminism to ensure inclusivity and intersectionality of black women within the movement. This division is reaffirmed anew within this dataset, by setting criteria that is notably: black or feminist. A selection of the data openly challenges those of African-American heritage who support Cosby as failing their own communities and thereby relinquishing their racial identities. The implication that African-American women cannot identify as feminist not only reaffirms the schisms originating in the second wave but, furthermore, limits women’s options and freedoms while designating the feminist identity as undesirable.
There is a problematic history of racism and misogyny behind this data, which limits the identities, freedoms and choices available to women – Black women specifically – while reaffirming the misogynistic manifestations which support rape culture specifically. The aim of my paper will be to further examine this detrimental rhetoric through contextual analysis of the data thereby depicting how these historical concepts – rape culture, racism, misogyny – continue to divide and influence the greater feminist community while being exacerbated and reinforced via digital social networks.
Conference Presentation Link: https://sway.com/vOVr8VShrCUTtnZ3
Through analytic examination of a selection of Tweets gathered from a preliminary search on Twitter, this paper will highlight how rape culture is reified on microblogging website Twitter. The tweets selected specifically reference the Steubenville rape case which became an international event in August 2012. The case itself is of particular interest owing to its complicated relationship with online networks: the rapes and assaults were captured consistently over the night via the rapists’ and other onlookers’ online profiles while online hacktivist group Anonymous subsequently became involved in the court case.
It is owing to such unusual elements that Steubenville has since become an internationally infamous event in which many cultural commentators have supplied their two cents. The tweets which emerged from a basic search of “Steubenville” on twitter reveal an image of rape culture as rife in online forums. Rape myths such as victim blaming are in substantial supply while stereotypes relating to “real rape” consistently question the language of consent. A vast amount of these tweets both trivialize and normalize rape and thus coincide with the most frequent definition of a rape culture proving it true.
Conference Presentation link: https://sway.com/eh9h0Ezt8MFIJ2gd
Presentation link: https://sway.com/iAquwn3I4Gc4LUIE
The group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/242661932850197/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel
Admins facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/sarah.dunne.125
What are the alternatives? Organising for a socially and ecologically sustainable world
By Jannick Friis Christensen Sarah Dunne Melissa Fisher Alexander Fleischmann Mary McGill Florence Villesèche Marta Natalia Wróblewska