Misogynoir and the public woman: analog and digital sexualization of women in public from the Civil War to the era of Kamala Harris

This essay identifies how the very conception of public woman is infused with the opprobrium hurled against a wanton woman–a sexualized figure who has lost claims to moral standing or social worth. Our analysis begins diachronically by using thin description to trace the historical conflation of public woman in general, and Black woman in particular, with prostitute to outline the contours of the trope of public woman that have solidified across time. We document how the public woman became equated with prostitute, and then how the label prostitute was affixed to women in public to situate them as promiscuous or prurient. Our analysis proceeds synchronically as we argue that the toxic archive of memes and hashtags that name Kamala Harris a “ho” operates as a contemporary iteration of misogynoir that conflates public woman with prostitute. The result of our analysis is an identification of the digital public woman wherein the acceleration and repetition of such tropes ensures a recalcitrant public sentiment toward public women and hides the technological and rhetorical connections that intensify such public feelings

El viaje desde Centroamérica a los Estados Unidos: How US foreign policy impacts migration from Central America to the United States

In the face of ever increasing civil conflict in Central America, the United States is attempting to grapple with immigration reform as the number of refugees continues to rise. Though the dominant narrative seems to indicate that people are flocking to the United States for economic opportunity, upon further analysis it seems that there are a variety of push and pull factors for migration to the United States. In this thesis three case studies of Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala are analyzed to determine the push and pull factors causing migration to the United States. After examining the push and pull factors for migration, this thesis examines what factors play into whether a person from these countries is granted refugee status. Ultimately the thesis concludes that regardless of the push or pull factors, refugee status is determined by whether the political ideology of the regime the person is fleeing is compatible with the political agenda of the current US presidential administration

The overground railroad of the Jim Crow era: A rhetorical analysis of the \u3ci\u3eNegro Motorist Green Books\u3c/i\u3e

From 1877-1965, African Americans experienced travel restrictions due to Jim Crow legislations. On public transportation, African Americans were often asked to switch seats to accommodate white passengers. In response to the discrimination faced on public transportation, African Americans transitioned to using the automobile for travel. Victor Hugo published the Negro Motorist Green Books from 1937 to 1967, which served as a guide for African Americans to find hotels, restaurants, and gas stations willing to serve African American customers along their routes. This thesis uses Massey’s scholarship on space to analyze how the rhetoric within the Negro Motorist Green Books enabled marginalized bodies to move through restricted space. Additionally, the visual advertisements through the strategic absence of African Americans portrayed as travelers (yet presence as workers) created a false sense of freedom and a hollow invitation for African American travelers