2021 Rose Olver Prize
Congratulations to Nat Shogren '21!
Diagnosing Difference: How Perceptions of Mental illness and Medical Pathologization Influence Anti-Transgender Prejudice
Department of Psychology honors thesis
Thesis Abstract: This collection of psychological studies investigated how the belief that transgender people are mentally ill influences anti-transgender prejudice on an individual and a societal basis. A Pilot study found that transgender people are perceived as more mentally ill than Gay or Atheist people, and that this perception of mental illness was strongly correlated to anti-trans* prejudice. Additionally, my main study not only found that perceptions of mental illness significantly mediated rates of anti-trans prejudice, but also that different medical depictions of transgender and gay identities influenced participants perceptions of mental illness, as well as the prejudice that they expressed. This suggests that a removal of Gender Dysphoria from the DSM and a fundamental depathologization of transgender identities would likely reduce the levels of anti-transgender prejudice in society. Further, this finding illuminates that the belief that transgender people are mentally ill is rooted in a desire to depict transgender identities as ‘abnormal’ or something that needs to be fixed. Generally, this study supports and aligns with the social pursuits of transgender advocacy groups and scholars who have continually called for the removal of trans-centered diagnoses from the DSM-5; as gender theorist Judith Butler outlines, while the intent of diagnosing transgender people is an alleviation of suffering, it is likely that said diagnosis intensifies the very suffering which requires alleviation, a consideration which can profoundly inform contemporary approaches to medical treatment and social justice.
The Rose Olver Prize is awarded annually to the thesis that best analyzes the construction of gender in conjunction with the historical, political, social, cultural, or psychological experiences of subjects. The thesis should also address gender relations as they intersect with class, race, sexuality, or nationality. Finally, the thesis should consider the broader implications of its conclusions for the field of sexuality, women’s, and gender studies.
2021 David Kirp 1965 Stonewall Prize
Congratulations to Luke Williamson '21!
“Good Morality is Good Medicine”: Queer Negativity, Ecstasy, and Shame in The Picture of Dorian Gray
Department of English honors thesis
Thesis Abstract: Does Dorian Gray, of Wilde’s famous novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, have AIDS? What are readers to make of Dorian’s love for Catholicism? And does the novel depict the metaphor of the closet? These are all questions that my thesis, one profoundly indebted to the work of numerous queer theorists, considers and weaves together. Eschewing a teleological argument, this project instead develops a critical vocabulary (“AIDS,” “ecstasy,” “shame”) for understanding the novel in a more temporally and affectively diverse way. The first chapter underlines connections between representations of syphilis at the close of the 19th century and of AIDS at the close of the 20th century. It also draws upon queer negativity (as in the work of Lee Edelman or Leo Bersani) to dramatize the novel’s counterhegemonic political orientation. The second chapter contextualizes both Dorian Gray and Oscar Wilde’s investments in Christian imagery, probing the significance of their affinity for Roman Catholicism rather than Protestantism. It argues that, through the novel’s serious yet non-normative engagement with religion and its trappings, The Picture of Dorian Gray champions heterogeneous, even queer, readings of Christian imagery. The third and final chapter explores the novel’s representation of the closet and finishes by reading this otherwise violent and even homophobic representation “reparatively.” Bookended with evocations of the 1989 Stop the Church protest, this project wrestles with the nature of Wilde’s enduring significance for not just homosexual or gay people, but queers, too.
The David Kirp 1965 Stonewall Prize Fund was established in 1989 and is awarded to one or two students who produce a work of exceptional intellectual or artistic merit pertaining to the queer, bisexual, intersex, gay, lesbian, or transgender experience.
2021 Rose Olver Student Research Fund
Congraulations to Lisa Zheutlin '22!
Double-major in Sexuality, Women’s and Gender Studies and Art and the History of Art
Research Project: Lisa is interested in exploring the theoretical aspects of anti-monogamy and how applying the anti-monogamy framework could counter heterosexual institutions (like marriage) and the general organization of society. Some preliminary questions Lisa has in thinking about this are: Are platonic love and romantic love different? Is the sexual component the only difference? Why do we structure society around this heterosexual ideal of marriage and how does the anti-monogamy framework queer that? Also, how do queer sexualities fit into the heterosexual institution of marriage and/or challenge it? What alternative forms of belonging, partnership, and community does the anti-monogamy framework inspire and how can we reimagine marriage and monogamy? Lisa plans to take an interdisciplinary approach with a focus on queer and feminist theories pertaining to monogamy, marriage, couple-centrism and compulsory heterosexuality to examine the social effects of this couple-centrism in society, how we got here, and what alternate possibilities exist.
The Rose Olver Student Research Fund is awarded annually to support summer research for rising juniors or seniors who are majoring in either psychology or SWAGS.
