Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1999

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Brown, Susan Love

Abstract

The body in anthropo logy represents more than a phys ical endpoint of human evolution. It is both the template for cultural imprint, and a symbol that communicates cultural information. ln the context of the Renaissance as an ethnographic e ntity, th e status of women is examined through two kinds of images: anatomic and fine art. Although the Renaissance is generally heralded as a boundary between medieval superstition and humanism, with its improvement in the quality of life, few scholars have examined if that change applied to women. Using Kelly-Gadol's thesis that women did not have a renaissance in the Renaissance, this thesis wiII show their restricted status through the lens of anthropology of the body. Witch persecutions, sumptuary laws and curious metal appurtenances to restrict the body support this view. Kuhn's paradigm theory and Turner's work on IIminality are relevant with regard to unequal male-female status. When normal science is presented with new information that is anomalous, a period of denial ensues. Thus, the domain of authority was challenged by observation and created conflict along with discovery. The most drastic of these raged between female sexuality versus reproduction.

Extent

161 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1999.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FA00000970

Format

pdf

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