Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Sloan Berry
Professor Henken
ENC 1102
1 March 2022
LiteratureSociety
Pop culture has often used rhetoric with negative connotationsnegatively connotated
rhetoric when regarding with regards to women’s mental health, including films, specifically the
exploitation movie genre, and many well-known books such as Fifty Shades of Greyhealing from
gender-based traumas including but not limited to, emtional abuse, toxic romantic relationships,
and sexual harassment. While men’s trauma is ignored, women’s trauma is belittled and
exploited to be used as an entertainment source. From a young age, girls are presented with the
notion that their abusers are Prince Charming in disguise which is a prevalent fantasy in Disney
movies. This includes many childhood favorites such as Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty,
and Frozen. The trend of fantasizing abusive relationships continues into the teenage cult classics
such as, Clueless, Easy A, and DC Comic’s Harley Quinn. Furthermore, this ideation is
continued into popularized adult media including 365 Days, Fifty Shades of Grey, and After. The
exploitation movie genre often shows graphic scenes of women’s torture aimed to please the
male audience. Fifty Shades of Grey is specifically marketed to women and fantasizes an
survivor’s trauma, thus, preventing real victims from coming forward about their experiences.
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Through the use of harmful rhetoric, women’s mental trauma has been belittled and exploited. In
this annotated bibliography, the reader will find a variety of sources that analyze how women’s
trauma is pillaged and repurposed as an entertainment source. While men’s mental health is
ignored, women’s mental health is disregarded. The goal of this research is to demonstrate the
negative impact that the society’s negative rhetoric towards women’s mental healthtrauma has on
The aforementioned article follows the research of the narration of women’s trauma.
There is a particular focus on the research studies relevant to self-blame and minimization when
recounting traumatic events. Brown conducted interviews with twenty women and reported her
findings concurred with that of the other researchers’ whose work inspired her ownwhose
findings concurred with that of other researchers who inspired her own work. Through her
research, Brown found that women who were victims of sexual abuse showed increased
uncertainty, minimization, and self-blame when compared to their counterparts. Those who
Much of the directionality behind this research has been inspired by the topic of this
The article has directed this annotated bibliography as well as become a foundation in the
research being worked towards. The article granted access to current conversations between
scholars and new research points to explore. These points include but are not limited to how
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trauma is referenced by different age ranges and the change in rhetoric relating to the retelling of
Choruby-Whiteley, Amber, and Susan L. Morrow. “‘I Was Praying for My Very
Salvation from My Sexual Abuse’: Experiences of Sexual Abuse Survivors in the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.” Women & Therapy, vol. 44, no. 3-4, 2021, pp. 292–
This article revolves around the internalization of cultural and societal messages with
regards to childhood sexual abuse. Specifically, this research pertains to those who were former
members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with a special emphasis on how
religion impacts the healing process. The victims were frequently exposed to messages such as
“a woman’s value is connected to her virginity”, if you don’t get married you are a waste of
Societal messages play a large role in what I will be researching. While Choruby-
Whiteley and Morrow focused the influence of religious community, they failed to mention the
impact this had on the victim’s healing journey. This article has inspired the evolution of my
initial research question to regard society’s involvement in one’s healing journey. Furthermore, it
has also brought attention to adjusting my research to not only include individual interviews, but
Chowdhury, Nilima. “Practicing the Ideal Depressed Self: Young Professional Women’s
Accounts of Managing Depression.” Qualitative Health Research, vol. 30, no. 9, May
when a woman is at work. There is also mention of the differences in how men and women
address and reference their depression. The research done in this article is interview based, with
the majority of the findings acknowledging that the “top girl” mentality limits one’s recovery
from depression. Chowdhury summarizes the way to present socially accepted depression into
five traits: “delivers no matter what”, “puts on a brave face”, “treats her depression medically”,
“looks after herself”, and “works towards becoming more positive”. By attaining those traits, one
would not outwardly present their depression, not would they properly address it.
This research model will be used as a template for my own research. Particularly, the
sociocultural and sociogeographical contexts are two aspects that require further investigation.
Another unique aspect this has inspired is the “ideal” management of depression for a young
woman in college. This article has inspired new parameters to guide later research on how
Galvan, Margaret. “Feminism Underground: The Comics Rhetoric of Lee Marrs and
Roberta Gregory.” WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly, vol. 43, no. 3--4, October 2015, pp.
The article calls attention to the misrepresentation of women’s bodies within comics and
magazines. Galvan references two popular magazines in which the underground comics could be
found. She notes the rhetoric behind the comics, specifically the images with some reference to
the text, as well as its direct relationship with the depiction of women’s bodies. The author
ensures to reference the feminist discourse and how they have been implemented in political
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arguments, thus implying a change of rhetoricand its relationship to progressive social politics
This article is a great representative of how the ideal female body image harms women’s
mental health through its anatomical inaccuracy. This article serves as a foundation for further
research on how the objectification of women has allowed society to disregard women’s trauma.
While there is not much research inspiration within Tthis particular article, it is useful for
guiding future search parameters when it comes to further research. The article also inspires
some of the questions that will be used in the interview stage succeeding this annotated
bibliography.
Platz, Jenny. “Return to the Grindhouse: Tarantino and the Modernization of 1970s Exploitation
This article mentions how the modern “powerful woman” is someone who rejects all
femininityanalyzes Tarantino’s attempt at modernizing the exploitation films that were common
in the 1970’s. Tarantino reworked the female characterization into a strong lead who had the
ability to challenge patriarchal ideals. Despite his goals, Tarantino portrayed femininity as
weakness by having the lead woman reject all things considered feminine. Tarantino’s visual
rhetoric hypersexualized feminine characteristics to encourage the powerful woman as those who
are considered to have more masculine characteristicsThis has largely contributed to the societal
norm that femininity is weakness. The misrepresentation of women stemmed from the media
coverage of second-wave feminist movement, in which women were taking the power men
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refused to grant them. Many of these ideals have been translated into modern misrepresentation
of femineity, thus encouraging society to objectify and silence women. Furthermore it explores
Tarantino’s films and the constraints they have put on womenthe article explores the evolution of
constraints placed on women and how they have been modernized as we, as a society, have
progressed. Platz analyzes the visual and verbal rhetoric found in Tarantino’s films as well as
that of the exploitation genrethe original exploitation genre and compares it to the evolved
This article, while not majorly helpful to my research, indirectly pertains to my research
Much of this treatment leads to the questioning of femininity’s role in society’s treatment of
Transnational Reading of Women’s Life Writing About Wartime Rape in Germany and
Schwartz and Takseva compare wartime rape stories from multiple countries in an effort
to emphasize sexist ideology in the retelling of history. Their research follows along the different
cultural attitudes towards wartime rape. Attention is called to the parallels between mass rapes at
different time periods and the change in ethical analysis during wartime. This change in ethical
analysis is evident through the misdocumentation of accounts of mass wartime rape in historical
texts.
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This article allows me to see how the narrative of women’s trauma is influenced by
external pressures. These pressures are prevalent in the altering of a victim’s account through
minimization. This has furthered my research scope with regards to how I should address the