Feminist Research on Gender and Sexuality Group
The Feminist Research on Gender and Sexuality (FROGS) Group focuses on cutting edge, critical research that prioritizes the study of social identities like gender, race, class, and sexuality as examined through a feminist lens. Specifically, the group focuses on research in three areas: critical body studies, radical sexuality studies, and activism/rebellion.
Members of the FROGS group include select undergraduate students at Arizona State University as well as faculty and graduate student collaborators across multiple universities. Our goals are multiple: we want to inject a feminist perspective into traditional or even anti-feminist spaces; unite activist, pedagogical, and scholarly work; subvert the assumed hierarchies of "what counts" as feminist research; collaborate in new and imaginative ways; and, finally, to engage, on multiple levels, the question of how to fight against inequalities, oppression, and injustices enacted onto the body and into the political and social sphere.
NEWS
---New articles: "Cycling Together" in Women's Reproductive Health (With Jax, Rose, and Stephanie); and "Friends with Benefits?" (with Adrielle) in Personal Relationships
---Eva, Laura, and Crystal will present at this year's National Women's Studies Association conference in Puerto Rico (along with FROGS alums Rose and Jax!).
---check out the awesome menstrual activist gear designed by jax and stephanie at their etsy store!
---Stephanie won the New College Outstanding Graduate Award for Fall 2013!
CORE GROUP
Breanne Fahs is the director and founder of the research group and is currently an associate professor of women and gender studies at Arizona State University. Her work focuses on women's sexuality and sexual subjectivities, radical feminist histories, critical body studies, and political activism. She has published dozens of articles on these topics as well as three books: Performing Sex (2011, SUNY Press), Valerie Solanas (2014, Feminist Press), and The Moral Panics of Sexuality (2013, Palgrave).
Natali Blazevic is a student at Arizona State University majoring in psychology and is the senior member of the group. Her research interests include: the portrayal of women in media and how media affects women viewers, women's affective experiences of disgust and how it impacts their body image, and the management of the female body both by individuals and the culture at large. She is currently collaborating on a project about the body as a site of dread as an NCUIRE Scholar. She plans to pursue graduate study in psychology in 2015 with a specialty in therapy with adolescents.
Michael Karger is a graduate student in Social Justice and Human Rights at Arizona State University. He graduated from ASU in 2013 with an undergraduate major in political science. His research interests include: popular ideologies and practices of suburban America and how they impact underprivileged classes; critical middle-class studies; the relationship between technology and reactionary discourse; institutions and affect; and American radical movements. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in critical theory soon.
Kimberly Koerth is a student at Arizona State University triple-majoring in journalism, English literature, and women and gender studies, with a certificate in LGBT studies. Her research interests include: the ways heteronormative society reflects queer ideals in holidays such as Halloween, the unique and often performative social experiences of people with disordered eating, and the viability of misandrist thinking and behavior as an alternative to misogyny. After graduation, she plans to move to Washington, D.C. to work as a copy editor for a news publication and pursue graduate degrees in English and women and gender studies.
Laura Martinez is a women and gender studies major at Arizona State University. She is currently collaborating on a project about learning and unlearning sexual narratives. After her graduation in 2015, she plans to pursue a masters degree in either social justice or women and gender studies.
Crystal Zaragoza is a women and gender studies major at Arizona State University who is also completing her LGBT Studies certificate. She is currently working on research about queering the menstrual cycle, particularly around trans experiences of menstruation. Following her graduation in 2016, she plans on getting her masters degree in social work and/or women and gender studies so that she can work with LGBTQ+ youth and the trans* community.
Chelsea Pixler is a graduate student at Arizona State University pursuing her M.A. in Social Justice and Human Rights. In December 2013, she graduated with her B.A. in Women and Gender Studies along with a minor in Sociology from Arizona State University. Her research interests include: taboos surrounding menstruation, body hair, and breastfeeding in public; sex trafficking and its relation to the Super Bowl; women's rights as human rights; and better incorporating the voices of women and other marginalized groups into the high school history curriculum.
FROGS ALUMNI
Adrielle Munger graduated from Arizona State University in 2013 with a major in English Literature. Her research interests include: social performance and narratives of truth in emerging media technologies; theatre, pornography, and language; gendered performances and relationship scripts; and post-humanism and object-oriented ontology. She is currently collaborating on a project that examines "friends with benefits" relationships in women's sexual lives, and did her undergraduate honors thesis on the Faust myth and the internet. Togethe, which she is continuing to develop while living in Brooklyn, NY. A recent transplant to NYC, she currently works as a research assistant for the Redstockings Archives for Action in Manhattan under the direction of Kathie Sarachild. She also works as an assistant to Queens-based feminist performance artist Christen Clifford, slings coffee at female-owned Two Moon coffee shop, and is hatching plans for a new zine entitled, "I'm not sorry."
Stephanie Robinson-Cestaro graduated from Arizona State University in 2013 with a major in psychology and a minor in women and gender studies. Her research interests include: menstrual activism, alternative menstrual products, women's experiences with sexual commerce, body politics (particularly vaginal rejuvenation surgeries), and feminist mothering. Together with Jax Gonzalez, she founded the Menstrual Activist Research Collective (M.A.R.C.) and has developed a series of workshops for faculty, students, and activists about how to promote alternative menstrual products and new menstrual narratives. Check out their work (and get involved) at: http://menarchists.wordpress.com/. To purchase some of their menstrual activist shirts and gear, visit their Etsy store. She was recently awarded the New College Outstanding Graduate Award in December 2013 and plans to pursue graduate study in psychology soon.
Jaqueline J. Gonzalez (aka "Jax") is a recent graduate (2014) of Arizona State University who majored in both sociology and women and gender studies. She is currently a graduate student in women's and gender studies at Brandeis University. Her undergraduate thesis focused on elementary health curricula about menstruation and teachers' experiences with teaching about menstruation. Jax's graduate work specifically focuses on menstrual activism, "menstrual outing," queer narratives of menstruation, and alternative menstrual products. She has also collaborated with Breanne Fahs on work that examines women's coercive experiences with anal sex (forthcoming in Feminism & Psychology). Together with Stephanie Robinson-Cestaro, she founded the Menstrual Activist Research Collective (M.A.R.C.) and has developed a series of workshops on menstrual activism for faculty, students, and activists. Check out their work (and get involved) at: http://menarchists.wordpress.com/. To purchase some of their menstrual activist shirts and gear, visit their Etsy store.
Rose Coursey is a recent 2014 graduate of Arizona State University with a B.A. in women and gender studies. Her research interests include: radical feminisms, trans subjectivities, body politics, the question of agency as gendered and sexualized subjects, the intersection between feminism and anarchism, social justice movements, and menstrual activism. She recently finished her thesis project about the often contentious interplay between radical feminism and the trans community. Rose is currently working as a domestic violence advocate and pursuing certification as a yoga therapist before eventually pursuing her masters degree in feminist therapy.
Eva Sisko is a recent graduate (2014) of Arizona State University who majored in women and gender studies. Her research interests include: the divisive nature of the sex positive vs. radical feminist dichotomy, the importance of radical feminist activism, and how female sex workers define and navigate their personal relationships at the interface of political/legal body policing. She plans to pursue graduate study in women and gender studies in 2015.
Amanda Garcia was a transfer student from Rio Salado College to Northern Arizona University in Fall 2014 to major in Humanities and minor in Sociology. Her research interests include: interpersonal relationship violence (particularly public education and prevention awareness) and gender-neutral parenting. She plans to work in the field of domestic violence victim advocacy following her graduation in Spring 2015 before ultimately pursuing graduate study in Social Justice and Human Rights.
Marisa Loiacono graduated with her B.S. degree in Psychology from Arizona State University in May 2013. Her research interests include: abject bodies, women's competition with each other, the gendering of biracial narratives, infidelity, and men's attitudes about feminism. She plans to pursue an M.A. or Psy.D. degree in clinical psychology in Fall 2015 and wants to eventually open a private practice in psychology or social work.
Yessica del Rincón is a student at Arizona State University majoring in communication, minoring in political science, and earning a certificate in philosophy, rhetoric, and literature. Yessica's research interests focus on the philosophical and political aspects of language and social identities. Her thesis examines the philosophy of activism and aims to re-interpret activism not only as a form of social protest and resistance, but also as a philosophical project about collective and individual existence. Yessica has worked for Planned Parenthood and is an organizer with Entre NosOtr@s, a collaborative project that produces events around transnational Chican@/Latin@ issues. Upon graduation in 2015, Yessica plans to pursue a Ph.D. program in literature with an emphasis in critical theory and cultural studies.
Victoria Guinn (aka Tori) is a dual degree student at Arizona State University majoring in both Sociology and Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance with a certificate in Philosophy, Rhetoric, and Literature. Her research interests include: social and artistic performances in conjunction with the performers' responsibility to the audience and the other, existential ethics, language, animal rights, aesthetics, and the ontology of gender. She plans to pursue graduate study in Philosophy in 2015.
