Year of Graduation

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MFA: Dance

Directing Professor

Jeffery N. Bullock

Abstract

This thesis is an investigation into ways of seeing, constructions of otherness, objectification, influences on self-perception, and most urgently, how artists can resist objectification through the affirmation of their own subjectivity. Drawing from scholarship in feminist theory, performance studies, visual culture studies, and film theory, this thesis engages the writing of thinkers such John Berger, Jean-Paul Sartre, bell hooks, Rae Langton, Ann Pellegrini, Martha Nussbaum, and Coco Fusco. This thesis critically examines the way in which comparison, perceived lack, and fear of the Other contribute to constructions of identity. Distorted perception is at the root of objectification, and often leads to behaviors which diminish, violate, and oppress. When experiences of objectification are internalized, self-perception then becomes distorted. This thesis also engages with the work of Isaac Julien, Adrian Piper, and Billie Zangewa as exemplars of resistance to objectification. Each of them uses their art as affirmation of their own subjecthood and the subjectivity of others, as recognition of the Other in oneself and oneself in the Other, and as radical acts of love.

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Performance Access Statement

If you wish to see the creative piece or performance that accompanied this thesis, please complete the Request Form, and you should receive a response from the Dance Department within two weeks.

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Dance Commons

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