Primary Source

Identifier

etd-04072017-234747

Degree

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

Department

English

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

During the now-fabled election season of 2016, a meme appeared, fleetingly, and made its rounds through the various social media channels. The meme was a snapshot of one of those customizable, plastic-letter signs usually associated with snarky Protestant churches and old-fashioned movie theaters. The sign read, “Beware the beast Hildabeast Clinton and its vagenda of manocide.” This message made me wonder what that ‘vagenda’ would look like and how such a large-scale genocide of the masculine sex would function in an ostensibly all-female society. This thesis is the ill-formed child of that forbidden fantasy. Through various strategies and modes, these ‘poems’ reflect the refusal of sense-making expressed by that original meme. Their respective hybrid strategies emulate the various permutations of ideology as it is spoon-fed to every person, especially in infancy and during adolescence at institutions of learning. As the thesis developed, the idea of cannibalism became more pronounced, and for this reason the document is structured jarringly and without section titles or consistent forms. This seemingly haphazard structure mirrors the process of grinding up meat for use in hamburger, for example. These poems perform on the mind the processes performed on livestock to make them palatable for consumption. Instead of metal and plastic, these euthanasia machines are made of ill-formed and binary notions of gender.

Date

2017

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Secure the entire work for patent and/or proprietary purposes for a period of one year. Student has submitted appropriate documentation which states: During this period the copyright owner also agrees not to exercise her/his ownership rights, including public use in works, without prior authorization from LSU. At the end of the one year period, either we or LSU may request an automatic extension for one additional year. At the end of the one year secure period (or its extension, if such is requested), the work will be released for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Glenum, Lara

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.4455

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