Reflections on thesis research and survey, MFanton

Looking back, I realize I followed my original research plans loosely, and spent far less time at The Strong than I had anticipated. Fortunately, I conducted a lot of research early on in conjunction with another pinball related project, and I noted sources that I might use for my thesis even back then.

The survey I conducted was challenging, but it revealed some unexpected characteristics of the female figure in pinball artwork. Here are some reflections on my survey and research findings:

Sexualized Attire

At times it was difficult to determine what sexualized attire entailed. And what if the male figures in the image were dressed similarly? Despite my primary focus on female figures, it became necessary at times to look at the greater context to determine if the attire was purposefully sexualizing, or if the attire was a sort of uniform worn by all figures in the image (or sometimes both).

Race and Representation

Few pinball machines exhibited people of color. Even when the background setting of the images implied the scene took place in a foreign country, many of the characters were white with culturally appropriated attire. A handful of games depicted African Americans, and only two games depicted African American females.

Unarmed Women

Often women were placed in dangerous situations. Often the male figures held weapons, but the female figures were left unarmed. The image of Lieutenant Uhura on Bally's Star Trek is a rare example of the female figure being armed, with as much agency to defend herself as her male counterparts (the other crew members).

Licensed Games

The trend of licensing games that began to occur with frequency in the late 1970s had an interesting effect on pinball artwork. On one hand, licensing reinforced the male gaze as it was used in film and television. On the other hand, games like Star Trek, based on a ground-breaking television show, introduced more progressive ways of representing females in pinball artwork. Licensed images required the approval of the actors they portrayed, which gave women like Nichelle Nichols (Lieutenant Uhura, Star Trek) some control over their depiction. Pinball artists, who previously only had to answer to their superiors in the industry, now had to answer to the real people being represented.

Symbolic Participation

Another common theme I found in the artwork was the blurred distinction between being an active participant or a passive spectator. In some instances, female figures were fully participating in the main activity being depicted in the pinball artwork. Sometimes, they played ancillary roles to the main action, such as when they filled the role of cheerleader while the male figures played football in a football-themed game. Finally, there was something I called symbolic participation in which the female figure might be present in the same scene, or in possession of a piece of equipment used in the main activity, but they are not full participants. Sometimes they were holding a pool cue, for example, but showed no indication of playing, with their attention and gaze diverted elsewhere.

Permissive Smile

The most interesting and disturbing element used to depict females in pinball artwork is what I called the permissive smile. The permissive smile could be found in images in which the female figure was placed in a dangerous or threatening situation, particularly in the presence of male figures, but instead of appearing alarmed or responding to the scene around her, she is smiling. 

Generally, in candid photographic snapshots or real-life interaction, people associate a smile with happiness. But we need to be reminded that pinball artwork is constructed. Each element of the image is a signifier for something else. In this case, the smile indicates a passive acceptance or invitation. In one instance, a woman is tied to a stone slab or platform, presumably to be sacrificed in a ritual. Her smile is in stark contrast to the situation she is in. Before I conducted the survey, I thought it would be inaccurate to include something as seemingly innocuous as a smile as a sign of passivity, and it never occurred to me it could be associated with violence. After encountering instances of the permissive smile in pinball artwork, I better understand Erving Goffman’s 1976 analysis of the smile in his book Gender Advertisements.

Findings and a Sense of Finality

      After nearly a year of conceptualizing and completing aspects of my senior thesis project, it is almost finished. I have developed my senior thesis paper and project immensely with the help of my instructors for Research Methods and Senior Thesis and my primary and secondary advisors. I am thankful for the continued support of these individuals, my family, friends, and peers.

      In the past few weeks, I have met with my primary and secondary advisors individually and together to discuss what I needed to edit and add into my final paper. We also discussed the concept and final design of my poster. I have even created a WordPress to portray my findings in a PDF format digitally. It still needs some tweaks, as I have been focusing on other larger components of my project.

            
      I am proud to say that I have submitted my final senior thesis paper and am awaiting final feedback or signatures on it from my advisors. At points in this semester, this day never seemed like it would come or that the amount of work left to do was insurmountable. I definitely want to revisit this project in the future, assessing a different decade or year span or another publication. It would also be interesting to focus on one aspect, say a brand or just editorial photographs. For now though, I will focus on how to design my poster to best convey my findings in an aesthetically appealing way and making finishing touches to my project.

Nearing the End

I found my topic in June 2015, it's been almost a year since I've been researching my topic and I can honestly say I haven't gotten sick of it. While my thesis is due in 6 days I still have a lot of writing left to do, it almost seems to be far too much. Luckily, I am getting to the point where I am able to group illustrations together and discuss them in groups rather than individually. I met with both of my advisors at the Cary and we looked through the HP together however that did prompt me to rewrite my reader response section because of all the new information that came up. I also have to write my literature review.

I've come so far but I still have so much further to go. 

'Nightmarish' Completion

           Before the spring break, my advisor, Professor Carroll, and I had discussed on my thesis. I had told her what I learned from the WordPress in the process. It is understandable that it takes time to create and design my own site via the WordPress. In the process, I faced some difficulties. For instance, I couldn’t upload the digitalized videos that are from other sources, aside from YouTube or Vimeo. It is because there is a difference between upload and embed, so it is obvious that I can’t upload a video from other sources, rather than YouTube and Vimeo. But I can embed videos from YouTube channel or Vimeo. I yet have to test it, though.

            Therefore, Professor Carroll suggested me to contact my previous employer, Christy Regendhardt, who is the editor of the Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project where I had interned at in DC last summer in 2015, about the transcripts that I am planning to post on my site. We had to take precautions concerning the copyright. Fortunately, Christy gave me a thumb up to post the transcripts. Of course, I will provide a link on my site to the new GWU website that is not fully functional yet, according to Christy, but it will be functional in July. Hopefully, this issue is solved.

            Last, but not at least, with new things to add on my thesis, I am editing the context of my thesis. I have to make sure that the context goes smoothly. Not only that, but I also have incomplete things to finish. I hope I can finish them this weekend.

A near-end checkin

With the deadlines quickly approaching, I've been thinking about what I can and can't include in my thesis. I have to decide what's actually relevant to the topic, and what things are just tangents that I personally enjoy. So my most recent meetings with my advisor we talked about what I will need to do to really call my thesis complete. The core thing I have yet to finish are the modern day equivalents to historic marketing and methods that I've already done research into. I've put these off till now largely because I came into this class with an already strong grasp of these things. We made sure that I'd have a reasonable amount of time to finish all of these things. And with recent visits to the various archives and collections, and the rate of writing I've had in the past week or so I think I will be able to finish with an okay amount of breathing room.

Another thing that came up was my abstract. As we talked about in class just a few minutes ago my abstract needs some work. Since my planned direction and the path I'm taking differed I will have to change some wording, and along with this I will also have to change the tenses used. When I initially wrote it I wrote it as if I hadn't done it yet, which I hadn't, and also without really delving into the research.

Discoveries and Meeting

There were points this semester that the completion of my thesis seemed far off or like a distant dream. However, my undergraduate thesis has almost reached its culmination and graduation is quickly approaching. I have begun designing my poster and preparing my notes for my poster presentation. This journey could not have been completed without the encouragement and advice given to me by my advisors (Dr. Lent and Jody Sidlauskas), my senior thesis instructor (Dr. Decker), peers, family, and friends.  
To help assess my progress, I met with my thesis instructor several times after class and with my advisors on a semi-regular basis. Some meetings with my advisors were individual and others were together. We also discussed updates and ideas over email. As previously stated in "Content Analysis and Goals", I met with my advisors shortly after I turned in my second draft of my thesis. We discussed my methodology and coding categories used in my content analysis, as well as my progress and challenges in the project and my plans over Spring Break. As I had hoped, I did complete my content analysis spreadsheet and began integrating it into my paper. My findings regarding how women's roles were represented and constructed in Vogue have an interesting progression with the advertisements, lifestyle articles, and editorial spread photographs that I analyzed. I cannot wait to share my findings when my paper is due and my poster is complete. To check in with my advisors again, I set up a joint meeting for tomorrow. We will be going over where I am at with my project and what I need to hone in on before turning in my paper in the upcoming week.

Embracing Darkness

With one week left till my Thesis is complete and turned in, I look to what I will need in the days leading up to the deadline. Coffee, little sleep, and possibly a wig after I tear all my hair out. However, if there is one thing I have learned from this process it is how much I love my topic. While violence and death may not be an easy subject for many to talk about, it is imperative to human life. We all must go through it, and we all must experience it. Some sooner than others, and some have such little interaction with it at all they may not know what the big deal is.
Yet when it comes to Dark Tourism I have found that if the truth is dark, then historians want to tell it. Because the truth is the truth, no matter how dark it is. At this point I have interviewed four places that can be considered spots of Dark Tourism, and when asked what drove each place they all said the same thing: The Facts. Historians and places of history care about their patrons, and they care about attracting their patrons, but the pursuit of the truth and the exposure and telling of that truth is their main focus.
I couldn't be happier, prouder, and more excited to enter this world. With my thesis drawing to a close I will be aiming to sit with it all this week to finish with the material I have. While I may stress, I am also excited to finish, sharing it with my peers. The interviews I gathered gave me such an incite into how these places run, how historical sites respond to their own Dark Tourism that it would be crazy for me not to be excited.
I have laid out a plan where I take every time I won't be immersed in other work to devote to my thesis to accomplish this goal. From there, it is the poster, and after that, graduation.

"Accessibility" Collaborative Questioning, Starr

I almost titled this blog post, The Beginning of the End but that seemed too foreboding. It is all too easy, as we head into our final months of thesis research, our undergraduate experience, and our time at RIT to look at this as "the end" of what we have worked toward for the past few years. Instead, each day, I have tried to challenge myself to live these few weeks as The beginning of a new beginning. 

With that in mind, as we reach the point of completion of our thesis work, I am beginning to look forward to what may be next for this project. At this point, we have submitted drafts, completed revisions, and soon will turn in our final writing. It is overwhelming to consider everything that I am still hoping to include, but I have a good sense of what needs to be done. I have received feedback from both of my advisors, who have been so incredibly instrumental in the success of this project, and know which sections need to be adjusted and expanded.

No One DIS My Abilities. Maryam Hussein, NTID Dyer Arts Center, 2015. Photograph taken by author.

From the day of this posting, our upcoming deadline is quickly approaching. Soon, we will be finessing our writing, printing our poster, and developing our presentation notes for the College of Liberal Arts Undergraduate Research Poster Session.

Seven months ago, I approached this project with far more questions than answers. As we reach the end of this process, the resulting work doesn't offer up solutions, as much as open the field, and my own understanding, to new questions.

No One DIS My Abilities. Maryam Hussein, NTID Dyer Arts Center, 2015. Photograph taken by author.

This project benefited immensely from the community at RIT/NTID. Recently, the NTID Dyer Arts Center mounted an exhibition by student photographer, Maryam Hussein entitled No One DIS My Abilities. In this inaugural exhibition, a series of black and white photographs hung below standard hanging height, and a short film, illustrate some of the physical barriers Hussein experiences in everyday life. Through this collaborative exhibition, the Dyer Arts Center aimed to support and communicate the artist's unique experiences with the community.

Throughout the tenure of this process, I have had the opportunity to be exposed to artists, museum practitioners, activists, and engaged members of the community who have all contributed unique perspectives, and thoughts to support the evolution of my research.