CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020
| Author | Kruzel, Amanda Marie |
|---|---|
| Title | The Magic of the Robe: The Performance of Judge Rosemarie Aquilina in the Social Drama of the Larry Nassar Sentencing Hearing |
| Summary | In this paper, I analyze the role of Judge Rosemarie Aquilina in the Larry Nassar Sentencing Hearing of January 2018, and her rapid ascendance to the national stage as a feminist icon and a symbol for the #MeToo movement. I argue that the Nassar Sentencing Hearing can be expressed by Victor Turner’s account of “Social Drama,” which consists of four stages: breach, crisis, redressive action, and resolution. In this drama, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina plays the role of the “star-grouper” who Turner describes as the protagonist who pursues mechanisms of redress. Through an analysis of YouTube video recordings of the sentencing hearing from Law and Crime Network, I argue that Judge Aquilina plays four “roles” in the courtroom: a therapeutic figure, a victim advocate/activist, impartial Lady Justice, and retributive Lady Justice. By drawing on Role Theory, Bourdieu’s “Force of Law,” and Feminist Legal Theory, I dissect why Aquilina’s performance was generally viewed as a success in the eyes of the American public, but criticized by many in the field she represented, the field of law. Following Turner’s argument that rituals of social drama simultaneously draw from pre-existing cultural scripts and create new scripts, I argue that Aquilina (mostly) works within the bounds of the law while also promoting a feminist critique of judicial norms through her own example. Doing so made her into a cultural icon and a national feminist symbol of power and hope for the #MeToo movement. |
| Supervisor | Kowalski, Alexandra; Wu, Miranda (Qiong) |
| Department | Sociology MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2020/kruzel_amanda-marie.pdf |
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