2004
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Volume 28, Issue 2/3
  • ISSN: 1388-3186
  • E-ISSN: 2352-2437
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Abstract

Abstract

This personal essay explores why some identities are privileged and receive communal support while others are overlooked or stigmatized. To do so, I focus on the engagement announcement, a gendered speech act that celebrates a woman’s transition to the subject position of fiancé and future-wife. In ‘Announcement’, I explore the form of the announcement, the content, and the media through which announcements are shared. I also question whether certain forms of communication perpetuate master narratives of a white middle-class femininity. I advocate for the necessity of including ways of knowing and embodied experiences of singlehood from BIPOC and LGBTQ+ women. I propose that experimenting with forms of communication will open more channels through which to express our lived experiences with singleness.

© Elizabeth Foulke
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2025-09-01
2025-11-13
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Keyword(s): engagement announcement; performativity; personal essay; Singlehood Studies; Singles Studies

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