{"id":{"repo_id":"mo-state","oai_identifier":"oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-2086"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mo-state/oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-2086","repository":{"repo_id":"mo-state","name":"Missouri State University","base_url":"https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Gritty Girls Undone: The Unraveling of Gender Fluidity in Pat Cadigan's Synners","abstract":"This project seeks to analyze a significant gap in current scholarship: critique of representations of gender fluidity in cyberpunk author Pat Cadigan's novel Synners (1991). The thesis argues that while Cadigan's novel is an important experiment, it lacks consistency in postulating a working gender-fluid society. Drawing upon the work of Judith Butler, Kaye Mitchell, Karen Cadora, and other important feminist critics, this thesis analyzes Cadigan's attempt at positing a fictional world in which gender is not fixed such that individuals can move back and forth between masculine and feminine positions. In Synners the female characters are represented as assuming dominant masculine roles, while male characters display those traditionally feminine. While this strategy works well in the first part of the novel, Cadigan's finale collapses. I conclude that the novel, while not wholly successful in its attempts to imagine a gender-neutral world, is an important example of feminist cyberpunk's explorations of gendered identity.","abstract_html":"This project seeks to analyze a significant gap in current scholarship: critique of representations of gender fluidity in cyberpunk author Pat Cadigan's novel Synners (1991). The thesis argues that while Cadigan's novel is an important experiment, it lacks consistency in postulating a working gender-fluid society. Drawing upon the work of Judith Butler, Kaye Mitchell, Karen Cadora, and other important feminist critics, this thesis analyzes Cadigan's attempt at positing a fictional world in which gender is not fixed such that individuals can move back and forth between masculine and feminine positions. In Synners the female characters are represented as assuming dominant masculine roles, while male characters display those traditionally feminine. While this strategy works well in the first part of the novel, Cadigan's finale collapses. I conclude that the novel, while not wholly successful in its attempts to imagine a gender-neutral world, is an important example of feminist cyberpunk's explorations of gendered identity.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Apgar, Arminda"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts in English","degree_level":"Masters","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["William Burling"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2006,"date_issued":"2006-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2006-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:16:06Z","subjects":["Pat Cadigan","cyberpunk","science fiction","gender","identity","English Language and Literature"],"languages":[],"rights":["© Arminda Apgar"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1085","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["William Burling"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Apgar, Arminda"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts in English"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Pat Cadigan","cyberpunk","science fiction","gender","identity","English Language and Literature"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© Arminda Apgar"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1085"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This project seeks to analyze a significant gap in current scholarship: critique of representations of gender fluidity in cyberpunk author Pat Cadigan's novel Synners (1991). The thesis argues that while Cadigan's novel is an important experiment, it lacks consistency in postulating a working gender-fluid society. Drawing upon the work of Judith Butler, Kaye Mitchell, Karen Cadora, and other important feminist critics, this thesis analyzes Cadigan's attempt at positing a fictional world in which gender is not fixed such that individuals can move back and forth between masculine and feminine positions. In Synners the female characters are represented as assuming dominant masculine roles, while male characters display those traditionally feminine. While this strategy works well in the first part of the novel, Cadigan's finale collapses. I conclude that the novel, while not wholly successful in its attempts to imagine a gender-neutral world, is an important example of feminist cyberpunk's explorations of gendered identity."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Gritty Girls Undone: The Unraveling of Gender Fluidity in Pat Cadigan's Synners"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["William Burling"],"dc:creator":["Apgar, Arminda"],"dc:description.abstract":["This project seeks to analyze a significant gap in current scholarship: critique of representations of gender fluidity in cyberpunk author Pat Cadigan's novel Synners (1991). The thesis argues that while Cadigan's novel is an important experiment, it lacks consistency in postulating a working gender-fluid society. Drawing upon the work of Judith Butler, Kaye Mitchell, Karen Cadora, and other important feminist critics, this thesis analyzes Cadigan's attempt at positing a fictional world in which gender is not fixed such that individuals can move back and forth between masculine and feminine positions. In Synners the female characters are represented as assuming dominant masculine roles, while male characters display those traditionally feminine. While this strategy works well in the first part of the novel, Cadigan's finale collapses. I conclude that the novel, while not wholly successful in its attempts to imagine a gender-neutral world, is an important example of feminist cyberpunk's explorations of gendered identity."],"dc:identifier":["https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1085"],"dc:rights":["© Arminda Apgar"],"dc:subject":["Pat Cadigan","cyberpunk","science fiction","gender","identity","English Language and Literature"],"dc:title":["Gritty Girls Undone: The Unraveling of Gender Fluidity in Pat Cadigan's Synners"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts in English"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:16:06Z"}