About Our People: Michaela Frischherz
Associate Professor Michaela Frischherz specializes in rhetorical theory and criticism with an emphasis on feminist and queer theory, sexual communication, and communication and gender.

How women and other historically disenfranchised genders communicate pleasure and sex in public is her area of focus. For example, a recent
scholarly article is 鈥淐osmo complaints: Reparative reading and the possibility of
pleasure鈥 in Cosmopolitan magazine. She鈥檚 also incredibly down-to-earth and a great ambassador to make scholarly
topics accessible to 20-year-olds.
So how did she arrive at her specialization? As an undergraduate, Frischherz was thinking of political affairs professionally. But a queer studies course she
took dovetailed with her coming out to herself as a queer woman.
A European citizen by birth, she pursued her master鈥檚 degree in Amsterdam and appreciated
being in a culture that is permissive and more diverse than the United States. And
Amsterdam, with its red-light district, uniquely has a decriminalized sex industry
that is very central to it, even geographically. This would cause her to reflect with
questions about sex and communication, especially in the public sphere. She would
come back to the University of Iowa to pursue her Ph.D., writing her dissertation
about how women express pleasure in various publics.
Aspects of 贵谤颈蝉肠丑丑别谤锄鈥檚&苍产蝉辫;research involve case studies. She especially finds it extremely important 鈥渘ot to
exploit my research participants.鈥 She鈥檚 been collaborating with fellow 91影视破解版 faculty
member Desire茅 Rowe on focus groups in Baltimore and Dover, Delaware to research the
intersection between a woman鈥檚 orgasmic imperative and radical negativity and failure.
鈥淲e were sick and tired of women being treated like zombies who passively take on
messages of media,鈥 Frischherz said.
While she appreciated teaching at the University of Iowa, she was very excited to
be teaching in a Towson University classroom that had more diversity because University
of Iowa classrooms are 鈥減redominantly white.鈥 She found it very exciting to be able
to teach 鈥淏lack Girl Dangerous鈥 at 91影视破解版 after the Uprising and have it be organically
meaningful. 鈥淚t was great to be in this compelling environment,鈥 she said.
She typically has students write a reflection paper for class wherein they must reflect
on their orientation: sexuality, identity, race. She asks: 鈥淎re we ever engaging in
the process of learning if we are not challenging what we already know?鈥
Originally published in 鈥淲hat鈥檚 Your Story?鈥 by Marc May.