cross cultural perspective on the issue of gender and contamination in urban legends

In his article, "The Kentucky Fried Rat : Legends and Modem Society", Gary Alan Fine suggests that American society is a folk community in which urban legends play the role of negotiating changes in social structure and other aspects of daily life (Fine 2005). Fine's argument, however, is limiting in that it only considers urban legends within the United States and fails to encompass those from abroad. As such, this thesis expands Fine's original argument to a global scale by examining urban legends, crossculturally, that involve instances of women being brutalized and objects or people being contaminated. Ultimately, the thematic elements and grotesque imagery that are used in these two categories of legends are a symbolic expression of tensions surrounding the movement of women out of the home and the increased global spread of urbanism.