Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

The State-In-Society Approach To Democratization With Examples From Japan, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

How does an undemocratic country create democratic institutions and transform its polity in such a way that democratic values and practices become integral parts of its political culture? This article uses the case of Japan to advocate for a new theoretical approach to the study of democratization. In particular, it examines how theoretical models based on the European and North American experiences have difficulty explaining the process of democratization in Japan, and argues that a state-in-society approach is better suited to explaining the democratization process diverse cultural contexts. Taking a bottom-up view of recent developments in Japanese civil society through …

After The Fall: Visions Of Women In Post-Apocalyptic Novels By Women Authors, Peter Adams

Peter C.S. Adams

Stories about the apocalypse, or the end of the world as we know it, are as old as mythology. In most, if not all, world stories, there are visions of a great catastrophe marking the end of the world, sometimes permanent, sometimes marking a rebirth. However, detailing life after the apocalypse and the rebuilding of society is more recent. While the stories in world mythology frequently involve rebirth or renewal, they are not usually done from the viewpoint of the survivors dealing with the aftermath of the catastrophe. This article will discuss several such works by women authors.

The Myth Of Durga And The History Of The Indonesian Women’S Movement (Gerwani), Wayan P. Ariati Phd

Wayan P Ariati PhD

In this paper I would like to show the connection between the fate of the warrior goddess Durga and the fate of one of the women’s movements of Indonesia, known as Gerwani (Gerakan Wanita Indonesia), the “Indonesian Women’s Movement”. Gerwani was an important movement that came to an unfortunate end following the so-called “coup of 1965”. We normally think of a subject like Gerwani as an “historical” issue that has little in common with myths like those that have grown up around the imagery of Durga. However, inspired by the detailed study of Saskia Wieringa in her book, Sexual Politics …

Athletic Voices And Academic Victories: African American Male Student-Athlete Experiences In The Pac-Ten, Keith Harrison

Dr. C. Keith Harrison

The purpose of this study was to explore participants’ academic experiences and confidence about their academic achievement. Participants (N = 27) consisted of high-achieving African American male student—athletes from four academically rigorous American universities in the Pac-Ten conference. Most of the participants competed in revenue-generating sports and were interviewed to obtain a deeper understanding of their successful academic experiences. Utilizing a phenomenological approach four major themes emerged: “I Had to Prove I’m Worthy,” “I’m a Perceived Threat to Society,” “It’s About Time Management,” and “It’s About Pride and Hard Work.” Stereotype threat and stereotype reactance are investigated in relation to …

Sex Steroid Metabolism Polymorphisms And Mammographic Density In Pre- And Early Perimenopausal Women, Carolyn J. Crandall, Mary E. Sehl, Sybil L. Crawford, Ellen B. Gold, Laurel A. Habel, Lesley M. Butler, Mary Fran R. Sowers, Gail A. Greendale, Janet S. Sinsheimer

Sybil L. Crawford

INTRODUCTION : We examined the association between mammographic density and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes encoding CYP1A1, CYP1B1, aromatase, 17beta-HSD, ESR1, and ESR2 in pre- and early perimenopausal white, African-American, Chinese, and Japanese women. METHODS : The Study of Women's Health Across the Nation is a longitudinal community-based cohort study. We analyzed data from 451 pre- and early perimenopausal participants of the ancillary SWAN Mammographic Density study for whom we had complete information regarding mammographic density, genotypes, and covariates. With multivariate linear regression, we examined the relation between percentage mammographic breast density (outcome) and each SNP (primary predictor), adjusting for …

Factors Related To Declining Luteal Function In Women During The Menopausal Transition, Nanette Santoro, Sybil L. Crawford, Bill Lasley, J. L. Luborsky, Karen A. Matthews, Daniel Mcconnell, John F. Randolph, Ellen B. Gold, Gail A. Greendale, S. G. Korenman, Lynda H. Powell, Mary Fran R. Sowers, Gerson Weiss

Sybil L. Crawford

CONTEXT: Reproductive hormones are incompletely characterized during the menopause transition (MT). Hypothesis: Increased anovulation and decreased progesterone accompany progress through the MT. DESIGN: The Daily Hormone Study (DHS) of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) included 848 women aged 43-53 yr at baseline who collected daily urine for one cycle or up to 50 d annually for 3 yr. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: LH, FSH, estrone conjugates, and pregnanediol glucuronide levels were assessed. Cycles were classified by presumed luteal (ovulatory) status and bleeding. Hormones were related to time in study, age, menopausal status, and selected variables. RESULTS: Ovulatory-appearing …

Can You Really See Through A Squint? Theoretical Underpinnings In The 'Our Sister Killjoy', Cheryl Sterling

Cheryl Sterling

Ama Ata Aidoo’s Our Sister Killjoy is read as an inversion of the colonial travel narrative, addressing the continued asymmetrical power relations between Europe and Africa. The paper posits Sissie, its focal character, as a site of theoretical transformations, engaging with issues of racial subjectivity, sexuality and political positionality in relation to the neo-colonial African state. It further argues that Aidoo situates a performative self in the text through an interrogatory narrative voice that succeeds in both deforming the novelistic pattern and participating in the critique of Western subjectivity and hegemonic feminist positioning, while inserting a resistant feminist ideology into …

From Undemocratic To Democratic Civil Society: Japan's Volunteer Fire Departments, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

How do undemocratic civic organizations become compatible with democratic civil society? How do local organizations merge older patriarchal, hierarchical values and practices with newer more egalitarian, democratic ones? This article tells the story of how volunteer fire departments have done this in Japan. Their transformation from centralized war instrument of an authoritarian regime to local community safety organization of a full-fledged democracy did not happen overnight. A slow process of demographic and value changes helped the organization adjust to more democratic social values and practices. The way in which this organization made the transition offers important lessons for emerging democracies …

Institutions And Gender Empowerment In Greece, Rosita Dellios

Rosita Dellios

Since women account for almost 50 percent of the world's population, the sustainability of development of the global economy can be greatly impaired if the state authorities in individual countries pay less attention to the improvement in the socio-economic status of women relative to men. Improvement in socio-economic status which facilitates empowerment of individuals is greatly dependent on conducive informal institutions and state institutions. This book is the first of its kind to critically examine the role of these institutions in women's empowerment in five continents in the world. The analysis of the role of institutions in individual countries is …

Ecofeminism And Experiential Learning: Taking The Risks Of Activism Seriously, Jeannie Ludlow

Jeannie Ludlow

No abstract provided.

The (Inter)Active Soap Opera Viewer: Fantastic Practices & Mediated Communities, Melissa R. Ames

Melissa A. Ames

In today’s cultural realm, everything exists within a hierarchy of sorts – fandom has not escaped this process of judgmental ranking and social stratification. Admitting to be a “fan” of something often earns people mixed responses depending on the subject of their devoted following. The more one’s object of choice strays from the mainstream, the lower one exists on the fan hierarchy. If the masses find the fan subject matter to exist on the cultural periphery, fans are often quite ridiculed. This has historically been the case for soap opera fans. What is often overlooked, however, is the utility of …

Still Figures: Photography, Modernity And Gender In Neera’S Fotografie Matrimoniali, Silvia Valisa

Silvia Valisa

This essay discusses author Neera's early novel "Fotografie matrimoniali" (1883) in light of its ambiguous engagement with modernity. I argue that modernity takes on different meanings and ideological connotations in the text, in particular in its discussion of gender, while participating in a nationalist rhetoric that simultaneously gives room to and ‘frames’ its female subjects. I thus investigate how the representation of gender roles is impacted by the changes brought forward by modernity, and discuss whether Neera’s formal (photographic) choice succeeds in opening a different narrative and ideological space.

Masterpieces Of Italian Literature In Translation, Silvia Valisa

Silvia Valisa

No abstract provided.

Women-Space, Power And The Sacred In Afro-Brazilian Culture, Cheryl Sterling

Cheryl Sterling

This article places Afro-Brazilian women in the midst of the discourse of globalization, in light of its impact on marginalizing women of color, economically, politically, and culturally. It extends the concept of globalizing discourses to the history of enslavement and the racialist policies in Brazilian society, as seen in its policy of embranquecimento and the myth of Brazil as a racial democracy. The article then analyzes the historic and present day role of Afro-Brazilian women in the religious tradition of Candomblé, focusing on one public festival in particular, the festa for the Yoruba-based orixá, Obaluaye, in Salvador da Bahia. It …

The S-Word: Discourse, Stereotypes, And The American Indian Woman, Debra Merskin

Debra Merskin

No abstract provided.

Apocalypse Bébé De Virginie Despentes: Le Polar Comme Nouvelle Littérature Engagée? [Book Review], Michèle A. Schaal

Michèle A. Schaal

No abstract provided.

Friendship Of My Soul. Selected Letters By Elizabeth Ann Seton 1803-1809, Betty Ann Mcneil

Betty Ann McNeil, D.C.

The ‘Spanish As Threat’ Ideology And Cultural Aspects Of Spanish Attrition., Tonya Wolford, Phillip M. Carter

Phillip M. Carter

No abstract provided.

Scholar-Baller: Student Athlete Socialization, Motivation, And Academic Performance In American Society, Keith Harrison

Dr. C. Keith Harrison

No abstract provided.

A Critical Race Analysis Of The Hiring Process For Head Coaches In Ncaa College Football, Keith Harrison

Dr. C. Keith Harrison

In this article, we respond to Singer’s (2005) challenge to sport management scholars to consider race-based epistemologies in conducting certain kinds of research in the field, as we use critical race theory (CRT) as a framework to analyze the Black Coaches & Administrators (BCA) Hiring Report Card (HRC) (Harrison & Yee, 2009). The BCA HRC was created as a result of the access discrimination that has historically taken place in college sport (Brooks & Althouse, 2000; Cunningham & Sagas, 2005), which has consequently contributed to the underrepresentation of racial minorities in the head coach position in college football. The HRC …

Gay And Lesbian Elders: History, Law, And Identity Politics In The United States, Nancy J. Knauer

Nancy J. Knauer

The approximately two million gay and lesbian elders in the United States are an underserved and understudied population. At a time when gay men and lesbians enjoy an unprecedented degree of social acceptance and legal protection, many elders face the daily challenges of aging isolated from family, detached from the larger gay and lesbian community, and ignored by mainstream aging initiatives. Drawing on materials from law, history, and social theory, this book integrates practical proposals for reform with larger issues of sexuality and identity. Beginning with a summary of existing demographic data and offering a historical overview of pre-Stonewall views …

(De)Constructing Jane: Converting Austen In Film Responses, Karen Gevirtz

Karen Bloom Gevirtz

No abstract provided.

Addressing Domestic Violence Through The Law: A Guide To - The Protection Of Women From Domestic Violence Act, 2005, Saumya Uma

Dr. Saumya Uma

Gender And Geography, Ann M. Oberhauser

Ann Oberhauser