Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Tracing Variegated Streaks Of Feminism In The French Lieutenant’S Woman Through Pinteresque Jigsaw, Pushp Lata, Sanjay Kumar, Sonal Bhagat

Journal of International Women's Studies

Written for screen by one of the greatest English dramatists and Nobel Laureate, Harold Pinter and directed by Karel Reisz, the film The French Lieutenant’s Woman, appearing in 1981, is the cinematic adaptation of John Fowles’ novel by the same name that created ripples in the literary circles in 1969. Keeping in with the appreciation of the novel, the cinematic version of The French Lieutenant’s Woman too continued to capture the imagination of the classes and the masses alike bagging several prestigious awards. The proposed paper intends to study all these variegated shades and designs that further intensify the …

Buddhism And Women-The Dhamma Has No Gender, Chand R. Sirimanne

Journal of International Women's Studies

The increasing influence and relevance of Buddhism in a global society have given rise to a vibrant and evolving movement, particularly in the West, loosely called Socially Engaged Buddhism. Today many look to Buddhism for an answer to one of the most crucial issues of all time—eradicating discrimination against women. There is general agreement that Buddhism does not have a reformist agenda or an explicit feminist theory. This paper explores this issue from a Theravāda Buddhist perspective using the scriptures as well as recent work by Western scholars conceding that there are deep seated patriarchal and even misogynistic elements reflected …

On-The-Job Stress: Interventions To Improve The Occupational Well-Being Of Policewomen In Assam, India, Shilpi Bora, Abhirup Chatterjee, Pallavi Rani, Debkumar Chakrabarti

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article discusses the results of a study with an all-women police station and other police stations in Guwahati, Assam, India, considering their occupational stress and hazards related to womanhood issues. In this descriptive study, a sample of 30 women police was selected by purposive sampling and analyses were performed using responses to a questionnaire method and individual/group meetings. Well-being as well as levels of satisfaction leading to the commitment of the policewomen to their organization have been identified. A majority opined about experiencing occupational stress/hazards related to issues specific to womanhood. Ergonomic, on-the-job criteria, and appropriate design interventions, may …

Dignity And Empowerment: An Exploration Of The Microcredit Experiences Of Women In Rural Bangladesh, Rahima K. Lipi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Modern microcredit, as a tool for economic and social development, emerged with the assumption that it would promote women’s empowerment. Some researchers have found that microcredit has had a significant amount of success. However, some of these supportive studies have also ignored the subjective history of the participants. A second critical view of microcredit presents the practice as a Western World notion which exploits women as a tool of the market economy in order to gain profit, arguing that it has failed to provide an alternative to women’s vulnerability and survival. This article focuses on the drawbacks of both approaches. …

Relevance Of Education For Women’S Empowerment In Punjab, Pakistan, Shehzadi Zamurrad Awan

Journal of International Women's Studies

In Pakistan, women’s empowerment has always been a subjective matter of debate among the media, civil society and the state machinery because of its multifarious connotations and dimensions. The focus of my study is to evaluate how, along with many other agents of modernization (for example, media, state legislation, and civil society), female education plays a fundamental role in transforming the traditionally conceived submissive role of Punjabi women into individuals, whose potentials are fully realized. Although in comparison with males, the female literacy rate and workforce percentages have been disappointing in Pakistan. Nevertheless some improvement can be witnessed, depending on …

“We Know The Taste Of Sugar Because Of Cardamom Production”: Links Among Commercial Cardamom Farming, Women’S Involvement In Production And The Feminization Of Poverty, Sony Kc, Bishnu Raj Upreti, Bashu Prasad Subedi

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper analyses the impact of commercial cardamom farming on the livelihoods of women, revisiting the concept of the “feminization of poverty”. For the analysis of cash crop farming in Eastern Nepal, both quantitative and qualitative approaches have been used. A quantitative survey was conducted in 513 households in Ilam district between November and December 2015 followed by qualitative data collection. A literature review on the feminization of poverty and cash crop farming has also been included. A descriptive data analysis has been conducted from the perspective of the feminization of poverty against the background of cash crop farming. The …

Effects Of Armed Conflict On Agricultural Markets And Post-Conflict Engagement Of Women In Export-Led Agriculture In Nepal, Bishnu Raj Upreti, Yamuna Ghale, Sony Kc

Journal of International Women's Studies

Nepal entered into a new era after ending 10 years of civil war through signing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the government and the rebel radical Maoist party in November, 2006. Women’s positions were constitutionally secured and space widened for the engagement of women in the broad social, political and economic spheres. Therefore, the post-conflict context provided tremendous opportunities for women to engage in high value commercial agricultural business. The main objectives of the study were a) to examine the effects of armed conflict on agricultural markets, and b) to analyse the state of women’s engagement in high value …

Social Media Advertising And Public Awareness: Touching The Lgbt Chord!, Gajendra Singh Chauhan, Tanu Shukla

Journal of International Women's Studies

Advertising is a form of persuasive communication with an audience. It is a promotional tool that helps in selling new ideas, products, and services through print, electronic and digital media. Advertising as one of the most influential components of mass communication is also strongly associated with social issues. In recent times, social media has acquired massive influence, providing an attractive and universal platform to every domain of businesses. Social Media has become an instrument to accelerate the process of change where it promotes social awareness and advertising in the society. As advertising mirrors the society, it strongly captures the changing …

Protecting Women From Domestic Violence In Assam, India? Evaluating Section 498-A, The Indian Penal Code (Ipc), 1983 Vs The Protection Of Women From Domestic Violence Act (Pwdva), 2005, Deepshikha Carpenter, Polly Vauquline

Journal of International Women's Studies

The institution of marriage is sacred and binding for generations in India; however, in contemporary times, domestic violence is a burning issue as it questions the sanctity of the Indian family system. This paper highlights how domestic violence between ‘husband and wife’, and their interpersonal complexity, is addressed within the legal framework of the Indian Penal Code and the special act of Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act. These Acts operate as custodians for women who are subjugated to spousal violence. The study is located in Kamrup Metro District of Assam as it is the most urbanised district. The …

Fetishizing Women: Advertising In Indian Television And Its Effects On Target Audiences, Madhusmita Das, Sangeeta Sharma

Journal of International Women's Studies

Advertising today has become the major driving force behind the various definitions of beauty. It is not “size-zero” models who are responsible for one version of female beauty, but models with skimpy clothes, fair skin, and bare midriffs who assume influential paradigmatic roles in society. Such practices become problematic for India as the standard of beauty appropriated by the media is highly westernized. With this background, the purpose of this study is to explore young girls’ perceptions of media pressure through the portrayal of ultra-thin beautiful models in Indian TV advertisements; and to discover the factors responsible for the internalization …

Prevention Of Sexual Harassment Of Women In The Workplace: Seeking Gender Equality At Work In India, Trishala Singh

Journal of International Women's Studies

B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, once stated that the measure of progress of a community is the degree of progress achieved by its women. Financial independence and education are two of the most essential sources of women’s progress and empowerment. However, the process of achieving financial independence is often plagued with sexual harassment in the workplace, experienced by most women. This paper is an attempt to analyze the definition and components of sexual harassment, its extent and types. It analyzes the existing Constitutional and legal framework in India for prevention of sexual harassment in the workplaces in …

Women Homeworkers In Thailand’S Digital Economy, Kamolrat Intaratat

Journal of International Women's Studies

Home-based work (subcontracted work to be done at home) is widespread in all regions of Thailand. Most homeworkers use their houses as the workplace for producing textiles and garments, wood products, basketry, artificial flower making, food processing, leather goods and plastics, metal products and jewellery, and then deliver them to the employers or business mediators. This is not the same as production for direct sale. In 2007, the National Statistical Office (NSO) reported that out of the 249,290 households, there were 440,251 people earning their livelihoods through homeworking. Of this number, 337,526 or slightly more than three quarters of them …

Rural Women Artists: A Visual Analysis Of The Mural Art Forms Of Santhal Pargana, Jharkhand, India, Pallavi Rani, D. Udaya Kumar, Saheb Ram Tudu, Shilpi Bora

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women are the pioneers of traditional mural art practices in rural India. Warli art, Gond art, and Madhubani paintings are examples of their artworks. The women belonging to the Santhal region in eastern India, are highly skilled in rich rural vernacular art. Murals are generally created by them during local festivals and marriage ceremonies. The women of six districts that comprise the Santhal Pargana (Dumka, Godda, Deoghar, Jamtara, Pakur and Sahibganj), decorate their mud houses during these occasions with visual borders and motifs.

A pilot study was carried out with the women artists to research these murals. The framework for …

Signatures Of A Collective Self: A Study Of Select Contemporary Women Artists From South India, Lakshmi Priya Daniel

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article attempts to reclaim the status of women artists of South India by a process of recovery and inclusion. The aspect of their marginalisation from mainstream art and subsequent disappearance from the annals of Indian art history has been examined. Further, the reasons for this disappearance are investigated in terms of the overarching notion of gender, embedded in social and cultural parameters. The article locates the manner in which these women artists are affected by familial, institutional and social systems and explores the experiences of the women artists in terms of their multiple roles. This can lead to an …

Feminizing Responsibility? Women’S ‘Invisible’ Labor And Sub-Contracted Production In South India, K. Kalpana

Journal of International Women's Studies

Since the 1980s and 1990s, there has been growing global recognition and endorsement of women as economic actors whose income-earning activities contribute to the survival and livelihood security of impoverished households and communities in many parts of the developing world. Women’s economic contribution is considered particularly valuable when population groups living below the income-poverty line have struggled to cope with the adverse social effects of neo-liberal economic reforms. Given this backdrop, the aim of this study is to examine closely women’s experience of laboring in the lower end of the informal labor sector, their workspace negotiations and conditions of labor, …

Teaching Authorship, Gender And Identity Through Grrrl Zines Production, Sara Gabai

Journal of International Women's Studies

Zines are self- published, non-commercial magazines that range in size, form and genre, and that tackle the most disparate issues including stories from everyday life. While academia has been reluctant to bring zines within the classroom due to their non-academic layout, multitude of styles, broken grammar, strong tones and content, this paper explains what brings zines into existence and how the latter give girls and women a chance to produce and write culture while creating new spaces of resistance. It will also investigate the politics of writing, the contradictions in grrrl zines, and their potential in displacing the boundaries of …

Learning From The Past, Planning For The Future: Empowering Future Generations Of Women And Girls: A Keynote Address For The Second World Conference On Women’S Studies, Colombo, Sri Lanka, May 5, 2016, Diana Fox

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Introduction: Empowering Future Generations Of Women And Girls: Empowering Humanity: Select Proceedings From The Second World Conference On Women’S Studies, Diana Fox

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Women In Southeast Asian Nationalist Movements: A Biographical Approach, Madhavi Venkatesan

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Women in Southeast Asian Nationalist Movements: A Biographical Approach, Susan Blackburn and Helen Ting, editors. National University of Singapore Press, 2013.

Book Review: We Are Our Language: An Ethnography Of Language Revitalization In A Northern Athabaskan Community, Haley Albano

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of We Are Our Language: An Ethnography of Language Revitalization in a Northern Athabaskan Community by Barbra A. Meek. University of Arizona Press, 2011.

Book Review: Thinking Sex With The Early Moderns, Renee Somers

Journal of International Women's Studies

Book review of Thinking Sex with the Early Moderns by Valerie Traub. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015.

Book Review: Sex, Slavery And The Trafficked Woman: Myths And Misconceptions About Trafficking And Its Victims, Jennifer A. Fallas

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Sex, Slavery and the Trafficked Woman: Myths and Misconceptions about Trafficking and its Victims by Ramona Vijeyarasa. Ashgate, 2015.

Book Review: The Kaleidoscope Of Gender: Prisms, Patterns, And Possibilities, Cynthia J.W. Svoboda

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of The Kaleidoscope of Gender: Prisms, Patterns, and Possibilities by Joan Z. Spade and Catherine G. Valentine. Sage, 2014.

Book Review: Big Pharma, Women, And The Labour Of Love, Nayantara Sheoran

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Big Pharma, Women, and the Labour of Love, by Thea Cacchioni. University of Toronto Press, 2015.

Book Review Essay: Not A Choice, Not A Job: Exposing The Myths About Prostitution And The Global Sex Trade, Tran Truong

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Not a Choice, Not a Job: Exposing the Myths about Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade, by Janice G. Raymond. Potomac Books, 2013.

Book Review Essay: My Life On The Road, Diana J. Fox

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem. Random House, 2015.

Discovering My Own African Feminism: Embarking On A Journey To Explore Kenyan Women's Oppression, Glory Joy Gatwiri, Helen Jaqueline Mclaren

Journal of International Women's Studies

All Black women have experienced living in a society that devalues them. The scholarship of bell hooks submits that the control of Black women ideologically, economically, socially and politically functions perfectly to form a highly discriminative but effective system that is designed to keep them in a submissive and subordinate place. As a Ph.D. student, in a reflective journey with my research supervisor, I engage in a struggle to define my own feminist perspective in as I prepare to explore the oppression, disadvantage and discrimination experienced by Kenyan women living with vaginal fistulas. I examine how poor and socially disadvantaged …

Oriental Family Law: Case Study Within A Gendered-Citizenship/Inequality Perspective: From Concept To Analytical Status, Rania F. Al-Rabadi, Anas N. Al-Rabadi

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article presents key findings and empirical work of basic research in Bahrain in regards to active citizenship and gender equality where it analyses the claimed liberal citizenship. The article focuses on pre-existing inequality in the family code and also discusses a significant issue where there is a Sunni-Shi’ite division in Bahrain. This is relevant to citizenship and gender equality for how family codes are debated in regards to women’s rights within the legislative authority. Furthermore, this article analyses the parliamentary organizational structure which attributes and influences the legislation process and decision-making particularly on gender-friendly policies, where the legal system …

On The Relationship Between Gender Roles Attitudes, Religious Ideology And Familism In A Sample Of Adults In The United States, Carlos Siordia

Journal of International Women's Studies

Family and religious ideologies may influence gender role attitudes in the United States, where gender inequality persists. Research suggests that family and religious ideologies shape beliefs of how men and women should behave—where gender egalitarianism is lowest amongst those with strong family orientations and/or strong patriarchal religious ideologies. This article investigated if and how family and religious ideologies are related to gender role attitudes by using cross-sectional data from the Longitudinal Study of Generations (n=1,615; mean age=50; 61% female; 32% racial minorities). Results indicate a direct relationship between gender role ideology and the following: religious ideology and familism. Because gender …

Status Of Bahraini Women In The Banking And Financial Sector: Challenges And Opportunities, Adel Ismail Al-Alawi

Journal of International Women's Studies

The purpose of this study is to investigate the current status and the challenges of Bahraini women in the financial and banking sector; this sector is in continuous growth and needs to invest in human resources properly to attract talents. To enhance women’s access to senior positions in this sector, it must acknowledge the factors that influence women leadership, where the significance of this study stands out. The study presents how different factors affect the mainstreaming of women progressing to the top-level management. The study followed both quantitative and qualitative methods in data collection, and three different types of survey …