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Full-Text Articles in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
The Emancipation Of A Harem Girl: Resisting The Gendered Division Of Space In Wafa Faith Hallam’S The Road From Morocco, Rachid Lamghari
The Emancipation Of A Harem Girl: Resisting The Gendered Division Of Space In Wafa Faith Hallam’S The Road From Morocco, Rachid Lamghari
Journal of International Women's Studies
This article examines the challenging of Orientalist and Western discourses and of patriarchal authority over Eastern women in Wafa Faith Hallam’s memoir The Road from Morocco. The conventional representation of these women is revisited as Saadia in the memoir debunks the passivity and docility with which they are associated by exercising her agency and trespassing the sacred cultural and physical frontiers. Regardless of being introduced to confinement in the private space of a harem since her infancy, Saadia manages to liberate herself first through leaving the allegedly sacred frontiers of the house and trespassing in public space which is discursively …
Joyland: A Story Of Unquenchable Desires, Salma Javed
Joyland: A Story Of Unquenchable Desires, Salma Javed
Journal of International Women's Studies
Contrary to the title, Saim Sadiq’s debut work Joyland is about struggling with gender identities and unquenchable desires in a conventional society. This heart-breaking drama of a conservative family belongs to the exceptional kind of cinema that sews craft with content. This poignant tale contains such intrigue that the viewers feel glued to the aching narrative until the very last minutes of the movie. The storyline follows three men protagonists from a damaged family, and four women characters, including a transgender woman. The story takes a turn when Haider, one of the main characters, falls in love with Biba, a …
Triumphant Or Trapped Pakistani Women? A Feminist Critique Of Mueenuddin’S “Nawabdin Electrician” And Haq’S Song “Chamkeeli”, Amna Khan
Journal of International Women's Studies
In patriarchal societies, women are traditionally subjugated and suppressed in one way or another. Men are privileged and kept at the center. They speak, express, and dream while benefiting from the autonomy provided to them by the phallogocentric system. By contrast, women are marginalized. Patriarchal writers define women as weak, fragile, helpless, docile, submissive, and emotional. However, this paper reveals that in Daniyal Mueenuddin’s “Nawabdin Electrician” and Abrar-ul-Haq’s song “Chamkeeli,” regardless of a change in times and “gender performativity,” Pakistani male writers continue to stigmatize women. This study shows that although gender roles are changing, women remain subjugated. My paper …
The Madness Of Women As An Illusional Power In Charlotte Brontë’S Jane Eyre And Fadia Faqir’S Pillars Of Salt, Luma Balaa
Journal of International Women's Studies
Historically speaking, women have been associated with madness, be it Medea from Ancient Greece, the medieval trials of the witches of Salem, or so called “hysterical” women in the Victorian era. Even in 21st-century literature, arts, and media, the madness of women is widely discussed and often romanticized. Some women authors employed the madwoman trope to show the effects of patriarchal oppression on women. Other studies have associated women’s madness in literature with subversion. This paper, however, claims that the portrayal of madness in both Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847) and Fadia Faqir’s Pillars of Salt (1996) is not subversive, …
Surviving Patriarchy: Ukrainian Women And The Russia-Ukraine War, Suaad Al Oraimi, Osman Antwi-Boateng
Surviving Patriarchy: Ukrainian Women And The Russia-Ukraine War, Suaad Al Oraimi, Osman Antwi-Boateng
Journal of International Women's Studies
The conventional narrative about war and women, normalized by patriarchy, is that war is men’s business and that it requires specific masculine characteristics that women do not possess, and as such, women ought to be exempt from direct combat for their own good. So pervasive is this narrative that women are often portrayed in the media coverage of war as hapless and dependent victims in need of rescue and protection. Focusing on the case of Ukrainian women in the ongoing war against Russia, this study debunks the conventional narrative by positing that Ukrainian women have demonstrated agency in the face …
Gender-Based Conflicts In Political Parties: Male Domination In Central Java’S Politics, Misbah Zulfa Elizabeth, Ririh Megah Safitri, Sholihan Sholihan, Arikhah .
Gender-Based Conflicts In Political Parties: Male Domination In Central Java’S Politics, Misbah Zulfa Elizabeth, Ririh Megah Safitri, Sholihan Sholihan, Arikhah .
Journal of International Women's Studies
Indonesian women’s active participation in the political sphere has been supported by national legislation. However, it remains challenging for women to position themselves in the political arena, especially in a specific party’s activities. There is contestation between male and female political cadres, which often escalates into conflict. Using a qualitative research method, this research aims to discover the root of gender-based conflicts within a political party context. This research found three kinds of conflict: overt, covert, and avoided. Overt conflicts occur in the official forum when women express their anger, dissatisfaction, and protests against their male counterparts. Covert conflicts occur …
Do Women’S Education And Economic Empowerment Reduce Gender-Based Violence In Nigeria?, Adaobiagu Nnemdi Obiagu
Do Women’S Education And Economic Empowerment Reduce Gender-Based Violence In Nigeria?, Adaobiagu Nnemdi Obiagu
Journal of International Women's Studies
Women’s education and economic empowerment are key measures to promoting gender equality and reducing gender-based violence (GBV) against women, which is one of the indicators of gender equality. Whereas women’s education has been shown to positively impact child’s health, women’s fertility, and women’s participation in civic life and paid jobs, evidence on the relationship between women’s education, economic empowerment, and women’s exposure to GBV is not sufficiently established. Mapping this relationship is important for informing effective gender policies and practices. Hence, this study used the Nigeria demographic and health survey data of 2008, 2013, and 2018 to investigate the direction …
Changing Ideologies Of Marriage In Contemporary Indian Women’S Novels, Bhushan Sharma
Changing Ideologies Of Marriage In Contemporary Indian Women’S Novels, Bhushan Sharma
Journal of International Women's Studies
Marriage in Hinduism is sacramental in nature and considered a divine religious bond. As per Shastras, man alone is incomplete until or unless he marries. The wife is called Ardhangini (half of man) or dharmapatni, who shares religious duties with her husband. This paper views matrimony from a feminist lens and explores the changing ideology of marriage by drawing upon feminist theory. The study uses two novels by contemporary Indian women writers, Shashi Deshpande's A Matter of Time (1996) and Shobhaa De's Second Thoughts (1996), to explore the world of married women. These novels by Indian women express women’s …
The Crown Of Loss, Zahra Taheri
The Crown Of Loss, Zahra Taheri
Journal of International Women's Studies
In many patriarchal, Eastern cultures, marriage has been idealized and beautified as a means of escape for girls and young women. Marriage has been propagated as a way out of the restricted life girls often experience under the harsh surveillance of male family members, especially fathers and brothers. Hence, many Eastern cultures, particularly the more patriarchal and restricted ones, often witness the formation of the “Cinderella Complex” in girls. Many girls come to believe that marriage can help them realize their suppressed dreams. As a result, girls often focus on attracting male attention instead of focusing on cultivating their talents. …
Unraveling Milk And Honey: Women’S Voice, Patriarchy, And Sexuality, Renidia Audinia Siva, Ida Rosida, Muhammad Azwar
Unraveling Milk And Honey: Women’S Voice, Patriarchy, And Sexuality, Renidia Audinia Siva, Ida Rosida, Muhammad Azwar
Journal of International Women's Studies
This article discusses patriarchy and sexuality portrayed in Milk and Honey; a poetry collection written by Canadian author Rupi Kaur. Kaur is an amazing poet, artist, and performer who touches on trauma, feminism, migration, love, and loss in her works. Milk and Honey is a unique book of poetry as it combines written poetry with line art images. The collection is split into four chapters: “the hurting,” “the loving,” “the breaking,” and “the healing.” This research aims to show how the illustrations that appear alongside the poems have amplified the speaker’s voice in response to patriarchy and sexuality. This study …
Islamic Feminism At The Crossroads Between Apologetics And Defending Women: Rajaa Alsanea’S Girls Of Riyadh In Context, Noureddine Bendouma, Salim Kerboua
Islamic Feminism At The Crossroads Between Apologetics And Defending Women: Rajaa Alsanea’S Girls Of Riyadh In Context, Noureddine Bendouma, Salim Kerboua
Journal of International Women's Studies
The concept of Islamic feminism provides a dialectic relationship that suggests that the two very different and seemingly irreconcilable trajectories of Islam and feminism are joining forces to achieve gender equality and social justice. It also evokes the question of which weighs more than the other, and prompts queries and worries about Islam, egalitarianism, and the oppression of Muslim women. This paper examines the Islamic feminism’s order of precedence in the predicament of defending women versus defending Islam. By employing feminist methodologies and the method of textual analysis, this article probes whether the Islamic feminist project is solely about women’s …
The Heart Is Not Hopeless: Pakistani Television Drama, Patriarchy, And Activism, Neelam Jabeen
The Heart Is Not Hopeless: Pakistani Television Drama, Patriarchy, And Activism, Neelam Jabeen
Journal of International Women's Studies
A Muslim society that interprets feminism as anti-Islamic may not accept overtly feminist maneuvers to challenge patriarchy. However, there are subtle ways of steering out of the Islam vs. feminism dichotomy. What triggers anti-feminists are phrases like women’s rights, female emancipation, and women’s freedom since all these are interpreted as the agenda of the West and hence are considered anti-Islamic. In this paper, I argue that since feminists are fighting against all forms of oppression and have joined forces with other forms of activism such as child protection, human rights, animal rights, rights of the underclass and minority groups, and …
The Social Resilience Of Women In Coastal Villages Of East Java During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Emy Susanti, Tri Soesantari, Sutinah, Henny Rosalinda
The Social Resilience Of Women In Coastal Villages Of East Java During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Emy Susanti, Tri Soesantari, Sutinah, Henny Rosalinda
Journal of International Women's Studies
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the living conditions of rural women in coastal areas of East Java became increasingly difficult. The aim of this study is to reveal the important roles of women and their social resilience to survive during the pandemic. This research was conducted in poor coastal villages in the province of East Java, namely: 1) Surabaya City with multicultural characteristics; 2) Situbondo Regency with Javanese–Madurese mixed cultural characteristics and 3) Tuban Regency with Javanese cultural characteristics. The subjects of this study were married women who have children. Data collection was conducted for 2 months (June-July 2021) using a …
After Violence: Dalit Women’S Narratives And The Possibilities Of Resistance, Anandita Pan
After Violence: Dalit Women’S Narratives And The Possibilities Of Resistance, Anandita Pan
Journal of International Women's Studies
The history of feminist criticism has undergone a long trajectory where it gets written in terms of difference and sameness. Such anxieties get written in the Indian scenario with reference to the “caste” question. The predominant constructions of “woman” and “Dalit” give prominence to savarna women and Dalit men. As such, the mutuality of caste and gender is unaddressed. The intersectional identity of Dalit women, simultaneously affected by caste and patriarchy, has challenged this homogeneity claimed by mainstream Indian feminism and Dalit politics. Dalit feminism provides a critique of Brahmanism implicit in mainstream feminism, and the reproduction of patriarchal norms …
Of Contested Landscapes And Women’S Bodies: Rape As An Invasive Weapon In Malsawmi Jacob’S Zorami, Debajyoti Biswas, Zothanchhingi Khiangte
Of Contested Landscapes And Women’S Bodies: Rape As An Invasive Weapon In Malsawmi Jacob’S Zorami, Debajyoti Biswas, Zothanchhingi Khiangte
Journal of International Women's Studies
The geopolitical history of India’s Northeast replicates the history of the struggle of the ethnic communities living along what is often referred to as a “troubled periphery.” The fictionalised stories produced in this region, therefore, often betray the wounds inflicted on people living in this contested territory. As such, the history of this place and the story of its people lose their distinctions, allowing ethnographic study and the fluidity of personal narrative to converge and inform each other. Malsawmi Jacob’s Zorami (2018) encapsulates this history of strife and contestation through emphasizing a double significance in the eponymous character symbolising both …
Negotiating Empowerment: Pakistani Women Exercising Agency In Domestic And Public Spheres, Laraib Qureshi, Saadia Abid
Negotiating Empowerment: Pakistani Women Exercising Agency In Domestic And Public Spheres, Laraib Qureshi, Saadia Abid
Journal of International Women's Studies
This article explores women negotiating empowerment in domestic and public spheres as beneficiaries of a women’s empowerment project. While these empowerment interventions are noteworthy, they are also misleading because they ignore the local expressions of agency, where women at home also exercise power and conscious decision-making in their own contexts, just as much as any other working women--which is equally significant when talking about empowerment. We argue that there are other expressions of empowerment that are neglected, trivialized, or unacknowledged by the mainstream discourse. In a similar context, we argue that local women, while understanding the NGO’s definition of empowerment, …
The Angst Of The Dehumanized: Ubuntu For Solidarity, Lillykutty Abraham, Krishna V. P. Prabha
The Angst Of The Dehumanized: Ubuntu For Solidarity, Lillykutty Abraham, Krishna V. P. Prabha
Journal of International Women's Studies
This article attempts to delve into the multiple forms of violence experienced by South African women, within the theoretical framework of the ecological model of abuse proposed by Lori L. Heise (1998). The objective of the article is to explore how the communitarian dimension of ubuntu is absent when the womenfolk is in question. Their existence itself appears to be insignificant compared to their counterparts. Ubuntu cannot be lived or practiced while some are excluded from this concept. Gender inequality and inequitable status of existence cannot be part of ubuntu, as “I am, because you are” or the meaning …
Subverting Patriarchal Interpretation Of The Ramayan Through A Feminist Lens: A Critical Study Of Sita’S Ramayana, Shruti Chakraborti
Subverting Patriarchal Interpretation Of The Ramayan Through A Feminist Lens: A Critical Study Of Sita’S Ramayana, Shruti Chakraborti
Journal of International Women's Studies
“Re-vision – the act of looking back, of seeing with fresh eyes, of entering an old text from a new critical direction – is for us more than a chapter in cultural history: it is an act of survival”, writes Adrienne Rich in her seminal essay, “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-vision”. Rich firmly advocates that women authors should create spaces for subversion of patriarchal values and ideals through their literary works. Revisionist mythmaking, from a feminist literary perspective, evolves through challenging a preceding text which predominantly manifests androcentric ideas. The present paper aims to examine a female reinterpretation …
Breast Ironing In The Uk And Domestic Law, Mukaddes Gorar
Breast Ironing In The Uk And Domestic Law, Mukaddes Gorar
Journal of International Women's Studies
As a result of gender-based violence (GBV), women and girls throughout the world have become the subject of violence and harmful practices which drastically interfere with their physical and sexual autonomy. Examples of these practices are female genital mutilation (FGM), forced marriage and breast ironing. Some of this violence is categorised as ‘so called’ honour-based violence (HBV) and also domestic violence (DV). Whether it is classified as HBV or DV, the result remains the same: a gendered violence with victims mostly, and in some cases exclusively, women and girls. In honour based patriarchal communities, HBV is inflicted upon women and …
Golgotha, Beirut: A Feminist Memoir Of The Port Blast, Sleiman El Hajj, Sleiman El Hajj
Golgotha, Beirut: A Feminist Memoir Of The Port Blast, Sleiman El Hajj, Sleiman El Hajj
Journal of International Women's Studies
This partly biographical narrative recounts its narrator’s first-hand, ground-zero experience of the Beirut Port explosion, one of the largest and most destructive in living memory. As the narrator recollects her mother’s distress over the possibility of losing her children post-divorce and her joy at finally obtaining—after a seven-year legal battle—the annulment of an abusive marriage, Beirut Port explodes. The focus shifts to a memorable encounter with another anguished mother who, on the heels of the blast, is hysterical but then completely transformed once reunited with her children. The writer of the memoir culled its material through a number of interviews …
Gender Inequality Affecting Women’S Career Progression In Malaysia, Krishna Moorthy, Nik Mohamad Zaki Nik Salleh, Loh Chun T'Ing, Lai Pui Ling, Diong Min Yeng, Lau Jia Ning, Lee Jer Sin, Lee Pui Mun
Gender Inequality Affecting Women’S Career Progression In Malaysia, Krishna Moorthy, Nik Mohamad Zaki Nik Salleh, Loh Chun T'Ing, Lai Pui Ling, Diong Min Yeng, Lau Jia Ning, Lee Jer Sin, Lee Pui Mun
Journal of International Women's Studies
The objective of this research is to assess whether gender inequality affects women’s career progression in Malaysia. The study examines the relationship between patriarchy, gender stereotypes, organisational cultural factors, family factors, and individual factors with women’s career progression. The study has adopted the Glass Ceiling Theory and feminist theory. A total of 250 questionnaires were collected from women employees working in Malaysia. The study revealed that patriarchy, organisational cultural factors, and family factors had a significant relationship with women’s career progression while gender stereotypes and individual factors had no significant relationship with women’s career progression. The findings of this study …
Assessing The Extent Of Domestic Violence Against Indian Women After The Implementation Of The Domestic Violence Act Of India, 2005, Archana Singh, Pushpendra Singh
Assessing The Extent Of Domestic Violence Against Indian Women After The Implementation Of The Domestic Violence Act Of India, 2005, Archana Singh, Pushpendra Singh
Journal of International Women's Studies
This paper aims to dissect and analyze the trends of domestic violence against women in India. It will explore the factors contributing to the risk and prevalence of violence against women following the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act of India in 2005. This study also assesses the magnitude of violence that makes women vulnerable. In addressing the above-mentioned objective, this study has used data from the National Family and Health Survey collected in 2005-06 and 2015-16. In the first stage of analysis, the magnitude of violence was estimated using socio-economic and demographic measures. In the second stage, the risk …
Patriarchy, 20th Century Bengal And The Naxalbari Movement (1965-1975): Tracing The Roots Through Lives Of Others, Pritha Sarkar
Patriarchy, 20th Century Bengal And The Naxalbari Movement (1965-1975): Tracing The Roots Through Lives Of Others, Pritha Sarkar
Journal of International Women's Studies
The objective in this paper is to identify the roots of patriarchy in the Naxalbari movement (1965-1975) through one of the texts in Indian English Literature. The Naxalbari movement is the first peasant revolution within twenty years of Indian Independence that initiated in a small village named Naxalbari situated in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. Through Lives of Others (2014) by Neil Mukherjee the paper analyses the patriarchy of the 20th century urban Bengal society and how it seeped into the movement. Therefore, it exposes the androcentric underpinning of a movement dedicated to creating an egalitarian society. While …
Patriarchal Limitations Imposed On African Women: A Deconstructive Reading Of Chinweizu’S Anatomy Of Female Power, Itang Ede Egbung
Patriarchal Limitations Imposed On African Women: A Deconstructive Reading Of Chinweizu’S Anatomy Of Female Power, Itang Ede Egbung
Journal of International Women's Studies
Patriarchy is one of the crippling limitations that women face in contemporary societies despite the effects of modernism. Patriarchy is a system that thrives on the domination of women and promotes the superiority of men. The system places so many limitations on women to the extent that the subversion of these limitations is considered a violation of social norms and values. This paper discovers that patriarchal limitations have confined unassertive women to be at the whims and caprices of men and their domination. Using deconstructive critical theory, this paper deconstructs Chinweizu’s Anatomy of Female Power which claims that women wield …
From Resistance To Leadership: The Role Of The Women In Cinema Collective (Wcc) In ‘Voicing The Women’ In The Malayalam Film Industry, Jimin S. Mathew, Alna Mariya Isac
From Resistance To Leadership: The Role Of The Women In Cinema Collective (Wcc) In ‘Voicing The Women’ In The Malayalam Film Industry, Jimin S. Mathew, Alna Mariya Isac
Journal of International Women's Studies
On February 17, 2017 a popular film actress in the Malayalam film industry was sexually assaulted and harassed in a running vehicle as she was returning from work. A group of women came together as a collective to support the survivor and to address some of the problems plaguing women in the film industry. The heinous crime was a blow to the conscience of the state of Kerala which is considered the most educated and well governed state with better living conditions, when compared to all the other states in India. It revealed the long silenced and unquestioned reality of …
A Template For The Future: Resonant Leadership In The Song Of Deborah, Lyola Thomas
A Template For The Future: Resonant Leadership In The Song Of Deborah, Lyola Thomas
Journal of International Women's Studies
While leadership seems to come naturally for many great leaders, leadership is also a skill that can be learned. Some leaders gradually grow into successful leadership positions but, for others, leadership is a challenge that they suddenly find themselves rising to meet. In the heroic poem, The Song of Deborah, we come face to face with Deborah--a woman who suddenly becomes a leader--and she leads her community to victory and social transformation. This paper delves into her character and her leadership role within her patriarchal cultural history and attempts to investigate and understand if leadership skills are personality specific or …
Who Are You?, Luma Balaa
Who Are You?, Luma Balaa
Journal of International Women's Studies
On August 4, 2020, Lebanon witnessed a second Hiroshima-like explosion of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate. It killed and injured thousands of people, destroying most of Beirut. Compounding Lebanon’s misery, the coronavirus has taken its toll, as in the rest of the world, with thousands of deaths. There are no more vacant hospital beds and not enough medical supplies. For the last two years, Lebanon has been experiencing economic and political instability. The country is badly in debt and the banks have gone bankrupt and confiscated people’s life savings. The Lebanese Lira is pegged to the dollar and two years …
Masculinity And Challenges For Women In Indian Culture, I. Sivakumar, K. Manimekalai
Masculinity And Challenges For Women In Indian Culture, I. Sivakumar, K. Manimekalai
Journal of International Women's Studies
Construction of masculinity in India has been approached and studied from a variety of feminist perspectives. The feminist perspective focused on the discourse and gained much greater momentum during the pre-colonial and colonial periods. During the pre-independence era, the status of women in the areas of productive, reproductive, sexual health, mobility, and economic resources deteriorated to great extent owing to intense patriarchal oppression. Now in the post-colonial period sex-determination tests leading to the massacre of female fetuses, declining sex-ratio are unfavourable to women. Rapidly changing sex-ratios and increasing evidence of violence against women are the strong pointers that have justified …
Exploring Breast Cancer Patients’ Experiences Of Struggle Against Socio-Economic And Geographical Barriers In Rural Pakistan, Nadia Agha, Maliha Gull Tarar, Rahim Dad Rind
Exploring Breast Cancer Patients’ Experiences Of Struggle Against Socio-Economic And Geographical Barriers In Rural Pakistan, Nadia Agha, Maliha Gull Tarar, Rahim Dad Rind
Journal of International Women's Studies
This study offers insights into the barriers experienced by Breast Cancer (BC) patients from less privileged rural areas of Pakistan. We conducted in-depth interviews with 42 BC survivors, from the northern Sindh in southern Pakistan, to explore and analyse knowledge, geographical and financial barriers and how these barriers intersect and complicate BC patients’ lives. Results indicate that most of the women in this study were poor and their families’ health seeking behaviour was influenced by their socio-economic background; their knowledge about the disease was limited and they were unable to appropriately assess the symptoms for months, which caused delay. Based …
Female Sexual Autonomy, Virginity, And Honour-Based Violence With Special Focus On The Uk, Mukaddes Gorar
Female Sexual Autonomy, Virginity, And Honour-Based Violence With Special Focus On The Uk, Mukaddes Gorar
Journal of International Women's Studies
In honour-based patriarchal societies, young girls and women are expected to remain virgins until marriage. If this expectation is not met, the consequences can be very harmful and may even lead to honour killing. Honour killing occurs when a victim (mainly female) is murdered by a relative, due to the perpetrator’s assumption that the victim has brought shame or dishonour upon the family. Having sexual freedom before marriage is considered to be shameful, and it attracts honour related punishment. Chastity of the female members of a family until the wedding night is perceived as a means of safeguarding the family’s …