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Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Journal

Bridgewater State University

Agency

2020

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Alternative Forms Of Resistance: Afghan Women Negotiating For Change, Sara N. Amin, Nazifa Alizada Aug 2020

Alternative Forms Of Resistance: Afghan Women Negotiating For Change, Sara N. Amin, Nazifa Alizada

Journal of International Women's Studies

In this paper we examine how Afghan women resist, strategize and negotiate family and societal constraints to take advantage of the expanding education and employment opportunities in the post-Taliban era. We focus on how these women exercise agency and what resources they mobilize to maximize their opportunities in the face of potential constraints. We argue that to understand women’s agency and changing gendered power relations in the family, it is crucial to examine every day individual behaviors that deviate from prescribed dominant gender behavior and infuse altered meanings to dominant gendering discourses. Our research highlights that gendered power is partial, …


Unending And Uncertain: Thinking Through A Phenomenological Consideration Of Self-Harm Towards A Feminist Understanding Of Embodied Agency, Veronica Heney May 2020

Unending And Uncertain: Thinking Through A Phenomenological Consideration Of Self-Harm Towards A Feminist Understanding Of Embodied Agency, Veronica Heney

Journal of International Women's Studies

Agency has been much discussed in both popular and academic feminist discourse, particularly in the context of empowerment and sexual practices. Following a third-wave emphasis on women’s ability to respect women’s choices and ability to exercise agency free from domination, postmodern feminist scholars have critiqued such a view as thoroughly implicated in discourses of neoliberal individualism and compulsory self-discipline. However, these critiques have not entirely succeeded in providing convincing alternative approaches for incorporating concepts and experiences of change and intentionality within frameworks which emphasise the governmentality of discourses of empowerment. Thus, this essay explores the benefits of shifting the frame …