Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Bad Mothers In Translation: Early Motherhood In Contemporary Turkish Editions, Merve Sevtap Süren

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

This article examines how three recent Anglophone novels of early motherhood, namely, Szilvia Molnar’s The Nursery (as Süt Lekesi), Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch (as Gece Kancığı), and Claire Kilroy’s Soldier Sailor (as Asker ile Denizci), circulate in Turkish translation in a context shaped by pronatalist moral economies. Pairing peritextual analysis (covers, back-cover copy, blurbs, and bio notes) with close readings of selected key scenes of postpartum crisis, feral transformation, and toddler-year burnout, I show how Turkish editions both render and manage maternal negativity: translation choices modulate voice, affect, and register, while peritexts frame these mothers for local readability …

Performing Nefertiti: Feminist Afterlives Across Museum, Digital, And Cosmetic Cultures, Zaryab Khan

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

This article examines the afterlives of Nefertiti’s bust as performances that stage the intersections of gender, empire, and visual culture. Moving beyond biographical reconstruction, it argues that the bust operates as a repertoire of performances continually re-scripted across cultural sites. Three case studies structure the analysis: the staging of Nefertiti in Berlin’s Neues Museum, which performs colonial possession and the aestheticization of feminine beauty; the digital intervention The Other Nefertiti (2015), which performs resistance through the circulation of unauthorized 3D scans; and the cosmetic “Nefertiti lift,” which performs the queen’s visage through contemporary bodies, inscribing antiquity as a template for …

Fixing Furiosa’S Feminism: Gender And Genre In Feminist Criticism Of Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Maik Stanitzke

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

This article examines how the figure—or genre—of “woman” is produced and contested within the traditionally masculine action film through the critical reception of Mad Max: Fury Road. While debates over whether the film is feminist appear to center on representation, they reveal a deeper investment in stabilizing “woman” as a coherent political object. Drawing on feminist film theory, I argue that if the film seems nostalgic for a regenerative birth mother at a moment when sexual difference is reconfigured by queer and trans studies, feminist criticism’s investment in what Robyn Wiegman calls “the world-making stakes of identity knowledge” (2012, …

Beyond Liberal Apologies, Toward Abolitionist Trans Politics, Koda Sokol, Kaden Paulson-Smith

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

In the wake of Trump’s second election, the liberal fantasy of a benevolent state reared its head: the right policy, politician, or police officer will end anti-trans oppression. This article heeds the warning from generations of abolitionists before us that violence is not a defect of the state but endemic to it. By consequence, reforms that strengthen the state by expanding avenues for criminalization, resourcing the police, and incorporating more people into the military further jeopardize those subject to premature death, trans or otherwise. The current U.S. political regime’s overt cruelty provides an opening for widespread reckoning with the state’s …

An Asexual Autist’S Feminist Musings On The Lord Of The Rings, Robin A. Reid

Journal of Tolkien Research

Abstract: This reader response is about how a seventy-year-old asexual autist began to discover her feminist queer politics by reading Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings at the age of ten. Countering the negative stereotype of feminists (and/or women) disliking Tolkien, Reid describes how her autistic obsession with Tolkien’s world and her love for Éowyn led her first into online Tolkien fandom and then into aca-fandom. She chronicles a journey from feeling isolated and weird in her childhood and adolescence (in small-town Idaho during the 1960s) to finding communities in which her weirdnesses (autism, asexuality, and feminism) were not only …

What Is Unwritten May Yet Resonate: In Search Of Female A-Spec Resonances In Tolkien, Jackie Sheppard

Journal of Tolkien Research

Recent queer scholarship on Tolkien’s legendarium has broadened our understanding of character embodiment, narrative possibilities, and reader/fan reception. Yet within this field, aromantic and asexual identities, collectively referred to as a-spec, remain comparatively understudied. While scholars such as Rory Queripel, Kristine Larsen, Nicholas Birns, and Danna Petersen-Deeprose have begun this conversation, one commonality persists: a focus on male-coded character a-spec readings. Very little attention has been paid to the a-spec resonances of female-coded characters. This may be because female-coded characters in Tolkien’s work are frequently positioned as wives and mothers, roles that appear to preclude a-spec readings due to normative …

“As Bachelors Very Exceptional”: An Asexual Reading Of Frodo Baggins, Danna Petersen-Deeprose

Journal of Tolkien Research

Queer Tolkien scholarship has seen a number of homosexual readings of Frodo Baggins. While there are indeed many elements within the text that support a queer reading, it is a mistake to insist that queer elements necessarily point to homosexuality. This article advances an alternative queer reading of Frodo: an asexual reading. Drawing queer and asexual scholarship, including Ela Przybylo, Danielle Cooper, Audre Lorde, and Jack Halberstam, this article examines Frodo’s actions, journey, and characteristics through an asexual lens, focusing on his solitary life in the Shire, the way he is perceived by the other Hobbits, his lack of any …

“A Natural Human Activity”: The Split Attraction Model As A Tool For Reading Tolkien’S Legendarium, Sarah Courtis

Journal of Tolkien Research

The works of J.R.R. Tolkien have long been a refuge for readers seeking escape; a world of eucatastrophe where difference is celebrated, and friendship lauded. Despite his egalitarian themes, gatekeepers attempt to bar those living at the margins and intersections from reading themselves into the texts, denying that applicability which Tolkien called for in his own works. One such applicable interpretation of the legendarium is through the lens of asexuality and aromanticism. As there are no graphic sex scenes (though contrary to GRR Martin’s claims sex does exist in the world and is expanded upon in The Nature of Middle …

“Motions Of Love And Friendship”: Elven (A)Sexuality, Clare Moore

Journal of Tolkien Research

This essay argues that Tolkien constructed Elven sexuality as inherently asexual, given its marginalization to other aspects of their lives and identities. Elven (a)sexuality maintains space for sexual desire and relationships, representing a wide spectrum of asexuality, but it marginalizes sex through Tolkien's depiction of the body and spirit dynamic, a non-urgent desire between couples, the period of life when Elves engage in sexual activity, and the number of children typical for Elven couples. After establishing a norm of asexuality, this essay then explores show Legolas, Curufin, and Celegorm fit into this norm but represent diverse experiences of asexuality.

Introduction: Asexuality And Aromanticism In Tolkien's Works, Clare Moore, Rory Queripel

Journal of Tolkien Research

This article introduces this special issue focused on asexuality and aromanticism in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. It seeks to fill a gap in queer Tolkien studies by presenting multiple articles on asexualt/aromantic interpretations of Tolkien's work.

Defending Lgbtqia+ Young Adult Literature In Classrooms: A Secondary English Methods Assignment, Summer Melody Pennell

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

The author describes how teachers and community advocates can defend the use of LGBTQIA+ Young Adult Literature in the secondary classroom by aligning teaching ideas to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English. Through analyzing student work from two secondary English methods courses, the author found that students were able to find ways to teach the majority of the domains of ELA: reading literary fiction, reading informational texts, writing, and speaking and listening. Students also justified their pedagogical ideas with scholarship from English education. Rather than seeing LGBTQIA+ texts as outliers, the evidence shows they can be used to …

Performance Of Illustrations And Images As Language In Sarnath Banerjee’S All Quiet In Vikaspuri, Akanksha Barthwal Ms

SANE journal: Sequential Art Narrative in Education

Sarnath Banerjee’s All Quiet in Vikaspuri, fictionalizes but at the same time addresses water wars and political ideologies in the city of Delhi. By the means of eco-critical approach in the name of Vi-kas (development) Banerjee discuss the acts of slow violence subverted on nature in the name of progress (vikas). Through text/ images the author depicts chaos and challenges for the readers in more direct and obscene ways. The current paper attempts to look at Banerjee’s illustrations and images as new form of language emerged in modern Indian literature with the possibly that illustrations have more effect on …

Mainely Gay 50th Anniversary Tribute, Susan Henderson, Peter Prizer, Stan Fortuna

Mainely Gay (1978-1980)

A special 50th Anniversary Edition of Mainely Gay

Who Is Invited To The National Family? A Brazilian Autoethnography Of Being A Woman Under The U.S. O-3 Visa, Bruna Lauermann

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis lives in the borderlands between Brazil and the United States, during the nine years of my immigration to the United States. Using autoethnography, I analyze the O-3 visa as a tool that controls and alienates foreign women and devalues knowledge produced outside U.S. borders. This visa, for spouse or children of O-1 holders, which are people considered to have extraordinary abilities to work in the U.S. showcases the reasons why one is invited to be part of the national family and under what obligations and circumstances. A decision that is shaped far more by the interests of the …

Entre La Magia Y La Carga: Género, Trauma Y Otredad En Encanto, Sergio García Cabezas, Ángel Serrano Valverde

GDI. Revista de investigación de Género, Diseño e Innovación

Este artículo analiza la película Encanto (Disney, 2021) desde una perspectiva de género, memoria y representación, con el objetivo de desentrañar cómo los personajes femeninos encarnan presiones sociales y culturales que trascienden la narrativa fantástica. A partir de un enfoque cualitativo basado en el análisis narrativo y semiótico, se examinan cuatro figuras centrales: Luisa, como metáfora de la sobrecarga física y emocional; Isabela, como encarnación de la prisión de la perfección estética; Mirabel, como representación de la invisibilización y la otredad; y Abuela Alma, como símbolo de la transmisión transgeneracional del trauma. Junto a ellas, los principales símbolos de la …

Percepciones, Uso Y Confianza En Ia Generativa Según Género En Estudiantes Universitarios, Elena Rodríguez-Rodríguez, María Moreno Guzmán, Irene Ojeda Fernández, Juan Pablo Hervás-Pérez, Inmaculada Mateos-Aparicio, Alejandra García-Alonso, María Luisa Pérez-Rodríguez, Rocío De La Peña Armada, José Raggio, Beatriz Gómez-Gómez, Araceli Gónzalez-Cortés, Emma Gracia-Lor, Gustavo Moreno-Martín, Ángel Juilio Reviejo-García, Esther Sánchez-Tirado, Jon Sanz Landaluce, Arturo Casado, Marta Sánchez-Paniagua

GDI. Revista de investigación de Género, Diseño e Innovación

Introducción: La presencia creciente de la inteligencia artificial (IA) en la universidad está transformando el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje y la relación del alumnado con la tecnología. Un equipo docente de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM), la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC) y la Universidad Camilo José Cela (UCJC) diseñó diversas estrategias para integrar la IA generativa (IAg) como recurso complementario en asignaturas de estudios universitarios oficiales de Grado y Posgrado. Esta iniciativa surge de la necesidad de evaluar la implementación de la IA para mejorar el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje y fomentar un uso crítico entre el alumnado de estas …

Violencia Cosificadora Contra Las Mujeres En La Era De La Ia Generativa: Sesgos, Poder Y Deshumanización Digital, Norma Mildret Pérez Alvarado

GDI. Revista de investigación de Género, Diseño e Innovación

La expansión de la Inteligencia Artificial generativa ha facilitado la producción y difusión masiva de imágenes no consentidas de mujeres y niñas, incluidas representaciones sexualizadas y formas de cosificación digital que pueden generarse y viralizarse con mínimos costos y barreras técnicas. Estas prácticas amplifican la escala y velocidad de la violencia basada en imágenes, al hacerla más accesible, replicable y difícil de contener.

El presente artículo sostiene que esta problemática no se agota en los deepfakes sexuales o en la denominada “desnudificación” digital de fotografías de mujeres. También comprende la generación de imágenes cosificadoras de mujeres que, aun sin contenido …

Del Miedo A La Ternura: Deconstrucción De Imaginarios Constitutivos De La Iag Para Imaginarla Como Una Tecnología Futura, Elizabeth Rodríguez Rendon

GDI. Revista de investigación de Género, Diseño e Innovación

El artículo propone una reflexión crítica a modo de ensayo sobre los imaginarios sociotécnicos que han configurado históricamente el desarrollo de la tecnología y, particularmente, de la Inteligencia Artificial Generativa (IAG). Se sostiene que la ciencia moderna occidental se estructuró a partir del miedo como afecto dominante, heredado de las tradiciones prometeica y fáustica, las cuales promovieron una relación con la técnica basada en el control, la dominación de la naturaleza y el rechazo de la finitud humana. Desde esta lógica, la tecnología ha sido imaginada como instrumento de poder, defensa y superioridad, reforzando narrativas de fascinación y temor frente …

El Diseño Sin Género Como Tendencia Futura: La Cerámica Como Un Ejemplo Sin Sesgo, Paulina Luna Pérez, Hans Mayr Juárez

GDI. Revista de investigación de Género, Diseño e Innovación

Este artículo analiza el diseño sin género a través del análisis histórico de tradiciones cerámicas influyentes y utensilios específicos del uso cotidiano. El objetivo es examinar si las asociaciones entre los utensilios cerámicos y el género constituyen cualidades inherentes a su diseño o si corresponden a una construcción cultural producida en el proceso de interpretación social. Metodológicamente se realizó un análisis histórico-comparativo de piezas representativas y tradiciones cerámicas específicas de la cultura china y japonesa, particularmente utensilios de uso común y surgidos durante los inicios de la tradición cerámica en ambas culturas. Este estudio consideró cuestiones funcionales, formales, simbólicas y …

“A Chill Wind Sweeps The High Places”: Audre Lorde’S And June Jordan’S Black Feminist Pedagogies For Remaking Higher Education, Maddie Albanese

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this paper, I center the University as one site for radical pedagogy towards social justice.  This paper examines texts written on anti-racist, anti-sexist educational movements within the City University of New York, as well as archival materials from CUNY professors on the topic of radical, social justice-oriented learning. Conor Tomás Reed’s 2023 book New York Liberation School is one recent text on how CUNY activists dismantled the distinction between the University and its surrounding community, inextricably linking academic work with social-political activism. I take his extensive history of CUNY in tandem with various pedagogies developed by CUNY feminist educators …