Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Writing With Vs. Writing About: Co-Producing Consciousness-Raising Fiction With Young Women From Aid-Supported Communities In Malawi, Emma Makepeace

Journal of International Women's Studies

While some African women have access to education and avenues for writing and publishing their creative work, there remains a gap in accessibility for young African women from aid-supported communities to write and share stories of importance to them. In contrast to their own silencing, these young women are often written about by the aid organizations supporting their communities for fund or awareness raising purposes. The way in which young women from aid-supported communities are written about can present issues of representation, as often the author is from another culture and a position of privilege. Co-producing consciousness-raising fiction with young …

Gender, Race And Justification: The Value Of Critical Discourse Analysis (Cda) In Contemporary Settler Colonial Contexts, Caroline Hodes

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper outlines an approach to critical discourse analysis (CDA) that can be used to examine multiple forms of textual data as part of decolonial practice in any national context that is struggling to acknowledge both its colonial past and its ongoing colonial present. The author provides an explanation of what CDA is followed by a discussion of the methods used in a larger multi-level analysis focused on the impact of the defense witness testimony in a Canadian Pacific salmon fisheries case. The larger project has recently been published in the Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice. This paper will …

Narratives Of Agency: Women, Islam, And The Politics Of Economic Participation In Afghanistan, Farhana Rahman

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper analyzes Afghan businesswomen’s experiences and their attempts at engaging in the economic sector, and the manner in which they have navigated political, social, and cultural impediments to build and sustain economic enterprises, to reclaim agency in the post-Taliban era. Through in-depth interviews with three Afghan businesswomen in conjunction with observations of their daily lives, this discussion explores how Afghan businesswomen negotiate between international discourses on women’s employment and work, and hyper-conservative values of Afghan society that prevent women from accessing economic opportunities. The businesswomen highlighted in this paper legitimize their place in economic participation and employment, in many …

The Victimization Of The “Muslim Woman”: The Case Of Amina Filali, Morocco, Nima Mesbahi

Journal of International Women's Studies

In 2012, Amina Filali, a young Moroccan teenager killed herself after a judge had ruled for her to marry her rapist. Drawing from the story of Amina, this paper will contextualize the event in its broader scope analyzing the international and national discourses surrounding the case, reminiscent of orientalist discourses that constantly portray the “Muslim woman” as a victim of Islam. Through a careful reading of the text of law, I will show that the clause 475 of the penal code is in fact a Napoleonic law adopted in verbatim rather than an Islamic tradition. Through an analysis of a …

Examining Agency In Agriculture: The Feminization Debate In Nepal, Hritika Rana, Mahesh Banskota, Sagar Raj Sharma

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper examines the nature of the feminization of agriculture, and factors influencing the phenomenon in citrus producing pocket areas of Sindhuli district in Central Nepal. Presenting the intra-household division of work in agriculture among better-off family members in rural farms, emerging themes from narratives of women farmers’ lived-experience as farmers are discussed. Based on the narratives, this paper explores how household members’ everyday lifestyles regarding agriculture and non-agriculture shape their lives differently. Outlining the problematic of gendered agricultural engagement, three in-depth case analyses of farm families have been presented through data collected from narratives and participant observation as part …

Reinforcing Sexism And Misogyny: Social Media, Symbolic Violence And The Construction Of Femininity-As-Fail, Sue Ann Barratt

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper demonstrates, through content analysis, how online audiences can enforce gender based violence (GBV) as a real threat in the online space through verbally aggressive speech acts that function as symbolic violence. I examine cases emerging out of the context of Trinidad and Tobago, to articulate, how, for example, prejudicial chastising of women is used as a discourse to not only shame and blame but construct femininity-as-fail, however that femininity is embodied. This symbolic violence I read as a spectre, a force that enforces, both in the offline and online, the reassertion of strict respectability and responsibility as …

The Pedagogy Of Difference: Co-Producing Feminist Consciousness Across Borders, Patricia Mohammed

Journal of International Women's Studies

How has a movement built on the consciousness of sisterhood become so fragmented between the end of the 20th and into the second decade of the 21st century? As different political tendencies, widely varying economic conditions and cultural dissimilarities emerged in global struggles to achieve diverse visions of women’s and gender equality, the current feminist movement appears to be characterized by chasms between the east, west, north and south rather than viewed as a movement whose basic tenets are parallel across racial, geographic and social barriers. By looking at lived examples of confrontations, and through a deliberate process of self-reflexive …

Introduction To The Second Special Issue Of The World Conference On Women’S Studies, Colombo Sri Lanka Jiws, Madhavi Venkatesan, Diana Fox

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

A Professional Problem Solver Caring For Others: A Blog Post, Erin Kloepping

Feminist & Queer Praxis

This blog post was written for the WSU Improving Our World Blog, which showcases the work WSU students do to improve our community and world.

Wwe: Redefining Working-Class Womanhood Through Commodified Feminism, Janice M. Sikon

The University Honors Program

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is the largest professional wrestling promotion in the world (Bajaj & Banerjee, 2016). Their programs air in 20 languages in over 180 countries, and in the United States approximately 11 million people watch their programs each week (“FAQ,” n.d.). These programs include six hours of televised weekly events and 16 annual pay-per-view events (“WWE Reports,” 2017). In the first quarter of 2017 the company grossed $188.4 million (“WWE Reports,” 2017). They have close ties with the current presidential administration, as Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon was the CEO of the company from 1980 to 2009 (Reuters, …

Ecofeminism In The Speculative Fiction Of Ursula K. Le Guin, Octavia Butler, And Margaret Atwood, Cara Williams

Honors Scholar Theses

The aim of this article is to explore the speculative fiction works of three prominent, female speculative fiction writers: Ursula K. Le Guin, Margaret Atwood,and Octavia Butler through an ecofeminist lens. Ecofeminism, as first coined by Francois D'Eaubonne in 1974, is a philosophy that compares the oppression and abuse of women to that of the environment. This article notes how Le Guin, Atwood, and Butler portray women and the environment in post-apocalyptic science fiction. Specifically, this article looks at how these authors explore food acquisition and consumption in their various worlds. This article asks the question, how does our relationship …

A Conversation With Meghan Griffiths

LGBTQ Alumni Oral History Project

This conversation represents an oral history interview with a Holy Cross alum who graduated in 2004. Highlights of this conversation include content on the role of Jesuit and faith-based education on personal development and identity formation. She speaks largely about her roles as an Orientation Leader and cochair of the LGBTQ Alumni network.

Interview keywords: Jesuit, faith, orientation leader, Catholic, queer, bisexual, LGBTQ Alumni Network

Forum: Feminism In German Studies, Elizabeth Loentz, Monika Shafi, Faye Stewart, Tiffany Florvil, Kerry Wallach, Beverly Weber, Hester Baer, Carrie Smith, Maria Stehle

German Studies Faculty Publications

From Professor Wallach's contribution entitled "Jews and Gender":

To consider Jews and gender within German Studies is to explore the evolution of German‐Jewish Studies with respect to feminist and gender studies. At times this involves looking beyond German Studies to other scholarship in Jewish gender studies, an interdisciplinary subfield in its own right. Over the past few decades, the focus on gender within German‐Jewish Studies has experienced several shifts in line with broader trends: an initial focus on the history of Jewish women and feminist movements gradually expanded to encompass the study of gender identity, masculinity, and sexuality. Historical and …

Gender And Religion In A Shifting Social Landscape: Anglo-Saxon Mortuary Practices, Ad 600-700, Caroline Palmer

Undergraduate Honors Theses

My thesis examines seventh-century East Anglian mortuary practices and cross-correlates grave goods and human remains to determine whether there was an expression of the sexual division of labor during this period of social and religious change. I argue that gender roles changed as a result of adopting kingdoms and Christianity. Prior to this time period, Anglo-Saxons were primarily pagan and were buried with extensive burial goods. In addition to changes in religious and burial practices, during the Final Phase (600-700 AD) there appears to have been a division of labor that was not as dichotomous in the Migration Phase (450-600 …

Los Matices Varios Del Feminismo En Las Comunidades Indígenas De América Latina: Yorkín, Costa Rica Y Santa Anita, Guatemala, Roseangela G. Hartford

Spanish Honors Papers

This project investigates gender constructs and the complex assigned gender roles in settings of female indigenous leadership in Latin America. It examines two distinct indigenous communities, including the BriBri society in Yorkín, Costa Rica and the Maya peoples in Santa Anita, Guatemala that demonstrate the circumstantial spectrum in which women can obtain leadership roles and what actors directly influence this process. Each case study explores the fluidity of gender identities in which concepts of masculinity and femininity often guide female empowerment and liberation. Costa Rica and Guatemala offer contrasting experiences in terms of governmental stability, as Costa Rica abolished its …

Living In The Liminal: Representation Of Transgender And Nonbinary Identity In 'Steven Universe', Mads Bradley

Media and Communication Studies Honors Papers

An analysis of the children’s animated series Steven Universe, this research takes a semiotic approach to explore anti-essentialist messages of gender identity. Atypical within the mainstream media, the cartoon expresses dynamic messages about gender by representing nonbinary characters and gender fluid themes. By contextualizing the American history of cartoon production, queer representation, and audience reception, this analysis provides insight into the importance of inclusive depictions of transgender identity in children’s media. Through close textual analysis and focus group findings with straight cisgender and queer informants, the research examines how the show portrays liminal identities. By combining textual analysis and …

Riot Grrrl And Girl Zines: Intersectional Feminist Art In Action, Paige Szmodis

Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies Honors Papers

This project examines the Riot Grrrl punk feminist movement of the 1990s and its production of girl zines as artistic, cultural, and political artifacts. Zines, or self-produced and self-published magazines, allowed young women access to DIY (do-it-yourself) mediums for self-representation. As Riot Grrrl’s third-wave feminist consciousness and cultural production tactics spread to more girls throughout the 90s, zines became a primary method of communication and community-building for girls in the movement and on the outskirts of the scene. From girl zines in the Barnard Zine Library, I gathered data to map over 600 zines from the 1990s in the United …

A Conversation With Philip Dardeno Ii

LGBTQ Alumni Oral History Project

This conversation represents an oral history interview with a Holy Cross alum who graduated in 2002. Highlights of this converation includes content on being involved in Allies and ABiGaLe, being gay at the turn of the century at Holy Cross, community and campus involvement.

Interview keywords: Allies, ABiGaLe, Millennial March, September 11 Terrorist Attacks

From Heo To Zir: A History Of Gender Expression In The English Language, Brodie Robinson

Senior Honors Theses

With the growing presence of the LGBTQ+ community on the global stage, the matter of gender has been rushed to the forefront of the public consciousness. News outlets have hotly debated the topic of gender expression, a topic which has motivated mass demonstrations and acts of violence, and this has promoted a linguistic conversation at the international level.

This thesis is intended to provide the historical context for the contemporary debate on gender expression in the English language, and explores both the grammatical background (the Indo-European origins of linguistic gender, the development of the modern pronoun system, etc.) and the …

A Conversation With Karen Mcshane

LGBTQ Alumni Oral History Project

This conversation represents an oral history interview with a Holy Cross alum who graduated in 2006. Highlights of this conversation include content on feelings of homesickness in college, events demonstrating global context such as teh 9/11 terrorist attacks, organizations on campus such as ABiGaLe, hate crimes, relationships, support systems, Holy Cross' Jesuit identity, the patriarchal language of Catholic services, mental illness and post-graduation resources.

Interview keywords: homesickness, September 11 Terrorist Attacks, coming out, ABiGaLe, hate crimes, relationships, support, Jesuit, Catholicism, atheism, Chaplain's Office, Counseling Center, clinical depression, Spanish, LGBT Alumni Network