An Attitude Of Openness: Adapting Body Neutrality For Performers,
2025
The College of Wooster
An Attitude Of Openness: Adapting Body Neutrality For Performers, Kerstin A. Vaughn, Emily Baird
Feminist Pedagogy
For performers, specifically dancers and actors, the body constitutes the vast majority of focus and training. It is what we present onstage, share with audiences, and contract to casting directors and choreographers. Our bodies, the way they look and move, directly influence the amount and quality of work we make. The concept of body neutrality, then, poses an interesting challenge for performers and those of us who train them. How do we balance a healthy relationship with the body while also thinking critically about all of the ways our bodies carry meaning in performance? How do we, as educators, promote …
Reenvisioning Identities That Precede Us: “Body Acknowledgement” As Social Justice Practice Within A Communication Ethics Course Redesign,
2025
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Reenvisioning Identities That Precede Us: “Body Acknowledgement” As Social Justice Practice Within A Communication Ethics Course Redesign, Wendy Kz Anderson, Ollivia Webster, Nicole Yang, Cass Bryant, Taylor Herr
Feminist Pedagogy
We infuse this conversation of “body neutrality” through social justice responsiveness (compassion, equity, and accountability of body/presence privilege) by specifically attending to intersections of race, gender, and body mindset built into our identities. In reimagining the term “body-neutrality” through identity engagement, we introduce the term “body acknowledgment” as an active interpretative state. As a co-authored pedagogical “co-conspiring” for racial justice (Houdek and Ore, 2021, p. 92), we (instructor, teaching assistants, and previous students) offered a course redesign centering social justice strategies to address the following question: How can dialogue about intersectional communication work toward redesigning learning with difference and develop …
Resilience,
2025
Chapman University
Resilience, Joshua Liashenko
Sociology Faculty Articles and Research
Once a ubiquitous framework for assessing the capacity for recovery, perseverance, and success in the face of adversity, resilience has been met with growing critiques in its application. As a frequently used “pretty word” within health disparities research, resilience has come to signify how at-risk communities overcome hardship in ways this work argues overdetermine their labor, activist potential, and existence. This critique examines resilience through the lens of ethnographic research conducted among transgender and nonbinary healthcare providers who provide gender-affirming care within their communities. As a marginalized community experiencing transphobia and increasing structural barriers to life-affirming and life-saving healthcare, trans …
Breaking Boundaries: A Critical Trans Framework Analysis Of Anti-Transgender Sports Policies In Education,
2025
University of California Riverside
Breaking Boundaries: A Critical Trans Framework Analysis Of Anti-Transgender Sports Policies In Education, Tori Porter, Briana A. Savage, Dresden June Frazier
Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education
This policy analysis examines the impacts of anti-transgender sports legislation on K-20 transgender students through a critical trans framework. We investigate how anti-transgender laws enforce gender norms and intersect with other forms of oppression, such as racism and ableism, affecting multi-marginalized transgender students in sports and limiting access to a well-rounded education. Epistemic injustice is revealed, as these policies disregard transgender students' experiential knowledge and involvement in decision-making processes. Findings indicate that anti-transgender sports policies impact students at individual, institutional, and cultural levels, perpetuating discriminatory practices and reducing access to gender-affirming spaces and supportive adults. We argue for inclusive, evidence-based …
“It’S A Constant Wear And Tear”: Trans Visibility As Educational Labour In The Neoliberal School,
2025
Saint Mary's University - Canada
“It’S A Constant Wear And Tear”: Trans Visibility As Educational Labour In The Neoliberal School, Bishop Owis, Harper Keenan, Lee Iskander, Mario I. Suárez, Mollie Mcquillan, Christina Cook, Daniel Gallardo
Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education
Although transgender people are increasingly visible in mainstream North America, trans teachers are without adequate resources or protections to support their employment in schools. Legislation in both Canada and the United States that invokes concern about parental rights and “LGBT indoctrination” in schools illustrate the dangerous political landscape facing teachers. In 2023, over 500 anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) bills were introduced in state legislatures across the United States (Choi, 2024). Given this context, this paper explores trans education workers’ descriptions of trans visibility in the workplace. Drawing from interviews from the Trans Workers in Schools Project (TWISP), we …
Book Review: Prenatal Genetic Testing, Abortion, And Disability Justice,
2025
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India
Book Review: Prenatal Genetic Testing, Abortion, And Disability Justice, Radhika Sharma, Nagendra Kumar
Journal of International Women's Studies
No abstract provided.
Book Review: After Sex,
2025
International Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (FIGO)
Book Review: After Sex, Anya Metzer
Journal of International Women's Studies
No abstract provided.
“Mommy With A Different Body”: Rethinking Motherhood Through American Breast Cancer Memoirs,
2025
University of Engineering and Management, Kolkata, India
“Mommy With A Different Body”: Rethinking Motherhood Through American Breast Cancer Memoirs, Mahua Bhattacharyya, Ajit K. Mishra
Journal of International Women's Studies
Motherly guilt and anxieties about reproductive choices are often a significant source of psychological trauma in women who decide to have a child after being diagnosed with breast cancer (BC), but these themes are less visible in breast cancer memoirs. Patriarchal societal norms about women’s roles have long influenced women’s ideas about their bodies and motherhood. However, women with BC who are already in a vulnerable position, struggling with a life-threatening disease, feel helpless and guilty about their desires to be mothers, as society often considers them to be bad or selfish mothers. The present study examines Tig Notaro’s I’m …
Menstruation And Menopause As Reproductive Justice Issues: Feminist Reflections On Activism, Research, And Policy From The Global Movement’S Scottish Hub,
2025
University of St Andrews, Scotland
Menstruation And Menopause As Reproductive Justice Issues: Feminist Reflections On Activism, Research, And Policy From The Global Movement’S Scottish Hub, Bettina Bildhauer, Marcy L. Karin
Journal of International Women's Studies
This feminist reflection asserts that menstruation and menopause are elements of reproductive justice that are often overlooked due to menstrual taboos. Drawing on their experiences in Scotland, which has recently been a global hub for menstrual activism, policymaking, and research, the authors identify salient current challenges in menstrual and menopausal justice. They detail how these were met in Scotland and what work remains outstanding, and they summarize recommendations for future policymaking, research, and activism.
Fetal Personhood And Access To Reproductive Rights: Power And Precarity In Post-Roe America,
2025
North Dakota State University, USA
Fetal Personhood And Access To Reproductive Rights: Power And Precarity In Post-Roe America, Jainab Banu
Journal of International Women's Studies
This paper delves into the concept of “fetal personhood” and dissects how lawmakers systematically deploy rhetorical agency in policy to draw demarcating lines between demographic groups in post-Roe America. After abortion was legalized in 1973, the number of women opting for abortion rose significantly. Even after legalization, however, underrepresented and marginalized women struggled to access safe and high-quality healthcare, and many of them risked self-induced abortions. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, women with financial affluence can still travel to states where abortion is not banned to access their reproductive rights; however, women with low income may not …
From Care To Coercion: The Unspoken Reality Of Disrespect And Abuse Of Women In Maternal Healthcare In India,
2025
National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi, India
From Care To Coercion: The Unspoken Reality Of Disrespect And Abuse Of Women In Maternal Healthcare In India, Meerambika Mahapatro, Sudeshna Roy
Journal of International Women's Studies
The article reviews the literature pertaining to reproductive justice in maternal healthcare settings, emphasizing issues of disrespect and abuse (D & A) within healthcare institutions in India, a problem which is often referred to as “labour room violence” or “obstetric violence.” Experiencing D & A during such a critical stage leaves lasting and painful memories of healthcare settings that can lead to avoidance of future medical treatment. This article aims to systematically review and document the prevalence, forms, causes, and consequences of D & A that women face during prenatal care, with a particular focus on programs and policies in …
Initiating An Epistemic Rupture: Exploring Contraceptive Awareness In Janhit Mein Jaari (2022) And Chhatriwali (2023),
2025
Indian Institute of Technology, Patna, India
Initiating An Epistemic Rupture: Exploring Contraceptive Awareness In Janhit Mein Jaari (2022) And Chhatriwali (2023), Parvathy N, Priyanka Tripathi
Journal of International Women's Studies
In the context of social change, cinematic representations play a pertinent role in challenging existing knowledge systems, disrupting societal norms, and provoking critical reflections among audiences. The paper’s primary objective is to highlight the gendered burden upon women in India regarding the contraception narrative and its significance in ensuring reproductive justice. By analyzing two recent Hindi films, Janhit Mein Jaari [Issued in Public Interest] (2022) and Chhatriwali [Woman with Umbrella] (2023), the paper further aims to shed light on how these movies incite an epistemic rupture by challenging deeply ingrained beliefs and norms surrounding contraception. This …
If These Walls Could Talk, What Would They Say About Reproductive Justice Today?,
2025
Louisiana State University, USA
If These Walls Could Talk, What Would They Say About Reproductive Justice Today?, Cassandra Chaney
Journal of International Women's Studies
This article critically examines the lives of the three women in the television film If These Walls Could Talk (Cher & Savoca, 1996). The three protagonists, all White American women, live in the same house and are all faced with the decision of whether to terminate their unplanned, unwanted pregnancies in 1952, 1974, and 1996. Notably, three Black women were included as minor characters in the film. These foundational questions guide this film analysis: (1) What were the societal norms for US women who considered either abortion or giving birth in 1952, 1974, and 1996? (2) What barriers did women …
When Your Phone Knows You’Re Pregnant Even If You Don’T: Period Tracking Applications And Threats To Privacy,
2025
University of Wroclaw, Poland
When Your Phone Knows You’Re Pregnant Even If You Don’T: Period Tracking Applications And Threats To Privacy, Dominika Kuźnicka-Blaszkowska, Joanna Joachimska
Journal of International Women's Studies
In everyday life, menstruating persons around the world use different applications to help them monitor menstruation or fertile days to plan or to avoid conception, as well as to monitor their health condition. Much to users’ dismay, in recent years disturbing information appeared in the media about the alleged disclosure of information collected by menstrual monitoring applications to third parties for commercial purposes. The mechanism of such a procedure seems to be relatively simple—if the user of the application does not enter information about the onset of menstruation on the date set by the application as a start date, after …
“A Womb Of My Own”: Women’S Bodies And Medicine In Early Modern England,
2025
North Carolina State University, USA
“A Womb Of My Own”: Women’S Bodies And Medicine In Early Modern England, Mackie Black
Journal of International Women's Studies
This essay recontextualizes United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s views on abortion within a broader system of early modern (c. 1450-1700) reproductive knowledge. By focusing on printed medical texts as well as manuscript books that offer recipes for medicines to treat reproductive issues, the essay contends that Alito’s Majority Opinion, which relies on the legal scholar Sir Matthew Hale in the case of Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, leaves out a breadth of voices, specifically those of women. Manuscript recipe books for medicinal treatments demonstrate women’s limited but essential control over their own health and well-being. The …
In The Aftermath Of The 2015 Transnational Surrogacy Ban: Co-Optation Of Feminist Ideas In The Indian Surrogacy Market,
2025
Appalachian State University, North Carolina, USA
In The Aftermath Of The 2015 Transnational Surrogacy Ban: Co-Optation Of Feminist Ideas In The Indian Surrogacy Market, Annu Daftuar
Journal of International Women's Studies
Feminist scholars have long debated the thorny question of whether or not to call for a ban on commercial surrogacy. A Marxist-feminist approach to frame commercial surrogacy as a unique form of “embodied labor” (Pande, 2014, p. 104) radically shifts this debate from a moralistic understanding of surrogacy by centralizing the role of structural inequalities that shape surrogates’ choices to do surrogacy work. This article argues, however, that the feminist call to frame surrogacy as work, along the lines of sex work and care work, is being co-opted by surrogacy stakeholders in powerful positions in India’s fertility market. I analyze …
The Ethical Quandaries Of Commercialized Surrogacy In India And Its Representation In Bollywood Films,
2025
Berhampur University, India
The Ethical Quandaries Of Commercialized Surrogacy In India And Its Representation In Bollywood Films, Shruti Das, Deepshikha Routray
Journal of International Women's Studies
Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has been seen as a blessing for couples and individuals who desire to have children and who do not want to adopt. A common technique of ART is surrogacy—the process by which a woman agrees to carry and give birth to another individual’s or couple’s child, often as an act of philanthropy. Because of the costly medical expenses for this process in high-income countries, many clients have sought surrogates in lower-income countries, such as Nepal, Thailand, and India, to lessen the cost. This has contributed to what is known as “surrogacy consumerism,” in which women are …
Motherhood, Infertility, And Femininity In Fadia Faqir’S Pillars Of Salt,
2025
Islamic University of Science and Technology, India
Motherhood, Infertility, And Femininity In Fadia Faqir’S Pillars Of Salt, Fozia Sheikh, Munejah Khan
Journal of International Women's Studies
In the patriarchal tradition of the Arab world, women are often treated as commodities, and their autonomy and choices are disregarded. Family honour is tied to women’s virginity, leading to strict control over their desires and sexuality (Khan 3). Moreover, women are confined to roles as biological and cultural procreators, reinforcing a narrow understanding of femininity (Chouiten and Khireddine 40) and tightly weaving womanhood with motherhood. This essay examines Fadia Faqir’s novel Pillars of Salt (1996) by using a feminist framework, particularly Adrienne Rich’s theory of motherhood. The narrative reveals the brutal realities faced by Arab women, particularly those incapable …
The ‘Art’ Of (Re)Production: Understanding Motherhood Beyond Biological Destiny,
2025
Adamas University, India
The ‘Art’ Of (Re)Production: Understanding Motherhood Beyond Biological Destiny, Pratyusha Pramanik, Ajit K. Mishra
Journal of International Women's Studies
This article examines how the technological intervention of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART)has had a profound impact on the sociocultural practices surrounding motherhood in India. The experience of motherhood has now been divided among different individuals: the genetic mother, the gestational mother, and the social mother. This expansion of motherhood roles has led to the re-emergence of co-mothering practices, where a child is nurtured by someone other than the birth mother. As nuclear heteronormative families became the norm in India, traditional co-mothering by grandmothers and aunts went out of practice. With rising infertility and the rearrangement of familial structures through single …
Age-Related Infertility And Reproductive Tourism In Annarita Briganti’S Novel Non Chiedermi Come Sei Nata,
2025
University of Murcia, Spain
Age-Related Infertility And Reproductive Tourism In Annarita Briganti’S Novel Non Chiedermi Come Sei Nata, María Reyes Ferrer
Journal of International Women's Studies
Traditional socio-cultural constructions of womanhood have often focused on women’s reproductive capacity, which has determined their destiny and shaped their identity over centuries. Given the long-time equation of motherhood and women’s identity, infertility is an important topic that raises question about how women experience infertility and how science, through advances in assisted reproduction, has intervened in the creation of life. In the European context, Italy has one of the lowest birth rates, a phenomenon attributable to a series of adverse structural conditions. In particular, precarious work conditions, insufficient wage levels, and a high cost of living represent significant obstacles to …
