Subdued Voices And Marginalized Lives: Reading R. K. Narayan’S Waiting For The Mahatma Through Feminist Standpoint Theory,
2025
SRM Institute of Science and Technology, India
Subdued Voices And Marginalized Lives: Reading R. K. Narayan’S Waiting For The Mahatma Through Feminist Standpoint Theory, D. Sundar Singh, S. Pressila Daissy, Roland Rencewigg P.
Journal of International Women's Studies
Standpoint feminism, based in second-wave feminist theory, insists that knowledge is situated in the social world and contends that marginalized groups, through their experiences of oppression and struggle, hold experiential understandings of power relations. This paper examines R. K. Narayan’s complex depiction of a young woman actively involved in India’s freedom struggle in his novel, Waiting for the Mahatma (1955/2004), through the lens of Sandra Harding’s feminist standpoint theory. The novel’s central character, Bharati, through her varied trajectories of resistance and accommodation within patriarchal structures, illustrates marginalized women’s understandings and their mirroring of social inequalities and power relations that are …
A New Melian Dialogue: Feminist Thinkers On Security Problems Of The 21st Century,
2025
George Washington University, USA
A New Melian Dialogue: Feminist Thinkers On Security Problems Of The 21st Century, Heather Rellihan, Michael Coffey
Journal of International Women's Studies
This essay critically engages with two important works on feminist foreign policy— Kristina Lunz’s The Future of Foreign Policy is Feminist and Cynthia Enloe’s Twelve Feminist Lessons of War—both of which offer useful insights for the evolving field of critical security studies. The authors of this essay have divergent backgrounds—a professor of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies and a defense scholar—which reflect a central tension in feminist foreign policy between feminist principles and the paradigms and exigencies of defense policy makers. Through a constructed conversation between its authors, this essay engages the arguments of Lunz and Enloe to ask …
Recasting Gender Roles: The New Woman And The New Man In Women-Centred Contemporary Malayalam Films,
2025
National Institute of Technology Karnataka, India
Recasting Gender Roles: The New Woman And The New Man In Women-Centred Contemporary Malayalam Films, Roshan B. Karimpaniyil, Shashikantha Koudur
Journal of International Women's Studies
This article examines the representation of gender roles in select women-centred contemporary Malayalam films. It attempts to expand on the idea of the “new Indian woman” and develop a concept of the “new Indian man.” The new Indian woman is a byproduct of the cultural metamorphosis caused by liberalisation, while the new Indian man could be understood as the product of modern culture’s attempt to undermine traditional masculinity. By analysing the movies Biriyaani (2020), The Great Indian Kitchen (2021), Aanum Pennum (2021), and Sara’s (2021), as well as the short films Memories of a Machine (2016), Freedom @ Midnight (2021), …
Al-Rawabi School For Girls: The Arab Mean Girls?,
2025
Women’s Studies Unit of the Arab Renaissance Strategic Centre
Al-Rawabi School For Girls: The Arab Mean Girls?, Leen Masoud
Journal of International Women's Studies
Released in 2021 on Netflix and directed by Jordanian actress and director Tima Shomali, the television series Al-Rawabi School for Girls garnered international attention for its daring depiction of Jordanian girlhood and discussions of hard-hitting topics such as bullying, domestic abuse, sexual harassment, and honor killings. Despite its Jordanian context, the series engaged heavily with Hollywood tropes regarding girlhood, specifically the “mean girl” trope; the show referenced this trope so often that it began to be called “the Arab Mean Girls,” referring to the cult classic US film Mean Girls (2004). This essay critically examines the utilization of popular …
“Western Feminism” Is Not A Slur, But It Is A Monolith,
2025
Bridgewater State University, USA
“Western Feminism” Is Not A Slur, But It Is A Monolith, Diana Fox
Journal of International Women's Studies
No abstract provided.
Advancing Gender-Inclusive Financial Systems: A G20 Policy Agenda For South Africa,
2025
University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Advancing Gender-Inclusive Financial Systems: A G20 Policy Agenda For South Africa, Tinuade A. Ojo, M. E. Sotunsa, Diana J. Fox, Karen Carpenter, Leith L. Dunn
Journal of International Women's Studies
This policy brief calls for comprehensive reforms of South Africa’s financial systems to broaden women’s access to capital. Women’s economic empowerment is critical to inclusive and sustainable development in Africa. Despite ongoing global commitments to gender equality, systemic financial exclusion continues to marginalise women—particularly in South Africa—thereby impeding their full economic participation. Microfinance has emerged as a pivotal strategy for fostering financial inclusion among women, especially those in rural and economically disadvantaged urban areas. International models, such as the Grameen Bank, have illustrated that women from low-income backgrounds often exhibit higher loan repayment rates than their male counterparts. Institutions specifically …
Book Review: Janet Jagan: Freedom Fighter Of Guyana,
2025
American University, USA
Book Review: Janet Jagan: Freedom Fighter Of Guyana, Suzanne C. Persard
Journal of International Women's Studies
No abstract provided.
Book Review: To Advance The Race: Black Women’S Higher Education From The Antebellum Era To The 1960s,
2025
San José State University, USA
Book Review: To Advance The Race: Black Women’S Higher Education From The Antebellum Era To The 1960s, Jennifer Rycenga
Journal of International Women's Studies
No abstract provided.
Book Review: Ethical Encounters: Transnational Feminism, Human Rights, And War Cinema In Bangladesh,
2025
University of Texas at Dallas, USA
Book Review: Ethical Encounters: Transnational Feminism, Human Rights, And War Cinema In Bangladesh, Masrufa Nusrat
Journal of International Women's Studies
No abstract provided.
Book Review: Shattered Motherhood: Surviving The Guilt Of A Child’S Suicide,
2025
Nipissing University, Canada
Book Review: Shattered Motherhood: Surviving The Guilt Of A Child’S Suicide, Michelann Parr
Journal of International Women's Studies
No abstract provided.
Film Review: Breasts And Body Politics In B 32 Muthal 44 Vare,
2025
Vellore Institute of Technology, India
Film Review: Breasts And Body Politics In B 32 Muthal 44 Vare, Aswathy A., Meenu B.
Journal of International Women's Studies
No abstract provided.
Book Review: The Feminist Pacific: International Women’S Networks In Hawai’I, 1820–1940,
2025
Amity University, Gurugram, India
Book Review: The Feminist Pacific: International Women’S Networks In Hawai’I, 1820–1940, Palak Arora, Manshi Yadav
Journal of International Women's Studies
No abstract provided.
Book Review: Memory, Voice, And Identity: Muslim Women’S Writing From Across The Middle East,
2025
Walailak University, Thailand
Book Review: Memory, Voice, And Identity: Muslim Women’S Writing From Across The Middle East, Mohammed Yassin Mohd Aba Sha’Ar
Journal of International Women's Studies
No abstract provided.
My Body My Choice: A Qualitative Study Of Volitional Female Sterilization In The U. S. Latina And Hispanic Female Population,
2025
Antioch University Seattle
My Body My Choice: A Qualitative Study Of Volitional Female Sterilization In The U. S. Latina And Hispanic Female Population, Heather Morris Tuip
Antioch University Dissertations & Theses
This qualitative study, utilizing an interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology, elucidates the experience of Latina and Hispanic women living in the United States who have volitionally undergone sterilization or have sought the procedure out for birth control. Understanding the rich, contextual, lived experience of Latina and Hispanic women through an intersectional framework highlights how cultural influences and contemporary policies on reproductive rights informed their personal choice to undergo a female sterilization procedure. The participants of this study shared how they made meaning of their experiences. Within a homogenous sampling of study participants who share ethnicities and genders, six group experiential themes …
From Affirmation To Equity: The Spiral Of Congregational Empowerment For Women In Baptist Congregations,
2025
Binghamton University
From Affirmation To Equity: The Spiral Of Congregational Empowerment For Women In Baptist Congregations, Heather E. Deal, Will Ward, Gaynor I. Yancey
Funded Scholarship
Patriarchy has long structured Christian life and practice. In many Baptist settings, even formal affirmations of women in leadership leave a gap between stated commitments and women’s lived experience. This study investigates how Baptist congregations cultivate empowering environments for women by tracing the interplay of beliefs, practices, and processes through which theology is enacted in congregational life. Drawing on feminist theology and lived-religion perspectives, and using constructivist grounded theory, we conducted nine semi-structured interviews with 15 women clergy across seven U.S. Baptist congregations. Analysis proceeded through iterative initial, focused, and theoretical coding with attention to reflexivity and trustworthiness. Findings highlight …
Challenging Motherhood And Analysing Cultural Differences: A Review Of The Film Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway (2023),
2025
Al-Barkaat College of Graduate Studies, India
Challenging Motherhood And Analysing Cultural Differences: A Review Of The Film Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway (2023), Sana Hashmi
Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence
No abstract provided.
An Ethnography Of Love Jihad: The Governance Of Interfaith Marriages In Times Of Hindutva,
2025
University of Kentucky
An Ethnography Of Love Jihad: The Governance Of Interfaith Marriages In Times Of Hindutva, Snehal Sharma
Theses and Dissertations--Gender and Women's Studies
My doctoral research focuses on the violations of human and citizenship rights of women and religiously marginalized communities (based on religious differences) in the backdrop of right-wing movements in India. I assess the Hindu nationalist propaganda named “love jihad” to demonstrate the way it weaponizes religious exogamy. This propaganda legitimizes violence against Indian religious minorities and women as it claims that marriages between Hindu women and Muslim men are acts of terrorism against Hindus with the sole aim of increasing the Muslim population using Hindu women's bodies. I have used ethnographic research methods to explore the legal process of interfaith …
How To Eat Right And Why We Ask That Question,
2025
University of Kentucky
How To Eat Right And Why We Ask That Question, Heather N. Carpenter
Theses and Dissertations--Gender and Women's Studies
What does it mean to “eat right?” The notion is, of course, culturally, historically, nationally, politically, ethnically, and class determined. For the purposes of this project, however, I am particularly interested in changing notions of what it means to “eat right” within the post-World War II to the early new millennium American context, as such notions are represented within the prescriptions of popular culture. I turn to popular culture because this is the commons of the hegemonic call to “normalcy”—this is where we all learn to imitate, aspire, or rebel against a generic American consumer-self in conformity with the biases, …
Black Birth Work As Radical Praxis: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Inquiry Of Leadership Among Black Birth Workers,
2025
Antioch University
Black Birth Work As Radical Praxis: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Inquiry Of Leadership Among Black Birth Workers, Lesa C. Clark
Antioch University Dissertations & Theses
This hermeneutic phenomenological study explores the leadership experiences of Black birth workers (BBWs), revealing critical insights into leadership dynamics within maternal healthcare. Through a theoretical framework integrating African feminism, Black feminism, and anti-racist feminism, the research examines how BBWs conceptualize and enact leadership through embodied, relational, and liberatory approaches. This study addresses a significant gap in leadership literature, particularly regarding generational knowledge and practices of BBWs, which remain understudied despite their vital role in Black maternal healthcare. This study reveals distinct leadership perspectives and methodologies through in-depth interviews with eight BBWs and a detailed interpretive analysis. The findings contribute to …
Mirrors Of The Reel: Black Women's Identity In American Cinema (2009-2024),
2025
Antioch University
Mirrors Of The Reel: Black Women's Identity In American Cinema (2009-2024), Melanie-Penny Harrison
Antioch University Dissertations & Theses
This study investigates whether white supremacy structures, embodied in Hollywood’s predominantly white leadership, drive negative portrayals of Black women in 31 mainstream American films from 2009 to 2024. Employing a mixed-methods approach—quantitative content analysis, qualitative content analysis (QCA), and narrative methodology—I code portrayals for racism, patriarchy, heterosexism, colorism, and internalized racism, classifying them as progressive (e.g., empowered roles), regressive (e.g., subservient stereotypes), or hybrid. Guided by Critical Race Theory and intersectionality, the analysis examines narrative structures, character agency, symbolism, and dialogue to uncover intersectional patterns (e.g., race, gender, class) across three periods: 2009–2013, 2014–2018, and 2019–2024. Across these periods, cultural …
