Women's Studies Commons^™

Women And The Precarity Of War: Reading Women Militants And Activists In Sharmila Seyyid’S Ummath, Aparna Nandha

Journal of International Women's Studies

Ummath, written by Sharmila Seyyid, navigates the sensitive topic of the precarious lives of three separate women amid the chaos of war-torn Sri Lanka. The stories of main characters Yoga and Theivanai demonstrate women’s challenges in and out of militancy. Their struggles led them to Thawakkul, a Muslim social worker devoted to the cause of rehabilitating disabled and widowed women who once served the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam). Ummath provides a powerful social critique of the conditions that aggravated the separatist conflict, the stigmatization of women who become part of the LTTE, the inexorable violence perpetrated by …

Impact Of Rural Financial Institutions Building Program (Rufin) On The Productivity Of Women-Owned Farms And Non-Farm Enterprises In Northern Nigeria, Ayodele Abiodun Olaleye, Abigail John Jirgi, Kpotun Mohammed Baba, Usman Shabba Mohammed

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study was undertaken to determine the impact of the Rural Financial Institution Building Program (RUFIN) on the productivity of women-owned farms and non-farm enterprises in Northern Nigeria. The study utilized primary data collected through a questionnaire administered to 390 beneficiaries and an equal number of non-beneficiaries selected through a multi-stage sampling procedure. The productivity of women-owned enterprises was determined using Total Factor Productivity (TFP), which was measured as a ratio of the total annual output of the enterprise to the product of capital input, labor input, and total material input. The propensity score matching approach was used to analyze …

Changing Ideologies Of Marriage In Contemporary Indian Women’S Novels, Bhushan Sharma

Journal of International Women's Studies

Marriage in Hinduism is sacramental in nature and considered a divine religious bond. As per Shastras, man alone is incomplete until or unless he marries. The wife is called Ardhangini (half of man) or dharmapatni, who shares religious duties with her husband. This paper views matrimony from a feminist lens and explores the changing ideology of marriage by drawing upon feminist theory. The study uses two novels by contemporary Indian women writers, Shashi Deshpande's A Matter of Time (1996) and Shobhaa De's Second Thoughts (1996), to explore the world of married women. These novels by Indian women express women’s …

Beautiful, Sexy, And Happy Celebrities: Perfect Mothers Or Instamoms, Ebru Güzel

Journal of International Women's Studies

The development of information technologies and the Internet has created an enormous economy. In line with this digital transformation, cultural change has come about. Global companies create new trends focused on vanity and pleasure in social media that follow the patriarchal capitalist ideology. Motherhood has also been included in this process, and “perfect motherhood,” as an extension to new generation motherhood, has been popularized on social media. Perfect motherhood requires mothers who are responsible for looking after children and the home to also be successful in their professional and personal lives while looking beautiful, young, chic, sexy, and fit. Recently …

Women Caregivers Of Palliative Care Patients: The Arogyakeralam Project In Kerala, India, Florence Jose

Journal of International Women's Studies

Palliative care is primarily holistic care given to the patient and their family where the caregiver plays a significant role in the patient’s health and wellbeing. This research studies the perception of the caregivers on the functioning of the Arogyakeralam palliative care project in Kerala, India, in order to understand the challenges faced by women caregivers of this type of patient. In this descriptive and analytical study, the researcher used the multi-stage random sampling methodology. A structured interview schedule was used to obtain data from 54 primary caregivers of palliative care patients who were randomly and proportionately selected from two …

Child Sexual Abuse And Exploitation Through Livestreaming In Indonesia: Unequal Power Relations At The Root Of Child Victimization, Ni Luh Tasya Prathisthita Tanaya, Ni Made Martini Puteri

Journal of International Women's Studies

Child sexual abuse and exploitation through livestreaming is a rising phenomenon of online child sexual abuse and exploitation in Indonesia. This phenomenon takes place in both offline and online spaces. Moreover, due to the active involvement of the viewers, these content viewers can also be considered as offenders. Thus, it is necessary to recognize this phenomenon as a crime against children, instead of merely a sexual act. By using a criminology perspective, this research explores the roots of this phenomenon, the impact on survivors, and the child protection system’s actions against it. This qualitative study used secondary data analysis, derived …

Masculinist Constructions Of Nationalism In India: Gender, Body Politics, And Hindi Cinema, Nupur Ray

Journal of International Women's Studies

Nationalism is an evocative concept with multiple philosophies around its meanings, purposes and contentions. Symbols, imagery, and spectacle play an important role in cultural expressions of nationalism that sustain an emotional response. The paper argues that imaginative constructs of nationalism in India are primarily constructed around women’s bodily metaphors, sexual norms, and their maternal roles in families. Popular culture, particularly cinema, tends to reinforce power hierarchies in which women symbolizing the nation are in need of protection by men or the state as a masculine authority. Hindi cinema has been an integral part of the socio-cultural lives of people in …

Who Is To Blame? African Feminism, Human Rights, And Sexual Violence Against Izintombi (Virgins) In South Africa, Goodness Thandi Ntuli

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article highlights the intensifying prevalence of sexual violence in South Africa, which affects women including izintombi (virgins, also known as Zulu maidens). Ubuntombi (virginity) traditionally represented a typical identity marker of young-womanhood in the indigenous lives of Zulus. As an aftermath of colonialism and imperialism, the cultural importance of women’s virginity faded into the past with only sporadic survival in some rural areas of South Africa. For some reasons, it was visibly revived together with virginity-testing as public events in the 1980s and 1990s. The practice of virginity-testing was criticized by some scholars, human rights and gender activists, who …

Converging Crises And The Cost Of Exclusion: Unveiling The Invisible Women Of Sri Lanka’S Economy, Lihini Ratwatte

Journal of International Women's Studies

In Sri Lanka, women’s labor force participation has never exceeded 35% in over three decades. As of 2022, the country was ranked 110 out of 146 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index. The gaps in women’s participation in the formal economy alongside women’s limited political empowerment are two leading causes for the country to be lagging in such global gender equality indicators. At a large cost to the economy, the existence of archaic gender norms that promulgate women’s unpaid care work often exclude women from the formal labor force. This paper dissects the socio-economic and socio-political factors …

Globalization And Migration: The Great Gender Equalizer?, Akm Ahsan Ullah, Sharifah Nurul Huda Alkaff, Shirley Chin Wei Lee, Diotima Chattoraj, Jannatul Ferdous

Journal of International Women's Studies

Globalization has been extensively debated in a range of contexts, from trade to borders, international relations, and conflict. It appears to be a positive force for women as many scholars contend that it has offered women new opportunities, thus enhancing greater gender equality in many countries where traditional patriarchal structures are firmly entrenched. However, some scholars are more skeptical of the benefits of globalization for women. They note that despite women gaining an increasing share of employment opportunities in a globalized world, the expected redistribution of domestic, household, and childcare responsibilities often did not materialize. They also argue that multinational …

Global Women’S Precarity, Borderlands, Decoloniality, And Transformative Change, Vivienne Tailor, Nupur Ray, Goodness Thandi Ntuli, Lihini Ratwatte

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Menstruation Products And Perceptions: Breaking Through The Crimson Ceiling, Ava Colleran

Young Historians Conference

This paper examines different views on menstruation throughout history and their effects on social, political, and economic landscapes. The ancient Greeks, Romans, and Mayans all believed in the supposed ‘magical powers’ of menstrual blood. These societies held their own ideas on the limits of these magical abilities, and the good and evil forces they could be used for. Throughout these ancient societies, menstruation was used as a justification for the increased control of the state and men over women’s bodies. If menstrual blood did have these magical powers, it was a power that needed to be limited and controlled so …

Woman, Queer, Jewish: The Sociopolitical Importance And Impact Of Identity Labels, Megan Polun

Honors Projects in English and Cultural Studies

In this thesis, I trace and analyze the historical, social, and political uses of three identity labels: woman, queer, and Jewish. These three identity categories are personally important to me because I identify as a queer, Jewish woman. The questions motivating this analysis are as follows: How have these words been defined and who gets to define them? What has it meant historically to move through the world with one of these labels, and what does it look like today? What qualifies someone to identify with one of these labels, and what experiences or qualities do we share? What challenges …

Female Politicians And The Way That Gender Stereotypes And The Male-Dominated Power Structure Influence The Way They Run Their Campaigns, Morgan Marckres

Honors Projects in History and Social Sciences

Women only make up 28.5% of Congress even though they make up 50.5% of the population of the United States. This disparity indicates that there are significant barriers that female politicians face when they are running for office. To look for why, an extensive literature review was conducted that gave context about the gender stereotypes that female candidates face and how they navigate the male template of power. Using the material from the literature review, the campaigns of three women and three men who won their election in the recent 2022 midterms were analyzed. The candidate’s campaigns were then compared. …

Adapting The Classics: Making The Invisible Visible, Kate Isabel Foley

Theater Honors Papers

This project seeks to answer the question, “How can a writer use an old story to shine new light on modern issues and make the invisible visible?” My adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice is a genderbent retelling with queer themes while my adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan is a dark reimagining of Mrs. Darling as an antihero protagonist who must become Captain Hook to try to save her children. Both my research and these two plays focus on bringing visibility to marginalized communities, specifically women and members of the queer community.

Women In The Construction Industry, Olivia Emond

Honors Projects in Management

The construction industry is a male dominated field that has been known for its masculine culture. Women have faced many barriers when entering this field of work due to this culture and being the minority. This study will look into the motivational factors that make women want to pursue a career in the construction industry. This research will look at female construction workers and how their experiences have helped shape their perception on the industry. The following study will analyze how females have combated the masculine culture in the industry and what makes females want to obtain leadership positions. This …

Mental Health In Sexual And Ethnic Minorities, Aaliyah Bailey, Ashlyn Bowers, Ashley Clark, Cassidy Paquette, Garrett Bassham

Epsilon Sigma at-Large Research Conference

Evidence Based Health Promotion Scientific Abstract

Introduction & Background:

Mental Health resources are scarce in rural areas. In 2020, suicide was the third leading cause of death for African Americans ages 15 to 24; this is only one example of the mental health disparities experienced by minority groups.

Purpose Statement and Research Question:

We saught to answer: “Are there greater mental health disparities among sexual and ethnic minorities, such as LGBTQ+ groups or Middle Eastern women, compared to their heterosexual, majority counterparts; if so, is there anything we can do about the issue as nurses?”

Literature Review:

To match the …

Sex In The Cities: A Comparative Analysis Of Vienna And The United States’ Efforts In Gender Mainstreaming Transportation, Sarah Miller

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

The paper focuses on the differences in transportation systems between the United States and Vienna, Austria. Research shows that women have been an overlooked group of people within cities. Due to this, cities have not been designed for them and an example of this is transportation. Some cities like Vienna, Austria have made it their mission to create gender-equitable cities. To better understand this problem women were interviewed who had experience in the Viennese and American systems to analyze the differences. Also, certain government agencies were contacted to understand this problem from a governance standpoint. All of the interviews supported …

The Guangzhou Abolition Of Prostitution Movement And Thought In The Republic Of China From The 1920s To 1930s, Rui Li

Madison Historical Review

The 1920s and 1930s were the peaks of the abolition of the prostitution movement in Guangzhou during the Chinese Republican era. This paper will analyze articles from different sources of mass media and administrative reports of municipal government to restore public opinion and even specific measures to abolish prostitution in Guangzhou at that time. At the same time, the public opinion generated by different intellectuals and the actions taken by the Guangzhou city government to abolish prostitution is used to discuss the certainty of the existence of prostitution and the difficulties that would be encountered in abolishing it. In turn, …

Walking The Digital Line Of Profit And Empowerment: Period Products On Social Media, Kaylee Stanton

22nd Annual Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2023)

Instagram posts from mainstream and alternative menstrual product companies showcase varying styles of branded advertising including product placement, education, and artistic expression. Through an analysis of a collection of the most liked posts from Always, Tampax, U by Kotex, August, and The Divacup, I argue that the combination of environments between Instagram and femvertising results in contradictory and often ineffective messaging about periods where companies struggle between capitalizing on period stigma to sell products and facilitating authentic empowerment. These unique positions of the brands reveal a need to reshape empowerment and display the pitfalls of feminist advertising on neoliberal social …