Digital Commons Network^™

Navigating Intersectional Identities: Mental Health Challenges And Accessibility To Mental Health Care Among Sub-Saharan Migrant Women In Morocco, Soraya Babahaji

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since the beginning of the 21st century, as Morocco transitions from solely being a transit point to Europe to becoming a destination country for Sub-Saharan migrants, policies have been implemented to improve migrant integration. Morocco launched the National Strategy on Immigration and Asylum in 2015 which strives to ensure accessibility to essential services for migrants, such as education, healthcare, and integration into the workforce. In addition, through the 2013 New Migration Policy framework, King Mohammed VI aims to “include avenues for regularization” to help migrants integrate into Moroccan society.

This paper addresses how intersecting factors of identity can lead to …

Best Integrated Writing Spring 2024 - Complete Edition, Wright State University School Of Humanities And Cultural Studies, Kristie Mckiernan, Tracy Smith

Best Integrated Writing

Best Integrated Writing includes excellent student writing from Integrated Writing courses taught at Wright State University. This is the first issue after a 5 year hiatus.

Make It Funky For Me: Black British Women’S Explorations Of Britishness, Womanhood, And Artistry Through 2000s Music, Monique Charles

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

2000s Britain was an interesting and expansive time musically for Black Britain (Bradley 2013), as underground music gained traction in mainstream spaces. This article examines the context in which Black British women were able to cross over into the British mainstream and explores how U.K. garage and U.K. funky artists expressed their creativity, autonomy, womanhood, Blackness, and Britishness. Female U.K. garage artists set a precedent in the creation of “new” diverse identities for Black British women artists, but artists in both underground and mainstream music scenes were also forced to contend with restrictive and harmful misogynoir.

No Ela Without Ella: Understanding The Naming And Crafting Of Gendered Subjectivities In Puerto Rico, Carmín Quijano Seda

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

At the beginning of the 20th century, the official metadiscourses about gendered job titles sedimented the idea that names or indexes pointing to women should be interpreted as unskilled, cheap, or even free labor in Puerto Rico (Azize, 1985; Muñiz Mas, 1998; Baerga-Santini, 1999). For this reason, Puerto Rican women organized and fought for equality in work settings. Furthermore, they became more active in politics and the government. Nevertheless, the Estado Libre Asociado (ELA) and local media discourses and interpretations about women’s labor discouraged them from participating in more senior positions (Acevedo Gaud, 2012).

However, this interpretation seemed to have …

Racial-Sexual Normativity In/As Narratives Of “The Human”, Jeri Brand

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis synthesizes Sylvia Wynter’s and Judith Butler’s models of identity-formation to analyze discourses of racialization and sex/gender difference in normative scientific theories of “the human.” I argue that eugenicist white supremacism and sex/gender normativity form a single conceptual framework – what I call “the racial-sexual matrix” – throughout these scientific narratives. I then trace an epistemological consistency across 18^th- through 21^st-century scientific literature as evidence for the ongoing legacies of coloniality, white supremacy, and eugenics in current hegemonic sex/gender ontologies. Finally, I contend that the racial-sexual matrix functions as an index of proper humanness not …

The Emancipation Of A Harem Girl: Resisting The Gendered Division Of Space In Wafa Faith Hallam’S The Road From Morocco, Rachid Lamghari

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article examines the challenging of Orientalist and Western discourses and of patriarchal authority over Eastern women in Wafa Faith Hallam’s memoir The Road from Morocco. The conventional representation of these women is revisited as Saadia in the memoir debunks the passivity and docility with which they are associated by exercising her agency and trespassing the sacred cultural and physical frontiers. Regardless of being introduced to confinement in the private space of a harem since her infancy, Saadia manages to liberate herself first through leaving the allegedly sacred frontiers of the house and trespassing in public space which is discursively …

Gender Empowerment In Transoceanic Feminine Folklore And Shrines: A Kin Study Of Siddi Women’S Participation In Mai Misra Worship In Gujarat, India, Sayan Dey, Tias Maity, Tanmay Srivastava

Journal of International Women's Studies

The term Siddi refers to the African diaspora communities in India, who initially arrived in the 13th century with the Islamic invaders in Gujarat (then Sindh) as slaves, palace guards, traders, and musicians from the eastern parts of Africa, including Ethiopia, Zanzibar, Sudan, and Tanzania. In the 15th century, another group of Africans from South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique were brought to India by the Portuguese colonizers as slaves. The majority of the histories of the Siddi community are androcentric in nature, focusing on the contributions of African men and male spiritual figures towards the development of the Siddi community …

The Authors

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

Short professional biographies of the Contributors: Dimitra Andrianou, Giacomo Bardelli, Magali An Berthon, Tina Boloti, Cecilie Brøns, Ana Cabrera-Lafuente, Francesca Coletti, Roxana Coman, Catarina Costeira, Cristina Cumbo, Camilla Cziffery Nielsen, Klara Dankova, Anna Maria Desiderio, Kerstin Droß-Krüpe, Arianna Esposito, Astrid Fendt, Nade Genevska Brachikj, Francisco B. Gomes, Judith Goris, Audrey Gouy, Karina Grömer, Morten Grymer-Hansen, Mary Harlow, Susanna Harris, Sophia Larissa Hayda, Angela Huang, Floor Huisman, Alina Iancu, Zofia Kaczmarek, Marisa Kerbizi, Meghan Korten, Tetiana Krupa, Karolina Anna Kulpa, Lena Larsson Lovén, Ronja Lau, Yuliia Lazorenko, Susanne Lervad, Petra Linscheid, Christina Margariti, Maria João Melo, Elena Miramontes Seijas, Leyre Morgado-Roncal, …

Searching For The Exotic: Textiles, Orientalism, And Identities, Ana Cabrera, Roxana Coman, Karolina A. Kulpa, Tim Parry-Williams

Textile Crossroads: Exploring European Clothing, Identity, and Culture across Millennia

Textiles, with their economic, sartorial, and identity-constructing functions, have long been at the center of cultural discourses, whether narrative or visual. Objects of desire, but also objects of curiosity, textiles have been the topic of costume books, offered in diplomatic exchanges, collected by private collectors and museums alike, and have traveled, sometimes as sample books. Their Othering function did not only differentiate between members of different civilizations, but also the members of the same society, where clothing was used to signal rank and function. The case studies presented intend to elaborate further on the role and symbolism associated with textiles, …

Feminist Geography: Impact And Inclusion In Geographical Research, Michael Atuahene Djan

Nebraska Anthropologist

Feminist theories have significantly influenced the field of geography, challenging traditional notions of objectivity and shedding light on the intricate relationships between place, gender, and society. The emergence of feminist geography has been crucial in advocating for the inclusion of women's perspectives, countering historical marginalization in academic debates. This systematic review aims to summarize and assess the impact of feminist theory on geography, exploring topics such as gendered spaces, feminist methodologies, and the integration of women's voices in research. Utilizing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) Checklist, the study employed a thematic analysis of secondary sources. …

Intercultural And International Communication In The Surrogacy Industry, Jessica Baker

Undergraduate Scholarship

Understanding the relationship between intercultural communication, international communication, and the proper way to discuss sensitive topics (infertility, surrogacy, LGBTQ+) in the surrogacy industry leads to strong communication. When communicating internationally or interculturally, there may be challenges such as language barriers, cultural differences, and cultural taboos. In order to avoid uncomfortable situations or miscommunication, knowing how to change the way we communicate with Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT) is a necessity to navigate important conversations. In the surrogacy industry, knowing how to communicate interculturally and being culturally competent about sensitive topics such as infertility or loss can determine the success of a …

Faithful Partner: The Role And Agency Of Pastors' Wives In The Protestant Reformation, Elizabeth M. Dubendorfer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis explores the critical yet often overlooked roles of pastors' wives during the Protestant Reformation, focusing on three key figures: Katharina von Bora, Katharina Schütz Zell, and Elisabeth Cruciger. It examines how these women navigated the complexities of Reformation-era Germany, blending traditional gender roles with new practices that emerged from their unique positions as clerical spouses. By investigating their personal histories, theological contributions, and community engagements, the thesis demonstrates that these pioneering women established a distinct archetype for pastors' wives. This archetype was characterized by a profound commitment to faith, an expanded view of motherhood and wifely duties, and …

The State Of Women In The Media: Representation, Coverage And Framing Of Women In East African Media, Aga Khan University, Graduate School Of Media And Communications

Graduate School of Media and Communications

This research examined the representation of women in East African news media organisations and the coverage and framing of women in top East African newspapers, TV and digital platforms. The study is premised on existent literature on the intricate interplay between media framing, coverage dynamics, and the representation of women in newsrooms’ workforce, given the consequential role all these play in shaping public perceptions of gender issues and shifting norms. Through a comprehensive methodology that incorporated content analysis, document analysis and interviews on the responsibilities and assigned roles of women in media organisations, the research presents findings from a content …

A Litany For Survival: Exploring Activism, Feminism, And Collective Identity In Women's Movements In Pakistan, Nida Zehra

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

Beginning from the history of women's activism and movements in Pakistan, to how differing forms of activism between the old and young generations are shaping the women's movement, this thesis sheds light on the Aurat (Woman) March in Pakistan, that first began in 2018 as an occasion to celebrate International Women's Day, that has heralded a fourth wave of feminism, began a new form of activism, and has been seen as a continuation of the women’s movement in modern-day Pakistan. My research studies its dynamics and the young Pakistani movement actors of today. It analyzes interviews of Aurat March participants …

Dishes Of Yesteryear: Memories, Stories, And Representations Of The Past Within Food Media, Diana Willis Bottomley

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

In 1963, Julia Child revolutionized cooking television. Child’s The French Chef, which ran for ten years on the Boston public television station, WGBH, changed how American’s viewed, produced, and consumed food. And in the sixty years since Child’s debut, food media has grown in scope and popularity, increasingly altering how we communicate identity in and through food and foodways. In this dissertation, I examine the relation between food, media, and memory, with particular attention to: how the past moderates the connection between food and identity; how food media produce a sense of place integral to identity; and how food …

Shaping Socially Engaged Art Practice And Critical Pedagogy In The Uk Arts And Cultural Sector: An Auto/Biographical Framing Of Class, Gender And Political Activism, Chrissie Tiller

Doctoral

Situated at the intersection of critical pedagogy, radical theatre and political activism, this PhD thesis reflects critically on a series of publications and an interdisciplinary counterhegemonic socially engaged art practice between 2010-20. Mobilising the auto/biographical as a conceptual framework for critical analysis, the thesis addresses questions of systemic inequalities, cultural democracy and social transformation in the UK arts and cultural sector. By examining my lived experience through the analytical lenses of intersectionality and feminist standpoint theory, the thesis foregrounds how interconnecting oppressions of gender and class have contributed to the formation of my creative practice and its pedagogical interventions, constituting …

Leaning In And Bouncing Back: Neoliberal Feminism And The Work Of Self-Transformation In Ottessa Moshfegh’S My Year Of Rest And Relaxation (2018) And Halle Butler’S The New Me (2019), Isabel Sykes

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article is concerned with the capacity of contemporary fiction to reveal and oppose the ubiquity of work in Western culture. I conduct a comparative literary analysis of two contemporary novels that expose how neoliberal rationality has transformed work into an all-encompassing project, endorsed by a corresponding manifestation of feminism. Rather than challenging gendered labor relations through collective action, this “neoliberal feminism” incites women to turn their critical gaze within and transform themselves into resilient citizens and workers. Its sensibility is disseminated through popular literature, from “chick-lit” to self-help books, via narratives of physical and psychological self-transformation. This article builds …

“I’M One Of Those Crazy Feminists!”: Young Women’S Embodiment Of The Feminist Killjoy During The Transition From Secondary School To Higher Education, Abigail Wells

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Performance Art As A Site Of Socio-Spatial Resistance: Challenging Geographies Of Gendered Violence, Egle Karpaviciute

Journal of International Women's Studies

By researching the intersections of art, geography, and violence, this paper interrogates performance art and its capacity to question one’s gendered existence in space/place. Through an analysis of two performance art pieces—J. Hawkes’s Playing Kate (2018) and Cassils’s PISSED (2017)—I explore the connections between art, gendered bodies, and space/place, while establishing a link between and across feminist and trans* gendered tyrannies. While discussing feminist and trans* performance art, this paper probes the felt and lived harms that are experienced by feminist women and trans* individuals in gendered locales and addresses ways in which art can challenge socio-spatial violence. Overall, through …

Sober Women’S Feminist Resistance To Alcohol Marketing And Cultural Representations Of Women’S Drinking Practices, Claire Davey

Journal of International Women's Studies

Alcohol is marketed to women as a glamorous and empowering reward for juggling the demands of work and family life. This essay explores the ways in which women who do not drink reject the feminization of alcohol and drinking practices and frame this rejection within discourses of feminist resistance. This essay draws on data collected as part of a mixed-method ethnographic research project that investigates women’s use of, and participation in, online sobriety communities. Findings suggest that women who lead or utilize online sobriety communities have considerable awareness of the feminized marketing of alcohol, and some express strong ideological opposition …

Leighton-Cory, Jocelyn, Bella Shannon

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

Jocelyn identifies as a Queer woman but also aligns with the label Gender-Queer. They are 40 years old and currently live in the city of South Portland where they serve as a member on the City Council and also work as a managing director at Space Gallery in downtown Portland. Jocelyn was born in Bangor, Maine, and lived there for a year before moving briefly to South Princeton, Maine, and eventually settling in Princeton, Maine, where they grew up. Jocelyn was raised by their single mother along with their older brother and younger sister. They received their B.A. in Arts …

Revisiting Marriage And Motherhood: Celebrating Choices In Tribhanga, Meenakshi Jha, Katyayani

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Natchathiram Nagargirathu (The Star Is Moving): Challenging The Stereotypes Of Dalit Women In Film, Chandrakant Kamble

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

We Deliver: The Condition Of The Woman Academic In India Today, Ananya Dutta Gupta

Journal of International Women's Studies

This auto-ethnographic essay draws upon Foucault’s Archaeology of Knowledge to discuss the condition of Indian women in the Humanities in academia today. While acknowledging the encouragingly gender-inclusive projections in India’s National Education Policy vision statement from 2020, I argue for more probing engagement with the concrete reality of being a woman teacher and researcher in the increasingly competitive and corporatized milieu of higher education. My methodology has been a close reading of the NEP’s vision statement to analyze recurrences of terms and concepts as pointers to its discursive field. I argue that this policy statement implicitly envisions an empowered new-age …

Public Pedagogy, Autotheory, And Egyptian Female Podcasters, Yasmeen Ebada, Kim Fox

Faculty Journal Articles

This research examines six Egyptian female podcasters whose work sits at the theoretical intersection of public pedagogy and autotheory, loosely defined as a first-person narrative form of feminist expression used to challenge hegemonic discourses as a means of activism. The two theories supplement each other, especially since feminism aims to abolish sexism, and public pedagogy is a means to obtain that result. The researchers adopted American-Canadian cultural critic Henry Giroux’s (2004) theory of public pedagogy because it allows for critical dialogue to address discrimination and push for egalitarian transfiguration. Autotheory was chosen for its relation to the podcasters' life experiences …

From Patriarchal Stereotypes To Matriarchal Pleasures Of Hybridity: Representation Of A Muslim Family In Berlin, Rahime Özgün Kehya Dr

Journal of Religion & Film

Sinan Çetin’s blockbuster Berlin in Berlin (1993) is a Turkish-German co-production. In contrast to certain representational tendencies with German orientalism or Turkish occidentalism, it deconstructs the intersectional structures of migration, religion, and gender. The portrayal of religion in films about Turkish-German labour migration is a kind of cultural narcissism often projected into national cinema by denigrating the faith of the other and glorifying one’s own religion. However, perspectives at such intersections are critical and require sensitivity in filmmaking, as films can create prejudice or help build peaceful relationships around these sensitive issues. The paper employs discourse analysis in linking Derrida’s …

Havens And Covens: Pregnancy, Witchcraft, And Female Power In Cotton Mather’S “Retired Elizabeth”, Brittney A. Hatchett

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

Over the decades, scholars have been holding two adjacent conversations about witchcraft and gender in Cotton Mather’s works that surprisingly have not been put in dialogue. On the one hand, they have examined Mather’s witchcraft ideology and motivations for involving himself in the Salem witch trials. On the other hand, scholars have discussed how Mather seeks to exert control over women spiritually and physically. However, no one has yet explored how these conversations might converge. I suggest that we can see how Mather intertwines discourses of witchcraft and gender in the section titled “Retired Elizabeth” in The Angel of Bethesda. …

Navigating Cultural Crossroads: Exploring Fictional And Interview Narratives Of Nigerian Immigrant Women Living In The Southern United States, Tolulope Adeusi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nigerian immigrant women undergo constant navigation of their personal identities when conflicting cultural dynamics sometimes engender a balancing act between their personal beliefs and the ongoing process of acculturation. Their new Southern environment offers its own traditional mores, as well as greater opportunities for economic advancement. This places Nigerian Immigrant Women in a position where they must reconcile their desires for personal independence and empowerment with societal expectations that emphasize more traditional gender roles. This study explores the interview narratives of Nigerian immigrant women, reinforced by fictional accounts from prolific African women writers, which provides a more nuanced discussion of …

The Changing Contours Of The Indian Public Sphere: Courtesans, Culture, And The British Invasion Of Oudh In Kenizé Mourad’S In The City Of Gold And Silver, Anurag Kumar, Isha Malhotra, Rishav Bali

Journal of International Women's Studies

The article explores the role of women in the Indian freedom struggle, particularly Begam Hazarat Mahal of Lucknow through Kenizé Mourad’s In the City of Gold and Silver (2010). The text explicitly and implicitly foregrounds the role of tawaifs (courtesans) in the culture and the literature of the public sphere prior to 1857 or the first Indian freedom struggle. Their participation in the freedom struggle was a response to the British attempt to reduce their role to strictly economic and sexual purposes. The article imbricates the issues of nationalism, gender, and sexuality by mining the invisible contributions of various groups …

Excavation Of Silenced Voices: (Re)Visiting Menka Shivdasani’S Frazil Through The Modern Feminist Discourse Of Indian Writing In English, Rangnath Thakur, Binod Mishra

Journal of International Women's Studies

The postmodernist phase of Indian English writing is characterized by the voices of many strong women expressing a feminist exploration of alternative discourses in women’s writing which are distinguished from the patriarchal framework of literary discourse. Along with Kamala Das, Meena Alexander, Imtiaz Dharkar, and Eunice de Souza, Menka Shivdasani is an active voice in contemporary Indian English poetry. Shivdasani is a prolific poet who has written poetry on various social, cultural, religious, and personal issues. Her four poetry collections include Nirvana at Ten Rupees (1990), Stet (2001), Safe House (2015), and Frazil (2018). Through her poetry, she has endeavored …