Arts and Humanities Commons^™

‘Seeing Through A Glass Darkly’: Wollstonecraft And The Confinements Of Eighteenth-Century Femininity, Naomi Jayne Garner

Journal of International Women's Studies

This essay applies Luce Irigaray’s theories of the speculum and subversive mimesis to Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman. I argue that Wollstonecraft reveals the limitations of eighteenth-century femininity by using her text as a mirror that distorts and also reflects the image of womanhood at the men who have prescribed an idealised version of femininity. Anticipating Irigaray, Wollstonecraft exposes and undermines this male ideal through mimicry of the masculine position. I begin by assessing modern interpretations of Wollstonecraft’s feminism, her characterisation as a masculine writer and how this can be viewed as a deliberate feminist tactic …

Introduction: Winning And Short-Listed Entries From The 2007 Feminist And Women’S Studies Association Annual Student Essay Competition, Yvette Taylor, Michelle Addison

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Women’S Political Representation In Post-Conflict Rwanda: A Politics Of Inclusion Or Exclusion?, Carey Leigh Hogg

Journal of International Women's Studies

Though references abound to Rwandan women holding the world’s highest percentage of parliamentary representation at 56%, what is rarely addressed is the confluence of two opposing trends in Rwanda’s post-conflict environment: that the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF)-led government has advocated for women’s greater political inclusion under the premise that women will ‘better’ the political climate, while simultaneously excluding any form of political dissent or ethnic identification. This article ventures into uncharted territory by asking two questions: first, does the discourse surrounding the Government of National Unity’s (GNU) campaign to increase women’s participation in formal politics uncritically assume that women parliamentarians …

The Search For An African Feminist Ethic: A Zimbabwean Perspective, Fainos Mangena

Journal of International Women's Studies

In the field of ethics, women have been portrayed as inferior to men due to androcentric attitudes (male-dominated ethics) that seems to define men as custodians of what is right or wrong. This andro-centric ethic has taken women out of the academic limelight as they are portrayed as less able to make valuable contributions in philosophy (ethics) and other fields of academic inquiry. It is encouraging to see feminist movements emerging, in the twenty-first century, to challenge this misplaced kind of thinking. This challenge is laudable and in this paper, I make an attempt to show that while women in …

Abuse Of Lower Castes In South India: The Institution Of Devadasi, Maria Costanza Torri

Journal of International Women's Studies

The ‘devadasi’ system has been the object of several studies and is quite controversial. Some authors, particularly in the past associated the ‘devadasi’ with power and prestige, other, more lately, with degradation and prostitution. This article firstly explores the origin of ‘devadasi’ practice and its evolution over time as well as its religious and ritual meaning, while attempting to identify the main factors explaining the signification of the ‘devadasi’ system in the past. Secondly it analyses the social status and economic condition of ‘devadasis’ and draws a global view of the reasons why young girls are still today consecrated in …

Combating Violence Against Women (Vaw) In South Kivu: A Critical Analysis, Giulia D’Odorico, Nathalie Holvoet

Journal of International Women's Studies

During the on-going civil conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo or DRC), which has raged on and off since 1996 and throughout the post-2002 transition period, thousands of cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence against women have been reported. Drawing on secondary data and evidence from our own field research, this article describes and assesses aid delivery to victims of sexual violence. Aid practices on the ground, as well as the underlying policy framework are critically analysed through a gender lens. It is argued that the lack of a gender perspective in the relevant …

The Challenge Of Studying Sexual Harassment In Higher Education: An Experience From The University Of Malawi’S Chancellor College, Happy Mickson Kayuni

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper is an outcome of an empirical research study conducted in November 2007 and April 2008 to analyse the extent and factors contributing to sexual harassment in the University of Malawi’s Chancellor College. The study set out to answer some of the following research questions: (1) how does the Chancellor College community understand sexual harassment? (2) What are the extent, nature and forms of sexual harassment in Chancellor College? (3) In which ways are sexual harassment complaints handled? (4) What are the contents of institutional policies and procedures that focus on sexual harassment? Despite such a properly outlined purpose …

Gender Standards V. Democratic Standards: Examples And Counter Examples, Amel Mili

Journal of International Women's Studies

Common wisdom, and development theory hold that gender standards and democratic standards go hand in hand, in the sense that countries that uphold high standards of gender equality are the same as countries that uphold high standards of democratic governance. Even though this principle appears intuitively appealing, it is disproved by empirical measures I have collected on the recent history of the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia). In this paper, I report on my empirical experiments and submit tentative justifications for their outcome.

A Study On The Empowerment Of Women Construction Workers As Masons In Tamil Nadu, India, Annette Barnabas, D. Joseph Anbarasu, Paul S. Clifford

Journal of International Women's Studies

The construction sector has the largest number of unorganised labourers in India next only to agricultural sector. Women form half the workforce and by choice or by design they are not allowed to acquire specific skills that may enable them to become masons. Women join as unskilled workers and remain unskilled till the end of their working life span. However, men get training and systematically upgrade their construction skills to graduate as masons, supervisors and contractors. A study was conducted on the career progress of 440 men construction workers and 440 women construction workers and 51 building contractors to find …

When Personal Dreams Derail: Rural Cameroonian Women Aspire For Their Children, Akuri John, Susan Weinger, Barbara Barton

Journal of International Women's Studies

Data gathered from a convenience sample of 36 women who reside in rural villages lying on the outskirts of Buea, Cameroon is not consistent with the “culture of poverty” proposition which states that personal characteristics of the poor tie them to a life of poverty. These findings run counter to an assumed “culture of poverty” in which persons do not hold career aspirations and socialize their children with attitudes that assure the generational transmission of poverty. Respondents, as a case vignette illustrates, conveyed that besides marriage they had wanted a career in order to achieve a living wage. After their …

Changing The Canon: Chinua Achebe’S Women, The Public Sphere And The Politics Of Inclusion, Uzoechi Nwagbara

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper examines the subjugation of Nigerian women with regard to how their political marginalisation constricts the public sphere, the resource centre of public opinion, which strengthens the ideals of democracy and good governance. The political marginalisation of women in Nigeria is a rectilinear upshot of their low participation in government and politics necessitated by patriarchy. This patriarchal practice has animated the urgency of expanded public sphere as well as feminism, an ideological, aesthetic and cultural movement, steeped in agitating for the rights of women and expanding the frontiers of their participation in the political process. In the political novel …

Examining Empowerment Among Indian Widows: A Qualitative Study Of The Narratives Of Hindu Widows In North Indian Ashrams, Nimi Mastey

Journal of International Women's Studies

Contemporary discourse on widowhood in India tends to concentrate heavily on quantitative evaluation. Discussion of the narratives of the women is confined to more popular medium, and tends to focus on the need of the women to be empowered. By simply visiting ashrams in Vrindavan it becomes clear that the term “empowerment” is vastly up to interpretation. This study focuses on the models of empowerment applied by two different widow ashrams: Ma-dham and Chetan Bihar. Through obtaining narratives of the women’s lives, I attempt to assess the success of the ashrams in “empowering” the widows, and question the necessity and …

Women And Politics In Kuwait, Muhamad S. Olimat

Journal of International Women's Studies

On May 17, 2008, Kuwait conducted its Twelfth election of its National Assembly. The most remarkable aspect of the election was the active participation of women, who gained their right to vote in May 2005. This paper argues that the main impediment for women’s inability to win any seat in the 11th and 12th Assemblies is their failure to work with each other and support their political rights. The objective of this article is to examine the Kuwaiti women’s struggle for political rights, their participation in the last two elections and investigate their inability to win any seats, in spite …

Book Review: How What You Eat Defines Who You Are: The Food Theme In Four American Women Writers, Jamie Sherman

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of How What You Eat Defines Who You Are: The Food Theme in Four American Women Writers by Ya-hui Irenna Chang

Book Review: Re-Defining Feminisms, Voichita Nachescu

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Re-defining Feminisms, edited by Ranjana Harish and V. Bharathi Harishankar

Book Review: Power, Resistance And Women Politicians In Cambodia: Discourses Of Emancipation, Debarati Sen

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Power, Resistance and Women Politicians in Cambodia: Discourses of Emancipation, by Mona Lilja

Book Review: Enchanted Lives, Enchanted Objects: American Women Collectors And The Making Of Culture 1800-1940, Beth Muellner

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Enchanted Lives, Enchanted Objects: American Women Collectors and the Making of Culture 1800-1940 by Dianne Sachko Macleod

Book Review: Liberating Shahrazad: Feminism, Postcolonialism, And Islam, Sanaa Benmessaoud

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Liberating Shahrazad: Feminism, Postcolonialism, and Islam by Suzanne Gauch

Book Review: If I Could Write This In Fire, Alexis Pauline Gumbs

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of If I Could Write this in Fire by Michelle Cliff

Book Review: “Baad Bitches” And Sassy Supermamas: Black Power Action Films, Chloe Wayne

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of “Baad Bitches” and Sassy Supermamas: Black Power Action Films by Stephane Dunn

Communication Dimensions Of Supervisor-Subordinate Conflict: Perceptions By Subordinates Of Sex/Gender Differences In Supervisors’ Conflict Strategies, Maria Del Pilar Montoya

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

My personal interest about conflict in the workplace and its relation with sex/gender started early in my first years as a communication practitioner, and later became a topic for my academic research. After I did not find satisfactory answers among the popular beliefs and perceptions to the inquiries about conflict in the workplace, I turned my search to what the social sciences have investigated. I have to recognize that at the beginning my internal explanations about the reasons why conflict with supervisors happened were biased on traumatic conflict experiences with female supervisors as a participant and an observer, in which …

Mentor's Introduction [To Maria Del Pilar Montoya's Paper], April Chatham-Carpenter

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Pilar’s paper was initially developed in a graduate-level Quantitative Research Methods class. She surveyed nontraditional students at a university about their perceptions of sex/gender differences in female supervisor’s conflict strategies. The paper does a good job overviewing the literature in the field and applies an already recognized scale to explore male and female students’ perceptions of their female bosses. This work serves as a foundation for Pilar’s ongoing thesis project, looking at the role of sex and gender in supervisory conflict behaviors.

Family Affairs Newsletter 2009-08-15, Jean Vermette

Family Affairs newsletter (2004-2016)

FAMILY AFFAIRS was a free, twice-a-month, social activities newsletter for the GLBTQI (gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans/queer/intersex) community, sent out around the 1st and 15th of each month. It covered the State of Maine only. The list was begun and maintained for many years by Jean Vermette in Bangor, and later operated by Zack Paakkonen of Portland. Over the years it evolved from a social activities newsletter into a business directory, classified ad service, and community bulletin board.

Family Affairs Newsletter 2009-08-01, Jean Vermette

Family Affairs newsletter (2004-2016)

FAMILY AFFAIRS was a free, twice-a-month, social activities newsletter for the GLBTQI (gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans/queer/intersex) community, sent out around the 1st and 15th of each month. It covered the State of Maine only. The list was begun and maintained for many years by Jean Vermette in Bangor, and later operated by Zack Paakkonen of Portland. Over the years it evolved from a social activities newsletter into a business directory, classified ad service, and community bulletin board.

Cuando Te Pierdes En Mí, Carolina E. Alonso

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

En esta tesis se presenta una coleccion de veintiseis poemas de mi autoria que tienen como base una tematica lesbica. En estos se abarcan subtemas como la sensualidad femenina, el amor, y el desamor. Ademas del poemario, se incluye un ensayo referente al desarrollo de la literatura homosexual, enfocandose en la poesia lesbica contemporanea en Mexico a manera de ars poetica. De igual forma se adentra en la importancia de los movimientos sociales y politicos que iniciaron en el siglo XX, los cuales ayudaron al desarrollo y propagation de la literatura lesbica.

Mapping The Global Landscape In Women's Diasporic Writing, Martha Addante

Dissertations

As a contribution to the theory of cognitive mapping, the dissertation examines the ways in which contemporary novels by women writers of diasporic literature offer new conceptual maps of the present global space. This study argues there is a need for alternative mapping strategies that locate the female diasporic subject within the new global political economy. Fredric Jameson's theory of cognitive mapping and Arjun Appadurai's model of global flows provide a useful framework for mapping global space, yet each must be filtered through a feminist critique and modified by a feminist politics. Ultimately, the dissertation argues for a feminist theory …

Family Affairs Newsletter 2009-07-15, Jean Vermette

Family Affairs newsletter (2004-2016)

FAMILY AFFAIRS was a free, twice-a-month, social activities newsletter for the GLBTQI (gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans/queer/intersex) community, sent out around the 1st and 15th of each month. It covered the State of Maine only. The list was begun and maintained for many years by Jean Vermette in Bangor, and later operated by Zack Paakkonen of Portland. Over the years it evolved from a social activities newsletter into a business directory, classified ad service, and community bulletin board.

Glbt Center Staff Meeting Minutes – 9 July 2009, Joseph A. Santiago, Eva Jones, Andrew Winters

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

GLBT Center meeting notes, updates, and tasks.Tally of people for the day trip to visit UCONN’s Rainbow Center and to find out about their GLBT Programs and Services.

Glbt Center Staff Meeting Minutes – 2 July 2009, Joseph A. Santiago, Eva Jones, Andrew Winters

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

GLBT Center meeting notes, updates, and tasks. This post also includes notes on the Welcome Project Revision and GLBT Center Mission.

Feminist Perspectives On Rape, Rebecca Whisnant

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Although the proper definition of rape is itself a matter of some dispute, rape is generally understood to involve sexual penetration of a person by force and/or without that person's consent. Rape is committed overwhelmingly by men and boys, usually against women and girls, and sometimes against other men and boys. (For the most part, this entry will assume male perpetrators and female victims.)

Virtually all feminists agree that rape is a grave wrong, one too often ignored, mischaracterized, and legitimized. Feminists differ, however, about how the crime of rape is best understood, and about how rape should be combated …