Arts and Humanities Commons^™

“It Has Made Me Stronger”: The Strengths Of Trans And Nonbinary Teachers, Heather K. Mcentarfer, Matthew D. Rice

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This study draws from two data sets collected from interviews with trans and nonbinary (TGNB) teachers. It highlights the strengths related to gender identity and gender history that the teachers bring to schools and classrooms, as identified by the teachers and the researchers. Strengths identified included multiple ways of supporting LGBTQ+ students (especially TGNB students), connecting with all students, greater self-awareness, and seeing beyond “boxes.” The study adapts Pennell’s (2016a, 2016b) queer cultural capital, introducing and exploring TGNB cultural capital.

Viewing Ai From The Bottom: A Feminist Political Economic Critique Of A Technocentric Pedagogy, Micky Lee, Benita Dederichs

Feminist Pedagogy

A feminist political economic (FPE) perspective has a more profound concern than cheating: it argues that AI is not a neutral tool. AI constitutes social relations that prevent certain populations from fully participating in political, economic, and civic lives while obscuring unbalanced power relations produced and reproduced in a capitalistic society. This commentary first points out how AI may reinforce gender- and race-biased job stratification in the high-tech industry; and how AI disempowers women of color by locking them in a passive position. It offers some advice of what feminist educators could do to empower students.

Keep Searching For Stories: The Importance Of Student Historical Research In The Ai Era, Emily Westkaemper

Feminist Pedagogy

This critical commentary interprets the risk that increased reliance on AI will disrupt student researchers’ direct engagement with historical primary sources. Close analysis of primary source details supports feminist history and digital history approaches, helping researchers contextualize histories of marginalization and interrogate scholarly and popular narratives about the past. Search engines and databases can promote access to digitized documents. By contrast, large language models reflect contemporary biases and communication patterns, manufacturing general declarations about historical significance that do not prioritize digitized primary source materials. I experimented with AI queries about participants in the 1977 National Women’s Conference (NWC), a topic …

Teaching Oppositional Resistance To The Weaponization Of Artificial Intelligence In Acts Of Gendered Violence, Lili R. Romann, Elizab​Eth A. Hintz

Feminist Pedagogy

Meeting the aims of this special issue to take a uniquely feminist approach to understanding AI in higher education, we offer a critical commentary to help other scholars apply a critical feminist lens when teaching about the promise of artificial intelligence in the classroom. Specifically, we center pornographic deepfakes as a primal, contemporary, and disastrous example of the gendered weaponization of artificial intelligence. This critical commentary has staying power – equipping future teachers with feminist tools to tackle AI (as well as the inevitable future of AI to come) in pedagogical practice.

Conversations With Hsls:09: Reflections On College-Going By Black Queer And Trans Scholars, Dion T. Harry, Quortne R. Hutchings, Christopher Sewell, Lorae Bonamy-Lohve, Taylor R. Lewis

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This paper threads together quantitative data on Black QT students from the HSLS:09 data set, while connecting the authors' lived experiences about the college-going process. According to this data, Black QT high school students were heavily influenced by parents and peers and less influenced by school counselors and teachers regarding decisions about college and post-high school trajectories. In response, we engage in collaborative autoethnography (CAE) to center our narratives as Black QT people by threading our commonalities and differences to highlight what tensions and connections emerged from our experiences with the college-going process to add context to the aforementioned data.

Performing "Manly" Worship Music: Gender And Timbre At Mars Hill Church, Maren Haynes Marchesini

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Ten years ago, Mars Hill boasted fifteen campuses and 15,000 members. Amid mounting allegations of abuse and mismanagement leveled against founding pastor Mark Driscoll, the church famously collapsed, closing its doors at the end of 2014. Driscoll had built Mars Hill’s core brand around his opposition to the perceived feminization of the Christian mainstream, and appointing himself the “leader of a heterosexual male backlash” in the church and broader culture. While Driscoll’s muscular Christianity stands in a wide historical stream, Mars Hill long led the charge in establishing a youth-oriented, hipster brand of hypermasculine Calvinism. And while rhetoric and theology …

Liberatory And Public Health Harm Reduction: Retracing Genealogies, Forming Queer Imaginaries, Ana Sofia Harrison

Sociology Between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics

No abstract provided.

Bowers, Lawrence And Obergefell: A Case-By-Case Analysis, Hailey Moran

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

What does Bowers v. Hardwick, Lawrence v. Texas, and Obergefell v. Hodges all have in common? Each of these Supreme Court cases chronicles the passage of time and advancement in LGBTQ+ rights in America. Not only, however, do they chronicle the rights that have been achieved for LGBTQ+ individuals, but they also chronicle the evolution of the Justices on the bench. These cases here help us understand the influences that encourage the Justice’s decision-making, whether it be the state of the law or the Court’s environment. By analyzing each case, we can understand not only how these cases were decided, …

The Influence Of Religion On Gender Roles, Julianna R. Cutcher

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

Religion plays a pivotal role in shaping cultural norms, values, and power structures within societies. Religious discourse, as a socially constructed form of knowledge, defines gender roles, norms, and stereotypes, often reinforcing systems of privilege that favor straight, cisgender, white, and male individuals. This paper explores how religious teachings contribute to gender inequality, limiting opportunities for women and marginalized groups while enforcing rigid expectations of gender identity and sexual orientation. The analysis highlights the intersection of religion and power, exploring the topic through four lenses: systems of privilege and inequality, gender, social implications, and media and culture; it also presents …

Reading Romance As An Act Of Resistance, Amy K. Krug

English Faculty Publications

A podcast discussion about how popular romance represents many different populations, including people of color, people with disabilities, and people who are LGBTQ+. Reading these romances with diverse characters can be a powerful mode of resistance against current anti-diversity efforts becoming more prevalent in society.

Listen to the episode. The transcript is available for download.

From Fort To Prison: The Production Of Iloilo City, Ram Paulo A. Anayan

Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance

The foundation of colonial cities in the Philippines rests on violence. The Spanish policies of the reducción forced the natives to settle in pueblos where colonial power is ensured. The resistance of some natives brought about the divide between tagabayan (town dweller) and tagabundok (mountain dweller)—respective connotations of civilization and savagery (Lumbera and Lumbera, 36). This paper examines how this centripetal-centrifugal force of simultaneous identity-production and displacement is echoed in the metonymy of the fort on which the origins of Iloilo City stand. I navigate how this movement manifests in the consciousness of the city across historical periods represented by …

Reading-As-Lesbian And Desiring-As-Lesbian: The Commodification Of Kilig And Coming-Of-Age In Samantha Lee’S Billie And Emma (2018), Reya Mari S. Veloso

Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance

In 2018, Samantha Lee’s second movie Billie and Emma was screened in the QC International Film Festival. I watched it during the pandemic and had since been arrested by its portrayal and narrative of lesbian and queer teens. In this paper, I argue that Samantha Lee’s Billie and Emma (2018) offers a subversive narrative of lesbians by using kilig as affect enveloped in a coming-of-age narrative. By deploying Wilton (the lesbian as subject position) and Berlant (fantasy/desire), I will discuss how Billie and Emma (2018) subverts the lens of heterosexuality/heteronormativity seen in most lesbian films both in the western …

(Ba)Ding, Ang Bato!: Queering Duterte's Drug War In Jun Lana's Big Night! (2021), Jenno Roquero

Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance

Though there are studies around Duterte’s war on drugs and human rights violations, scholarship focusing on the relationship between Duterte’s politics and gender, particularly queerness and kabaklaan, is limited despite his frequent derogatory use of bakla, gay, or homosexual to demean rivals and critics. This article analyzes Jun Lana’s Big Night! (2021) through the Filipino concept of batak—intoxication, being forcibly dragged, and musculature—to examine the intersections of queerness, state violence, and survival in Rodrigo Duterte’s “War on Drugs.” Through close readings of key scenes, the article maps how batak operates as a framework for understanding the bakla’s shifting position: …

Film Review: Marginal Voices In Taare Zameen Par, Ritwika Laskar

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Film Review: A Feminist Critique Of The Representation Of Women In 21st-Century Bollywood Sports Biopics, Amitabh Roy

Journal of International Women's Studies

This review critically analyses the portrayal of women in Bollywood sports biopics using a feminist perspective, with reference to three influential 21st-century films: Mary Kom (2014), Saina (2021), and Shabaash Mithu (2022). While these movies ostensibly celebrate women’s sporting achievements, a close reading discloses the durability of patriarchal currents in the narrative, visual composition, and character construction. Using feminist theories like Laura Mulvey’s “male gaze,” Judith Butler’s “gender performativity,” and bell hooks’s intersectionality, this work contends that these films simultaneously empower and limit their heroines. Exploring how femininity, family, and national pride are performed in these films, this review examines …

Men To Mars, Ayesha Perveen

Journal of International Women's Studies

The poem articulates apprehensions about the future reproduction of earthly misogynist structures if Mars is ever made inhabitable, as envisioned by some of the richest capitalist elites of the world. Such elites wish to have an army of sons to scaffold their capitalist dreams while relegating women to the level of child-bearing machines only. Exposing the earthly misogynistic behaviour of the elite men, the poem encourages women to pave way for their own adventures instead of compromising with patriarchal dreams—today and in futures near and far.

Revisiting “Autobiographical Reflections: My Story”: A Reflection On The Unspoken And Misconveyed, Ronak Karami

Journal of International Women's Studies

This piece revisits and reflects on my feminist essay, “Autobiographical Reflections: My Story” (2020), published in the Journal of International Women's Studies. With the benefit of years of growth and introspection, I return to that work and see more than the story I once told. I now notice the silences between the lines, the nuances I overlooked, and the unintended messages my words may have carried. This reflection is not an attempt to erase my truth but rather an effort to revisit and refine it—to provide, within the confines of a few pages, greater clarity, accountability, and context where …

Between Mothers And Daughters: Female Isolation, Despotism And Fragile Bonds In Anthony Trollope’S "Castle Richmond" And "Lady Anna", Aleksandra Tryniecka

Journal of International Women's Studies

Analyzing the dialogue in Anthony Trollope’s nineteenth-century novels Castle Richmond and Lady Anna reveals portrayals of mother-daughter conflicts that span throughout generations and carry profound societal consequences. In both novels, the mothers are depicted as ambivalent figures who simultaneously play the roles of both victim and oppressor. Relentlessly striving to redeem their past, the despotic mothers intimidate their daughters into accepting socially beneficial marriage arrangements. Using Bakhtin’s notion of dialogism, I present how in both novels, the younger generation (the daughters) adopt a fresh system of social values, which gradually results in a change in Victorian society of the second …

Evaluating Gender Policy In Kazakhstan: A Dual Perspective On Politics And Economics, Elmira Kagazbaeva, Ulzhan Kazybekova, Madina Axakalova

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article aims to advance gender studies in Kazakhstan by examining the underlying causes of inequality in the political and economic spheres. It holds both scientific and practical significance in identifying the challenges to gender equality in Kazakhstan and exploring potential solutions that could be applicable to other countries. The methodological framework of the study is grounded in a gender-based approach, complemented by general scientific and specialized methods of inquiry, including structural, functional, and content analysis of official documents. The research is supported by an analysis of official statistics and the legal framework governing gender-related issues. Kazakhstan’s gender policy is …

Antecedents And Measures Of Women’S Financial Empowerment: A Comprehensive And Global Literature Review, Priya Gupta, Mamta Aggarwal, Meera Bamba

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women’s financial empowerment has garnered greater interest in recent years, and numerous articles have highlighted gender disparities. In existing literature, antecedents and measures of economic empowerment are fragmented, with limited research that provides a comprehensive assessment framework. This systematic review aims to identify the determinants affecting women’s financial empowerment to develop a comprehensive framework to measure financial empowerment based on insights derived from an examination of 101 selected research articles published from 2001 to 2023 and exclusively sourced from the Scopus database. The search followed a comprehensive and systematic approach involving identification, selection, appraisal, and synthesis of the existing literature. …

Undoing Gender Performativities In Nawal El Saadawi’S Woman At Point Zero, Tobe Levin Von Gleichen, U. H. Ruhina Jesmin, Tasnuva Khair

Journal of International Women's Studies

Physician, psychiatrist, and Marxist activist for women’s rights, Nawal El Saadawi (1931-2021) published fiction and non-fiction exposing how a capitalistic, phallocratic social order keeps Egyptian women in thrall to men through violent suppression. Women are exploited by men, who see women as weak and prey on these presumed docile subordinates in a display of masculinity. Deciphering the effects of this gendered performativity through the lens of Judith Butler, El Saadawi’s novel Woman at Point Zero (1977/2015a), or Ferdaous, une Voix en Enfer (El Saadawi, 1977/2007) in French, provides a narrative whose significance is amplified by Butlerian theory. The protagonist, …

Pindi Boys: The Cultural Production Of Urban Masculinity In Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Saad Ali Khan

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article seeks to understand and analyze the formation of urban masculinities in Rawalpindi, Pakistan by focusing on a subculture known as “Pindi boys,” who are young men aged 17-22. In doing so, this research offers an understanding of what it means to be a teen or young man from a low-income household in the urban city of Rawalpindi. How does sociocultural context influence boys and young men to embody a specific type of masculinity? Following the daily lifestyle of Pindi boys, this research avoids generalizations that result in an ahistorical analysis of men and masculinities in urban spaces. Considering …

Breeding, Mariah Susan, Wendy Chapkis Phd

Querying the Past: LGBTQ Maine Oral History Project Collection

In this interview, Breeding, a 75-year-old queer woman, explores questions of identity, culture, and activism. Breeding was born in New Hampshire, grew up in Ohio, and moved back to the East Coast as a teenager. She moved to Maine at 21, living in Ogunquit and Portland. Breeding discusses her family's background, including her parents' contrasting social classes, and the importance of a Unitarian Universalist group in creating early community. An important subject in the interview is Breeding’s first significant relationship with astrologer Wendy Ashley in Ogunquit and Portland, Maine. She discuses the complex bisexual and polyamorous culture of the 1970s, …

The Path Toward Spiritual Activism: Queer Latinx/A/O College Student (Muxerista) Activism As Sites Of Resistance, Hope, Joy, And Futurity, Roberto C. Orozco, J. Audra Williams

Journal of Queer and Trans Studies in Education

This study examined collaborators’ engagement in activism as sites of resistance, hope, joy, and futurity. We answer the following research question: In what ways do Muxeristas (Revilla, 2012), or queer Latinx/a/o college student activists, envision and act on kinship and liberation in their activism? We conceptualize our response to this question through Anzaldúa’s (2002, 2015) concept of spiritual activism. Our data analysis articulates three main components of a spiritual activism practice for Muxeristas (Revilla, 2012), which include: 1) engaging in forms of resistance through a queer and feminist world-making, 2) centering joy and love with and for each other as …

Quasi-Feminism And Identity Exploration In The Film Laapata Ladies, Dr. Bharat Dhiman, Nausheen Khan

Journal of Religion & Film

The film Laapata Ladies (2024), directed by Kiran Rao, is a social commentary revolving around misogyny and the socio-cultural barriers faced by women in rural India, serving as a brilliant ode to womanhood and conveying its message effectively without any melodrama, thereby reflecting social realities at a ground level. The film explores the protagonists’ inner dilemmas, constraints, struggles, and hardships, advocating the cause for inclusivity from a quasi-feminist perspective, poignantly urging us to re-examine our perspectives and stirring conversations around the need for women to establish their own identities, away from the standard kaleidoscope of the male gaze.

"It Is Always Too Late For Truth:" Surveillance And Masculinity In "Wide Sargasso Sea", Kaz S. Schofield

2025 Fall Honors Capstones Projects - Archive

Significant analysis has been done on Jean Rhys’ 1961 novel Wide Sargasso Sea examining gender in relation to the women in the novel, but very little analysis has been conducted on the men. Using the work of Simone Browne, who has theorized how racial categories are maintained through surveillance, I examine how three men in the novel: a white colonist and two mixed race colonial subjects are restricted or otherwise kept docile through their differing masculinity. I argue that it is not only the women in the novel who are oppressed or otherwise disenfranchised by their race and gender, but …

New Suns: Fantasy And Science Fiction For A Better World, Jennifer Rosenstein

Social Justice Week

This event is inspired by the Octavia Butler quote "There is nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns." We will explore examples of fantasy and science fiction from the library collection that imagine worlds that are more just and varied. To work for a more just world we need to be able to imagine it. We will briefly present each book and explain how the world of the books presents a radical reimagining of some aspect of society.

Research Guide To Womanist Literature: Historical, Anticolonial, And Fictional Perspectives, Apoliana Da Conceicao Dos Santos

FIRE Fund Bibliographies

This bibliography was compiled for both research and teaching purposes, organized into three thematic categories reflecting a hemispheric, anticolonial, and womanist approach to knowledge production. The collection centers Black, Afro-Latin American, and feminist voices, offering alternative epistemologies that challenge Eurocentric, patriarchal, and colonial frameworks commonly reproduced in academic syllabi. It invites professors and students across disciplines to engage with scholarship and storytelling that foreground women's histories, theories, and creative expressions.

The first category, Historical Womanist Literature, examines testimonies, resistance, kinship, and survival of Black women under slavery and colonial rule across the Atlantic world, drawing extensively from histories of gendered …

Decomposition And Excavation Of War Memories And Massacres In Na Hong-Jin’S The Wailing, Grace Jung

BCES: Faculty Publications

This chapter examines Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin’s The Wailing (2016) as an allegory of South Korea’s unresolved colonial and Cold War traumas, arguing that the film’s deliberate ambiguity, cacophony, and generic instability reflect the difficulty of recovering histories of violence that have been suppressed, erased, or inadequately mourned. While scholarship on South Korean zombie cinema has frequently interpreted the zombie through neoliberal capitalism, economic crisis, contagion, and social alienation, this chapter locates the Korean zombie within a longer history of civil war, massacres, sexual violence, and authoritarian state repression. Drawing on Heonik Kwon’s concept of Cold War “decomposition,” the zombie …

Echoes Of The Goddess: Reclaiming Power-Within In The Modern Workplace, Chloe E. Hanousek

Student Publications

This work examines gender inequality in the American workforce as part of a broader cultural system that consistently devalues care, embodiment, and relational labor. Rather than treating issues such as the wage gap or the motherhood penalty as isolated problems, it situates them within a historical pattern shaped by patriarchal power, medical dismissal, and the domination of nature. Through an interdisciplinary feminist approach, this work traces how the suppression of the feminine influences women’s working lives, health experiences, and relationships to their bodies. By connecting labor inequality to burnout, ecological harm, and the erosion of inner authority, it argues that …