Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

A Cross-Cultural Test Of Nancy Jay’S Theory About Women, Sacrificial Blood And Religious Participation, Virginia S. Fink

Journal of International Women's Studies

I examine the theoretical insights of Nancy Jay’s 1992 investigation of patrilineal sacrificial rituals and their role in the restriction of women in religious rituals. I use the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample, a representative sample of preindustrial societies, to test the strength of patrilineality and other factors identified as subordinating women in preindustrial societies. A societal pattern of male inheritance of property and patrilineal descent are the strongest predictors of women being restricted or excluded from major public religious rituals. The implications of this pattern for modern societies are discussed.

Portraits Of Believers: Ahmadi Women Performing Faith In The Diaspora, Huma Ahmed-Ghosh

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper is a look at how South Asian Ahmadi women in Southern California express their agency through their religious performance in the diaspora. This paper also tries to dispel the notion of a homogenized Muslim people and an Islamic faith in the USA. Western feminist work reflects diverse women’s lives and experiences. A study of immigrant women who organize their lives along ethnic (South Asian) and religious (Islam/Ahmadiyyat) prescriptions will contribute to western feminism by expanding its scope, while at the same time challenging its perceived static hegemonic status. Ahmadi women, while cognizant of the gender hierarchy and the …

Has Affirmative Action Reached South African Women?, V. Naidoo, M. Kongolo

Journal of International Women's Studies

South Africa has unfortunately inherited a work environment based on an economic system characterised by deprivation, political instability, adversarial labour relations, cheap migrant labour, and massive income and wealth disparities. The world of work is also characterised by an appalling systematic discrimination against Blacks, women, and people with disabilities. Affirmative action has been the only policy instrument used by the Democratic South Africa to redress the past imbalances. In line with the Employment Equity Act No. 55 of 1998, the beneficiaries of this action are mainly African women (Blacks, Coloured, and Indians including disabled people). This has been justified by …

Institutionalized Powerlessness In Context: The Static And Dynamic Nature Of Women’S Status In Rural Bangladesh, Akiko Nosaka, Bradford W. Andrews

Journal of International Women's Studies

Understanding the institutional structures surrounding the social status of women is an important topic in studies of gender and inter-generational relationships. This article uses exchange theory to examine the status and familial interactions of women in rural Bangladesh throughout their lives. Overall, their status today remains low but it does fluctuate according to a highly institutionalized pattern of family-based social expectations. Furthermore, this article shows that although the institutions defining a woman’s status appear to be stable, they are also changing because of the society’s exposure to recent worldwide advances in family planning and health care.

Grassroots Participation And Feminist Gender Identities: A Case Study Of Women From The Popular Sector In Metropolitan Lima, Peru, Beatriz Padilla

Journal of International Women's Studies

As women become active in grassroots organizations, they assume gender consciousness that generally leads them to adopt or experience “feminist gender identities,” which is illustrated with ethnographic material collected in Lima, Peru. I also provide a summary of the latest historical development in Peru as a framework to locate the activism of poor women as a new phenomenon arising with the “globalization crises” or the Lost Decade for Latin America. While I frame the study of women’s participation as part of social movement theory, I challenge and re-interpret traditional approaches to the study of women’s involvement and activities.

Challenges And Coping Strategies Of Women Food Crops Entrepreneurs In Fako Division, Cameroon, Lotsmart Fonjong

Journal of International Women's Studies

Ensuring food security today in Cameroon is a key but not an easy task for government. This is because the country is experiencing high rural exodus and urban growth rates. The result is a continual reduction of the agricultural labour force in the face of an increasing demand for food. Women food crop entrepreneurs can play an important role in filling the gap created by this phenomenon. The activities of these female entrepreneurs have given rise to a booming food crop enterprise within the informal sector of the Fako Division, Cameroon. The informal sector is accommodating lots of women whose …

The Shortfall Of Female Mathematics Lecturers In Nigerian Universities: Strategies For Promotion And Retention Of Prospective Female Mathematics Lecturers, A. N. G. Alutu, L. Eraikhuemen

Journal of International Women's Studies

Mathematics is the bedrock of national development. It is a subject without which a nation cannot move forward scientifically or technologically. It has been observed that the level of female participation in Mathematics studies in the Universities is very low and over the years there has been a steady decline. The study involved focus group discussions with the lecturers in Mathematics Department from these Universities from 1995-2000. This paper has established the low level of female undergraduates and female lecturers in Mathematics Departments in the Universities in Edo and Delta States. The major strategies identified in this paper for the …

Self-Perception Of Female Educational Administrators In Nigeria: Reflections On A Sociological Study, Chika Josephine A. Ifedili

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study investigated the self-perception of female educational administrators in public post-primary schools in Edo State, Nigeria. It examined the appointment of public post-primary educational administrators, determined by qualifications to the position and considered factors such as the future career aspirations of female administrators, resistance of men to women advancing to the field, and stereotypes or discrimination. The researcher constructed the instrument used in this study, titled Personnel Management Inventory (PMI). It was validated using expert opinion approach. Major findings indicated that:

1. Women were highly discriminated against in appointment and promotion, and
2. Women were required to stay longer in service …

An Epidemiological Survey On The Presence Of Toxic Chemicals In Soaps And Cosmetics Used By Adolescent Female Students From A Nigerian University, Ifeyinwa Flossy Obuekwe, Uche Mabel Ochei

Journal of International Women's Studies

An epidemiological survey was conducted into the presence of toxic chemicals in soaps and cosmetics used by 200 adolescent female students between 17 and 26 years of age from a Nigerian university, The University of Benin, Benin City. Most of these cosmetics, which included creams, lotions and soaps, were imported from Europe. 20% of these young girls had used cosmetics to lighten their skin for between two months to two years and claimed that they had some irritations. Another 40% used a mixture of cosmetics and soaps in combination and their skins were burnt during the period. Over 66% used …

Single Professional Women: A Global Phenomenon Challenges And Opportunities, Linda Berg-Cross, Anne-Marie Scholz, Joanne Long, Ewa Grzeszcyk, Anjali Roy

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper presents the globalization of elite single professional women (SPW) as the first new global sociological phenomenon of the twenty-first century. We trace the economic roots of the phenomenon and how female empowerment interacts with the psychological prerequisites for mating. We then trace how the phenomenon is being expressed outside of the United States, in India, Poland, and Germany. We conclude by putting these observations into a historical perspective and briefly listing possible strategies for responding, adapting, and maximizing one’s options.

Book Review: Upside Down/Inside Out: Critical Debates On Gender And Women’S Studies, Ozlem Ezer

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Upside Down/Inside Out: Critical Debates on Gender and Women’s Studies, edited by Heike Flessner and Lydia Potts

Politics Of/And Backlash, Ann Braithwaite

Journal of International Women's Studies

Since the publication of Susan Faludi’s book in 1991, the terms “backlash” and “postfeminism” have come to be widely used in many feminist analyses to critique—and then usually dismiss—representations of both women and feminism throughout media and popular culture. This paper revisits both of these concepts, exploring some of the debates about the definition, meaning, and scope of feminism that both of these terms (often unwittingly) raise and then shut down. It argues that while seemingly useful ways to talk about popular representations, these concepts also replay many of the central (and often contentious) debates in feminist thinking, especially around …

Feminism, Feminist Scholarship, And Social Integration Of Women: The Struggle For African-American Women, Jilly M. Ngwainmbi

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper focuses on the intellectual and scholarly basis of the struggle for social integration of African-American women into American society. Feminism is viewed as the broad context within which this struggle must be conceived, understood, and sustained. Because the struggle is conceptualized as intellectually driven, the paper begins by critically examining feminist scholarship and the contention that feminist scholarship provides the basis for social integration of African-American women into male-dominated American society.

A distinct contribution of this paper to the current scholarship is a proposed framework for a process of social integration of African-American women, one which draws on …

Taking Her Name: On Queer Male “Woman-Identification” And Feminist Theory, A. Loudermilk

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Introduction: Crossing Boundaries, Sue Jackson

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Judith Merril And Rachel Carson: Reflections On Their “Potent Fictions” Of Science, Dianne Newell

Journal of International Women's Studies

Donna Haraway has argued that women’s engagement with the masculine domain of science and modern culture usually occurs at the peripheries and from the depths, not from the platform of the powerful. This paper considers the popular culture fields of science fiction and nature writing, exploring the contributions of two American women writers who both operated at the peripheries of science and landed on the ‘platform of the powerful’: Judith Merril and Rachel Carson. Their domestic Cold War envisioning and conflation of literature and science and their insights into the inherently political nature of science anticipated the foundational feminist discussions …

Out Of The Frying Pan Into The Viva, Amanda Loumansky, Sue Jackson

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women today are making clear inroads into the academy and, at undergraduate level at least, are engaging in greater numbers than men. However, at postgraduate level the picture changes, especially at doctoral level, and fewer women than men undertake research degrees. However, little is known about women’s experiences of doctoral research, including the viva. The authors seek to address the lack of research about women’s experience of the PhD viva. The research carried out by the authors emphasises both the lack of power felt by women in the current examination process and the lack of consistency in practice across universities. …

Women’S Constructions Of Women: On Entering The Front Door, Myria Vassiliadou

Journal of International Women's Studies

Despite the vast volume of scholarly work on Mediterranean and the Near East the region, issues of marginalisation, discrimination, racism, and ethnic-gender groups as well as the implications of these within the context of various wider forces and structures are only lately receiving any attention at all and this paper is part of an effort to explore and expose them. The aim of this paper is to explore this otherwise forgotten area through the example of Cypriot women and their interpretations of internal ‘Others’ in Cyprus. It is thus an attempt to analyze the discourses and images adopted by women …

Crossing Borders: The Extent To Which The Voices Of Exiled And Refugee Women Have Adapted To Their New Western Diasporic Space, Jennifer Langer

Journal of International Women's Studies

In this article I will consider the extent to which the voices of exiled and refugee women have adapted to their new Western diasporic space. I will examine whether women writers consider exile to be a safe place in which to describe the horrific experiences of gender specific persecution and of being a victim of violence in conflict or whether taboos restrict the women’s voice. Is exile providing a cathartic space to write openly? Do the exiled writers as reflected in their literary work, relate to their British physical space and interact with British people and society? What is the …

Empowering Women? Engaging A Technology Grant For Social Change, Erica Meiners, Laurie Fuller

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper examines and exposes the writing and implementation of a project, funded by a federal government grant that worked to increase the technological literacy levels of women at an urban working-class university in the Midwest. This three-year study/intervention clearly reveals that disrupting the ‘digital divide’ for working-class women at our university, particularly women of color, requires engagements with the material and practical realities of their everyday lives. In addition to findings in relation to gender, race, low-income communities and technology, participation in this study/intervention illuminated for the authors—anti-racist, feminist academics and organizers—the consequences and costs of moving epistemological frameworks …

Gender, Context, And Physics Assessment, Laura Mccullough

Journal of International Women's Studies

A persistent gender gap exists on one of the most commonly-used physics conceptual tests, the Force Concept Inventory. The test includes many stereotypically male contexts such as hockey, rockets, and cannonballs. A revised version of the test was created using stereotypically female contexts and both versions were randomly administered to 300 college students. While the total correct score did not change for men and women, significant results were discovered when test questions were examined individually. Results suggest that context can affect performance on a physics assessment for both men and women. One implication for instructors is that they should be …

Re-Visioning Science Education, Ingrid Bartsch

Journal of International Women's Studies

Science education is crucial for shaping the culture of science and its practitioners. Boundaries currently limit ties between natural and social science education structures, exposing the public to a one-dimensional science and its possible ramifications. Believing this to be a “crisis,” I explore a variety of approaches to re-visioning science education and the ensuing forms of resistance that these face. In addition, a more personal accounting of my experience with trying to integrate social and cultural issues into the education of scientists allows me to explore the forms of resistance I faced; bridge the gap between theory and practice; and …

Poems, Catherine Daly

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Heresy And Orthodoxy: Challenging Established Paradigms And Disciplines, Marion Hersch, Gloria Moss

Journal of International Women's Studies

A brief survey of the literature on interdisciplinary work and a discussion of issues relating to orthodoxy and heresy are presented to introduce a questionnaire on current interdisciplinary practice and the effects of engaging in research of this kind. Preliminary results of the survey are presented and it is suggested that women may have a greater tendency than men to engage in interdisciplinary research. They may also encounter more obstacles in their research than men. A number of hypotheses, including the relationship of interdisciplinary work and heresy, are proposed and a plan of further work to investigate them put forward.

Perverse Pleasures – Identity Work And The Paradoxes Of Greedy Institutions, Valerie Hey

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women’s studies struggle for a location in the academy has always involved feelings of deep ambiguity. The outsider/insider relation is a peculiarly vexed one in times when the demands on professional identity appear to erase the more political claims on our identity such as being a feminist.

This paper considers aspects of these complex navigations across the personal, private, public and professional aspects of identity through the concept of pleasure. It explores the discrepancy as well as the interrelations between the moral climate of higher education and the more elusive, secret or at least unspoken nature of our persistent (over?) …

Crossing The Border: Locating Heterosexuality As A Boundary For Lesbian And Disabled Women, Clare Beckett

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article draws on my personal experience, and on the separate experiences of ‘leaving heterosexuality’ and of ‘being disabled.’ I have attempted to find common ground for action between these two groups by interrogating the experience of being sexual. I argue that heterosexuality functions as a social matrix, with exclusionary practices that operate in similar ways towards both groups. Mechanisms may be different, but the experience of exclusion is similar, and is based on similar practices. This article focuses on specific points in the exclusionary process, and illustrates similarities.

Ain’T I A Woman? Revisiting Intersectionality, Avtar Brah, Ann Phoenix

Journal of International Women's Studies

In the context of the second Gulf war and US and the British occupation of Iraq, many ‘old’ debates about the category ‘woman’ have assumed a new critical urgency. This paper revisits debates on intersectionality in order to show that they can shed new light on how we might approach some current issues. It first discusses the 19th century contestations among feminists involved in anti-slavery struggles and campaigns for women’s suffrage. The second part of the paper uses autobiography and empirical studies to demonstrate that social class (and its intersections with gender and ‘race’ or sexuality) are simultaneously subjective, structural …

Introduction: New Writing In Women’S Studies: Selected Essays From The First Women’S Studies Network (U.K.) Association Essay Contest, Louise Livesey, Karen Throsby

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

An Exploration Of Quaker Women’S Writing Between 1650 And 1700, Caroline Baker

Journal of International Women's Studies

Throughout the tumultuous period that was the English Civil War, there was a great change in society’s values and beliefs resulting in the establishment of many new political and religious groups. Quakerism, established in the 1640’s, appealed to women as it gave them freedom to prophesy and to proclaim the gospel. This study explores the role of Quaker women’s writing specifically between the years 1650 and 1700, a period of increased religious prominence. Texts from this time are examined including the journal and the epistle to the prophetic tract. The presence of women as preachers and missionaries is explored in …

The Prisoner Of Gender: Foucault And The Disciplining Of The Female Body, Angela King

Journal of International Women's Studies

The work of Michel Foucault has been extremely influential amongst feminist scholars and for good reason; his meditations on discipline, power, sexuality and subjectivity are particularly pertinent to feminist analysis. Yet despite his preoccupation with power and its effects on the body, Foucault’s own analysis was curiously gender-neutral. Remarkably, there is no exploration or even acknowledgement of the extent to which gender determines the techniques and degrees of discipline exerted on the body. Although this exposes serious flaws in Foucault’s work, I don’t believe it negates his entire theoretical framework. Rather it can be adopted and adapted; his glaring omissions …