Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Open Access Articles

Book Review: Sex, Desire, And Taboo In South Asia: Religion, Culture Of Ability, And Patriarchy, Ritu Varghese

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

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Book Review: Unmasking (New) Maternal Realities: Pregnancy, Childbirth, Postpartum In Global Literature, Cinema, And Media, Julie Glickman

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

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Relational Knowledge In The Women’S Majlis: Towards A Culturally Grounded Qualitative Methodology In The United Arab Emirates, Gareth Davey, Suaad Al Oraimi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women-centered qualitative research in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) requires methodological approaches attentive to the places and practices through which Emirati women produce, share, and interpret knowledge. While feminist, decolonial, and participatory methodologies have challenged research approaches centered around men that are adapted for use in the UAE, comparatively little attention has been paid to grounding research in the everyday epistemic practices and social worlds of Emirati women. In this article, we develop a majlis-based relational methodology as a women-centered qualitative approach in the UAE. Our approach is centered on the women’s majlis—an Arabic term meaning a communal gathering place …

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Recent Femvertising And The Flying Kick To Patriarchy: A Cross-Cultural Interpretation Of South Asian Media, Saheeh Shafi

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study bridges a critical gap in scholarship on “femvertising”—advertising aimed at women that promotes women’s empowerment—by shifting the focus from the Global North to South Asia’s under-researched media landscape. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-method design, the quantitative phase of the research analyzed 145 femvertising advertisements from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and other international campaigns using chi-square tests to examine associations between gender portrayals and three empowerment types: woman-to-woman (solidarity among women), man-to-woman (patriarchal negotiation), and woman-to-self (self-determination). The qualitative phase employed semi-structured interviews with twenty women consumers to explore how they interpret, experience, and respond to these empowerment narratives. Findings …

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Career, Self-Worth, And The Need For Self-Care: Understanding Urban Indian Women’S Journeys From Career Break To Re-Entry, Prabha Masilamani, Priya Gupta

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women often take career breaks as a response to major life events such as marriage, childbirth, and migration; nevertheless, the emotional complexities and nuanced decision-making attached to these events are hardly discussed. This study explores the lived experiences of twenty-two urban Indian women from the information technology sector who took career breaks and then returned to work. Using an interpretivist phenomenological approach and reflexive thematic analysis, five themes were identified across the three phases of career transition: before, during, and after the career break. Drawing on feminist frameworks including Kabeer’s (1999) agency within constraints and Kandiyoti’s (1988) patriarchal bargaining, the …

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The Unseen Burden: A Rural Indian Woman’S Resistance To Political Marginalization And Mankeeping, Suraj Kumar Verma

Journal of International Women's Studies

This qualitative study examines how “mankeeping”—invisible emotional labor— undermines women’s political autonomy and sense of belonging in rural India, despite the implementation of gender equality policies. Women often perform unrecognized emotional, interpretive, and relational labor to maintain intimate relationships and community cohesion. Drawing on contemporary concepts of intersectionality, epistemic injustice, testimonial injustice, hermeneutical injustice, and the “third shift,” this study systematically employs a reflexive, narrative inquiry approach focused on Varsha, a forty-five-year-old lower-caste woman from Uttar Pradesh, India. The study reveals how her daily care work, such as caregiving, managing household dynamics, and navigating community expectations, affects her access to …

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Workplace Cultures And Gender Dynamics In The Uae: Emirati And Expatriate Perspectives, Maxime Jaffré, Tatiana Karabchuk, Asna Kozhikkattil

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study examines the moral regulation and institutional structure of the gendered division of labor in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a rapidly modernizing society characterized by demographic imbalance and state-led economic diversification. Drawing on Durkheim’s theory of moral regulation and Weber’s concept of rationalization, the paper analyzes how women’s empowerment and Emiratization policies reshape workplace cultures across gender and citizenship lines. The analysis is based on original survey data collected between 2019 and 2024 (N=10,100), comparing Emirati citizens and expatriate residents. Descriptive findings reveal overwhelming support for women’s right to work and for gender parity in political representation, indicating …

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Beyond The Double Burden: A Gendered Analysis Of E-Commerce, Unpaid Care Work, And Financial Resilience In Indonesian Msmes, Mia Ajeng Alifiana, Mamduh M. Hanafi, Bowo Setiyono

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study challenges the narrative of e-commerce’s potential for empowering women in the Global South by exploring the structural barriers that women entrepreneurs face in Indonesia, both as paid and unpaid workers. The study also challenges the notion of “techno-optimism,” which suggests that digital entrepreneurship inherently empowers women, by highlighting the obstacles women face in economic engagement due to a “second shift” of domestic labor. Through a systematic review and bibliometric analysis of 158 articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science, we map the intellectual structure of the literature on e-commerce and the financial performance of micro, small, and …

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A Feminist Examination Of Ao Naga Practices In Relation To Gender Roles And Care Work, Limatula Ozukum, Aswathy V. K.

Journal of International Women's Studies

Food practices within Indigenous communities are important sites of caregiving, cultural identity, and knowledge transmission. This study examines the food practices of the Ao Naga Tribe in Northeast India through a feminist ethnographic lens, focusing on the gendered organization of cooking, caregiving, and traditional healing practices. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork conducted in 2025, including semi-structured interviews and oral histories with community members in Nagaland’s Mokokchung district, the study explores how everyday food preparation and care practices shape household and community life. The findings reveal that women perform most of the daily cooking and caregiving responsibilities. At the same time, men …

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A Comprehensive Analysis Of Government Initiatives And Microfinance Performance: Economic Empowerment Of Women Through Self-Help Groups In India, Diganta Sarkar, Dileep Kumar Gupta, Shipra Gupta

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study is anchored in feminist understandings of empowerment as a relational process shaped by gendered power hierarchies within households, communities, and financial institutions. We offer a comprehensive analysis of governmental efforts, bank linkages, and economic empowerment of women through micro-finance in Self-Help Groups (SHGs). Although the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) data only provides aggregate financial indicators, we interpret the trends in savings, borrowing, and repayment in dialogue with feminist and intersectional scholarship on microfinance in India. The study provides insights into the role of microfinance in SHGs and the magnitude of support for women’s empowerment, …

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Crafting Resistance: Kalpourgan Pottery As Gendered Expression And Cultural Identity Among Baloch Women In Iran, Arman Ovla

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article examines the Indigenous pottery tradition of Kalpourgan, a remote village in Iranian Baluchistan, where women have sustained a thousand-year-old ceramic crafting practice that does not require a wheel. Drawing on visual ethnography, field interviews, and postcolonial feminist theory, the study explores how Kalpourgan pottery functions not only as material culture but also as a gendered form of labor embedded within household economies. Through direct observation, semi-structured interviews with women potters, and visual documentation—including photography, drawing, and video—the research traces how design is embedded in oral transmission, ritual practice, and intergenerational knowledge systems. The findings demonstrate that pottery production, …

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Moralized Patriarchy In Kazakhstan, Aigul Zabirova

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article examines how patriarchal norms persist in post-socialist Kazakhstan despite expanding opportunities for women in education and public life. Using nationally representative survey data (N=8,101), I analyze attitudes toward maternal employment, educational priorities, labor market rights, and household income arrangements. I find a hybrid gender regime in which support for women’s education and public participation coexists with continued endorsement of men’s economic priority and authority within the family. Gender hierarchy does not disappear under modernization. Rather, it is reproduced through culturally valued ideas of duty, virtue, and family harmony. I call this gender order “moralized patriarchy.” To explain how …

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Home As A Workplace: Gender, Labour, And Domesticity In Homestays In Kerala, India, P P Anjusha, Prachi Thakur, Toney K Thomas

Journal of International Women's Studies

Tourism homestays are increasingly presented as an opportunity for women’s empowerment and inclusion around the world. However, this study argues that the focus on homestays as entrepreneurial opportunities for women obscures the persistence of patriarchal structures that limit women’s agency when their labour is commercialised. Grounded in theories of “doing gender” (West & Zimmerman, 1987) supplemented by role theory and critical feminist perspectives, the study highlights how gender is enacted and reproduced daily in homestays. This research draws on qualitative interviews with women hosts in the state of Kerala, India to explore how the gendered division of labour operates within …

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Rural-To-Urban Migration And Household Reconfiguration In China: Lived Experiences Of Muslim Migrant Women Workers In Jinan, Ila Joshi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Rural-to-urban migration in China has profoundly reshaped Chinese society since 1979, resulting in separated families, so-called “left-behind children,” and socio-economic inequalities as part and parcel of the migration process. This paper examines the impact of rural-to-urban migration by focusing on the experiences of migrant women belonging to the Muslim (Tatar/Hui) community in Jinan, Shandong province of China. Despite the relaxation in restrictions on migration in the post-reform era, migrants—especially women migrants—face persistent legal and emotional challenges. Through ethnographic fieldwork, this study analyses the experiences of eight migrant women employed in formal, semi-formal, and informal work sectors. These in-depth interviews are …

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Special Issue Editorial Introduction: Family Formation, Gender Equality, And The Gendered Division Of Labor In The Global South, Tatiana Karabchuk, Soumaya Abdellatif, Aizhan Shomotova, Malina Voicu, Muhamad Olimat

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

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Book Review Essay: City Of Men: Masculinities And Everyday Morality On Public Transport, Simiran Lalvani

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

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Book Review: Rearranged: An Opera Singer’S Facial Cancer And Life Transposed, Jainab Tabassum Banu

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

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Book Review: #Metoo And The Politics Of Transnational Feminism, Muhammad Umer Azim

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

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Reimagining The Shōjo Across Cultures: Gender Performativity, Cosplay, And Self-Presentation Of Indian Women In Digital Space, Ashonshok Kachui, Samyukthah Anandhasayanam

Journal of International Women's Studies

The image of the shōjo (adolescent girl) in Japanese popular culture has long functioned as a dynamic site for negotiating gender identity and the divide between vulnerable innocence and empowerment. Anime and manga have historically provided evolving portrayals of adolescent girl and young woman characters who have embodied subversive potential while also being constrained by idealised notions of girlhood. This paper extends the discourse on the shōjo by situating it within the Indian digital landscape, where anime fandom, cosplay culture, and social media platforms are reshaping self-presentation and gender performance among young girls and women. Grounded in feminist theoretical perspectives, …

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Cyberfeminism And The Digital Divide: A Study Of The #Metoo Movement In Assam, India, Uddipana Kalita

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article examines how cyberfeminist politics in India are shaped by a layered digital divide, focusing on the #MeToo movement in Assam (Northeast India) as a regionally situated site of feminist voices, exclusion, and contested recognition. While digital visibility has enabled new forms of public naming and solidarity, this paper argues that visibility does not automatically translate into justice, as participation and audibility are structured by uneven access, device control, language hierarchies, and policing of credibility. This study is guided by two research questions: 1) How does the digital divide shape who can participate and be recognized within the #MeToo …

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Reading Indian Newspaper Reports To Uncover Cinematic Misrepresentations Of Rape In Mom (2017) And Guilty (2020), Samikhya Dash, Soumya Jose

Journal of International Women's Studies

Hindi cinema has witnessed a transformation in the portrayal of rape narratives subsequent to India’s Nirbhaya rape case in 2012 and the global #MeToo movement in 2017. The rape narratives released after the #MeToo movement are characterised by a departure from the stereotypical depiction of rape victims as forlorn and vulnerable figures; instead, they are depicted as assertive and empowered survivors that challenge entrenched power dynamics. Hindi films such as Mom (2017) and Guilty (2020) exemplify this paradigm shift by featuring women characters who defy gender stereotypes and resist patriarchal constraints, experience rape trauma syndrome and post-traumatic growth, and embody …

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Deconstructing Feminist Perspectives On Work: Insights From Uchoi Indigenous Tribal Women’S Worldview In Northeast India, Linda Uchoi, Biswaranjan Tripura

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women’s work is commonly conceptualized through an economic lens that prioritizes the valuation of paid and unpaid labor and assesses women’s status and empowerment primarily in monetary terms. Such approaches are limiting as a means of understanding the lived realities of Indigenous Tribal women. In contrast, this article adopts a sociological and anthropological perspective to examine the multifaceted meanings of work among Uchoi Indigenous Tribal women in Tripura, Northeast India. The Uchoi community is a recognized Scheduled Tribe (ST) under Article 342 of the Constitution of India. By situating work within its sociocultural, ecological, and communal contexts, this article demonstrates …

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Gender And Stress: Challenges Faced By Women Principal Operators In Agriculture In The United States, Bernadette Marson, Roxanne Bruce

Journal of International Women's Studies

Working in agriculture is demanding and complex, which can lead to stress-induced health and mental health problems, including suicide. There is limited scholarly literature on the topic of women and stress in the agricultural industry, so this research study aims to fill this gap by reporting on the challenging lived experiences of women working in agriculture—a frequently overlooked population. We used a phenomenological design to perform semi-structured interviews exclusively with women (at least eighteen years old) who work in agriculture as principal operators—the primary decision-makers of their enterprise. A thematic analysis was conducted with the data from the twenty-five women …

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Negotiating Desires For Capital Through Culinary Expression In Balli Kaur Jaswal’S Sugarbread, Ira Gore, Aruni Mahapatra

Journal of International Women's Studies

Balli Kaur Jaswal’s Sugarbread (2016) illustrates how race and class are negotiated through culinary practices in a lower-middle-class Sikh family living in Singapore. Through acts of shopping for groceries, cooking local Singaporean cuisine, and rejecting the communal temple food associated with shame and social discrimination, the novel highlights the family’s aspirations of social mobility shaped by the character Jini’s childhood experiences of food and economic scarcity. While the characters in the novel have access to food, their culinary practices are marked by memories of charity and discomfort as a South Asian diasporic family negotiating racialized hierarchies and gendered vulnerability in …

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What Shapes Maternal Well-Being? A Feminist Conceptualization Using Walker And Avant’S (2019) Concept Analysis Framework, Huyen Thi-Thanh Nguyen, Van H. Le, Keiichi Ogawa, Manh T. Ta

Journal of International Women's Studies

Despite extensive scholarship on maternal well-being, the concept remains theoretically underdeveloped and lacks a coherent interdisciplinary definition. This study uses Walker and Avant’s (2019) concept analysis framework to clarify maternal well-being as a feminist, role-anchored construct. We conducted a systematic review of literature in PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar from 2005 to 2025, focusing on studies of married mothers who had given birth to and were raising at least one child. Through content analysis, we identified three defining attributes: (1) vitality and positive affect; (2) life satisfaction and meaning grounded in autonomy and competence within the maternal role; …

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Experiences Of Women With Neurodevelopmental Disorders In Accessing Sexual Reproductive Health Services In Zimbabwe, Ashely Ropafadzo Tome

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) in Zimbabwe are often sidelined from participating in activities that emancipate and educate youth because of their differences from the mainstream population. Although policies and awareness campaigns have been introduced to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities, previous research has not examined the lack of accessibility of sexual reproductive health (SRH) services for women with intellectual disabilities. The cause of this problem is that women with NDDs have been subjected to immense derogatory treatment, stereotyping, and labelling; they have often been regarded as “retarded,” “crazy,” and “inadequate” beings. Women with intellectual disabilities are often …

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Nazneen In Ali’S Brick Lane: Achieving Agency Through A Multimodal Praxis Of Care, Sarani Ghosal Mondal

Journal of International Women's Studies

Monica Ali’s novel Brick Lane (2003) is not a definitive portrayal of a geographical location but rather a narrative centered on Nazneen, a Bangladeshi immigrant, and her transformational journey from a silent, passive figure into a self-reliant, successful seamstress. Following her marriage to an older man named Chanu, Nazneen relocates from a remote village in Bangladesh to Brick Lane in London. Her progress towards independence is shaped primarily by her friendship with Razia, a fellow immigrant, and partly by her affair with a young activist, Karim. Additionally, she receives emotional support from her sister, Hasina, which is conveyed through letters …

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Girls On Screens And Boys In The Streets: Afrobeats Dance, Gender, And Waithood In Lagos, Nigeria, Gali Kinkulkin, Moshe Morad, Lynn Schler

Journal of International Women's Studies

The global success of the musical genre of Afrobeats has generated substantial scholarly interest in the experiences of singers and musicians within the industry. Scholars of this genre have examined an array of topics, including cultural identity, gender disparities, socioeconomic impact, and the global music industry. However, few studies focus on the experiences of Afro dancers despite the critical role of dance in the genre’s international popularity; those that do centralise dance concentrate primarily on how women dancers navigate an industry that both empowers and objectifies women. This study departs from these earlier studies by examining the lived experiences of …

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Special Issue Editors’ Introduction: 11th World Conference On Women’S Studies, Jyoti Rupa Deka, Jaypee S. Yongco, Noma Mguni

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

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Does Climate Finance Empower Or Exclude Women? Evidence From Bangladesh, Sofia Castelo, Lia G. Antunes, Md. Ashrafuzzaman

Journal of International Women's Studies

Despite the formal adoption of gender policies by significant climate funds and international agreements aimed at promoting equity, only 2.3% of global climate finance is explicitly allocated to gender equality, and women remain significantly underrepresented in climate-related decision-making processes. Although several climate funds, such as the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund, have successfully integrated gender components, implementation often remains symbolic rather than transformative. Drawing on a critical ecofeminist framework, this article examines how climate finance mechanisms, particularly in the Global South, can inadvertently reinforce existing gender inequities. Using Bangladesh as a case study, this analysis synthesizes existing literature …

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Full-Text Articles in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Book Review: Sex, Desire, And Taboo In South Asia: Religion, Culture Of Ability, And Patriarchy, Ritu Varghese

Journal of International Women's Studies

Book Review: Unmasking (New) Maternal Realities: Pregnancy, Childbirth, Postpartum In Global Literature, Cinema, And Media, Julie Glickman

Journal of International Women's Studies

Relational Knowledge In The Women’S Majlis: Towards A Culturally Grounded Qualitative Methodology In The United Arab Emirates, Gareth Davey, Suaad Al Oraimi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Recent Femvertising And The Flying Kick To Patriarchy: A Cross-Cultural Interpretation Of South Asian Media, Saheeh Shafi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Career, Self-Worth, And The Need For Self-Care: Understanding Urban Indian Women’S Journeys From Career Break To Re-Entry, Prabha Masilamani, Priya Gupta

Journal of International Women's Studies

The Unseen Burden: A Rural Indian Woman’S Resistance To Political Marginalization And Mankeeping, Suraj Kumar Verma

Journal of International Women's Studies

Workplace Cultures And Gender Dynamics In The Uae: Emirati And Expatriate Perspectives, Maxime Jaffré, Tatiana Karabchuk, Asna Kozhikkattil

Journal of International Women's Studies

Beyond The Double Burden: A Gendered Analysis Of E-Commerce, Unpaid Care Work, And Financial Resilience In Indonesian Msmes, Mia Ajeng Alifiana, Mamduh M. Hanafi, Bowo Setiyono

Journal of International Women's Studies

A Feminist Examination Of Ao Naga Practices In Relation To Gender Roles And Care Work, Limatula Ozukum, Aswathy V. K.

Journal of International Women's Studies

A Comprehensive Analysis Of Government Initiatives And Microfinance Performance: Economic Empowerment Of Women Through Self-Help Groups In India, Diganta Sarkar, Dileep Kumar Gupta, Shipra Gupta

Journal of International Women's Studies

Crafting Resistance: Kalpourgan Pottery As Gendered Expression And Cultural Identity Among Baloch Women In Iran, Arman Ovla

Journal of International Women's Studies

Moralized Patriarchy In Kazakhstan, Aigul Zabirova

Journal of International Women's Studies

Home As A Workplace: Gender, Labour, And Domesticity In Homestays In Kerala, India, P P Anjusha, Prachi Thakur, Toney K Thomas

Journal of International Women's Studies

Rural-To-Urban Migration And Household Reconfiguration In China: Lived Experiences Of Muslim Migrant Women Workers In Jinan, Ila Joshi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Special Issue Editorial Introduction: Family Formation, Gender Equality, And The Gendered Division Of Labor In The Global South, Tatiana Karabchuk, Soumaya Abdellatif, Aizhan Shomotova, Malina Voicu, Muhamad Olimat

Journal of International Women's Studies

Book Review Essay: City Of Men: Masculinities And Everyday Morality On Public Transport, Simiran Lalvani

Journal of International Women's Studies

Book Review: Rearranged: An Opera Singer’S Facial Cancer And Life Transposed, Jainab Tabassum Banu

Journal of International Women's Studies

Book Review: #Metoo And The Politics Of Transnational Feminism, Muhammad Umer Azim

Journal of International Women's Studies

Reimagining The Shōjo Across Cultures: Gender Performativity, Cosplay, And Self-Presentation Of Indian Women In Digital Space, Ashonshok Kachui, Samyukthah Anandhasayanam

Journal of International Women's Studies

Cyberfeminism And The Digital Divide: A Study Of The #Metoo Movement In Assam, India, Uddipana Kalita

Journal of International Women's Studies

Reading Indian Newspaper Reports To Uncover Cinematic Misrepresentations Of Rape In Mom (2017) And Guilty (2020), Samikhya Dash, Soumya Jose

Journal of International Women's Studies

Deconstructing Feminist Perspectives On Work: Insights From Uchoi Indigenous Tribal Women’S Worldview In Northeast India, Linda Uchoi, Biswaranjan Tripura

Journal of International Women's Studies

Gender And Stress: Challenges Faced By Women Principal Operators In Agriculture In The United States, Bernadette Marson, Roxanne Bruce

Journal of International Women's Studies

Negotiating Desires For Capital Through Culinary Expression In Balli Kaur Jaswal’S Sugarbread, Ira Gore, Aruni Mahapatra

Journal of International Women's Studies

What Shapes Maternal Well-Being? A Feminist Conceptualization Using Walker And Avant’S (2019) Concept Analysis Framework, Huyen Thi-Thanh Nguyen, Van H. Le, Keiichi Ogawa, Manh T. Ta

Journal of International Women's Studies

Experiences Of Women With Neurodevelopmental Disorders In Accessing Sexual Reproductive Health Services In Zimbabwe, Ashely Ropafadzo Tome

Journal of International Women's Studies

Nazneen In Ali’S Brick Lane: Achieving Agency Through A Multimodal Praxis Of Care, Sarani Ghosal Mondal

Journal of International Women's Studies

Girls On Screens And Boys In The Streets: Afrobeats Dance, Gender, And Waithood In Lagos, Nigeria, Gali Kinkulkin, Moshe Morad, Lynn Schler

Journal of International Women's Studies

Special Issue Editors’ Introduction: 11th World Conference On Women’S Studies, Jyoti Rupa Deka, Jaypee S. Yongco, Noma Mguni

Journal of International Women's Studies

Does Climate Finance Empower Or Exclude Women? Evidence From Bangladesh, Sofia Castelo, Lia G. Antunes, Md. Ashrafuzzaman

Journal of International Women's Studies