Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

‘And Not Destroyed By The Destruction Of The Body’: Documenting Incarceration: Joya Mitra’S Killing Days, Tutun Mukherjee

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper discusses an unusual and disturbing narrative of a young student who is incarcerated for four years in Indian jails for participating in an ideological battle with a state government that steadily escalated in violence and brought students like her in direct confrontation with the state machinery. In prison, she is categorized as a ‘political detainee’ and must await her trial which is not allowed to happen until the political dispensation changes. Killing Days is a prison memoir – not of Mitra alone but of all the women she meets and shares pain and anguish with through the period …

Verbal And Visual Rhetorics Of Cancer: Defying Silence In Margaret Edson, Audre Lorde And Jo Spence’S Works, Catalina Florina Florescu

Journal of International Women's Studies

In this essay I offer some powerful verbal and visual examples of the rhetorics of cancer in an attempt to bring to our attention the experiences and reflections of those who felt more like medical cases than persons-patients while facing and eventually dying because of cancer. My essay is a critical “travelogue” through the pain of the other, more specifically as it is presented in Margaret Edson’s play Wit (2000), Audre Lorde’s memoir The Cancer Journals (1992), and Jo Spence verbal and visual memoirs Putting Myself in the Picture: A Political, Personal, and Photographic Autobiography (1988) and Cultural Snipping: The …

Book Review: A Lot To Learn: Girls, Women, And Education In The 20th Century, S. M. Belcher

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of A Lot to Learn: Girls, Women, and Education in the 20th Century by Helen Jefferson Lenskyj

Book Review: Women In The New Millennium: The Global Revolution, Kristin Blakely

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Women in the New Millennium: The Global Revolution by Anne R. Breneman and Rebecca A. Mbuh

Book Review: Workable Sisterhood: The Political Journey Of Stigmatized Women With Hiv/Aids, Deborah H. Charbonneau

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Workable Sisterhood: The Political Journey of Stigmatized Women with HIV/AIDS by Michele Tracy Berger

Book Review: The Curious Feminist: Searching For Women In A New Age Of Empire, Secil Dagtas

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of The Curious Feminist: Searching for Women in a New Age of Empire by Cynthia Enloe

Book Review: Women In The Superintendency: Discarded Leadership, Rebekah Buchanan

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Women in the Superintendency: Discarded Leadership by Joyce A. Dana and Diana M. Bourisaw

Book Review: Sex And Manners: Female Emancipation In The West 1890-2000, Andrea Powell Jenkins

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Sex and Manners: Female Emancipation in the West 1890-2000 by Cas Wouters

Book Review: Victims As Offenders: The Paradox Of Women’S Violence In Relationships, Rachel Kalish

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Victims as Offenders: The Paradox of Women’s Violence in Relationships by Susan L. Miller

Book Review: American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life Of Anne Hutchinson, The Woman Who Defied The Puritans, Marla Kohlman

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson, the Woman Who Defied the Puritans by Eve LaPlante

Book Review: Body Work: The Social Construction Of Women’S Body Image, S. M. Belcher

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Body Work: The Social Construction of Women’s Body Image by Sylvia K. Blood

Restorative Justice For The Girl Child In Post-Conflict Rwanda, Clara Chapdelaine Feliciati

Journal of International Women's Studies

The girl child suffers from both sexism and “childism” for she is at the intersection of women’s rights and children’s rights. The question of her fate in post-conflict Rwanda is particularly crucial for during the Rwandan genocide in 1994, she suffered egregious sexual violence based on gender regardless of her age. Not only were two-year old girls raped, but there was a clear intention to make women and girls suffer differently from men and boys: while the latter were killed rapidly with a single shot or machete stroke, girl children and women were mutilated, tortured and left to die slowly. …

The Differential Impact On Gender Relations Of ‘Transformatory’ And ‘Instrumentalist’ Women’S Group Intermediation In Microfinance Schemes: A Case Study For Rural South India, Nathalie Holvoet

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article starts from conflicting evidence regarding the impact of microfinance programs on women’s empowerment. It explores whether schemes that appear to be very similar on the surface may actually hide deeper differences that can help explain their diverging outcomes. The focus is on group intermediation, a feature that is overwhelmingly present in microfinance programs targeted at women. While group intermediation clearly has paid off in terms of individual programs’ financial profitability, it is also increasingly propagated on equity and empowerment grounds. This article argues that it is shortsighted to assume all forms of group intermediation will invariably achieve their …

Family Caregiving To Aids Patients: The Role Of Gender In Caregiver Burden In Uganda, Walter Kipp, Denis Tindyebwa, Ednah Karamagi, Tom Rubaale

Journal of International Women's Studies

The objectives of the study were: 1) What is the burden of care for male and female family caregivers of AIDS patients? and 2) Which factors influence the family care burden for AIDS patients at home? A questionnaire was completed by 29 male and 91 female family caregivers of AIDS patients living in four rural areas in western Uganda. Participating caregivers were selected from a patient list of the home-based care program for AIDS patients and then interviewed. The responses from the questionnaire were used to calculate care burden scores for caregivers of both genders and the scores in each …

Feminist Theory And The Right-Wing: Shiv Sena Women Mobilize Mumbai, Tarini Bedi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Feminist scholars engaged in the study of women and religion often grapple with the problem of how to theorize the phenomenon of women’s attraction to, and active involvement in politico-religious movements characterized by strongly “patriarchal” authority structures, and by ideologies that either seem to denigrate women or assign them to subordinate social and symbolic roles. This paper looks at some of the approaches that have been taken by feminist scholars to this issue. It reviews some key adaptations of feminist theory to the rising phenomena of women’s public participation in religious, right-wing agendas. It specifically explores the relevance of feminist …

Lottiamo Ancora: Reviewing One Hundred And Fifty Years Of Italian Feminism, Miguel Malagreca

Journal of International Women's Studies

This essay examines the struggle of Italian feminism for transforming long rooted beliefs and gender roles in Italy since the late nineteenth century. I specifically focus on the legal, political and symbolic levels. First, I describe the historical formation of Italian feminism and its relation with literature and politics. Next, I examine the emergence of new feminist groups, and their involvement with the late 1960s protests. I then briefly explore the issues of divorce, labor and family laws during the 1970s and 1980s. Finally, I summarize the progress of the lesbian and queer movements in their struggle for recognition and …

Perceptions And Reflections On Sexual Harassment In Jamaica, Jimmy Tindigarukayo

Journal of International Women's Studies

Within the context of gender inequality that pertains to the Caribbean region generally, this study examines and analyzes two surveys on sexual harassment in Jamaica. The first survey was conducted in June/July 1999 by the Committee against Sexual Harassment at the Workplace, intended to solicit information from public sector employees on their perception and opinions on sexual harassment at work place. The second survey was conducted among 44 organization in Jamaica during the month of January 2005 by the author, in association with the Bureau of Women’s Affairs of the Government of Jamaica, intended to attain three objectives: to ascertain …

Tactics Against Sexual Harassment: The Role Of Backfire, Greg Scott, Brian Martin

Journal of International Women's Studies

To oppose sexual harassment, it is useful to understand tactics commonly used by perpetrators. A useful approach to tactics is through the concept of backfire: if an action is perceived as unjust and information about it is communicated to receptive audiences, it has the capacity to cause outrage and consequently backfire on the perpetrator. Perpetrators regularly use five types of tactics to inhibit outrage: (1) cover-up of the action; (2) devaluation of the target; (3) reinterpretation of the events; (4) use of official channels to give the appearance of justice; and (5) intimidation and bribery of targets, witnesses and others. …

Generations, Feminist Beliefs And Abortion Rights Support, Terri Susan Fine

Journal of International Women's Studies

Do forces that impacted feminist beliefs in the past, such as gender and generation, impact feminist beliefs today within the context of abortion policy support? While the abortion rights issue was framed during the feminist movement era as a feminist issue, it is now clearly framed along partisan and ideological lines. Public opinion on issues that percolated through the feminist movement and identified as feminist issues in the past may no longer be viewed as feminist issues today. The abortion rights issue was chosen because of the oft-held perception that it is solely a women’s issue. The strong association of …

Blood Vengeance And The Depiction Of Women In La Leyenda De Los Siete Infantes De Lara, The Nibelungenlied And Njal’S Saga, Teresa Camacho

Journal of International Women's Studies

Following a review of the primary sources La leyenda de los siete infantes de Lara, The Nibelungenlied and Njal’s Saga the role of women and their role in exacting blood vengeance within a medieval context will be compared. The analysis is based upon the primary sources as well as some Spanish legal precedents and this is the basis for the comparative study and the roots in Germanic law of some aspects of medieval Spanish law.

On The Asphalt Frontier: American Women’S Road Narratives, Spatiality, And Transgression, Alexandra Ganser

Journal of International Women's Studies

In this article, I am going to analyze the concept of “gendered space” as it appears in select post-1970s US-American road narratives produced by women writers of various ethnic and social backgrounds. Drawing on recent re-mappings in cultural geography, I will cross disciplinary boundaries and argue that for female literary protagonists, the “open road” appears as a dangerous frontier—in which women’s physical and emotional well-being is always at perilous stake—rather than as an adventurous playground. In women’s road stories, the American highway does not maintain its mythical, iconic status, signifying freedom and the heroic quest for identity, which has been …

Surviving The Doctoral Dissertation Experience: The N.W. Sisters’ Study, Patricia J. Mcilveen, Monica R. George, Sharon L. Voss, Ada Laguardia

Journal of International Women's Studies

The purpose of this year-long study was to examine and describe both the individual and shared experiences of a group of four women as they went through their Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) program. The main research question was: What do you perceive as the factors that were integral to your achieving success in the doctoral program? Data from this qualitative case study were gathered through group interview sessions. Subsequent analysis of interview transcripts revealed the following factors that were integral to achieving success: sense of humor, family values, empathy, perseverance, spirituality, accountability to the group, collaboration, good advisors, ability to …

I Prostrate To The Goddess Foe Destroyer – Tibetan Buddhism And The (Mis)Naming Of Venusian Features, Kristine Larsen

Journal of International Women's Studies

Despite the multicultural intent of the IAU’s charge, the serious lack of Eastern representation in the membership of this supposedly international organization has serious repercussions for the naming of Venusian surface features. As this paper will demonstrate, the criteria used in naming eight Venusian features after “Tibetan Buddhist goddesses” is inconsistent and ambiguous at best, and clearly erroneous at worst. The attempt to pigeonhole Tibetan Buddhist iconographic representations of the feminine principle into a Western model fails because of what is posited to be a serious lack of understanding by the WGPSN of Tibetan Buddhist culture and beliefs. It will …

Labor Stress And Nursing Support: How Do They Relate?, Lubna Abushaikha, Eileen P. Sheil

Journal of International Women's Studies

Selected aspects of the phenomenon of labor stress including the relationship between labor stress and nursing support were explored using a correlational design with 85 postpartum women who delivered vaginally and were recruited from a Midwestern general hospital in the United States. The Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire measured labor stress while the Bryanton Adaptation of the Nursing Support in Labor Questionnaire measured nursing support during labor. Significant positive correlations were found between number of labor hours and labor stress (r = .25, p = .020) and number of labor hours and number of labor procedures (r = .23, p = …

Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea: Internally Displaced Women And Girls In Liberia And Uganda And The Role Of The International Community, Cassandra Veney

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article provides a brief background on the civil war in Liberia and the ongoing political violence in Uganda that have left thousands of people internally displaced, especially woman and girls. It analyzes the willing and unwilling roles of women and girls in both conflicts as combatants, wives, and rape survivors, etc. It discusses how women’s bodies became an extension of the battlefield as all participants in the conflict perpetrated gross human rights violations against women and girls in the forms of rapes, gang rapes, torture, and beatings. These violations have forced many women and girls, especially in Liberia to …

La Loca And Manicomio: Representations Of Women Insanity During The Golden Age Of Mexican Films, Andrés Ríos Molina

Journal of International Women's Studies

This essay analyzes two films produced during the Golden Age of Mexican Films (1931-1960) in order to explore the social structuring of women’s insanity. Both films deal with the scientific knowledge—the advice of psychiatrists was part of the productions—as well as with the symbolic references pervading Mexican society to understand the causes, symptoms and treatment of women’s insanity. These social imaginaries of women’s psychopathologies were marked by gender references which delimited what a woman should or should not be. In order to know how women’s insanity was taken into the big screen in Mexico during the middle of the Twentieth …

“From Margin To Center”: Processes And Relationships To Participation One Woman’S Ethnographic Journey Mirrored Through Community Research, Melise D. Huggins

Journal of International Women's Studies

In the closing two years of my doctoral degree that spanned ten years of my life, I was asked by a mentor to write a personal essay on my academic experiences at the university. That essay follows and is printed here not without the accompanying editing that marshaled its own questioning, self-reflection and analysis that comes with distance, wisdom, and the editor of a juried journal.

I was concerned to give a revisionist accounting now, another five or six years after the writing of the essay, to explain what my perspective was then as a disaffected African- American ABD (all …

To Marry A Dog, June Leavitt

Journal of International Women's Studies

I was the photographer/ journalist on an international medical education team, sponsored by The Center for Asian and International Bioethics of Ben Gurion University of the Negev that went to Kadalur, in Tamil Nadu, India to teach rural Untouchable women basic mother and child health care. Two violations of human rights which came to my attention, one an Untouchable child’s, and one an Untouchable widow’s are the focus of this documented photographic essay which explores the historical, social and religious roots of the repression of the Untouchables of India today.

Though male Untouchables are certainly victims of this oppression, female …

Gender Dynamics Of Missionary Work In India And Its Impact On Women’S Education: Isabella Thoburn (1840- 1901) - A Case Study, Marthal Nalini

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article is a cross-cultural study of the work of the first North American single woman missionary educator Isabella Thoburn who was sent overseas by the Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The objective of this article is to examine the motives of Isabella, her career in India, and the impact of her work on women’s education. It also highlights the facts that Isabella was an extra-ordinary woman and carved spaces for herself as professional, administrator, mentor, and matriarchs, first in her parent society and then in cross-cultural contexts, for which there was no precedent. The early …

Liberation Women, Melise Huggins

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.