Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Social Construction Of Female Infertility: A Qualitative Study Of Women With Female Factor Infertility Diagnosis, Oluwakemi Shade Iwelumor, Shariffah Suraya Syed Jamaludin, Kunle Seun Babatunde

Journal of International Women's Studies

Infertility, though a global reproductive problem, is uniquely constructed within different socio-cultural contexts. This study explored the social construction of the meaning of infertility among women by focusing on a sample of married women with female factor infertility diagnoses experiencing primary infertility in Kwara South, Nigeria. The study adopted a qualitative approach. Nine women were recruited through the snowball sampling technique. Data were collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis with Atlas.ti 8. The findings are presented in three themes: ‘when delay becomes a problem,’ ‘confirming suspicion,’ and ‘defining the situation.’ By exploring the perceptions of infertile …

The Devadasi System: An Exploitation Of Women And Children In The Name Of God And Culture, Tameshnie Deane

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article looks at an ancient tradition of India called devadasis, which literally means “servant of God”. It requires girls as young as four years to be ‘married’ or ‘dedicated’ to a temple deity. Once a revered practice, over time the traditions evolved allowing women and children to become sexually exploited in the name of God. Looking at the reasons for the difficulty in combating this issue, this paper will first analyse its practices through a historical lense. Secondly, the extent of this exploitative practice will be discussed, and a major objective will be to explore the cultural underpinnings of …

The Traumatic Effect Of The Japanese War On Women In Rani Manicka’S Selected Novels, Somia Ayaicha, Manimangai Mani, Mohamed Ewan Bin Awang, Rania Khelifa Chelihi

Journal of International Women's Studies

The Second World War which lasted from 1939-1945 left a deep dent in the lives of many victims in the world. The four-year Japanese rule in Malaya created a permanent scar in the hearts of the Malayans which lingered on even after many decades. The sufferings of the Malayan people under the inhuman Japanese army are clearly depicted in the two novels selected for this research, Rani Manicka’s The Rice Mother (2002) and The Japanese Lover (2010). The novels are about how women are subjected to the effects of war during the Japanese occupation, the pain of separation from a …

Kerala Needs A Women’S Movement For Breast Cancer: An Exploratory Study On Breast Cancer Awareness In Kerala, Sheeja Rajagopal

Journal of International Women's Studies

The incidence of breast cancer is on the rise globally, and the Indian state of Kerala is no exception. Kerala has a vibrant and exciting history of social and political struggles centered on the female breast, as is evidenced by the system of breast tax applicable to lower caste women and the breast cloth revolt. Despite this long history of public attention, the diseased female breast remains an area of silence. In Western countries, the Breast Cancer Movement has played a significant role in bringing awareness on breast cancer. Unlike in the Western world and certain other parts of India, …

From Housewives And Mothers To Mules: The Case Of Latin American Women Prisoners In Spain, Joaquina Castillo-Algarra, Marta Ruiz-García

Journal of International Women's Studies

Latin American women play a key role in the international cocaine business as couriers or mules. Beginning from theoretical perspectives that explain the relationship between criminality and gender, we analyze why women without a criminal background become criminals, how they become involved in trafficking, their positions and functions in the criminal organization, and the risks and benefits of their participation. Qualitative fieldwork was carried out based on in-depth interviews with fifty-one female inmates and twenty members of prison staff from nine Spanish prisons. A thematic analysis has been carried out based on this data. The results reveal that the prevalent …

"Abayomi, We Are The Revolution": Women's Rights And Samba At Rio De Janeiro, Paula Dürks Cassol

Journal of International Women's Studies

The advent of the feminist movement in the twentieth century made it possible for socially organized women to begin seeking for the recognition of their rights and the change of gender roles which were socially built. Women’s rights started to be recognized as a human right. However, criteria of race and class have always been relevant, and have provided privileged positions for white women in the pursuit and attainment of rights, while black women continue to be stigmatized, remaining in the base of the social pyramid. In this regard, this paper questions: What is the relation between feminism and the …

Folk Song “Hua’Er” In Northwest China: “Younger Sisters” And The Gender Relationship, Ma Rui

Journal of International Women's Studies

Chinese folk songs remain largely unheard-of outside China. The broad purpose of this essay is to bring one peculiar form of folk songs that is commonly circulated in Northwest China—Hua’er—into the spotlight. The essay attempts to reveal four types of female images as observed in romantic Hua’er, which is followed by an analysis of the gender relationship mirrored from the images and characterized by male-dominated hierarchy. Additionally, two ideas are offered as interpretation on the construction of the gender hierarchy. One is the impacts of Islam and Tibetan Buddhism which are two principal religions in Northwest China; the other is …

Mixed Methods Research To Understand Gender Inequality In Tourism Through A Feminist Post-Constructionist Lens, Ines Carvalho

Journal of International Women's Studies

The purpose of this article is to analyze how mixed methods research can be framed in feminist studies. Contentions in mixed methods research are approached, and the claims of the advocators and opponents to mixed methods research are analyzed. Contentions in feminist approach are also analyzed. Although feminist theorizing has been reluctant to the use of mixed methods research, it is claimed that combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies can contribute to the feminist goals of social justice and equality. Feminist post-constructionism is proposed as a good thinking tool for framing mixed methods research in feminist studies. By simultaneously embracing and …

Gender Perspective On Tourism's Influence On The Local Community: A Literature Review, Nur Abellan Calvet, Jordi Arcos-Pumarola, Laia Encinar-Prat

Journal of International Women's Studies

The tourism industry integrates multiple actors interrelated through a variety of dynamics and characteristics. To address this complexity, tourism studies integrate different disciplines and perspectives in order to comprehend the tourism phenomenon. One of the main topics of tourism studies has been its impact on local communities. The conjunction of these research lines with the gender perspective discloses how tourism interrelates with the host territory's particular gender dynamics. In this context, the present study aims to explore and analyse the current state of academic research on tourism's influence on the local community from a gender perspective. In this way, we …

Are The Dispossessed More Battered?, Yamini V. John, Moly Kuruvilla

Journal of International Women's Studies

Intimate partner domestic violence hinders the well-being and development of women and transfers its ill effects intergenerationally. It is widely reported that economic fallback options help women escape intimate partner violence (IPV), enhance their ability to recuperate, and enable economic opportunity and independence. This study attempts to understand and re-examine the link between intimate partner domestic violence and the ownership of property among women in 14 districts of the Southern Indian state, Kerala. The Women Protection Officers of Kerala (WPO) served as resourceful informants. These officers are the first action force to facilitate domestic violence complaints under the Protection of …

Exploring Gender Dynamics In Rural Tuna Fishing Communities In The Lagonoy Gulf, Philippines, Astrid Ocampo, Joann Binondo

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women’s contributions to rural fisheries in the Philippines are often overlooked and unrecognized. The “invisibility” of women is primarily a factor of prevailing traditional views on fishing as a male-occupied industry. Gaps in understanding the role of women in the sector may risk implementing interventions that poorly capture their needs as important players in the fisheries value chain. Developing holistic and integrated solutions becomes crucial as rural fishing communities are highly vulnerable to food and economic insecurity, aggravated by external crises and a rapidly changing climate. This study identifies and assesses the factors and motivations on the gender dynamics in …

Dalit Women: Narratives Of Vulnerability, Violence, And A Culture Of Impunity, Bhushan Sharma

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Moms Too Soon: Status And Challenges Of Teenage Mothers--Implications For Exension, Jacinta Pueyo

Journal of International Women's Studies

Teenage pregnancy is a worldwide phenomenon that affects girls as young as 10. The present qualitative study answers these questions: what are the lived experiences of young mothers at the University of Southern Mindanao? and what are the challenges faced by these young mothers? The phenomenological research design was used in this study. Due to data saturation, a total of twenty-five data sources were involved in the study. The transcribed data were coded and inductively analyzed to determine the themes and sub-themes that described the lived experiences of the girls. Thematic themes include 1. Coming of Age: The Metamorphosis, 2. …

Rethinking Gender In Translation, Khaoula Jaoudi

Journal of International Women's Studies

The mediator between people all over the world is language, and translation is the means by which we can cross borders. Translation can play an important role in moving towards a common livable world of coexistence and transnationality. Feminist translation theory emerged from the shared struggle women and translation experience; it criticizes the concepts that place both women and translation at the bottom of the literary and social scale. “La liberation des femmes passé par le language” is a famous saying among women of the 1970s feminist movement which indicates that women must be first liberated from language. And since …

Women's Struggles In The Kashmir Militancy War, Devina Neogi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Kashmir is located in the northern part of India in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir has been a hotbed of violence since India’s independence. For the past 51 years, there has been an intense conflict between the locals of Kashmir and India’s Military Force, which has directly or indirectly affected the lives of millions of people. One of the most affected communities is the women in Kashmir. History provides us with the scare chronicle of gendered experiences in political violence. Women's experiences bring to light the heterogeneity of the experiences of subgroups caught in a conflict situation. Over …

The Sexual Politics Of The Manusmriti: A Critical Analysis With Sexual And Reproductive Health Rights Perspectives, Naseera N. M., Moly Kuruvilla

Journal of International Women's Studies

The choice of women for reproduction and their free expression of sexuality in India are not separate from religious or cultural beliefs. The ancient legal text, The Manusmriti and its law codes had a significant role in creating the Brahmanic Patriarchy, the caste system, and the heteronormative structures of Ancient India. Under the British, the text became instrumental in constructing a complex system of jurisprudence in which ‘general law’ was supplemented by ‘personal law’ determined by one’s religious affiliation. The present study using the qualitative research method, analyses the sexual politics of The Manusmriti from women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health …

"You Cannot Be What You Cannot See": The Lived Experiences Of Women Teaching Digital Literacy In Bosnia & Herzegovina And Germany, Lorraine J. Hayman

Journal of International Women's Studies

This timely paper provides empirical evidence on the lived experiences of ten women from eight nationalities in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Germany, who voluntarily taught girls and women digital skills in 2020. I situated this multi-case feminist study within the digital skills gender divide phenomenon. I collected qualitative data through surveys and interviews with the teachers, remote observations of their digital skills lessons, and analysis of programme documents, including curricula. In this paper, I discuss two research questions: (1) “What motivated the women to teach digital literacy?” and (2) “Why do the teachers think the digital skills gender divide exists?” …

Introduction To The Special Issue: Transnational Feminisms: Contexts, Collaborations, Contestations--Toward A Liveable Planet, Bhushan Sharma, Bhavana Raj, Tamanna Arora

Journal of International Women's Studies

The prime goal of feminism is to raise consciousness and bring about transformation for a gender-equitable world. The movement has continuously been broadening its perspective and undergoing transitions, producing ‘cartographies of knowledge and power’ (Alexander and Mohanty 2015). As the creation of feminist epistemology and knowledge exchange is key to this process, The International Institute of Knowledge Management (TIIKM) has taken the initiative to organize the World Conference on Women Studies (WCWS) every year.

The 7^th WCWS was organized amidst the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic that took place online from the 20^th to 22^nd of May 2021. The …

An Empirical Analysis Of Life Satisfaction In Adolescent Development In High- And Middle-Income Countries, Amirreza Kazemikhasragh

Journal of International Women's Studies

The income discrepancies in high- and middle-income countries increases stress, limitations in access to social resources, and aggravates health situations. The empirical analysis of this experimental study studies the relationship between parental income inequality in early life and health and life satisfaction of adolescents. This study uses empirical data from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) to study school-age children health behaviour symptoms in high- and middle-income countries in the years 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014. The research uses macro variables and the income inequality index from the World Bank. The analysis of the Gini coefficient was carried out …

Tobacco Farming, Addiction, Promotion Of Gender Equality, Well-Being And Monopoly Of The Indian Market, Ranjit Singha, Yogesh Kanna S

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women's land rights are still suppressed in India because men hold most of the land, and men decide what crops to grow. Tobacco use and farming are both detriments to one’s health. It causes cancer, and cancer treatment is unavailable in the majority of India's remote areas. On the other hand, tobacco is grown in remote regions of India, and cancer hospitals are concentrated in major cities. There are eight states in India's north-eastern region, but only one cancer treatment facility in Guwahati, Assam. There is a need for new cancer hospitals in the north-eastern part of the country, where …

Social Inclusion, Equality, Leadership, And Diversity To Attain Sustainable Development Goal 5 In The Indian Banking Industry, Surjit Singha, Sivarethinamohan R.

Journal of International Women's Studies

The UN SDG 5 aspires to end all kinds of bigotry and abuse of women, although gender bias still exists in India. Most bank employees are men; few women hold senior positions in India's banking industry because of the country's early history of limiting chances for women to enter the profession. The solution to this is to hire women in leadership positions from international locations if the banking sector opens. The development of the banking industry in India relies on the best talent. The banking sector must open its position for multinational expatriates to maintain diversity and bring forth the …

Diverging Women On The Mommy Track To The Career Track, Sunaina Arora, Neeraj Kumari

Journal of International Women's Studies

The review paper discusses the Mommy Track phenomenon and interventions required to bring women back on the career track. It collates the literature to understand the Mommy Track phenomenon from organisations and economic perspectives. The Mommy Track is a path which is taken by high performing women to take a career break in order to rear children. The idea is to switch back to career tracks when childcare duties require less time. Gender parity initiatives have tried to bridge male and female labour gaps to bring back women to career tracks. Changes in government interventions, organisation policies, and individual attitudes …

Entrepreneurial Competencies In Graduate Students From Mexico: A Gender Perspective, Eduardo R. Diaz

Journal of International Women's Studies

Mexico faces a gender gap in opportunity entrepreneurship. Part of the problem is the masculine approach to business education in graduate programs. This research uses data from 173 female and male graduate students to compare self-efficacy levels in entrepreneurship and leadership. The data were collected under a cross-sectional, survey research design. Findings suggest that there were no statistically significant differences between females and males in five entrepreneurship and two leadership dimensions. Statistically significant differences were identified in one entrepreneurship dimension: initiating relationships with investors. A key takeaway is that females undervalue their ability to secure funds for entrepreneurial purposes.

Are Unpaid Women Willing To Work In The Labour Market? Evidence From India, Krishna M.

Journal of International Women's Studies

India has set an ambitious target of achieving a US$5 trillion economy by 2025. However, a steady increase, perhaps even more rapid in recent years, in women’s participation in unpaid domestic work poses a grave threat to India’s economic development. Significantly, the extent of women’s participation in unpaid domestic work ballooned in India, recording a quantum leap from 200 million in 2004–05 to 287 million in 2017–18. The main aim of this paper is to examine the role of socio-economic factors in explaining the willingness of unpaid women to undertake work in the labour market, using data from unit-level records …

Competencias De Estudiantes Universitarios Griegos Para Una Práctica Sostenible De La Igualdad De Género, Ioanna Kitta, M. Cristina Cardona-Moltó

Journal of International Women's Studies

La educación para el desarrollo sostenible de la igualdad de género ha sido conceptualizada como un vehículo para la adquisición de competencias y el mantenimiento sostenible de la igualdad y equidad en el mundo. Sin embargo, a pesar del compromiso de los gobiernos e instituciones de educación superior a facilitar la formación necesaria, los egresados universitarios salen del sistema sin las competencias necesarias para un ejercicio y desarrollo profesional sensible al género. El propósito del presente estudio fue explorar el nivel de competencia en cuestiones de género examinando la eficacia percibida para una práctica sostenible de la igualdad de maestros …

Non-Sexist Language In Vacancy Titles: A Proposal For Drafting And Translation In International Organisations, María López Medel

Journal of International Women's Studies

Current and past research confirms the existence of a gender gap that prevents women from earning the same salaries as men, having equal access to typically male sectors, and climbing the professional ladder to the highest positions of management. The separation of the sexes often starts at home or at school, with girls being led to choices of gender-stereotypical careers or domestic life. This needs to be tackled from various angles, and one tool for this is non-sexist language. Sexist language makes women invisible and secondary by referring to them in the masculine and has been proven to negatively affect …

Women And Entrepreneurship In Nigeria: What Role Does Social Inclusion Play?, Ezebuilo R. Ukwueze

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women’s participation in business enterprises has attracted much attention from policy makers, researchers, NGOs, politicians, the government sector, and international agencies. This is because it has been identified that women’s involvement in income generation tends to boost family income, support children’s education, improve health of family members, provide food, build assets for the family, and contribute to general development of economies. However, women have not been performing these roles due to constraints placed consciously or inadvertently on women by society, limiting them from engaging in income-earning ventures, especially in developing countries like Nigeria. Even those who wish to venture into …

Does Entrepreneur Gender Matter For Entrepreneurial Motivation: Answers From Micro Small And Medium Enterprises (Msmes) Of Assam, Ankita Sarmah, Bedabrat Saikia, Dhananjay Tripathi

Journal of International Women's Studies

With regard to SGD-5, this study attempts to examine the association between entrepreneur’s gender and their entrepreneurial motivation and to discover if entrepreneur’s gender influences the motivation. The study further tries to see if entrepreneurial motivation varies on the grounds of entrepreneur’s gender. Based on a qualitative approach, the study uses interview data of 320 MSME entrepreneurs from Assam, India. Two hypotheses—there is no association between entrepreneur’s gender and the entrepreneurial motivation (H01) and there is no significant difference between the mean rank of male and female entrepreneurs with respect to their motivational factors (H02)—are postulated and tested using Chi-Square …

Elementos De Impulso Y Barreras En El Camino De Las Mujeres Ejecutivas A La Alta Dirección Empresarial En España, Virginia Ríos

Journal of International Women's Studies

Después de una revisión bibliográfica de estudios e investigaciones anteriores que aportan un análisis sobre los factores que impulsan el liderazgo de las mujeres en altos cargos empresariales, así como aquellos que lo impiden, se analizan las entrevistas a seis altas directivas y consejeras de empresas españolas para reflexionar sobre los temas que atañen a su desarrollo profesional hacia la alta dirección, el cual incide en el cumplimiento del Objetivo de Desarrollo Sostenible No. 5 Lograr la igualdad entre los géneros y empoderar a todas las mujeres y las niñas. La principal conclusión de este estudio es que llegar a …

Introduction To The Bilingual Special Issue In English And Spanish: Gender, Social Inclusion, And Entrepreneurship: Women’S Struggles In The Private And Public Sectors Meeting Sustainable Development Goal (Sdg) #5, Amirreza Kazemikhasragh

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.