Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Panic At The Picture Show: Southern Movie Theatre Culture And The Struggle To Desegregate, Susannah L. Broun

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This paper explores the complex desegregation process of movie theatres in the southern United States. Building off of historiography that investigates regulations of postwar teenage sexuality and recent scholarly work that acknowledges the link between sexuality and civil rights, I argue that movie theatres had a uniquely delayed desegregation process due to perceived sexual intrigue of the dark, private theatre space. Through analysis of drive-in and hardtop theatres, censorship of on-screen content, and youth involvement in desegregation, I contend that anxieties of interracial intimacy and unsupervised teenage sexuality produced this especially prolonged integration process.

The Fundamentalist Nexus Of Neoliberalism, Rentier Capitalism, Religious And Secular Patriarchies, And South Asian Feminist Resistances., Fawzia Afzal-Khan

Journal of International Women's Studies

In two case studies from Pakistan, which I then link to Afghanistan (under the Taliban before and after the Soviet/US proxy war there) as well as the Farmer’s Movement in India—I wish to proffer an intersectional analysis of debates around the issue of women’s rights in the global south. Feminist artivism (art-as-activism), can help build solidarities to mount resistances against globally-inflected state repression in our age of neoliberal economic and religious fundamentalisms, which, working in tandem, seek to roll back the rights of women and minorities in and across South Asia, as elsewhere.

Feminists As Cultural ‘Assassinators’ Of Pakistan, Afiya Shehrbano Zia

Journal of International Women's Studies

Pakistan’s annual Aurat March (Women’s March) signifies a milestone in the culture of feminist protest, but a tense impasse follows a series of encounters between sexual and religious politics, and this has serious implications for rights-based activism in the Islamic Republic.

Double Bind Of Muslim Women’S Activism In Pakistan: Case Of Malala Yousafzai And Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Naila Sahar

Journal of International Women's Studies

A majority of Western feminist studies has dealt with women from the third world as a homogenous entity of poor and passive victims without agency, who need saving and thus need to be spoken for. Chandra Talpade Mohanty and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak have both underscored the urgency of seeing and dealing with third world feminism in terms of a genre that is different in socio-cultural background from Western dynamics, and they emphasize the importance of being wary of the ways in which Western feminism creates the 'discursive homogenization and systematization of the oppression of women in the Third World' (Mohanty, …

Looking At The Nation Through A Lover’S Eye: N. Padmakumar’S Film, A Billion Colour Story, Shreerekha Pillai Subramanian

Journal of International Women's Studies

Cinematic response in India to social justice movements, even when aimed at rectifying communal violence and tensions, reifies entrenched orders separating Hindu from Muslim, citizen from the ‘Other,’ native from the diasporic. To the polyphony of films focused on interfaith love, a recent indie film adds a new ‘look’. Narasimhamurthy Padmakumar’s, A Billion Colour Story (2016) focalizes on a child’s point of view in a black and white filmic narration to dismantle old hatreds and re-ignite love of culture and nation for the very diversity that has become pixelated, walled, entombed and reactionary. More like Nollywood in its reliance on …

Performing Dalit Feminist Youth Activism In South India: Rap, Gaana, And Street Theater, Pramila Venkateswaran

Journal of International Women's Studies

Young Dalit men and women are changing the narrative of casteist oppression in India. Youth activists perform protest songs in the genre of rap and gaana, using elements of slam poetry and rap from African American artists and blending them with local musical innovations. The performances have deliberate messaging, signaling particular caste and gender injustices, both current and historical. This paper will analyze Dalit youth performances of rap, gaana, and street theater (koothu) in South India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, to understand the poetics of protest against caste and gender oppression. It will look at the notion of space in …

Subverting Patriarchal Interpretation Of The Ramayan Through A Feminist Lens: A Critical Study Of Sita’S Ramayana, Shruti Chakraborti

Journal of International Women's Studies

“Re-vision – the act of looking back, of seeing with fresh eyes, of entering an old text from a new critical direction – is for us more than a chapter in cultural history: it is an act of survival”, writes Adrienne Rich in her seminal essay, “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-vision”. Rich firmly advocates that women authors should create spaces for subversion of patriarchal values and ideals through their literary works. Revisionist mythmaking, from a feminist literary perspective, evolves through challenging a preceding text which predominantly manifests androcentric ideas. The present paper aims to examine a female reinterpretation …

Women’S Agency And Pastoral Livelihoods In India: A Review, Aayushi Malhotra, Sailaja Nandigama, Kumar Sankar Bhattacharya

Journal of International Women's Studies

The role of women in promoting and sustaining pastoral livelihoods remains an under-researched area across the world. Often, studies discuss pastoralism as a male-oriented enterprise, thus overshadowing or ignoring the part played by women in such livelihood practices. In India, where pastoralism itself is essentially a neglected area of research, such discussions remain even sparse. Pastoral communities depending on migratory livestock rearing practices for their livelihoods exhibit gender-based differences in their everyday life in terms of division of labour, mobility patterns, and rights over resources. Women play different roles and responsibilities at the household and community levels that remain intertwined …

Dissenting Bodies, Disruptive Pandemic: Farmers’ Protest And Women’S Participation In Mass Mobilisation In India, Paromita Chakrabarti

Journal of International Women's Studies

While authoritarian states promoting neoliberal forms of governance have taken advantage of COVID-19 to weaken the foundations of civil society, there has also been a significant rise in contemporary struggles for a more democratic society during and around the pandemic. From December 2019 to November 2021, India has seen a significant number of protests. The timeline of collective resistance against the state and its divisive, violent and neoliberal agenda represents a critical juncture in Indian politics. This paper focuses on the farmers’ protests that started from last November and recently ended in a stunning, hard-earned victory. In a sector that …

Visiting The House Of Bad’S Mother: Queering Saadat Hasan Manto’S “Thanda Gosht”, Namita Goswami

Journal of International Women's Studies

This essay reads Saadat Hasan Manto’s short story, “Thanda Gosht” (1950), depicting women’s experience of sectarian brutality during the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan, to delineate the postcolonial significance Gayatri Spivak’s concept of originary queerness. Manto’s synecdoche (“cold meat”) for an unnamed and raped female corpse, her Sikh abductor and violator, as well as for the story’s readers, (re)figures reproductive heteronormativity as a process of unknowing that emplaces a gendered taxonomy, even when its victims are silent. Rather than reinforce sexual difference as a finished itinerary, however, Kulwant Kaur’s repeatedly piercing question—who she is—queers “Thanda Gosht” by taking us …

Reflections On Queer Literary Representations In Contemporary Indian Writing In English, Aakanksha Singh

Journal of International Women's Studies

This reflective piece explores the importance of thinking beyond labels and categories for queer desires and queer expressions of love. Knowability and visibility of these desires through labels and categories has the potential to create much-needed awareness. This visibility, however, can inadvertently also create borders and perpetuate rigidity about queer desires, confining them to certain norms and limitations. The piece then reflects on mass media’s role in creating these borders, particularly through the coverage of Pride Parades in India. Then by examining contemporary texts such as Amruta Patil’s Kari (2008), Himanjali Sankar’s Talking of Muskaan (2015), and Parvati Sharma’s short …

Networking Voices Against Violence: Online Activism And Transnational Feminism In Local-Global Contexts, Sutanuka Banerjee, Lipika Kankaria

Journal of International Women's Studies

Contemporary feminism manifests itself in the form of blogs, hashtags, e-magazines, and digitally planned protests through online communities that address the prevailing concerns of feminists in the digital age. This feminist approach to digital activism aims to reclaim the power of technology which is inherently hegemonic and masculinist by creating alternate spaces and modes of protest. Transnational feminism is increasingly being shaped by online discourses and the new digital space enables social movements in shaping feminist solidarity and complex netizen identities. This paper adopts discourse analysis of online contents that question the prevalent patriarchal system in South Asia and thus …

Productivity To Precarity On Instagram: Digital Feminism In India During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Anhiti Patnaik

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper examines how digital feminism deconstructed neo-liberal ideals of technological productivity in India during the Covid-19 pandemic. By creating a productivity scale, I delineate new social disparities and risk factors brought on by the unprecedented shift to a work-from-home digital economy. Through theories of biopower, I argue that technology is not neutral, apolitical, or unequivocally in favour of equal access and human rights. The creation of a new social group termed the ‘technoprecariat’ during lockdown is discussed using a ‘cripqueer’ approach to digital feminism. I extend Judith Butler’s early work on gender performativity to the neo-liberal ideal of gender …

A History Of Ecofeminist-Socialist Resistance To Eco-Crisis In India, Gowri Parameswaran

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article traces the history of women’s environmental activism in India after independence. The earliest organizing efforts came from women from indigenous communities who wanted to collectively push back against government and private encroachments into communal lands. From the 1970s to the late 1980s, ecofeminism became a dominant paradigm to analyze and respond to environmental issues globally. Indian feminists adapted the model to analyzing ecological issues locally while also pushing back against its essentialism and its blindness to social and economic inequities. Indian eco(feminist) socialists demanded a centering of the voices of the most vulnerable communities in environmental movements. In …

“Fiery Sparks Of Change”: A Comparison Between First Wave Feminists Of India And The U.S., Shoba Sharad Rajgopal

Journal of International Women's Studies

The celebration of the centenary of the 19th Amendment in 2020 has seen the resurgence of interest in the struggles of the Suffragette/Suffragist movement. This article examines the representation of first wave feminism in the developing world, with a focus on the Indian Subcontinent, from a postcolonial feminist perspective. As such, it critiques the colonialist perspective regarding women’s movements of resistance in the developing world and links it to the critique of racism within the women’s movements in the West. It discusses early feminists from India such as Tarabai Shinde whose spirited exposé of the double standards women were subjected …

The Indian Mission Of The Institute Of Blessed Virgin Mary (Ibvm) Nuns: Convents, Curriculum, And Indian Women, Nilanjana Paul

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study focuses on the Indian mission of IBVM nuns, and the role played by them in the spread of female education in India. While acknowledging that missionaries were part of the imperial process, this study analyzes the work of Catholic nuns in India, their convents, and curriculum to show how their work advanced women’s educational opportunities in India. In the process the study examines how Catholic nuns resisted the dominating attitude of the Catholic Church in India. The last section of the article examines how Christian influence under missionaries not only prepared good mothers and wives but also trained …

Introduction: South Asian Feminisms And Youth Activism: Focus On India And Pakistan, Nilanjana Paul, Namita Goswami, Sailaja Nandigama, Gowri Parameswaran, Fawzia Afzal-Khan

Journal of International Women's Studies

These are turbulent times for the many countries that form the Global South. South Asian nation-states are no exception; the last half century has ushered in liberalization of economies, forced structural adjustments, climate chaos, criminalization of indigenous and lower caste populations, and rapid technological changes. All these forces have resulted in massive upheavals often manifested in political, economic, and social crises. Experts observe that in times of instability, the most marginalized groups, already the target of social violence, are disproportionately subjected to enormous stress, anxiety, and insecurity. In South Asia, women, as one such group that faces multiple intersectional oppressions …

[Cldv 100] Diversity And Multicultural Studies, Oluremi "Remi" Alapo

Open Educational Resources

CLDV100 (Liberal Arts) Introduction to Multicultural Studies in the 21st Century: 3 hrs. 3 crs.

A study of what culture is; how it influences the choices we make; how to deal positively with conflicts that inevitably arise in working/living situations with people of diverse cultures. It is a course structured to raise multicultural awareness and fortify students' social skills in dealing with cultural differences. It includes an ethnographic study of cultural groups in the U.S.A. Through the study of cultural concepts, this course develops skills in critical thinking, writing, and scholarly documentation. Not open to students with credit in CLDV …

[Blst 103] Black Women In The Atlantic World, Oluremi "Remi" Alapo

Open Educational Resources

Course Description: This course examines the foundations, ideas, concerns, and implications of Black feminism within the context of the Black Atlantic. A major goal of this class is to foster dialogue and critical discussion about Black feminism as a site of theory and practice emphasizing social, political, and personal transformation.

Cross-Cultural Performativity Of Gender Communication In Heather Raffo’S Nine Parts Of Desire, Shaimaa M. Saeed

English Language and Literature

Since the mid-twentieth century, the study of gender has constituted a fundamental part of many interdisciplinary research works due to its multi-perspective nature which made it a fertile ground for analysis in diversified fields of science. Discussions over sex/gender distinction and the representation as well as perception of gender ceaselessly exist within controversially enriching, discursive frameworks. In 1990, Judith Butler (1956- ), one of the prominent feminist theorists in the field of gender studies, first coined the concept of “gender performativity,” where she challenged the conventional notions of ethnomethodologists and phenomenologists who restricted the perception and communication of gender to …

Herstory& Female Identity: Postmodern Feminist Revision Of Female Characters In Islamic Narrative In Mohja Kahf’S Hagar Poems, Aya Elbably

Dentistry

Contending with the re-reading and re-writing of history that has always excluded women from its grand narratives, postmodern feminist writers have always sought to revise canonical texts from a gynocentric perspective. Through their revisionary fiction, they aimed at challenging the subordinate, marginal and invisible position of the women characters in these texts. In place of the alleged objectivity of these accounts, postmodern feminist revisionist writers transform these ancient tales while employing female insight to re-narrate the story of humanity, yet through women’s perspective. Thus, they create new texts to challenge the fundamental gender stereotypes, namely the binary images generated by …

Reflections On Charlene's Influence, Marilyn Fischer

Books and Book Chapters by University of Dayton Faculty

A contemporary appraisal of the breadth, significance, and legacy of the work of Charlene Haddock Seigfried, this book brings together writings focused on pragmatist feminism/feminist pragmatism, contemporary pragmatism, William James and the reconstruction of philosophy, education and American philosophy in the 21st century.

Charlene Haddock Seigfried is a looming figure in American thought and feminist theory who coined the phrase 'pragmatist feminist' which has become an increasingly important concept in contemporary philosophy. Seigfried argues that pragmatism and its rich history is a natural ally for feminism and that the creative combination of these two traditions can pave the way for …

Gender Norms And Gendered Traits, Rowan Bell

Dissertations - ALL

Gender oppression is sustained in part through enforcement of and compliance with gender norms. Understanding how they work is therefore salient to the goal of gender liberation.According to the category-based view, which is common in analytic feminist philosophy, gender norms are assigned to individuals based on their assigned gender category, such as woman or man. I argue that this is insufficient, because it ignores the experiences of those who are marginalized or excluded from those categories. On a category-based view, individual responsiveness to gender norms will track gender category assignment; only individuals assigned the category woman will be responsive to …

“The Worst Part About My Pregnancy Was Stuff That Didn’T Have To Do With My Pregnancy”: Medicaid Beneficiaries’ Pregnancy Intentions & Experiences In South Carolina, Andrew Michael Chen

Senior Theses

Low-income women and women of color experience adverse birth outcomes at disproportionately higher rates in the United States than most people who give birth. This thesis examines individual interviews conducted with 30 low-income women whose most recent birth was covered by Medicaid, the United States’ largest means-tested public health insurance program. The aim of this thesis is to examine how the women in the study thought about pregnancy, and how they described their intentions to become or avoid becoming pregnant at various times in their life. While public health researchers often frame pregnancy as an event that is either intended …

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal Of Gender And Sexuality 58.1 (2022)

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

The Malleability Of Home: A Genealogy Of Clark University's English House, Christina Rose Walcott, Justin Shaw

English

This essay details the history of the land and structures that occupy the property currently located at the corner of Hawthorne and Woodland Streets in Worcester, Mass. Covering over 300 years, it begins with the legacies of the Nipmuc and the early English colonialist settlers before moving into a discussion of Worcester's 19th Century industrialists and 20th Century acquisition by the University. The essay builds on extensive archival research using materials from both physical and digital collections such as atlases, censuses, biographies, directories, criticism, and more. To further develop the story of the English Department and its home, the essay …

An Assessment Of Transgender And Gender Non-Conforming Individuals Gender Affirming Health Care Practices In The Greater Tampa Bay, Sara J. Berumen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The LGBTQ+ community faces discrimination and oppression throughout U.S. history and today. In particular, transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) individuals may face a variety of challenges when seeking biomedical health care tied to hostility, discomfort, lack of training, stigma, and denial of care at clinics or hospitals (Baker & Beagan, 2014; Lykens et al., 2018; Safer, 2021). TGNC individuals face medical gatekeeping when trying to access medical gender-affirming care (Aizura, 2018; Malatino, 2020). The research project aims to investigate these individuals' healthcare experiences, and access to both medicalized and nonmedicalized gender affirming health care practices.

In order to conduct this …

Multicultural Women's Literature, Various, Carrie Lewis Miller

All Resources

Openly licensed anthology focused on the theme of the Multicultural Women's Literature. Contains: American Indian Stories by Zikala-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin); Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan by Izumi Shikibu et al.; The Diwan of Zeb-un-Nissa by Zeb-un-Nissa; Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen, Liliuokalani; Kamala: a story of Hindu life by Krupabai Satthianadhan; Life Among the Piutes: Their Wrongs and Claims by Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins; Life of Harriet Beecher Stowe by Harriet Beecher Stowe; Memoirs of an Arabian Princess by Emily Ruete (Salamah bint Saïd; Sayyida Salme, Princess of Zanzibar and Oman); Nightmare Tales by H.P. Blavatsky; Ratanbai: a sketch …

“Even If You Have Food In Your House, It Will Not Taste Sweet”: Central African Refugees’ Experiences Of Cultural Food Insecurity And Other Overlapping Insecurities In Tampa, Florida, Shaye Soifoine

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, resettled African refugee populations experience food insecurity at rates up to seven times higher than those of the general population. In Tampa, Florida, anthropologists have documented high levels of food insecurity among Central African refugee households since members of this population began to be resettled in the area in 2016. Utilizing an intersectional lens and drawing upon theoretical concepts such as cultural food security, navigational capital, and social reproduction, this thesis examines how Central African refugees, particularly women, experience food (in)security and other overlapping forms of (in)security as they integrate into US systems of structural inequality …

Developing A Scale To Measure Destination Gender, Tingting Zhang

Rosen Research Review

Whether they depict the rugged landscape of the American West or the seductive charm of a South Asian beach, photographs and their accompanying text are powerful drivers of tourism demand. But what lies behind our response to such tourism tropes? Rosen College researchers have produced a new study which reappraises destination marketing through a gender-based lens. Led by Dr. Tingting Zhang, the study has developed and validated a cross-cultural scale to determine ‘destination gender’, or whether a location should be thought of as having masculine or feminine gender traits and appeal.