Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons^™

Book Review: From The Shahs To Los Angeles: Three Generations Of Iranian Jewish Women Between Religion And Culture, Catherine Ogunmefun

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of From the Shahs to Los Angeles: Three Generations of Iranian Jewish Women between Religion and Culture by Saba Soomekh (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2012)

Book Review: Reshaping Gender And Class In Rural Spaces, Thelma Maluleke

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Reshaping Gender and Class in Rural Spaces, edited by Barbara Pini and Belinda Leach (Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing, 2011)

Book Review: Women's Movements And The Filipina (1986-2008), Dizline Mfanozelwe Shozi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Women’s Movements and the Filipina (1986-2008) by Mina Roces (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2012)

Menopause – A Time For Reflection, Eve Sicurella

Journal of International Women's Studies

A woman’s post-reproductive years can bring the greatest challenges of her life as physical and psychological changes compel examination of her new role in life. The author’s own experience of this leads her to reflect on cultural perspectives and healing practices that may impact the individual experience of menopause. In the USA, physical symptoms often have been managed by hormone replacement therapy (HRT) while the psychological changes, including the subtleties of what it means to be a (re)productive part of society have just begun to be addressed. In a holistic model, factors having a positive influence on a woman’s experience …

Freedom Vis A Vis Independence: An Overview In Light Of Feminism, Women's Development And Empowerment, Harasankar Adhikari

Journal of International Women's Studies

Educational development and participation in the workforce are prime factors in the changing situations of women in society. The movement towards equality and justice for women is gradually captivating Indian society as a human development indicator. To examine the views of women on independence vis-à-vis freedom as instruments to achieve equality and justice, 50 girls age between 16 to 26 years were selected purposively adopting a stratified simple random sampling. They were from different socio-economic background living in both rural and urban areas. They were studying in different levels from high school to university. The study has explored their views …

Costa Rica And The "Electric Fence" Mentality: Stunting Women's Socio-Economic Participation In The 21st Century, Amy Osborne

Journal of International Women's Studies

Costa Rica is regarded as the “top democracy” in Latin America, exceeding basic developmental standards in most categories. The nation’s achievement is evidenced by women’s strong enrollment and retention rates within the nation’s education system. However, Costa Rica’s overwhelming gender disparity in the labor force reveals significant developmental deficiencies and contradicts fundamental democratic ideals. The pervasion of an “electric fence” mentality stunts women’s socio-economic engagement by restraining them to traditionally prescribed gender roles. To better understand women’s economic detachment, special attention must be paid to those institutional practices that perpetuate cultural norms and discriminatory tendencies. Costa Rica’s education system has …

The Capitalist Hijacking Of International Women's Day: Russian And American Considerations, Barbara Lesavoy, Garrett Jordan

Journal of International Women's Studies

What are the origins and purpose of International Women’s Day (IWD) as a gender equality platform and what is the symbolic significance of IWD in and outside the United States (U.S.)? Of particular interest is IWD as comparatively observed in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia where the day, born in Sweden and Germany under socialist ideals, gained contextual ground. Using the 2011 IWD centenary as a research lens, analyzed within feminist theoretical frameworks and via Soviet historians, this paper provides a historic synopsis of IWD and of women in Russia, then considers the neoliberal and materialist backlash of IWD in the …

In The Quest For Equality Of Condition: Women's Situation In Belgium, Lithuania, The Netherlands And Portugal, Eunice Macedo, Sofia Almeida Santos

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article discusses the concept of equality of condition as a possibility of citizenship for women in diverse fields of social life: house work, labour market and social benefits, in particular. Women talks were gathered through Focus Group Discussion with a group of higher education students, in an Erasmus Intensive Programme, which involved Belgium, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Portugal. These countries are seen in their roles as European member states with diverse positions in the European Union. We start by describing shortly the European and national legal settings for women’s citizenship, and we theorize the ways Europe relates to their …

The Rural Woman's Constraints To Participation In Rural Organizations, Maryam Tanwir, Tayyab Safdar

Journal of International Women's Studies

Although women play a central role in the rural economy through their contribution to the agriculture production process, their equitable participation in rural organizations (ROs) remains minimal. Furthermore their role is decision making and in leadership positions within these organizations remains negligible. This disproportionate mismatch in participation is not only detrimental for women but also has negative effects on the household and on the rural economy. Combining insights from various secondary sources, the paper introduces of a new conceptual metrics around the discourse of participation. Based on this conceptualization of the term “participation”, the paper attempts to provide a critical …

Perspectives On Women's Studies From India: Strengths, Struggles And Implications For Programs In The U.S., Aditi Mitra, Manjeet Bhatia, Sobha Chatterjee

Journal of International Women's Studies

An important goal of Women’s Studies (WS) is the advancement of women’s rights not just locally, but on a global scale. How well this goal is accomplished will ultimately depend on the current WS curricula adapting to include international and transnational perspectives. This paper investigates how Indian-WS programs, with some comparisons to WS programs in the US, are meeting this challenge. It begins by tracing the development of WS and examines its curricula by conducting a content analysis of ten syllabi from Indian universities and offers reflections from WS practitioners in India. The research yields important insights on institutionalization of …

South Asian Fiction And Marital Agency Of Muslim Wives, Hafiza Nilofar Khan

Journal of International Women's Studies

This essay deals with the treatment of wifely agency as delineated by three South Asian women writers: Ismat Chughtai, Tehmina Durrani and Selina Hossain. It tries to prove that the Muslim wives as projected in the fiction of these writers from the patriarchal societies of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are not uniformly oppressed victims of socio-religious discourses. Though often their bodies are subjected to rigorous discipline, docility and even battery, these wives still demonstrate sufficient agential powers to resist the status quo and chalk out a fresh trope of identity for themselves. Their domestic agency, sexual agency and decision-making powers, …

Religion As A Factor Influencing Turkish Women's Decisions To Work, Mary Lou O’Neil, Mehmet Huseyin Bilgin

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article uses survey data collected from more than 500 women in Istanbul to examine whether or not religion exerts an influence on women’s decisions to work or not. Our work revealed that religion does not appear to have a direct impact on whether or not Turkish women choose to work. Rather the expectation that women fulfill their traditional roles as caregivers proves a greater obstacle for women who wish to enter the labor market. Religion, in the case of Turkey, Islam, can only be seen as an influence on Turkish women’s work decisions to the extent that it supports …

When A Woman Becomes President: Implications For Gender Policy And Planning In Malawi, Margaret Asalele Mbilizi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Recently gender discourse in Malawi changed dramatically when Joyce Banda ascended to the office of president following the sudden death of the incumbent, Bingu Wa Mutharika. A relentless women’s rights advocate, Joyce Banda became the first woman president in Southern Africa and the continent’s second woman leader, after Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. President Banda has told the nation that gender equality and women empowerment shall remain the central policy priority of her government. She affirms her government’s commitment to increasing representation of women in decision making positions and is promising to scale up women’s economic empowerment activities.

Against this …

Women's Electoral Participation In Muslim Majority And Non-Mulsim Majority Countries, Sophia Francesca Del Prado Lu

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper aims to look and discuss the association of Islam and women’s electoral participation in Muslim majority and non-Muslim majority countries. The dataset that was used for the analysis, entitled “Party Variation in religiosity and women’s leadership: A Cross National Perspective, 2008-2010”, was taken from the Inter-University Consortium of Political and Social Research, University of Michigan who approved the use of their dataset. The unit of analysis targeted 329 political party lists in 26 countries. Women’s political participation was operationalized as electoral quota for women, internal party quota, percent share of women in decision-making bodies, interaction of percent female …

Nina Simone & The Civil Rights Movement: Protest At Her Piano, Audience At Her Feet, A. Loudermilk

Journal of International Women's Studies

American pianist, vocalist, songwriter, and activist Nina Simone (1933-2003) played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement and yet many historical accounts of the era have snubbed her. Bringing into clearer focus the intense and problematic commitment of Simone’s identity as a musician to the protest identity of the Civil Rights Movement, this essay will examine Simone as an icon, her songs in historical context, and her audiences over the years. Her concerts, which continued until the last year of her life, make for a fascinating public record of her turbulent relationship with fans during and after the turbulent …

The Experience Of Wellness For Counselor Education Doctoral Students Who Are Mothers In The Southeastern Region Of The United States, Latoya Anderson Pierce, Barbara Herlihy

Journal of International Women's Studies

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the experience of wellness in counselor education doctoral students who are mothers of children under the age of 18. Seven participants from universities in the southeastern region of the United States completed two rounds of interviews and one focus group. Participants were at varying stages of motherhood and different points in their doctoral journeys. Findings included participants' views of motherhood and womanhood, sacrifices and rewards, counselor education program support, wellness, and dissonance of multiple roles. Findings were compared within and across cases using themes and categories. Suggestions for further research as …

A Hidden History: Women's Activism In Ethiopia, Gemma Burgess

Journal of International Women's Studies

In Ethiopia a woman's identity is linked to her family and the prescribed gender role as a mother and home-maker, yet throughout Ethiopia's history there are examples of women who have roles that extend beyond the home and family into public, political life. This paper briefly describes this dominant gender identity of Ethiopian women before charting the changes to Ethiopian politics and women's place within them. It discusses how the shift to democratic politics opened new spaces for women's civil society activism. However, more recent political moves towards greater repression of civil society have closed the space for women's public, …

Female Entrepreneurship In A West African Context: Network, Improvisation And Dependency, Anniken Førde

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article addresses gender and entrepreneurship in a West African context. Through a case study of the network Les Femmes Entrepreneurs in Ngaoundéré, North Cameroon, gendered spaces and how these are being articulated, maintained and changed are analysed. The Cameroonian female entrepreneurs have a broad understanding of entrepreneurship, including all kinds of improvisation to survive and fight poverty. The network consists of women performing a multitude of activities, using Les Femmes Entrepreneurs as a social and economic safety net as well as to gain access to international financial support. Their entrepreneurial practices challenge established narratives of entrepreneurship. It is argued …

Muslim Women And Girls: Searching For Democracy And Self-Expression, Theresa Renee White, Jennifer Maria Hernandez

Journal of International Women's Studies

This project captures the stories of Muslim women and girls, and the individual ways in which they construct female identity and exercise religious freedom as a form of democracy and self-expression. Much has been written about Muslim women, their dress, hijabs, veils and more recently burqas (Shirazi, 2001; MacDonald, 2006; Haddah & Smith et al., 2006; McLarney, 2009), in the wake of the 9/11 events. Scholars have noted the increasing construction of hate, fear, and misunderstanding, as well as increasing incidences of “Islamophobia” through the construction of Muslims as “the other”. Others have focused on Muslim women’s negotiations of religious …

Women In The Second Egyptian Parliament Post The Arab Spring: Do They Think They Stand A Chance?, Laila El Baradei, Dina Wafa

Journal of International Women's Studies

Egyptian women were very active on the streets during the 25 January Revolution, both in the demonstrations and in the subsequent elections, showing very high rates of participation as voters, yet surprisingly, very low rates of representation in the 2012 parliament. The current study seeks to explore different views, expectations and perceptions of Egyptian women regarding women’s role in the forthcoming 2013 parliamentary elections, and to identify what alternative measures are needed to strengthen women’s representation in parliament, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

The methodology utilized relied on a literature review in addition to a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the …

Sex And Selfhood: What Feminist Philosophy Can Learn From Recent Ethnography In Ho Chi Minh City, Mathew A. Foust

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article explores the connection of class dynamics to the moral agency of sex workers and their clients. It revisits the analyses of several contemporary feminist theorists, placing these analyses in dialogue with a recent ethnographic study of the sex work industry in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In light of this comparative analysis, it is argued that accurate understanding and assessment of the moral agency of sex workers and their clients requires attunement to the complex and evolving class dynamics within which each is situated. Thus, while traditional frameworks for approaching this subject are useful, they are ultimately inadequate.

Changing Status Of Women And The Phenomenon Trafficking Of Women For Transactional Sex In Nigeria: A Qualitative Analysis, Clementina A. Osezua

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper examines the changing status of Bini women occasioned by the upsurge and endemic nature of the phenomenon of trafficking of women for the purpose of transactional sex. It engaged ethnographic methods of data collection with the use of family based interviews, focus group discussions using vignette stories, life histories, and key informant interviewing. Data were analyzed based on emerged themes. Findings revealed that “successful” trafficked Bini women enjoyed high socio-economic status in their families of procreation especially where family members were the direct recipients of the proceeds from transactional sex. Most mothers of “successfully” trafficked victims wielded greater …

Quality Of Life Among Thai Sex Workers: How Important Are Work, Educational And Personal Characteristics In Shaping Subjective Well-Being?, Elizabeth Monk-Turner

Journal of International Women's Studies

Little work explores subjective well-being (SWB) differences among unique populations. This study rests on a data from commercial female sex workers (CFSW) that was collected in Thailand during January and February 2007. Past research in SWB indicates that women who have more formal education, those who feel positively about their income rank and working conditions, and those who feel connected to others in their community report greater well-being compared to others. Moreover, Biswas-Diener and Diener (2006) found that sex workers in Calcutta were generally satisfied with their personal domains. Most Thai sex workers, in our sample, were generally satisfied with …

Family Affairs Newsletter 2013-08-15, Zack Paakkonen

Family Affairs newsletter (2004-2016)

FAMILY AFFAIRS was a free, twice-a-month, social activities newsletter for the GLBTQI (gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans/queer/intersex) community, sent out around the 1st and 15th of each month. It covered the State of Maine only. The list was begun and maintained for many years by Jean Vermette in Bangor, and later operated by Zack Paakkonen of Portland. Over the years it evolved from a social activities newsletter into a business directory, classified ad service, and community bulletin board.

Brooks Better Not Come Back, Helena E. Yang

SURGE

Every time a new season of the Bachelorette starts, I tell myself that I won’t watch this season—that I won’t give in to the trashiness and the petty drama which is the Bachelor. But I can’t help it. Season after season I’m hooked and 17 seasons later… here I am. [excerpt]

Fearless: Professor Janet Powers And Linnea Goebel, Janet M. Powers, Linnea C. Goebel

SURGE

This week we would like to recognize Professor Janet Powers and recent graduate Linnea Goebel ’13 for their work in Bosnia this summer helping to set up a group of female embroiderers with an Amazon Marketplace account to sell their wares on the internet. [excerpt]

Family Affairs Newsletter 2013-08-01, Zack Paakkonen

Family Affairs newsletter (2004-2016)

FAMILY AFFAIRS was a free, twice-a-month, social activities newsletter for the GLBTQI (gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans/queer/intersex) community, sent out around the 1st and 15th of each month. It covered the State of Maine only. The list was begun and maintained for many years by Jean Vermette in Bangor, and later operated by Zack Paakkonen of Portland. Over the years it evolved from a social activities newsletter into a business directory, classified ad service, and community bulletin board.

"Wee Women's Work": Women And Peacebuilding In Northern Ireland, Amanda E. Donahoe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

International norms on intrastate conflicts, such as United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, call for women to participate in peace processes in countries emerging from conflict and civil strife, including those divided by identity-based conflict. However, scholars of post-war recovery in international relations and comparative politics have raised questions about the extent and effect of women’s participation in peace processes, and in politics more generally, in divided societies given underlying social, economic, and political barriers that impeded access to decisive or authoritative political decision-making. A critical question in the literature on women’s participation in post-conflict reconciliation-related dialogue and joint action …

Plain & Simple: The Will To Live Sustainably In An Unsustainable World, Brandi Nichole Button

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Sustainability is a buzzword covering a variety of fields and subjects. For the purposes of my research sustainability is “the ability to keep going over the long haul. As a value, it refers to giving equal weight in your decisions to the future as well as the present” (Gilman 1). The sustainability movement refers to activists, educators and researchers who are dedicated to finding high quality ways of living in the world that are environmentally benign for all who are now living as well future generations to come (Gilman 1). This research focuses on three women who engage in voluntary …

Being The Beautiful Fool, Ashley N. Gore

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Ernest Hemingway wrote to F. Scott Fitzgerald that “The good parts of a book may be only something a writer is lucky enough to overhear or it may be the wreck of his whole damn life — and one is as good as the other” (305). With that, I created a collection of short stories that analyzes my generation of women’s struggles. Framing the thesis are two stories involving three women, Lindsey, Jenny, and Sarah, “The Generation of Discontent” and “Revisions,” with the characters attempting to sort through love, success, and happiness in society. The piece “The Bachelor” has Amanda …