Women's Studies Commons^™

L’Abandon De L’Excision Au Sénégal D’Ici 2015: Une Analyse De La Collaboration Entre L’Ong Tostan Et Le Ministère De La Famille, Karen Kirk

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The practice of female genital cutting (FGC) in Senegal continues today despite a law banning its practice. This study is a discussion of the collaboration between the NGO Tostan and the Senegalese government (Direction of the Family) as they work toward their goal of complete abandonment of FGC in Senegal by 2015. It examines the different roles of these two entities and how this collaboration will make this goal a reality. Key interviews with representatives from Tostan, the Direction of the Family and a third party provide opinions about this collaboration and whether or not this goal is realistic. La …

Violence In The House, Katherine Hite

Human Rights & Human Welfare

There was something particularly haunting in reading this Kristof and WuDunn piece during the week’s major US headlines: a girl in California had been imprisoned for eighteen years in the home of a man who kidnapped and raped her, fathered her children, and employed her in his small enterprise—a business card design and printing agency. Business clients interviewed for the story appeared completely taken aback. Clients had always found the now twenty-nine-year-old Jaycee Dugard “professional, polite, and responsive” as well as “creative and talented in her work.” Others expressed similar shock, recounting that Ms. Dugard “was always smiling.” Ms. Dugard’s …

"The Female Entrepreneur"?, Cath Collins

Human Rights & Human Welfare

I read the “Women’s Crusade” article that forms the centrepiece of this month’s roundtable with initial interest, gradually turning to a vague sense of disquiet spiced with occasional disbelief. After a few more readings, I tried highlighting the passages that bothered me and stringing them together. Countries “riven by fundamentalism”— that’s presumably the Islamic variety, rather than the Christian variant which holds such sway in the US. The suggestion that “everyone from the World Bank to the US [...] Chiefs of Staff to [...] CARE” now thinks that women are the answer to global extremism hides too many questionable assumptions …

October Roundtable: Introduction

Human Rights & Human Welfare

An annotation of:

The Women's Crusade. By Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. The New York Review of Books. August 17, 2009.

Marriage In Conflict: Formerly Abducted Women’S Struggles With Marriage Upon Return, Julie Bailey

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

With the end of the twenty-year war in Northern Uganda, the area has begun the long process of rehabilitating, rebuilding, and reintegrating. For women who have now returned from abduction and forced marriage, reintegration has proven difficult, specifically in regards to these women’s desires to marry upon return. The experiences of these formerly abducted women in the bush as well as the conflict-induced changes to traditional marriage often limits their ability to remarry and thus prevents them from fully regaining their place in Acholi society. Ultimately, this study sought to examine these difficulties by looking at the societal norms for …

Women's Research Institute Of Nevada Newsletter, Joanne Goodwin, Women's Research Institute Of Nevada

Newsletters

No abstract provided.

“It’S A Ripple Effect”: Global Mamas In A Developing Ghana, Mara Dold

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

My research took place almost entirely in Cape Coast but was supplemented with time in Krobo-Odumase and Accra. I worked exclusively with the nonprofit and fair trade international organization Women in Progress, specifically focusing on the women working for their brand name product line Global Mamas. I was a part of 2 batik workshops and 1 bead making workshop, led by Ghanaians hired by Global Mamas. Participant observation and informal interviews went hand in hand during the workshops. I had many an informal discussion and just 5 formal interviews overall. Book research was key to my more general findings and …

Exploration Of Barriers And Solutions For Women In The Pathway To The High School Principalship, Tracy Shook Skinner

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate barriers women face when entering school administration as well as perceptions of the high school principalship held by female high school principals and assistant principals aspiring to the principalship. Work conflicts and job demands for women were explored as well as the significance of mentoring and networking along the pathway to the principalship. The information gathered through a critical feminist approach was used to assess women's barriers to the principalship and describe methods employed to overcome those barriers.

A Few Drops Of Oil Will Not Be Enough, Stephen James

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn provide a rich description of the various kinds of violence, deprivation, depredation and exploitation that women experience on a vast scale in the developing world. They write of sex trafficking, acid attacks, “bride burning,” enslavement, spousal beatings, unequal healthcare (something the USA still struggles with), insufficient food, gendered abortions and infant and maternal mortality. They are right to identify the education of women and girls as part of the solution to the widespread “gendercide.” However, their approach focuses too much on the capacity, indeed the virtue or heroism, of individual women. It does not take …

From Outrage To Action, Henry Krisch

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Kristof and WuDunn provide a vivid panoramic view of problems faced by women (primarily in the “developing” world), what has been done and what more could be done to help them achieve dignity and autonomy in their lives, and how vindication of their rights could contribute to the broader social development of their societies. In this they provide us with important insights into how human rights might be effectively proclaimed and successfully implemented. In reviewing their considerable contributions, I shall also suggest some limitations on both their analysis and their policy recommendations.

Women's Studies Newsletter 09-2009, Susana Peña

Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Communication Dimensions Of Supervisor-Subordinate Conflict: Perceptions By Subordinates Of Sex/Gender Differences In Supervisors’ Conflict Strategies, Maria Del Pilar Montoya

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

My personal interest about conflict in the workplace and its relation with sex/gender started early in my first years as a communication practitioner, and later became a topic for my academic research. After I did not find satisfactory answers among the popular beliefs and perceptions to the inquiries about conflict in the workplace, I turned my search to what the social sciences have investigated. I have to recognize that at the beginning my internal explanations about the reasons why conflict with supervisors happened were biased on traumatic conflict experiences with female supervisors as a participant and an observer, in which …

Mentor's Introduction [To Maria Del Pilar Montoya's Paper], April Chatham-Carpenter

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Pilar’s paper was initially developed in a graduate-level Quantitative Research Methods class. She surveyed nontraditional students at a university about their perceptions of sex/gender differences in female supervisor’s conflict strategies. The paper does a good job overviewing the literature in the field and applies an already recognized scale to explore male and female students’ perceptions of their female bosses. This work serves as a foundation for Pilar’s ongoing thesis project, looking at the role of sex and gender in supervisory conflict behaviors.

Designing A Woman-Friendly Workplace: A Prognosis And Prescription For Institutional Health At The University Of Guam, Helen Thompson, Andrea Sant Hartig, Diane Thurber

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article explores the campus activist and research efforts made possible through a Campus Action Project grant awarded by AAUW (2006-2007) to the University of Guam (UOG). Faculty-student researchers developed a workshop series addressing women's workplace concerns and conducted research investigating the health of UOG through selected key indicators of a woman-friendly institution. This article focuses on the research findings, the impact of the grant efforts, and recommendations for institutional changes.

The Search For An African Feminist Ethic: A Zimbabwean Perspective, Fainos Mangena

Journal of International Women's Studies

In the field of ethics, women have been portrayed as inferior to men due to androcentric attitudes (male-dominated ethics) that seems to define men as custodians of what is right or wrong. This andro-centric ethic has taken women out of the academic limelight as they are portrayed as less able to make valuable contributions in philosophy (ethics) and other fields of academic inquiry. It is encouraging to see feminist movements emerging, in the twenty-first century, to challenge this misplaced kind of thinking. This challenge is laudable and in this paper, I make an attempt to show that while women in …

Abuse Of Lower Castes In South India: The Institution Of Devadasi, Maria Costanza Torri

Journal of International Women's Studies

The ‘devadasi’ system has been the object of several studies and is quite controversial. Some authors, particularly in the past associated the ‘devadasi’ with power and prestige, other, more lately, with degradation and prostitution. This article firstly explores the origin of ‘devadasi’ practice and its evolution over time as well as its religious and ritual meaning, while attempting to identify the main factors explaining the signification of the ‘devadasi’ system in the past. Secondly it analyses the social status and economic condition of ‘devadasis’ and draws a global view of the reasons why young girls are still today consecrated in …

Combating Violence Against Women (Vaw) In South Kivu: A Critical Analysis, Giulia D’Odorico, Nathalie Holvoet

Journal of International Women's Studies

During the on-going civil conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo or DRC), which has raged on and off since 1996 and throughout the post-2002 transition period, thousands of cases of rape and other forms of sexual violence against women have been reported. Drawing on secondary data and evidence from our own field research, this article describes and assesses aid delivery to victims of sexual violence. Aid practices on the ground, as well as the underlying policy framework are critically analysed through a gender lens. It is argued that the lack of a gender perspective in the relevant …

Women’S Understanding Of The Effects Of Domestic Abuse: The Impact On Their Identity, Sense Of Self And Resilience. A Grounded Theory Approach, Emma Crawford, Helen Liebling-Kalifani, Vicki Hill

Journal of International Women's Studies

Research on women who have experienced domestic abuse indicates that they feel marginalized; stigma, shame and fear about the response of services stop women from seeking the support they need. The current study aimed to explore the unique perspectives of women who have experienced domestic abuse in order to gain an understanding of their experiences, their perceived identity, sense of self and resilience. Interviews were conducted with eight women who had experienced domestic abuse and transcripts were analysed using grounded theory methodology. Findings indicated that domestic abuse had a significant impact on the women interviewed. In particular, the ongoing relationship …

The Challenge Of Studying Sexual Harassment In Higher Education: An Experience From The University Of Malawi’S Chancellor College, Happy Mickson Kayuni

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper is an outcome of an empirical research study conducted in November 2007 and April 2008 to analyse the extent and factors contributing to sexual harassment in the University of Malawi’s Chancellor College. The study set out to answer some of the following research questions: (1) how does the Chancellor College community understand sexual harassment? (2) What are the extent, nature and forms of sexual harassment in Chancellor College? (3) In which ways are sexual harassment complaints handled? (4) What are the contents of institutional policies and procedures that focus on sexual harassment? Despite such a properly outlined purpose …

Gender Standards V. Democratic Standards: Examples And Counter Examples, Amel Mili

Journal of International Women's Studies

Common wisdom, and development theory hold that gender standards and democratic standards go hand in hand, in the sense that countries that uphold high standards of gender equality are the same as countries that uphold high standards of democratic governance. Even though this principle appears intuitively appealing, it is disproved by empirical measures I have collected on the recent history of the Maghreb (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia). In this paper, I report on my empirical experiments and submit tentative justifications for their outcome.

A Study On The Empowerment Of Women Construction Workers As Masons In Tamil Nadu, India, Annette Barnabas, D. Joseph Anbarasu, Paul S. Clifford

Journal of International Women's Studies

The construction sector has the largest number of unorganised labourers in India next only to agricultural sector. Women form half the workforce and by choice or by design they are not allowed to acquire specific skills that may enable them to become masons. Women join as unskilled workers and remain unskilled till the end of their working life span. However, men get training and systematically upgrade their construction skills to graduate as masons, supervisors and contractors. A study was conducted on the career progress of 440 men construction workers and 440 women construction workers and 51 building contractors to find …

When Personal Dreams Derail: Rural Cameroonian Women Aspire For Their Children, Akuri John, Susan Weinger, Barbara Barton

Journal of International Women's Studies

Data gathered from a convenience sample of 36 women who reside in rural villages lying on the outskirts of Buea, Cameroon is not consistent with the “culture of poverty” proposition which states that personal characteristics of the poor tie them to a life of poverty. These findings run counter to an assumed “culture of poverty” in which persons do not hold career aspirations and socialize their children with attitudes that assure the generational transmission of poverty. Respondents, as a case vignette illustrates, conveyed that besides marriage they had wanted a career in order to achieve a living wage. After their …

The Not So New Turkish Woman: A Statistical Look At Women In Two Istanbul Neighborhoods, Mary-Lou O’Neill, Fazil Guler

Journal of International Women's Studies

Using survey data gathered from nearly 400 women living in two Istanbul neighborhoods, this article explores issues of work, education, family and feminism. In addition to presenting the findings we argue that there is a continued gap between the ideal of the Republican woman and the actual practices of this group of Turkish women. The picture of these Turkish women that emerged from this survey is that of women still largely in the grips of an ideal born in the early days of the Turkish Republic. However, it also became clear that there also exist rifts between belief and practice …

Changing The Canon: Chinua Achebe’S Women, The Public Sphere And The Politics Of Inclusion, Uzoechi Nwagbara

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper examines the subjugation of Nigerian women with regard to how their political marginalisation constricts the public sphere, the resource centre of public opinion, which strengthens the ideals of democracy and good governance. The political marginalisation of women in Nigeria is a rectilinear upshot of their low participation in government and politics necessitated by patriarchy. This patriarchal practice has animated the urgency of expanded public sphere as well as feminism, an ideological, aesthetic and cultural movement, steeped in agitating for the rights of women and expanding the frontiers of their participation in the political process. In the political novel …

Examining Empowerment Among Indian Widows: A Qualitative Study Of The Narratives Of Hindu Widows In North Indian Ashrams, Nimi Mastey

Journal of International Women's Studies

Contemporary discourse on widowhood in India tends to concentrate heavily on quantitative evaluation. Discussion of the narratives of the women is confined to more popular medium, and tends to focus on the need of the women to be empowered. By simply visiting ashrams in Vrindavan it becomes clear that the term “empowerment” is vastly up to interpretation. This study focuses on the models of empowerment applied by two different widow ashrams: Ma-dham and Chetan Bihar. Through obtaining narratives of the women’s lives, I attempt to assess the success of the ashrams in “empowering” the widows, and question the necessity and …

Women And Politics In Kuwait, Muhamad S. Olimat

Journal of International Women's Studies

On May 17, 2008, Kuwait conducted its Twelfth election of its National Assembly. The most remarkable aspect of the election was the active participation of women, who gained their right to vote in May 2005. This paper argues that the main impediment for women’s inability to win any seat in the 11th and 12th Assemblies is their failure to work with each other and support their political rights. The objective of this article is to examine the Kuwaiti women’s struggle for political rights, their participation in the last two elections and investigate their inability to win any seats, in spite …

Book Review: How What You Eat Defines Who You Are: The Food Theme In Four American Women Writers, Jamie Sherman

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of How What You Eat Defines Who You Are: The Food Theme in Four American Women Writers by Ya-hui Irenna Chang

Book Review: Re-Defining Feminisms, Voichita Nachescu

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Re-defining Feminisms, edited by Ranjana Harish and V. Bharathi Harishankar

Book Review: Power, Resistance And Women Politicians In Cambodia: Discourses Of Emancipation, Debarati Sen

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Power, Resistance and Women Politicians in Cambodia: Discourses of Emancipation, by Mona Lilja

Book Review: Enchanted Lives, Enchanted Objects: American Women Collectors And The Making Of Culture 1800-1940, Beth Muellner

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Enchanted Lives, Enchanted Objects: American Women Collectors and the Making of Culture 1800-1940 by Dianne Sachko Macleod