Women's Studies Commons^™

Book Review: Arab America: Gender, Cultural Politics, And Activism, Adlai S. Davids

Journal of International Women's Studies

Review of Arab America: Gender, Cultural Politics, and Activism by Nadine Naber

Voices Of Ohio Women Aspiring To Principalship, Mahshid Pirouznia

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women who aspire for principalship might encounter obstacles such as: lack of encouragement; myths about women’s work; sex stereotyping; lack of aspiration; role conflict; low self-esteem; family responsibilities; lack of mobility; and hiring and promoting practices. The research problem is to investigate the major obstacles of women seeking the principalship in public education in the U.S.; and also to explore changes of different obstacles to women’s principalship because of changing women’s role over time. Most studies include one or two obstacles; but this study investigates major obstacles or any other possible obstacles that may have not been recognized in past …

At War With Their Bodies Or At War With Their Minds? A Glimpse Into The Lives And Minds Of Female Yo-Yo Dieters – The Curtain Has Lifted In U.K.?, Huda Iqbal Ahmed Qazi, Harshad Keval

Journal of International Women's Studies

Yo-yo dieting is a common phenomenon yet little interdisciplinary research has been carried out on dieting, food and nutrition in the social context. This study investigated the effects of yo-yo dieting on social and psychological well-being using qualitative methods. Data were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with women who yo-yo diet. A total of 9 participants, 20-51 years old, were recruited by purposive and snowball sampling techniques from the University of Roehampton, London, U.K., where the first author was a student at the time of the study. Thematic analysis derived four major themes: the physical and/or mental impact of yo-yo …

Social Status And Change: The Question Of Access To Resources And Women's Empowerment In The Middle East And North Africa, Elhum Haghighat

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) do not face a single social ideology that opposes change. It is incorrect to conclude that Islam per se is predominantly responsible for limiting women’s access to resources, employment, reproductive health, and social services. It is critical, however, to understand how Islam is used as an instrument of control in the hands of the governing elite; when expedient, Islam and historical traditions of patriarchy supply a framework and a justification for impeding or limiting women’s progress. At times, it has also been used in concert with government aims to slow population …

Challenging Cultural Discourses And Beliefs That Perpetuate Domestic Violence In South Asian Communities: A Discourse Analysis, Janki Shankar, Gita Das, Sabrina Atwal

Journal of International Women's Studies

South Asians are one of the fastest growing immigrant communities in North America. Domestic violence (DV) in the South Asian community is at least as prevalent as it is in the general population, yet is massively underreported. Several reasons have been cited for the silence of South Asian immigrant women about DV. While some of these are financial, social and structural, there are others that arise from discourses specific to South Asian communities. The aim of this study was to examine the origins of these discourses using the framework of historical critical discourse analysis. This paper presents the results of …

Assessing Reliability And Validity Of The 15-Item Short Version Of The Attitudes Toward Women Scale (Aws) Among Turkish Students, Raquel Delevi, Asli Bugay

Journal of International Women's Studies

The purpose of the present study was to adapt the 15-item short version of Attitude toward Women Scale (AWS) (Spence & Helmreich, 1978) into Turkish by first doing the translation of its items and then by investigating its preliminary psychometric properties. AWS and Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) were administered to Turkish college students. Factor structures, convergent validity, and internal reliability were investigated across two independent samples. Result revealed satisfactory internal reliability, convergent and construct validity for the 12-item short version in both samples, suggesting that the scale can be used as a reliable instrument in the Turkish culture to …

Towards 'Feminist Mothering': Oppositional Maternal Practice In Margaret Atwood’S Oryx And Crake, Suparna Banerjee

Journal of International Women's Studies

In the present article I focus on Margaret Atwood’s presentation in Oryx and Crake (2003) of the patriarchal construct of motherhood, paying attention also to the way this theme here is linked up with the question of the woman’s/mother’s agency in personal life and in society. My exploration of this theme would bring out Atwood’s critique of what has been identified as the patriarchal ‘institution’ of motherhood and her presentation of an instance of ‘mothering’ that both underlines the lacunae in the sexist ideology of motherhood and gestures toward an alternative. This alternative discourse of childrearing presents a counternarrative that …

History, Organization And The Changing Culture Of Care: A Historical Analysis Of The Frontier Nursing Service, Edith West

Journal of International Women's Studies

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the organizational shift at the Frontier Nursing Service from all female, nurse run and community-people focused to the corporate-consumer focus adopted everywhere else and the accompanying work environment issues this shift brought to the organization.

Background: Though it is not possible to isolate a single causative factor nursing’s history of cyclic ‘shortages’ as the problem is complex and interrelated, and there is no simple description in the available literature, there is agreement that the problem is having a negative impact on the current nursing practice environment, the retention of nurses, the …

The State Of Internal Democracy Within Women Interest Groups In Malawi, Happy Mickson Kayuni

Journal of International Women's Studies

Vibrant women’s interest groups are to a larger extent a recent phenomenon in Malawi’s socio-political history. Locally and internationally, the contribution of voluntary organisations (including women interests groups) in actively creating possible spaces for new democratic practices is well acknowledged. However studies have not adequately analyzed the extent or degree of the internal democracy in these women interests groups. Furthermore, studies that examines the implication of the absence or presence of internal democracy in such groups is largely missing. Consequently, this paper aims at analyzing the state of internal democracy in Malawian women’s interest groups. In addition, the paper examines …

Ethnic Conflict And Forced Displacement: Narratives Of Azeri Idp And Refugee Women From The Nagorno-Karabakh War, Mehrangiz Najafizadeh

Journal of International Women's Studies

The region that now constitutes the Republic of Azerbaijan has witnessed a lengthy history of conflict between Azeris and ethnic Armenians living in Azerbaijan. This longstanding conflict has had severe consequences for Azerbaijan, and Azeri women have been especially affected as hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes and now live as refugees or as internally displaced persons (IDPs). In this article, I examine Armenian-Azeri ethnic conflict and the plight of Azeri IDP/refugee women both in social historical context and through fieldwork that I have been conducting in Azerbaijan. I first establish the broader sociopolitical context by providing …

Preliminary Exploration Of Bystander Intention To Stand Up For A Female-Peer Targeted In Sexual Harassment In Greek Academia, Stiliani “Ani” Chroni, Stefania Grigoriou, Antonis Hatzigeorgiadis, Yannis Theodorakis

Journal of International Women's Studies

University students’ intentions to stand up for a female-peer victimized in a sexual harassment incident by peer and/or professor as perpetrator were explored using the planned behavior theory. The participants were 296 Greek male and female undergraduate students. Using a standard planned behavior theory questionnaire, hypothetical scenarios of sexual harassment conveyed through (a) unwanted verbal comments of sexual content, (b) unwanted physical contact, and (c) gender based taunting, were presented to participants. In all scenarios, bystander intention to stand up was predicted. Specifically, we found that it is more likely for a student-bystander to intervene when perceiving a strong social …

Violence Between Female In-Laws In India, Martin Rew, Geetanjali Gangoli, Aisha K. Gill

Journal of International Women's Studies

Indian mothers-in law are consistently legally implicated in violence against their daughters-in-law, particularly in dowry-related cases. This paper explores whether current sociological, psycho-dynamic and feminist explanations are adequate, arguing that policy and research must incorporate deeper understandings of the relationship between violence, abuse and the continuum of everyday practices of power and control in middle-class Indian households if women are to be protected from abuse. Critically, policy and research must recognise the impact of the socio-cultural preference for sons. Daughters are viewed as inferior; however, mothers to sons enjoy a relatively elevated position within the family. Even leaving aside issues …

The 'Emancipated Ladies' Of America In The Travel Writing Of Fredrika Bremer And Alexandra Gripenberg, Sirpa Salenius

Journal of International Women's Studies

The Swedish novelist Fredrika Bremer (1801-1865) and the Finnish Baroness Alexandra Gripenberg (1857-1913), both active women’s rights advocates who toured in the United States in the 1850s and 1880s, respectively, used their travel writing as a powerful medium in promoting their ideological agendas. They articulated their gender politics through presenting American women as pioneers, leaders in women’s suffrage and models of female emancipation. Women’s activism in America was perceptible not only in the formally organized women’s rights movement but also in various reform movements (abolitionism, temperance, and labor movements) that contributed to women’s suffrage on a worldwide scale. As the …

Motherhood And Sexuality: A 20-Year Content Analysis Of Sexuality-Related Articles In Popular Magazines For Mothers, Leah E. Shipps, Sandra L. Caron

Journal of International Women's Studies

This exploratory study investigated the inclusion of articles related to sexuality in magazines targeted to mothers over a 20-year period. Articles in the most popular parenting magazines, including American Baby, Baby Talk, Fit Pregnancy, Good Housekeeping, Mothering, Parenting, Parents, and Working Mother, were analyzed for sexuality content from 1991 to 2010. The starting point for this research was selected after an obviously pregnant Demi Moore appeared nude on the cover of the August 1991 issue of Vanity Fair. The cover, and many others that followed, suggested an acknowledgement of pregnant women as sexual beings. However, it also raised …

Women's Experience Of Infertility: A Multi-Systemic Perspective, Roni Berger, Marilyn S. Paul, Lisa A. Henshaw

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article describes a study that used a multi-system perspective to document the self-reported experience of women struggling with infertility and its treatment. A sub-sample of 56 participants from a parent study that examined posttraumatic growth in the context of infertility was used based on their answers to a single open-ended question about their infertility experience, which was included in the original questionnaire. Inclusion criteria were self-identified failure to achieve a pregnancy or carry it to term after at least one year of trying in the six years prior to the study and absence of a recent crisis unrelated to …

Combining Multiple Roles Among High Position Women In Israel, As Seen By The Woman, Her Husband And A Child, Bosmat Shalom-Tuchin

Journal of International Women's Studies

The study examines the perceptions of the women and their family members regarding the factors enabling them to achieve high positions in the workplace. It also seeks to understand the influences the women’s career has on her children and family life. The conceptual basis of the research is the work-family role conflict theory and role enhancement perspective. In addition, the study compares the Israeli women strategies for balancing work and private life as they relate to the family structure to the cultures in the countries around the globe. Twenty-two life-story interviews were conducted with high positioned Israeli women, some of …

Unheard Voices In The Community Building Process: The Role Of Poor Black Women In The U.S. During The Mid-20th Century, Dawn Hinton

Journal of International Women's Studies

This work focuses on the process by which two Black women with little resources and education contributed to the development of community. These women were born in the mid-20th century and their narratives are included in the Black Women Oral History Project. Discovered here is that there was a path to community development that these women followed which involved their desire to help, the recognition and use of churches and other community organizations to implement change in their communities.

Participation, Representation And Voice In The Fight Against Gender Violence: The Case Of The Women’S Movement In Spain, Adriana Sandu

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article provides a critical examination of ‘whiteness’ and notions of ‘sisterhood solidarity’ in the context of women’s fight against gender violence in Spain. Drawing on intersectionality theory this article focuses on how different women’s organisations deal with gender violence policy in Spain, how this debate is framed, who makes the claims, and what structural inequalities are being preserved in this process. Using qualitative interviews with women activists, observations and participation in meetings and debates of women’s organisations in Madrid and Barcelona during 2007-2008, this research explores the inter-relations between majority and minority women’s mobilization, organization, political influence and voice. …

International Dimensions Of Discrimination And Violence Against Girls: A Human Rights Perspective, Yvonne Rafferty

Journal of International Women's Studies

In many cultures, being born female can consign the girl child to the peripheries of society where her safety is denied and her human rights are routinely violated. At each and every stage of development, girls are more likely than boys to confront a host of disadvantages associated with discrimination and violence, although the social norms and cultural rules that influence girls are most intensely felt as she struggles to develop into adulthood. At the onset of puberty, or even before, some girls are pulled out of school and forced into early marriage and high-risk pregnancy. Others become victims of …

Cuba's Chords Of Change: Music, Race, Class & Motherhood At The Turn Of The 21st Century, Saundra Marie Amrhein

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an ethnography and biographical study that examines the impact of the immense socioeconomic changes underway in Cuba at the turn of the 21st century and the flexible identity categories through which individuals navigate a social crisis.

The biography and ethnography in this thesis are centered on the life of Violeta Aldama, an aging revolutionary and Afro-Cuban mother who struggles to make ends meet while fighting to steer her son, Brian, through a classical music education and into a music career. Amid growing racial inequalities when many Afro-Cubans are locked out of the most lucrative jobs in the …

After Tiller, Dereck Daschke

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of After Tiller (2013) directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson.

Wajma (An Afghan Love Story), Dereck Daschke

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Wajma (An Afghan Love Story) (2013) directed by Barmak Akram.

Salma, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Salma (2013) directed by Kim Longinotto.

Fill The Void, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Fill the Void (2012) directed by Rama Burshtein.

Historical Butches: Lesbian Experience And Masculinity In Bryher's Historical Fiction, Haley M. Fedor

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This project analyzes three of Bryher's historical novels, while also providing background on the shadowy figure of Bryher herself. Looking at Gate to the Sea, Roman Wall, and Ruan, each serves to represent lesbianism in a variety of coded or metaphorical ways. Various geographical locations or landscapes serve to either represent or depict homosexual desire, and also construct queer spaces for characters to traverse. Limited scholarship exists on any of Bryher's works, particularly that which looks at lesbian sexuality. The genre Bryher writes in allows for a cross-writing of lesbian characters, or gendering lesbian characters as male, and displays awareness …

Approaches To Life Narrative: A Scholarly And Creative Thesis, Tanya Bomsta

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This thesis includes both scholarly and creative approaches to women’s life narrative and rhetoric. The author first analyzes Terry Tempest Williams’ recently published memoir, When Women Were Birds: Fifty-Four Variations on Voice, through the lenses of writing and rhetorical theory. She examines how Williams’ hybrid genre negotiates the boundaries between journaling and autobiographical writing and between silence and voice. She argues that Williams employs a feminist rhetoric in her writing in order to negotiate these boundaries.

The second and third works are personal essays in which the author examines her journals and her marriage. These creative works meditate on the …

Mike & Molly -- An Other World, Maureen Elizabeth Johnson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This thesis explores the impact of the television show Mike & Molly on the modern debate related to fat in America. The thesis uses the work of Michel Foucault as well as disability scholars such as Lennard Davis and feminist scholars such as bell hooks to examine how a comedy show like Mike & Molly can further disenfranchise fat people in society. The thesis shows that fat makes people an Other in society, and television shows and other forms of comedy that mock those who are fat just reinforce that Other status.

Maine Women Pioneers Iii: Vanguard, Homage, Worldview, Dirigo, University Of New England Art Gallery, Center For Ethics In Action

Exhibition Catalogues

Maine Women Pioneers III is the catalogue from the University of New England Art Gallery’s October 12, 2012—July 21, 2013 four-part exhibition.

Vanguard (Oct. 12 - Dec. 16, 2012) featured avant-garde, experimental and innovative works by nine Maine artists who offer insights into the future using mixed media, conceptual installation, performance and video elements. Featured artists: Susan Bickford, Diana Cherbuliez, Amy Stacey Curtis, Alicia Eggert, Lauren Fensterstock, Lihua Lei, Julie Poitras Santos, Carrie Scanga, and Ling-Wen Tsai.

Homage (Jan. 2 - March 3, 2013) highlighted veteran artists who are powerful examples of career and lifelong original creative accomplishment, ahead of …

Unrelated, Kathryn Muhlestein

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

The Feminine Peter Pan, Felicia Jones

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

Cross-casting in performances has effected outrage and social dilemmas in audiences, despite the important cultural messages those characters display. Since its beginning as a play, women have been cast as the young boy Peter in Peter Pan. J.M. Barrie wrote Peter Pan through inspiration from the young deaths of his brother and childhood friend, who will always remain in their youth. In order to capture that youthful innocence, females have been cast as Peter. This choice in casting was also made to achieve androgyny and transcend gender by blurring gender lines.