Women's Studies Commons^™

Women’S Labour Force Participation: Economic Growth Nexus In Sub-Saharan African Countries, Chinasa E. Urama, Ezebuilo R. Ukwueze, Divine N. Obodoechi, Oliver E. Ogbonna, Afamefuna A. Eze, Oluwaseun B. Alade, Paschaline N. Ugwu

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women’s labour force participation is an aspect of empowerment and a leeway to achieving the SDGs due to the contribution of women’s labour to economic growth. This study investigated the impact of women labour force participation on economic growth in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries. Important lessons were drawn from Israel as to how Israel has been empowering and currently improving women’s labour force participation and economic growth in general. The study employed a two-step system Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) with panel data from 35 selected SSA countries. The findings showed a positive relationship between gross fixed capital formation, female …

The Rejection Of Women Imams In Indonesia: Between Religious And Socio-Cultural Texts, Nurun Najwah, Irwan Abdullah, Saifuddin Zuhri Qudsy, Ahmad Baidowi

Journal of International Women's Studies

Discourses regarding women as imams became widespread after Amina Wadud led communal Friday prayers in 2005. Academics have predominantly responded by analyzing religious doctrine and its exegesis, ignoring the fact that women's ability to lead worship is strongly influenced by their specific socio-cultural contexts and dynamics. This article will investigate how religious texts structure and are structured by the socio-cultural context of Indonesia. In this study, data were collected by identifying hadiths of leadership, then analyzing them using content analysis. It was found that religious doctrines tend to emphasize the primacy of men (as leaders) while underscoring the (physical, intellectual, …

Naturalization And Romanticization Of Violence In Indonesian Teen Lit Jingga Series By Esti Kinasih, Aquarini Priyatna, Sri Rijati Wardiani

Journal of International Women's Studies

Esti Kinasih is an Indonesian woman writer who writes in the teen lit genre and has a wide readership. This study discusses and problematizes her novels named Jingga Series, a trilogy of novels comprising Jingga dan Senja, Jingga dalam Elegi, and Jingga untuk Matahari. With teenage romance as a backdrop, this series leaves an impression of intense violence towards the female protagonist perpetrated by her male partner, but also by other male and female characters. We find that the novels not only naturalize male aggressiveness, but also normalizes teenage girls as victims of violence. By applying the …

An Empirical Study In Indonesia Of Girl Child Marriage Determinants, Mia Hadiati, Mella Ismelia Farma Rahayu, Amad Sudiro

Journal of International Women's Studies

Despite increasing socioeconomic development in Indonesia the issue of child marriages remains prevalent among teenage females. To date, there have not been any nationally representative studies examining child marriage determinants via multivariate regression modeling in Indonesia. The following study used data from the 2019 Indonesian Population and Health Survey and the Teenage Reproductive Health Survey to estimate the determinants of child marriage and marital expectations. Multivariate simulations were carried out in order to approximate the association between demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and the following early marriage outcomes: 1) often married or cohabited, 2) married or cohabited before 19 years, 3) …

Domestic Violence Against Women During The Covid-19: A Case Study Of Bihar (India), Priyanka Tripathi, Prabha Shankar Dwivedi, Shreya Sharma

Journal of International Women's Studies

The Covid-19 pandemic revealed that the socioeconomic challenges in developing countries intersect within and beyond the dynamics of caste, class, space, and most importantly, gender. The recent outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic compelled the entire human population to survive on the brink of uncertainty. The subsequent lockdown witnessed an upsurge in domestic abuse cases across the globe, making us realize how the four walls of the familial space turned into a hotbed of the 'shadow pandemic' resulting from the socioeconomic disparities and individual frustration during difficult times. India also witnessed a sudden surge in domestic violence cases, often called a …

Snowflakebxtch: A Case Study Of Women’S Raptivism In Morocco: Rapping Against Social Injustice And Traditional Gender Roles, Maha Tazi

Journal of International Women's Studies

In this study, I am interested in investigating the concept of RAPtivism in Morocco from a feminist perspective by examining the potential of women’s rap in constituting a countercultural sphere that is capable of creating wider social and political awareness. To do so, I focus on the case study of Snowflakebxtch, a twenty-four years old Moroccan woman rapper who is known for her outspoken and transgressive freestyles. I draw on a mix research methodology where I combine a content analysis of two interviews conducted with Aisha Fukushima, the founder of RAPtivism, and the selected Moroccan rapper along with a textual …

Women In Academia: Representation, Tenure, And Publication Patterns In The Stem And Social Sciences Fields, Jennifer M. Krebsbach

Journal of International Women's Studies

Women in the workplace experience inequity in their professional career options and in their upward mobility. One place this occurs frequently is in higher education. Whether it be their representation at various levels of professorship (wherein male full professors far outweigh the number of female full professors), the interactions with others on campus (especially regarding student expectations of professors), or the expectations that are placed upon them for success (over recruitment for teaching and service to the university; under recruitment for research opportunities and grants), women in academia are finding barriers that are preventing them from succeeding at a similar …

The Turkish Angel In The House: A Travelling Concept In The Housewife Poems Of Ziya Gökalp And Halide Nusret Zorlutuna, Fatma Fulya Tepe, Per Bauhn

Journal of International Women's Studies

In the present study, a close reading of the “Housewife” poems of Ziya Gökalp and Halide Nusret Zorlutuna reveals not only a travelling concept – that of the angel in the house, originally introduced by the British Victorian poet Coventry Patmore – but also illustrates how this concept mirrors the contradictions inherent in the early republican conception of Turkish women. On the one hand, women were recognized as holders of rights; on the other hand, they were idealised as submissive domestic helpers of their husbands. The concept of the angel in the house, as employed by Gökalp and Zorlutuna, …

Who They Are, Where They Come From And Where They Are Going: Professional Background And Political Ambition Of Ecuadorian Women Legislators, 1979-2017, Santiago Basabe-Serrano, Natasha Álava Arteaga

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article examines the differences in socio-demographics, professional backgrounds, and political careers between women and men who were part of the Ecuadorian Congress, 1979-2017. We propose a descriptive statistical study in which, through a bivariate analysis, we compare women and men in terms of age, marital status, professional qualifications, and political ambition before and after their participation in Congress. Based on an unpublished database, the main empirical findings indicate that the differences between them are not statistically significant. Nevertheless, since the implementation of the Parity Law in 2009, women legislators are increasingly younger and single, with more academic training and …

Not Damsels In Distress: Women And The Video Game Industry, Abby Jayne Pucik

Student Theses and Dissertations

Men often designed video games as a masculine technology, but there is nothing innately masculine about video games. Games have been socially constructed in design rooms, advertisements, and by the users. The work of the earliest women game designers pushed the boundaries of game making as a form of human technological expression, proving that video games were socially constructed. Despite those efforts, marketers failed to portray women in gaming. Early gaming advertisements used women as background decoration in arcade flyers that catered to men consumers. This objectification of women stimulated a culture in which men perceived themselves to be the …

Rendering Documentary Portraiture: An Interrogation Of Archival Discourse Through A Critical Exploration Of Nineteenth Century Stage Actress Charlotte Cushman’S Material Memory, Skyler Sunday

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Visual depictions of nineteenth century stage actress Charlotte Cushman, such as photographs, engravings, and painted portraits assist researchers in re-envisioning her both as an actress and as a person, but what do her remaining archival possessions further reveal to researchers about her memory? How do different objects operate as portraits that allow the researcher to tap into and remember specific moments and memory? How does the effort to preserve memory take different forms? This project argues that, when viewing the archive through its stored objects, our collective notion of portraiture can be expanded and used to interrogate existing methods of …

Feminism At The Borders: The Navigation Of Gender Issues By Mexican-American Women Along The U.S.-Mexico Border, Carolina Fuentes

Capstone Collection

Feminist movements have taken on various iterations since they first began, particularly as the movements expanded beyond predominantly Western and white spaces. This research study explores how gender equality is perceived and navigated along the U.S.-Mexico border area, taking into account the various Latin American and U.S. feminist developments that have shaped the current landscape of the border. 11 Mexican and Mexican-American women living in U.S.-Mexico border states were interviewed to gain an understanding of their definitions, perceptions, and opinions on feminism and gender-related issues given their bicultural contexts. These conversations revealed that ideas of rights and equality were central …

No One Should Have To Give Birth Alone: An Analysis Of The Efficacy Of Community-Based Doula Programs Serving Ethnic Minorities In San Francisco, Maria Margaret Nelson

Master's Projects and Capstones

Adverse birth outcomes for both the parent and the child disproportionately affect people of color. Evidence demonstrates that one of the ways to mitigate these negative consequences is through the utilization of a doula, a trained birth companion that is not a medical provider but whose role it is to physically and emotionally support the patient through pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Community-based doula programs, where the doula is of the same cultural background as the client, are particularly effective in improving birth outcomes in communities of color by providing culturally competent care and helping to navigate a healthcare system that …

Feder, S. (Director). (2020). Disclosure: Trans Lives On Screen [Film]. Netflix., Galen D. Bunting

Feminist Pedagogy

Sam Feder’s documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen (2020) braids together an overview of trans cinema through the voices of transgender actors, alongside clips from classic and current cinema, and commentary from trans academics. Featuring commentary from an impressive array of voices, including actress Laverne Cox and historian Susan Stryker, the film offers a variety of perspectives on film and representation. Beginning with an impressive timeline of trans representation from the earliest representations of gender crossing in silent movies and ending upon the debut of Pose, in which trans people represent themselves, this Netflix Original offers a comprehensive visual history …

Harnessing Your Feminist Rage: A Multimedia Assignment For Upper-Level Courses, Caitlin E. Lawson

Feminist Pedagogy

"Harnessing Your Feminist Rage" introduces a three-part multimedia assignment that encourages students to think critically about feminist anger, particularly as refracted through social media. First, students introduce and analyze a media text or phenomenon that made them angry and reflect upon that anger. Then, using whichever online medium they choose, students call out the offender and express their anger to the audience of their choice in order to meet a specific goal. Finally, students reflect on their expression of anger and their experience creating their response. Overall, the goal is for students to combine their knowledge of feminist theories and …

Spa203. ¿Qué Hacemos Con La Lengua? Lenguaje, Diversidad Y Derechos Humanos, Juan Jesús Payán

Open Educational Resources

Descripción del curso

SPA203 - (For native or near-native speakers.) The grammatical structure of today's standard Spanish. Intensive practice in reading, speaking, and elementary composition.

En SPA203 vamos a explorar la relación entre el lenguaje y la diversidad en el marco de los derechos humanos fundamentales. El título del curso, “¿qué hacemos con la lengua?”, nos pregunta dos cosas: qué tipo de prejuicios perpetuamos por medio del lenguaje y cómo hacer para que la lengua albergue de manera efectiva la diversidad de nuestra sociedad. En un contexto actual, sorprendente estancado en la indiferencia, la ignorancia, el prejuicio y estigmatización de …

Feminism, Femininity, And Arkansas First Ladies: Hillary Rodham Clinton And Janet Mccain Huckabee, Spencer A. Hurlbut

ATU Theses and Dissertations 2021 - Present

Through the 1970s and into the 2000s, Hillary Clinton and Janet Huckabee served as first ladies. Their husbands were elected and ran campaigns for Arkansas Governor and President of the United States. While the two men were the elected officials that constituents cast their votes for on election day, Hillary and Janet were beside the men playing a tremendous role in securing or discouraging votes. Third wave feminism ran rampant throughout these two decades and resulted in higher numbers of women in the workforce, later years of marriage, less children, and greater awareness of sexual harassment and sex discrimination. Hillary …

Deconstructing Gendered Vumilia (Perseverance) Theology In Times Of The Gender-Based Violence Pandemic, Esther Mombo, Heleen Joziasse

Journal of International Women's Studies

During the COVID-19 pandemic, cases of gender-based violence (GBV) dramatically increased. While the Kenyan governmental bodies are held responsible for their inadequate response to this “national disaster of GBV”, the role of the Kenyan churches is hardly criticized. The churches neither spoke out against this prevalent injustice, nor did they openly support the victims of GBV. Furthermore, it could be argued that churches, through their patriarchal structures and cultural and doctrinal teachings, have contributed to this disaster. This article is written from a woman’s perspective and focused on the notion of vumilia, or perseverance, an important notion in the lived …

Discourse(S) Of Identity: Precarity And (In)Visibility In Farida Karodia’S Daughters Of The Twilight, Goutam Karmakar, Rajendra Chetty

Journal of International Women's Studies

Apartheid South Africa witnessed the forming of cultural and sexual identities within political strategies that were designed to categorize and regulate “non-white” individuals. By dealing with interactions between white men and black women, South African literary works in the penultimate years of apartheid demonstrate apartheid’s structural viciousness and gendered hierarchy through certain innovative deviations. Daughters of the Twilight (1986) by Farida Karodia is one such text that not only sheds light on the masculine, racialized, and patriarchal apartheid structure of the male gaze, but also inherently disallows the female characters of Karodia’s narrative to inhabit neither day nor night, as …

African Moral Fibre As The Lost Glory In Combating Violence Against Women, Lilian Cheelo Siwila

Journal of International Women's Studies

Africa, like any other society, embodies moral responsibilities that govern the way society is to be ruled. These morals, which are embedded in people’s belief systems and worldviews, are transmitted from generation to generation. The gendered nature of these morals can be reflected in the way women and girls are protected and respected in their communities. Since the holistic mothering roles of women are viewed as the highest order of society, heinous crimes like violating a woman are seen as taboo in that society. Among the Tonga people of Zambia, where this study is located, raping or beating a woman …

Ndwae Ngone Mwaitu: A Postmodern Cultural Phenomenon Of Dowry Among The Akamba And Its Influence On Spousal Violence, Telesia Kathini Musili

Journal of International Women's Studies

Dowry, also referred to as bride wealth or bride price, is a consultative, amicable, and quantifiable summation of goods exchanged between the groom’s and bride’s families. Traditionally, dowry (ngasya) payment among the Akamba was an obligation for the parents-in-law (husband’s parents), but that has in the recent past transitioned to the husband paying the dowry himself. An emerging trend is, however, catching up with married women budding together and opting to pay the dowry for themselves, which is not only a cultural shock and an empowering paradigm shift but also a ceremony that could be riddled and clouded …

Formation Of Positive Organizational Climate: Integration Of Ubuntu Diversity Management In Banks, Surjit Singha, R Sivarethinamohan

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Physical Abuse In The Absence Of Ubuntu, Ranjit Singha, Yogesh S. Kanna

Journal of International Women's Studies

Students in Africa and worldwide should learn about Ubuntu at the school, secondary school, college, and university levels. It should be incorporated into the educational process. Tobacco-free days, alcohol-free (dry days), and drug-free days could all be ways to commemorate Ubuntu. Female smokers are at a higher risk than male smokers. Following such measures may aid in raising awareness. Legislators in Africa need to employ incentives to amend legislation to fully integrate Ubuntu into society. It is possible to prevent violence against women and children by instilling Ubuntu principles in the community and society. It is sufficient to refer to …

Vatsonga Cultural Practices And Their Impact On The Health Of Widows And Significant Others, Fanisa Baloyi, Jabulani Owen Nene, Azwihangwisi Helen Mavhandu-Mudzusi

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper presents the Vatsonga cultural practices regarding widowhood and how those practices impact personal health. The purpose of the study was to gain an in-depth understanding of how the Vatsonga manages widowhood and how those practices affect the management of HIV/AIDS. This ethnographic study was conducted in Bushbuckridge and is grounded in Leininger’s theory of Culture Care Diversity and Universality. Data was collected from participants using individual face-to-face interviews and observation. In addition, ethnographic content analysis was utilized for data analysis. Results indicate that there are practices such as widow cleansing and widow inheritance that the Vatsonga people practice …

The Angst Of The Dehumanized: Ubuntu For Solidarity, Lillykutty Abraham, Krishna V. P. Prabha

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article attempts to delve into the multiple forms of violence experienced by South African women, within the theoretical framework of the ecological model of abuse proposed by Lori L. Heise (1998). The objective of the article is to explore how the communitarian dimension of ubuntu is absent when the womenfolk is in question. Their existence itself appears to be insignificant compared to their counterparts. Ubuntu cannot be lived or practiced while some are excluded from this concept. Gender inequality and inequitable status of existence cannot be part of ubuntu, as “I am, because you are” or the meaning …

Women, Security, And Gender-Based Violence In The Northeast, Nigeria, Abidemi Abiola Isola, Adeogun Tolulope

Journal of International Women's Studies

Gender-based violence is inevitable in every armed conflict zone. To survive, every human being, including women and girls, requires security. In armed conflict zones, however, women and girls are more vulnerable to the dangers of insecurity. These difficulties may influence them physically, psychologically, economically, and educationally. They may also have to live with the effects of their trauma for the rest of their lives. The effects of the Boko Haram insurgency on women’s security in Nigeria’s northeast are the subject of this study. This investigation relied on structural violence theory. It’s a meta-analytical study based on secondary sources like books, …

Stitching Narratives Of Gender-Based Violence: Meaning-Making Through Embroidery, Puleng Segalo

Journal of International Women's Studies

COVID-19 has altered how we engage with one another. With social distancing as the new norm, and the prolonged lockdown having affected people at various levels of their lives, life has had to be reimagined and reconfigured. One of the things that has remained stable, if not worsened, is the challenge of gender-based violence. In South Africa and many other countries in the world, when strict lockdown rules were introduced, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) started making headlines on many media platforms, sparking protests, online dialogues, and online support networks for those affected. While people were worried about protecting themselves against COVID-19, …

Affirming The Traditional Teaching Of Imbusa As A Tool Against Gender-Based Violence, Sylvia Mukuka

Journal of International Women's Studies

The main objective of this paper is to provide light on the traditional teaching of Imbusa, which is utilized to combat the problem of gender-based violence. Violence against women has increased to incredible rates in modern societies, to the point where many women continue to perpetuate anguish in the form of physical abuse, assaults, and molestation, and all these social evils have left women badly devastated, scared, disoriented, and defenceless. Violence entails the use of physical force, such as sexual assault, to injure, mutilate, or kill humans, and occasionally to ruin an individual's life. This paper examines several forms of …

Covid-19 And Ubuntu Disruptions: Curbing The Violence Against Women And Girls With Disabilities Through African Women’S Theology Of Disability, Sinenhlanhla S. Chisale

Journal of International Women's Studies

The COVID-19 restrictions that require the lockdown of public and economic activities heighten the levels of sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls with disabilities. As the COVID-19 pandemic spreads across the globe, particularly in Africa, women and girls with disabilities become vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence, highlighting that the home is no longer a safe space for the vulnerable. The restrictions have eroded the community structures that are promoted by Ubuntu to protect vulnerable community members from violence and different forms of abuse. This article grapples with the question of African women’s theology of disability and Ubuntu …

Depiction Of Women’S Oppression And Gender-Based Domestic Violence Against Girls In Tsitsi Dangarembga’S Nervous Conditions, Benon Tugume

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article examines women’s oppression and gender-based domestic violence against girls in Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions (1988). The novel is set between two families in the Shona community of Zimbabwe. The focus is on women’s entrapment in the institution of marriage and gender-based violence inflicted on girls by male patriarchs to force them to bow down to patriarchal authority. Tambudzai, the main narrator and protagonist tells a story of how her mother, Ma’ Shingayi (a peasant housewife), and her uncle’s wife, Maiguru, (a teacher with a Master’s degree) get entrapped in the marriage institution where they have no voice, how …