Women's Studies Commons^™

To Put Her In Her Place: An Interrogation Of Death And Gender In Shakespearean Tragedy, Isabella A. Zentner

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

This analysis investigates the gendered implications of Shakespearean heroines' deaths. Using Macbeth, Antony and Cleopatra, and Titus Andronicus as case studies, evidence is drawn from the text. This evidence is then supported by extensive historical research and reference to external critical studies of these tragedies. By identifying the gendered aspects of these heroines’ deaths, one can gain a greater understanding of Shakespeare’s view of female autonomy and power. The deaths Shakespeare inflicts often act as a punishment for the heroines' betrayal of traditional gender roles and forcibly return the heroines to the feminine sphere.

Has Feminism Changed Women’S Realities In Africa? An Interrogation Of The Poems Of Ogundipe And Shire, Edith Weseja Bwana

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

African feminist movements of the 1960’s marked the starting point of debates from the origin of feminism in Africa to its impact on women and the society at large. Literature has from the go been used as a vehicle to reflect the life and its vicissitude on African women. African women writers have used literature as a platform to challenge and re-imagine gender relations within their societies and the continent as a whole. Yet, the question arises: despite half a century’s worth of literary production, has the reality of women, as reflected in literature, changed? This paper thematically interrogates the …

Gender: A Useful Category Of Analysis For Tanzanian Researchers, Florence Wenzek

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article enriches reflections on the circulation of the concept of gender in the Global South by looking at the transformations of Tanzanian research on gender in education between the 1970s and the early 1990s. A close reading of the texts shows how the concept of gender has been used in this field of study since 1990; it considers variations depending on authors and their positioning. Comparing this with the writings of the 1970s and 1980s, when no one used the concept, reveals how it contributed to epistemological change. The article also reflects on the respective role of local factors …

“It Is Not Breasts Or Vaginas That Women Use To Wash Dishes”: Gender, Class, And Neocolonialism Through The Women In Nigeria Movement (1982-1992), Sara Panata

Journal of International Women's Studies

The first self-declared Nigerian feminist organization was founded under the name of Women in Nigeria (WIN) at a meeting in Zaria in May 1982. WIN was a left-wing movement including women and men. This article seeks to shed light on knowledge production in the field of feminism and gender studies in Nigeria, focusing on WIN’s texts and discourses. Approaching knowledge production from the perspective of social history, my analysis examines the biographical trajectories of the association’s activists, the ways in which their journeys influenced the use of global knowledge and the production of “situated knowledges”, and how intellectual work operated …

Political Communication Strategies To Increase The Opportunity Of Women's Political Representation In Indonesian Parliament, Zaenal Mukarom

Journal of International Women's Studies

Empirically, women's involvement in Indonesian politics still indicates a low participation level. This study aims to determine the political communication strategies undertaken by women and political parties which are considered to have a direct interest in women's representation in the legislature. The methodology employed included in-depth interviews, focus group discussion, and participant observation. The study was conducted in the West Java Parliament representing the dynamics of national politics. The study found that the current political communication strategies undertaken by women politicians involved alternative strategies such as mainstreaming gender, encouraging affirmative action to have at least 30% women's representation, and offering …

Feminism And Intersectionality: Black Feminist Studies And The Perspectives Of Jennifer C. Nash, Goutam Karmakar

Journal of International Women's Studies

This in-depth conversation with Jennifer Christine Nash, the Jean Fox O’Barr Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies at Duke University, USA, aims to illuminate the complexities of intersectionality in feminist discourse. This interview focuses on Nash’s work and perspectives on intersectionality in relation to gender, class, race, sexuality, and hierarchies of power and privilege. This interview discusses precarity, vulnerability, and intersectionality in black feminist discourse, as well as the marginalisation of black women’s heterogeneity, the politics of reading associated with intersectionality, and the relationship between temporality and intersectionality. Additionally, this conversation discusses Nash’s monograph, Black Feminism Reimagined (2019), post-intersectionality …

He Said, She Said: A Critical Content Analysis Of Sexist Language Used In Disney’S The Little Mermaid (1989) And Mulan (1998), Shakira Begum

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study looks at how Disney princess films perpetuate sexist tropes through language. By focusing on both feminism and linguistics, it uses an interdisciplinary approach underpinned by data analysis and media criticism. This paper uses a content analysis study of The Little Mermaid (1989) and Mulan (1998) to look at Disney’s role in shaping representations of women, and how this representation has shifted within the decade of the release of these two films. This paper answers the question: in what ways does language in media perpetuate sexist tropes; more specifically, how has the language of male characters in media perpetuated …

“Why Don’T You Hear Us?”: Interview Narratives Of Disabled Working Women In Private Small Business Firms In India, Deepanjana Varshney

Journal of International Women's Studies

This research explores the perception of disabled working women in small organizations in India's private sector. A meticulous study of past research revealed a paucity of research for working women with disabilities (WWD), especially in small enterprises in the Indian context. There are misconceptions and barriers associated with women with disabilities across the world. Past research demonstrates negative attitudes and related stereotyping notions regarding disabled working women. In sum, they are considered weak, incapable, and dependent on others. There has been insufficient research on employee disability, but there is limited research on the feelings and experiences of disabled working women, …

The Mundane Female Space: Re-Evaluating The Dynamics Of Women In The Transnational Kitchen, Kashyapi Ghosh, V. Vamshi Krishna Reddy

Journal of International Women's Studies

The kitchen space has often been read as the ultimate arena for women’s manifold repression, discomfiture, and gendered labour. This article aims to evaluate the nature of the kitchen space through the analysis of movies, which give a significant amount of visibility to the kitchen space. The arguments investigated in this article are laid out in two ways: one, to re-assess the stereotypical notions about the mundane space as prevalent in the literature, and two, to problematise the space and understand it from multiple perspectives and dimensions. We consider these two arguments while conducting a textual analysis and thematic network …

The Status Of Women: Female Gender Associations In West Chester University’S School Of Music Archive, Katharine Godfrey

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Research in the West Chester University (WCU) School of Music (SOM) archive displayed a history of women’s involvement in music dating back to its opening in 1871. The archive provided the resources for an examination of the representation of female instrumentalists at WCU in a few key areas over more than a century. As trends of gender stereotyping in music shifted, their effects can be seen on women at WCU.

The research conducted in the archive provided three sets of primary documents that informed this project. Those primary documents include the Quarto-Centennial History of the West Chester State Normal School …

Institutionalized Normative Heterosexuality : The Case Of Sexual Fluidity, Nicole Lamarre

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Since Alfred Kinsey’s early exploration of sexual behaviors, identities, and desires, there has been a proliferation of studies on what is generally regarded today as sexual fluidity. Inquiry into sexual histories that are neither wholly heterosexual nor homosexual (or even bisexual) has been incredibly well documented by this time. Generally, theories about sexual fluidity have taken one of two positions. The first camp interprets sexual variance as a sign of changing times and crumbling sexual and gender binaries. The second group of theorists postulate that sexual fluidity is neither new nor a particularly positive or liberating social trend. Instead of …

We Need New Heroes: Tracing Heroic Masculinities From Homeric Epic To Contemporary Comic Cinema, Matthew Gallagher

Master's Theses

For as long as stories have been told, written, and performed heroes have been the measures of a culture. A people’s values, their fears, their hopes, their customs have all been preserved in the stories of their heroes, and in recent decades, I would argue, in the stories of their superheroes. Tracing modern depictions of cinematic superheroes back to some of the earliest extant narratives of heroes in Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, we see that most of our heroes in the past three millennia have been men. And in the modern explosion of superhero movies’ success and popularity, we see …

Emotional Intelligence And Gender As Predictors Of Infidelity Among Heterosexual, Monogamous Couples, Dina R. Schulsinger

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The rate of families being impacted by divorce is high. Studies show that infidelity remains the number one cause of divorce or the dissolution of relationships; however, couples with a higher level of emotional intelligence (EI) have demonstrated a higher rate of marital satisfaction.The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental study was to determine if gender, EI, ethnicity, and age, individually or in combination, can adequately predict infidelity among persons in committed, heterosexual, monogamous relationships. EI theory served as the theoretical foundation for this study. Using an online survey methodology, each participant answered four qualifying questions and, when qualified, took the …

Femicides: The Other Growing Epidemic We Don’T Want To See, Natalia Gutierrez

Capstones

This report analyzes how gender-based killings is a growing topic within the feminist community of New York and Mexico City and how the use of the right terminology is essential to understand the scope of the problem. I worked for 18 months with the feminist community in both cities and the term ‘femicide’ came over and over in the interviews Femicide, how it is referred in the rest of the world, is the intentional killing of women or girls because they are female, and it is a growing epidemic in the U.S. and in Mexico. I interviewed more than 40 …

The Women Organizations And Activism In Combating Domestic Violence In The North Caucasus, Saida Sirazhudinova

Journal of International Women's Studies

There are a wide range of forms of domestic violence in the North Caucasus. Recent years have shown the scale of its spread and the complexity of the fight against domestic violence in the region. The spread of domestic violence in the region is facilitated by the residents themselves, traditional institutions, and religious structures that increase their influence. In addition, the authorities are not interested in solving the problems of domestic violence, and they hinder the work of human rights organizations and activists in every possible way. This article describes the features of the fight against domestic violence in the …

Jane Anger Her Protection For Women And The Emergence Of A Radical Female Voice In Late Sixteenth Century England, Ashley M. Wessel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how women authors responded to masculine discourses of dominance in late sixteenth-century England. Directly, it concentrates on the pamphlet Jane Anger her Protection for Women, written in 1589 and published under the pseudonym Jane Anger. I argue Anger’s pamphlet was a radical voice within Elizabethan print culture which lends a view into gender politics of the time in which this piece was produced. I also argue that though Anger’s target audience was the gentlewomen of England, she crafted her pamphlet for a broad audience that included any literate man or woman across social station. The importance …

Insidious Interlocking Of Gender And Caste: Consequences Of Challenging Endogamy, Mayurakshi Mitra

Journal of International Women's Studies

The Caste system in the Indian subcontinent is characterized by hierarchy or gradations according to occupational status. The evaluative standard that places a caste higher than others or lower compared to the rest is rooted in the Hindu Dharmashashtras. The high and the low are opposed to each other because of their associations with notions of purity and impurity in terms of the nature of their occupations. Since each caste is regarded as a closed group, special emphasis is placed on eating, physical contact, and marriage. Out of these three, the institution of marriage plays a significant role in the …

Casteing Gender: Intersectional Oppression Of Dalit Women, Bhushan Sharma, K. A. Geetha

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of The Role Of Gender In Political News Media Coverage, Clare Atkinson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Although there has been a decrease in specific exclusionary rules in governments around the world, most nations are very far from a governing body which represents the diversity that exists within their borders. There are many issues which may dissuade previously marginalized populations from political participation. One of these problems when it comes to female participation, is differential political news coverage. This study looked at how media sources set the political agenda and frame news stories in terms of the gender of a politician, and how this can create an additional challenge for women in government. The investigation found that …

Gender Differences In Self-Attribution And Overconfidence In Financial Decisions, Aine M. Ford

Student Publications

Behavioral finance and the study into biases is a rapidly increasing area of interest for finance professionals and academics alike. Understanding the sources of overconfidence and the self-attribution bias from a gendered framework can provide insight for managers and industry leaders to insulate their firms from underperformance losses due to these biases. Education and relevant financial experience are key controllable variables that impact overconfidence and self- attribution. Using a survey sent to around 130 students and finance professionals, gender, education, and relevant experience were tested against overconfidence and self-attributional scores to determine if there were any meaningful relationships. The results …

Assessing The Extent Of Domestic Violence Against Indian Women After The Implementation Of The Domestic Violence Act Of India, 2005, Archana Singh, Pushpendra Singh

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper aims to dissect and analyze the trends of domestic violence against women in India. It will explore the factors contributing to the risk and prevalence of violence against women following the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act of India in 2005. This study also assesses the magnitude of violence that makes women vulnerable. In addressing the above-mentioned objective, this study has used data from the National Family and Health Survey collected in 2005-06 and 2015-16. In the first stage of analysis, the magnitude of violence was estimated using socio-economic and demographic measures. In the second stage, the risk …

A Deviant Or A Victim Of Pervasive Stigmatization: Wicked Women In Kavita Kané’S Lanka’S Princess, Meenakshi Meenakshi, Nagendra Kumar

Journal of International Women's Studies

Building on the foundational theories of Judith Butler and Edwin Schur, this paper scrutinises the traditional myth of the Hindu epic the Ramayana and argues: (1) how socially constructed gender performance is naturalised by cultural ideology and (2) how infringement of this performance leads to labelling individuals as deviant. Women who transgress these cultural ideologies are defined as deviant and subjected to various punishments, from public humiliation to genital mutilation. Through an exploration of the novelist Kavita Kané’s mythology inspired novel Lanka’s Princess (2017), this paper focuses on the mythical figure known as Surpankha whose character embodies masculine attributes …

Role Portrayal Of Women In Advertising: An Empirical Study, Sangeeta Sharma, Arpan Bumb

Journal of International Women's Studies

One of the sensitive areas in the world of advertising and marketing is the portrayal of women. Women are an indispensable part of Indian society as they constitute half of the population and play critical roles. However, the depiction of women as sex symbols, objects of desire, and as having subservient behaviours has presented a great concern to feminist scholars, activists, and researchers. The objective of this research paper is to study how women’s role portrayal impacts consumers’ willingness to buy and to identify the difference in views of Indian men and women when it comes to the stereotypical role …

Security, Dividedness And Green Activism In Egypt, Jihan Zakarriya

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper attempts to trace green trends in contemporary political activism in Egypt. Taking into consideration the long, deep-rooted history of military rule in the country, it examines the interconnection between the concepts of security and resistance. The paper specifically focuses on post-2011 grassroots, civil and opposition movements in Egypt, arguing that they share and adopt green concerns with nonviolent, comprehensive activism that relate and politicize different forms of environmental, gender, socio-economic, and political violence. In this sense, to fight patriarchy and the militarization and securitization of public spaces and daily activities in Egypt, post-revolutionary activists, feminists, and opposition movements …

Gendering The Virtual Space: Sonic Femininities And Masculinities In Contemporary Top 40 Music, Michèle Duguay

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation analyzes vocal placement—the apparent location of a voice in the virtual space created by a recording—and its relationship to gender. When listening to a piece of recorded music through headphones or stereo speakers, one hears various sound sources as though they were located in a virtual space (Clarke 2013). For instance, a specific vocal performance—once manipulated by various technologies in a recording studio—might evoke a concert hall, an intimate setting, or an otherworldly space. The placement of the voice within this space is one of the central musical parameters through which listeners ascribe cultural meanings to popular music. …

Review Of Women As War Criminals: Gender, Agency, And Justice, Christi Siver

The Journal of Social Encounters

No abstract provided.

A Silent Voice (Koe No Katachi): The Intersection Of Gender And Disability In Japanese Society, Amanda Weber

East Asian Studies Summer Fellows

Nishimiya Shōko is the female protagonist in the hit Japanese manga and anime film adaptation, A Silent Voice. She is introduced as a transfer student to a sixth-grade classroom and is immediately ‘othered’ for her deafness. Nishimiya goes on to suffer from relentless bullying at the hands of classmates she tries to befriend with little to no intervention from the homeroom teacher. Doing her best to participate in everyday classroom and extra-curricular activities proves fruitless, and her mother pulls her from school. Seven years later, several former classmates attempt to reconcile with Nishimiya and seek redemption and forgiveness for their …

Does Gender Matter? Job Stress, Work-Life Balance, Health And Job Satisfaction Among University Teachers In India, Sandip Solanki, Meeta Mandaviya

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study investigates gender differences in the perceived level of stress of university instructors in India. An online cross-sectional survey was completed with 86 respondents comprised of 51 males and 35 females in the state of Gujarat. Results indicate that job stress on work-life balance is significantly stronger for females. Additionally, male respondents scored higher in managing anger at work compared with female respondents and reveal a stronger detachment with work. Further, male respondents have more health-related issues compared with females due to job stress and imbalance in work life, while females exhibit lower career resilience due to family characteristics …

“Not Women’S Work”: Gendered Labor, Political Subjectivity And Motherhood, Mary E. Wilhoit

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article challenges broadly applied beliefs about the gendered nature of informality and the marginalization of single mothers to argue that many such women in Ayacucho, Peru routinely sought out formal-sector jobs and used these to exert authority over certain local processes of development. I argue that this situation, influenced in part by the male-dominated nature of the lucrative but completely informal coca economy, may also reflect Andean ideologies of maternal authority and the freedom afforded to single, rather than married, women. This article draws on over sixteen months of fieldwork in rural Ayacucho, during which time I observed women’s …

Mother Monsters And Monster Mothers From Dracula To Stranger Things, Melissa Dinsman

Publications and Research

Netflix’s hit show Stranger Things is an homage to 1970s and 1980s sci-fi and horror, including Alien and Aliens, Carrie, the Star Wars trilogy, and Poltergeist, as well as buddy adventure films like Goonies and Stand by Me. But it is also, in its obsessive presentation of monsters as mothers and mothers as monsters, a show that takes its 1980s mothering cues straight out of Bram Stoker’s 1890s. Despite its 2016 production date, the Duffer Brother’s Stranger Things presents viewers with very old fashioned ideas of mothering, with Joyce Byers (Wynona Ryder) as the single, but exceedingly pro-active mom from …