Women's Studies Commons^™

“By The Sound Of Sparrows, I Knew It Was Dawn”: The Impact Of Women’S Latest Protests In Iran, Antonia Felix

Educational Leadership Department Publications

In Iran, men and women have protested against human rights abuses and other damaging actions and policies by the clerical leadership since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Major uprisings in the past 25 years include the Green Movement and widespread protests against economic crises. I’d like to share some facts about the two most recent movements, powerful campaigns built on decades of Iranian women’s fight for justice.

In Case I Make It: An Autoethnographic Argument For Care, Space, And Utopia, Faelyn T. Cowan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Taking an autoethnographic and autotheoretical approach I examine within this project TomboloBooks’ Queer Comic Book Club. Drawing from José Esteban Mun֮oz’s ideas of queer utopia and Jen Jack Gieseking’s framework of constellations, and analyzing my own experiences, I present the Queer Comic Book Club (QCBC) as a moment of utopic queer worldmaking and argue for it’s potential as a site of alternative mental health care. Though I cannot provide here a generalizable model of book clubs as care, what I offer here is a series of possibilities, arguing for the potential of these spaces as community resources and sites of …

Personal Perspectives Of Political Action: A Case Study Of How Women Discuss The Black Panther Party’S Free Breakfast For Schoolchildren Program, Megs Peterson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to investigate the impact ideology has on social movement actors. I do this by conducting a case study on the influence of Marxist feminist ideologies on the Black Panther Party’s (BPP) Free Breakfast for Schoolchildren Program (FBP). Within this case study, I narrow my focus to Marxist feminism, rather than Marxism more broadly, to choose a theoretical framework that aligns with my subject while ensuring gender is considered as a critical axis for examination. This research is situated at the intersection of feminisms and social movements, drawing from both social movement scholarship and Women’s, …

Recovering Palestinian Lives: Qudsiyya Khurshid From Mandate Palestine To Postwar Pennsylvania, Andrea L. Stanton

Religious Studies: Faculty Scholarship

This article works to recover the life story of Qudsiyya Khurshid, a once well-known Mandate Palestinian intellectual and educator, who wrote essays for publication and for broadcasting on the Palestine Broadcasting Service, while working as a principal at girls’ schools in al-Bireh and Jerusalem. One of a number of educated women active in the Mandate public sphere, she disappeared from public consciousness after the Nakba. But in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, where she had moved with her husband, a naturalized U.S. citizen, she became a prominent figure in civic work and as a community speaker on Palestinian and Middle Eastern life …

Monima: A Novel Of The Immigrant Experience In The Multilingual Early Republic, Betsy Klima, Len Von Morzé

English Faculty Publication Series

First published in 1802, Monima offers a unique look at the lives of the poor in Philadelphia: Describing her novel as "a very plain picture of life," a plea on behalf of the "oppressed, and life-worn children of affliction,'' the author exposes the class fractures within a society we have mythologized as egalitarian (99). Such myths, the novel shows, are based on ignorance; as one character, awakened to the existence of the poor, remarks, "one half of the world don't know how the other half live" (196). Though the identity of Monima's author was not discovered for over 220 years, …

Syncretic Spirits / Espíritus Sincréticos, Angelica Tapia - Estrada

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

Syncretic Spirits / Espíritus Sincréticos is a multimedia exhibition that invites viewers into a fantastical space where cultural identity and perception intertwine. Colorful shaped panels, sculptural installations, prints, and drawings bridge physical and metaphysical realms. Personal archetypes intuitively inspired by natural forms drive the work.

Influenced by the dualities of my upbringing as a first-generation Mexican American, I was immersed in Mexican culture through my family traditions while finding a home in the nurturing embrace of the heartland. The work has become a means of reclaiming a new layered sense of self, disentangling from my Catholic upbringing, embracing indigenous healing …

Under The Veil: Women's Head Coverings In Tudor England, Savannah Toth

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This thesis seeks to discover and analyze the agency and meaning of the role of women’s head coverings and veils within the context of Tudor Christianity, society, and the fashion world of English culture. By observing the usage of the veil through various lenses, this thesis examines the nuance of the veil as an object and actor in Tudor society that enables yet prohibits personal choice for women. This research uses various sources such as Tudor paintings and portraits, surviving pieces of garments, and written accounts to paint a picture of the impact and significance the veil had in every …

“I Saw Death With My Own Eyes”: Recent Women’S Protests And Punishments In Iran, Antonia Felix

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s brutal response to nonviolent protests exposes its tenuous hold on power over a youthful nation well familiar with 21st-century freedoms. Despite systemic discrimination and oppressive laws controlling and degrading the lives of women, ethnic and religious minorities, and the LGBTQ+ community, the Iranian government cannot halt public dissent that has continued to erupt since the 1979 Revolution. This article offers a brief overview of four major protests in the past 25 years as a context for discussing the two most recent movements focused on women’s rejection of the compulsory hijab and prisoners’ and activists’ fight …

Monstrous Feminine, Deviant Mother: Tolkien’S Shelob And The Grotesque Maternal, Sara Brown

Journal of Tolkien Research

J.R.R. Tolkien’s menacing character of Shelob embodies the ultimate danger that faces Frodo on his journey to destroy the Ring of Power. Her actions, in combination with the language that Tolkien uses to describe her, invite the reader to view Shelob with revulsion and horror, designating her as Other. However, Shelob is also undeniably a mother, a term laden with social and cultural expectation. This paper explores Shelob as a representation of what Barbara Creed, in her article “Horror and the Monstrous-Feminine: An Imaginary Abjection”, has termed the ‘monstrous-feminine’, examining Shelob’s presentation within the text as not only identified as …

Critical Scrutiny Of The World Of The Marriage As A Myth Of Male Power, Robiatul Adawiyah

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

For centuries, men have been considered the dominant gender, exercising hegemony over women. On the other hand, women have been conceptualized as subordinates who obey the orders of men. However, in reality, all images of male power and domination are just myths, a construction made by society to perpetuate patriarchy. Warren Farrel argues that the concept of male superiority is mistaken, as evidenced by the empirical data he presents, which shows that men have long been subordinate to women. Through the Korean drama The World of The Marriade (TWoTM), this study attempts to examine the myth of male …

Of Cordial Ladies And Independent Women: An Analysis Of The Ceramic Assemblage Of The 19th Century Cooper-Frost-Austin House, Mikayla Roderick

Graduate Masters Theses

This thesis explores the transformation of Susan Austin’s (1807-1885) household in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from a private family home into a boardinghouse, challenging traditional distinctions between domestic and economic spaces. Using feminist and queer theoretical frameworks, it examines how Austin’s decisions blurred public and private boundaries, creating an intimate boardinghouse. Through ceramic analysis of two occupational phases and a documentary examination of the household members over time, this study identifies shifts in material culture that reflect changing household practices, social relationships, and status negotiation. Austin intentionally created an environment where commercial spaces took on a domestic appearance, integrating elements of familiarity …

Reimagining Imperfection: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis Of Women Characters In Studio Ghibli Animated Films, Xue Yang, Roslina Mamat, Zaid Mohd Zin

Journal of International Women's Studies

This study aims to explore the representation of flawed women characters in Studio Ghibli animated films, focusing on the themes of environmentalism, anti-war sentiments, and personal growth. Utilizing a qualitative approach and multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA), the research examines five selected films—Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away—with some additional attention to Howl’s Moving Castle. The analysis employs Fairclough’s three-dimensional model, visual grammar, and feminist film theory to scrutinize the visual and verbal elements used to represent these characters. The findings …

Reproductive Labour: Preventing Babies, Making Babies, And Growing Babies, Elizabeth J. O’Reilly

Journal of International Women's Studies

During her reproductive years, a Canadian heterosexual cisgender woman will likely engage in the labour of preventing pregnancy, trying to achieve pregnancy, and/or being pregnant. While each stage of reproduction involves significant time and energy, the labour tied to preventing pregnancy, conceiving, and growing life is undervalued, unrecognized, and rendered invisible. Much of the work around reproduction involves not just cognitive function, but also a mental load and emotional labour. It is assumed that women need to do this labour as a pregnancy exists within her reproductive body; however, this assumption fails to acknowledge the reality of how laborious each …

Cultural Representations Of Obstetric Violence In Contemporary Italy, Veronica Frigeni

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article is the first examination of a hybrid corpus of cultural narratives of obstetric violence in contemporary Italy. Adopting a reproductive justice approach, the paper considers obstetric violence as gendered, intersectional, and ontological violence against reproductive subjects over the course of their lived reproductive experiences. Combining personal and cultural narratives, the article examines the 2022 comic “Da Che Mondo È Mondo,” written by Irene Caselli and illustrated by Rita Petruccioli, Alberto Basaluzzo’s 2018 short film Si È Sempre Fatto così, and Antonella Lattanzi’s 2023 novel Cose Che Non Si Raccontano to assess how and to what extent they …

Locally Stranded - Addressing Rural Cases Of Domestic Violence, Owen Phillips, Robin Puttock

Symposium of Student Scholars

Domestic violence is a nationwide crisis affecting millions of women each year and saw an increase in severity during the Covid-19 pandemic (2020-2022). In Georgia, 37.4% of women report experiencing physical violence by an intimate partner. The situation is especially dire in rural areas, where women experience 150% more incidents at a more intense level than their urban counterparts and must travel three times farther to access resources. Rural women are also nearly twice as likely to be turned away from services due to a lack of space, staffing, and resources. Existing shelters often fail to meet victims' needs because …

Book Review: Prenatal Genetic Testing, Abortion, And Disability Justice, Radhika Sharma, Nagendra Kumar

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

Book Review: After Sex, Anya Metzer

Journal of International Women's Studies

No abstract provided.

“Mommy With A Different Body”: Rethinking Motherhood Through American Breast Cancer Memoirs, Mahua Bhattacharyya, Ajit K. Mishra

Journal of International Women's Studies

Motherly guilt and anxieties about reproductive choices are often a significant source of psychological trauma in women who decide to have a child after being diagnosed with breast cancer (BC), but these themes are less visible in breast cancer memoirs. Patriarchal societal norms about women’s roles have long influenced women’s ideas about their bodies and motherhood. However, women with BC who are already in a vulnerable position, struggling with a life-threatening disease, feel helpless and guilty about their desires to be mothers, as society often considers them to be bad or selfish mothers. The present study examines Tig Notaro’s I’m …

Menstruation And Menopause As Reproductive Justice Issues: Feminist Reflections On Activism, Research, And Policy From The Global Movement’S Scottish Hub, Bettina Bildhauer, Marcy L. Karin

Journal of International Women's Studies

This feminist reflection asserts that menstruation and menopause are elements of reproductive justice that are often overlooked due to menstrual taboos. Drawing on their experiences in Scotland, which has recently been a global hub for menstrual activism, policymaking, and research, the authors identify salient current challenges in menstrual and menopausal justice. They detail how these were met in Scotland and what work remains outstanding, and they summarize recommendations for future policymaking, research, and activism.

Fetal Personhood And Access To Reproductive Rights: Power And Precarity In Post-Roe America, Jainab Banu

Journal of International Women's Studies

This paper delves into the concept of “fetal personhood” and dissects how lawmakers systematically deploy rhetorical agency in policy to draw demarcating lines between demographic groups in post-Roe America. After abortion was legalized in 1973, the number of women opting for abortion rose significantly. Even after legalization, however, underrepresented and marginalized women struggled to access safe and high-quality healthcare, and many of them risked self-induced abortions. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, women with financial affluence can still travel to states where abortion is not banned to access their reproductive rights; however, women with low income may not …

From Care To Coercion: The Unspoken Reality Of Disrespect And Abuse Of Women In Maternal Healthcare In India, Meerambika Mahapatro, Sudeshna Roy

Journal of International Women's Studies

The article reviews the literature pertaining to reproductive justice in maternal healthcare settings, emphasizing issues of disrespect and abuse (D & A) within healthcare institutions in India, a problem which is often referred to as “labour room violence” or “obstetric violence.” Experiencing D & A during such a critical stage leaves lasting and painful memories of healthcare settings that can lead to avoidance of future medical treatment. This article aims to systematically review and document the prevalence, forms, causes, and consequences of D & A that women face during prenatal care, with a particular focus on programs and policies in …

Initiating An Epistemic Rupture: Exploring Contraceptive Awareness In Janhit Mein Jaari (2022) And Chhatriwali (2023), Parvathy N, Priyanka Tripathi

Journal of International Women's Studies

In the context of social change, cinematic representations play a pertinent role in challenging existing knowledge systems, disrupting societal norms, and provoking critical reflections among audiences. The paper’s primary objective is to highlight the gendered burden upon women in India regarding the contraception narrative and its significance in ensuring reproductive justice. By analyzing two recent Hindi films, Janhit Mein Jaari [Issued in Public Interest] (2022) and Chhatriwali [Woman with Umbrella] (2023), the paper further aims to shed light on how these movies incite an epistemic rupture by challenging deeply ingrained beliefs and norms surrounding contraception. This …

If These Walls Could Talk, What Would They Say About Reproductive Justice Today?, Cassandra Chaney

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article critically examines the lives of the three women in the television film If These Walls Could Talk (Cher & Savoca, 1996). The three protagonists, all White American women, live in the same house and are all faced with the decision of whether to terminate their unplanned, unwanted pregnancies in 1952, 1974, and 1996. Notably, three Black women were included as minor characters in the film. These foundational questions guide this film analysis: (1) What were the societal norms for US women who considered either abortion or giving birth in 1952, 1974, and 1996? (2) What barriers did women …

When Your Phone Knows You’Re Pregnant Even If You Don’T: Period Tracking Applications And Threats To Privacy, Dominika Kuźnicka-Blaszkowska, Joanna Joachimska

Journal of International Women's Studies

In everyday life, menstruating persons around the world use different applications to help them monitor menstruation or fertile days to plan or to avoid conception, as well as to monitor their health condition. Much to users’ dismay, in recent years disturbing information appeared in the media about the alleged disclosure of information collected by menstrual monitoring applications to third parties for commercial purposes. The mechanism of such a procedure seems to be relatively simple—if the user of the application does not enter information about the onset of menstruation on the date set by the application as a start date, after …

“A Womb Of My Own”: Women’S Bodies And Medicine In Early Modern England, Mackie Black

Journal of International Women's Studies

This essay recontextualizes United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s views on abortion within a broader system of early modern (c. 1450-1700) reproductive knowledge. By focusing on printed medical texts as well as manuscript books that offer recipes for medicines to treat reproductive issues, the essay contends that Alito’s Majority Opinion, which relies on the legal scholar Sir Matthew Hale in the case of Dobbs V. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, leaves out a breadth of voices, specifically those of women. Manuscript recipe books for medicinal treatments demonstrate women’s limited but essential control over their own health and well-being. The …

In The Aftermath Of The 2015 Transnational Surrogacy Ban: Co-Optation Of Feminist Ideas In The Indian Surrogacy Market, Annu Daftuar

Journal of International Women's Studies

Feminist scholars have long debated the thorny question of whether or not to call for a ban on commercial surrogacy. A Marxist-feminist approach to frame commercial surrogacy as a unique form of “embodied labor” (Pande, 2014, p. 104) radically shifts this debate from a moralistic understanding of surrogacy by centralizing the role of structural inequalities that shape surrogates’ choices to do surrogacy work. This article argues, however, that the feminist call to frame surrogacy as work, along the lines of sex work and care work, is being co-opted by surrogacy stakeholders in powerful positions in India’s fertility market. I analyze …

The Ethical Quandaries Of Commercialized Surrogacy In India And Its Representation In Bollywood Films, Shruti Das, Deepshikha Routray

Journal of International Women's Studies

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has been seen as a blessing for couples and individuals who desire to have children and who do not want to adopt. A common technique of ART is surrogacy—the process by which a woman agrees to carry and give birth to another individual’s or couple’s child, often as an act of philanthropy. Because of the costly medical expenses for this process in high-income countries, many clients have sought surrogates in lower-income countries, such as Nepal, Thailand, and India, to lessen the cost. This has contributed to what is known as “surrogacy consumerism,” in which women are …

Motherhood, Infertility, And Femininity In Fadia Faqir’S Pillars Of Salt, Fozia Sheikh, Munejah Khan

Journal of International Women's Studies

In the patriarchal tradition of the Arab world, women are often treated as commodities, and their autonomy and choices are disregarded. Family honour is tied to women’s virginity, leading to strict control over their desires and sexuality (Khan 3). Moreover, women are confined to roles as biological and cultural procreators, reinforcing a narrow understanding of femininity (Chouiten and Khireddine 40) and tightly weaving womanhood with motherhood. This essay examines Fadia Faqir’s novel Pillars of Salt (1996) by using a feminist framework, particularly Adrienne Rich’s theory of motherhood. The narrative reveals the brutal realities faced by Arab women, particularly those incapable …

The ‘Art’ Of (Re)Production: Understanding Motherhood Beyond Biological Destiny, Pratyusha Pramanik, Ajit K. Mishra

Journal of International Women's Studies

This article examines how the technological intervention of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART)has had a profound impact on the sociocultural practices surrounding motherhood in India. The experience of motherhood has now been divided among different individuals: the genetic mother, the gestational mother, and the social mother. This expansion of motherhood roles has led to the re-emergence of co-mothering practices, where a child is nurtured by someone other than the birth mother. As nuclear heteronormative families became the norm in India, traditional co-mothering by grandmothers and aunts went out of practice. With rising infertility and the rearrangement of familial structures through single …

Age-Related Infertility And Reproductive Tourism In Annarita Briganti’S Novel Non Chiedermi Come Sei Nata, María Reyes Ferrer

Journal of International Women's Studies

Traditional socio-cultural constructions of womanhood have often focused on women’s reproductive capacity, which has determined their destiny and shaped their identity over centuries. Given the long-time equation of motherhood and women’s identity, infertility is an important topic that raises question about how women experience infertility and how science, through advances in assisted reproduction, has intervened in the creation of life. In the European context, Italy has one of the lowest birth rates, a phenomenon attributable to a series of adverse structural conditions. In particular, precarious work conditions, insufficient wage levels, and a high cost of living represent significant obstacles to …