Abstract Books of the World Conference on Gender and Women's Studies
The Abstract Books of the World Conference on Gender and Women's Studies (GWSCONF) presents carefully peer-reviewed research presented at the annual Gender and Women's Studies conference organized by Proud Pen. This collection captures original work across the field of Gender and Women's Studies, spanning theoretical frameworks to applied studies. Each volume serves as a reference for ongoing research and study in the discipline.
Roe and Dobbs: The Impact of the Structural Landscape on Pro-Choice and Pro-Life Mobilization
The paper examines the mobilization dynamics and long-term effectiveness of the pro-choice and pro-life movements in the United States by analyzing their distinct responses to two pivotal Supreme Court decisions: Roe v. Wade (1973) and its reversal in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022). The central argument is that the "structural landscape"— the state of a particular issue at a point in time based on preceding laws, trends and actions – primarily determines activist mobilization and ultimate success. The study compares the progressive, women's rights-oriented landscape of the 1960s and early 1970s, which led to the Roe decision, with the modern landscape where a conservative-leaning judiciary acted in opposition to mainstream public values to enable the Dobbs ruling. Following Roe, the pro-life movement adopted an offensive strategy, employing a "fetus-centered" emotional appeal with graphic imagery. This movement utilized legislative lobbying to create conservative "divots" in a landscape that largely favored their opponents. However, the pro-life tactics forced the pro-choice movement to a more defensive position, with institutionalization and “reactive response” as the key strategies. On the other hand, the pro-choice mobilization after Dobbs was characterized by immediate, widespread shock and outrage. This reaction is explained by Davies' Theory of Rising Expectations, which asserts that sudden reversal of long-held progress and high expectations incites intense, emotionally charged public backlash. The paper concludes that despite the significant legal setback of Dobbs, the pro-choice movement is positioned for greater long-term effectiveness. Its alignment with the broader, progressively evolving structural landscape and majority public opinion suggests that the current legal status of abortion is a temporary phase, rather than a permanent realignment.
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“We Work Together, But the Fields Are Not Equal”: Lived Experiences of Agricultural Division of Labour in Rural Zimbabwe
This paper explores the lived experiences of agricultural division of labour among rural households in Zimbabwe, examining how gender, cultural, and social norms influence everyday dynamics of agricultural production. While family members often work together in the fields, the burdens and benefits of agricultural labour remain unequally distributed. Women frequently undertake the most labour-intensive and repetitive work with limited recognition or reward, while customary practices reinforce male authority in agricultural planning and control over livestock and outputs. Through qualitative interviews, focus group discussions, and participant observation conducted in a Communal Area and A1 Farm in Zvimba, Zimbabwe, the study reveals persistent inequalities in task allocation, resource access, decision-making power, and livelihoods despite the collaborative nature of family farming. Results indicate gendered divisions in farm tasks, crop types, livestock ownership, and output sales. Men dominate agricultural production not through labour input but through land access and decision-making power, while women face land constraints and crop devaluation. As a survival strategy, women have developed resistance, adaptation, and agency within traditional agricultural structures. The findings demonstrate how households navigate the tension between collaborative farming and unequal power structures, with women creating spaces for economic participation despite systemic constraints. Understanding these nuanced patterns of cooperation and inequality is crucial for designing policies that promote both productivity and equality in rural agricultural systems. The paper concludes with recommendations for interventions that recognise and address entrenched asymmetries in agricultural labour division, emphasising the need for gender-sensitive approaches to rural development.
What’s Working to Accelerate Gender Equality in Sustainable Land Management and Ecosystem Restoration?
Restoring nature is key to delivering on international and national ambitions to reduce land degradation and conserve biodiversity, boost renewable energy options and foster sustainable and resilient livelihoods and communities in the face of climate change. Central to realizing equitable restoration is advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, which can unlock greater potential for sustainable development worldwide. Sustainable land management, ecosystem restoration and land degradation neutrality efforts can be powerful opportunities for shifting gender social norms and reforming structures in favor of gender equality – while gender-responsive strategies and results can help improve environmental outcomes too. A global portfolio undertaken of a sub-set of UNDP restoration projects review found that deep-rooted gender barriers and inequalities exist across the environment development nexus. At the same time, the review found that strategic commitments to gender equality in restoration projects and in countries making progress towards land degradation neutral (LDN) targets can help reduce women’s vulnerability to climate change impacts, increase their self-worth within their communities, and improve household food and income security. In many cases these changes can be transformational for natural resources-based livelihoods and sustain project impact in the longer term. This work brings together key lessons, country examples and associated recommendations from a global portfolio review, highlighting the persistent challenges in bridging gaps for gender equality and nature – and even more importantly, examples of what’s working to accelerate transformative progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment.
From Brooklyn to Kuwait: Female Identity and the Ethics of Care in Contemporary Fiction
This paper conducts a comparative analysis of two protagonists from The Book of V. by Anna Solomon and The Pact We Made by Layla AlAmmar applying Carol Gilligan's Care Ethics theory. Grounded in feminist moral theory, Care Ethics emphasizes the significance of empathy, responsibility, and interpersonal relationships. This study explores how the novels’ representations of American individualism and Arab collectivism shape women's social roles, standards, and their approaches to care, autonomy, and identity within two distinct cultural contexts. Employing a qualitative textual analysis informed by Care-Focused Feminist theories, the research investigates the influence of care, pain, and gender roles on the moral and emotional development of female characters. The analysis reveals several cultural and situational disparities including variations in religious influence, family structure, and social mobility. Nonetheless, the findings indicate that both women grapple with fundamental ethical and emotional challenges. These challenges include the tensions between personal freedom and social obligation, the responsibilities associated with caregiving, and the moral implications of conforming to or defying societal norms. The results demonstrate that literature, despite cultural differences, addresses universal ethical dilemmas, offering a multinational perspective on identity, duty, and resistance within the framework of Care Ethics.
The False Equivalence of Femcel and Incel: Political Lesbianism Rebranded?
The ‘femcel’ archetype of the self-identified involuntarily celibate woman has gained traction in digital spaces yet remains underexplored within feminist legal and political thought. In analysing this emerging figure, this paper advances two primary conclusions. First, it argues that equating femcels with incels is a false equivalence. While femcelism articulates discontent with sexual and relational exclusion, it does not typically translate into violence against men. By contrast, incel ideology has repeatedly escalated into lethal misogyny, epitomised by the so-called ‘king of the incels’, mass murderer Elliot Rodger. To conflate the two, therefore, obscures the deadly consequences of incel discourse while mischaracterising the politics of femcel identity. Second, and flowing from this crucial divergence, the paper examines whether femcel discourse can be reread as a contemporary iteration of Sheila Jeffreys’ political lesbianism that called for the conscious rejection of heterosexual intimacy as a strategy of resistance to patriarchal domination. While femcels are typically characterised by an absence of choice that diverges from Jeffrey’s ideology, both political lesbianism and femcel discourse foreground women’s alienation from heteronormative sexuality under patriarchy. By situating femcel discourse within a broader feminist genealogy, including the 4B movement in South Korea, this paper examines whether femcel rhetoric might constitute a politics of refusal rather than a resignation under neoliberal fatalism. In doing so, the femcel emerges as a potentially subversive figure that unsettles dominant norms around gender, power and sexuality that cannot be subsumed under the lethal logic of its incel namesake.
Married to My Purpose: Harnessing Faith, Resilience, and Leadership to Navigate Life and Career
Navigating purpose is both a personal and societal challenge, particularly for women balancing career, family, and self-actualization. This paper explores the concept of being “Married to My Purpose” through a personal narrative intertwined with research-backed strategies for resilience, leadership, and empowerment. Drawing on experiences in military service, marriage, infidelity, and divorce, this work demonstrates how intentional alignment of faith, values, and professional goals fosters sustainable personal and professional growth. Additionally, it offers actionable insights for women seeking to reconcile life’s challenges with purpose-driven living, providing a framework for mentorship, leadership development, and empowerment.
Redefining Womanhood Through Archetypes in The Novels of Calixthe Beyala
This paper explores the use of archetypal female characters in the novels of Calixthe Beyala, focusing particularly on the representations of the mother archetype, the Barren Woman and the Surrogate Mother. By drawing upon Jungian psychoanalysis, mythological interpretations and the study of these archetypes within an African context, this paper investigates how Beyala redefines traditional female archetypes to critique and subvert established models of womanhood within patriarchal societies. Central to this study, is the exploration of the mother archetype, often portrayed through the dual lens of the Great Mother and the Terrible Mother. The maternal figures in Beyala’s novels reflect nurturing and protective qualities, whilst also portraying destructive qualities, demonstrating the profound psychological and social impacts of mother-daughter relationships. Several of Beyala’s protagonists confront emotionally unavailable and abusive mother figures, and this often results in the development of negative mother-complexes. These dynamics propel the young protagonists of Beyala’s works into a process of individuation whereby they can redefine their identities outside the oppressive structures inherited by the maternal lineage. The paper further examines the archetype of the Barren Woman, a figure who is historically and mythically associated with notions of failure, and often socially marginalized. In Beyala’s novels, barrenness is reconceptualized as a catalyst for alternative forms of identity and agency that exists outside of the patriarchal models of womanhood. Beyala’s barren characters thus redefine their sense of purpose and challenge the traditional association between femininity and fertility. Surrogacy also emerges as an important archetype used by Beyala to rewrite the narrative of the woman’s body and to reconstruct the idea of what it means to be a mother. This paper demonstrates that in Beyala’s novels, surrogacy serves as a site of spiritual transformation which draws on mythical and Biblical associations with miraculous births and divine intervention. Maternity is thus positioned within a broader framework of psychological and spiritual fulfillment, outside of biological reproduction. Beyala’s use of these archetypes allows her protagonists to embark on a journey towards individuation, enabling them to discover their true ‘Self’. It is thus through the rejection of restrictive gender roles, the adoption of surrogacy and the reimaging of the female identity, that a radical reconsideration of what it means to be a woman in a patriarchal African world is made in Beyala’s novels. A new vision of womanhood is thus embraced which is rooted in autonomy, strength, psychological wholeness and spiritual advancement.
State Power, Gendered Repression, and Labor Exploitation: A Feminist Political Economy of the ALZHIR Camp
This paper analyzes gendered political repression in Stalin’s USSR through the case of the femaleonly Gulag camp ALZHIR, established specifically for women related to so-called “traitors to the Motherland”. While Gulag camps have been widely studied in academic literature, women’s experiences within these labor camps remain critically understudied. This paper addresses this gap by analyzing archival and historical data gathered from field research at the ALZHIR Museum, combined with feminist theoretical frameworks to examine the topic of women’s oppression under Stalinist repression. The paper draws on Angela Davis’s gendered carceral feminism, Lise Vogel’s social reproduction theory, and Carole Pateman’s critique of patriarchal political structure to present three interlinked arguments: (1) the Soviet government imprisoned women not for individual actions but for their familial ties to men, reflecting the state’s deep-rooted patriarchal structure; (2) the camp operated as a site of gendered carceral violence, which placed women in positions of physical danger and risk; and (3) it also functioned as a form of generational punishment through bodily control, familial rupture and societal rejection, leaving long-lasting psychological and physical marks on women. The paper concludes that ALZHIR was not only a place of political repression, but also a gendered mechanism of labor exploitation and familial punishment embedded in the broader logic of Soviet state power.
Paula Rego: The Domestic Interior as a Stage
This paper explores the significance of domestic interior spaces in the work of Paula Rego, examining how these environments serve as a stage for the enactment of familial and domestic dynamics. It further examines architectural and visual elements drawn from Portuguese iconography and Estado Novo propaganda, including prescriptive literature on home design. Rego’s compositions subvert normative gender roles and critique the socio-political and economic conditions of women in Portugal from the 1930s onwards. Drawing on memories of childhood spaces, her paintings use the domestic interiors as an essential element of the narrative, revealing mechanisms of control and resistance. Through an in-depth analysis of selected works and employing feminist art historical frameworks, this study situates Rego within a lineage of artists who chose to represent women within the confinements of domestic settings, serving as a metaphor for their restrictive social condition. It further demonstrates the intimate relationship between spatial composition and storytelling, highlighting how interiors contribute to the symbolic depth of Rego’s narratives. Underpinned by literature in the field of spatial theory, this paper investigates the interplay between body and space, revealing how Rego used various spatial mechanisms to create uncanny interiors, reflecting the constrained realities of Portuguese women. Initial findings uncover how notions of national identity and gender roles were constructed through depictions of domestic space. This work demonstrates how art can expose social injustices, foster networks of resistance, and contribute to the struggle for gender equality, empowering women.
Training The Next Inclusive Language Professionals’ Generation Through the Eyes of Translation Educators: An Approach Based on Bridging Academic Conference Learning and Professional Networking Experience
This paper presents the significant role of the translation educator who acts as the bridge between the wealth of knowledge acquired from academic conferences and the diversification of experiences built through professional networking. To be more specific, on the one hand, the translation educator brings to the translation classroom learning by exchanging ideas with colleagues in academic conferences. For example, when it comes to teaching the recently appeared concept of inclusive language, the translation educator can transmit best practices and relevant recommendations as investigated and proposed by recognized researchers of the international academic community. On the other hand, the translation educator carries experiences by building relationships with professionals from translation networks and related support systems. For instance, in the field of inclusive language, the translation educator can transfer to translation students a variety of real-world perspectives and useful tips as developed and practiced by fellow members of professional translators’ associations on their specialized career paths in the translation industry. Therefore, the translation educator incorporates theoretical principles and practical methods from academic and professional collaborations to transform translation students into the next generation of inclusive language professionals and prepare them to adapt to the constantly evolving diverse demands and multiple needs of the language services sector. Finally, the translation educator becomes a real-life think tank to embed academic conferences’ insights and professional networks’ advice in contemporary translation teaching environments.
It Ends with us From Page to Screen: Gender, Identity, and Narrative Transformation in Literary Adaptations
This research explores how the novel It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover was adapted into a film, focusing on how the character of Lily Bloom was changed in the process. Using a qualitative approach, the study compares the book and movie side by side, looking at differences in Lily’s personality, age, and emotional depth, and how these shifts affect the story’s main themes like domestic abuse, resilience, identity, and empowerment. The research also uses academic articles to support the analysis, especially on adaptation theory and women’s representation in media. The findings show that the film softens or simplifies some parts of Lily’s journey, which may influence how audiences understand the emotional and social impact of her story. This study helps us think more critically about how female characters are portrayed when books are turned into movies, and what is gained or lost along the way.
Silent Resilience: Encaustic Feminism in Fragments of Silence
This article analyses four encaustic paintings from the Fragments of Silence painting collection as a visual manifesto for intersectional feminist topics, addressing labour inequality, Islamophobia, ageism, and body image pressures. These works draw on two principal studies: Byung-Chul Han's critique of social transparency, where superficial visibility fragments more profound truths, and Tim Jackson's Prosperity without Growth, which emphasises resilience over material excess. These visually compelling paintings, in line with contemporary preferences for the pleasing over the harsh, hide a word of encouragement that emerges upon close observation. A QR code accompanying each title leads to a PDF that reveals the full AI-generated image, confronting viewers with the stark realities of gender struggles that society often shuns. The multiple layers and tactile quality of encaustic disrupt passive interaction, critiquing the leveraging of identity and promoting inclusive and proactive narratives. This study contributes to artistic discourse by demonstrating how the fusion of ancient techniques, such as encaustic, with new digital image-generating AI presents a challenging aesthetic vision for addressing genderrelated issues.
Disrupting Confined Boundaries: Creating Spaces of Safety and Play through Leisure
Women's autonomy over their time and body continues to be informed by the intricate intersections of structural inequalities in terms of class, caste, geography, religion, etc (Butcher, 2018; Datta, 2020; Demirbaş, 2024). This study specifically examines how ‘play’ and ‘pleasure’ juxtapose socially constructed ideas of womanhood in India. By focusing on leisure as a space for play, I attempt to explore the different ways in which women navigate, negotiate and reclaim urban and domestic spaces. Photo elicitation interviews were used to collect 8 cis-gendered, middle-class women’s leisure experiences in Pune City. They were part of groups like a silent reading community, a kitty party (a group of women that meet to save money and party together) and a paid movie club. Braun and Clarke’s (2019, 2022) reflexive approach to thematic analysis was used to analyse interviews and photographs. This study highlights how leisure may allow women to temporarily access exploration, wonder, divergence, and play, which contrasts with the confined, convergent and well-defined nature of gendered responsibilities they navigated in public and private spaces. These findings complicate the assumption that leisure and spaces are inherently liberatory, showing how play, while holding the potential to temporarily blur historical boundaries of power, remains entangled within structures it seeks to resist.
Gendered Leadership in Videoconferencing at The Online Workplace
In times increasingly defined by digital connectivity, videoconferencing has become a frequently used medium for workplace interaction - but the gendered dimension of this remained underexplored so far. This paper examines how gender dynamics shape leadership behavior and perceptions in online professional settings. Drawing on qualitative data from focus groups, recorded company-internal videoconferences, a q-methodological study, collected with two Southern-German companies from the tech sector, and a study using the story completion task method, discourses of gendered leadership were identified. The findings show constructions of women as neoliberal female leaders as solitary fighters, constructions of tensions with patriarchal norms, distrust in female leadership, concerns about appearance in online meetings, and constructions of stereotypes of women as care givers. These findings provide an innovative contribution to research on gender-related dynamics in online meetings.
Portrayal of Female Depression: Applying L’écriture Féminine to The Yellow Wallpaper and A Rose for Emily
The paper explores how male and female writers show female depression in fiction. It compares The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. The analysis uses the feminist theory of L’écriture Féminine by Hélène Cixous. This theory explains that women write with emotion, the body, and personal voice. The method includes close reading of voice, sentence structure, tone, and symbols. The results show that Gilman uses emotional and personal language. Her style helps the reader understand the woman’s mental state. Faulkner uses a formal and distant voice. His style keeps the woman’s emotions hidden. These differences are linked to the gender of the writers. The paper is helpful for students, teachers, and scholars. It shows how gender and writing style affect the way mental health is described. The work supports feminist literary theory. It also gives ideas for future research. Other studies can explore more writers or newer stories to find more patterns.
The Impact of Feminist Discourse on DisneyAmination: From Stereotypical Portrayal intoEmpowered Females
As one of the most prominent entertainment industries, Walt Disney has produced numerous masterpieces and animated films since 1923. With the unforgettable choices of topics, themes and diverse portrayal of characters, this paper overviews the evolution of Disney portrayal of human female protagonists across selected films. A qualitative descriptive analysis interprets female protagonists in eight animated films depicted in the Classics, the Renaissance, and the New Age eras. These include Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Cinderella (1950), Pocahontas (1995), Mulan (1998), Brave (2012), Frozen (2013-2019), Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), and Moana (2016-2024). This chronological overview focuses on the gendered behavior and stereotypical portrayal of female heroines within the context of the Eurocentric beauty standards. It traces the evolution of these portrayals through a theoretical framework of stereotypes as influenced by various waves of feminism, thereby enabling a nuanced investigation of the development of these characters from traditional princesses to empowered female protagonists.
Domestic Violence Against Women as A Violation of the ECHR: An Overview on The Recent ECHR Jurisprudence
Domestic violence against women constitutes a serious violation of human rights and remains a persistent concern across Europe. This paper examines the issue through the lens of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), focusing on how recent jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has addressed states’ obligations to prevent, investigate, and prosecute domestic violence. Drawing on key judgments from the past decade, the study highlights the Court’s evolving interpretation of Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment), 8 (right to respect for private and family life), and 14 (prohibition of discrimination), among others. Particular attention is paid to the Court's application of the positive obligation’s doctrine and its increasing emphasis on gender-based violence as a form of discrimination. The paper argues that, despite significant advancements in ECtHR case law, gaps persist in domestic implementation. Through a critical overview of recent jurisprudence, this study underscores the need for stronger domestic legal frameworks and consistent application of human rights principles to effectively combat domestic violence against women within the ECHR framework.
Flimsy Borders and Online Selves: A Philosophical Exploration of Virtual Rape
Virtual rape came to the fore in the early 1990s when the first widely publicised case of such violence occurred in a virtual space called LambdaMOO. Since then, with the ever-growing and evolving virtual worlds, there has been an increase in the number of rapes and sexual assaults committed within virtual spaces. This has, in turn, led to a developing body of studies into virtual rape, with a particular focus on empirical studies investigating the prevalence of virtual rape and those exploring policy and legislative measures associated with such violence. However, there is little research on the philosophical underpinnings and/or consequences of virtual rape. Consequently, this paper seeks to explore how rape that is committed virtually is linked to a person’s identity and sexual imagination, and the ways in which virtual rape, like physical rape, can have profound impacts on a person’s sense of self and belonging. This paper aims to argue that while virtual rape may not include the bodily harms typically associated with rape, it does involve many of the same harms to a person’s interiority and personhood as does physical rape. In order to develop this argument, the paper will examine the ways in which one’s online persona/avatar can be seen as an extension of one’s psychic self, the virtual world as a community, and the ‘flimsy’ borders that separate physical and virtual worlds.
Unwanted Consensual Sex – The Implications for Women
Drawing on cross-disciplinary scholarship, this paper explores how patriarchal constructions of gender, desire, and sexuality intersect within heterosexual frameworks to uphold inequality in heteronormative sexual relationships. Focusing on cisgender women’s experiences of consenting to unwanted sex in long-term heterosexual relationships, this study examines the personal, relational, and social implications of such engagement. This paper argues that despite desire for equality within heterosexual relations, adherence to deeply gendered sexual scripts sustain androcentric sexual norms. Highlighting the paucity of language to describe unwanted sex, and the frequency with which it occurs, this paper challenges claims that such engagement is relationally beneficial. Instead, it posits that unwanted sex can have negative implications for women, including reduced sexual and relationship satisfaction, increased physical discomfort, mental health symptoms, and experiences of sexual dysphoria. This study will employ Standpoint Narrative Inquiry, an innovative methodology combining feminist Standpoint Theory and Narrative Inquiry, to explore how women’s marginalised, embodied experiences shape the stories they tell about sex, consent, and agency. Standpoint Theory prioritises the epistemic value of knowledge rooted in lived oppression, while Narrative Inquiry enables nuanced engagement with personal accounts. Semi-structured, double interviews will support a participant-led, flexible format that centres women’s voices. As fieldwork is yet to commence, this paper lays the theoretical and methodological groundwork for the study. Grounded in feminist epistemology, this paper positions unwanted but consensual sex as a critical lens through which to examine the persistence of gendered power imbalances in heterosexual relationships.
The Barking Child: Understanding the 'Pet Mom' Phenomenon in Contemporary Society
Living with dogs has increasingly become a significant aspect of people's lives, leading them to engage in services related to animal health, hygiene, and well-being, such as petfriendly daycare centers and establishments. New family configurations, marked by the dissolution of the nuclear and traditional family, alongside women's greater participation in the workforce, have reshaped generational dynamics over the past decades. Delayed motherhood or the choice not to have children are increasingly debated among women. At the heart of the modern experience lies the urgency to conserve nature, a sense of hopelessness in humanity, and the transient nature of things. The overarching aim of this study was to comprehend the "pet mother" phenomenon, considering the interaction between the researcher and the dyad (pet owner and dog). Seven residents of São Paulo, who identified themselves as "pet mothers," along with their respective dogs, participated in the study. The encounters occurred through two main avenues: immersion in the relational environment (home) and dialogue, facilitated by meetings at participants' homes with the presence of their dogs. In line with the journey embarked upon in this study, each dyad was given a name inspired by a natural element, chosen based on its meanings, the history of the relationship, and the impression each made during the encounter. Grounded in the phenomenological-existential approach that underpins this research, meaningful units emerged from the dialogues, presented with excerpts corresponding to each unit, followed by a comprehensive synthesis: nurturing the dog; pet community; communication with the dog; care and guardianship of the dog; adaptations in the home and routine; transience and temporality; adoption, purchase, and breeds. Consistent with the research trajectory, as we venture into the unknown to explore new landscapes, the discussion serves as a moment to synthesize what was gleaned from the encounters with the dyads, informed by the theoretical context previously discussed. Entering the homes of the pet owners necessitated a phenomenological stance of openness to experience and allowing oneself to be transformed by it, ensuring the process unfolded as organically as possible. Investigating the relationship with dogs implicated us from the outset in the phenomenon of "pet motherhood." We emphasize the importance of guidelines for fostering conditions conducive to planetary well-being, as proposed by the 2030 Agenda (UN, 2015) and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Contemplating the relationship between humans and dogs, particularly the phenomenon of "pet motherhood," cannot be divorced from the context in which it occurs, as viewing the phenomenon in isolation would be fragmentary. It necessitated a clinical approach that considers contemporaneity and how we have experienced relationships in general, in order to progress towards understanding the relationship. This work was financed by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – Brazil (CNPq). Chamada 07/2022 - Project n. 131859, part of the institutional project: “Subjectivities and promotion of mental health: sustainable development in the contemporary psychological clinic” (Call 07/2022, CNPq, process No. 131859/2022-6), and financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - Finance Code 001. Project n. 88887.675992/2022-00.
Female Cross-Dressing as Subversive of the Gendered Division of Labour in the NineteenthCentury Japanese Household
In 1830s Japan, magistrates of the military government sentenced a woman self-named Takejirō for dressing and behaving like a man, finding the defendant guilty of corrupting the “customs” (fūzoku) and “disrupting the human community” (jinrin o midashi). Existing research argues that, in the judges’ opinion, Takejirō’s adoption of male attire and gendered conduct threatened to break down two supporting pillars of the socio-cultural order: the binary opposition between femininity and masculinity and the ie, the patriarchal household. However, available scholarship has not fully investigated the fact that the authorities saw in Takejirō’s cross-dressing a further way this practice might have blurred the polarity between femininity and masculinity and posed a risk to the survival and perpetuation of the ie: in fact, Takejirō refused to do “women’s work” (onna no shogyō), i.e. domestic activities such as weaving and child rearing, and instead chose to do “men’s work” (otoko no shogyō), i.e. extra-domestic activities such as a career in a public office. By reading Neo-Confucian essays that posited the gendered division of labour as a cornerstone of the household and the whole society and culture, examining the verdicts passed against Takejirō, and analysing a sumptuary law enacted in 1843 to forbid parents from clothing young girls in boys’ guises, this paper aims at better understanding an additional aspect of the complex social, political, and cultural reasons why the military magistracy fought against female cross-dressing as an ostensible menace to the socio-cultural order.
ie patriarchal household in early modern Japan
Neo-Confucian ideology in early modern Japan
Be You: Integrated Facets of Self - A Framework for Women's Identity, Values and Agency
This study explores how Chinese philosophical values shape women's self-construal at a personal level, grounded in the belief that reality is socially constructed and interpretive in nature. A comprehensive interdisciplinary literature review, spanning sociology, anthropology, philosophy and psychology, informs the formation of a micro-level framework. Drawing from social psychology and cultural psychology, the research inductively formulates the concept of a social and personal construct of self, guided by the empirical findings that elicited the drivers of women’s agency. Methodologically, the study adopts an interpretive and phenomenological approach to thematically analyse the emotions, behaviour and attitudes influencing women’s choices, decision and actions. The image-based data collection tool known as Zaltman Metaphoric Elicitation Technique (ZMET) is employed to uncover deeply held values and feelings. This technique aids in conceptualising the “integrated facets of self” framework, synthesizing individual, social, and relational dimensions to show how ethnicity, gender, and social roles are shaped by both personal and societal values. Academically, this research offers a novel perspective on women’s self-construal, emphasizing its dynamic, relational, and emotionally driven nature. It reveals how women negotiate between personal aspirations and societal expectations, contributing to a holistic understanding of agency within gender studies. By illuminating the emotional and cultural dimensions of decision-making, the study enriches cross-cultural discourse on lived experiences. It invites future research to investigate the evolving nature of women’s agency across diverse sociocultural contexts and the role of emotions in shaping choices, decisions and actions, offering a holistic view of agency.
Menopause Policies in Neoliberal English Universities: Continuing Stigmatisation and Intersectional Marginalisation
This paper examines the experiences of employees going through peri- and post- menopause through the critical lens of neoliberal Higher Education (HE) and intersectionality. There has been a recent surge of public discourse around menopause in the UK and increasing efforts to destigmatise and raise awareness of the menopause, exemplified by development of menopause policies, joining Menopause Pledge and creating menopause support networks/cafes. However, how effective they are in practice is unknown. To address this gap, our British Academy/Leverhulme funded project explores the (in)effectiveness of menopause policies and support in English HE institutions. The data is drawn from an online survey with 153 employees who are affected by menopause and three focus groups with protected characteristics in English universities. Our findings suggest that institutional support is patchy and superficial without being translated into transformative practice, largely relying on individual wellbeing support officers’ initiatives. Menopause policies are mostly regarded as box-ticking exercises or PR stunts. Our findings clearly evince the continuing stigmatisation of menopause and discrimination in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in England. The intersection with disabilities, neurodivergence and other health conditions had aggravating effects on employees. This led to negative impacts on employees’ career and mental/physical health. The data also indicates overriding distrust in HR’s support for employees affected by and suffering from menopausal symptoms. Drawing on these, we argue that under the neoliberal managerialism in HE, profound structural and cultural shifts around menopause is hard to achieve because neoliberal approaches prioritise individualised solutions and productivity over staff wellbeing. We additionally argue that deeply gendered organisational culture and marginalised status of menopause pose serious challenges to providing sufficient support for employees. To transform this deeply entrenched gender structure and culture, effective leadership and mandatory training for managers, leaders and staff is required.
“They Can’t Even Define What a Woman Is”:Gender, Narrative, And The 2024 Republican National Convention
Gender is a core contested construct in political agendas. The current Republican Party in the United States (US) can be understood as a right-wing nationalist populism movement. One forum to examine the intersection of gender and this movement is the Republican National Convention (RNC). In summer 2024, the RNC took place over 4 days, with politicians and members of the public featured as speakers. We conducted a feminist critical discourse analysis of speeches to answer two research questions: 1) How does the political discourse in speeches reinforce or challenge a hierarchically gendered social order?; and 2) How are gender ideology and gendered relations promoted, negotiated, and/or contested in political discourse at the RNC? We analyzed 59 speeches using a process including open coding, descriptive analysis, and interpretive analysis. Speakers used grammar, vocabulary and storytelling to construct and defend a Republican Party vision of a desired gender order. Grammar masculinized transgender women, established cisgender women as helpless victims, and perpetuated stereotypes about immigrants and gender minorities. Vocabulary polarized Republican and Democratic agendas in relation to gender and sexuality. Finally, storytelling represented and performed desired gender roles and norms through character development and plot. We interpret our findings within the context of scholarship on political storytelling, myth, and significance quest theory.
Gender-affirming care (GAC) is often seen as medical and legal interventions that support trans people and affirm their identities (Budge et al. 2024; Restar 2023). This presentation expands GAC to include housing as critical to trans care and trans affirmation. Based on a longitudinal study with 83 LGBTQ youth in South Texas and the Inland Empire of California in the U.S., we show how housing is foundational to experiences of care and affirmation for trans and non-binary youth, especially trans and non-binary youth of color. As we demonstrate, trans youth’s housing situations—especially whom the youth are living with—shapes experiences of affirmation, rejection, or ambivalence, whereby youth may experience gender affirmation and/or misgendering by other household members. Notably, having safe and stable housing and having supportive household members were often necessities for youth to access other forms of GAC such as hormones. Youth living in hostile housing situations often moved to more supportive environments before accessing GAC. The cost of housing can also affect youth who choose between paying rent or paying for their hormones. Ultimately, housing shaped when and how trans youth received affirmation and care; scholars need to take seriously how housing shapes these experiences.
Negotiating Patriarchy in Nigeria Society: Representations of Female Identity in Nollywood Films
This study examines the portrayal of female identity and resistance within the patriarchal structures in Nigeria through the lens of King of Boys (2018) and Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (2024). The article explores how these films depict women navigating power, oppression and self-determination in a maledominated society. The research work employs the theory of intersectionality and qualitative research methodology to analyse how Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, a political strategist challenges colonial and patriarchal authority and the presentation of dystopian exploration of female power as revealed in the female protagonist of the film King of Boys. The paper argues that Nollywood’s gendered storytelling, though evolving, remains a contested avenue where the contributions of the female producers; Kemi Adetiba (King of Boys) and Bolanle Austen-Peters (Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti) reconstructs women’s narratives and promote gender equality. The study underscores the need for a more nuanced portrayal that reflect the everyday resistance of ordinary women, beyond tropes of heroism or victimhood. The study concludes that the two films offer power yet complex representations of women’s resistance within Nigeria’s patriarchal society. The research contributes to broader conversation on feminism and gender justice in African film.
Perception and Effect of Gender Based Violence on Sustainable Development and Education of Girl-Child in South Western Nigeria
The study examined perception and effects of gender-based violence on sustainable development and education of the girl-child in South Western, Nigeria. Primary and Secondary data were utilised. A structured questionnaire was administered on young females in tertiary institutions, secondary schools, non-governmental organisations, and government establishments dealing with gender-based violence in the study area while secondary data were sourced from journals, books and dailies. Multistage random sampling technique was employed to select a sample of 360 respondents who completed the questionnaire for the study. Also, Key Informant Interview Guide was used to elicit additional information for the study from 30 key informants on gender-based violence in educational institutions. The key informants comprised of 15 Gender-based violence desk officers from tertiary institutions and 15 secondary school counsellors who were in-charge of issues bordering on gender-based violence in their institutions. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were applied to the data collected. The key informants’ interview responses were analysed using thematic and content analysis methods. The result revealed a high prevalence of gender-based violence and it was perceived to be culturally motivated. Sexual violence, sexual harassment and psychological violence were the significant forms of gender-based violence that adversely affected the Sustainable Development Goal 4 and girl-child education. The study recommended that to avert the adverse effects of gender-based violence on the girl-child, there is need for thorough awareness and sensitisation programmes to build their resilience. Enforcement of established laws against gender-based violence by both government and non-governmental organisations is sacrosanct.
Men as Partners: Rethinking Allyship for Workplace Gender Equity through Action Research
This action research study examines the evolving role of men in advancing workplace gender equity, drawing on nearly a decade of initiatives across Europe and the MENA region. While legislative and cultural shifts have improved women’s leadership representation, men’s engagement remains inconsistent. Barriers such as masculinity norms, fear of backlash, and role uncertainty hinder meaningful participation. Using datasets from European divisions of global corporations, the study identifies four stages of men’s allyship: Apathy, Ambivalence, Reflective and Responsible, and Energised and Motivated. These stages represent a shift from disengagement to active advocacy, shaped by cultural, organisational, and individual factors. Findings reveal systemic barriers—including entrenched gender norms, unclear allyship roles, and a lack of psychological safety—that limit men’s participation. To address these challenges, the study highlights tailored interventions such as safe spaces for dialogue, visible leadership modelling, and structured mentorship and advocacy programs. The Gender Equity Mindset Model provides a framework for understanding and supporting men’s allyship journeys, positioning it as a dynamic process requiring empathy, accountability, and sustained commitment.This research offers practical insights for embedding male allyship into diversity strategies, equipping organisations to create inclusive and equitable workplaces. It calls for expanded research across geographies, particularly in the MENA and Asia-Pacific regions, and an intersectional lens to deepen understanding. By refining interventions and addressing cultural dynamics, organisations can drive sustainable, systemic change where allyship becomes an embedded commitment to workplace equity.
Mobilizing Literature for Self-Representation: Emerging Voices in Arab-American Feminism
Media representations have reinforced images of the hyphenated Arab woman as suspicious, uncultured, and unassimilable. This paper highlights the creative endeavors of Arab-American women authors towards countering these stereotypes and offering more possibilities for the hyphenated female identity. Basing my study on the works of Arab-American feminist authors and scholars such as Mohja Kahf, Etaf Rum, and Evelyn Alsultany, I review the tropes of the liberated runaway and the oppressed veiled woman who needs saving. I explore how contemporary voices in Arab-American literature create a third space for hyphenated subjectivities. My paper particularly investigates literature’s contribution to understanding the complexity of Arab-American women’s experience, primarily the double oppression and surveillance in the public realm and within the patriarchal private sphere. Through a critical analysis informed by a postcolonial and feminist psychoanalytic framework, I examine the complex conflation of both facets of the Arab-American female identity and compare it to dominant images in the media and popular literature. The main finding of this analysis suggests the emergence of what I term the “post-secular feminist heroine,” a hybrid existentiality that resists dominant representations. The primary aspiration of this paper is to acknowledge the multidimensionality of an emerging Arab-American literary feminism and its ability to redirect representations of the hyphenated Arab woman.
Gender Equality Plans in Action: First Evidence on Enhancing Gender Equality in European Research Organisations
The continued underrepresentation of women in STEM fields as one of the most pressing problems in the contemporary research and education landscape has been extensively researched in recent years. Progress towards increasing female representation in STEM has been very slow and almost non-existent in decision-making positions. Researchers and policy makers have suggested numerous measures in order to combat inequality on different levels. In this light, with the implementation of Horizon Europe, the European Union's new flagship programme for research and innovation (R&I), Gender Equality Plans (GEPs), "a set of commitments and actions that aim to promote gender equality in organisations through a process of structural change", have become mandatory for applying research organisations. We present first practical evidence from CALIPER (2019-2023), an EU-funded project that has accompanied nine European research organisations in the design and implementation phase of their specific GEP. First evaluations of the effectiveness of the GEPs reveal their power and role in initiating significant changes in the organisations' culture and processes by, for example, introducing gender budgeting, including a gender dimension in research content or using gender-sensitive language. Findings show that universities can trigger far-reaching changes throughout distinct hierarchical levels, divisions and departments ranging from Institutional Governance to Human Resources or Research. Change processes for more gender equality are especially necessary at institutions or faculties in STEM. However, it is not only about increasing representation since the mere presence of more women does not change the culture of research environments. Gender Equality is not only based on the pursuit of justice or fairness - an inclusive R&I approach can result in more creative and sustainable decision-making and broader knowledge production for a larger target group. This contribution seeks to provide first-hand experiences and insights from European research organisations that, by implementing a GEP, have been able to increase awareness for gender equality and lay the foundation for sustainable organisational and cultural change processes. Potential barriers hampering the achievement of more gender equality in STEM are also discussed.
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