This paper critically examines the intersections of gender, religion, and social politics through the character of Nida Rahim in the Indian Netflix miniseries Ghoul (2018). Through the protagonist, it analyzes a struggle for bodily autonomy and identity in a dictatorial State, problematized further by the subtext of supernatural invasion. A close reading of the text with the theoretical backing of Foucauldian analyses of power and identity, Edward Said’s Orientalism, and Kimberlé Crenshaw’s intersectionality, reveals the series’ attempt at proposing resistance to the authoritarian powers through the media representation and portrayals. The recognition and the acceptance of power imbalances, and a gradual resistance to generalized and prejudiced perceptions for various sections of the State population, form the core of the series. The paper analyzes the processes of assimilation in a militarized State and the dangers it poses against one’s individual and collective identity.

This paper examines the growth of the trans activist movement in the post-Yugoslav space and its regional connections, with a focus on the fight against anti-gender politics. The movement itself emerged and developed in this region over the past two decades; however, its organization and goals have evolved over time. Connecting the community at the regional level is facilitated by shared history, culture, and particularly by language similarities. The creation of a regional organization (Trans Network Balkan) in 2014 contributed to the strengthening of these ties. Also, in the last ten years, regional connectivity has become increasingly necessary due to the emergence of anti-gender actors that operate in very similar ways in this region, leaning on dominant conservative societal attitudes and institutional practices, and already prevalent transphobia, gender-based oppression, and discrimination. The struggle for trans rights has expanded to many more fronts than before, as activists who call themselves feminist and claim to fight for women's rights, and some leftist groups have started to propagate very strongly anti-gender and anti-trans narratives. In response to this phenomenon, trans activists must focus on strengthening the existing alliances and gaining new allies to prevent further growth and strengthening of transphobia, which could lead to the total degradation of human rights for trans and gender nonbinary people. One of the resistance strategies is to create and strengthen the trans-feminist movement in the region, which involves the joint action of activists from various civil rights movements based on feminist values and principles of inclusiveness.

This study develops a feminist critical discourse analysis of the official discourse produced by the Ministry for Family Welfare and Demography of the Republic of Serbia, from its establishment up to the year 2025, spanning the mandates of three ministers: Ratko Dmitrović, Darija Kisić Tepavčević, and Milica Đurđević Stamenkovski. Manually coded, the corpus includes 616 articles published on the website of the Ministry in the News section – from the first one published on March 9, 2022, until April 16, 2025. This research contributes to the expanding body of the critical scholarship on the anti-gender discourse and its actors, while offering a fresh perspective by examining the language employed by the state institution responsible for population policy, an area that remains a central focus of the right-wing discourse. From this perspective, the analysis explores the official rhetoric on the crossroads of anti-gender ideas about the “traditional values” of the cis heteronormative family, stereotypical gender roles, and “great national” demographic interests.

The present article approaches two post-Yugoslav literary texts, Zovite me Esteban (Call Me Esteban) by Lejla Kalamujić (2015) and U zoni (In the Zone) by Lamija Begagić (2016), through the conceptual lens of queer utopian hermeneutics by José Esteban Muñoz. Focusing closely on a few moments/chapters from the texts, it aims to sketch out one way of recognizing futurity and hope in post-Yugoslav literary narratives. At the beginning, the article explores how queer desire produces ecstatic moments in the chapter/story “Bella Ciao” from Zovite me Esteban. Remembering the ecstatic moments further nurtures the narrator’s utopic imagination, as well as her emotional recovery, propelling the narrative forward. In the next section, the article analyzes how queer desire generates joys of gender dissidence and the pleasures of collective belonging, serving as glimpses of future in the present in the novel U zoni. Ultimately, the analysis reveals that both texts suggest queer futurity is inextricably linked to the knowledge of the past, specifically of the local anti-fascist heritage, offering a distinct regional perspective on the concept of queer time.

This paper analyzes the intersection of feminist resistance and anti-gender movements within contemporary media art, with a specific focus on algorithmic bias and bodily autonomy. Through case studies and discourse analysis of three artworks, the paper highlights how the right-wing actors exploit technology to dismantle bodily autonomy through tools such as surveillance, reproductive monitoring and the digital weaponization of meme culture. The analysis addresses three core research questions: How do anti-gender actors exploit digital technologies to enforce oppressive gender norms? In what ways can feminist artworks function as counter-systems to algorithmic bias? What strategies enable effective transnational feminist resistance in digital spaces? Methodologically speaking, our study employs visual discourse analysis of three case studies: Caroline Sinders’ Feminist Data Set (algorithmic resistance), Mary Maggic’s Open Source Estrogen (biopolitical hacking), and @the.hormone.monster's meme activism (cultural subversion). Through these cases, the analysis reveals how feminist artists appropriate surveillance tools, medical technologies, and viral media to both expose systemic harms and prototype liberatory alternatives. The primary contribution lies in theorizing feminist media art as a dual-action resistance, simultaneously deconstructing oppressive technologies while building emancipatory infrastructures. The findings demonstrate that such artistic interventions offer concrete pathways to reclaim bodily autonomy from anti-gender techno-politics. The future of bodily autonomy lies in treating data as a tool for collective liberation, demonstrating how feminist media art can fuel large-scale resistance to anti-gender technologies.

This article explores glamour as a complex and contested cultural phenomenon situated at the intersection of aesthetics, gender politics, and feminist critique. While glamour has traditionally been associated with the spectacle of the female body and framed as a patriarchal tool of control, contemporary feminist and queer theories highlight its disruptive potential. Drawing on theoretical frameworks from Laura Mulvey, Judith Butler, Susan Sontag, Naomi Wolf, Deborah Ferreday, and Angela McRobbie, the article examines how glamour operates as a visual code that oscillates between accessibility and unattainability, discipline and emancipation. Special attention is given to the performative practices of neo-burlesque, which reappropriate glamour through parody, exaggeration, and camp aesthetics. Performances by troupes such as The Velvet Hammer, queer reinterpretations of Cabaret, and artists including Perle Noire, Dirty Martini, and Moira Finucane illustrate how glamour becomes a site of negotiation between patriarchal beauty norms and feminist reclamation. In contrast, the highly stylized burlesque of Dita Von Teese highlights the persistence of the traditional glamour aligned with the heterosexual male gaze. By analyzing the inclusivity, gender fluidity, and political agency of neo-burlesque, this study argues that glamour should not be understood as either purely oppressive nor liberating, but as an ambivalent and dynamic practice that continues to evolve in dialogue with feminism, queer theory, and contemporary performance culture.

This article examines the experiences of queer students during the 2024/2025 student protests in Serbia, with a focus on how solidarity and identity were negotiated within the broader mobilization. Drawing on eight narrative interviews with LGBTIQ+ students, the study uses concepts from the social movement and identity control theories (ICT) to analyze the interplay between political participation, recognition, and identity verification. Findings suggest that queer students experienced solidarity in fragmented ways. While the student identity emerged as a strong unifying factor, the expression of LGBTIQ+ identities was more complex. A shared student role often fostered a strong sense of belonging, but solidarity was not uniformly experienced. Although based on their sexual or gender identity within the student movement many described a strong sense of belonging, queer identities were sometimes sidelined—particularly when they were not explicitly acknowledged in protest actions, slogans, or symbols such as banners and flags. Solidarity, in this context, should not be understood as a fixed or purely political ideal—it is shaped by lived experiences and structural conditions in the Serbian society. This research is significant for exploring the position of marginalized groups within the Serbian protest movement and for informing future queer engagement in collective action.

This paper explores the intersection of phenomenology and trans cinema through Jane Schoenbrun’s films, arguing that they evoke the lived, sensory experience of in-betweenness and liminality. Drawing on theories by Sara Ahmed, Vivian Sobchack, Laura U. Marks, and Eliza Steinbock, I contend that Schoenbrun’s cinema privileges affective resonance, haptic visuality, and temporal ambiguity over narrative resolution. Through digital textures, tactile imagery, and fragmented timelines, these films invite viewers to inhabit uncertainty and somatic disquiet as ongoing, shimmering events. Such cinematic approaches offer resistance by sensitizing audiences to new understandings of embodiment and identity in an era of contested bodily autonomy.