ABSTRACT In the 1980s, Australia witnessed the rise of its first transgender advocacy organisations. The most radical and pathbreaking of these was the Sydney-based Australian Transsexual Association (ATA). Leading the ATA from 1981 to 1985 was Roberta Perkins, a transgender activist and sociologist. This article establishes the early activism and research of Perkins by examining her life in the context of the Women’s Movement in 1980s Sydney and drawing on the work of contemporary feminist and Transgender Studies scholars. Blending literary analysis, feminist critique and documentary history, I use the details of Perkins’ work to reflect on the internal tensions and external forces acting upon the Sydney trans community at the burgeoning of transgender activism in NSW. More than a biography of an overlooked feminist figure, this article aims to demonstrate the issues of collective representation and the overlapping struggle for transgender and sex worker rights, central to Perkins’ life and work during this period. Ultimately, I conclude that Perkins’ success as an activist and comparative failure as an academic rested on her ability to reframe and contextualise her subjects, making them credible witnesses to their own experiences and the reasons for their marginalisation.

ABSTRACT This article offers a feminist contractarian supplement to Quill R. Kukla’s nonideal theory of consent by focusing on mutual dispositions towards pleasure for the evaluation of the justice of a sexual encounter. Considering Kukla’s advocacy in favour of sexual communication for increased sexual agency under nonideal conditions, the absence of mutual positive dispositions towards pleasure in the scaffolding of consent is a considerable gap. The supplement I am proposing favours an equitable distribution of sexual costs and benefits and ensures positive expressions of agency that go beyond safety, trust, and epistemic capability. First, I argue that collaborative accounts of sexual agency must acknowledge the differences in the breadth of space allowed for women’s and nonbinary people’s pleasure versus men’s in the broader social context where sexual communication occurs. Then, adapting Jean Hampton’s feminist contractarianism to the sexual domain, I offer a supplement to Kukla’s scaffolding. I further argue that each partner’s positive dispositions towards their own and their partner’s pleasure help promote the expression of the positive agential powers of oppressed groups in sexual settings. Lastly, I respond to objections from cases of asexuality and sex work.

ABSTRACT This paper examines the connections between early– and mid-century ethnographic, sociological, psychiatric, and medical research on trans and gender non-conforming subjects and contemporary trans oral history methods and practices. Putting both ‘bodies of evidence’ into conversation, it builds on and critiques existing critical queer and trans oral history scholarship, proposing that a latent anxiety among oral history professionals and scholars unintentionally underrepresents the enthusiasm, intellectual contributions, and outrageousness of trans oral history subjects. By showing the genealogy of that relationship, one in which trans subjects’ forceful, constructive contributions to the work of history at times bewilders the professionals tasked with gathering their life stories, it argues for an ethical, reciprocal, and relational oral history practice nonetheless freed from the constraints of professional self-consciousness, one informed by the author’s anecdotal experiences with queer and trans subjects.

ABSTRACT Wheelchair rugby, a mixed-gender Paralympic sport with a classification system, suffers from critically low female participation. Recent rule changes granting point advantages for women and dedicated events like the Women's Cup aim to boost female numbers but have not yielded substantial systemic increases. Wheelchair rugby continues to demonstrate a considerable disparity, with women comprising only 2.2% of its athletes. A comparative analysis with other Paralympic sports reveals even lower values for wheelchair rugby: Para powerlifting featured 28.6% female athletes, Athletics had 38.5% in Para racing and 44.2% in wheelchair racing, Para swimming constituted 72.0%, Kayak Para Canoe reached 93.7%, and Paralympic Judo stood at 79.4%. Conversely, numerous sex-integrated sports that advocate the rhetoric of equality and egalitarianism, such as floorball, korfball, roller derby, surfing, skydiving, and snowboarding, frequently, in practice, perpetuate male dominance concerning their organisation, leadership, behavioural etiquette, and differentiated styles of participation. This disparity reinforces the assertion that the mixed-gender format, despite its inclusive premise, has not translated into equitable participation in practice.

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to analyze the sociodemographic profile and the main structural safety-related barriers experienced by female street runners in Curitiba. This cross-sectional quantitative study examined barriers faced by 414 female street runners (41.5 ± 11.0 years) in Curitiba, a large urban centre in southern Brazil. Participants completed a semi-structured online questionnaire, including sociodemographic variables and the validated Perception of the Environment Scale and descriptive statistics analysis were applied. Most participants were white (81.2%), held postgraduate degrees (53.6%), were employed (78.4%), and had their own income (90.1%). The main barriers to participation included socioeconomic inequality, racial disparities, and gender-based violence. Notably, 59.9% of women experienced harassment during running, and 50.2% did not feel safe while running alone. The study underscores how structural inequalities and public insecurity affect women's access to public space and sport. Findings support the need for targeted policies and feminist-informed urban planning that promote inclusivity, safety, and equity in street running practices for women.

ABSTRACT Female genital mutilation (FGM) is widely recognised as a major health issue and a violation of women's and girls’ rights. Engaging men to combat FGM is critical for empowering women to claim their rights. This paper employs a qualitative methodology and case study design to investigate the challenges men encounter in the fight against FGM in Tanzania. The findings indicate that men's involvement has been vital in eliminating FGM, primarily through raising awareness about its harmful effects and participating in advocacy initiatives. Platforms such as meetings, school outreach programs, and media campaigns helped men to disseminate information to end the practice. However, their attempts are constrained by deeply rooted cultural norms and traditional practices that encourage FGM. Men often experience societal disapproval, leading to fears of backlash and social exclusion, discouraging their participation. The study adds to the existing knowledge regarding men's profound influence on cultural practices and emphasises the need to include them in broad interventions, especially in communities where FGM is prevalent, to challenge harmful narratives. It advocates for increased support through resources, funding, and programs that aim to transform cultural perceptions among those who uphold FGM, as essential steps to strengthen men's involvement in effective anti-FGM activities.

ABSTRACT This study examines the dynamics of gender competition in the Indonesian film industry, focusing on women's involvement behind the scenes as directors, producers, and screenwriters. Employing a qualitative approach and framed by feminist film theory and intersectionality, the research explores how industry structures, gender stereotypes, and access to resources and professional recognition shape women's experiences in the film sector. Methodologically, the study combines two interrelated components: film text analysis of two films directed by women, and semi-structured interviews with several female film practitioners in Indonesia. It is further supported by secondary data from film festivals, production archives, and institutional reports from 2010 to 2024. A comparative analysis with the film industries of India, South Korea, and Japan contextualises Indonesia's position within the broader Asian cinema landscape. The findings reveal that while female representation has increased and collective strategies have emerged to challenge structural barriers, gender transformation remains constrained by entrenched masculine norms. The study highlights the importance of affirmative policies, digital distribution as an alternative pathway, and collective action across class and generational lines among women as effective strategies of resistance. This research contributes to global feminist discourse by foregrounding the complex local experiences of Indonesia's film industry.

ABSTRACT ‘Puppygirls’ is a name for a particular kinky trans feminine lesbian style, rooted in the long history of trans erotic productions, and currently thriving on social media platforms, such as Twitter (now X), Bluesky, or Discord. In this article, I provide an analysis of the style that is rooted in personal immersion in ‘puppygirl culture’. Using several examples of puppygirl media productions, I argue for the possibility of reading the puppygirl style as a critical practice: one that hints at ways of being trans that do rely on the ciscentric understanding of ‘the human’ as their point of reference. In doing so, I show how puppygirl style resonates with theoretical interventions in the field of trans studies offered by scholars such as Susan Stryker and Talia Mae Bettcher.

ABSTRACT The study aims to elucidate the perceptions of migrant women regarding the concept of ‘being a woman’ by means of metaphor. Phenomenological design was selected from qualitative research types. The data of 71 women were analyzed in the study. A total of 43 metaphors were produced for the concept of being a woman. Two themes and eight categories were produced in the research: ‘women's perception in terms of attributes’ and ‘women's perception in terms of sacredness’. In the theme of properties, the most prominent categories were ‘beauty’ and ‘change and productivity’. In the theme of sacredness, the most prominent categories were ‘indispensability’ and ‘eternity’. Participants have a positive perception of the beauty, productivity, uniqueness, strength, wisdom, and sacredness of being a woman. The characterisation of women as beautiful, productive, unique, strong, wise, sacrificial, and sacred explains effective coping mechanisms against the migration experience. The feminisation of migration can be redefined as an active strategy rather than a passive victimisation. Contrary to popular belief, the migrant female population may not always be vulnerable, disadvantaged, and problematic. Migrant women are actors who exist through multidimensional strategies.

ABSTRACT At the time of its publication in 1994, Susan Stryker’s seminal ‘My Words to Victor Frankenstein above the Village of Charmounix’ had only transphobic and ‘gender critical’ feminist theory to compare her sense of trans monstrosity. When she suggests that these feminist scholars have ‘constructed the transsexual as their own particular golem,’ she instigates the senses in which she finds ‘a deep affinity’ with Mary Shelley’s creation. Thirty years later, there is a raft of theorising the monstrosity of trans identity, representation, and embodiment in Stryker’s wake, much of which contends with trans monstrosity in the twenty-first century. The figure of the monster is deployed through autotheory, race and class critique, and an index for communitarian resistance to phobic policies and cultural normativization. This essay seeks to constellate an updated version of trans monstrosity, drawing on Stryker’s work over these past decades as well as some of the criticism that has taken up her rage, communitarian care, and sense of what is means to be made the monster. Then, this constellation is applied to Naomi Kanakia’s recent novel, The Default World, to consider how long form narrative can use monstrosity to question easy assumptions regarding trans embodiment and epistemology.