Female Psyche Research Articles

1001 Nights with Animus

This paper provides a Jungian interpretation of the frame story of 1001 Nights. Using a psychodynamic approach, the key characters in the frame story are considered as different pieces of the female psyche during the journey of individuation. This reveals the story's hidden content about inner enemies of the female psyche, such as a tyrannical animus that feeds from an oppressive environment. With a happy ending that represents the union of the ego and the animus, 1001 Nights highlights a path to women's empowerment and social harmony that involves facing inner and outer demons. The essay also argues that with its emphasis on freedoms as a source of individual and social peace, 1001 Nights captures the Zeitgeist of the period from which it emerged, namely 9th-century Abbasid rule, particularly under the reign of Caliph al-Mamun.

Female Psyche and Search for Self-hood in Shashi Deshpande’s The Dark Holds No Terrors

The place of women in society has differed from culture to culture and from age to age, yet one fact common to almost all societies is that woman has never been considered the equal of men. Her status largely depends on the simple biological fact that she is the bearer of children. In this way her sphere is usually restricted to her familial role. Immemorial woman has been the victim of male domination and oppression and treated like a beast of burden of burden and an object for pleasure. Man has always looked down upon her as the weaker sex, as his property, servile to him. Different religions of the world have given sanction to the female’s subjection to the male members of society, thus perpetuating the women; wives, submit yourselves to your husband’s to the lord woman as regarded subordinate to man because it is believed that she was made out of man. This present paper attempts to analysis researcher’s chosen novel The Dark Holds No Terrors by Shashi Deshpande. Her novels appeared as a voice against the tormented women aimed to create a mass awareness against the suppression and the repression of the corrupted patriarchal society. She focus in her fiction is essentially on women’s role in society.

Regência arquetípica feminina: Método de construção de personagem

This paper discusses the construction of one of the parameters of the method of female psyche creation for characters of the The Rotfather transmedia narrative universe, developed by students of the research group G2E [Education and Entertainment Group] of the Federal University of Santa Catarina. The creation method is based on the archetypal reasoning of Jungian theory and aims to direct the creative process of multidimensional, complex and narratively coherent characters through a composition tool combining female archetypes of Greek goddesses. In addition to the purpose of psychological construction, this research aims to improve the representation of women for social validation with their target audience.

The Concomitant Subversion of the Gender Binary through the Assertion of Transgender Identity: A Study of Manobi Bandyopadhyay’s A Gift of Goddess Lakshmi

In their attempt at gender identity assertion, the transgendered simultaneously subvert the gender binary norm. The reclamation of one’s gender identity aids the transgender individual to correct the biological mishap that results in a female psyche trapped in a male body and vice versa. The intense psychological conflict and the horrific transphobic violence from family and society, often drives the transgendered to suicide. Lisa R Miller and Eric Anthony Grollman in “The Social Costs of Gender Non-Conformity for Transgender Adults: Implications for Discrimination and Health” claim that the 2008 NTDS (the National Transgender Discrimination Survey) proves that frequent stigmatization and assault often drives the identity minorities towards substance abuse, alcoholism and/or suicide (Sociological, 826). However, the accomplishment of gender identity transforms the hitherto diffident individual to express oneself fully and articulate his/her personality in its entirety. Manobi Bandyopadyay’s A Gift of Goddess Lakshmicharts her struggle to become the woman in her mind in the face of ridicule and harassment from the academic circle. Her determination and persistence to assert herself paved her way to become the first transgender principal in India. Therefore it may be assumed that the subversion of normative dichotomy of gender results in the establishment of the transgendered’s true gender, which assists in the expression of one’s personality.

The waning of vision’s hegemony: A phenomenological perspective on mother-daughter discord in patriarchal societies

ABSTRACT If phenomenology is a research methodology uniquely positioned to enable us to learn from others, I aim to demonstrate the idea that cinema is a privileged site from which to investigate the notion of virtuality (sight and reality), even in an age where vision’s predominance is waning. In order to do so, I consider the painfully disruptive mother-daughter relationship found cross-culturally and discourse-analytically in contemporary patriarchal societies. This bond is arguably of central concern to feminists (and women in general) since previous research has found that the fractious nature of this dynamic points to a very specific psychological deformation of the female psyche under conditions of sexist oppression. The views of French psychoanalyst and philosopher Julia Kristeva and other feminist contributors to the debate on this psychological construct are considered. The possibility of a cultural remedy inspired by a secularised trend of Chinese Buddhism in post-Maoist China, a society very different from that of the West, is investigated. This will involve the analysis of the film Curse of the Golden Flower (Chinese Mandarin soundtrack and English subtitles). I subsequently explore whether or not a valuable model for the compromised mother/daughter relationship is available within the context of the notion of a “slave economy” in the comparatively healthier mother/son relationship of (contemporary) Han Chinese culture. By means of cross-cultural analysis as research tool, this article finds confirmation for the proposition of a positive mother/daughter dynamic in the French novelist Colette’s relationship with her mother, Sido. In conclusion, I find that cinema (as an art form serving the eye, i.e. virtuality) is particularly well suited as a site to investigate psychological phenomena by way of interpretative phenomenology as a research methodology, even as vision – as the human sense of choice – has begun to wane amid a global crisis in masculinity.

The spirit of women in Muazzamkhon's work

The role of the poets of the XIX century in the development, perfection, development and discoveries of the literature of the period in terms of themes, ideas and genres is significant. An in-depth analysis of the human spiritual world in the works of poets, the fact that a woman writes about the female psyche in the literature is considered an important event.

The Female Psyche, Figure of Oneself in the Sebbarian Character

The conception of the character in literature requires two decisive fundamental foundations of the character's evolutionary future, particularly that constructed according to the Sebbarian imaginary: the first aesthetic and the second pragmatic. These foundations are a fortiori governed by the existing balance of power between man and woman, but also by the collective imagination that allocates certain actions to the detriment of others. The edifice of this being of paper thus announces itself as a place of ideological and identity investment: a transitional space. He is sometimes a character endowed with all the necessary components for the plot but is realized only through language, sometimes a character stripped of the slightest indexical gratification of identification but is realized as much through actions as through language. This also dichotomous fabrication reflects the internal social reality of its author and translates the unconscious of the text.

Celebrating Female Desire in the Medieval Era: an Exegesis of the Erotic Verses from Jayadeva’s G?tagovinda

Discussing women’s sexual desire has long been perceived as a taboo in the East and the West as well. Undeniably, there is a stigma attached to it which, unfortunately, continues even today. However, surprisingly enough, the ancient and the medieval Indians had always been open to female sexuality before their philogynist culture was obliterated and replaced by the ‘zenana culture’ of the Mughals and the ‘Victorian morality’ of the British Raj. Even in the Medieval Era, which is often labelled as conservative and orthodox, people accepted female desire as a biological reality. Composed in twelve cantos, Jayadeva’s magnum opus, G?tagovinda, celebrates sexuality and candidly depicts female orgasm with sheer poetic acumen. Jayadeva has not only eradicated the stigma attached to it, but he has also delineated it from the aesthetical perspectives of the San?tana Dharma which makes it “a unique work in Indian literature and a source of religious inspiration in both medieval and contemporary Vaisnavism” (Miller, 1984). In this paper endeavours to analyze, assemble, and demonstrate how the poet has celebrated female psyche, female sexuality, and female orgasm in the 12th Century CE. The paper deals with the primary aspects of the book which are related to female mind and sexuality. Library method of research has been carried out to substantiate the claims that this research paper makes. As the book is originally composed in Sanskrit, the research paper contains many Indic names and words which are written in accordance with the International Alphabet for Sanskrit Translitearation (IAST) method.

Amanti di vita, amanti di morte: la violenza relazionale che non finisce sui giornali

L'articolo analizza il fenomeno della violenza relazionale "sottile" nel rapporto uomo-donna, e gli irretimenti derivanti dalla violenza simbolica, sedimentati storicamente nella psiche femminile; tali irretimenti forniscono l'elemento inconscio di collusione che espone la donna a numerose violazioni dell'alterità nel rapporto con l'uomo. A tal fine, l'autrice propone l'interpretazione in chiave simbolica di un noto film del regista W. Allen, Match Point (2005), in cui è rappresentata una situazione di violenza estrema nei confronti di una figura femminile da parte del partner maschile che, a causa del reciproco coinvolgimento sentimentale, sente minacciato il proprio equilibrio narcisistico e la sua scalata sociale. Si prospetta, dunque, un tradimento dell'anima che, come afferma il filosofo francese Lévinas, si manifesta attraverso "il volto dell'altro". Queste storie che sembrano riguardare l'ambito esclusivamente privato dei rapporti tra uomini e donne, in realtà hanno una corrispondenza nell'ambito della vita pubblica degli esseri umani, nella polis, perché ciò che accadenella psiche degli individui, nelle loro relazioni personali, è sempre anche una questione politica.

Darkest Wessex: Hardy, the Gothic Short Story, and Masculinity

Thomas Hardy is generally recognised as a powerful delineator of the female psyche, his intuitive understanding of the emotional complexities of women such as Tess Durbeyfield and Sue Bridehead being emphasised at the expense of his male characters, who are often viewed as weak and two-dimensional. However, Hardy’s men are also examined in depth, in light of their ambitions, sensitivities, hypocrisies and social expectations, thereby giving voice to discursive categories of maleness often elided in the work of his contemporaries. In the Gothic short story as featured in Blackwood’s and similar magazines, the author’s intention is to elicit terror within a circumscribed textual space, creating a balance between actuality and artifice which holds the reader enthralled. The effect is achieved through the power of brevity. In this context a withered arm, a luridly disfigured statue and a demonic fiddle player are used as vehicles by Hardy through which the incredible or fantastic highlight instances of toxic masculinity and grotesque extremes of human nature in a concentrated modality which leaves behind an indelible impression.

PERCEIVING THE SACRED FEMININE: SOME THOUGHTS ON THE CYCLADIC FIGURINES AND JUNGIAN ARCHETYPES

Purpose. Without claiming to explain the meaning and purpose of the Cycladic figurines of the canonical type (FAF) in the context of the culture that created them, the author attempts to investigate the phenomenon of these ancient images and their impact on contemporary humans through the lens of Carl Gustav Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious and the archetypes. Theoretical basis. The primary meanings and purposes of the Cycladic figurines are ambiguous and incomprehensible to us. We cannot understand them in the context of their original culture. But we are able to create our own meanings: unfinished images generate an opportunity to bypass our conscious mind and to contact the unconscious. The Cycladic figurines may resonate with female archetypes in the male and female psyche, as well as symbolize the ontological primacy of creative unity of opposites, the integrity of consciousness and the unconscious. Originality. The author outlined the possible unconscious meanings generated by the Cycladic figurines for human psyche. The Cycladic figurines actualize the archetypes of the collective unconscious, such as the Great Mother, the Anima, and the Self. These ancient images can be used for introspection, art therapy, active imagination, meditation, mindfulness. Conclusions. The results show that the Cycladic figurines have had a huge impact on the artists of the 20th century and continue to influence our contemporaries due to the emotional response they evoke in the unconscious, which conceals the primordial features of the ancient mind. Laconic ancient images provide a vast space of options for human imagination. In an attempt to interpret them, we are suddenly seized and carried away into unknown depths. Archetypal images are manifested in any form – from sublime and beautiful to terrible, but they create a single space full of numinous awe and beauty. Engaging with the archetypes and revealing their hidden messages, we establish a connection between consciousness and the unconscious, between the personal and collective unconscious to achieve a deep self-awareness and inner growth.

Exploring Self-Silencing in Workplace Relationships: A Qualitative Study of Female Software Engineers

Self-silencing has been extensively studied in the context of the relational aspect of the female psyche. The previous research on self-silencing mostly emphasized on intimate partner relationships and not much is explored in the context of workplace relationships, that is, relationships with colleagues, team managers etc. The present study aims to explore the self-silencing phenomenon in workplace relationships among a sample of female software engineers (N=21) in India. A purposive sampling strategy was used to select the participants of the study. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted to collect the data for the thematic analysis. At first, theoretical thematic analysis was done where Dana C. Jack’s (1991) self-silencing theory has been used as the theoretical lens. Then, inductive thematic analysis has been used for unravelling the mechanisms, antecedents, consequences involved in self-silencing inside the organization. The result revealed that the need to maintain relationships, need to conform to the traditional feminine roles, a sense of powerlessness, and some factors inherent to the culture of the organization functioned as the antecedents of self-silencing in the organizational setting. Self-silencing inside an organization is also found to affect the female software engineers’ psychological wellbeing and their growth in career. Moreover, it hampers the growth of the organization since negative experiences inside organizations go unreported and women self-silence their views and opinions in group meetings leading to organizational ignorance.

A Himalayan Love Story by Namita Gokhale as a Novel of Resistance by the Protagonist in Pursuit of Emancipation

Love, especially unrequited love, has been the backdrop of numerous novels. A Himalayan Love Story by Namita Gokhale also has unrequited love as its central theme. This theme further helps to deconstruct the sexual confines of a woman, which helps her in her quest for identity. Namita Gokhale in the novel, A Himalayan Love Story, deals with the aforementioned theme presented in such a way that the familiar seems unfamiliar and we see it through a different lens, with a new perspective. She manoeuvers the classic theme of unrequited love into pursuit of emancipation for Parvati, the protagonist of the novel. Suppression of sexual desire often leads to mental illness. In this novel, not only Parvati suffers from mental but also a whole generation of females before her, for instance her mother died of mental illness. This mental illness is symbolic of subjection of women. Insanity in Parvati is suggestive of atrocities done to her by her homosexual husband and the society as well. The novel is an account of women’s tenacity, endurance and unwavering spirit against all odds. The beauty of the novel lies in the celebration of sexuality on one hand and rebellion against it on the other. The paper critically examines the subjugation of Parvati leading to her mental illness and her resistance against suppression in pursuit of emancipation and identity. The paper also tries to explore the psychological workings of the female psyche, which shapes their attitude and demeanor.

A Short Article on the Superiority of Women

Women have been universally and eternally victimized by stereotyping1 to the degree that 400 years ago, no less of an expert on females than Cardinal de Richelieu concluded that “Intellect in a woman is unbecoming” [1, 2]. It is alleged that the female psyche has somehow been permanently shaped by the oft-noted ability of women to bear children. It may well be that there is something to this a for mothers (who still do usually tend to be female) who spend more than 24 hours a day in the presence of children. Anyone subjected to such a situation might have to sacrifice something to emotional stability, and it may be a bit of logic and sanity. Recent research indicates there are real differences between male and female brains, 3 so there may well be a special brand of feminine stupidity. However, before we venture too far into the unchartered domain of comparative idiocy, let us indulge in a bit of diplomacy and allow that the two sexes are, in their own aggravating ways, equally stupid or at least appear to be so to the advocates of the presumably equal other. That said, we must allow the “Duh moment” usually goes to a thickheaded male–is there any other kind?–who come to a belated realization when he informs the woman he has been living with for X years he is moving out bursts into tears. On the other hand, garrulous women have difficulty saying, “I love you” in the language of their choice: they show it but cannot say it.

Off the Margins

This article offers a chronological survey of the development of women’s art in China between 1990 and 2010. Outlining the historical circumstances that first resulted in the dearth of a female consciousness in Chinese art until the end of the twentieth century, this article touches on the divergent roots of the women’s liberation movement and western feminism, the Maoist era’s negation of femininity, and the lingering patriarchal structure of art institutions. It was only after a series of groundbreaking exhibitions exploring the female psyche in the 1990s that women artists found a space to voice their female subjectivities, and still they struggled to resist the slippery essentialism of a “women’s art” fad. The new millennium saw women artists expanding their thematic horizons, breaching important political and social issues as well as such subjects as ecology, astronomy, gemology, and urbanization, with many forgoing the label of feminist—or even women’s—art. Each sought to transcend the limitations of personal experience and achieve a greater human resonance. This study examines the work of thirteen women artists whose careers are relatively unknown in the English language, ultimately delving into the complex relationships among sex, gender, humanity, and art in contemporary China.

Mirror Image: A Study of the Power Politics of Mimetic Desire and Cinematic Confinement in Chloe (2009)

This study aims to analyze the power politics in the narrative of the film Chloe as addressed by the mirrored desire perceived in the film and to illustrate how this mimesis is communicated through the imagery of confinement that dominates the presence of the female protagonists. René Girard’s mimetic theory of triangular desire and scapegoat mechanism and Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar’s conceptual image of a mad woman in the mirror are employed as the frameworks on which the analyses are based. The results reveal four paradigms of triangular desire, the last of which confirms the male hegemony that underlies the film’s narrative and that, subsequently, undermines the message of women’s empowerment suggested by the film’s emphasis on the female characters and their supposed bonding. The feeling of entrapment of the female protagonists is revealed through the ways in which they are framed cinematically and metaphorically. The desire to break free from this inhibition is realized through the image of a mad double who rebels against such male constructs as family, work and sex, and whose presence entails such anarchical chaos that she must be dispensed with so that the patriarchal order can be restored. This affirms the stronghold that patriarchy has over both the female psyche and the general public conscience. The findings also support the adaptability of literary frameworks in a cinematic investigation.

Analyses of Female Experiences in Two African Short Stories: The Feminist Theory Approach

Many African societies are patriarchal, based on the supremacy of the male over the female. According to Mba (2009, p.322), “emancipation of females is one of the greatest achievements of the women’s struggle globally”. As a continent, African culture accords a superior status to the male such that strength, freedom, independence, honour, courage and other positive attributes are ascribed to the male gender, while attributes of weakness, fear, dependence among others are ascribed to the female gender. Crimes of less magnitude are considered as “female” crimes and attract less stiff punishment. The killing of Ezeudu’s first son by Okonkwo in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart for example, is described as a female crime. On the nature of the crime, Achebe writes “the crime was of two kinds, male and female, Okonkwo committed the female because it had been inadvertent. He could return to the clan after some years” (p.87). In this paper, the Feminist theory is used to examine the portraiture of females in two short stories by two African female writers. In this article, the family is categorise as a fundamental part of the social life of Africans, it attempts to expose the bias of African culture against the female in favour of the male, and consider how this social reality impacts negatively on the female psyche. The stories reveal that women themselves aggravate the situation by working against themselves. We conclude that female empowerment is a must for all females, and that just as governments are projecting education for all by the year 2020, the women’s movement should also target education for all females by the year 2020, because as the stories reveal, the educated female character fares better in the society than her less literate counterpart.

Influence of gender factor in the process of analyzing professional sectoral personal identification (PSPI) of the leader

The article describes the features of the study of professional sectoral identification of a leader, taking into account the type of gender identification, temperament, style and management strategy. The paper presents the main results of the degree of professional sectoral identification of a manager. Today, issues of gender competition are the basis of the discussion platform throughout the world. Disputes about the influence of a gender factor on the organizational behavior of a manager do not fade away, but are only fueled by a growing public interest. Many see the gender factor as fundamental when choosing a manager’s position. In this regard, the study of the influence of gender aspects as an essential component of a successful leader is a prerequisite for the effective functioning of not only companies, but also society as a whole. The relevance of the study of gender differences in the field of managerial activity is justified by the possibility of using the conceptual apparatus of personality psychology and management theory, which makes it possible to use the potential of gender relations as one of the reserves for increasing the efficiency of managerial activity. Gender features of personality behavior in management activities are manifested in management strategies and are one of the factors determining the implementation of the managerial role. The key criterion, eloquently characterizing the specifics of management activities, is the management style in relation to their subordinates, which largely determines the success and dynamics of the organization’s development and on which the motivation of employees, their attitude to work, and relationships directly depend. In managerial practice, gender aspects encompass the characteristics of different approaches to the management of a team and a person, interpersonal relations, taking into account the male and female psyche and the characteristic features of intelligence.

A parallel study of the treatment of women and family in chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's “clothes” and Anjana appachana's “Bahu”

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni was an eminent Indian American author, poet, activist and teacher known for her Indian diasporic writings. She explored the female psyche and feminine experience in her unique style. She tries to present the problems of Asian immigrant women along with identity crisis, immigration, homesickness, divorce and love marriages etc. in the society. Divakaruni realistically displays cultural conflict between tradition and modernity in her writings. She has written two well-known short story collections as- Arranged Marriage (1995) and The Unknown Errors of Our Lives (2001). The story “Clothes” is from her well-known short story collection Arranged Marriage which reflects alienation, migration, self journey and treatment of the woman character in the family as well as society. Anjana Appachana is a famous Indian English Diasporic writer who has a lot of feelings for India which is visible in her writings. She got popularity after writing her first volume of short fiction Incantations and Other Stories (1991) and her well known novel Listening Now (1998). She has chosen the medium of short story for writing about the Indian woman's experiences, passions and education. The story “Bahu” is from her first story collection Incantation and Other Stories (1991) which portrays self-recognition of the female protagonist in the relationship of marriage, a rudimentary foundation of the society. The present paper is an attempt to show to the supremacy, suppression and dominance of the male over the female in a dominated patriarchal society. It will also offer a new approach of the female protagonist's life in the ruling ambiance of her family as well as the society.

Antonio Vallejo-Nágera (1889-1960) and Juan Antonio Vallejo-Nágera Botas (1926-1990).

Antonio Vallejo-Nágera (1889-1960) and Juan Antonio Vallejo-Nágera Botas (1926-1990).