Feminist Approach Research Articles

“That is when I understood everything”: Ideological trajectories of pro-choice female doctors in Mexico

ObjectivesThere is little global evidence about how physicians become abortion clinicians or advocates. We describe the ideological trajectories of self-identified pro-choice female Mexican doctors and the factors that made them become pro-choice. Study DesignIn this qualitative study we conducted semi-structured interviews with members of the Mexican Network of Female Pro-choice Physicians (Red de Médicas por el Derecho a Decidir - México). Participants came from 8 diverse states in Mexico. We used a feminist epistemology approach and analyzed data using inductive coding as well as a priori categories (becoming pro-choice, trajectories, and training). ResultsWe included 24 female pro-choice physicians. We identified five intersecting factors that influenced becoming pro-choice: feminism, personal experiences, confrontation with the inequalities and violence that women experience, role models, and routine exposure to abortion care. Participants described three ideological trajectories: being pro-choice before studying medicine, not having a specific opinion, and changing from “pro-life” to “pro-choice”. Participants described an absence of abortion training in medical schools or stigmatizing training, and the use of alternative training sources. ConclusionIn the absence of training on abortion during the medical education, a combination of intersecting personal as well as work-related experience may turn doctors in to pro-choice abortion clinicians and/or advocates. Training on abortion care in medical education and stigma reduction in Mexican society is essential. The findings of this study may be used to develop comprehensive medical curricula as well as strategies directed at doctors in who have never received training on abortion care, such as promoting interactions between doctors and non-medical abortion providers, education on inequalities and violence against women, moving beyond a public health to a human rights and gender perspective, and exposure to routine safe abortion care. ImplicationsMexican female doctors become pro-choice clinicians who provide abortion care and/or advocates in spite of their medical education.

NGO versus Government's solar energy provision in India: A feminist perspective

India is aiming at achieving a major shift in energy production and provision from a fossil fuel-based economy to one focussing on clean energy. As a financially constrained context, the move to the use of renewable energy is happening also through foreign investment and centres mostly on large-scale solar rollouts across the country. Analyses of such initiatives disclose uneven distribution of the benefits and challenges across and within adjacent communities, which particularly affect women and girls due to their gendered roles and responsibilities. This perspective reviews solar energy initiatives focusing on women's engagement run by NGOs and partially funded by the Indian central government, and gendered analyses of large-scale solar energy rollouts, through a feminist lens. A feminist approach to the analysis of large-scale solar rollouts discloses asymmetric power relations and energy inequalities against women and girls, which often reproduce those linked to fossil fuel. In contrast to this scenario, NGOs have a long-standing tradition in India of addressing socio-economic issues where governments failed to do so. Yet, available evidence of the impacts of their engagement in small-scale energy projects in India is quite new. Grassroots solar energy innovations, by being shaped by local communities, have the potential to challenge constraints on a just transitions while promoting greater gender equality and responding to communities’ energy needs.

Highlighting the Aspects of Women Emancipation and Liberation in Ibsen’s The Dolls House and Hedda Gabler: A Comparative Feministic Approach

This research paper aims to investigate the aspects of women liberation and emancipation in Ibsen’s The Dolls House and Hedda Gabler. The Dolls House largely addresses a woman's yearning to forge her individuality and dignity in a world run by men. Review section illustrates the critical comments and reviews of notable literary authors and critics. Feministic and especially a radical feministic approach in The Dolls House and Hedda Gabler by Ibsen illustrates three goals in mind; Nora’s patriarchal struggles with the patriarchal world. To examine the types of conflict Hedda Gabler engaged in when battling over patriarchal worldview and to examine the types of challenges Hedda Gabler had in her battle with the ideology. However, the study uses content analysis to conduct a qualitative investigation with the help of textual references. Finally, the research concludes that Ibsen's unorthodox portrayal of women in one of his most notable social tragedies; The Dolls House & Gabler.

A Feminist Approach to Buchi Emecheta's the Bride Price

One of Buchi Emecheta’s well-known contemporary books, The Bride Price, features the voice of a female character. The paper discusses two topics: first is patriarchal society, in which women suffer and end up being the sole victims, and the second is African culture, which Emecheta harshly criticises. Men have complete authority over the entire family. The traditional African community adheres to its customs, especially when it comes to paying the bride from the groom's family. In certain ways, the study will identify and further explain the notion of "double colonisation" put out by Peterson and Rutherford (1986). It also reveals some cultural overlap between the two nations. Emecheta's female protagonists go through a painful experience in which they are dominated by two colonisers: the power of males and the actuality of colonisation by using the "double colonisation" idea.

Wonder Woman on Screen: From Feminist Symbol to Stereotypical Figure

Wonder Woman, a founding female figure in superhero fiction, was initially celebrated as a symbol of women’s empowerment in the 1970s but faced criticism in the 2010s for embodying fetishized objectification. This article aims to explore the gender representation of the 1970s TV series Wonder Woman and the 2010s Wonder Woman movie through a feminist approach. The portrayal of Wonder Woman in the TV series challenged the traditional stereotypes of femininity and the subordinary roles of women under patriarchy at that time. The Wonder Woman movie, however, lacked diversity under an intersectional framework and signified the beauty myth for male pleasure, which undermined her validity as a feminist icon. Through close analysis, it is revealed that the white feminist privilege and fetish fashion of superheroines traditionally recognized as feminist icons are problematic, calling for more scholarly attention on discriminatory gender representation in contemporary popular culture.

Sameness across Difference: A Postcolonial Feminist Analysis of Gender-Affirming Health Care in Thailand and the United States.

Joining a growing body of research calling for the integration of social analysis and postcolonial theory, recent work in medical sociology has analyzed health, illness, and medicine from a postcolonial lens. In this article, I argue for a postcolonial feminist approach to medical sociology that builds on this extant work while challenging methodological nationalism and cultural essentialism. Based on an analysis of gender-affirming health care for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people in Thailand and the United States, I propose "sameness across difference" as a framework to analyze commonalities in the health care experiences of marginalized populations across nations as the products of imperial legacies. Drawing on 83 interviews with health care providers, TGD patients, and TGD activists, I demonstrate the role of imperialism in sustaining barriers to gender-affirming health care through the uneven geographic distribution of care across rural and urban areas and the reinforcement of racial and class hierarchies within cities.

Analysis of Characters and Characteristics in The Novel "Perempuan di Titik Nol" By Nawal El Saadawi Using A Feminism Approach

This article analyzes the characters and characterization in the novel "Women at Zero Point" by Nawal El Saadawi using a feminist approach. This novel depicts women's struggle in facing oppression, violence and gender injustice in a patriarchal society. A feminist approach is used to analyze how the female characters in this novel face these problems and struggle to find freedom. This analysis uses a literature review method by referring to the novel "Perempuan di Titik Zero" and relevant feminist literature studies. Focus is given to the main character, Firdaus, as well as other female characters in this novel. The results of the analysis show that the female characters in this novel face oppression and violence carried out by the patriarchal system. Firdaus, as the main character, faces various forms of sexual exploitation, domestic violence, and objectification by the surrounding community. However, this novel also highlights women's solidarity as a source of strength and support in their struggle against gender injustice. A feminist approach helps in seeing how the author criticizes patriarchal norms that limit women. Firdaus and other female characters challenge narrow social expectations and attempt to shape their identities outside these constraints. In conclusion, This analysis confirms that the novel "Women at Point Zero" is a reflection of women's struggle to seek freedom and overcome gender injustice in a patriarchal society. Women's solidarity and criticism of patriarchal norms are important themes in this novel, inviting readers to consider the role and influence of patriarchy in women's lives.

Women leadership in higher education: past, present and future trends

PurposeGender bias and stereotypes are universal issues in today’s society. This study presents a comprehensive review of women’s leadership based on bibliometric analysis. The feminist approach to leadership is helpful in many ways, and it could be the type of leadership needed in the challenging world of academia. Women present unique characteristics and traits, particularly their motherly approach to leadership.Design/methodology/approachA review of the literature based on bibliometric analysis by mapping the knowledge structure of the subject is conferred by uncovering the past, present and future trends based on three bibliometric analyses.FindingsThe finding suggests that gender equality, stereotypes and barriers in women’s leadership are at the forefront of the subject in HEIs. The overall system, mindset and willingness for institutional transformation are needed to change the mindset of accepting women as leaders of HEIs.Research limitations/implicationsThis study brought the significant idea of increasing women’s empowerment in HEIs, eventually strengthening institutional leadership’s capability towards advanced education.Originality/valueThis study would present a crucial foundation in women’s empowerment, particularly from the HEIs perspective and from the generic women’s leadership literature.

Curating PQ Talks 2023: an act in four transgressions

ABSTRACT In this short reflective writing piece, I explore my position as the curator of PQ Talks, describing the process behind my thinking when designing the concept, selecting the participants, and shaping some of the panel discussions. Although all the selected talks showcased an incredibly rich array of nuanced ideas, approaches, and concerns, and as such resist any unifying interpretation, I argue that many of them were guided by an ethos of transgression: transgression of dominant norms, practices, institutions, disciplines, spaces, and ideas about and around performance design and scenography. I highlight four of these transgressions that point to the politics of my curatorial gesture: the decolonial turn, toward pedagogies of empathy, trans/non-binary and feminist approaches, and ecoscenographic practices as an emerging field.

Gendered livelihoods and the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices in Nigeria

Feminist research maintains that livelihood activities are socially differentiated. While gendered unevenness in livelihood opportunities may condition the agricultural adaptive capacities of male-headed households (MHHs) and female-headed households (FHHs) to climate change, the gendered dimensions of livelihood activities have not been addressed in much of the climate-smart agriculture practices (CSAPs) adoption literature. This paper expands feminist livelihood research by analysing gendered dimensions of livelihood activities and their relation to the adoption and intensity of the use of CSAPs. The analysis draws on a nationally representative Living Standards Measurement Survey - Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) panel dataset from Nigeria. The research findings show that a significantly higher percentage of FHHs (51%) are involved in on-farm activities compared to their MHHs (38%) counterparts (p < 0.01). The results further show that gendered household headship (HH) is significantly associated with the adoption of CSAPs. Moreover, based on a feminist approach to livelihoods, we find that livelihood diversification moderates the relationship between gendered HH and CSAP adoption intensity. This suggests that FHHs with more livelihood opportunities have a greater probability of adopting a greater number of CSAPs than MHHs. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for the promotion of CSAPs and sheds light on how the Nigerian government can formulate gender-sensitive policies to promote the adoption of CSAPs.

FROM MISOGYNY TO MISANDRY: THE PHENOMENON OF GENDER-BASED HATRED IN CINEMA

Cinema has been one of the most prominent arts in terms of gender interactions and the way it deals with male and female roles is multifaceted and complex. Cinema includes lots of socio-economical and cultural attributions with its own contexts and it approaches transformations and alterations elaborately. In this regard, two of the theme’s cinema is particularly interested in are misogyny and misandry which are the issues containing hatred, violence, fear and death and are closely related to ideology and its extensions over women. At this point, the main concern of this study is to make out how cinema focuses on this gender-based hatred and to investigate its basic cause. Thus, I have chosen four American films whose names are “MS. 45" (1981), "Monster" (2003), "I Spit on Your Grave" (2010) and "M.F.A." (2017) containing misogyny and misandry at the same time have been selected and analysed them with a feminist approach with the aid of discourses and incident sequences and reviewed in order to grasp whether this ancient hatred stems from phallocentric and toxic masculinity. The films have been selected with purposeful sampling method and the themes have been reviewed in a detailed way. The analysis has indicated that the reason for misogyny is not one-sided and originally linked with patriarchal and heteronormative expectations, while misandry is like a revenge story and ensues from a masculine stance and its historical persecution towards women.

Curating Disruption

In this article, I show the potential of feminist film archiving to unsettle dominant paradigms in Peruvian film historiography. I describe my work as a curator of Rebeldes y Valientes (1913–2019) (Rebels and Braves, 1913–2019), the first digital archive that sheds light on the participation of women filmmakers in the history of Peruvian cinema. I argue that Rebels and Braves has challenged the overrepresentation of male filmmakers constructed by Peruvian film historiography, even as it was constrained in its capacity to redress the structural conditions that erase and delegitimize women’s contributions to film. This article also makes the case for a disruptive archive that visualizes a feminist approach to curation and film history.

When disability and homoparenting meet: the adoption of children with disability by same sex couples.

The present theoretical essay is based on six reports concerning same-sex couples and gay and lesbian people in order to interconnect homoparenting and the adoption of children with disabilities, through the lenses of human and social sciences in public health. The reports were interpreted in light of studies on same-sex adoption and the adoption of children with disabilities. Feminist approaches related to care and disability were also included in the interpretative perspective, operating as expressive webs of grammars of ableism. It was found that media approaches endorse the right to family formation and the adoption of children with disabilities by homoparental families, but with little critical depth on the category of disability and without highlighting support for the adoption of all adoptee profiles. Moreover, the intersections between homophobia and ableism increase discriminatory and oppressive logics, with the union of social groups considered to be "undesirable" representing a strategy of governmentality that reveals the complexity of grammars of ableism, applied to the sexual and reproductive rights of LGBTQIA+ adopters and to the fundamental rights of children and adolescents with disabilities who are available for adoption.

Lessons Learned from Argentina's Struggles for Legal Abortion

This essay argues that abortion, as a practice and a political cause, challenges traditional and hegemonic health frameworks and contributes to the development of a feminist approach to health. The essay focuses on experiences and activism for legal abortion in contemporary Argentina, drawing some examples from other contexts. First, it argues that abortion reveals the extent to which health and sickness are entangled with symbolic and localized processes, including marked stigma, which influence the lived experience of health care. The essay analyzes how feminist activism in Argentina gradually changed these processes. Second, it contends that abortion as a health practice contributes to the deconstruction of traditional dichotomies between prevention and intervention and health and sickness, as well as to modifying hierarchical decision-making mechanisms. In the Argentine case, ensuring abortion access in public health institutions, with the help of activist professionals, allowed for the broadening of biomedical frameworks and a move toward more holistic approaches. Third, the essay analyzes how increasing access to medication abortion challenged monopolistic and exclusionary processes in the production and institutionalization of legitimate knowledge about health.

An Intersectional Feminist Analysis of Women's Oppression in Evie Shockley’s Selected Poems

Contemporary African American poetry passionately portrays the historical oppression of African American women. Through powerful verses, it explores their resilience and strength amid challenges, inspiring identity, empowerment, and unity within the community. One such writer is Evie Shockley, who attempts to showcase the oppression exercised upon black American women in her body of verses. Oppression includes but is not limited to gender, racial, and class oppression. The intersectional feminist approach is employed in analyzing and interpreting the oppression theme expressed in Shockley’s selected poems. The paper’s significance emanates from an investigation into the diverse oppression that African American women have encountered throughout history and continue to face in the present. Through this exploration, a heightened awareness of the plight endured by these women is achieved, fostering more significant concern regarding the inhumane treatment they have been subjected to multiple oppressions.

Patients’ recommendations to improve help-seeking for vaginismus: a qualitative study

BackgroundResearch to improve healthcare experiences for women with vaginismus tends to be produced from the perspective of healthcare professionals or health-based researchers. There is lacking research on women’s experiences and recommendations to improve help-seeking for vaginismus from their perspective. To address this research gap, this qualitative study aimed to identify the issues that women face when help-seeking for vaginismus and their recommendations to address it. This sought to support the wellbeing of patients to advocate for their healthcare needs which is often overlooked.MethodsUsing a feminist theoretical approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 participants who sought help for their vaginismus. Thematic analysis was employed to analyse participants’ recommendations.ResultsFour main themes emerged: Increase awareness of vaginismus, Dismantle myths about sex, Destigmatise vaginismus, and Empower people with vaginismus during medical consultations. Subthemes were identified as actionable strategies that participants recommended to improve help-seeking and healthcare for vaginismus.ConclusionsThe findings from this study can inform healthcare practice and policy to foster better synchronicity between health professionals and their patients’ perceptions and expectations of treating vaginismus. This can promote more acceptance of patients’ advocacy of their needs and goals to improve the therapeutic alliance and treatment outcomes for vaginismus in healthcare practice. The strategies recommended to increase awareness of vaginismus and challenge its stigma should be considered in policy to incite a culture of change in healthcare practice and broader society.

Representation of Feminity in the 16th Century: The Main Character in Kei Ookubo's Anime Arte Series

Women in the renaissance era were portrayed as weak, emotional and illogical. This made it obligatory for women to be in the domestic sector, namely taking care of household affairs and limiting women to work. Until finally feminism was born in women who craved freedom. Today, feminism is present in various forms of literary works, one of which is the anime series Arte by Kei Ookubo. The purpose of this study is to analyze the basic character of feminism in the main character of the anime series Arte, Analyzing the internal and external factors of the emergence of the spirit of feminism. Both objectives are analyzed based on Sarah Gwyneth Ross's theory of feminism.This research uses a qualitative analysis description method with a literary feminism approach. This research uses a literature study where the object of research is the anime Arte which is researched using Sarah Gwyneth Ross's theory of feminism. It was found that Arte fulfills the five basic characters of feminism. First, Arte maintains she excellence in the arts. Second, Arte has intelligence equal to men. Third, the masculinity shown by Arte is the courage to speak up. Fourth, Arte understands the discrimination experienced by women so that she appreciates and praises women's hard work. Fifth, Arte has high creativity. Arte's inner voice to highlight she artistic talent is an internal factor in the formation of feminism. Meanwhile, the figure of father is an external factor in the formation of feminism.

Heteronormative discourse: Therapist social constructions of intimate partner violence in queer relationships

Researchers have suggested the victim/perpetrator paradigm for understanding intimate partner violence (IPV) is limited when considering queer relationships. Instead, some propose a poststructural feminist approach as better suited for understanding the complexities involved. However, in the UK, this approach is rarely adopted. We therefore put a poststructural feminist approach to research into practice. Despite IPV occurring in queer relationships at similar or higher levels compared to heterosexual relationships, queer individuals rarely use mainstream IPV services, owing to real and perceived barriers, and access local therapy services instead. However, outside of queer-specific services in city-centre areas, there is little knowledge of the approaches used or the outcomes achieved by these therapeutic services. Our research contributes to addressing this knowledge gap. We investigate how therapists make sense of IPV in queer relationships, conducting five semistructured interviews with therapists working in small-town/rural settings in Southwest England. Despite claims of inclusivity and liberal humanist values, our Foucauldian discourse analysis highlights the dominance of a heteronormative discourse in the therapists’ accounts, and shows how heterosexual privilege is embedded in a range of discourses deployed. In light of these findings, we explore implications for practice and areas for future research in this underresearched area.

Socio-Economic Factors Affecting Women’s Participation in Sports Activities in Lahore

Women in Pakistan have been subjected to gender discrimination in different aspects of their lives, including their participation in sports. The main purpose of this study is to assess the socio-economic barriers hindering participation of women in sports activities. To this end, we adopted the survey design method. The idea behind this study is feminism in sports theory. The feminist approach to women’s participation in sports is focused on empowering women both inside and outside of the sports world, advancing gender equity, and arguing for equitable chances in sports. SMART-PLS 4, SPSS, and RStudio are used for data analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is used within structural equation model (SEM) to evaluate the hypotheses. The results revealed that women’s participation in sports is highly influenced by family influence, socio-cultural support, economic barriers, personal interest and motivation, and sexual harassment, while media coverage and wage inequality is insignificant. Sexual harassment and economic barriers negatively affects participation of women in sports. The results suggest that policy makers, sports governing bodies, universities, and society should work together to increase female sports participation by raising awareness, reducing economic barriers, and improving physical health and fitness. There is gap in understanding the socio-economic barriers that contribute to the low participation of women in sports activities in Lahore, Pakistan. This research include factors socio-cultural support, family influence, wage inequality, sexual harassment, media coverage, personal interest and motivation and economic barriers that hindering women’s sport participation in Lahore.

Characteristics of Present Women-Owned Family Businesses in Vietnam: Present Condition and Policy Ideas

Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to study the business model and nature of women-owned firms in Vietnam today. Methodology:This article explores the characteristics of women-owned household businesses using secondary documentary data. The paper is based on a feminist approach to the Cedaw convention, to which Vietnam is a party. Equality rights, including gender equality, are entitled to access and assess the business activity of Vietnamese firms owned by women and legal representatives. Results: The essay discusses the current condition, possibilities, and challenges for female entrepreneurs in Vietnam. Feminist advances have not been able to close the stigma and reservations about women's mastery in society, especially business. Meaning/Value: The article claims that women's social position is improving, that they are truly emancipated, and that their work potential is being promoted. In addition to perks and possibilities, female workers frequently confront challenges and impediments, particularly in the fields of labor and employment. The article suggests various techniques for women to develop more substantial and sustainable enterprises.