Feminist Empowerment Research Articles

Internet and Cyberspace as a Means of Feminist Empowerment: A Cyberfeminist Study of Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea

This study explores the role of the internet and cyberspace, particularly through the use of emails, as a tool for feminist empowerment within Saudi Arabian society, as depicted in Rajaa Alsanea's novel Girls of Riyadh. The research aims to examine how female characters use virtual spaces to challenge and undermine patriarchal norms and expectations. By utilizing the internet's anonymity and connectivity, these women carve out a platform for self-expression, solidarity, and resistance against the oppressive structures of their society. The study finds that cyberfeminism offers a powerful means for women in conservative environments to voice their thoughts and advocate for change. Furthermore, the internet serves as a catalyst for new forms of feminist discourse and activism. The study concludes that cyberspace not only facilitates the creation of a collective feminist identity but also empowers women to redefine their roles and resist traditional societal constraints.

Feminist Empowerment Through Labor Organizing: In-Depth Interviews With Female Labor Union Organizers at American Newspapers

In recent years, U.S. journalists have formed labor unions to address job insecurity, benefit cuts, and wage issues. Unions have played a critical role in advancing gender equality in the newsroom. Through in-depth interviews with women involved in union organizing at American newspapers, this study shows how feminist empowerment and gender dynamics manifested through organizing activities. The findings indicate union organizing empowers women by giving them opportunities to assume leadership roles, address systemic oppression, and shape the future of journalism.

From distress to anger to shame: Gender violence, empowerment, and emotional states in Ecuador

AbstractChanging discourses and laws related to women's rights and intimate partner violence (IPV) in rural Ecuador have profoundly reshaped how local women experience and respond to violence. Women once understood violence as one strand of social suffering embedded in everyday rural life, and they resisted and managed this violence through various collective idioms of distress. Over the last two decades, however, state and non‐governmental organization (NGO) campaigns have isolated gender violence as a discrete phenomenon, emphasizing the “wrongness” of IPV, the validity of righteous anger, and the importance of a legal response to secure the separation of “liberated” women. In this article, I draw on 20 years of fieldwork to discuss how emotional responses to gender violence have shifted in tandem with changing state and transnational discourses and policies in the coastal region of Las Colinas. A deep disjuncture between neoliberal discourses of feminist empowerment and the material reality of rural women's life options leaves many women experiencing new forms of shame when they are unable to turn anger into liberation and escape gender violence in their families and communities. Focusing on the emotional states that states create reveals how political‐economic and discursive shifts are mediated through emotions and collective idioms.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF GREEN MICROFINANCE INSTITUTIONS: A TOOL FOR PROMOTING WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT IN CHINA

Economic freedom has central importance among the nations, however, Chinese economic freedom index declining continuously, leading to the several issues. Particularly, economic freedom is low among the Chinese female population. The world average of economic freedom index in 2022 based on 175 countries is 60 index points, but the Chinese index is 48. To address this issue, this study introduced green microfinance institutions based on Mayoux’s Feminist Empowerment Theory. The objective of this study is to examine the role of green microfinance institutions in women economic freedom in China. A survey questionnaire is used to collect data from female clients of microfinance institutions. 315 respondents responded to the survey and data analysis is carried out by using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results of the study identified that, green microfinance institution’s services such as credit and insurance can facilitate green micro enterprises. The promotion of green micro enterprises causes to increase women economic security, leading to the economic freedom. Additionally, green microfinance policy is a critical factor to promote the positive relationship between green microfinance institution’s services and women economic freedom. Findings of this are helpful for the practitioners to increase women economic freedom in China by providing various services of green microfinance institutions.

From informed to empowered consent.

Informed consent is ethically incomplete and should be redefined as empowered consent. This essay challenges theoretical assumptions of the value of informed consent in light of substantial evidence of its failure in clinical practice and questions the continued emphasis on autonomy as the primary ethical justification for the practice of consent in health care. Human dignity-rather than autonomy-is advanced from a nursing ethics perspective as a preferred justification for consent practices in health care. The adequacy of an ethic of obligation (namely, principlism) as the dominant theoretical lens for recognising and responding to persistent problems in consent practices is also reconsidered. A feminist empowerment framework is adopted as an alternative ethical theory to principlism and is advanced as a more practical and complete lens for examining the concept and context of consent in health care. To accomplish this, the three leading conceptions of informed consent are overviewed, followed by a feminist critique to reveal practical problems with each of them. The need for a language change from informed to empowered consent is strongly considered. Implications for consent activities in clinical practice are reviewed with focused discussion on the need for greater role clarity for all involved in consent-beyond and inclusive of the patient-physician dyad, as the practice and improvement of consent is necessarily a transdisciplinary endeavour. Specific concrete and practical recommendations for leveraging nursing expertise in this space are presented. Perhaps what is most needed in the discourse and practice of consent in health care is nursing.

Foregrounding the Amazonian Character against Androcentric Constructs: A Comparative Analysis of Selected Texts by Kopano Matlwa and Zakes Mda

This article compares and contrasts Amazonian characters in Kopano Matlwa’s selected texts with what appears to be androcentric female characters in Zakes Mda’s selected texts. Feminist theory, with its variants, particularly Amazon feminism, undergirded the study. Amazonian characters are female characters constructed from an Amazonian perspective. In ancient Greece, Amazon feminism typified warrior women as symbols of feminist empowerment emphasising women’s agency and capacity to achieve gender equality. In constructing her female characters, Matlwa has adopted the Amazonian perspective that radically departs from the stereotypic, patriarchal and negative depiction of women that perpetuates patriarchy, whereas Mda has adopted the androcentric and patriarchal stance, which contrasts sharply with the tenets of Amazon feminism. The article contributes to the ongoing discourse on gender and equality by highlighting the essence of Amazonian characters as required agents towards women’s liberation and empowerment in the post-apartheid context.

Bosom friends and kindred spirits: Reimagining girlhood, bisexuality and queerness in Anne with an E

Questioning traditional ideas of hegemonic femininity, queerness and heteronormativity, this article examines Moira Walley-Beckett’s Anne with an E (2017–19, CBC and Netflix) as a means of revisiting queer and female histories in contemporary television. Reinvestigating classic Anne of Green Gables, this series pushes the boundaries of history by modernizing historical ideas about gender, sexuality, class and race in the early twentieth century. Using feminist theory, queer theory and critical cultural studies approaches, this article argues that these coming-of-age narratives of girlhood, bisexuality and femininity interrogate binary notions of past and present, childhood and adulthood, fact and fiction. By blending and blurring literary and fictional histories, this series pushes up against the whiteness and heteronormativity within media culture, drawing attention not only to the absence of people of colour and LGBTQ+ characters within literary and media histories more generally but also to alternative possibilities for more inclusive media representation. In this way, this series is rethinking historical and literary representations of girlhood, (bi)sexuality and feminist empowerment by putting queer people and women at the centre of its storytelling.

Secular‐religious self‐improvement

ABSTRACTIn the Netherlands young Muslim women have increasingly begun to join women‐only kickboxing gyms. Dutch public discourse has taken notice, treating this phenomenon as a surprising development. The general assumption, in the Netherlands and in western Europe more broadly, is that women's sport is a form of secular, feminist empowerment; Muslim women's participation thus exemplifies the incongruence of Islam with the modern, secular nation‐state. Contesting this view, I show that young Muslim women who kickbox establish agentive selves by playing with gender norms, challenging expectations, and living out their religious subjectivities. Moreover, they disrupt western European parameters of secularity and religiosity. Their cloistered athletic activity is liberating, but not as expected and understood by mainstream public opinion. They approach their sport not as a quest for cultural integration or emancipation from their Muslim communities, but as a way of intertwining religious and secular forms of self‐improvement. [sport,embodiment,gender grouping,secularism,Islam,the Netherlands]

“I could do that!”– The role of a women's non-governmental organisation in increasing women's psychological empowerment and civic participation in Wales

Empowering women and girls, and increasing their participation in civil society, has become a core focus of international sustainable development policy. However, there is a lacuna regarding research into the role of women's Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) which improve women's psychological, feminist empowerment in the United Kingdom and so findings are presented here from an in-depth qualitative case-study of a Welsh women's NGO which aimed to psychologically empower women and, subsequently, improve their civic participation. The women interviewed experienced increases in their individual psychological empowerment, formed important ‘sisterhood’ and friendships, and did become more involved in civil society. The paper centralizes the ways in which the NGO played a key role in individually empowering interviewees, further equipping them with skills and resources to enable their future participation in civic life. This paper makes an original empirical and conceptual contribution by adapting Zimmerman's Psychological Empowerment Framework to offer new insights into the processes of engendering civic participation and empowering women in a feminist group context.

A Battle or a Conversation: Imagining Africa and Its Diaspora in Beyoncé’s "Black Is King" and "Lemonade"

In her visual albums "Black Is King" (2020) and "Lemonade" (2016), pop artist Beyoncé engages with audiovisual representation as a way of "rewriting" existing narratives of Blackness and re-presenting the African diaspora and the African continent. The albums navigate a contentious space in which feminist empowerment mingles with sexual objectification and conservative gender roles, oppression is countered by hyper-capitalist consumption, African and Afrodiasporic cultures are mobilized or appropriated, and powerful counter-narratives are made in ways that can seem like hegemony reproduced. In this paper, I argue that a determinant factor of the ability to navigate those complexities is the notion of "community": its representation, its scope, and its tensions. Both formally and in content, Beyoncé and her co-creators’ audiovisual narratives stimulate a reflection on how to make the individual collective, the personal political, and how to unite disparity into “the Black diaspora” as a community and an addressee. Beyoncé’s Afrodiasporic projection requires strong authorship and the creation of a unifying myth. The ensuing narrative and profitability imperatives provoke the question whether Beyoncé’s visual albums can truly be sites for the envisioning of the African diaspora as a community marked by diversity, tension, and negotiation.

Empowerment-focused philanthropy: Bridging feminist theories and organizational practices through U.S. women’s funds

The purpose of this study is to understand feminist empowerment through the grant-making and other work of U.S. women’s foundations and funds to determine how they incorporate and facilitate empowerment. This study contributes new knowledge on the connections between feminist empowerment theories and the organizational practices of women’s philanthropic organizations. To assess the ways in which empowerment manifests in the work of these organizations, feminist empowerment literature was examined along with development literature on women’s empowerment, and critiques of empowerment. For this study, a database was created of more than 200 foundations and funds in 43 states by using website and IRS data and a survey administered. The findings speak to the ways in which women’s foundations and funds align with empowerment theories and the areas of disconnect.

Relational long-term breastfeeding

ABSTRACT This article uses a relationality-sensitive perspective to analyse long-term breastfeeding. The data was gathered through open invitations to write, and the article is based on the written reflections of 39 long-term breastfeeding Finnish mothers. In Finland, the breastfeeding of babies is strongly supported, but long-term breastfeeding (over 12 months) is a more conflicted issue, and the cultural norm of one year of breastfeeding is strong. Through qualitative content analysis, the article shows how mothers reflect on long-term breastfeeding’s effects on their relations with their breastfed children, partners (if any), relatives and healthcare professionals. The findings show that long-term breastfeeding is often a rewarding experience, but that it takes place in a network of relations and has effects on those relations. With a relationality-sensitive approach to breastfeeding, we can better understand how mothering is done in and through relations with others, and how mothers express the need for a change in attitudes towards long-term breastfeeding. This article gives a voice to mothers who are often silent in our society, and therefore participates in the feminist empowerment of women and especially mothers.

Community Development in Canadian Adult Education

This content analysis aims to explore how community development has been conceived in Canadian adult education based on publications of the Canadian Journal for the Study of Adult Education from 2009 to 2019. This article is motivated by the understanding that community development is an intrinsic part of the Canadian adult education history and is also a way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of CJSAE. I suggest that there are five ways to conceive community development within Canadian adult education in the period analyzed: classroom-based and research-based community development, transnational feminist radical community-led development, feminist empowerment focused community development, film festivals as community development, and queer activism and community development. I conclude by saying that despite community development being a terminology seldom explored in the articles, the commitment to building communities to liberate and transform society is still the driving force that moves us forward in our field.

Periods for Profit and the Rise of Menstrual Surveillance


 
 
 Menstruation is being monetized and surveilled, with the voluntary participation of millions of women. Thousands of downloadable apps promise to help women monitor their periods and manage their fertility. These apps are part of the broader, multi-billion dollar, Femtech industry, which sells technology to help women understand and improve their health. Femtech is marketed with the language of female autonomy and feminist empowerment. Despite this rhetoric, Femtech is part of a broader business strategy of data extraction, in which companies are extracting people’s personal data for profit, typically without their knowledge or meaningful consent. Femtech can oppress menstruators in several ways. Menstruators lose control over their personal data and how it is used. Some of these uses can potentially disadvantage women in the workplace, insurance markets, and credit scoring. In addition, these apps can force users into a gendered binary that does not always comport with their identity. Further, period trackers are sometimes inaccurate, leading to unwanted pregnancies. Additionally, the data is nearly impossible to erase, leading some women to be tracked relentlessly across the web with assumptions about their childbearing and fertility. Despite these harms, there are few legal restraints on menstrual surveillance. American data privacy law largely hinges on the concept of notice and consent, which puts the onus on people to protect their own privacy rather than placing responsibility on the entities that gather and use data. Yet notice and consent is a myth because consumers do not read, cannot comprehend, and have no opportunities to negotiate the terms of privacy policies. Notice and consent is an individualistic approach to data privacy that envisions an atomized person pursing their own self-interest in a competitive marketplace. Menstruators’ needs do not fit this model. Accordingly, this Essay seeks to reconceptualize Femtech within an expanded menstrual justice framework that recognizes the tenets of data feminism. In this vision, Femtech would be an empowering and accurate health tool rather than a data extraction device.
 
 

Beyond vulnerability and adversities: Amazigh women’s agency and empowerment in Morocco

ABSTRACT Amazigh women in Morocco have traditionally suffered triple marginalisation: as women, indigenous and rural. The language and geography of the Atlas Mountains where they live have also made it difficult for them to access the most basic educational and health-care resources. That is why Amazigh women are often represented in many studies as ‘illiterate’ and ‘in need of help’. But a careful examination of the history and the daily reality of Amazigh women reveals another side of the Amazigh women’s story that has yet to be told and on which we wish to shed light in this article. We will focus on the agency and resilience of Amazigh women and how they transform their daily reality and vulnerabilities into opportunities that empower them, their families and communities. Through their knowledge and practices, Amazigh women contribute as active agents of civil society, caring not only for the well-being of their own families, but for the development of their community and the legacy of their culture. We provide clear examples of how these women contribute to the local economy and rural development by organising and working in cooperatives dedicated to carpet weaving, argan oil production and arts and crafts. Culture and tradition, reclaimed and preserved by women, emerge as a source of recognition of Amazigh identity, of local community development and of feminist empowerment.

Uncovering the low-profile #MeToo movement: Towards a discursive politics of empowerment on Chinese social media

In China, a few posts related to #MeToo movement survived and remained online well after its peak and the state’s response in July 2018. This article proposes a theoretical framework that pays attention to discursive meaning-making and employs a broad notion of empowerment, referred to as ‘empowerment through discourse’, in order to offer a more nuanced understanding of the low-profile #MeToo movement in the Chinese context. This framework is used to analyse a corpus of uncensored #MeToo material, which appeared on Chinese social media. This article combines a discourse analysis of these posts and interviews with feminists from activist collectives to critically examine feminist empowerment by reflecting on survivor/victim narration and storytelling practices, digital media’s capacity to facilitate critical dialogue between witnesses and survivors/victims and activist collectives’ organising role in opening up a dialogic space for collective reading, listening and healing. These reflections lead to broader considerations on how notions of empowerment can spur collective action and structural change. In short, this article demonstrates the potential possibility of discursive change and reflects on this mode of feminist politics as a way to speak to empowerment in the Chinese context.

Domestic Violence During the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract. Domestic violence against women by their partners is a form of gender-based violence, and it has been recognized as a major social issue worldwide. Under the framework of feminist empowerment theory, we investigated the experiences and coping behaviors of 15 abused women from northern Greece during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) crisis. We conducted a qualitative study, utilizing in-depth interviews that were analyzed via content analysis. Our findings highlight the women's coping strategies, such as raising consciousness, being more aware of the situation, establishing safety plans, increasing self-confidence, and eventually reclaiming control of their lives. Our study allows educators, researchers, policy makers, and other women to learn lessons about dealing with violence in times of crisis, and for social welfare professionals to become more effective in meeting the needs of women in similar situations in the future.

Empowerment as a pre-requisite to managing and influencing health in the workplace: The sexual and reproductive health needs of factory women migrant workers in Malaysia

Malaysia is a major importer of migrant labour within the ASEAN region, and migration has adverse implications for the sexual and reproductive health (SRH) of women migrant workers. Given the centrality of the workplace to the lives of such women, this article reports a qualitative analysis of interview data with women migrant workers ( N = 14) and wider stakeholders ( N = 10) and considers the extent to which they are able to effect change in workplace SRH policy and practice. Informed by Jo Rowlands’ typology of power and model of empowerment, the analysis considers the extent to which normative expectations of process and collective mobilisation upon which feminist empowerment models are predicated operate in such contexts, and discusses the implications of the findings for research to advance workplace democracy.

Slothful Movements: Disability, Acceleration, and Capacity Feminism in Disney’s Zootopia (2016)

ABSTRACT Critics and audiences applauded Disney’s Zootopia (2016) as a new brand of politically-conscious, pedagogical children’s media but uniformly read it as a critique of sexism and racism. This article examines the disability politics of speed, capacity and mobility to illuminate “capacity feminism:” the metaphorical rendering of feminist empowerment through ableist norms of embodiment and movement. By showing how Zootopia racializes (white) feminist determination as physical strength and ability at the same time that it aligns psychiatric disabilities with racialized, biologized criminality (“going savage”), this article shows how the film uses the presumed political neutrality of disability as an invisible platform for its rehabilitative narrative of the police and its anti-government politics. Emerging within the context of an intensification of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Americans Disabled Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT) activisms, Zootopia shows how seemingly disparate discourses of expansive universal design (UD) and restrictive criminal justice are mutually reinforcing, ensuring mobility for some through the immobilization of Others.

Influence of Microcredit Services on Socioeconomic Developments among Pastoralist Women in Wajir West Sub-County, Kenya

Low women resilience due to women's socioeconomic obstacles is deeply rooted among pastoralist communities, thus, call for much more extensive interventions to such as microfinance services significantly undermines it. The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of microcredit services on socioeconomic developments among pastoralist women in Wajir West Sub-County, Kenya. This study was guided by the Feminist Empowerment Theory. The study adopted descriptive survey research design with a target population of 19644 persons comprises of 19640 women and 4 ward administrators. Cluster random sampling technique was employed with a sample size of 384 persons being used in the study. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview guides. Reliability of the instruments was determined through a pilot study where a Cronbach alpha coefficient 0.78 was established. Quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The study established that microfinance services contribute positively and significantly to socioeconomic development of pastoralist women. The study recommends that the microfinance institutions improve on the provision of micro credit facilities to the pastoralist communities for it has the potential of improving the socioeconomic status of women.