Feminist Lens Research Articles

Nursing advocacy and activism: A critical analysis of regulatory documents.

Background: Advocacy and activism are dynamic terms representing a spectrum of political action, aiming to achieve social or political change. The extent to which nursing advocacy and activism are legitimate nursing roles has been debated for around 50 years. Nursing regulatory documents, such as codes of conduct and professional standards, may provide direction to nurses on how they should act in the context of advocacy and activism.Aim: To explore what regulatory documents say about advocacy and activism, either explicitly or implicitly, and how they shape advocacy and activism.Research design: We used a Reflexive Qualitative Document Analysis approach with a Critical Feminist lens to analyse contemporary nursing regulatory documents from the USA, UK and Australia.Ethical considerations: This article has no human participants, and informed consent was not required.Findings: We identified eight nursing regulatory documents from the American Nurses Association, Nursing and Midwifery Council and Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. We constructed two major themes that reveal how nursing advocacy and activism are conceived and shaped in regulatory documents. Theme 1, Ideological arena describes the gendered and neoliberal subtexts influencing advocacy and activism. Theme 2, A five-pointed star, describes the shape of advocacy and activism in the regulatory documents.Conclusions: Regulatory documents from the USA, UK and Australia support diplomatic nursing advocacy and activism for people, equity, ourselves (nurses), the profession and systems change. However, more oppositional and disruptive advocacy and activism are potentially constrained by gendered and neoliberal subtexts that depoliticise nurses' roles.

Lessons from Re-Writing the Declaration, a virtual, participatory play

ABSTRACT The article details some of the process of creating and performing the participatory, virtual play, Re-Writing the Declaration, which invited the audience to re-imagine our nation’s founding through a Black, queer, feminist lens. The article highlights the unique challenges and opportunities of creating theatre in a virtual space, particularly the use of Zoom’s chat function as a tool for audience participation and community building. The author reflects on the ensemble’s shared identity as educators and how this shaped the play’s creation and performance. The article concludes by suggesting potential applications for the play in the field of Theatre for Young Audiences and emphasizing the importance of centering marginalized voices in the creation of theatre.

Redefining Female Identity Through the Female Gaze: A Comparative Analysis of Gender Narratives in Feminist Cinema

Abstract: This paper examines how female directors convey feminist consciousness and challenge traditional gender roles through the female gaze in film. Through film analysis, theoretical research, and case studies, this paper examines how female directors have redefined female roles and narratives in contrast to traditional male perspectives. The conventional male perspective has traditionally objectified and marginalized women with the male gaze in visual expression. However, the female perspective portrays women as complex and multidimensional subjects, breaking the male-dominated narrative paradigm and offering new possibilities for reimagining the image of women on screen. Through a feminist lens, this paper further analyzes how the female perspective resists widespread misogyny and provides a counter-narrative to traditional patriarchal representations. In addition, this study examines how female perspectives from different cultural contexts have advanced feminist film theory globally. By highlighting their unique visual expressions, the study demonstrates how these directors advance feminist discourse through their filmmaking, challenging gender, and cultural norms.

Yearning for care: an examination of South Asian women’s experiences of physical activity in gymnasiums on the Gold Coast, Australia

ABSTRACT This article considers the ways in which South Asian women negotiate care through fitness cultures in gymnasiums. Drawing on contemporary literature at the intersections of geographies of care, cultures of fitness focussed on gymnasiums and intersectional feminist thinking, we examine the ways in which South Asian women engage in physical activities in gymnasiums in hyper-sexualized tourist cities such as the Gold Coast, in Southeast Queensland in Australia. In doing so, the article explores the affective dimensions of engaging in physical activities for South Asian women and how these can be reimagined through momentary experiences of ‘care’. Using a post-humanist feminist lens, we employ in-depth interviews and observational research in exploring how race and gender are inter-implicated in South Asian women’s experiences in gymnasiums.

The thorn in feminism’s side: black feminist reconceptualization and defence of #tradwives and the #tradwife movement

ABSTRACT Tradwives have been the thorn in feminism’s side ever since they exploded onto the social media landscape in 2013, attracting considerable media attention post-COVID. With their growing popularity in the online influencer space, the movement has been a critical focus of feminist academic discourse, given their promotion of ‘traditional’ values. Adopting a black feminist lens, this article traces the construction of the tradwife as anti-feminist populism and given the complexity of defining tradwives, offers a typology to better understand sub-types of content creators. Three clear sub-types of tradwives are identified: 1) the nostalgic tradwife, 2) the former feminist and finally 3) the Southern Belle. It also examines the unassuming hyperfeminine aesthetic within the tradwife persona that allows tradculture to perpetuate alt-right ideology to an everyday audience. This article argues that some tradwives bury their heads in the sand by failing to consider how nostalgic constructions of ‘traditional’ femininity reproduce colonialist discourses, as well as modes of oppression through gendered, ethnic and class lines.

Care workers, collectivisation and protest: a case for feminist and anti-capitalist resistance against the state

Nation-wide organised protests by Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), arguably the backbone of India's fragmented healthcare system, form a watershed moment in feminist protest in India by centring demands for the regularisation of their ‘voluntary’ and undercompensated work. This distinct subaltern group (the ASHAs) engages with the state through dynamic political protest. This article critically explores the protest strategies adopted by ASHAs to better understand feminist protest on the Indian political landscape. It adopts a reflexive method of inquiry by unpacking how ASHA policy perpetuates institutional patterns of gender-based occupational segregation and how ASHAs, in turn, navigate and respond to these challenges. Somewhere between victimhood and agency, ASHA workers have reclaimed a site of struggle and resistance. Indeed, in the face of gender-based discrimination, ASHA workers are agitating on their own terms. A postcolonial feminist lens allows us to explore the axes of resistance adopted by ASHAs, including their medium of protest, which offers a space for different performative strategies: the self-sustained and self-contained leadership and mobilisation in which ASHAs reject gender-based stereotypes, exclusion, disadvantage and discrimination; and the use of protest to build sites of resistance, solidarity and negotiation. This theoretical framework offers valuable insight by shifting focus away from judicial strategies and towards ASHA workers as ‘protesters’ and as authors of their own narrative.

Work‐Related Intimate Partner Violence (WIPV): A Systematic Review and Feminist Conceptual Analysis

ABSTRACTIntimate partner violence (IPV) is a long‐standing and egregious social issue that inherently impacts and is impacted by work and workplaces. Work‐related intimate partner violence (WIPV) is a pattern of IPV that both directly and indirectly undermines victim‐survivors' employment, work, and careers, yet scant attention has been paid in management studies to workplace responses and responsibilities regarding this form of violence. Hence, we conduct a systematic review and conceptual analysis of 111 WIPV‐focused papers utilizing three well‐established feminist lenses to ascertain and conceptualize what we know and do not know about the WIPV domain and, more importantly, to outline an agenda for what we should know from a gendered perspective about WIPV. We develop a gender‐sensitive, multilevel framework with which we investigate and challenge the WIPV research agenda from individual, interactionist, and structural viewpoints, including the interaction between these perspectives. A key purpose of this paper is to extend debate about WIPV beyond the current focus of human resource management (HRM) research and practice on micro‐level employment issues to include meso‐level organizational and macro‐level societal issues. A second and connected purpose is to draw attention to the need to address big societal challenges related to workplaces and to highlight the pivotal role of HRM in fostering ethical and socially sustainable workplaces. Thus, we advance the vital debate about WIPV, provide a template for how gender can be conceptualized in HRM and workplace research, and challenge the boundaries for organizational involvement in areas traditionally deemed as private or societal.

A preliminary exploration of feminist translation strategies

Abstract Interventionist feminist translation theory prompts translators to identify and rectify sexist notions in source texts. It encourages critical awareness and reinterprets texts through a feminist lens. Based on interventionist feminist translation theory, this research investigates how depictions of women’s physical charm, often unnecessary and rooted in stereotypes, are handled in translations. Focusing on seven instances from Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Trilogy — a notable Chinese science fiction work debated for its sexism —, the study contrasts the source text with its English and Spanish translations. By analysing the selected fragments of the Chinese novel and the unmissable alterations to the original in the target texts, this paper demonstrates how the techniques of elision and adaptation can help translators iron out the sexist implications. The findings contribute to our understanding of feminist translation strategies for addressing sexist elements in literary works.

Couples therapy and the challenges of building trust, fairness, and justice.

The cornerstone of the contextual family therapy model is predicated on the belief that all family members benefit from trustworthy relationships, which result from (a) acknowledging the contributions of deserving family members, (b) engaging in responsible interactions, and (c) ensuring a fair distribution of relational burdens and benefits. Nonetheless, conflicts may arise when one partner asserts a claim to relational resources based on need, while the other believes they are entitled to such resources based on merit. Based on relational ethics and the development of trust, this paper focuses on the therapist's role in facilitating the conflict-resolution process to assist couples in reestablishing individual responsibility and accountability within the systemic framework of couple therapy. It elucidates several clinical strategies, including (a) cultivating trust through fairness and focusing on the importance of reciprocity and equitable give-and-take, (b) detecting destructive entitlement, and (c) marital relationships and ethics of care. Several clinical examples are discussed, as well as common couple relational issues associated with horizontal and vertical relationships, partnership, and fusion, and the impact of gender and power dynamics and trustworthiness based on the feminist lens.

From “Big White” army to White Paper Protests: China’s gendered pandemic war and feminist interventions

ABSTRACT In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many nation-states adopted militarized measures for rapid containment. China notably implemented extreme and enduring war-like procedures. This study aims to explore the implications of securitizing the pandemic through a feminist lens and suggest ethical and equitable strategies for understanding emergencies and coping with future crises. Employing discourse-based online ethnography, it analyzes social dynamics in China’s “pandemic war,” examining how gender and (in)security are co-constructed and the role of feminist activism within an authoritarian context. This article argues that framing the pandemic as war reinforces a masculinist stance of dominance, prioritizing state stability over human rights and security. State-centric securitization perpetuates state authority, gendered social hierarchies, and structural violence. The exclusionary nature of this approach created new avenues for feminist activism, both online and offline, advocating for marginalized groups, raising social and gender awareness, challenging state narratives, and fostering collective resistance. Drawing lessons from Chinese feminist initiatives during COVID-19, this study calls for alternative crisis responses focused on care, equity, ethics, and collaboration.

Fighting for Justice for Women who Kill Abusive Partners

This article examines the collaborative process involved in campaigning for and representing women appealing murder convictions, highlighting the power of positive collaboration between lawyers, campaigners, frontline experts and the women themselves. Pragna Patel and Harriet Wistrich, who first met while protesting in the early 1990s outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, have been pivotal figures in this movement. Patel has dedicated four decades to Southall Black Sisters, an organisation advocating for black and minority women. Wistrich co-founded Justice for Women and later specialised in representing women victim-survivors of male violence, challenging discrimination in the criminal justice system. Their collaboration has led to significant precedent-setting murder appeals and reforms in domestic homicide law. This article reflects on their enduring involvement spanning three decades, detailing their efforts in individual cases and legislative reforms. Their approach focuses on obtaining detailed personal accounts from women and building legal strategies around them, aiming to challenge convictions through a feminist lens. Recently, their collaborative efforts prompted the United Kingdom government to commission the Law Commission to review defences in cases of homicide. This underscores their enduring impact in fighting for justice for women who kill their abusive partners and effecting legal change.

Debunking Patriarchy: A Feminist Critique of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Charlotte Bronte (1816-1855), a renowned Victorian woman writer, is best known for the novel Jane Eyre (1847), which portrays the struggles of the protagonist Jane Eyre for becoming a successful and self -reliant woman in a male dominated society. In this novel, the writer focuses on class conflict, women’s identity crisis and inequality of sexes, and thus tries to establish equal rights for both male and female by portraying the brave character Jane Eyre who is not like other traditional women of Victorian age because she has tried to be a successful woman in life fighting with her ill fate and social taboos of patriarchal society throughout her journey of life. This paper, using feminist lens, tries to explore the obstacles of women to become successful and self-reliant in a male dominated society by focusing on Charlotte Bronte’s female protagonist Jane Eyre who, as we know, is the representative of Victorian women.

Through the looking glass; midwifery students' experience of ethical issues: A feminist explanatory case study

BackgroundThe ethical component in midwifery education is governed by international professional values, codes, and ethical principles. The aim of midwifery education is to encourage students to develop a lifelong commitment to ethical practice within their midwifery role and scope. However, little evidence is available on the experiences of midwifery students and how they navigate ethical issues in maternity systems. AimTo present a case study from a midwifery students' perspective that demonstrates observed ethical issues and to provide analysis of the ethical issues identified. DesignA Single explanatory case study design with a feminist lens applied. Explanatory case studies present the ‘how and why’ of a phenomenon and contributes to understanding phenomena in a holistic and real-life context. SettingThis project was set at a West Australian university from which pre-registration midwifery courses are delivered. ParticipantsA solitary case study is presented from a midwifery students' clinical placement. MethodsEthics were approved 2023-04805. Edith Cowan University HREC. The source of data for this case study was direct observation by the primary author (Priya, 2021) and the Joanna Briggs Methods for Case study reporting guide followed. Thematic analysis with a feminist lens was applied to the data. ResultsThree themes were generated ‘Through the looking glass; observing ethical issues’; ‘Whose body Is It? The Erosion of Maternal Consent’ and ‘Relational care versus defensive practice’. These themes explain the antecedents and consequences of the ethical issues identified by the midwifery student, the findings are supported by ethical theory and midwifery philosophy to highlight some of the underlying causes that contribute to ethical issues. ConclusionMidwifery students experience ethical distress when they observe ethical issues and are powerless to support birth people in a way that aligns with midwifery philosophy of relational, woman-centred care. Further research is required to better understand how midwifery students may be better supported to foster ethical care.

Unveiling George Orwell through a Critical Race Theory Feminist Lens: A Social Constructivist Approach

Unveiling George Orwell through a Critical Race Theory Feminist Lens: A Social Constructivist Approach

Civic-military schools in Brazil: Feminist lenses to uncover a patriarchal, white supremacist, and queerphobic project

This article examines the rise of conservative policies in Brazilian education, particularly since 2014 when teachers became targets of accusations related to "ideological indoctrination" and "gender ideology." The Non-Partisan Schools Movement has significantly contributed to fostering a climate of distrust and the militarisation of education has gained momentum under Jair Bolsonaro's presidency (2019–2022). Focusing on the Civic-Military Schools Program (PECIM), the article employs relational and feminist lenses to analyse the arguments of conservative supporters. Although the policy does not overtly promote anti-gender or anti-feminist rhetoric, its documents and implementation reveal underlying biases. While militarisation is framed as a means to improve educational quality, results indicate a dangerous initiative involving untrained military personnel, abusive behaviours, and practices that undermine the self-esteem of girls, queer and Black students. An intersectional feminist perspective, therefore, is fundamental to highlighting contradictions in conservative discourse and interrupting their policies.

Trafficked or Married? Unpacking Dispossession of Matrimonial Choice in Cross-Region Marriage Migration in India.

The article, based on original research from 246 villages, discusses contemporary marriage migrations of poor women from India's development peripheries to rural North Indian men. Anti-trafficking activists and organizations in India assert that migrant brides are trafficked into sexual slavery through 'coerced' alliances. Employing a postcolonial feminist lens, this article challenges hegemonic anti-trafficking discourse with its gendered presumptions about widespread 'bride-trafficking' by showing that the processes of cross-region marriage mediation and motives are replete with contradictions and ambiguities. Fieldwork reveals a range of actors, including the migrant brides, involved in marriage mediation while poverty and heightened dowry compromise women into such matrimonies.

Taking an Intersectional Approach: Immigrant Women Language Teachers’ Lived Experience of Identity

This article explores skilled immigrant women language teachers’ lived experience of identity through an intersectional feminist lens. It examines how women teachers speak about themselves and their lives as immigrants and aims to understand the complex implications of identity and power relations by focusing on intersectional understanding of inequities. Data was generated through in-person and virtual individual interviews with six participants living and working across Canada. The findings revealed the following main challenges and ongoing barriers: discrimination, overqualification, financial limitations, a lengthy process of re-credentialing and professional reintegration, and insufficient government support. Furthermore, this study sheds light on how heteronormative frameworks pervade immigrant women’s personal and professional lives, intersecting with their identities vis-à-vis gender, race, ethnicity, country of origin, immigration status, and English as a second language. These categories collectively and individually present systemic barriers and sites of oppression that negatively impact an already marginalized minority group— internationally highly qualified immigrant women language teachers.

The Body as a Battlefield: A Feminist Interpretation of Mulan as a Source of Theology in the Face of Gender-Based Violence

This study delves into the intricate interplay between cinema, theology, and gender-based violence through a feminist lens. It centers on the film Mulan as a unique source of theological reflection in addressing cases of gender-based violence. The title, “The Body as a Battlefield,” encapsulates the core theme of this research, emphasizing the body as a contested terrain where power dynamics and societal norms converge. Through a meticulous feminist interpretation of the film, we explore how Mulan’s narrative challenges traditional gender roles, illuminates the resilience of the female body, and offers a fresh perspective on theological discourse. By bridging the realms of film analysis, feminist theology, and social justice, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of how popular culture can serve as a resource for theological engagement in the pursuit of gender equality and the eradication of gender-based violence.

Gender, War, and Religion: Feminist Perspectives on Pathways to Just Peace

Starting with clashes between Western and Ukrainian feminists, this article discusses basic questions from an intersectional perspective on the relation between gender, war and religion. In the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine, how should a gender-sensitive peace ethics look? Among feminists, as in religious communities, we find radical pacifist positions next to and sometimes conflicting with approaches that draw on traditions of “just war” and/or “just peace.” After discussing the different approaches in Christian tradition, including Eastern traditions, and describing the imperialist nature of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the author highlights the importance of engaging feminist theories of war and militarism in the analysis and how they resonate with practices on the ground in Ukraine. The feminist lens demands attention for the full reality of war, for women’s multilayered agency in war, and for the genderedness of discourses and practices surrounding war heroism and war traumas. Based on such considerations and arguments, the article proposes five “principles” for a feminist political theology on war and peace, as a contribution to the ongoing scholarly debate. Markers on a feminist-theological pathway to just peace may include: reconsidering the notion of sacrifice; fearlessly bringing theology into religious diplomacy; nothing for Ukraine without the voices of Ukrainian women; embracing a paradigm of human security instead of state security; and the remaining challenge to imagine a common future with the enemy beyond the current evil of destruction.

The influence of transnational Pentecostal religious beliefs on women’s political participation in Zimbabwe

ABSTRACT Over recent decades, transnational Pentecostal religious movements have experienced rapid surges in authoritarian regimes which have reported high levels of women’s political participation in sub-Saharan Africa such as Rwanda and Zimbabwe. This article assesses whether transnational Pentecostal religious beliefs have been influential in enhancing women’s political participation in Zimbabwe? The article employs an intersectional and postcolonial feminist lens to demonstrate how religion impacts individual political behaviour. It further draws on ethnographic material gathered in Zimbabwe consisting of in-depth interviews with nine Pentecostal women in politics. The article finds that whilst Pentecostal religious beliefs do enhance women’s political participation, the quality of this participation differs considerably amongst women.