Feminist Research Articles

Lo scardinamento dei ruoli e dello stereotipo sociale nella ricerca del Collettivo Donne Fotoreporter di Milano alla fine degli anni Settanta

This paper investigates, based on unpublished archival sources, the work of the Collettivo Donne Fotoreporter (Lilli Barchiesi, Kitty Bolognesi, Giovanna Calvenzi, Mazia Malli, Laura Rizzi, Livia Sismondi and Chiara Visconti), formed in Milan as part of the feminist movements of the 1970s. Specifically analyzed are I Ruoli (January 1978) and Gesti e oggetti della casalinga (1979), two photographic projects that aim to disrupt, in both an ironic and critical form, the female stereotype through actions of transformation and alteration in order to produce a metamorphic overturning of visual customs on identity. As well as their inclusion in peculiar traveling exhibitions (I Ruoli and Una Nessuna Centomila) through which the Collective attempts to subvert social and patriarchal constructs.

The Rise and Diversity of Women's Art: A Study on Self-Expression in Art

In the middle of the 20th century, with the rise of the feminist movement and the continuous development of society, feminism gradually received attention. The artistic creation associated with it also developed, and people noticed the value of it. The status of female artists is gradually rising. The art is gradually diversifying. In this field of artistic creation, female artists have finally gained a place in the field of art according to their own research and efforts. According to their own unique aesthetic value and emotion, female artists give play to their unique artistic talent, breaking the inertia of male dominance in traditional art, and showing the creativity of female art. Through the introduction of the development of women's art from the 1960s to the present, this paper analyzes the characteristics and styles of women's art in different historical periods through the self-expression in women's art works and the maternal image in women's art works. Furthermore, it concludes the differences between them and male creators in art, so as to judge the new direction of contemporary female art to be developed.

Gender Equality: Analysis of the Current Status and Suggestions for Future Development

This study centers on the current situation and future direction of gender equality. In the backdrop of global modernization, although women have extensively participated in social production and awakened to their rights consciousness, structural gender inequality remains deeply entrenched. Men still dominate social resources and decision-making processes. Traditional family concepts restrain women's freedom, and gender discrimination in the workplace remains prevalent. Despite the vigorous emergence feminist movements, improper thoughts and online public opinion have aggravated the confrontation between men and women, impeding the progress of gender equality. This study conducts a comparative analysis of the stances on gender equality at home and abroad, traces the historical roots of gender inequality from prehistoric society to capitalist society, and reveals the underlying social structure and economic foundation. A critical examination of the current gender equality ideology reveals issues such as an excessive emphasis on ideology while neglecting the realistic foundation, the pursuit of equality yet tacitly accepting male “privileges”, women's empowerment confined by the male-dominated framework, blurred boundaries between equality and consumerism, differentiated interests within feminism, and the confrontation between men and women. Based on this, this study proposes future strategies for promoting gender equality, emphasizing the need to transform the realistic foundation, enhance women's social value, increase women's access to social resources and voice, and strengthen social consensus and cooperation to drive the substantive development of the cause of gender equality.

Feminist media makers in the San Francisco Bay area

ABSTRACT This article documents two long-standing media projects in the San Francisco Bay area. ‘Voices of the Native Nations’, a community radio program, and the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project (QWOCMAP), training program and film festival, both were based in feminist and decolonial social movements and arose during key media historic moments. I argue that media-in-transition goes beyond a simple consideration of technological changes, and instead includes the complex processes by which emerging groups of social actors claim a specific medium or media assemblage within the space constituted by residual and dominant political and media formations. Media-in-transition includes two different time periods – a group’s emergence within a specific media historic moment or conjuncture of changing movements, residual and dominant political and media ecologies, and media technologies; and the always-in-process ways that these contending groups constitute new subjectivities, media practices and social relations. I conclude by reviewing the legacies of these two projects for contemporary feminist media.

Exploring The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams Through the Lens of Feminism

The characters, scenes, and events in Tennessee William’s The Glass Menagerie are used to expand on the idea of women's liberation. Utilizing a feminist lens, the article aims to reread The Glass Menagerie from a feminist approach. It also highlights the distinctions between the characters in the play and the reasons behind them. The degree of liberalness in each of the drama's scenes helps to clarify them. Additionally, one of the ideas that will be covered in the study is the patriarchal influence of male characters over female characters. However, The Glass Menagerie's portrayal of a mother figure's challenging relationship with her rebellious son and helpless daughter takes the idea of liberal women in a different direction. Importantly, now that literary study often overlooks the significance of female characters’ development and change, this article contributes to discussing these elements within the research.

Teaching and Learning with Situated Data: Socio-Technical Pedagogy and Reform at the Community Data Clinic and Biological Computer Lab

This paper reviews how situated data methods were used to critically engage students in sociotechnical case studies drawn from campus history and archives in courses developed under the Community Data Clinic and the Biological Computer Lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In contrast to conventional data practices—that have long been critiqued by feminist, critical race and decolonial STS scholars for conditioning researchers to adopt a disembodied, de-gendered, -raced and -classed “God’s eye view from nowhere” (Haraway 1988) in order to project claims to objectivity and universality, situated data practices underscore the need for acknowledging the kinds of epistemic violence that a reproduction of “seeing from nowhere” expands, including through accelerating trends in datafication on and off university campuses. Pedagogy around situated data cultivates instead more accountable research practices through acknowledging the specificity of data that researchers collect and the necessary partiality of any researcher’s ability to see and know. As I review here, too, situated data methods offer valuable lessons for teachers and scholars in critical data and STS fields working to preserve pluralist, human-centered approaches to data in the face of accelerating campus investments in industry-centered data science programs. Indeed, at a time when STS and critical data scholars are witnessing the rapid growth of data science programs on campuses that train students to uncritically meet the profit-driven demands of datafication driven largely by Big Tech companies, the adoption of situated data methods to revisit sociotechnical practice and STS’ own overlooked histories of innovation in intersection with counter-cultural politics in the US uncovers the richness of alternative resources. Such histories can highlight how sociotechnical change and infrastructural transformation are more than just the domain of industry sectors or elite knowledge institutions, especially when they involve justice-based reforms.

The EU’s Geopolitical Awakening Following the Russian Invasion of Ukraine: How the Commission Shifted from a Regulatory Market-Based Approach to a Geopolitical Approach in Its External Energy Policy

The Ukraine invasion has been a watershed moment in EU-Russia gas relations, which has resulted in a shift in the European Commission’s (EC’s) approach towards Russia and European energy policy. Whilst the EC has traditionally followed a rule-based market approach in its external energy relations with Russia, there appears to have been a shift from the prevailing liberal market model to a more strategic and geopolitical approach focused on energy security.Although the EC has sometimes displayed tendencies of a realist nature, these realist elements in its external action have been exacerbated following the invasion of Ukraine. This article engages in a theoretical debate between the conceptualizations of the EU as a liberal actor versus the perception of the EU as a realist actor. Whilst there is literature to support both views, the debate can be further developed after the war in Ukraine. Since the invasion, the EC appears to have undertaken a more robust and coherent stance towards Russia in its commitment to decouple European economies from Russian gas to ensure EU energy security. The change in objectives illustrate a shift in the EU’s energy policy from the liberal paradigm of markets to geopolitics, as the new dynamics of EU-Russia energy relations, following the invasion of Ukraine.

Religion, gender-based violence and silence: A radical feminist reading of women’s agency in Chika Unigwe’s novel

The intersection of religion, culture and gender-based violence (GBV) continues to provoke critical debates in feminist scholarship and activism. Although substantial steps are noticeable in terms of addressing numerous forms of violence against women, religion and culture in the African context continue to promulgate harmful practices. Chika Unigwe’s novel, The Middle Daughter, highlights a world where religion, GBV, social norms, rape myths, silence and agency intersect, shaping women’s lived experiences. Nani, the protagonist, overwhelmed by the loss of her sister and father merely 2 years apart, is lured by a preacher – a wolf in sheep’s clothing – who shoves her into an abusive marriage. Raped but determined to keep the assault under the tongue, Nani further drifts away from her family, friends and community. Imprisoned and battered, yet, Nani’s silent resilience emerges – a quiet but radical strength that defies religio-sociocultural norms. This study is a review of African feminism in eradicating GBV. It discusses how Unigwe’s radical feminist lens unveils the competing female strength and the limits of silence as a form of women’s agency, thereby critiquing the dominant ‘soft’ African feminist approaches.Contribution: This study adopts a radical feminist theory to critique the ‘soft’ African feminisms which fail to serve women facing the intersectional forces of religion, culture and GBV. It argues that feminist activism in Africa has been going on for a lengthy period, yet the double standards embedded in religio-sociocultural beliefs and practices sustain women’s oppression.

Feminist cash for feminist culture: considering philanthropy in the UK Women’s liberation movement, Black power and beyond

ABSTRACT Feminists of the 1960s-80s linked women’s emancipation to economic, social and political equality. So, despite long traditions of women’s giving, activists seeking financial support for their work generally looked to public funders or trade, whilst philanthropy was rejected. Women with wealth in turn experienced uncertainty, guilt or shame in how to give or invest in political contexts. Yet in fact, women did donate to feminist ventures, including literary productions, magazines and activist presses. This article uncovers this history, looking at how philanthropy helped sustain the cultural arms of social movements, yet usually unplanned and a last resort. Focusing on Spare Rib, WIRES, Trouble & Strife, Onlywomen and Black Power press Bogle-L’Ouverture, it explores the motives for both givers and receivers. Do donors have to be wealthy? What about donations to women’s activism from men, or to Black activism from white people? In answering these questions, I compare philanthropy in the UK with women’s funding movements in the US and the Netherlands at the time, considering their more proactive approaches to the risks that inequalities would be cemented. These examples demand consideration in today’s context of revived feminist activism and shrinking state funding, in which many are turning to private funding for support.

Perinatal death, collective action and legislation against obstetric violence in Argentina

This article explores the interconnections between perinatal death, collective action, and legislation against obstetric violence in Argentina. It employs a comprehensive methodological approach, including in-depth interviews, document reviews, a survey, and intensive ethnographic fieldwork to provide a multidimensional understanding of how collective actions influence legislative outcomes. Johanna Piferrer’s case, a poignant example detailed in this study, illustrates how personal tragedy catalyzed public and legislative acknowledgement of obstetric violence. This article argues that her advocacy, coupled with the broader feminist movement’s support, was crucial in transforming personal grief into a public issue that led to significant legislative changes. These changes include the creation of “Johanna’s Law,” which mandates improved hospital protocols and health professional training to handle perinatal deaths more sensitively and effectively. The study concludes that collective action is a powerful catalyst for creating transformative legislation that addresses the systemic issues of obstetric violence in Argentina.

Revisiting Intersectionality: Theoretical Debates and Their Viability in the Indian Context

Intersectionality, introduced within the Black feminist movement, gained momentum in feminist, sociological, and political identity-based discourses as a theoretical framework for its focus on women’s intersectional experiences of violence, often shaped by other dimensions of their identities, such as race and class. While the framework addresses social power structures and lived experiences, concerns have been raised due to its generalizability, ambiguity, and catch-all nature. This paper explores critical voices from India, questioning whether intersectionality remains a viable theoretical approach within Indian feminist discourse. It traces the contextual origin of this concept and its arrival and validity in the Indian context. The paper argues that women’s lived experiences should not be treated as universal; instead, they must be considered unique, shaped by various marginalized social identities that women embody. The paper contributes to ongoing debates about the relevance and adaptability of intersectionality in diverse cultural and sociopolitical landscapes.

Student-feminist movement relationships in post-dictatorship Brazil and Chile

ABSTRACT This article traces youth-led movements in Brazil and Chile in the 2000s and examines the relationship among them. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork from 2018 to 2022, it discusses young activists who sought to shift and broaden student movements; feminist movements, their relationship to student movements, and the use of digital platforms; and the role of partisan politics. The findings underscore universities and high schools as critical sites of continuing student movements, but also dynamic spaces in which activists could experiment and develop new political projects. For example, activists articulated struggles and crafted new repertories such as choreographed street performance. They replicated these new repertoires through social media and in relation to electoral politics. I show how, not without contention, student movements pushed feminist movements to be more intersectional and less elite, and feminist movements helped reveal sexist and patriarchal dynamics in both university structures and student movements. The cases of these movements in Brazil and Chile contribute to understanding how social movements shape one another across space and time, and sheds light on the range of their educational contributions.

‘Wages for Housework’: the evolution of the debate in the 1970s Italian women's movement

Abstract This article delves into the historical trajectory of Lotta Femminista, a pioneering separatist feminist network in Italy during the early 1970s, and its significant influence on feminist discourse, particularly concerning the advocacy for wages for housework. Through an examination of the group's development within the broader context of the Italian women's movement, this study illuminates the theoretical foundations and practical activism associated with the perspective on wages for housework. Drawing on archival documents and personal accounts, the essay investigates how Lotta Femminista depicted domestic labour as a form of women's exploitation within a Marxist framework. Despite facing criticism and opposition, Lotta Femminista's ideas resonated globally, leaving a legacy in feminist theory and activism. Through its engagement with issues such as the refusal to work and the recognition of unpaid care as a site of capitalist exploitation, Lotta Femminista contributed to the broader history of feminism in Italy and beyond.

Determinants of Successful Femvertising in the Lingerie Industry: A Case Study on VS Collective and Aerie Real

With the rise of the feminist movement in recent years, many brands began to adhere to the movement's values, launching campaigns focused on inclusion, diversity, and women's empowerment, which became known as femvertising. However, there is a lack of research exploring how brands that adhere to similar feminist principles in their respective advertising are received differently by the public. This study aims to fill this literature gap and contribute to the growing body of research by investigating how femvertising principles are incorporated into the advertising strategies of Victoria’s Secret and American Eagle Outfitters (AEO). To this end, this study relies on a comparative analysis of these two prominent brands within the lingerie industry. The findings of this study reveal that a key marker of authenticity, and therefore one of the main determinants of the success of a feminist campaign, is the coherence of advertising messages with the brand's corporate practices, products, and social initiatives.

Ecofeminism: Women's Resistance to the Development of a Geothermal Power Plant Project in Padarincang, Serang Regency

This article examines the women's resistance movement in Padarincang District, Serang Regency, against the development of a Geothermal Power Plant, analyzed through an ecofeminist perspective. As human dependence on energy grows, there is increasing pressure to find alternative energy sources, such as geothermal energy, to meet daily needs. The proposed Geothermal Power Plant in Padarincang is part of Indonesia’s commitment to achieving Net Zero Emissions (NZE). However, local resistance emerged due to concerns over the potential economic and environmental impacts of the project. Using qualitative research methods and a case study approach, this study explores how women in Padarincang District contributed to the ecological movement. The findings reveal that the rejection stemmed from a lack of community engagement and socialization about the development, leading to fears of environmental degradation. Many locals did not understand that geothermal energy could offer new opportunities for renewable energy. The resistance, particularly from women, gave rise to an ecofeminist movement addressing these environmental issues. This research contributes to the literature on the intersection of gender and environmental concerns, particularly by highlighting the role of women in such movements.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND GENDER EQUALITY IN THE SALE OF BORAN RICE IN LAMONGAN INDONESIA

Women's empowerment and equality in the economic sector have become widespread due to the successful implementation of the feminist movement. In socialist feminism, the oppression of women in the world of work was rampant, and this has slowly diminished with the empowerment of women in the social and economic sectors. The selling of boran rice by women only in Lamongan, East Java, Indonesia, has a uniqueness because it is one of Lamongan's traditional foods. This research aims to discuss women's empowerment and gender equality in the production and selling practice of boran rice in Lamongan. This research uses descriptive qualitative methods and a phenomenological approach. The data taken in this study is from interviews with boran rice sellers in Lamongan. The results of this research suggest that boran rice sellers do not mind being supporters of the family economy. The women empowerment act is found in the association that houses boran rice sellers in the west of the Lamongan plaza. The gender equality found in the opportunity for women to have a job. This reflects that women and men have their own roles, and their skills are equally useful.

Interaction Between Gender and Space: A Study on the Genealogy of Feminist Architecture

The exploration and advancement of feminism are vital for addressing critical issues such as social progress, equitable education, and healthcare access. This paper comprehensively examines the feminist movement’s impact on architecture over the past century, identifying key trends and significant areas to establish an academic foundation for feminist architecture. A literature review on feminism in urban planning, architecture, landscape design, and urban safety highlights the current research focus on feminist architectural development. Furthermore, this paper traces the evolution of feminist architecture through both purpose-driven and process-oriented approaches, exploring the interplay between feminist and modern architectural practices. It specifically examines the development of feminist architecture within the Chinese context from two perspectives: the influence of feminist thought on architecture and the evolution of gendered spaces within the “Residence and Courtyard” model. By comparing the internal logic of feminist architectural development in China and the West, this study investigates how geopolitical culture and regional differences shape the future trajectory of this field. Unlike traditional feminist architectural research, which often emphasizes women’s practices within specific feminist ideologies or focuses on visual culture and psychological interpretations of gendered spaces, this paper redefines the scope of feminist architectural studies through a comparative analysis of historical and contemporary contexts, and Eastern and Western perspectives, employing a systematic genealogical approach.

Psychological Women's Liberation: Feminist Therapy Between Psychology and the Women's Movement in the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1970s

From the late 1960s onwards, the early second women's movement encompassed all areas of West German society. This included debates about how women's healthcare could be improved in aself-determined, women-friendly way and in line with feminist ideals. These debates were also held with regard to the general boom in psychotherapy at the time. This article explores the question of how debates around feminist therapy emerged in the Federal Republic of Germany. It also looks at the tense relationship between psychology and psychotherapy. While feminist women's counselling and therapy centers became awidespread part of apsychosocial care network from the late 1970s onwards, scientific psychology in German speaking countries remained largely closed to feminist influences. The article traces how this imbalance between feminist therapeutic practice and psychological women's research came about. Therefore, the article sets out from 1974, when psychologists tried to introduce feminist impulses into academic psychology and feminist activists made psychotherapeutic approaches usable for the women's movement. Many female psychologists shifted their commitment from the academic to the therapeutic field. It is argued, that this was due to the less than conducive conditions that feminist-oriented psychologists found in German-speaking academic psychology.

Tensions, Challenges, and Opportunities: Internal Networks Supporting Gender Equality Policy Processes and Structural Change in Universities

Abstract This article examines the role of internal networks in supporting gender equality (GE) units and GE policy processes within universities, focusing on the tensions, challenges, and opportunities that can be encountered. Using two illustrative cases from Spain and employing a qualitative approach, it explores how these networks, bridging top-down and bottom-up approaches, navigate the balance between centralized and decentralized approaches in managing and implementing GE plans and the impact of institutionalization. Research has examined GE policy networks and women’s academic participation, but within-university GE networks are less studied. Tensions arise between institutionalization and feminist activism, coordinated action and idea generation, and local ownership and change agents’ limited authority. Challenges include obtaining institutional recognition while maintaining feminist sensibility, emphasizing the importance of nurturing networks. We highlight the productive power of resistance and the need to capitalize on context-specific opportunities for driving structural change in universities.

Bad-Mad-Female. Scientific Analyses of Female Violent Crime from the 1960s to the 1990s

While female capital offences have repeatedly caused astir since the beginning of the modern era at the latest, female violent crime has remained amarginal phenomenon in statistical observations for along time. Forensics, with its traditional core disciplines of psychiatry and law, also remained focused on the dangerous male perpetrator for along time in its analysis and theory development beyond infanticide: male forensic scientists analysed male perpetrators of violence.Since the 1960s, there has been an increasing number of scientific contributions on female criminality and its causes in West Germany. Women were now also analysing female criminality from aprofessional as well as from asocially critical perspective; adevelopment that gained significant momentum with the New Women's Movement and Critical Criminology.The article puts an emphasis on the discourse on female violent crime in the "old" Federal Republic of Germany. It starts out by framing the issue of women's violent crime in criminological discourse. Against this background, it examines how gender-specific constructions of criminality developed, especially in the discussion of the "dangerous mentally ill" in forensic discussion forums, how and to what extent which topoi were perpetuated and which were subject to changes. Did the analyses of female scientists differ from those of their male colleagues? What significance did critical or feminist currents or actors have?In view of social change processes (emancipation, psychiatric reform, criminal law reform), the article examines the interpretation of female violence and the connection between gender, dangerousness and mental illness. It focuses on the question of persistence, dynamisation or diversification of gender-specific constructions and normative concepts of normal/crazy in the forensic conflation of "bad and mad".