Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis Research Articles

Pregnancy, Parenthood, and Elite Athletics: “There’s a Lot of Work Still Yet To Be Done”

Several female athletes have recently challenged the long-standing assumption that pregnancy/parenthood (particularly motherhood) and participation in elite-level sport are mutually exclusive. These women’s actions have elicited change across the elite athletics industry and have sparked a need for further research to understand how elite athlete-parents perceive these shifts. We used feminist poststructuralist theory, feminist participatory action research, and semistructured interviews to explore the perspectives of 21 pregnant and parenting elite/international and world-class athletes (11 women and 10 men) on the developing degree of acceptance of parenthood in elite athletics. Through feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis, we identified that, despite considerable recent advancements, there is still a need for continued change in the degree to which pregnant/parenting elite athletes are accepted and supported within elite athletics.

‘Joking aside’ The power of rejections in humour

Response is an effective tool for exercising power in humour, since it can make a person seem funny. In the same way, the lack of response can make a person seem unfunny. In this article I argue that failed jokes make a female skiing pundit on TV seem humourless and that this is due to the other interlocutors refraining from giving adequate responses. The material is from a sports programme about cross-country skiing on Swedish Television. The aim of the case study is to find out how power is exercised discursively in humour that fails and to discuss possible implications the rejections may have on notions of gender. The theoretical framework used is a feminist post-structuralist discourse analysis in combination with an analysis of internal and external control mechanisms. The discursive practice of repeated rejections of the female pundit may have consequences for her possibilities in seeming humorous.

Gender, religion and identity: discursive constructions of ‘non-veiling’ among non-veiled Malaysian Muslim women

ABSTRACT This paper examines the link between language, identity, religion, and gender through a study of discursive identity construction among non-veiled Muslim women in Malaysia. Informed by Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis (FPDA), this paper further explores the ways through which these women attempt to negotiate and/or subvert their positions of powerful and powerless within interrelated religious and gendered Discourses, which are collectively grouped under the ‘Discourses of non-veiling’. As the veil is regarded as an important signifier of a Muslim woman’s identity, the discussions revolving around this symbolic piece of clothing and the identity of the wearer elicits responses that showcase a diversity of perspectives. By utilising a discursive and linguistic lens, this study therefore seeks to contribute to the emerging body of work on language, religion, and identity.

Relationships, roles and person-centred practices – collaborative birthing care in Nova Scotia

Background: Collaboration is an important factor in creating and maintaining safe and effective spaces in perinatal healthcare. Family-centred care has been used by perinatal nurses to provide care that focuses on the family. Woman-centred care is defining for midwifery, and centres care around women’s expert knowledge and decision making. Person-centred care extends these approaches to include all persons involved in healthcare. The ongoing integration of midwives into existing perinatal healthcare teams in Canada has created new opportunities for collaboration. Understanding how midwives and nurses collaborate can offer insights into how collaboration is influenced by different approaches. Aim: The aim of this study was to understand how midwives and nurses collaborate in Nova Scotia, Canada. Methods: Feminist poststructuralism guided this case study. The data collected included 17 individual participant interviews, document review and field notes. Feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: The two main themes discussed in this article were negotiating roles and practices, and sustaining relationships. In the first theme, participants talked about how they negotiated their roles, how their skills and practices crossed over and the importance of communication and anticipation. In the second theme, participants described how they test trust, the ways in which midwives depend on nurses, and a need for more opportunities to work, learn and socialise together. Conclusion: The relationships between midwives and nurses in Nova Scotia support their collaboration and contributions to ensuring their workplaces are safe and effective. The participants described intuitive engagement with person-centredness. Implications for practice: The Person-centred Practice Framework should be used to facilitate collaboration in perinatal healthcare Individual, institutional and systemic commitments to intentional engagement with practice development are needed to support healthful cultures in perinatal healthcare Research is needed to explore how family-centred and woman-centred care approaches may support person-centred practices and cultures

English Teachers Gendered Identities Constructions in their Doings, Sayings and Relatings

This is a research report of a feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis study carried out in a private University in Tunja, Boyacá, Colombia. This study intended to explore the relation among two EFL university teachers’ pedagogical practices and their gendered identities constructions. Pedagogical practices were framed in the practice architectures: doings, sayings and relatings proposed by Kemmis & Mutton (2012)
 It was unveiled that doings, sayings and relatings were sites for and outcomes of teachers´ gendered identities construction. Additionally, teachers´ gendered sayings, doings and relatings were interweaved, juxtaposed, complemented, and contrasted sites where teachers performed different masculinities and femininities based on their capacities to adapt, resist, contest and oppose to heteronormative and patriarchal discourses such as gender roles and normative masculine and feminine features. Those gendered constructions were identified to have possible consequences upon students´ English language leaning and gendered identities construction.

Feminism in a Female Teacher’s Discourse in an EFL Classroom

This research article on feminism gives an account of the interaction between a female teacher and her students at a public university in Tunja, Colombia. The study aims to evidence features of feminism within an English as a foreign language classroom by analyzing the transcriptions of the teacher’s discourse using the Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis. As a result of the study, it can be stated that feminism is not determined by gender, but rather, it is an individual choice that is socially constructed and transmitted through power relationships. Findings suggest that being female or male does not guarantee having a definite position towards feminism; instead, it is mostly demarcated by the specific situations and circumstances that each individual experiences within a society.

STEREOTYPICAL IDEOLOGIES TOWARDS WOMEN: FEMINIST POSTSTRUCTURALIST DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF MALALA YOUSAFZAI’S POLITICAL SPEECHES

Purpose of the study: The study investigates how the speech of Malala Yousafzai to the United Nations and Nobel Lecture intends to be coercive through generalizing the experiential realities of women across the world and how it tends to legitimize and delegitimize certain beliefs about women in Pakistan. This paper attempts to demonstrate how Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis tends to subvert the stereotypical ideologies towards women across the world through the deconstruction of political media discourses. Methodology: The study tends to focus upon context-specific gender issues where power is constructed as a flowing entity in order to dismantle the binaristic constructions of powerful/powerless and also in order to reinterpret the stereotypical subject positions assigned to women in media discourses. A qualitative research paradigm has been used. Main Findings: This study shows the way in which Malala Yousafzai's speeches privilege one voice in favor of another voice is questionable, as the present research inquiry tends to deconstruct the epistemology of fixed gender symmetries in media studies. This study is finally able to reveal the ideology in Malala Yousafzai’s speeches and present the linguistic features that construct the ideology. Applications of this study: The present study can be applied in gender studies to study political ideologies. It is concluded that the ideology of Malala Yousafzai’s speeches is women empowerment. There is a protest and willingness to carry off girls ‘education and women’s rights. It is also shown through her persuasive ways to encourage the girls and women to recognize their abilities. She initiates changes in girl’s education and women’s rights. Novelty/Originality: This study is unique in the way that it interprets Malala's speeches under the framework of Feminist Post-Structuralist Discourse Analysis. It deconstructs the meanings and reveals the power dynamics through language.

Moving beyond ‘gender-neutral’: creating gender expansive environments in early childhood education

ABSTRACT In this research, feminist post-structuralism and queer theory were used to examine Australian early childhood educators’ views on children’s gender identity development, and the content on gender in the Australian Government’s Early Years Learning Framework. The methodology and study design were based upon qualitative phenomenological research methods. The participants consisted of 12 early childhood educators who worked in kindergarten and long day care settings. The data was collected through semi-structured focus groups and semi-structured interviews. Feminist post-structuralist discourse analysis was used to identify discourses deployed within participants’ responses in relation to how they may enable or constrain pro-diversity spaces. Implications of this research include the need for further support and guidance for educators through policy, curriculum, resources and teacher education. This research highlighted the need to trouble the notion of ‘gender-neutral’ and the value of fostering gender expansive environments in early childhood education.

Experiences of and visions for collaboration between midwives and nurses in Nova Scotia

ProblemIn jurisdictions where midwifery and nursing are autonomous and separate health care professions, little is known about how they collaborate during the delivery of perinatal health care services. BackgroundMidwifery became a regulated profession in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada in 2009. Since regulation, midwives and nurses have worked together at three models sites for the delivery of midwifery services and perinatal care. QuestionHow do midwives and nurses collaborate during the provision of birthing care in Nova Scotia, Canada? MethodsThis was an instrumental case study guided by feminist poststructuralism. Individual interviews of 17 participants were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Twenty-five documents were reviewed, and field notes were gathered. Feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis was used. FindingsMidwives and nurses collaborated well together. Participants described how positive collaborative experiences could influence a new way for midwives and nurses to work together. In this paper we present the theme Moving forward: A Modern Model for Nurses and Midwives working together, and its sub-themes of 1)’The birthing culture has changed’ and 2) ‘Allies and advocates’. DiscussionWithin the global context of strengthening midwifery and nursing, this study illustrated the potential for developing formal, collaborative perinatal models of care led by midwife and nurse teams to address inequities in perinatal health care services. ConclusionMidwives and nurses need more opportunities to collaborate and to build professional relationships. Establishing a midwife-led and nurse supported model of care may transform existing perinatal health care values, beliefs, and practices.

Discursive construction of sexual assault: A qualitative analysis of news media reporting of ‘the Kavanaugh Case’

Media coverage of sexual violence in political contexts has previously been shown to sensationalise the events by focusing on the impact ‘the scandal’ may have on a politician’s reputation and career rather than on the narrative of the victim. In late 2018, another political scandal appeared in newspapers worldwide, covering Brett Kavanaugh’s alleged sexual assault on Christine Blasey Ford. This paper aims to explore how Blasey Ford’s allegations and the subsequent hearing which came to be known as ‘the Kavanaugh case’ were discursively constructed in UK national newspapers between 13 September 2018 and 24 October 2018. A feminist post-structuralist discourse analysis of 94 articles from UK’s 10 top-circulating national newspapers was employed to explore how heteropatriarchal power relations are continuously perpetuated within UK newspapers through instances of humanising of the perpetrator and framing allegations of sexual misconduct as (only) political game-playing.

‘Feminazis’: A feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis into the mainstream media’s representations of feminist activism

Using a feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis (FPDA) this research examines discourses surrounding feminist activists within mainstream Western online media articles. The mainstream media can be accused of portraying feminism and its goals negatively (Scharff 2009), often leading to negative consequences regarding identification with the feminist movement (Callaghan et al., 1999). To examine these discourses within mainstream media, 50 articles relating to the Women’s March on Washington were sampled from US and UK online newspaper sites. The findings of this research suggest that although there are both positive and negative discourses surrounding feminist activism within mainstream media, a large proportion were negative, including discourses of ‘feminism is fractured’, ‘hashtag activism’ and ‘What about the men?’ Discussions around intersectionality (including race), social media and men within feminism were seen within these overarching discourses and throughout the research the possible implications of these negative discourses surrounding feminist activists is discussed.

Providing postpartum care with limited resources: Experiences of nurse-midwives and obstetricians in urban Tanzania

BackgroundTanzania has high maternal and neonatal mortality rates. Comprehensive guidelines for postpartum care have been developed by the government as a means to improve health outcomes during the perinatal period. Despite the creation of these guidelines and the government’s commitment to universal perinatal care for women and neonates, there is concern that the delivery of postpartum services may not be meeting the needs of mothers and neonates. AimThe purpose of this feminist poststructuralist study was to explore nurse-midwives’ and obstetricians’ experiences of providing postpartum care in Tanzania. MethodsThis qualitative study used feminist poststructuralism to explore the personal, social, and institutional discourses of postpartum care. We individually interviewed ten nurse-midwives and three obstetricians in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis was used to analyze the transcribed interviews after their translation from Kiswahili to English. FindingsFour main themes were identified. In this paper, we present the main theme of availability of resources, and its four corresponding subthemes; (1) space, (2) equipment, (3) staffing, and (4) government responsibility. DiscussionThe findings from our study illustrate the need for health workforce planning to be addressed in a comprehensive manner that accounts for context, required resources and systemic challenges. These findings are consistent with findings from other studies. ConclusionUnderstanding the resource challenges that nurse-midwives and obstetricians are facing in one low-and-middle-income-country will assist researchers, decision makers, and politicians as they address issues of mortality, morbidity, and disrespectful maternity care.

Meet the phallic lecturer: early career research in a neoliberal imaginary

ABSTRACTThis article introduces the concept of the phallic lecturer, a spectral figure negotiated in the early stages of a research career in education, when the relative freedom of doctoral study morphs into compliance with institutional demands. Awareness of the dominance of the phallic in education emerges from reading curriculum theorist Madeleine Grumet, feminist philosopher Judith Butler and academic Judith Baxter, whose feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis offers ways to engage with the addresses and imperatives of phallicism that move beyond traditional, masculinist discourse analysis. The article expands an initial study of how secondary teachers both comply with and subvert curricula and shifts to the pedagogical addresses of university learning management systems, as they call gendered subjectivities into being, interpellating junior academics as shining lights or failed subjects. These concepts are offered to other researchers seeking to speak back to the common sense demands of neoliberalism that prosthetically structure work in higher education.

Competing Discourses In The Algerian EFL Classroom:, A Feminist Post-Structuralist Discourse Analysis

Competing Discourses In The Algerian EFL Classroom:, A Feminist Post-Structuralist Discourse Analysis

‘If you look at me like at a piece of meat, then that’s a problem’ – women in the center of the male gaze. Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis as a tool of critique

ABSTRACTThis article proposes a discursive approach to beauty, which it illustrates with a close data analysis of women's relationship with the ‘male gaze’. In gender and feminist studies, the male gaze is invoked with reference to the patriarchal surveillance of women's bodies. The article complements studies that approach the surveillance as a socio-cultural phenomenon by investigating it as a discursive accomplishment of a social relation and identification. Taking a Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis approach to the matter (and combining it with a discursive psychological perspective), this article focuses on the complexities and ambiguities underwriting individuals’ personalized ways of dealing with being looked at. Women's positioning to the male gaze by means of culturally available discourses is found to reveal ambiguous sites of agency and submission within its scope. Examining them, the article addresses the importance of combining a feminist poststructuralist perspective on the relations of gender with women's lived understandings of being implicated in them. (How) can lived and academic sensibilities be set side by side in gender research? Is there a methodology of discourse analysis that facilitates this?

Construction Of Subversive Gender Identities: A Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis Of A Television Play, Chal Jhooti

This article examines the women’s construction of gender identities as a form of resistance in the presence of dominant discourses. Firstly, it aims to analyze the construction of gender identities which are not approved by the societal norms and yet helps women gain a position of power needed to survive in a male dominated society. Secondly, it seeks to describe and interpret the socio-cultural discursive practices responsible for inequities and the strategies adopted by the women for resistance and change. The data for the present study consists of a single episode television play “Chal Jhooti”. Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis (FPDA) and theory of performativity are employed to deconstruct the cross identities and to reveal the discourses underlying the mechanism of power in sustaining repressive social structures and hegemonic social relations. The findings reveal that women are multiply located in discourse as they adopt particular ways to resist certain dominant social practices. It also reveals that women’s construction and performance of masculine gender identity is not merely construed as their power but at the same time it is a reinforcement of men’s power as generally these gender crossings aggravate the essential dualism of the gender structure. The current study suggests that the presence of existing discourse of gender differentiation results in deviations from gender appropriate norms which are policed and intended as a mean to defy it.

Exploring women faculty's experiences and perceptions in higher education: the effects of feminism?

This study analyses women faculty's discourse about feminism, themselves, and their professional experiences as scholars in the North American university context. This case study pushes at the boundaries of what we believe we know about ‘the gender question' in the academy, opening a discursive space for scholars to examine university policies and practices. Poststructuralist emphasis on the complexity and changing nature of power relations offer a framework that makes sense of the ways in which women are simultaneously affected by power relations and engage in power relations. I use feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis to analyse women's talk about their experiences in order to carve a path for moving beyond the deconstruction of discourse in order to unpack how it marginalises and silences women, even within and to themselves.

Gender Positioning in the Development of EFL activities

AbstractThis article describes an experience related to gender positioning in a group of Fifth Grade students at a public institution of Boyacá. Due to the type of study and its objectives, the focus of the analysis and the interpretation of data applied was the Feminist Post-Structuralist Discourse Analysis (FPDA). The results showed that students use different positioning mechanisms during the development of the activities proposed in class, and that girls have a privileged status in the group. It was also evident that the use of the dictionary is a way to exercise power over others. Social relations in this group have emerged and solidified over time. The results also demonstrated thatthe positioning of the students has a positive or negative impact on their language learning process. Finally, some conclusions and implications for teachers are suggested in order to improve teaching and social practices in the classroom. Key words: discourse, gender, positioning, power, language learning.ResumenEste artículo describe una experiencia relacionada con el posicionamiento de género en un grupo de estudiantes de Grado 5° en una institución pública de Boyacá. Debido al tipo de estudio y los objetivos propuestos, el enfoque de análisis e interpretación de datos utilizados fue el Análisisdel Discurso Feminista Pos-estructuralista (FPDA). Los resultados mostraron que los estudiantes utilizan diferentes mecanismos de posicionamiento durante el desarrollo de las actividades propuestas en clase y que las niñas tienen un estatus privilegiado en el grupo. También se evidenció que el uso del diccionario es una manera de ejercer poder sobre los demás y que las relaciones sociales en este grupo han surgido y se han solidificado a través del tiempo. Los resultados también ilustraron que el posicionamiento de los estudiantes tiene un impacto positivo o negativo en su proceso de aprendizaje del idioma. Finalmente, algunas conclusiones e implicaciones para los profesores son sugeridas con el fin de mejorar la enseñanza y las prácticas sociales en el salón de clase. Palabras clave: discurso, género, posicionamiento, poder, aprendizaje del idioma.

Female EFL teachers: shifting and multiple gender and language-learner identities

Gender studies have taken an important role within the academic community, and specifically in the field of second and foreign languagelearning. In this paper I use a Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis (FPDA) study to explore how emergent femininities construct genderidentities and power relations inside the EFL classroom setting through interaction. I argue that identities are multiple and shifting accordingto the way individuals position and reposition themselves through discourse(s). In doing so, gender identities can be identified and related tolearners’ identities in EFL contexts. I chose a Feminist Poststructuralist Discourse Analysis (FPDA) methodology (Baxter, 2003) in order toidentify telling cases (Mitchell, 1984) during interactions in which, female adult students from a private university in Bogotá, Colombia makeexplicit the exercising of power during classroom activities, such as debates (Castañeda- Peña, 2009) and disputes (Toohey, 2001) in foreignlanguage learning. I chose video recordings, transcripts and interviews as instruments to cope with the objectives of the study as well as toaccomplish the methodological suggestions. Findings suggest the importance of being aware of the multiplicity of gender identities that mayintervene when learning a language and how to deal with more egalitarian discourses and activities during classes that guarantee, to someextent, the empowerment of silent voices.

‘Gaining the right amount for my baby’: Young pregnant women’s discursive constructions of health

In Canada, obesity is increasingly emphasised as a ‘risk’ to the health of mother and foetus. At a time when pregnant women are under greater pressure to personally uphold the health of their foetus, understanding the impact of the discourse surrounding obesity and health on young pregnant women is critical. Using a feminist poststructuralist discourse analysis, we explore how pregnant young women construct their subjectivities either within dominant discourse on health and obesity or possibly resistant discourses. Open-ended interviews were conducted with 15 pregnant women between the ages of 18 and 28, coming from various socioeconomic and educational backgrounds in the Ottawa region. The analysis reveals that these women constitute themselves as complex, fragmented subjects who at times construct themselves within alternative and resistant discourses but generally reproduce dominant discourses of obesity, of individual and moral responsibility for health, and of maternal responsibility for foetal health. Implications for health promotion and policy strategies are discussed.