Construction Of Gender Research Articles

Misunderstood, excluded, and othered: Lay constructions of autistic women

This qualitative investigation explored lay constructions of autistic women, a group that has been invisible from the making of “autism,” as it is constructed by society. Thirty-one neurotypical adults living in Australia (aged 19–65 years) responded to a written vignette about a fictional autistic woman. We performed a constructionist thematic analysis and developed three themes that positioned autistic women as misunderstood, excluded, and othered. We interpreted the results through the lenses of dominant gender constructs, ableist discourse, and intersectionality theory. Our interpretation of the findings illuminates the prevailing influence of male-dominant discourses of autism, hegemonic ideals of womanhood, and medicalised understandings of disability that people draw upon to make sense of autistic women. This novel research underscores the need for more education and awareness about this group.

The Social Construction of Gender in the Experience of Vocational School Adolescents. A Critical Approach

In the context of vocational high schools, gender role divisions and stereotypes are often reinforced by the educational environment and social practices, which have an impact on career choices, social interactions, and future opportunities for adolescents, so this research aims to analyze how gender norms and stereotypes are formed and maintained in vocational high schools, identifies the social dynamics that influence adolescents' experiences of gender roles, presenting a critical approach to understanding and challenging the social construction of gender in educational institutions. It is also hoped that this research can provide important insight into how vocational education institutions become dynamic spaces in shaping adolescent gender identity. These findings also open a discussion regarding the importance of educational reform that is more inclusive and gender equal, so that it can encourage students to explore their potential without the limitations of gender stereotypes.Through a qualitative approach with in-depth interviews and participant observation, this research explores how patriarchal values, traditional gender norms, and educational policies implicitly shape adolescents' gender identity. This research concludes that the education system in vocational high schools is not gender neutral, but rather reproduces gender-based social injustice. Therefore, efforts are needed to deconstruct gender norms that exist in the curriculum and educational practices, in order to create a more inclusive and fair learning environment for all teenagers, regardless of their gender identity.

Doing and undoing gender: examining nonbinary and cisgender expression at work in the U.S.

We examine the experiences of nonbinary and cisgender people in expressing their gender identity at work. Gender expression (GE) is important to study given that gender is embedded in nearly every aspect of U.S. society; however, this gender construction is binary, thereby excluding those whose gender falls outside of this paradigm. As of yet, research has not examined the specific GE experiences of nonbinary and cisgender individuals at work. To address this gap, we conducted a qualitative study of the workplace gender expression practices of nonbinary and cisgender employees. We found that nonbinary and cisgender people used similar tools for expressing and concealing their gender identity; however, they used these tools for different purposes. Nonbinary people expressed their gender by limiting association with assigned sex/gender at birth (AS/GAB) whereas cisgender people expressed their gender by promoting association with AS/GAB. The converse occurred when each group concealed their gender identity. Our initial findings lend support for the applicability of the Button (2004) identity management framework to nonbinary gender expression experiences and social recategorization theory (Roberts et al., 2008) to cisgender gender expression experiences. We conclude with recommendations for improving workplace conditions that would support authentic gender expression at work.

Digital media and the unsolicited dick pic – constructions of masculinity and femininity among Swedish teens

ABSTRACT The prevalence of sexting and dissemination of explicit sexual images (ESI) among teenagers has risen with mobile technology. Social media platforms amplify these practices, perpetuating problematic usage patterns. This study explores the understanding of how young people perceive the senders and receivers of unsolicited dick pics, focusing on gender construction. Ten semi-structured group interviews with cisgendered girls and boys aged 12–16 were conducted and analysed thematically. The findings show that boys are the primary senders of dick pics, while girls are primarily on the receiving end, with boys and girls interpreting unsolicited dick pics differently. Girls more often viewed such behaviour as romantic, while only boys recognized it as harassment. This disparity emphasizes the need for internet safety education and interventions to challenge mainstream constructions of gender norms. By addressing these issues, educators and caregivers can better support adolescents in navigating the complexities of online interactions and promoting healthy relationships.

후기구조주의 페미니즘 논의가 교육학에 주는 함의 - 버틀러의 이론을 중심으로

There are insufficient theoretical and systematic analyses and criticisms of gender differences and inequality in educational research. With this awareness, this study aims to connect pedagogy with gender and derive the educational implications of post-structuralist feminist arguments. Exploring pedagogy regarding gender order is an effort to reflect on the fundamental constraints in educational theorizing and the way cultural constructs of gender are embedded within pedagogy’s self-understanding. This a more in-depth understanding of various social practices of gendering and gender differences beyond a merely normative and old-fashioned discussion of past discrimination. , this study first discusses the structural and categorical nature of gender as a central concept of feminism and then closely examines , focusing on Butler’s theories. Here, gender is viewed not as a permanent essence but as a construct and an effect of social order and gender norms historically produced and discursively established. Understanding gender as a category enables an analytical approach to gender order and challenges the feminist discussion that seeks to categorize women as coherent political subjects. Here, it is crucial to maintain a critical distance from essentialist determinism and heteronormative frameworks that reinforce fixed traits of men and women in critiques of patriarchal culture. The social, political, and historical dimensions of gender difference suggest that stable gender identities do not exist; rather, identities regarding social institutions and language highlight the openness of identities in various meanings. One point to emphasize is that an independent subject existing beyond power and discourse is rejected, and the subject is identified as unstable and contradictory. Based on these discussions, Chapter 4 provides implications for pedagogy as follows: a review of the tendency to define and essentialize women (femininity) as opposed to men (masculinity), the complexity inherent in the educational philosophical demand for equality and universality, and the logic of identity inherent in general pedagogy and a critique of subjectivity.

Beyond the Forgotten: Cultural Memory and the Poetics of Gender in Dante’s Commedia

The primary focus of this article is to investigate the (in)visible gendered constructs within Dante’s Commedia. The article argues that due to the special emphasis on vice and virtue, Commedia lends itself to the archival purposes of cultural memory. The article explores how the cultural memory within the poem takes on a phallocentric perspective in its mechanics of socio-political affirmations doubled by Dante’s poetic chiasm. Since the meticulous visibility of such a concept by itself reallocates our focus towards the imperatives of silences and gaps, the poem introduces a nuanced gendered interpretation far beyond the visible space. Therefore, this article employs a critical and deconstructive method to scrutinise the phallocentric dynamism of the poem’s memory-dependent derivatives and its invisible underside by taking a gendered approach. Within this framework, this article aims to contribute to the literature on Dante’s Commedia with an introduction of a new feminist lens that might enrich various readings of Dante’s “poema sacro.”

Ethnographic Study of Gender Construction In the Cultural Practices of the Wasilomata Community Central Buton District

Ethnographic Study of Gender Construction In the Cultural Practices of the Wasilomata Community Central Buton District

Écriture féminine as an intoxicating epistemological device

This article re-evaluates Virginia Woolf’s work through queer and decolonial lenses (Ahmed, 2006; Lugones, 2008; Butler, 2017; Mignolo & Walsh, 2018; Butler, 2024), illustrating how it disrupts entrenched gender binaries and colonial structures that reinforce hierarchical power dynamics (Oyěwùmí, 2021), albeit ambiguously. Central to the argument is the concept of “intoxication,” influenced by Derrida’s (2005) phármakon and Hélène Cixous’ (1975) écriture féminine. This concept is a radical force that can potentially dismantle rigid Western epistemologies. Woolf’s feminist writing, particularly in Orlando: A Biography (1928), exemplifies this subversive use of intoxication to challenge oppressive norms and reimagine identity beyond patriarchal and racist colonial constraints. The article also explores the embodiment of (trans)feminine intoxication, offering a framework for understanding how trans (in)existence and queer performativity are often misrepresented or misaligned within literary traditions. Drawing on Zhao Ng’s (2023) analysis, it critiques how trans characters are frequently subsumed into and reduced to romantic metaphors within cisgender or broader queer paradigms. In contrast, the article advocates for a decolonial and transfeminist critique (Nascimento, 2021) that transcends binary gender constructs, proposing a transformative intellectual praxis that embraces diverse epistemologies while resisting the limitations imposed by Western thought. Keywords: Virginia Woolf; écriture féminine´; intoxication; queer narratives; decoloniality

PRÁTICAS DISCURSIVAS ANTIGÊNERO NO INSTAGRAM: UMA ANÁLISE DE COMENTÁRIOS EM POSTAGEM DO SUPREMO TRIBUNAL FEDERAL

In the field of law, LGBTI+ people have experienced several processes of exclusion and stigmatization due to gender identity and sexual orientation, needing to fight numerous disputes within the judiciary to have their rights recognized. At this point, there has been an important role of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) during the last few years. The objective of this essay was to carry out a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) based on the social manifestations broadcast on Instagram, see comments related to the publication in celebration of International LGBTQIAPN+ Pride Day made by the Court's official institutional profile in June 2023. It was intended, for this purpose, to have gender studies as a basis not only in the field of elaborations of women's existences, but in the conformation of a system that associates roles, performativities, sexualities and power, that is, an analytical leap to visualize the interferences of gender construction in all the bodies that inhabit this society. The analysis was operationalized by the categories of analysis of representational meaning, based on the linguistic categories of interdiscursivity and the modes of operation of ideology. As a result, we observed that anti-gender discourse is, above all, cisheteronormative and lgbtphobic, positioning people who are part of the LGBTI+ community in invisibility, abjection and exclusion.

Queer terror management theory on trial: an initial test for the effects of death attitudes on gender stereotypes

This research puts queer terror management theory to an initial test by drawing upon sex, gender and desire as aspects of a queer gender construct. Death acceptance was expected to inhibit the activation of gender-related stereotypes when controlled for mortality salience. To test the theory, we ran a quasi-experiment with 75 US participants in two waves. Results of Implicit Association Tests and surveys did not sufficiently support the idea of a queer gender construct, but indicated the imprecision of binary measures for gender and desire. As expected, more implicit death acceptance was associated with less gender stereotypes. However, ambivalent sexism towards women increased with explicit death acceptance. Positive death valence – as a precursor of death acceptance – reduced implicit stereotypes on sex, gender and desire. Against our expectations, no experimental mortality salience effect was found. In conclusion, death attitudes beyond acceptance or denial may better serve for intervention in gender-related stereotypes.

Changing attitudes: teacher reflection as a tool to promote gender equality in primary schools

ABSTRACT Teachers’ discussions about their life histories and their practice were analysed to evaluate the possible application of reflection as a useful tool to promote gender equality. In semi-structured interviews, 14 teachers from English primary schools reflected on the influences which had shaped them, their exposure to gender stereotypes and how these may have contributed to their own pedagogic approaches and interactions with pupils. Findings suggest that this approach can be a powerful tool in changing attitudes; the teachers in the sample demonstrated a willingness to alter their practice, changing their behaviour, language, choice of resources, approaches to curriculum and management of the learning environment. The data suggest that inviting teachers to reflect on their personal experiences and their potential implications for their professional practice, may trigger long-lasting attitudinal change which can be effective in promoting equality to the benefit of pupils at an important stage in their gender construction.

Educators and students in entrepreneurship education are challenging the “think entrepreneur–think male” paradigm

PurposeThe paradigm “think entrepreneur–think male” continues to prevail in entrepreneurship education (EE). Aiming to explore how EE educators and EE students engage with this paradigm, this paper examines how students’ beliefs about entrepreneurship are shaped within the classroom.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on a single case comprising 32 interviews with EE students and educators from a variety of higher education institutions in the Netherlands. Observations were conducted in a learning environment where undergraduate students from a range of EE minors (general, social and tech entrepreneurship) collaborated on projects under the guidance of entrepreneurship educators.FindingsOur findings reveal that gendered constructs are deeply embedded in EE, shaping perceptions of entrepreneurship. However, these constructs are changing and challenging the “think entrepreneur–think male”.Originality/valueThis study contributes to gender and entrepreneurship literature by challenging the existence of the prevailing paradigm “think entrepreneur–think male” in EE. We emphasise the importance of acknowledging individual entrepreneurial motivations while recognising gendered constructs in entrepreneurial support and resource access.

Teachers' Discursive Constructions of Adolescent Sexting, Consent and Gender

ABSTRACTSexting is the exchange of sexually suggestive content through technological means. Despite being tasked with addressing such incidents in schools, teachers are underrepresented in sexting research. The present study explores teachers' discursive constructions of sexting, consent and gender using Critical Discursive Psychology, analysing 30 interviews with educators and safeguarding staff. The first key finding uncovers the interpretative repertoire of ‘Sexting as a threat’. This repertoire showcases the gendered positions teachers assign adolescents to, positioning ‘Boys as oppressors; girls as victims of sexting’, with girls being simultaneously constructed as sexting to attract boys' attention through the ‘Girls as the validation‐seeking Other’ position. Regarding consent, we explicate three repertoires: ‘Consent as an oxymoron in relation to non‐consensual distribution’, ‘Consent as illegal’ and ‘Coercion as a power imbalance’. We contextualise and discuss these findings within the socio‐political discursive terrain. We highlight their ideological implications and the need to initiate emancipatory positions and discussions regarding inclusive sexting education. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's .

מאבק הפועלות בענפי הסלילה והבניין, 1940-1920 : השתייכות, התבדלות ובניית הכוח

In the 1920s and 1930s, women in the urban Yishuv fought for their inclusion in the paving and construction industries. This was one of the most prominent struggles of women, which pitted them against market forces, conservative attitudes, and the efforts to preserve male dominance that had pushed women to the margins. Their goal was to integrate within the centers of economic activity and social mobility. The successes and failures of this struggle, presented here for the first time, are a significant part of the history of the gender struggle narrative, the paving and construction industries in Israel, and urban labor during the Mandate period. An examination of the five main strategies in the struggle reveals two primary axes. The first operated according to the logic dictated by capitalist market principles, including several classic strategies used by minorities in the labor market. These were based on leveraging the advantages of social and economic inferiority, and efforts focused primarily on integration into the workforce and its governing institutions. The second operated according to the political logic of power-building and was based on an analysis of power structures within the Zionist labor movement, and the replication of separatist methods of operation. The women's labor movement as a whole and each individual female worker on her own navigated their way through the limited space between belonging to the general labor force and gender-based differentiation. In this article, I will show that the processes of integration into the labor movement actually solidified women's marginal status in the labor market, while differentiation processes strengthened their political standing and improved their conditions within it.

A Symbol of ‘Gender Transformation’: Cross-Dressing in Female Tanci of Late Imperial China

Abstract Tanci was one of the most popular literary forms among classical Chinese women writers, emerging in the middle of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and becoming extremely prominent during the Qing dynasty (1636–1912). This article explores five tanci stories centred on female-to-male cross-dressing inspired by Judith Butler’s performative theory. It discusses the varied applications of it by the authors and uncovers the commonalities hidden between the differences. In these works, cross-dressing is a common symbol of an attempt to cross the boundaries of gender identity and personal values outside the home. The meaning given to this symbol by female writers is a form of escape from their limited social living spaces. Their stories reflect their efforts to experience the same freedom and personal values outside the home as men had in Confucian society at the time. However, their resistance conforms to the existing social constructs of gender.

An Example of Gender Construction of Children From Different Socio‐Economic Levels Through the Phenomenon of Parenting

ABSTRACTThis study examined the transmission of gender within the family through perceptions of parenting in low‐ and middle‐income families. Phenomenology design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. Participants were determined by criterion sampling method. Data were collected from 60 participants, including 20 families (mother–father–child) representing low (10 families) and middle (10 families) socio‐economic levels. The study reveals that there is a need for social intervention in both socio‐economic contexts. The findings of the study showed that the gendered interactions of parents living in both socio‐economic contexts within the family had effects on children's perceptions and experiences. In the study, parents in both socio‐economic contexts characterized motherhood as sacrifice, caregiving, and fertility and fatherhood as authority, power, income, and security provider. Children, on the other hand, defined motherhood as providing care, fertility, and being responsible for household chores and fatherhood as providing income, meeting needs, and having a profession. A striking result of the study is that although both parents were employed, children preferred to use expressions related to the fathers' professional life while defining parenthood.

Stereotypes: A Study on the Construction of Female Images in K-pop Girl Group Music

The influence of K-pop girl group music is increasing, and its audience is growing more diverse. The development of K-pop girl group music reflects the progress of feminism, but traces of stereotyped female images can still be observed. This paper explores the construction of these stereotypes from the perspective of gender construction in the development of K-pop girl group music. To date, few scholars have systematically studied K-pop girl groups and their music through text analysis to uncover the meanings behind the music that is now widely appreciated. This study attempts to address the gap in understanding of how female images are constructed and how female stereotypes have evolved in K-pop music. The study employs thematic analysis to examine three main aspects: the construction of female images, research methods, and research findings. From a feminist perspective, men are often in a dominant position in the media, while women are intentionally marginalized or stereotyped. The research findings indicate that prior to the fourth generation of K-pop girl groups, music works were predominantly focused on the theme of love, with groups largely favoring a sexy and glamorous style. Dance movements were primarily characterized by softness and femininity. After the fourth generation, music themes began to shift towards self-empowerment and dreams, while group styles diversified to include sweet, cool, and fierce aesthetics. Dance movements have also become more powerful and incorporated many hip-hop elements. Additionally, the variety of music genres has expanded, showcasing diverse forms of female beauty. The study reveals that in the process of developing K-pop girl group music, there are tendencies that deviate from or even alienate mainstream gender consciousness. However, the evolving stereotype of female images in K-pop music suggests greater possibilities for future development.

Gendered administrative burden: regulating gendered bodies, labor, and identity

Abstract Gendered burdens are experiences of coercive and controlling state actions that directly regulate gendered bodies, labor, and identity. Burdens are not simply about preventing access to rights and benefits, they're about control and coercian. Gendered burdens generate gender inequality through four mechanisms. First, administrative burdens regulate reproductive bodies, legitimating the state’s direct control over reproductive health care, including abortions, with consequent implications for peoples’ health. Second, burdens require reproductive labor, shifting unpaid and underpaid reproductive labor onto women as the policies that support such labor tend to have high administrative burdens that impede access. Third, gendered burdens restrict reproductive labor, impeding the right to provide such care labor with dignity, by exerting control over how, and sometimes whether, care is performed, including in rights-granting venues, like redistributive benefits, and rights-depriving venues, like the supervision of families by child protective services. Fourth, burdens regulate gendered identities, reinforcing heteronormative and cis-normative constructions of gender, including by directly controlling gender identification. While gendered burdens are not only experienced by women, they are most strongly applied to poor and racially marginalized groups of women. These claims provide a basis for public administration scholarship to connect with feminist theory by illustrating the centrality of administrative processes and related experiences to structural patterns of inequality.

Disentangling gender, sex, and biology: a mixed methods study of gender identity data collection tools

ObjectivesWe used community-based mixed methods to test whether transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people preferred gender identity questions developed by community members over current questions in use and generate hypotheses about data collection preferences. MethodsWe interviewed twenty TGD adults in English and Spanish, asking them to rate and discuss their responses to questions. We analyzed quantitative data with descriptive statistics and qualitative data with template analysis, then integrated them. ResultsMore participants preferred gender identity questions that were currently in use. Themes: 1) TGD participants find questions about “gender” and related terminology unclear because of conflations of sex, gender, and other constructs. 2) TGD participants resist cisgenderism in questions about gender identity. 3) TGD people desire questions that allow for autonomy, privacy, and safety. 4) Contextual factors, particularly safety, influence whether and how TGD people answer questions about gender and sex. ConclusionsTGD people have varied concepts of sex and gender and preferences about data collection. Future research should investigate the impacts of disentangling gender, sex, and biological factors, which could decrease stigma for TGD people. Practice implicationsMedical care that disentangles gender, sex, and biological factors could improve data collection effectiveness and the safety of TGD people.

Are Judgments of Partner Abuse “Rose Tinted”? An Exploration of Judgments of Gender in Bidirectional Intimate Partner Violence

ABSTRACT Gendered models of intimate partner violence/abuse (IPV/A), and public and professional perceptions, describe IPV/A as a one-sided crime perpetrated by men unilaterally. This becomes problematic when considering bidirectional IPV/A: the dominant form of relational violence according to reviews. Here we explored judgments of bidirectional IPV/A, first using an experimental design and a general public sample, and then using qualitative inquiry with prospective trainee forensic psychologists. Although participants acknowledged bidirectionality, males were infrequently labeled as “victims” and females as “perpetrators”. Participant interviews suggested gender constructions influenced their judgments. Implications for training to challenge gendered narratives and de-bias professional practice are discussed.