Middle-class Women Research Articles

Class Transfuge in Annie Ernauxs A Mans Place

Class Transfuge in Annie Ernauxs A Mans Place

“We Can Only Go So Far”: Employing Intersectionality in Research with Middle-Class Black Women and Black Muslim Women

How to engage and apply intersectionality is still a point of contention among scholars. In this conceptual paper, we use examples from our preliminary research on the experiences of middle-class Black women with depression and Black Muslim women who have experienced intimate partner violence to illustrate how we applied intersectionality as a framework and a method. We highlight the foundational literature that informed our applications. We then describe how we employed intersectionality in our respective studies. Through our reflections, we conclude that intersectionality was, and continues to be, a necessary frame for guiding our work due to its rendering visible for critique and intervention categories of privilege and oppression and our centering the experiences of Black women. We, however, note having felt limited in our ability to fully apply intersectionality in our preliminary research. We conclude that what was missing for us reflects critiques of a gap in social work feminist scholarship that is a central tenet of intersectionality: liberation. We posit ways of doing intersectional research that liberates by offering recommendations for research, education, and policy.

“Sensing” productivity at home: self-tracking technologies, gender, and labor in Turkey

Abstract This article explores how women in Turkey use sensing technologies to render visible their productivity at home in ways that contest home–workplace boundary under neoliberal, digital capitalism. It does so by focusing on a group of lower- and middle-class women, who work from home as both paid laborers and unpaid caregivers. Although neoliberalism makes it harder to distinguish home and workplace, my digital ethnography highlights that women working from home feel a home–workplace separation that renders invisible their productivity. By translating embodied knowledge into quantified data, smartwatches provide women with new information that I call revelations. Women share these revelations on digital platforms to render visible their productivity at home in ways that transgress the home–workplace boundary. By exploring these revelations as moments of “otherwise,” this article highlights both when smartwatches reproduce neoliberal mentality and become tools for others in the public to register its exploitative consequences.

From middle-class American women to French managers: The transatlantic trajectory of assertiveness training, c. 1950s-1980s.

This article explores the contribution of behavior therapy to the extension of psychotherapeutic notions and techniques into everyday life, focusing on the transatlantic trajectory of assertiveness training. It traces the history of this behavioral intervention into interindividual relations from its emergence as a treatment for anxiety in postwar United States to its importation into the French field of continuing professional training at the turn of the 1980s. To understand what traveled between countries and practical fields, I first consider the definition of assertiveness as a skill sitting halfway between passivity and aggressiveness, which developed in the United States along with its uses outside therapy. I relate the success and inflexions undergone by assertiveness training between the 1950s and the 1970s to theoretical and strategic innovations in behavioral therapy and psychology, as well as to the reception of political and social movements, especially the women's movement. This article also shows that what moved between countries, sectors, and target audiences was not only an understanding of assertiveness as a socially acceptable expression of feelings, needs, and wants, but also diagnostic and action scripts fueled by the "ferment" of the 1960s. From middle-class American women to French managers, the expanded applications of assertiveness training were justified by the rhetoric of tensions between role socialization and new expectations for self-fulfillment and efficiency. Following the behavioral deficit model emphasized in assertiveness training, increasing calls for self-expression and participation prescribed communication skill training and a reconfiguration of interpersonal relations, both in the private and the work sphere. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

From Spinster to Career Women: Middle-Class Women and Work in Victorian England. Arlene Young. Montreal and Kingston; London and Chicago: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2019 (ISBN: 978-0-7735-5706-2)

From Spinster to Career Women: Middle-Class Women and Work in Victorian England. Arlene Young. Montreal and Kingston; London and Chicago: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2019 (ISBN: 978-0-7735-5706-2)

Understanding the relationship between maternity care providers and middle-class Chinese migrant women in the Netherlands: A qualitative study

ObjectiveThis study aims to provide insights into the formation and the quality of the maternity care provider-woman relationship between midwives, maternity care assistants and middle-class Chinese migrant women in the Netherlands. Designonline in-depth interviews addressing interpersonal trust, women's autonomy in shared decision making and culturally sensitive care Participants46 middle-class Chinese migrant women, 13 midwives and 12 maternity care assistants in the Netherlands FindingsMidwives and maternity care assistants reported challenges interpreting the needs of middle-class Chinese migrant women in care practices while Chinese migrant women experienced receiving insufficient emotional support. Midwives and maternity care assistant tended to attribute women's different preferences for care to culture which reinforced difficulties of addressing women's needs. Middle-class Chinese migrant women experienced a lack of responsive care, feelings of being overlooked, being uncomfortable to express different opinions and challenges in developing autonomy in the shared decision-making process. ConclusionsA trusting relationship, effective communication with maternity care providers, and a culturally sensitive and safe environment could be beneficial for middle-class migrant mothers. Chinese migrant women held ambivalent attitudes towards both traditional Chinese health beliefs and Dutch maternity care values. Each individual woman adopted the practice of the “doing the month” tradition to a different extent. This indicated the need for maternity care providers to recognize women's various needs for more responsive and individualized care, especially for first-time migrant mothers to negotiate their ways through the new healthcare system. Implications for practiceWe suggest a more proactive role for maternity care providers addressing the individual's subjectivity and preferences. Our findings are relevant and applicable for maternity care professionals conducting shared decision making with middle-class and highly educated migrant women living in Western contexts.

Identity Crisis and Quest for Self-Autonomy in The Bell Jar

Identity crisis has been a long-discussed topic in English literature and it is vastly connected with the notion of self-autonomy. Most of the works of Sylvia Plath—regarded as one of the dynamic and controversial poets of the twentieth century—centre around the themes of identity crisis and self-autonomy that are intricately woven into the fabric of twentieth-century English literature. Through the character of Esther Greenwood in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar (1963), this paper investigates how identity crisis takes its origin in the psyche of Plath’s heroine, a middle-class woman coming of age in 1950s America. Moreover, this paper equally shows what role the ideology of cultural containment of 1950s America has played in fracturing Esther’s self-esteem and sense of individuality. The researcher has reasoned that Esther’s individual suffering transcends the immediate vicinity of her personal space and resonates with the struggles that the female population of that time went through, thus making it a generic experience which has become a predominant issue of discussion in the modern era. Finally, the researcher demonstrates the ways via which Esther is able to win back her personalized identity and autonomy, though not fully but partially. Keywords: Identity crisis, Self-autonomy, Mental illness

Identity Crisis and Quest for Self-Autonomy in The Bell Jar

Identity crisis has been a long-discussed topic in English literature and it is vastly connected with the notion of self-autonomy. Most of the works of Sylvia Plath—regarded as one of the dynamic and controversial poets of the twentieth century—centre around the themes of identity crisis and self-autonomy that are intricately woven into the fabric of twentieth-century English literature. Through the character of Esther Greenwood in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar (1963), this paper investigates how identity crisis takes its origin in the psyche of Plath’s heroine, a middle-class woman coming of age in 1950s America. Moreover, this paper equally shows what role the ideology of cultural containment of 1950s America has played in fracturing Esther’s self-esteem and sense of individuality. The researcher has reasoned that Esther’s individual suffering transcends the immediate vicinity of her personal space and resonates with the struggles that the female population of that time went through, thus making it a generic experience which has become a predominant issue of discussion in the modern era. Finally, the researcher demonstrates the ways via which Esther is able to win back her personalized identity and autonomy, though not fully but partially. Keywords: Identity crisis, Self-autonomy, Mental illness

Robert Heller’s Magical Mystery Tours

Robert Heller, a virtually unknown figure in music-historical accounts, trained in the 1840s at the Royal Academy of Music in London and gave the American premieres of Beethoven’s Fourth and Fifth Piano Concertos with the Germania Musical Society. But he also pursued a parallel career in theatrical magic, using his musical virtuosity to elevate his social and artistic stature as a conjurer. Between 1852 and 1878, his magic act was seen by millions in Europe, East Asia, and the United States, including states and territories in the American West never visited by contemporary piano virtuosos like Thalberg and De Meyer. While magicians routinely incorporated music in their acts, Heller’s virtuosity set him apart from his conjuring peers, including those who were themselves musicians. Using his musical expertise, he blended the magic show with other popular forms of spectacle, including minstrelsy, burlesque, and the piano recital, framing the latter as an extraordinary attraction. Advertisements and accounts of his performances reveal the marketing strategies Heller employed to negotiate the crowded landscape of consumer culture and American popular entertainment, especially during the tumultuous years of the Civil War. These strategies included co-branding, altering the titles and descriptions of musical compositions (particularly “Dixie”), and joining forces with “Blind Tom” (Thomas Greene) Wiggins, the Black, enslaved musical prodigy whom Heller had briefly tutored; they performed together in Louisville during one of the magician’s last appearances in the South. Throughout the 1860s, Heller was influenced by gendered musical practices and regional attitudes toward race and politics, leading him to market his act specifically toward middle-class women, music lovers, Unionists, and those seeking postwar reconciliation.

Prime (predominant) work–life balance components influencing married women nurses in pandemic (COVID) situations

ABSTRACT Objective The objective of the study is to examine the work-life balance of married female nurses during the COVID period. Methodology Psychotherapists believe that middle class women professionals are having more work-life imbalances and especially nursing profession is facing numerous challenges especially in this pandemic situation which are the key hurdles in the progress of nursing. As a result, the research was conducted with 200 respondents comprised of married women nurses from Western Districts of Tamil Nadu and both primary and secondary data are used. Questionnaire is the major data collection tool and a statistical model factor analysis has been used to find the significant variables in work life balance of the nurses. Findings The results of the study revealed that flexible guidelines and procedures can be adopted by hospital management to ensure a smooth work life balance among the nurses. Novelty Women nurses are striving to serve their best for the sake of the society people at large during COVID pandemic, relatedly their work life related problems have to be addressed and resolved to ensure their healthy life and continued service.

Intertwining Beauty and Piety: Cosmetics, Beauty Treatments, and Ḥalāl Lifestyle in Urban Indonesia

This article discusses the intertwinement of beauty and piety among middle-class Muslim women in urban Indonesia through the use of cosmetics and beauty treatments within the broader trends of ḥalāl lifestyle. It uses an anthropological approach with case studies in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, and Serang, the capital city of Banten Province. Jakarta and Serang were chosen because Jakarta is a picture-perfect example of an older area characterized by the abundance of middle-class Muslims and the vehemence of ḥalāl lifestyle, while Serang represents a newer area in this regard. Moreover, this article explores the understanding and practices of religious rituals, as well as the responses of urban middle-class Muslim women towards commodified goods and services, consumerism behavior, and communal piety. We argue that the use of cosmetics and beauty treatments has become one of the most glaring public expressions that has concurrently influenced the way urban middle-class Muslim women perceive themselves, beauty, and piety. In addition, we contend that the understanding and practices of beauty and piety are becoming increasingly complex in urban areas. Finally, we maintain that ḥalāl lifestyle has played an important role in strengthening Islamic identity in contemporary Indonesia.

Visible and invisible work in the pandemic: social reproduction and the ambivalent category of the essential worker

ABSTRACT Feminist scholars and activists have long fought to make visible the fundamental but overlooked social reproduction work performed primarily by women, often in households. Taking on black feminist criticisms of the initial prioritization of the experience of white, middle-class women, these debates have developed into a broader social reproduction theory, which emphasizes the relationality of multiple forms of oppression under capitalism. The COVID-19 pandemic, with its lockdowns, temporarily turned the traditional distribution between visible and invisible work on its head when many so-called productive workers were ushered into their homes, leaving only the most essential workers publicly visible in the streets and valorized in online spaces. The sudden visibility of these generally low-paid, often racialized and marginalized workers now coded as ‘essential’ highlighted the importance of the work of social reproduction. However, the category of essential workers was ambivalent, in that by making visible some forms of social reproduction it continued to obscure others, especially familial care work and housework. In this article we analyse the ambivalent category of the essential worker and argue that it exemplifies, as social reproduction theory attests, that the capitalist production process always requires invisible labour, even as some previously invisible forms become increasingly visible.

Pavement publics in late nineteenth-century Stockholm

This article presents a case study of pavement regulation and usage in nineteenth-century Stockholm, probing how urbanites’ interactions on and access to pavements were contested and negotiated, in the process shaping the publicness of streets. Utilising press coverage, it moves beyond a focus on infrastructure and political discourse, to capture urban dwellers’ perspectives, claims and interactions. The article shows that, in favouring circulation, Stockholm's pavement regulations expelled or made subsistence-driven activities illegitimate. Pavement circulation also secured undisturbed, anonymous walking and the ability to maintain a distanced attitude towards others – to be private while in public. Yet pavements featured as a prominent public space not only because it was ordered and controlled, but because urbanites of all sorts fought for access. Next to allegedly “modern” usages, city pavements remained home to age-old but marginalised street practices, as well as middle-class women who had begun to claim their equal right of use.

"When I Think of It I Awfully Dread It": Conceptualizing Childbirth Pain in Early America.

The emergence of obstetric anesthesia in the second half of the nineteenth century was preceded by a transformation in the medical conceptualization of women's pain. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, physicians described pain in physiological terms as natural and unproblematic, but in the second half of the nineteenth century they adopted a newly emotional language that emphasized women's subjective experiences of suffering. Middle-class and elite white women shaped this transition by insisting that their physical and emotional anguish was extreme. Women's attitudes, combined with a growing perception that sensibility to pain was a marker of "civilization," pushed physicians to view suffering as real and problematic. As they began to depict pain relief as an urgent medical concern, physicians envisioned refined white women as the primary beneficiaries of their new technology; this perspective paved the way for the increasingly routine use of anesthesia for middle-class and elite white women.

Prenatal Care in the Rural United States, 1912-1929.

In 1920, maternal mortality rates in the United States exceeded those of other industrialized nations. To redress this statistic, the federal Children's Bureau set its sights on improving access to prenatal care at a time when 80 percent of American women received none. In 1921, following lobbying by urban, middle-class progressive women working at or in support of the Bureau, the government legislated for prenatal care programs through the Sheppard-Towner Act. To date, historians have focused on how successfully women implemented the act's provisions, paying less attention to whether support for rural mothers reduced maternal mortality rates. Using Children's Bureau pamphlets, documents pertaining to the Sheppard-Towner Act, and letters written to the Bureau from poor, rural women, this article brings government workers, medical professionals, and the women they served into dialogue to analyze the first push to establish prenatal care for underserved American women and the obstacles that stood in the way.

The Marriage of Care Labor and Self-Care: Marriage Migration and Neoliberal Refashioning of Care in South Korea

Care appears in current feminist scholarship in two distinctive forms: care for others in global care chains and care for the self as a neoliberal imperative. While migrant women perform the former to alleviate the care deficits in affluent households, professional middle-class women pursue the latter on the grounds of a felicitous work-family balance. Exploring the conjuncture of these two modes of care, this article examines neoliberal reconfigurations of care in the context of marriage migration in South Korea. On the basis of fieldwork I conducted in Ansan, “the migrant city” of South Korea, I examine marriage migrant women’s care labor, particularly as foreign mothers in Korean families. I analyze how it channels their self-development activities and, in some cases, expands into a new form of self-care for a better life in the way that neoliberalism delimits. The neoliberal futures that these migrant women cultivate, I argue, make their self-care political, if only provisionally, revealing the mobilization of gendered contradictions within neoliberal reconfigurations of care. This analysis suggests that we should recast our sometimes too ready critique of, and despair about, neoliberal subjectivities into a persistent experiment of feminist politics that engages with the aspirations, in addition to the structural constraints, that emerge within global care chains under neoliberalism.

Depleted Households: "Domesticating" Economic Sanctions

Abstract: Premised on the consideration of the household as a key site of social reproduction, where the dislocating effects of sanctions and austerity are felt, this article explores the impact of the Trump administration's 2018 reimposition of punitive sanctions on Iran. The focus on the household, and the myriads of mundane everyday acts which sustain and reproduce it, renders central the study of gender relations and the gendered character of social reproduction. Drawing on the experiences of middle-class women in Tehran, I focus on the ways in which sanctions become manifested in the coping practices developed by those they affect and sketch the contours of what I call "depleted households."

Women and Food Production: Trinidad’s Response in World War II

This article highlights mostly the work of the white upper, black, mixed and Indian middle-class women, through mostly an organization known as the Women’s Voluntary Services (WVS) in the colony’s “Grow More Food Campaign”. This was an official government programme re-enacted from World War I, and executed to ease the burdens of severe shortages, inflation and dependency in a time when food supplies globally were disrupted. The prominence and status of the women who became involved in the programme meant that their activities were highly publicized positively, which influenced the local population, garnering the support for a major government initiative in a time of turmoil. The newspapers of the time reveal that the government expressed public gratitude, but since then they have not been adequately recognized or discussed in published writings.

Women’s Concerns about Dietary Recommendations Relate to Taste, Affordability, Convenience, Aesthetics, and Self-Confidence: A Qualitative Evaluation in Egypt

Young women from urban Egypt are in a context of nutrition transition with a high prevalence of being overweight, excessive energy and sodium intakes, and insufficient iron, vitamin D, and folate intakes. This study, funded by Danone Nutricia Research, investigated the acceptability of dietary recommendations in young urban Egyptian women that have the potential to improve iron intake and nutrient adequacy. Individual interviews and focus groups were conducted in Cairo with 80 middle-class women aged 18–35 years (students, active women, and housewives). Perceived benefits and drawbacks for each recommended food were examined. Motivations and barriers to improving dietary practices were classified into major emerging themes. Analysis of the interviews showed that promoting the recommended foods would be met with both positive and negative feedback (e.g., a positive impact of fruit, vegetables, milk, or yogurt consumption on hair, nails, and skin appearance, and bad taste of vegetables). Motivations for improving dietary practices included the pursuit of aesthetical (e.g., attaining/maintaining body shape, clear skin, bright teeth, strong nails, silky and thick hair) and psychological (e.g., improved self-confidence and self-esteem) benefits. However, the “curative behavior” of the population targeted (i.e., changing dietary practices only when they face a serious issue), some life-stage-related factors (e.g., students and active women consuming most of their meals out-of-home), and sociocultural and economic factors (e.g., social gatherings, the high price of red meat) can constitute barriers for implementing a set of dietary recommendations. This work highlighted that, beyond socio-cultural and economic factors or curative or life-stage-motivated dieting, the pursuit of aesthetical and psychological benefits are essential factors that shape the acceptability of dietary changes.

Police Court Rota: women’s archiving and access to legal life in early twentieth-century England

ABSTRACT The period of the early twentieth century is marked by an intense struggle on the part of women to gain access to professional careers and the public sphere. This paper contributes to a wider discourse on women’s professionalisation, by focusing specifically on women’s access to legal professions and the role archiving played in that process in the years preceding the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 in light of the Police Court Rota, run by the Association for Moral and Social Hygiene (AMSH). The members of the Rota acted as observers in criminal cases, interviewers, writers and activists at the time when women were formally excluded from courtrooms and legal life. The paper draws extensively from the archives of the AMSH and National Vigilance Association and argues that observations, legal record creation and archiving gave middle-class women volunteers access to legal professions and power, despite formal exclusions. These records and collections, in part, counter law’s missing archive on women and criminal justice. This paper examines what these counter archives tell us about exclusion of women from legal history and the role archiving played within women’s professionalisation, and in turn, how class and colonial bias manifested within that process of archive creation.