Oppression Of Women Research Articles

Ecofeminist Reading of Balakrishna Sama’s Don’t Cut down the Trees, Brother Woodcutter

Balakrishna Sama’s poem, Don’t Cut down the Trees, Brother Woodcutter, presents a compelling, environmental concern with socio-cultural reflections. This paper employs an ecofeminist perspective to analyze the poem, exploring the intricate connections between gender and nature. Ecofeminism, as a theoretical framework, posits that the oppression of women and the exploitation of nature are deeply interconnected and rooted in patriarchal structures. The analysis delves into the portrayal of nature as a feminine entity in the poem, drawing parallels between the exploitation of women and the exploitation of the environment. Through characters such as the Woodcutter and the trees personifying as dead mothers, the poem illustrates how patriarchal attitudes manifest in the destruction of nature, echoing the subjugation of women. Furthermore, the ecofeminist perspective unveils the significance of women as agency in environmental activism. Characters like the mother and the trees symbolize the resistance against ecological destruction, emphasizing the vital role of mothers in nurturing and protecting the environment. By intertwining environmental and gender concerns, Don’t Cut down the Trees, Brother Woodcutter underscores the need for a paradigm shift towards a more equitable and sustainable relationship with nature. This ecofeminist reading sheds light on the complex interplay between gender and nature in Balakrishna Sama’s poem, offering insights into how literature can contribute to broader conversations about environmental justice and gender equality.

A language of Their Own: Deconstructing Patriarchal Language and Religious Oppression in Miriam Toews’ Women Talking

This essay explores the depiction of linguistic and religious oppression of women in Miriam Toews' Women Talking, while focusing on their efforts to deconstruct patriarchal structures and reclaim agency. Set within a patriarchal Mennonite community, the novel illustrates the lives of women and their endeavors to find a solution to the systemic sexual violence perpetrated by men within the community. This essay argues that the women’s journey toward self-discovery and liberation hinges on their ability to deconstruct patriarchal language and reconstruct a new, emancipatory form of expression. Since language is central to the novel, the analysis of the women’s dialogues and interpretive acts brings their journey of challenging oppressive structures into sharper focus. In this context, Kristeva’s theory of symbolic and semiotic modalities, which transcend phallogocentrism, and Derrida’s theory of deconstruction, which challenges fixed meanings and centralized authority in language offer significant insight into how these women navigate the journey of deconstructing oppressive language and religion while attempting to reconstruct new ones. Building on these theoretical perspectives, the essay situates the novel within discussions of feminism, religious hegemony, and gender-based violence, exploring how language and religion, as tools of patriarchal oppression, intersect to shape the women's experiences. Finally, it demonstrates how Women Talking challenges and redefines narratives of power and agency in contemporary literature.

Critique of Phonocentrism in Elizabeth Cary’s The Tragedy of Mariam

According to Jacques Derrida, phonocentrism, the so-called supremacy of speech over writing, is in a close relationship with logocentrism, which is based upon male language. Phonocentric/logocentric worldview holds agency primarily as a matter of orality in that the spoken word is assumed to be offering a direct course to empowerment. Feminist theorists Hélène Cixous, Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva aim to show the inhibitory impacts of logocentric language on women and suggest women should find alternative ways of expression to ward off its effects, which means women should invest in new models of communication where they can construct their political agency in line with their own material experiences. Such a struggle with patriarchal oppression of women’s speech can be seen in the private life of Elizabeth Cary who was silenced by the patriarchy as a female playwright. Her closet drama The Tragedy of Mariam (1613) mirrors her theatrical quest for agency in which a silent female character achieves power in a patriarchal surrounding by means of a strategic employment of silence. Within this context, this article claims that Cary’s closet drama can be an example of écriture féminine (feminine writing) for it showcases the political potentials of silence as a strategic model of expression where both the playwright and her silent female character acquire significant positions through the deconstruction of the speech/writing dichotomy.

Misandry, authorities, and gender politics on Weibo: A discourse analytic case study of the 2022 Tangshan restaurant attack in China

Drawing upon a case study of the 2022 Tangshan attack, this study examines misandry voices in Chinese social media against the backdrop of official gender discourse. Applying feminist post-structuralism and critical discourse analysis, it analyzes misandry comments and state-run media posts collected from Weibo to uncover the power dynamics in (re)constructing local gender politics. The findings reveal that misandry comments equip speakers with gendered and political agency to challenge the authoritative narratives that fixate on women as static subjects, unmask the structuralist oppression of women to undermine the authorities’ control over gender politics embedded in nationalist propaganda, and disrupt dominant narratives of male heroism in response to the official adherence to essentialist interpretations of gender. This study also highlights the subversive potential of Chinese social media in creating affective heterotopias to advance cyberfeminist causes and offers insights into addressing gender antagonism in China.

RECONFIGURATION OF WOMEN IN THE AFRICAN NOVEL

The oppression of women has been a salient feature of societies across the globe. Consequently, there has been a continuous effort to write liberation literature to emancipate women from the yoke of patriarchal thought. This paper examines the gender politics articulated by selected authors. The novels have been identified to survey the plight of women in three geographical locations; East, West and South Africa. The aim of this research is to reveal that these writers (re)place the selected female characters in an attempt to subvert the historical conditions of women in African societies. The study reads Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s political women in Matigari (1987), Petals of Blood (1977), A Grain of Wheat (1967), Tsitsi Dangarembga’s women conditions in Nervous Conditions (1988), Mariama Bâ’s resolute Muslim woman in So Long a Letter (1986), and Ousmane Sembène’s bits of women in God’s Bits of Wood (1962). This study concludes that these texts succeed in reconfiguring the woman through subversive strategies.

Feminism beyond welfare: care, socialisation and the politics of the state

Feminism has long been concerned with the role of the state in facilitating the oppression of women on the one hand and mitigating this oppression on the other. Though much has been written on the function, effects and possibilities of the liberal welfare state, the same volume of study has not been devoted to more positive proposals about the role of the state as such. Discussion of positive proposals for state politics has not been entirely absent, but the discourse in feminist theory has been disproportionately focused on the critique of the liberal welfare state as an instrument of gender and family enforcement (i.e. social control) or, alternatively, on a defence of the welfare state, even with its potentially repressive dynamics, against right-wing austerity measures. In this article, these two views of the welfare state are examined through, first, socialist feminist critiques and, second, the criticism of and proposals for welfare by feminist care ethicists. I juxtapose these positions to show how debates about the welfare state are shaped by unspoken and potentially self-undermining assumptions about state power, planned economies and state provision. As an alternative, I counterpose the understudied thought of Marxist feminist Alexandra Kollontai, and, specifically, her model of universal state provision and the socialisation of care. I argue that Kollontai's account of the socialisation of care resolves not only the criticisms directed at capitalist welfare states but also those which have deterred feminist consideration of state planning as a means of gender liberation.

Women’s Ministry in the Javanese Christian Church in Feminist Ecclesiology

Abstract: The oppression of women who are considered trivial, low, and weak occurs in society, especially the church, which should apply God's love in its life. The patriarchal culture that is still inherent in the church order system is an important thing that needs to be highlighted. Oppressed and excluded women should get the same or equal rights as men. This research aims to create novelty and contribute to the academic world. To respond to this, the researcher researched the position of women in church services, especially in the cultural context of the Javanese Christian Church. The understanding and role of feminist ecclesiology needs to be created in the context of ministry, especially in the Javanese Christian Church. The research method used is a qualitative method to support this research. In the context of Indonesia, especially in Javanese culture, patriarchal culture still exists today. Women often get an underestimated place in everything. In various aspects, women often get the last position, especially in the field of service in the Church. This article aims to analyze women's ministry in the Javanese Christian Church from the perspective of feminist ecclesiology.

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.

Swimming in the Deep Waters in Charlotte Jones’s Airswimming: Exploring Female Madness and Female Solidarity in a Psychiatric Hospital

Throughout the centuries, madness has been the historical label applied to female resistance, female power and female liberation. It has been imposed on society by patriarchy as a phenomenon or an illness peculiar only to women. Its ultimate aim is to subjugate women to the patriarchal world order. Women, challenging patriarchal ideology in the way of their sexual choices and their lifestyles, have been labelled as insane and confined to the psychiatric hospitals in order to be silenced. In this way, psychiatric hospitals have become spaces that institutionalize women with mental illness. Patriarchy has taken advantage of these institutions as a tool to discourage women from acting freely and achieving personal development. In the twentieth century, when feminist movement come to life, many feminist playwrights specially tend to investigate and write on both mental illness and psychiatric hospitals as a means of male oppression used against women. Their essential motivation is to question the social and historical dynamics behind the labelling of women as insane and imprisoning them to the psychiatric hospitals. Award-winning playwright Charlotte Jones (1968-), one of the towering names of contemporary British theatre, focussed on caged two women in a psychiatric hospital, named St. Dymphna’s Hospital, in her first play Airswimming (1997). She puts these women subjected to imprisonment as victims of patriarchal hegemony and their deplorable living conditions in psychiatric hospital in the center and argues the power of female solidarity against patriarchal persecution. This paper aims at exposing the systemized male oppression of women by psychiatric hospitals and the power of female solidarity against this oppression by focussing on the image of the ‘madwoman’ in Jones’s Airswimming.

Ecofeminism: Resistance to Ecological and Female Oppression

Eco-feminism is a movement and an ideology against the oppression of nature and females. It shows a link between nature and females that are exploited and oppressed by males in the world. It discovers that the position of the nature and women is similar and both are treated as submissive and subservient subjects. It is related to masculine domination in the society. Historically, it appeared as a great political movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the west. It was Francoise d'Eaubonne who first developed the term ecological feminism in 1972 discussing that the destruction of the planet is due to the profit motive of the males. Since both nature and female are violated and suppressed by patriarchal or male superiority ideology, ecofeminism as a movement appears powerful to resist the oppression of both nature and female. The principal objective of the research is to explore how ecofeminism acts a defense for preserving the rights of both women and nature. Hence, this paper explores how ecofeminism as a movement and ideology defends the rights of women and nature that should be preserved for the preservation of ecology and human rights on the earth. According to Greta Gaard, eco-feminism provides a theoretical bridge for women working in the related movements of environmentalism, animal liberation and feminism. Linking both rights of nature and women, it includes the voices of trees, animals and women and fights for the liberation of them resisting any force against the exploitation and oppression of both nature and women. Therefore, becoming aware of Gaard’s views on ecofemenism, her theory of ecofeminism can be applied as a major theoretical lens for the broad theoretical framework. The major finding of the paper is that ecofeminism as a theory or movement or ideology is needed to fight to resist the oppression of women and nature globally to maintain ecology rights of women.

The Otherness in Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s Take My Hand

In her recent historical fiction, Take My Hand (2022), New York Times bestselling author Dolen Perkins-Valdez explores the specific manifestations of post-slavery racism, particularly institutional racism. This is vividly portrayed through the experiences of Civil Townsend, a determined new nurse, who witnesses the systematic denial of reproductive rights and autonomy among impoverished African American females. Due to the novel being published within the last two years, there is a significant lack of extensive scholarly analysis on its critical themes. This research employs the postcolonial concept of Otherness to examine the oppression of black women in the narratives. It investigates how stereotyping and dehumanizing as facets of Otherness within a postcolonial framework, contribute to their oppression. It also gives an analysis of the causes and consequences of the practice of Othering. The study offers insights into the power dynamics between the dominant and marginalized racial groups, underscoring the persistent battle against racial stereotypes and institutional racism. The conclusions of this research underscore the notion that the ideology of Otherness is central to the oppression experienced by the African American female characters in the novel. It advocates that achieving equality involves recognizing and respecting differences ideologically.

Grotesquely Gothic Textual Overflow: Depictions of Generational Female Trauma in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s "Mexican Gothic"

This article explores the connection between literary trauma theory and the generational female trauma in Silvia Moreno-Garcia's contemporary novel, Mexican Gothic. This novel, clearly situated in the Female Gothic tradition, expands on common Gothic tropes, and it is argued it presents the Female Gothic genre as one that inherently deals with the trauma of women forced into an oppressive silencing by patriarchal powers. Through the characters of Agnes and Ruth, this paper argues trauma is portrayed as sensory, textual overflow, drawing on the concept from trauma theorist Joshua Pederson. Through sensory, highly detailed and grotesque depictions of women's experiences of trauma, Mexican Gothic demonstrates the power of the Female Gothic genre to explicate trauma while emphasizing the grotesque oppression women face at the hands of manipulative patriarchal power, both in and out of fiction.

Women’s Dilemma and Social Reflection in Film Narrative: A Case Study of Kim Ji-young, Born 1982

Kim Ji-young, Born 1982 portrays the life experiences of an ordinary woman navigating family, work, and society, exposing the patriarchal structures, female discipline, and reproductive oppression in South Korean society. Adapted from Cho Nam-joo’s novel, the film recounts Ji-young’s struggles in childhood and marriage, along with the mental distress caused by the pressures of balancing career and family. It powerfully illustrates how societal expectations lead women to lose their sense of self, highlighting the exploitation of emotional labor and unpaid housework. Ji-young’s story transcends individual experience, reflecting the broader structural gender inequality embedded in society. Upon release, the film sparked intense social debate, particularly from South Korean men, some of whom petitioned the Blue House to block the screening, accusing it of fueling gender conflict. This opposition reveals the patriarchal structure’s defensive response to challenges and men’s anxiety over losing status and privilege. This paper explores how government pro-natalist policies, under the guise of preserving family structures, further entrench the oppression of women’s reproductive and labor value.

Breaking the chains: women’s writing against patriarchy in Saudi narratives

ABSTRACT Patriarchy in the Arab, mainly Saudi culture, is charged with complexities and contradictions as it thrives on the instrumentalisation of strict religious discourses and social norms, which are often used to legitimize the patriarchal oppression of women and the denial of their rights. This article examines patriarchy in two Saudi novels, one written by a male author and the other by a female author within their contexts: Hend and the Soldiers and Ikhtīlas. It also seeks to distinguish between patriarchal norms and Islamic teachings. The analyses draw on Islamic feminist theory, benefit from its cultural and literary dimensions that align with the Saudi context, and use an interdisciplinary approach; the study explores how women’s writing strategies in the selected novels challenge sociocultural and patriarchal perceptions and stereotypes of Saudi women’s roles and status and seek change in the male-dominated Saudi sociocultural system. The article challenged stereotypes of Saudi women by emphasizing their diversity and complexity. It also showed that women’s issues are universal concepts that can be expressed in ways that respect different cultural contexts.

Gender, Ethnicity, and Religion in Gharbi M. Mustafa’s What Comes with the Dust Goes with the Wind

This study aims to bring to light various forms of oppression and enslavement of female Yazidis under the oppressive regime of ISIS depicted in Gharbi M. Mustafa’s novel What Comes with the Dust Goes with the Wind 2017. Through the lens of intersectional feminism, the experience of the protagonist of the novel, Nazo Heydo, who represents thousands of Yazidis, will be discussed and examined. Nazo was enslaved, traded, and abused physically and verbally by brutal ISIS militants. The paper analyses gender, ethnic, and religious related factors that caused the protagonist to go through her unfortunate experience as she was captivated by ISIS militants. Moreover, it explores the intersection and interaction of the previously mentioned factors in the genocide and enslavement of female Yazidis represented by the main character, Nazo. It is true that the novel depicts the harsh experiences of male characters, too, yet it is different from that of Nazo and all other female characters just because they were women. This paper aims to answer the following questions: 1. To what extent does the novel succeed in depicting women's oppression represented by Nazo? 2. How does the narrative address the impact of ethnicity on the genocide and enslavement of female Yazidis? 3. What is the role of religion in framing the atrocities of female Yazidis imposed upon them by ISIS militants in the novel?

Analisis Semiotika Feminisme Radikal dalam Film Poor Things

The issue of feminism has been a topic of intense and in-depth discussion in various circles, involving a variety of perspectives in academic, social, and cultural studies. Social dynamics that occur such as social class injustice based on gender, oppression of women, sexism, patriarchal ideology that defines women as objects of sexuality and so on make this issue raised in any media, one of which is film. In this study, researchers are interested in analyzing the film Poor Things directed by Yorgos Lanthimos from a script by Tony McNamara which highlights women having freedom over their bodies, the setting of this film was taken in the Victorian era where at that time women were considered a second class that functioned to satisfy male sexual urges. This research aims to explain the meaning of the semiotic code of radical feminism in Poor Things directed by Yorgos Lanthimos from a script by Tony McNamara which highlights women having freedom over their bodies. The method used in this research is a qualitative approach with John Fiske's semiotic analysis based on codes that are divided into three levels, namely the level of reality, representation and ideology. The results show the values of radical feminism at the level of reality through the codes of appearance, makeup, costumes, speech, environment and behavior. At the representation level, the values of feminism are shown through the codes of camera, character, action, conflict and dialog. At the ideological level, radical feminism found in the movie Poor Things is included in patriarchal ideology. In the movie Poor Things, the level of ideology displayed is patriarchy where women are considered as a second class that functions to satisfy men's sexual urges.

ON LITERATURE AND ECOFEMINISM

Sarah Orne Jewett is an American writer of the Nineteenth Century and is associated with American Realism. One of her most known works is the short story “A white heron”, published in 1886, which is about the relation of a girl and a hunter who are in search of a white heron. Given this context, I intend, in this essay, to analyze the literary narrative through the lens of ecofeminism. This theoretical perspective tries to interwoven the oppression of women, and other oppressed groups such as children, poor people, black people, and traditional people, and the exploitation of nature. To do so, this work undertakes an analytical path considering the resizing of the fictional figure towards its relation to nature represented in the diegesis. The theoretical framework is found, mainly, in Jytte Nhanege (2011), Chen Ling (2014), and Laila Fariha Zein and Adib Rifqi Setiawan (2017). Therefore, I realize that the relation erected between character and nature points out power relations and construction of hierarchies symbolizing oppression of women and destruction of nature by men.

The Dignity of Creation

In cognizance of the effect of the influence of a dualistic view, that has influenced a simultaneous oppression of both nature and women, this research article suggests a turning of the gaze to an African women eco-theology. It constructs a methodology from the theological reflections of a social Trinitarian understanding of God, as seen in Jürgen Moltmann’s works, and incorporates animism to it as a way of reconciling all creation in unity with God. It appraises a recognition of the hierarchical nature of dualism in western thought forms, which contributes to an intertwined oppression of nature. It critiques a transcendental apathetic God, in response to ecological crisis; and affirms the African religious view of animism as a way of retrieving nature, to an active voice. In view of this, it offers a shift from dualist view of creation to an interconnected sacredness in order to accord dignity to the creation. The significance of the article will be to shift the attitudes of African Christians, from a dualistic worldview, towards creation

‘Because I am a woman, an old woman, I have no voice’: gendered ageism and disempowerment of older women in three African countries

Background and objectives: Gendered ageism refers to the intersectionality of age and gender bias and discrimination. It is widely prevalent and leads to inequality, injustice, oppression, exploitation and disempowerment of older women. In this study, we explore the impacts of gendered ageism on three areas of older women’s lives in three African countries. These areas are: (1) participation in public and political life and access to justice and law enforcement; (2) family relations, inheritance, and land and property ownership; and (3) violence, abuse and neglect. Research design and methods: Eighteen women aged 54–85 years were interviewed for this study. Thematic analysis was undertaken to identify and explore disempowering impacts of gendered ageism on their lives and rights. Results: In all areas of the participants’ lives, their lack of voice in their inability to make choices, to claim their rights and to participate meaningfully in decision-making were highlighted. These manifested in the suppression of their interests, opinions and aspirations in public life; denial of justice; prejudice and discrimination within family settings; exploitation, harassment, abandonment and violence; and an overall devaluation, dehumanisation and silencing of older women. Discussion: Women often outlive men and experience marginalisation for a greater proportion of their lives. Yet, their lived experiences receive limited acknowledgement and redressal. In developing countries, older women face multiple forms of oppression arising from gendered ageism. This study highlights such experiences with the expectation that this will generate awareness, garner support from stakeholders and help inform policies for the protection and equal treatment of older women.

Representasi Gender dan Ekologi di Media: Perspektif Ekofeminis

Critical views see the media not only as a tool of the dominant group but also as a producer of ideology. The media helps spread its ideas and control other groups, it is also a subject that constructs reality, complete with its views, biases, and partisanship. Suara Aisyiyah magazine is one of the mass media published since 1926 and is the oldest women's magazine in Indonesia. So it is very interesting to read how Suara Aisyiyah provides discourse on ecofeminism. An approach that seeks to understand and address the root causes of social injustice, ecological imbalance, and exploitation of nature by linking the close relationship between the oppression of women and the oppression of nature. This study uses a qualitative descriptive analysis research method by describing each data which is then analyzed in detail and synthesized effectively. The results state that Ecofeminism in the Suara Aisyiyah magazine that is built is a relationship related to the role of women in nature conservation in the form of protection, utilization, and preservation of natural resources, maintaining family food security, and access to utilizing natural resources for the daily economy.