Patriarchal Research Articles

Fight for Opportunities or Back to Old Ways: George Eliot's Ambivalent Attitude Towards Female Images in a Patriarchal Society in Adam Bede

Fight for Opportunities or Back to Old Ways: George Eliot's Ambivalent Attitude Towards Female Images in a Patriarchal Society in Adam Bede

Del androcentrismo hacia un nuevo enfoque de la transversalización de la perspectiva de género a través de la Corte Interamericana

The primary goal of this research is to introduce a new approach to mainstreaming gender perspective, which includes not only women and girls but also the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) population. The study begins by examining the androcentric view of society, which has fostered its heteronormativity and patriarchal system. It then explores the evolution of the concepts of gender perspective and gender identity. Finally, the analysis evaluates judgments and advisory opinions issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) on matters concerning non-discrimination, sexual orientation, family, work, and equal protection under the law. These legal decisions establish reparative actions to safeguard and advance the rights of vulnerable groups. The study also aims to underscore the reparative measures concerning non-repetition guarantees, which the Inter-American Court advocates to promote mechanisms and public policies that States must adopt to overcome barriers of discrimination and social stigma that continue to impact Latin American societies.

"Delving İnto The Dichotomy Of Mother Earth and Fatherland in 'The Wanderground' and 'The Cleft”

This study examines the relationship between women and nature in Doris Lessing's The Cleft and Sally Miller Gearhart's The Wanderground through using gender and ecofeminist lenses. Women's oppression is analogous to nature's oppression. Therefore, this article shows how a patriarchal (or male-dominated) society treats both nature and women and how society's standards unfairly dominate both. Both writers Sally Miller Gearhart and Doris Lessing argue that women and the environment, including (animals) are crucial to ecofeminism studies and practice; women may solve gender issues only by utilizing natural materials. The present piece portrays the female characters in both works acquiring an understanding of the underlying reasons behind every instance of misery they encounter in their lives. As a result, women attempt to escape the machismo society and create a nature-filled utopia (devoid of males). Although some women continue to live with men, they always opt for separation. Finally, this work shows how Gearhart's utopia is the outcome and redemption of The Cleft’s dystopia.

A structural equation model of factors influencing intimate partner violence victimization and health outcomes among men who have sex with men in Bangkok, Thailand

Intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization is a serious public health problem. Factors influencing intimate partner violence among men who have sex with men (MSM) are not well understood in the Asian context where a powerful patriarchal system exists. In order to understand these factors, this study aimed to develop and test a structural equation model (SEM) of factors influencing intimate partner violence victimization and the resulting health outcomes. Data were collected from 382 male couples, who were registered as members of the Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand. The SEM was developed using AMOS version 24.0. that the model fits the empirical data very well (c2/df = 1.09 , p-value > 0.05, GFI = 0.975, RMSEA = 0.015) and found that 1) Intimate partner violence victimization among MSM was directly influenced by the variables of the greatest effect, younger age followed by open sexual orientation; 2) Physical health outcomes were directly influenced by presence in a risky community and history of family violence; 3) Psychological health outcomes were directly influenced by permissive parenting style, and 4) Both physical and mental health outcomes were indirectly influenced by younger age and open sexual orientation. The results suggest that intimate partner violence prevention programs among young MSM should be implemented at an early age, particularly targeting those with a history of family violence, substance abuse, low education and those living in risky communities. Authoritative parenting styles and stigmatization are also matters of concern.

Expressing Gender Opposition in Kazakh Proverbs Through Metaphor

Despite the growing interest in gender differences reflected in proverbs, little attention has been paid to binary oppositions in the proverbial discourse. The paper aims to explore metaphorical gender representations in Kazakh proverbs. It focuses on how the gender oppositions in proverbs reflect the socio-cultural perceptions of gender relations in the Kazakh culture, and what new information about gender can be gained from the study of gender oppositions in proverbs. The research material was drawn from the dictionary The Ancestors' Words by purposive sampling. The study used a qualitative research design and focused on proverbs based on binary gender oppositions involving man- and woman-specific social actors. The cognitive representations of gender oppositions were examined using the Conceptual Metaphor Theory. As a result, proverbs containing binary gender oppositions are shown to reflect a typical patriarchal worldview based on the image of a man as a provider for the family, warrior and defender possessing physical strength and higher social status, and the image of a woman as a guardian of the family hearth having a subordinate status. At the same time, they reveal the complementarity of the metaphorically expressed male and female binary oppositions. Thus, gender metaphors placed in opposition in proverbs highlight the multifacetedness of gender relations in the Kazakh family and society and the inseparability and importance of both genders in the family union. The paper suggests a fresh line of investigation into the metaphorical meaning of proverbs based on binary oppositions.

From Christmas Candlesticks to Deathbeds: The Material Culture of the Male ‘Middling Sort’ in Late Medieval English Wills

ABSTRACT This article analyses how men of the rural ‘middling sort’ in late medieval England used movable goods to perform their status and gender by applying relational approaches from material culture studies to bequests in their wills and testaments. It is based on analysis of 403 wills produced by husbandmen, yeomen and gentlemen from Norfolk and Suffolk, c. 1425–1538. Ranking between the gentry and peasantry, these men were major landholders, administrators and consumers in the English countryside, but their mentalities and wills have received little attention. Wills provide evidence for how rural men interpreted their belongings in life and how they imagined objects could help them prolong their patriarchal authority after death. By focusing on three moments when wills intervened in the lifecycles of things – commodity exchange, gift-giving and animation – this analysis models the relational interpretation of medieval material culture and reveals how objects helped create male, middling-status identities.

Disaster, Transgenerational Endurance and Duration in Béké Writing

This article interrogates the preoccupation with transgenerational endurance and duration apparent in béké representations of “natural” disaster. It begins with a brief overview of the earliest literary texts to emerge from the French Caribbean islands: Auguste Prévost de Sansac de Traversay’s Les Amours de Zémédare et Carina, et description de l’île de la Martinique (1806), and Jules Levilloux’s Les Créoles ou la vie aux Antilles (1835)—both of which feature catastrophes that claim the lives of plantation owners and pose a threat to their daughters, the bearers of béké culture. I then consider texts by béké women who lived in Martinique at the time of Mount Pelée’s eruption in 1902, an unprecedented disaster which eradicated almost half of the island’s white population: Clémence Cassius de Linval’s Cœurs Martiniquais (1919) and Élodie Dujon-Jourdain’s Le Sablier renversé (1912). In doing so, I trace a lineage of male and female béké authors who lament white losses in the aftermath of “natural” disaster and remain anxiously preoccupied with the caste’s longevity. Such an approach reveals how white Creoles have, across generations, taken to writing to promote, protect and preserve their culture. Anxieties around the need to preserve patriarchal order, family bloodlines, names and language consistently resurface in this intergenerational literary output which spans more than a century. As we shall see, some of these temporal concerns converge with Édouard Glissant’s observations on time and memory in the French Antilles, specifically his sedimentary poetics of duration.

The Effects of Social Restraints and Gender Roles on the Female Characters in Sons and Lovers

Abstract: This study looks at how societal norms and gender roles are portrayed in D.H. Lawrence's novel Sons and Lovers and how they affect the female characters. In the sociocultural backdrop of late Victorian England, this study examines the complexity of female identity, agency, and autonomy through a thorough analysis of the three main female characters: Gertrude Morel, Miriam Leivers, and Clara Dawes. Using theoretical frameworks from social constructivism, gender studies, and feminist theory, the study explores how societal norms and gender roles influence the relationships, ideas, and behaviors of the female characters. By analyzing the narrative strategies, symbolism, locations, objects, and language that Lawrence uses, the research clarifies the novel's complex representation of social norms and gender expectations. The article also addresses Sons and Lovers applicability to current debates concerning gender issues and social standards, emphasizing the novel's lasting value as a piece of literature that elicits contemplation on the survival of patriarchal systems and the necessity of social transformation. The article concludes by outlining potential directions for future investigation and study in this field, such as interdisciplinary studies that look at the intersections between gender expectations and other identity markers and comparative assessments of gender portrayal in other literary works.

Sita: A symbol of Strength, Resilience, and Empowerment in The Forest of Enchantments

The epic, Ramayana is an enduring literary classic and serves as a guide for social practices, which have a great deal of influence even today. Ramayana is about satisfaction, sacrifice, honesty, and destruction of greed and indiscipline. The epic pictures the birth of goddess, Lakshmi as an avatar to rescue the earth and to destroy the evil kings, who plunder the resources and destroy life through bloody wars and evil conduct. Sita is one of the significant characters in the epic, Ramayana who is considered to be one of the Panchkanyas and respected as the epitome of all womanly virtues for Hindu women. Ramayana depicts women as warriors in domestic life and the novel, The Forest of Enchantments, depicts the incredible journey of women in a patriarchal society and pictures the struggle of modern women to achieve their identity in both their families and society. Chitra Banerjee in The Forest of Enchantments explores the characters of women and brings out their qualities like their moral strength and urges them to attain their destiny. The novel brings out the importance of women’s role in both their family and society.

“What is Rape, Why Me, So What Now?” Out of the Shadows: Women’s Post-Rape Life Experiences in Turkey

Women who have experienced rape are at risk for short/long term physical and mental health problems, psycho-social and socio-economic challenges, they may have a variety of related social service needs. This study aims to explore the post-rape life experiences of women in Turkey, a country where male violence against women, particularly rape, remains prevalent. Utilizing a qualitative research methodology, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 28 women, who are resident in Turkey and survivors of rape. The findings derived from thematic analysis illuminate the dual burden faced by the survivors: the trauma from rape itself, and the imposed submissiveness within a patriarchal society. These experiences contribute to the deepening of the emotional and psychological aftermath of the trauma, pushing the survivors into a vulnerable state. The results of this study underscore the urgent need for systemic and cultural changes in Turkey, as well as enhanced support mechanisms and social services for survivors of rape. There is a need for research to examine the needs that arise from the intersecting issues experienced by women who have been subjected to rape.

Body and Gender: Postfeminism and Representation of Girl Groups in K-pop Music Videos

As South Korean pop music (K-pop) gains popularity globally, people start to realize the exploitation and gender discrimination undermined in the patriarchal society that girl groups go through. This study aims to examine how exploitation is inflicted on female idols and how it influences fashion trends and the evolution of the representation of girl groups in the K-pop industry through analyzing music videos (MVs) and the lyrics of title tracks from different K-pop girl groups from the 3rd generation to the 5th generation with postfeminist lens. The results of the study indicate that K-pop girl groups undergo three stages of transformation in media representation. First, girl groups experience hypersexualization or infantilization by wearing high heels, miniskirts, and school uniforms, in order to satisfy male gazes from male fans. Second, the popularity of girl crush makes girl groups choose boots and leather clothes to indicate girl power, which explores the female fanbase. Third, K-pop producers conceptualize girl groups to satisfy different ideologies, meaning that members of girl groups have to give up authenticity to achieve synchronization and coherence. To conclude, dominated by a patriarchal society, girl groups satisfy the male gaze while empowering sisterhood and questioning heterosexuality with the influence of feminism, which indicates a postfeminist landscape.

Pathological Elements Created by the Father Factor in Franz Kafka

The novels, stories, letters and aphorisms of Franz Kafka, one of the most famous writers of modern German literature, bear the traces of childhood trauma. Through his writing, Kafka revealed a system of thought that he was unable to express during his childhood. Franz Kafka grew up in a patriarchal family dominated by authority and misunderstanding. The sense of marginalisation he experienced within the family, combined with exclusion and misunderstanding, created an insensitivity, first to his immediate environment and then to the outside world, and restricted Franz's emotions from childhood. Unable to establish a positive relationship with his father, Kafka reflected in his works the feelings of alienation, hatred, inadequacy, complexes and insecurity that he had repressed in his unconscious because of his father's oppressive structure and exploitative behaviour. To date, research on Franz Kafka has focused on his works, but the unconscious behind these works has not been evaluated. The aim of this study is to examine the traumas created by the father phenomenon in the background of Franz Kafka's works, and the psychopathological elements created by these childhood traumas.

A Recuperation of the Oppressed and Subjugated Women in Arundhati Roy’s the God of Small Things

Postmodern Indian literature in English is a powerful expression of Indian women writers who have made significant contributions to the world of English fiction. The volume, diversity and maturity of the Indian novel have grown considerably. Famous writers like Kamala Markandaya, Nayantara Sahgal, Kamala Das, Arundhati Roy, Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande and many others have given their creative outlet the enrichment of literature in recent decades by sensitively exposing various issues on the gender bias of women and society. In their creative writings, female characters either rebel against the subjugation of women and the oppressive role of family, society, religion and culture, including long-standing patriarchy, or they reinvent the feminine ethos. The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy's debut novel is a saga about the eternal suffering of women in a patriarchal society, who were oppressed and even deprived of their socio-political, economic identity and basic human rights. Roy excels at how women are victims of violence, exploitation, marginalization, suffering and exile. The novel deals with the suffering, struggle and transformation of three generations of women: Mammachi, Ammu and Rahel. This idea is the basis of this research, which tries to find out how painfully three generations of Women in the novel suffer.

Deconstructing the sex gap in child undernutrition in India: Are Indian boys at elevated risk of anthropometric failure than the girls?

The privileging of boys in immunization coverage, breastfeeding, and other child care practices in Indian patriarchal society raises questions about whether there are sex differences in the prevalence of undernutrition among children. This study evaluates the sex gap in the prevalence of Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF) among Indian children from 2015-16 to 2019-21. Additionally, it seeks to identify the sex-specific determinants and persistent sex gap at national and subnational levels (social, economic, religious, and geopolitical regions) in anthropometric failure among the children from 2015-16 to 2019-21. The study utilizes the 4th (2015-16) and 5th (2019-21) rounds of the National Family Health Survey data. Logistic regression models and the Fairlie decomposition technique were employed to explore the persistent and significant sex gap in the prevalence of CIAF, as well as the sex-specific determinants of CIAF among children in 2015-16 and 2019-21. The study reveals a significant sex gap (approximately 4%-points), with boy's disadvantage in the prevalence of CIAF from 2015-16 to 2019-21 at both the national and subnational levels (social, religious, socioeconomic groups, and geopolitical regions). The gap is more pronounced in the first year of life and decreases in later stages. A comparatively faster CIAF decline among girls from 2016 to 2021 has widened the sex gap in final year than the previous. Child, mother, household, community, and geographic backgrounds explains about 5%-6% of the sex gap in the prevalence of CIAF from 2015-16 to 2019-21. The remaining 94%-95% of the unexplained sex gap may be attributed to biological factors or other factors. Currently, a heightened boy's disadvantage in CIAF risk is observed in ST community, wealthiest families, and the northern India. The findings suggest a special attention for boys under 3 years to offset biological disadvantages like greater disease sensitivity and fragility compared to girls early on.

Women’s Empowerment as a Christian Strategy for Poverty Alleviation in Africa

This article argues that women’s empowerment and gender promotion are among the key strategies for poverty alleviation in Africa. This paper uses Rwanda as a case study to demonstrate the role women can play in poverty alleviation. The main argument made is that the church in Africa has embraced and condoned the African patriarchal systems and has taken part in women’s oppression which contribute to poverty in African societies. The failure to empower women limits their contribution to leadership and economic transformation in church and society. The methodology used in this paper is a hybrid between Critical correlation and Pastoral circle through consultative meetings, focus group discussions, and structured interviews. The research approach used is qualitative. The findings of the investigation show that the church has some theological principles and practices that mar the image and the dignity of women and hinder their complete emancipation and their full participation in poverty alleviation. The paper advocates for churches’ review of its theology and patriarchal church leadership and biblical reading which undermine women and to opt for intentional empowerment of women and gender promotion as strategies for poverty alleviation.

A Study of Women-Nature Connections of The Rabbit Hutch from the Perspective of Ecofeminism

Tess Gunty is one of the most recognized contemporary novelists in America. Her debut novel, The Rabbit Hutch, is a mesmerizing work reflecting the individual struggles to survive and connect in a decadent modern society where everyone seems to be isolated from the outside world, whether physically or spiritually. Ecofeminism emphasizes that women and nature are closely connected as they are considered to be in an inferior status and, therefore, oppressed and dominated by men in the patriarchal society. This study intends to focus on what kind of interconnectedness of women and nature is presented in the novel and further provide an analysis of their twin domination and oppression by the male agencies of The Rabbit Hutch within the Ecofeminist theoretical framework. The novel offers ecofeminist narratives that illustrate the objectification and commodification of women and nature and exhibit the dangers of men’s master mentality and masculinized exploitation towards women and nature. The study concludes that oppressed by patriarchal agencies, women and nature formed a mutually supporting relationship. Under value dualism and hierarchical oppositions, women and nature are instrumentalized or commodified by the dualistic ideologies adopted by patriarchal agencies.

Spacial Choices of Queer Urban Space: A Look into Queer Nightlife Establishments in China

This study examines the dynamics of queer public space in Chengdu, a major Chinese city. Considering the availability of access to different queer public spaces in China, we focus on Chengdu's night venue, entertainment, and digital public space and investigate their significance in creating queer community and sense of belonging. Observation, interviews, case studies, and document review is used to explore the queer space in Chengdu and reveal the obstacles queer community face when constituting safe queer space under the relatively oppressive ideology of the country. Investigating the problems through the lens of multi-disciplines such as urban sociology and gender studies, we take a view of the queer public space itself from an urban planning perspective which examines its design rationality as pure space constitution and analyzes the driving force for such design in gender studies perspective which involves discussion of intersectionality and analysis of patriarchal society. The queer urban space serves a critical function for the queer community by gathering the scattered population and providing a safe space to express their identities. By investigating the contemporary queer public space in Chengdu and making comparisons with that in other countries, this study uncovers the struggle and efforts of the queer community to establish their safe public space in combat with the heteronormative society.

Gender Roles in Transition: A Study of Women Issues and the Changing Role of Gender in the Feminist Literature from the Progressive Era

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of women in the Progressive Era through different stories written during similar times, as well as to develop deeper insight into the social and emotional impact on the personal freedom of women. During the 1900s, women were considered inferior in a patriarchal society. They were subdued and discriminated against in all walks of life, and they were obliged to perform family duties and society. Before the Progressive Era, women were oppressed and treated as second-class citizens. They were considered only wives and mothers, created only to obey and serve their husbands, to look after their children and to take care of the household. As women's attitudes changed, reform movements gained momentum in the late 19th century. American women were no longer seen as mothers or wives confined to their homes; rather, societal change demanded that they be educated, work and contribute to the social order. As a result, the Women’s rights movements in the 19th century and the Feminist Movements in the early 20th century were involved in a series of efforts to fight for the restoration of gender equality. Thus, female roles in American society in the Progressive Era changed drastically in terms of education, job opportunities and improved living conditions. The objective of this study is to examine and analyze the women characters, their issues, as well as the changing gender roles in the works of Charlotte Gilman, Kate Chopin and Susan Glaspell based on the structural elements, using qualitative research with documentation technique.

Gynocritical Study of Colleen Hoover’s it Ends with Us

: Feminism is based, in essence, on the opinion of equality not only between men and woman, but even between women themselves. Feminism is concerned with how women are involved in the process of being and becoming — a process that reduces classification of women as the “Inferior Other Sex”. The study claims that narratives written by feminist writers such as Virginia Woolf, Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Kate Chopin are Gynocritical feminists, writing about an androcentric culture and the patriarchal system of society whose sole aim is to silence and dominate women, indulged in treating them as an inferior sex, and confine them to the roles of nursing and nurturing. The present paper is an attempt to study Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us (2016) under feminist term gynocriticism, shed the light on different aspects related to women's being and becoming including emotions, the objectification of women. The study draws heavily on feminist gynocritics who present different discussions about masculine subjugation of women and feminist’s possibility towards self-realization

COVID-19: Uses and Perceptions of Music during Lockdown from a Gender Perspective

Starting in the middle of March 2020, various lockdown measures and degrees of confinement were put in place in most European countries as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although this situation meant that more people were likely to experience poorer mental health, largely due to the imposition of social distancing measures, many individuals incorporated music into their coping routines to help improve their psychological well-being. Using a gender perspective, this study analyzes how individuals used music during lockdown and explores the differences between men’s and women’s views on the impact that listening to and making music has on their perceived level of well-being. A questionnaire, MUSIVID19, was administered to a sample of 1868 participants from all the autonomous regions in Spain. The results reveal that in the uses and perceptions of music, the stereotypes underlying the patriarchal system were also reproduced during confinement.