Popular Women Research Articles

An Analysis of Women Rappers’ Lyrical and Video Performances in Hip Hop Collaborations

Women in Rap often occupy spaces in which they are marginalized or pitted against one another. Yet, recently, more popular women artists are working together, instead of attempting to commodify their rap beefs. With this historic shift in mind, it is critical to take a moment to investigate the collaborations that have occurred in the past, as they are rare. These collaborations allowed a space for women to work alongside other women, when it was not popular or often profitable to do so, and men, who dominated the hip hop music genre and often did not find value in collaborations. Therefore, this study intentionally seeks the elevation of women’s narratives and representations in hip hop culture and academic scholarship by focusing on collaborations and women’s voices within them. It works to add to women’s studies by investigating representations of women rappers in both their lyrics and music videos. The latter of which are ripe with visual message often ignored in scholarship that heavily focuses on lyrics.

Dry Spells, Drought, and Environmental Crisis: The Drought Feature in Australian Women’s Weekly Magazine, 1939–2019

ABSTRACT Drought in Australia is expected but with climate change will worsen. Popular magazines can draw attention to and depict drought in distinctive as well as conventional ways, as shown by an analysis of content on drought in Australian Women’s Weekly from 1939 to 2019. That content, and in particular feature articles on drought, has established drought as a phenomenon experienced primarily by those who live and work on the land, promoted certain views of the experience of drought – and its significance for women – and advocated action of some kind. The features in later years also have placed drought in the context of climate change, including through prominent verbal and visual elements that draw attention to the plight of the environment. In these ways, the features illustrate the efforts made by the popular women’s magazine to contribute purposefully to environmental communication in the public sphere.

Exploring the Correlation Between Health Literacy and Knowledge of Cervical Cancer and Radiotherapy Among Japanese Women: A Web-Based Survey.

Health literacy (HL) plays a vital role in an individual's ability to make informed health decisions. Japan faces several challenges in cervical cancer control, including low human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination and screening rates, underutilization of radiotherapy, and limited HL. This study explored the association between HL and knowledge of cervical cancer and radiotherapy, particularly among young Japanese women. We conducted a web-based survey among users of LunaLuna, a popular women's healthcare application, to assess their HL and knowledge about cervical cancer and radiotherapy through a 46-question survey. We compared three groups in terms of HL (inadequate, problematic, and sufficient & excellent). Multiple regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with knowledge. In total, 1468 respondents were included in this study. HL was positively correlated with knowledge scores (inadequate: 51.8%; problematic: 56.3%; sufficient & excellent: 60%). Participants displayed relatively low accuracy for treatment-related questions. Higher HL (β = 0.15, p < 0.01), education (β = - 0.11, p < 0.01), cervical cancer screening (β = - 0.11, p < 0.01), income (β = 0.09, p < 0.01), and employment (β = - 0.06, p = 0.04) were significant factors affecting knowledge of cervical cancer and radiotherapy. Our findings underscore the pivotal role of HL in promoting cervical cancer prevention and providing a better understanding of radiotherapy. Despite factors such as age, education, and history of cervical cancer screening, HL showed the strongest association with knowledge of cervical cancer and radiotherapy. The enhancement of HL and knowledge dissemination may be critical for promoting cervical cancer prevention and radiotherapy in Japan.

A Model for Causality of Pitching-related Overuse Injuries in Women's Fastpitch Softball.

Fastpitch softball is a popular women's sport, and athletes, particularly pitchers, are at high risk for overuse injury. Softball-related injury rates are low; however, the prevalence of overuse injuries is high. Injuries at the high school and collegiate levels occur early in the season, and approximately 50% of shoulder and elbow injuries in softball are attributable to overuse. Survey research showed 77% of high school pitchers pitch with pain, and 73% of collegiate pitchers reported an overuse injury in the previous season. Modifiable and non-modifiable intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors contribute to injury risk in a model that can be used in history taking, clinical examination, and management of softball-related injuries. In this manuscript, we present a scoping review of fastpitch softball injury research by competitive levels from 1990 to present. We also introduce a model for overuse injury causality in this athlete population. With this information, clinicians will be able to identify risk factors related to injury in softball pitchers. More research is needed to make evidence-based recommendations for injury prevention in this athlete population.

EXPOSURE TO ANOTHER CULTURE: SHAPING THE SELF OF THE SUBALTERN IN BUCHI EMECHETA’S KEHINDE

The aim of this study is to defamiliarize Gayatri Spivak’s pessimistic approach regarding the condition of the subaltern as a female subject. Spivak’s subaltern, misrepresented by the male-dominated West and the male-dominated East and therefore not belonging to any particular social group, has no history and cannot speak for herself. The position of the subaltern woman is examined based on Buchi Emecheta’s Kehinde (1994), which deals with the circular migration of the eponymous character – Kehinde – from Nigeria to England, back to Nigeria and then back to England. The novel explores the binary between the self and the other of the subaltern woman in relation to the native and host cultures. To this end, the study uses several postcolonial concepts by Homi K. Bhabha, discussed at length in his book The Location of Culture (1994), such as mimicry, liminality, appropriation, and ambivalence, which, in its turn, conceptualises the position of the Nigerian subaltern woman in relation to cultural difference. The study foregrounds the validity of the popular woman theory known as African feminism, which specifically addresses the situation of African women. This approach also makes it possible to redefine the traditional concept of femininity in Nigerian culture. The study shows how cultural difference affects the growing consciousness of the subaltern woman, which ultimately helps her to become an independent person. The study concludes that, unlike Spivak’s subaltern, the Nigerian subaltern creates her own space from which she can speak for herself in the male-dominated society.

Art Academy of Latvia Graphic Arts Alumnae Who Established the Principles of Latvian National Textile Art, 1931–1943

In the 1920s and 1930s, Latvian magazines featured original textile compositions by renowned male artists. Through my research of textile compositions of the famous Latvian artist and designer Jūlijs Madernieks, it became apparent that during this period, Latvian magazines also showcased textiles by lesser-known artists, particularly graduates of the Graphic Arts Workshop of the Art Academy of Latvia. Despite the significant role played by graphic artists in the formation and promotion of Latvian national textile art, their contributions remain largely unexplored. This research focuses on the popular women’s magazine Zeltene, which presented numerous original textile designs by Elza Druja, Marija Muceniece, Otomija Freiberga, and Kristine Pāvulina. Another focal point of this study is the state of textile crafts education in the third decade of the 20th century and its role in encouraging women to engage in textile art or crafts. The contributions of women to Latvian textile art during the 1920s and 1930s have not received adequate scholarly attention due to the occupation of Latvia by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany in the 1940s, as well as subsequent constraints imposed on Latvian art historians by the Soviet regime. This paper marks an initial stage in the development of Latvian textile art history, with a particular emphasis on female textile artists.

Analysis of the Formation of Western Fashion Style in the 1980s

Clothing is an important factor that affects the beauty of women's form, and it is also an external manifestation of women's thinking. The popular women's clothing in the West in the 1980s had a very unique and significant style, to the extent that the aesthetic formed by women during this period has continued to the present day. Nowadays, many fashion designers often refer to the fashion elements of the time when creating. The formation of style is inseparable from the historical background. This study analyses the factors that influenced the style of women's clothing in the 1980s by consulting literature, websites, and books. That was an era when women began to gradually enter the workplace. Influenced by the background of this era, women's clothing broke away from the limitation of showcasing women's physical appearance and more developed towards a neutral and capable style. At the same time, due to the vigorous development of the economy, extravagance and exaggeration became the mainstream at that time. All of these have formed the unique trend of women's clothing in the 1980s. The significance of this study is to analyze the causes of Western women's clothing styles in the 1980s in detail, in order to gain a more comprehensive and detailed understanding of the fashion history of that period.

FEMALE WRITER IN LATIN AMERICA: REFLECTION ON THE INFLUENCE OF FEMINISM AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE

The cultural, political, social, economic marginalization of women and the little intellectual authority granted to them negatively influenced the writing, publication and dissemination of female writers’ materials, but with the transcendental changes in Latin America, greatly influenced by the feminist movement, it made with a new configuration of social and cultural spaces, favoring the consolidation of feminist organizations and popular women's organizations. In addition, the increasing inclusion of women in the labor market reflected changes in the family and created a new collective imagination. With that in mind, this work aimed to evaluate and raise a reflection on the evolution of female writer literature in Latin America and the impacts generated in today's productions, the 21st century. Through research carried out through books and digital articles in a period from 2010 to 2022, it was found that women are gaining a little more space in the publishing market and becoming avid readers, however, even as the majority in the search for books, women still do not dominate the production of works in Latin American countries and still do not influence the favoritism of the male public.

Ideologisation of the Family in Women’s Magazines in the People’s Republic of Poland: Propaganda Models and Transmission Mechanisms

This article aims to show the phenomenon of ideologisation of the Polish family in the official dimension of the culture of real socialism, i.e. the media. The subject of the analysis was the most popular women’s press in the People’s Republic of Poland,with a socio-educational and advisory nature. By presenting the phenomenon of family ideologisation, attempts were made to show two of its aspects, i.e. mechanisms for the transmission of propagated content. In the first case, the family models appearing inthe analysed press in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s were reconstructed, and in the second, the techniques, principles, and means used in the propaganda message were presented. The basic research problem is framed in the question: What models of family life were propagated by the examined women’s press in selected periods of real socialism and what communication mechanisms were used concerning the propagated content? The following theoretical assumptions were adopted in the analysed issues: 1) the imageof the family propagated in magazines was subject to strong ideologisation and politicisation, 2) the family was treated as a political and educational tool in the service of the power apparatus, 3) interpretations of selected aspects of family life lowered therank and importance of the family in social awareness, and 4) various mechanisms of propaganda were used to weaken the cognitive and psychological structures of women. The basic material base of the research was the magazine “Przyjaciółka” published in selected periods of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The supplementary base was the magazine “Kobieta i Życie” and studies by A. Kłoskowska from the 1950s and F. Adamski from the 1960s. In the reconstruction of the family models from the 1950s and 1960s, I used the content analysis method, and in the study of the family model from the 1970s, the frequency-thematic analysis of the messages of the researched content and H. Lasswell’s communication model. The theoretical reference for family analyses inthe period of the People’s Republic of Poland was the concept of family as defined by K. Marx, F. Engels and V. I. Lenin. The research findings revealed that the transmitted content was subject to strong ideologisation and politicisation. The transmitted contentweakened the importance of the family and deformed the sense of family values. The propagated image was one-sided and reduced. The family was treated as a tool in the service of the communist state. The techniques of transmission generated a sense of mental dilemma, ignorance, and intellectual confusion among the female readers.

Ita Buttrose, Dulcie Boling, and Nene King: The Construction of ‘Idealised Feminine Leadership’ in the Australian Media, 1972–1999

ABSTRACT Ita Buttrose, Dulcie Boling, and Nene King were three of the most influential women leaders in the Australian media from the 1970s through to the turn of the twenty-first century. They were all editors of some of Australia’s most popular women’s magazines, including Cleo, Woman’s Day, New Idea and the Australian Women’s Weekly, and were all appointed to positions on the boards of Australia’s top media companies. This article historicises the careers of Buttrose, Boling, and King, positing that the way that their careers were constructed in the media, by themselves and others, reinforced gendered assumptions regarding women’s leadership capabilities. These constructions evidence a nascent postfeminist conception of women in power in Australia from the 1970s through to the 1990s. The article suggests that the ability (or not) of Buttrose, Boling, and King to conform to idealised ‘feminine’ leadership ideals reinforced (rather than challenged) the highly gendered nature of Australian corporate media leadership and governance.

Co-option or Recognition? Second-wave Feminist Politics and the Frigidaire Australia Women’s Design Conference, 1980

Abstract In 1980, Frigidaire Australia launched an advertising campaign in popular women’s magazines calling for readers’ opinions on refrigerator design. Soon after, Frigidaire held the Group 200 Women’s Design Conference in Sydney, leading to the release of the G2 refrigerator in 1981, which was promoted as being “designed” by the women involved in this market research. This example offers insights into evolving public understandings of design in mainstream Australia in the early 1980s. It also demonstrates the troubled position of design in relation to the maturing second-wave feminist movement, and particularly amid feminist debates regarding domestic labor. Furthermore, Frigidaire’s marketing strategy can be read as an example of the emergent neoliberalization of design in the 1980s. The article finds that, despite Frigidaire’s marketing rhetoric, the women participants had little agency over the G2’s design. The politics of identity (in this case, a subtle form of feminist agency) was effectively co-opted by capital to encourage consumption. Nonetheless, the Women’s Design Conference was meaningful in a discrete sense, as a moment in time when a group of women (mostly middle-aged “homemakers”) recognized their own domestic knowledge as design expertise. This may be the only saving grace from what was otherwise a thoroughly unambitious attempt to incorporate women’s knowledge into product design.

“Doctors Aren’t Familiar with Your Tissues”: Self-Examination and Feminist Health Activism in 1970s Canada

This article explores the impact of self-examination as a tool of feminist resistance, an act of preventive health care, and a site where mainstream and alternative health models were debated in late twentieth-century Canada. In the early 1970s, a range of women’s health groups increasingly turned their liberationist critiques towards the structures of mainstream medicine, and the self-exam became a vehicle that allowed women to push back against what they cast as the systemic power imbalances involved with the traditional doctor-patient relationship. Both breast and pelvic self-exams became staples of the women’s health movement as feminists encouraged women to take health care into their own hands, both figuratively and literally. As the decade progressed, breast self-examination transformed from a niche feminist technique to a relatively commonplace preventative health practice, increasingly discussed within popular women’s magazines across North America. Pelvic self-examination remained more controversial as the practice was denounced by a small but vocal group of Canadian physicians, resentful of lay incursions into medical practice. Drawing on women’s magazines and feminist newsletters, archival files from Canadian women’s health centres, and debates about self-examination in national newspapers, we reveal how shifting narratives about women’s liberation, responsibility for preventative health practices, and medical authority intersected in the feminist practice of self-examination.

Cumhuriyet Dönemi Popüler Kadın Dergilerinde Mizojini Etkilerinin İncelenmesi: Hayat Dergisi Örneği

Bu çalışmanın amacı 70’ler Türkiye’sinde, dönemin önde gelen popüler kültür unsuru niteliğine sahip dergilerinde mizojinik unsurların varlığını görünür kılarak kadına yönelik olumsuz bakış açısını ve erkek egemen kültürün nasıl yaratıldığını ve pekiştirildiğini belirlemektir. Popüler kültür unsurları yoluyla topluma yansıtılan mizojini (kadın düşmanlığı), kadını içinde yaşadığı toplumda ikincil ve aşağı konumda gören her türlü düşmanca bakış açısı, tutum ve davranışı meşru göstermektedir. Bilindiği gibi kitle iletişim araçlarının, popüler kültürü besleyen ve yayan özelliği nedeniyle, toplumu şekillendirmedeki önemi yadsınamayacak kadar büyüktür. Buradan hareketle, bu çalışma 70’ler Türkiye’sinde örnek bir popüler dergide mizojinik (kadın düşmanı) unsurların var olup olmadığının tespitine odaklanılarak ele alınmıştır. Bu hedef doğrultusunda 70’ler Türkiye’sinin popüler dergilerinden biri olarak Hayat Dergisi, ilgili alanda yapılan literatür taraması sonucu ulaşılan kavramsal çerçeve temelinde mizojinik temalar açısından derinlemesine incelenmiştir. Bu amaca hizmet edecek şekilde, mizojinik tutumlar ve bu tutumların neden olduğu mizojinik sonuçlar olmak üzere, iki başlık altında yer alan on yedi mizojinik anlam taşıyan tema ile haber, reklam, köşe yazısı, fotoğraf, resim gibi verilerle eşleşen mizojinik sonuca ulaşılmıştır. Mizojini kavramının, “mizojininin kaynakları ve mizojininin sonuçları” şeklinde ikili bir sınıflama oluşturularak ulaşılan ve çalışmanın güvenirliğini arttırmak amacıyla üç ayrı kodlayıcının en az ikisinin birbirlerinden bağımsız olarak yaptıkları kodlamalarda mutabık oldukları mizojinik temalar, dergide ne oranda mizojinik unsur olduğunu ortaya koymuştur. Buna göre, mizojini dönemin popüler dergisi olan ‘Hayat Dergisi’nin, 1970’lerin başı, ortası ve sonu şeklinde bir mantık yürütülerek oluşturulan 1970, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978 yıllarına ait 6 sayısında, toplamda 342 kez, dergi başına ise 57 kez tespit edilmiştir. Elde edilen bulgular ışığında mizojinik bakış açısının, 70’ler Türkiye’sinde toplumun en çok okuduğu dergilerden sadece bir tanesinde bu kadar çok sayıda yer almış olmasının, toplumda var olan mizojinik eğilimleri yüksek oranda ürettiğinin ve pekiştirdiğinin bir göstergesi olarak görülmektedir.

Women's health magazines and postfeminist healthism: A critical discourse analysis

Daily, millions of North American women turn to popular media, like women's health magazines, for health-related advice and information. “Magazines continue to be a popular medium” and, given their power and reach, remain an important site for critical analysis. In this article, we examine the ways in which three popular women's health magazines provide “health” advice to their readers. We first provide an overview of research in feminist media studies exploring postfeminist sensibility, healthism, and now a postfeminist healthism. We then conduct a critical discourse analysis of articles from all 30 issues of Health, Women's Health, and Shape magazines published in 2018. Our investigation of how the magazines portray what it means to have “good health,” suggests that health continues to be conflated with appearance. Moreover, health is presented as confusing, such that maintaining health requires expert help, and as purchasable, and thus linked to economic practices.

New Media and the Rise of the Popular Woman Writer, 1832–1860 by Alexis Easley (review)

New Media and the Rise of the Popular Woman Writer, 1832–1860 by Alexis Easley (review)

How to navigate a pandemic: Competing discourses in The Australian Women's Weekly magazine

As the Covid-19 pandemic caused schools, workplaces, and childcare centres to close, pressures in the home increased. Much of the additional unpaid work required under these conditions was done by women. Most women's magazines at this time urged women to stay positive and develop wellbeing routines to help them flourish. This approach reinforces normative neoliberal subjectivity with its roots in therapeutic culture and the happiness industry. While the focus on self-care may seem empowering, it puts more pressure on women in times of upheaval. Based on a thematic analysis of pandemic-related content in Australia's most popular women's magazine, The Australian Women's Weekly, we identified three key themes: ‘finding the silver lining’, ‘making lifestyle choices’, and ‘recognising hardships and social divides’. While self-responsibilising discourses were prominent, some articles acknowledged the broader structural issues impacting women, revealing a tension between competing discourses.

The cost of injury in Ladies Gaelic football: A nine-year analysis (2012–2020) of the LGFA's Injury Fund

<h2>Abstract</h2><h3>Objectives</h3> Ladies Gaelic football is a popular women's sport in Ireland and internationally. An injury fund is available to Ladies Gaelic football players for claims to cover excess medical bills/lost wages, facilitating a longitudinal analysis of claim data over time. This study aimed to report Ladies Gaelic football injury claim numbers, rates, and associated costs, and consider claim trends over time. <h3>Design</h3> Descriptive epidemiology study. <h3>Methods</h3> All approved injury claims from Ladies Gaelic football players between 2012 and 2020 were analysed. The frequency of injury claims, cost of the injury fund, and specific treatment expenses were calculated for the overall sample, and for adults and youths. Claim rates per 1000 players, per 1000 adults and per 1000 youths were calculated and Poisson regression was used to examine trends over time. <h3>Results</h3> A total of €6,200,557.68 was allocated to 9348 claims, averaging €663.30 ± 1387.15 per claim. There were 12.98 (95 % confidence interval 12.72–13.25) claims per 1000 players and 1.15 (95 % confidence interval 1.12–1.17) per club. No significant injury trends over time were observed whilst the average inflation-adjusted claim cost increased by 71.9 %. Lower extremity injuries accounted for most claims (63.8 %) and most costs (83.4 %). The knee, ankle and hamstring were most frequently injured and knee injuries accounted for 70 % of injury costs. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Claim rates remained prevalent between 2012 and 2020 though average claim costs increased substantially during this time. Investment towards injury prevention strategies targeting lower extremity injuries, particularly knee injuries, is strongly supported by these data.

К биографии писательницы Н.А. Лаппо-Данилевской

The paper checks and reviews a number of key moments in the generally accepted biography of Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Lappo-Danilevskaia (born Liutkevich; 1871–1951), one of the most popular women writers of prerevolutionary Russia and of the Russian emigration, — a biography based first of foremost on information that she herself supplied. It establishes the correct date of her birth (September 29, 1871) and the most plausible birthplace (Mogilev, not Kiev); information about her father’s career and her close relatives is also reported. Materials from various Russian and Western archives allow us to elucidate important episodes of her life, such as: her marriage to the composer Sergei Sergeevich Lappo-Danilevskii (1868–1957) and the birth of their children; her singing career; the censorship of her novel “Princess Mara” (1914); the history of the English translation of her novel “A Russian Gentleman” and of its two editions (both 1917; in New York and in London); her literary and theatrical contacts in exile. Finally the fate of Lappo-Danilevskaia’s memoirs, written in French, is considered; their whereabouts are currently unknown.

The Unlikely Heroine beyond Family Trauma: Four Women’s Fictions of the Second World War in Greece

My analysis of Victoria Hislop’s The Island (2005), Leah Fleming’s The Girl under the Olive Tree (2013), Sofka Zinovieff’s The House on Paradise Street (2012), and Brenda Reid’s The House of Dust and Dreams (2010) examines their treatment of the exotic setting of Greece in the specific historical context of World War II, while following the conventions of popular romance or popular women’s fiction. As a consequence of the conflict, the traditional family structure is compromised. This is particularly evident in the case of the female protagonists, heroines who refuse to fall within the traditional happyever-after ending and opt for a fulfilling career, a longfelt vocation, singlehood or simply unusual friendships of their choice. As a result, even in novels categorized as “romances”, the presence of a hero or lover is questioned and redefined. My analysis starts with Victoria Hislop’s The Island, a historical narrative of the leper colony at Spinalonga, around the time of the Second World War. For comparative purposes regarding the treatment of popular fiction elements, Brenda Reid’s The House of Dust and Dreams and Leah Fleming’s The Girl under the Olive Tree are discussed as being more generically romantic. Finally, Sofka Zinovieff’s The House on Paradise Street offers an example of a cohesive, compact combination of political confrontation and popular romance, while at the same time England appears as the counterpoint to the exoticism of Greece.

Examining Caste Consciousness in Kavita Kane’s Karna’s Wife and Fisher Queen’s Dynasty

Use of mythological tales for creating revisionist literature is contemporary approach of the modern Indian writers. Some famous works of literature, based on mythology are written by writers like Devdutt Pattanaik, Amish Tripathi, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Volga, Kevin Missal, SarathKomarraju and Krishna Udayashankar. These writers try to reinterpret mythological characters like Shiva, Rama, Draupadi, Amba, Krishna etc. Kavita Kane is one of the popular woman writers of India who renders Indian mythological texts and writes novels. Her ficitons are known for portrayals of the mythical characters who are less discussed. She picks up marginalized women characters from the mythical literature of India and retells their stories. She raises isssues of identity, individuality, gender, caste, femininity and patriarchy in her fictional works. In her novels, Karna’s Wife and Fisher Queen’s Dynasty, Kane has woven issues of gender and caste. Both of them are based on the Mahabharata. She retells the stories of Uruvi, Karna’s wife and Satyavati, Shantanu’s wife from their perspectives and explore their struggles against discriminations based on gender and caste. The novelist depicts these women characters with their courage, confidence, individuality and power to resist the class or caste-based violence. As modern literary works, their intersectionality is evident and they can be examined keeping in mind multidisciplinary approach. The present article examines caste consciousness as expressed by Kane in her Karna’s Wife and Fisher Queen’s Dynasty.