Traditional Gender Order Research Articles

Two Gender–Equal Nations? Anti-Gender Re-Configurations of National Belonging in Sweden and Spain

ABSTRACT Gender equality and the rights of LGBTQI* and people of colour are being contested across the globe due to the rise of anti-gender far-right politics and movements that threaten feminist socio-political gains. In a nostalgic defence for a traditional gender order, these exclusionary politics articulate nativist, gendered and racial ideas of the nation. This paper examines anti-gender discourses in relation to dominant discourses of gender equality in specific national contexts and nation-making. We develop the concept of nation-gender equality nexus to account for the different imaginaries of the nation in relation to gender equality that are (re)produced by anti-gender forces through a comparative study of Sweden and Spain. We argue that Swedish and Spanish anti-gender actors configure nationhood and belonging through the reinterpretation of dominant discourses on gender equality in their respective contexts, identifying two main axes that articulate this construction: religion-secularism and migration-race. As a result, anti-gender actors produce different nation-gender configurations that lead to specific boundaries of national belonging and exclusion across the intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, and citizenship.

Gendered Manifestations of Para-social Interactions between Female Fans and Male Idols in China

This study aims to reveal the gendered manifestations of para-social interactions between female fans and male idols in social media platforms in China, to clarify in which aspects they serve to reinforce the traditional gender order and in which aspects they deviate from the traditional gender norms, with a view to contributing positively to the optimisation of the relationship between female fans and male idols. Digital ethnography approach is used in this work, based on the Sina Weibo platform, to conduct a 15-day online observational study of seven Chinese male idols, namely Ma Jiaqi, Liu Yaowen, Song Yaxuan, Deng Jiaxin, Tang Yuzhe, Zhu Yilong, and Yang Yang, as well as their female fans. The blind consumption and unpaid labour of Chinese female fans for their male idols, as well as the polygamous "courtly love" relationship between the two, reaffirm and reinforce the traditional gender order. At the same time, the transformation of Chinese female fans from erotic objects to erotic subjects, their love for multiple male idols, their concern for ambiguous relationships between male idols, and their adherence to self-principle and subjectivity have rebelled against and even subverted traditional gender norms. However, the power to counteract the traditional gender order is not strong enough, and is still limited by factors such as exclusivity within the fan community, heterosexual hegemony, and idolatry that is as crazy and irrational as religious beliefs.

Of Heroes and Mothers: Locating Gender in Ideological Narratives of Salafi-Jihadist and Extreme Right Propaganda

This article analyses how and why gender is used in ideological narratives of Salafi-jihadist and extreme right propaganda. It argues that five overarching gendered narratives are leveraged to increase the appeal and resonance of overarching ideological narratives: constructions of a corrupt gender order linked to crisis; constructions of a historically traditional gender order reinstituted by the in-group; portrayals of “good” men and women contributing to solutions and “bad” men and women warranting punishment; constructions of local gendered crises that justify violent action from the in-group; and the juxtaposition of masculinities and femininities to shame or empower audiences into action.

Exit, Voice, and Gender

Albert Hirschman’s exit-voice paradigm provides a useful lens for analyzing the current neo-categorical phase of gender politics in which attention has shifted from the content of the binary gender categories to the structure of the gender category system. During this phase of categorical destabilization, exit from originally assigned categories—in bureaucratically recorded, statistically reported, and informally negotiated forms—has become culturally legitimate and institutionally supported in a broadening range of milieus. Hirschman’s paradigm brings into focus the selectivity of exit and its potentially—and paradoxically—stabilizing consequences for the traditional gender order. The increased ease and pronounced selectivity of exit can channel dissatisfaction with gender arrangements into exit rather than voice or—as exit may itself be a form of voice—into individualized, psychologically driven forms of voice. And the selective exit of gender-nonconforming individuals from originally assigned categories can reinforce the stereotypical associations of these categories with gender conformity.

Women’s sport and media: a call to critical arms

ABSTRACT After many years of struggle, women’s sport is experiencing an upsurge around the world. This advance means, given the co-dependent relationship between sport and media, greater coverage of women’s sport. These are positive developments regarding gender equality, especially given the socio-cultural power of the “media sports cultural complex.” It is important, though, not to exaggerate the institutional success of women’s sport and media that has begun from a low base and encounters continued resistance. Improvements are also globally uneven, being more evident among relatively affluent, culturally advantaged communities, especially in the West, with compounding intersectional disadvantage for women in poorer, racialized and religiously oppressive contexts. Where successes have been achieved, they should be subject to the same kind of critical scepticism applying to wider sport and media-related issues such as the environment, “sportswashing,” sport diplomacy, capitalist exploitation, and challenges to sport’s traditional binary gender order. This article, while noting an increase in feminist media research and scholarship applied to sport, argues that it is still under-represented in communication and media studies. It constitutes a call to this field for greater analytically reflexive attention to an area of popular culture that consumes enormous media space in a critical cultural-political moment.

Anita Kurimay. Queer Budapest, 1873–1961

Anita Kurimay. <i>Queer Budapest, 1873–1961</i>

越劇과 女性國劇의 비교 연구 - 발전과정과 특징을 중심으로

Yue-ju Opera and Female Gukkeuk are representative traditional theater styles in which only actresses perform. In the 20th century, women’s social advancement had become more frequent, so women’s stage performances are no longer unfamiliar. Yue-ju Opera and Female Gukkeuk are popular and traditional plays developed in Seolchang(說唱), and have similarities such as the actress’ male costume acting and romance narratives. The history of Female Gukkeuk and Yue-ju Opera is a process in which women, who were excluded from stage performances and were taboo, became the central body of the stage.BR First of all, I reasearched the process of women becoming the central body on the stage. Yue-ju Opera and Female Gukkeuk were theatricalized from Seolchang Art. Changgeuk was established by the Joseon(朝鲜) Vocal Music Research Association, and Yue-ju Opera was established as Yue-ju Opera through Nakji Changseo, Sogaban, and Shaoxing-Munhee. Both theater styles had performed only by men at the beginning period. Since then, Changgeuk has partially performed by Ki-saeng or female singers of Pansori, but Yue-ju Opera had established a female troupe and let male troupe push out.BR Since Female Gukkeuk and Yue-ju Opera are performed only by actresses, the actress’ male costume is the core of these two styles. Female Gukkeuk was established by Im-Chun-Aeng, who participated in the early days, and Yue-ju Opera was established by YIn-guifang through various resuscitation actors in the late 30s and 40s. Unlike the Female Gukkeuk established actress’ male acting and then the other actors’ acting was highlighted, the Yue-ju Opera was centered on the Huadan(花旦) at first and later on, Xiaosheng(小生) became centered. In terms of makeup, costumes, romance narratives, and singing method, Female Gukkeuk has a relatively strong and powerful images, compared to Yue-ju Opera which has a soft images.BR After liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Female Gukkeuk had a desire to become the representation of national theater with the motto of establishing a nation- state and national musics. This desire was also expressed in a national formation narrative. However, the Female Gukkeuk, which wanted to be the representation of the nation-state, became marginalized when Korean society had rebuilt the traditional gender order again.BR In Shanghai, many immigrants from Zhejiang(浙江) and Jiangsu(江蘇) province accounted for the majiority, and Yue-ju Opera had the locality to put them together. After the establishment of People’s Republic of China, thanks to the marriage law campaign, romance narrative-oriented works gained popularity nationwide and even were introduced to foreign countries, functioning as the representation of the nation-state.

Deconstructing gender and family norms in new Tunisian cinema: A queer reading of Ala Eddine Slim’s Tlamess/طلامس‎(2019)

This article seeks to problematize the concept of queer cinema and then to illuminate conceptual nuances through the analysis of a specific film. The Tunisian feature film Tlamess can be read as queer on two levels. First, its queerness relates to the protagonist, a deserter who undergoes a fundamental metamorphosis: he frees himself from the patterns of military masculinity and, far from the normative world, takes on a maternal role. Second, the dissolution of the traditional gender and family order is staged through cinematic processes that introduce the viewers to a pre-verbal world outside of established symbolic and social patterns. Expressive audio-visual techniques transfer the viewers into this alternative world and create an experience of difference, a kind of mind game. Thus, queer cinema should not only be understood in terms of political activism, as an examination of characters supposedly deviating from gender norms. Rather, and crucially, it emerges in a much broader sense out of the strategies of aesthetic mise en scène.

How do women entrepreneurs influence the strategic orientation of family businesses? A typology of Swedish decision-making in Småland community

PurposeThis paper aims to add to the theorization of family dynamics and women’s entrepreneurship by examining women’s influence on decision-making in family businesses. Business decisions in family firms, in particular, are not free from family influence in terms of goals and strategies, and the role of women in decision-making processes is of particular interest. Consequently, the role of women entrepreneurs in family firms and their influence on business development requires a more fine-grained analysis of the family dynamic within the family and the business.Design/methodology/approachThis study draws on a qualitative study and focuses on the life story narratives of nine women in rural family businesses in rural communities of Småland province in Sweden to empirically examine the decision-making processes. This region is known both for its entrepreneurial culture and traditional gender order. Based on the narrative accounts of women entrepreneurs in family businesses, the data analysis method is thematic, using a Gioia-inspired method.FindingsThe complexity of decision-making in rural family firms is further complicated in part due to a closeness with the rural community. Thus, a typology of three decision-making modes in family firms emerges an informal family-oriented mode, a semistructured family/employee consensus mode and a formal board mode with at least one nonfamily member. Moreover, the advantages, disadvantages and strategies that women use to influence decisions within the respective mode are outlined.Originality/valueThis work contributes to the study of women’s agency and its implications in family business and entrepreneurship in the rural context. The study implies that women’s agency shapes the (rural) entrepreneurship context and, likewise, the (rural) entrepreneurship context influences women’s agency. Hence, the author challenges the view of women as only caregivers and sheds light on the practices and processes behind the scenes of entrepreneurial family businesses.

“And Then People Are Surprised That Disasters Befall Us From All Directions”: Sport Fans’ Responses to Israel’s First Transgender Soccer Referee Sapir Berman

The current study focuses on sport fans’ attitudes toward the presence of the first transgender soccer referee in an elite league in Israel, and largely reflects the broader discourse on gender diversity and inclusion in general. Soccer referee Sapir Berman’s announcement of her gender transition may have been exceptional, but it joins the broad debate on the role of transgender individuals in sport. Research findings indicate that fans expressed ambivalent reactions to the announcement. Although many responses reflected impressive open-mindedness and support for the referee and her decision, a wide range of opposition strategies was also identified, including disgust, ridicule, violence, and concerns of an existential threat caused by changes in the traditional gender order. The fact that the announcement was made during the COVID-19 pandemic also affected the nature and the contents of fans’ responses.

Social Welfare Provision at the Imperial Edge: Single Mothers and Abandoned Children in the Late Russian Empire

AbstractThis article looks to the societal and imperial margins to examine attitudes towards social welfare provision in the final decades of the Russian Empire. Drawing on archival material from the Empire's Estliand province (now northern Estonia), the article focuses on the self‐representation of single mothers and official discussions of abandoned children. Society was in flux in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as rapid industrialisation, urbanisation and rural‐to‐urban migration served to undermine traditional social structures, mentalities and identities. These changes were accompanied by the disruption of the traditional patriarchal gender order, as well shifting ideas about who ought to be responsible for taking care of vulnerable groups. In rural Estliand, Estonian‐speaking unmarried women sought engagement with Russian imperial judicial structures to secure child maintenance. In the early 1900s, anxieties about the social impacts of rapid urbanisation and industrialisation and the development of new currents in philanthropy, meant that care for foundlings and abandoned children became a burning issue in the minds of Estliand's provincial officials. Examining single mothers and child abandonment in Estliand illuminates tensions between empire‐wide and local mechanisms for dealing with social issues, as well as shifting attitudes to gender, the family and charity in light of urbanisation and modernisation.

Female everyday life in letters by a Karelian peasant woman of the early XX century

Introduction. The article reports the results of an analysis of the letters written by a peasant early in the XX century, found in the National Archives of Finland, which are a rare-type of historical source. Their author is a twenty-year-old peasant Anna Eremeeva-Räikha, who wrote them to her husband exiled to North Kazakhstan. The relevance of the study is defined by high interest to epistolary cultural heritage, where a special place is given to the letters of Russian’s different ethnic groups, and also by attention paid to the history of everyday life. Materials and Methods. The principal method was analysis of the structure of the letters, including identification of thematic block sequences and their subsequent clustering for the analysis of specific issues. Results and Discussion. The article explicates the substantive dimension of the letters, which reflects the sphere of interests of their author, and looks into the descriptions of women’s daily routines and the life of the Karelian family. It highlights the range of covered subjects and outlines the topics showing the routines and the behavioral practices of a peasant woman, her ways of adapting to the new circumstances after the husband’s arrest. The specific jobs and occupations are aligned with the farming calendar of northern Karelia. Features of the author’s self-presentation, ways of structuring and drawing up the texts are demonstrated. The study illustrates the range of topics and emotions rooted in the gender factor, and the diversity of their expression. Conclusion. The letters disclose the system of moral values of a Karelian woman, the Christian ideal of family relationships, special features of professional motivations. The “voice” of a Karelian peasant woman retained in these letters is a relevant source for studying the alteration of women’s everyday life early in the XX century and it allows talking about the maturing demand for emancipation in everyday life and gradual loosening of the traditional gender order in the Karelian village.

‘Save the queen’: female national wheelchair basketball players in gender-segregated and gender-mixed competitive sport

In the German National Wheelchair Basketball League, men and women play together. On the national teams, on the other hand, they play separately according to gender. In addition, people without disabilities can also participate in wheelchair basketball. The differences in terms of disability and gender are to be classified and, if possible, eliminated in the competition with a classification system. The intersectional analysis of 12 biographical interviews with current national team players shows a clear reproduction of a traditional gender order. The women report various hierarchical relationships on the playing field that are obviously based on gender. Men play in more important positions and are considered more efficient. Yet these phenomena are mostly taken for granted and hardly questioned. Likewise, certain characteristics are attributed and certain roles are assigned to female players based on their gender. The men interviewed do not see these phenomena or do not reflect on them critically. The difference category of disability also has an influence on the competition setting and the gender discrimination.

ДЕКОНСТРУКЦИЯ ТРАДИЦИОННОГО ГЕНДЕРНОГО ПОРЯДКА В СЕВЕРОКАВКАЗСКОМ ОБЩЕСТВЕ В НАЧАЛЕ XXI ВЕКА

Objective of the study is: to review deconstruction of the traditional gender order in the North Caucasian society at the beginning of the XXIst century. &nbsp; The methodological basis of the research is based on the specific nature of the object and subject of the study, which was carried out in the light of the works of A. Bebel and S.A. Basov. Contemporary gender relations in the North Caucasus are studied by Z.V. Shoranova, M.A. Tekueva, L.V. Klimenko. In order to achieve the study goal, the authors used a comprehensive approach that allowed to examine changes in the traditional gender order. For the sociological part of the research the method of interview (questionnaire technique) was used. The results were summarized on the basis of comparative and descriptive methods. Research results. The authors attempted to determine the extent and nature of changes in gender behavior in the three North Caucasus republics – Kabardino-Balkaria, Ingushetia and Adygea. The current social status of women, attitudes towards marriage and possible divorce, both of men and women, economic activity and an extent of women’s participation in the economic support of the family were analyzed. On the basis of the results obtained, the survey results related to the possibility of women’s socio-political activities and attitudes to non-traditional gender relations were summarized Prospects of the study. The results of the sociological research are not final. The authors plan to continue the research in this area tracing further dynamics of gender behavior in the North Caucasus. The findings can provide a methodological basis for the analysis of various aspects of gender relations.

Societal religiosity and the gender gap in political interest, 1990–2014

This manuscript examines the structural causes of the gender gap in political interest. In many countries, men are more interested in politics than women. Yet, in others, men and women prove equally interested. We explain this cross-national variation by focusing on the effects of societal religiosity. Since religion sustains the traditional gender order, contexts where societal religiosity is low undermine the taken-for-grantedness of this order, subjecting it to debate. Men then become especially interested in politics to try to reassert their traditional gender dominance, or to compensate for their increasingly uncertain social status. A secular environment thus increases political interest more among men than among women, expanding this gender gap. Using the World and European Values Survey, we estimate three-level regression models and test our religiosity-based approach in 96 countries. The results are consistent with our hypothesis.

Care and gendered work in reception centers in Finland

PurposeThis paper focuses on how gendered processes of working life are (re)constructed and are also challenged discursively in paid and volunteer care and work in reception centers. The purpose of this paper is to show how caring work with asylum seekers can both enhance the traditional gender order and challenge it through enabling men to have opportunities to care.Design/methodology/approachThe data were produced through qualitative interviews among paid workers and volunteers in reception centers, and analyzed through a discourse analysis approach.FindingsThree discourses of care and work were identified: a discourse on solidarity and care; a discourse on control and order; and a discourse on caring men. The findings show that traditional attitudes toward gender are easily discerned in other cultures, but not as easily recognized in the everyday processes near at hand. Gender order is retained through traditional roles, which also reflects conventional attitudes in a society often seen as a model country for equality. However, change is possible, and one core issue is the need to involve men in care work and caring in general.Social implicationsThe findings can be applicable to the deconstruction of traditional gender order in working life; to the disclosure of gendered xenophobia in work with asylum seekers, in particular through dialogue with “Others”; and to the enabling of care by men.Originality/valueLittle previous research has been done on care in reception centers and care as a gendered activity with value. In the future many countries are likely to encounter increases in asylum seekers, and therefore, intersections of gender and ethnicity are of importance in societies as regards migration, work and care.

Репрезентация гендерных режимов рабочего класса в биографических нарративах молодежи

&lt;p&gt;В статье обоснована необходимость актуализации исследования гендерного неравенства с учетом классового статуса, рассмотрены существующие в повседневной культуре рабочего класса современной России гендерные режимы путем анализа их репрезентации в биографических нарративах молодежи. В фокусе внимания находятся межпоколенная трансляция гендерных нормативных паттернов, микрополитики власти и доминирования в рабочих семьях, формы их дискурсивного производства и легитимации. Эмпирическая база исследования представлена 31 биографическим интервью с представителями нового рабочего класса в возрасте от 21 до 33 лет, проживающих в г. Тюмени и занятых в сфере промышленности, технического обслуживания и клиентского сервиса. Интервью проводились с февраля по август 2018 г., в качестве основных исследовательских инструментов были использованы рефлексивный анализ, базирующийся на категориальном поле феноменологии и социального конструктивизма, а также кодирование и квантификация данных.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Было установлено, что нормативный паттерн мужчины-добытчика, обладающего властью в семье на основании контроля над экономическими ресурсами, по-прежнему является доминирующим среди российских юношей, однако их жизненный опыт и опыт родительских семей в большинстве случаев не соответствуют идеально-типической конструкции доминирующего гендерного порядка. Девушки из сервисного сектора также стремятся к патриархальной модели семьи, демонстрируя желание закрепиться на позиции среднего класса посредством удачного замужества. Путем изучения гендерных режимов родительских семей информантов было обнаружено, что финансовое и статусное доминирование мужчины не вызывает сомнений в его лидерстве. Когда женщина занимает более высокую статусную позицию или играет решающую роль в обеспечении семьи, информанты склонны говорить о «равноправии» в семье. В семьях с матриархальным режимом ситуация женского лидерства оцениваются как вынужденная. В смысловых структурах жизненного мира рабочей молодежи России женщина не может играть роль лидера, ее задачей становится умелая игра в семейной властной микрополитике, направленная на сохранение видимости традиционного или эгалитарного гендерного порядка.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;

Cross-dressing and sex change stories in Spanish illustrated magazines (1928–1936)

ABSTRACTDuring the 1920s and 1930s, the impression that the boundaries between the sexes were increasingly blurring was pervasive in many parts of the world. In Spain, sexual ambiguity often became the focus of public discussions on the upheaval of the traditional gender order. As part of this phenomenon, stories of cross-dressers made good copy in popular illustrated magazines such as Nuevo Mundo, Mundo Gráfico, Estampa, and Crónica, which were the top-sellers of their kind during the interwar period. By analyzing a group of cross-dressing and sex change stories from these periodicals – the way they were told and interpreted – I shed light on the ways in which the perceived fluidity of gender was constructed in a medium that reached a relative large segment of the Spanish population. The journalistic pieces I consider manifested different reactions to sexual ambiguity that ranged from the condemnatory to the matter-of-fact. Regardless, they all contributed – implicitly or explicitly – to undermine essentialist arguments underpinning the ideology of separate spheres of action for men and women. On occasion, these texts put forth an intimation, avant la lettre, of Judith Butler’s notion of the performativity of gender.

Tensiones, limitantes y estrategias de género en mujeres trabajadoras de grupos medios , obreros y populares en Chile

Este artículo analiza las percepciones y experiencias de mujeres trabajadoras de distintas ocupaciones pertenecientes a grupos medios, obreros y populares, respecto de las limitantes, tensiones y estrategias en el ingreso y permanencia en el mercado de trabajo. Mediante un acercamiento cualitativo, se llevaron a cabo 27 entrevistas y tres grupos de discusión a mujeres que trabajan remuneradamente en grandes ciudades de Chile. Como resultado del estudio encontramos distintas formas de expresar y resolver las tensiones del conflicto familia-trabajo por grupo social, prácticas que, sin embargo, se enmarcan en discursos contradictorios que en parte reproducen y en parte cuestionan el orden de género tradicional.

The Robust Demands of Oppression Problematizing Pettit’s Account of Attachments

Abstract The article critically discusses Pettit’s account of love as an intimate attachment. I will not question his notion that love implies care; my aim is to show how, under certain social structural conditions, the demands of love bring about and/or reproduce oppression. First, I recap and discuss Pettit’s conception of love. Second, I show how the traditional gender order generates asymmetries in the provision of care, thus setting the ground for situations in which the demands of care become oppressive. Third, I critically discuss the ways in which a person can resist the oppression implied in the demands of care. In a fourth step, I consider Pettit’s critique of problematic forms of love. Finally, I conclude by drawing upon the categories of freedom and domination as key concepts for developing a more critical account of love.