Women In Paris Research Articles

Moslem Women in Paris on Novel of Tahar Ben Jelloun: Les Yeux Baissés

Abstract. This article aims to describe the cultural conflicts occurred by Maghreb immigrants in Paris, especially female immigrants who have various conflicts, due to the difference perception of women both in Maghreb and in France. As a qualitative research, this research instrument is the researchers themselves with data from the novel Les Yeux Baissés by Tahar Ben Jelloun, a Maghreb author living in Paris. The data were then analyzed using the Semiotic theory of Roland Barthes: the novel is considered as a sign to be interpreted. The results of the study indicate that the cause of the conflicts is the differences in tradition, race, and religion. These differences make them feel “unaccepted” in France. Therefore, Moslem women in Paris have two types of cultural identities: Identity of being (the mother of Fathma, the main character) and Identity of becoming (Fathma, the main character). Besides, these Maghebian immigrants belong to the diaspora’s group: First, the Essentialists, diaspora who closed themselves off, just carried on their traditions, culture and religion as they did back home. Second, whom adopt the French culture, religion, and way of life. Third, those with 'floating' traits: born in France, do not know the cultural traditions of their hometown, only know French culture which “does not accept them”. Therefore it can be said that the ‘floating’ generation needs a 'special place' that is neither the culture of their parents, nor the culture of France, and that third place can be called a 'place of transit'.Keywords: Maghreb Diaspora, Moslem Women, Cultural Conflict, Place of Transit

Toward a Transgender Critique of Media Representation

Toward a Transgender Critique of Media Representation Thomas J Billard (bio) and Erique Zhang (bio) Shifts in media production and consumption along with the emergence of digital technologies have facilitated quantitative increases and (per some critics) qualitative improvements in transgender representation across print media, film, and television.1 The biggest influence on trans media representation has come via social media and other platforms for sharing usergenerated content, which now provide the lion's share of trans media representations. Unlike those of newspapers, studio films, and broadcast television, however, social media representations are not produced by members of the cisgender majority, for members of the cis majority; they are overwhelmingly trans produced. As such, to critique these digital media representations is not to critique regimes of representational power or the machinations of hegemonic media systems. Rather, it is to critique how transgender people choose to represent themselves and the identities they hold. Studies of trans media thus far have tended to employ perspectives from feminist theory and queer theory to analyze transgender representation.2 [End Page 194] However, doing so has posed analytic problems for the burgeoning field of trans media studies. To articulate these problems, we draw on Cáel M. Keegan's analysis of trans studies' position vis-à-vis women's and queer studies, as well as TJ Billard's extensions of that analysis in the specific domain of trans media studies.3 By no means do we assume either feminist theory or queer theory to be monolithic in their approaches; rather, we endeavor to describe the central tendencies of these broad interdisciplines as they exist in their institutionalized forms. Moreover, we draw from sociology of culture frameworks to propose a mode of transgender representational critique that attends to the specificities of trans identity and experience rather than evaluating representation in terms of "good" or "bad." Feminist approaches to media studies often maintain a model whereby men dominate women and patriarchy works through media narratives to maintain male dominance.4 Misogynist representations are "bad" and those that oppose it are "good."5 Trans media representations challenge this thinking by disrupting the hierarchy of domination that feminist theory posits. Where does the trans man fall in the hierarchy of patriarchal domination? Does he now dominate women by virtue of his transition? Where does the trans woman fall? Is she now dominated by men, or—as trans-exclusionary radical feminists have argued—does she dominate "real" (i.e., cis) women by virtue of the sex she was assigned at birth?6 Where does the nonbinary person fall, whose existence challenges the binary required for this hierarchical understanding of power? While much feminist theory is invested in a model of binaristic sexual subordination, queer theory is invested in deconstructing the binary gender system as a means of "unravel[ing] heteronormativity."7 Queer theorists often interpret transness either as "some 'ultimate form' of queerness that manifests literally the metaphor of gender transgression" or as an anti-queer impulse toward binary conformity.8 From a queer theoretical perspective, [End Page 195] then, transgender representations should be evaluated as "bad" to the extent they uphold the validity of binary gender identity and "good" to the extent they disrupt the binary gender system.9 Trans identity disrupts this theoretical model, as trans people variously identify with and against a binary gender system in a complex field of valid identities.10 Accordingly, transgender media representations cannot be simply read through the queer political fantasy of counter-normativity. Beyond their theoretical limitations, both approaches also present methodological shortcomings: feminist and queer theories claim to offer a "more rigorous excavation of subjectivities" than sociological accounts, but they have tended to do so via analyses that superimpose the anti-patriarchal and antinormative political investments of the theorist onto the objectified trans figure.11 Put differently, these theorists project their own universalized interests onto the trans figures whose identities they claim to excavate. Consider, for instance, two competing readings of the film Paris Is Burning (Jennie Livingston, 1990) by Black feminist theorist bell hooks and queer theorist Judith Butler. For her part, hooks reads the representations of trans women in Paris as "bad" because they uphold the subordination of Black women...

A Tale of Two Boycotts: Riot, Reform, and Sugar Consumption in Late Eighteenth-Century Britain and France

Atlantic sugar production and European sugar consumption rose dramatically in the late eighteenth century. Despite this increase, there were two separate calls to refrain from consuming sugar in both Britain and France at the end of the eighteenth century. Demands for abstinence were directed toward women to stop household consumption of sugar. In Britain, abolitionists urged women to stop buying West Indian sugar because it was a slave good, produced on plantations where enslaved Africans were subject to cruelty and where mortality rates were high. In France, the call to forego sugar came during the early years of the Revolution of 1789, in response to rising sugar prices. The women of Paris were asked to refrain from buying sugar at high prices that were assumed to be a result of market manipulation by speculators and hoarders engaging in anti-revolutionary behavior. The increase in Parisian sugar prices was not driven primarily by profiteering, but by a global shortage caused by the slave revolt in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, now Haiti. Comparing these two sugar boycotts, one in Britain, the other in France, provides an opportunity outside of national historical narratives to consider how both events employed the same technique for very different aims. The call to renounce sugar in both cases used economic pressure to create political change. An exploration of these movements for abstinence will provide a better understanding of how they critiqued consumption, and translated discourses, both abolitionist and revolutionary, into practice.

Maternal obesity and severe pre-eclampsia among immigrant women: a mediation analysis

We investigated the extent to which pre-pregnancy obesity mediates the association between maternal place of birth and severe pre-eclampsia in the PreCARE cohort of pregnant women in Paris (n = 9,579). Adjusted path analysis logistic regression models were used to assess the role of pre-pregnancy obesity as a mediator in the association between maternal place of birth and the development of severe pre-eclampsia. We calculated 1. adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the total exposure-outcome association and for the direct and indirect/obesity-mediated components 2. the indirect/obesity-mediated effect. Ninety-five (0.99%) women developed severe pre-eclampsia, 47.6% were non-European immigrants, 16.3% were born in Sub-Saharan Africa, and 12.6% were obese (BMI > = 30 kg/m2). Women experiencing severe pre-eclampsia were more likely to be from Sub-Saharan Africa (p = 0.023) and be obese (p = 0.048). Mothers from Sub-Saharan Africa had an increased risk of severe pre-eclampsia compared to European-born mothers (aOR 2.53, 95% CI 1.39–4.58) and the obesity-mediated indirect effect was 18% of the total risk (aOR 1.18, 95%CI 1.03–1.35). In conclusion, Sub-Saharan African immigrant women have a two-fold higher risk of developing severe pre-eclampsia as compared to European-born women, one-fifth of which is mediated by pre-pregnancy obesity. Our results quantify the potential benefit of decreasing obesity among at-risk women.

How to reach migrant transgender women in Paris? An example of collaborative sexual health action

Abstract Issue In France, screening for HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is provided by free HIV and STIs screening centers called CeGIDD. Despite a complete combined prevention offer, the number of new HIV diagnosis has been stable for years. Transgender women have one of the highest HIV prevalence. Description of the problem Transgender women are a hard to reach population with multifactorial barriers in their access to healthcare including fear of stigma, leading to late HIV diagnosis and untreated STIs. The CeGIDD of a university hospital in Paris aimed to reach this public working with two associations, creating a free, complete sexual health action outside the hospital in a safe environment. Results The CeGIDD identified a Parisian association, PASTT, which accompanies transgender women, mainly migrants, in accessing healthcare and social rights. Its active file is around 1500 persons a year, mostly resorting to prostitution. Another association, AREMEDIA, pioneer in outreach interventions, was involved. The partnership allowed access to the public and to gather the funds for the intervention. It included counseling, screening, Pre Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), and took place once a week in PASTT facilities. Any participant could be referred to other physicians if they needed it, even if they lacked health insurance coverage. From September 2017 to November 2018, 212 persons attended the consultation and 26 received PrEP. Lessons Working together with several associative partners presents many challenges, from the definition of the objectives to operational coordination. Overcoming these difficulties lead us to reach a new public with a high risk for STIs and HIV. Key messages Community based sexual health actions dedicated to transgender women are a successful way to reach this public. The safe environment provided by the association is a great opportunity to familiarize them with the medical staff and to empower them regarding healthcare.

Influenza vaccination of pregnant women in Paris, France: Knowledge, attitudes and practices among midwives.

IntroductionIn France, midwives have been authorized to prescribe vaccines since 2016. Yet vaccination coverage among pregnant women remains low. Understanding the knowledge, attitudes and practices of midwives regarding influenza vaccination could help improve coverage.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2017 among midwives practicing in the public and private sectors in Paris using an online questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analysis of the data was conducted.ResultsThe response rate was 31% (n = 208/669). Overall, knowledge of influenza vaccine recommendations and of vaccine safety and effectiveness was high except regarding new-born immunity and influenza vaccine characteristics. Only 10% of midwives systematically prescribed the vaccine. Reported influenza vaccine uptake among midwives was 39%.ConclusionEfforts to improve the knowledge of midwives regarding the safety and effectiveness of vaccinating pregnant women in order to prevent influenza infection in newborns are necessary. Increasing vaccine uptake in both midwives and pregnant women will require adjusting education strategies.

«I didn’t have pretensions, I only wanted to work» Spanish women in Paris, domestic service and informal job (1939-1975)

Le service domestique et le travail a domicile sont des secteurs economiques tres feminises et largement occupes par des personnes immigrees. La triple discrimination et la manque de reconnaissance ont fait que, sauf dans le terrain de la sociologie, les femmes migrantes exercant ce travail n’ont pas ete suffisamment etudies. Les espagnoles ayant emigre en France, par des raisons politiques (1939) ou economiques (a partir de 1956) au xxe siecle ont du travailler lors de son arrivee et, beaucoup d’entre elles, se sont employees en tant que domestiques ou alors dans l’economie informelle. Menageres, bonnes a tout faire, employees de maison, couturieres a domicile, ces femmes ont configure une partie importante de son identite a travers son travail, qui a ete, au meme temps, un outil pour son emancipation du point de vue social, economique et aussi politique.

Gender, Sexuality, and the City in the Early Twentieth Century

Gender, Sexuality, and the City in the Early Twentieth Century Birgitte Søland (bio) Laurie Marhoefer. Sex and the Weimar Republic: German Homosexual Emancipation and the Rise of the Nazis. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015. xvi + 340 pp.; ill. ISBN 978-1-4426-4915-6 (cl); 978-1-4426-2657-7 (pb); 978-1-4426-1957-9 (epub). T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting. Bricktop's Paris: African American Women in Paris between the Two World Wars. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2015. xix + 377 pp.; map; ill. ISBN 978-1-4384-5501-3 (cl); 978-1-4384-5500-6 (pb); 978-1-4384-5502-0 (epub). Ageeth Sluis. Deco Body, Deco City: Female Spectacle and Modernity in Mexico City, 1900-1939. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. x +381 pp.; ill. ISBN 978-0-8032-9382-3 (pb); 978-0-8032-9390-8 (epub). The early twentieth century was an era of social and sexual upheaval. Following war and revolutions, the 1920s and 1930s witnessed ruptures in traditional gender arrangements and the emergence of new forms of sexual behavior, especially in urban areas. Almost a decade ago, the path-breaking collection of academic essays, The Modern Girl Around the World: Consumption, Modernity, and Globalization tracked visual representations and contemporary debates about this new embodiment of femininity as they played out in countries ranging from France, Germany, and Soviet Russia to China, India, Japan, and South Africa.1 Other studies have documented additional examples of gender and generational conflicts between the two world wars.2 The three books under review here provide further case studies of the ways in which gender and sexuality were renegotiated in the context of early twentieth-century urban modernity, specifically in Paris, Berlin, and Mexico City. Paris in the interwar years attracted not only thousands of French men and women migrating from the countryside in search of work, but also large numbers of Europeans and Americans eager to enjoy the cosmopolitanism and freedom that the city represented. Among these were African American men and women who found in the city a welcome respite from American racism and restrictions. The focus of T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting's lively book, Bricktop's Paris is the intrepid and adventurous, but [End Page 188] generally overlooked, group of Black American women who made their life in the city in the 1920s and 1930s. Exploring the experiences of twenty-five African American women—including well-known stage performers such as Josephine Baker and Florence Mills; the renowned night club owner and entertainer, Ada "Bricktop" Smith; literary stars such as Nella Larsen; and less familiar writers and artists such as Jessie Faucet and Laura Wheeler—Sharpley-Whiting describes her work as "a collage, a multilife biography . . . an assembled portrait of black women's lives as they lived them for however long in Paris" (13–14). Drawing on an impressive array of source materials, including interviews, diaries, letters, memoirs, autobiographies, family papers, magazines, newspapers, literature, art, poetry, recordings, films, musical scores, posters, programs, photographs, and city maps, Sharpley-Whiting manages to piece together an extraordinarily rich account of these women's time in Paris. Some visited the city for merely a few weeks; others made it their home for months or years. Born after 1880, most were young and unencumbered by husbands and children. A few arrived with substantial bank accounts; others barely had money to cover the passage across the Atlantic. Most sought to make a living through popular culture; others came to pursue professional or academic training. Many were writers, musicians, and artists; a few were students; one came to pursue her training as an aviator. Yet, in spite of their differences, they all found Paris to be a space where they could pursue their dreams and hone their talents. In and around Montmartre and the rest of Bohemian Paris, where most of them settled, they found a world where expectations of female domesticity, sexual propriety, familial obligations, and racial subordination could be set aside, if only temporarily. Surely, Paris was not colorblind, but the French seemed at least "not color averse," especially when compared to the bare-knuckled racism of America (7). Besides, the relatively small number of...

Bricktop's Paris: African American Women in Paris between the Two World Wars by T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting

Bricktop's Paris: African American Women in Paris between the Two World Wars by T. Denean Sharpley-Whiting

Women of Paris, World Literature, and a Counter-Mythology of the Metropolis in Manuel Ugarte’s Early Literary Work

AbstractThis article examines the critique of the Latin American exile in Paris in the under-examined early literary work of Manuel Ugarte (1875–1951). Ugarte’s critique is contextualized here within the tradition of the French capital as a locus of production for the tradition of ‘world literature’ and as a point of convergence for the desiring subjects of modernity. Ugarte’s writing highlights the role of women and of aesthetic femininity to critique the social and aesthetic ambition, egotism, and disjunctive social experience of marginal subjects exiled in the metropolis. For theoretical support the article draws on the concepts of nomadism (Noyes) and empire (Hardt and Negri), on discussions of the Hispanic-American modernista tradition in Paris (Colombi, Pera, and Siskind), and on critical responses to Casanova’s The World Republic of Letters.ResumenEste artículo examina la crítica del exilio latinoamericano en París que surge en la poco estudiada obra literaria temprana de Manuel Ugarte (1875–1951). Contextualizada aquí dentro de la tradición de la capital francesa como punto de convergencia de los sujetos deseantes de la modernidad y como punto de producción de la tradición de la ‘literatura mundial’, la escritura de Ugarte destaca el papel de la mujer y de la feminidad estética para criticar la ambición social y estética, el egoísmo y la experiencia social disyuntiva de sujetos marginales exiliados en la metrópoli. Apoyo teórico se fundamenta en los conceptos de nomadismo (Noyes) e imperio (Hardt y Negri), de las discusiones de la tradición modernista hispanoamericana en París (Colombi, Pera y Siskind), y de las respuestas críticas a La República Mundial de las Letras (Casanova).

Community regulation and its effects: the aggressive actions of parishioners against priests and women in Paris, 1483–1505

ABSTRACTAt the start of the sixteenth century, the archidiaconal court of Paris lacked centralised means of enforcement and relied heavily on parishioners to supervise one another and their priests. This article analyses cases from court registers dating from 1483 to 1505 that detail instances in which parishioners reacted aggressively to illicit contact between priests and women. It argues that the court appropriated parishioners' intimidating and sometimes violent separations of priests and women as a means to enforce ecclesiastical statutes calling for strict domestic segregation between the two. While the court relied upon the aggression of parishioners, it also protected priests, more than women, against extreme actions such as assault. The decisions made by the court created a system in which violence against women could be an acceptable means for enforcing its statutes at parish level.

Bricktop's Paris: African American Women in Paris between the Two World Wars

Bricktop's Paris: African American Women in Paris between the Two World Wars

Bricktop's Paris: African American women in Paris between the two World Wars

Bricktop's Paris: African American women in Paris between the two World Wars

Avigail Moss. Review of "Tea and Morphine: Women in Paris, 1880 to 1914" .

Avigail Moss. Review of "Tea and Morphine: Women in Paris, 1880 to 1914" .

Religiosity and negotiating inter-generational acculturation tensions: the case of French Maghreb Muslim women's consumption

The integration of migrants into Western societies is increasingly becoming a political issue. In this study, we explore how religion affects the inter–generation acculturation experiences of Maghreb women living in France. In particular, we focus on how varying levels of religiosity affect these experiences through their consumption behaviours. Interviews were conducted with 19 women in Paris (some being two generations within the same family) to explore their inter–generational relationships in regards to Islam and consumption. Although some similar consumption narratives existed between participants (such as celebrating Ramadan), participants were separated into a four group dyad, ranging from highly religious to casually religious mothers/daughters. Within this dyad, a number of inter–generational lifestyle tensions manifesting through consumption emerged indicating the need to separate religion as a determinant of identity.

Determinants of measles seroprevalence among pregnant women in Paris, France

Non-immune pregnant women are at risk of severe measles. As the measles vaccination is contraindicated during pregnancy, women should be vaccinated before conception or during the postpartum period. Nevertheless, measles serology is not recommended during pregnancy in France, and there are no data available concerning measles susceptibility and its associated risk factors among pregnant women. The socio-demographic determinants of measles seronegativity have been identified in a prospective cohort of 826 pregnant women in Paris, France. Measles seronegativity was 10.41% (95% CI 8.32–12.50). Women from higher socio-economic groups, born in France after 1980, were more frequently seronegative.

Sisterhood is powerful*: exílio e mobilizações feministas na França em apoio às “Três Marias”

Exile in Europe is described by many women as the moment when they discovered feminism.In this article, we take as a point of departure the mobilization in support of the “ThreeMary’s” (Maria Isabel Barreno, Maria Teresa Horta e Maria Velho de Costa – authors of NewPortuguese Letters) to examine how the Group of Latin American Women in Paris (1972-1974)organized itself and how it forged alliances. The mobilization allowed the creation of ties ofsolidarity between Portuguese and Latin American women in France, which were fundamentalfor the construction of an international support movement. The feminist struggle blended withthe struggle against dictatorial regimes.

Predictive Factors of Cytomegalovirus Seropositivity among Pregnant Women in Paris, France

BackgroundCytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most frequent cause of congenital infection. The objective of this study was to evaluate predictive factors for CMV seronegativity in a cohort of pregnant women in Paris, France.MethodsPregnant women enrolled in a prospective cohort during the 2009 A/H1N1 pandemic were tested for CMV IgG antibodies. Variables collected were age, geographic origin, lifestyle, work characteristics, socioeconomic status, gravidity, parity and number of children at home. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify independent predictive factors for CMV seropositivity.ResultsAmong the 826 women enrolled, 389 (47.1%) were primiparous, and 552 (67.1%) had Metropolitan France as a geographic origin. Out of these, 355 (i.e. 57.0%, 95% confidence interval (CI): [53.6%–60.4%]) were CMV seropositive: 43.7% (95% CI:[39.5%–47.9%]) in those whose geographic origin was Metropolitan France and 84.1% in those with other origins (95% CI:[79.2%–88.3%]).Determinants associated with CMV seropositivity in a multivariate logistic regression model were: (i) geographic origin (p<0.001(compared with Metropolitan France, geographic origins of Africa adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 21.2, 95% CI:[9.7–46.5], French overseas departments and territories and other origin, aOR 7.5, 95% CI:[3.9–14.6], and Europe or Asia, aOR 2.2, 95% CI: [1.3–3.7]); and (ii) gravidity (p = 0.019), (compared with gravidity = 1, if gravidity≥3, aOR = 1.5, 95% CI: [1.1–2.2]; if gravidity = 2, aOR = 1.0, 95% CI: [0.7–1.4]). Work characteristics and socioeconomic status were not independently associated with CMV seropositivity.ConclusionsIn this cohort of pregnant women, a geographic origin of Metropolitan France and a low gravidity were predictive factors for CMV low seropositivity. Such women are therefore the likely target population for prevention of CMV infection during pregnancy in France.

Raportul Tovarăşei Ana Pauker, 11 februarie 1946 Comrade Ana Pauker's Report, 11 February 1946

Source discussed: Ana Pauker’s 11 February 1946 report at the Conference of the core group of women activists (Consfătuirea activului de bază feminin) regarding the political situation, the International Congress of Women in Paris, and the founding of the Women’s Democratic Federation of Romania (nine pages), Arhivele Naţionale Centrale ale României (National Central Archives of Romania), Fond Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party, Chancellery volume I, file 13/1946, pp. 1–9.

The Four Seasons: Winter, by François Boucher

<i>The Four Seasons: Winter,</i> by François Boucher