Feminist Research Articles

Riot Like a Girl? Gender-Stereotypical Associations Boost Support for Feminist Online Campaigns

The current study examined whether congruence with gender stereotypes is associated with support for online feminist campaigns. In Study 1 (Ntweets = 510,000), we investigated how two real-world movements (i.e., #metoo and #sexstrike) were viewed in terms of adhering to the traditional feminine stereotype of high warmth/communion and low competence/agency, as per language used in the tweets posted within each campaign. We found that the #metoo movement was characterised by more communal and less agentic content than #sexstrike. In Study 2 (N = 195), when presented with descriptions of the movements modelled after #metoo and #sexstrike, participants associated the #metoo-like campaign with more feminine (e.g., community orientation) and less masculine concepts (e.g., rebelliousness), which, in turn, translated to greater declared support for the campaign. In Study 3 (N = 446), conducted in a more controlled and context-independent setting, we once again observed the link between the gender stereotypes attached to feminist movements and the support they received. We also found that this effect was independent of the effect of perceiving movements as violating social norms. Controlling for feminist identification, political conservatism, and gender system justification did not affect the pattern of results. Uncovering these stereotype-related effects on support for feminist movements furthers understanding of the strategies that might be used in the fight for gender equality.

Women's Education and Social Transformation in the Ottoman Press: The Example of the Second Constitutional Era

This study explores the discourse on women's education and social transformation in the Ottoman press during the Second Constitutional Period, focusing on how women's roles were conceptualized and debated in the context of national modernization efforts. Utilizing qualitative content analysis of periodicals from 1908 to 1918, the research examines the narratives presented in women's magazines and broader journalistic outputs that addressed the themes of education, social participation, and gender norms. The findings highlight the press's dual role as both a reflector and a shaper of public opinion and policy concerning women's roles in society. Notably, the period saw an increased advocacy for women's rights, education, and participation in the public sphere, reflecting a significant shift towards feminist ideologies within the Ottoman intellectual community. The study concludes that the Second Constitutional Period was crucial in redefining women's societal roles, with the press playing a key role in promoting educational reforms and advocating for gender equality. This period set the stage for future advancements in women's rights in Turkey, making it a foundational era for the subsequent feminist movements in the Turkish Republic. Keywords: Ottoman Empire, Second Constitutional Period, women's education, social transformation, feminist movements, Ottoman press

Sordority on the prowl of feminism

This qualitative study addresses the need to broaden the analysis of the fractures and contradictions of feminism through sordority, a neologism that is proposed as an abstract and explanatory element of the internal ruptures of the feminist movement in the face of its original cause, the conquest of equality between the sexes. Cause that in the case of Mexico is increased by the crime of femicide and disappearance of women, girls and adolescents. The analysis is carried out based on the human rights approach and the gender perspective, reviewing digital hemerographic sources that range from Latin American regional feminism to feminist demonstrations occupying iconoclasm and clothes racks. It is concluded that sordority is a plausible concept to activate the discussion about the ruptures of radical feminist groups with other non-radicals.

Unveiling the Mask of Asia: Representation of Western and Eastern Values in Crazy Rich Asians

The release of the film Crazy Rich Asians in 2018 caused a sensation. Its all Asian cast and commercial success are extolled as a breakthrough for Asian American cinema. The author attempts to explore how the film presents the Western and Eastern values and cultures by applying Representation theory, constructed in the intersectionality of gender, race and class. The author finds the film’s release is probably the byproduct of the Feminist Movements and the Civil Rights Movement and that the representation on Eastern values is stereotyped by Western-centered ideas, thus Asian American still have a long road before they can effect a change.

“Can you guess what every woman’s worst nightmare is?”: Good for Her Film, and Contextualising Rape-Revolt in post-Weinstein America and Promising Young Woman

The #MeToo moment following Harvey Weinstein's sexual abuse allegations led to a change in the way we make sense of ra;e allegations within popular discourse. In film, changes to the discursive construction of women's rights movements became key to what Barbara Creed calls the Feminist New Wave cinema. The rape-revenge film inserts itself into this new landscape of social and online activism too, as it starts to evolve into a 'rape-revolt' narrative structure, which aims to treat rape within film as a source of political revolt and a way to challenge institutions which uphold rape culture. Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell, 2020) interrogates these changes to the public reception of rape culture within a post-Weinstein framework which allows for a nuanced perspective on rape-revenge, taking into account a flawed criminal justice system, corrupt institutions, and enablers' personal failures. This article argues that the Weinstein scandal and its consequence on public discourse have started to influence the ways in which cinema makes sense of rape, and furthermore situates films of the Feminist New Wave within a movement which social media users have called the 'Good for Her' film. 

Performing Iran online: digital poetics and feminist activism in the woman life freedom movement

ABSTRACT This essay explores the pivotal transition in Iranian feminist activism through ‘Baraye’, a digital poem collectively written by Iranian users on Twitter during the Woman Life Freedom (WLF) movement, linked to the #MahsaAmini trend launched in September 2022. Initially sparked by tweets featuring the hashtag #MahsaAmini, this trend quickly evolved into a powerful form of digital activism, articulating widespread grievances and aspirations. Shervin Hajipour’s viral song ‘Baraye’, composed from these tweets, amplified the movement’s message and garnered international recognition, including at the Grammy Awards. As a part of the Feminist Media Activism in Transition special issue, this study highlights the relationships between social media and new forms of feminist activism, with ‘Baraye’ as an emblematic work of instapoetry that transcends geographical boundaries and fosters deep emotional and ideological connections among participants. The collective crafting of ‘Baraye’ by Iranians enabled suppressed voices, including marginalized ethnic, religious, and LGBTQIA+ communities, to express their demands and dissent. By employing digital humanities techniques to collect, curate, and analyse pertinent tweets, and drawing upon theories of performance studies, particularly Diana Taylor’s work, this research underscores this instapoem’s impact on Iranian feminist media activism and beyond. By looking at it as a performance, the work seeks to demonstrate how ‘Baraye’ blurs the line between physical presence and digital expression, marking a significant transitional moment in Iranian social movements. The essay aims to offer a different perspective on new modes of activism by examining ‘Baraye’ from the perspectives of performance and new media studies, emphasizing the role of digital platforms in fostering poetic digital activism and offering fresh insights into the interplay between technology and feminist movements in Iran.

The misappropriation of knowledge: unravelling the narratives of efficiency and donor fear in the medicalisation of reproduction for lesbian and bisexual women

The intersection between the feminist movement and the LGBTQIA + movement regarding assisted reproductive techniques has fostered greater openness towards the reproductive possibilities of lesbian and bisexual motherhood in Spain. Until February 2023, lesbian couples were obliged to marry in order to jointly register their children. Access to assisted reproductive technologies in Spain requires medicalised processes and the mandatory anonymity of sperm donors. In this context, we explore how lesbian mothers narrate their journeys towards parenthood through an analysis of interviews. As reproductive rights are individualised through the use of medical interventions, we apply the notion of reproductive justice as a lens to question how women’s bodies are medicalised through a cultural and socio-legal system that imposes mandatory anonymous sperm donation over other possible forms of kinship construction.

The other women's rights movement: ‘Streetwalkers’, habeas corpus and anticarceral activism in New York City, 1830–1860

AbstractThis article reconstructs the earliest known movement for sex workers' rights in US history. It interprets collective assertions of due process as a strategy to overturn vagrancy laws, which permitted municipal officials to summarily commit ‘common prostitutes’ to the penitentiary for months. Mass arrests sparked an anticarceral movement of ‘streetwalkers’ who refused to be contained. Unlike the middle‐class Woman's Rights Movement, which sought equal rights for their own sake, streetwalkers acted to build a world in which they could control their own labour, have sex without punishment and move freely through their city.

‘We can no longer fill prisons with men and cemeteries with women’: exploring carceral and abolitionist feminist discourses on gendered violence in Albania and Kosovo through photo elicitation

Abstract Over two decades, extensive research and heated debate have addressed tensions between carceral and abolitionist responses to gendered violence within feminism. Disagreements arise from the existing multiplicity of feminist approaches and divergent socio-economic and political contexts in which such violence occurs. At the same time, different conceptions of the state and community also impact on feminist organizing around these issues in particular contexts. This article analyses the tensions between so-called carceral feminism and abolitionist feminism in the context of Albania and Kosovo, two countries not only heavily impacted by domestic and sexualized violence and feminicide but also with a significantly rising feminist mobilization. Using the photo-elicitation method, we interviewed feminist activists and academics regarding the ways they interpret gendered violence, the strategies and interventions they deem most relevant in addressing it, and the contradictions and tensions that exist in their discourses and practices. Our aim is to offer a contextualized critique of carceral feminism, while illustrating the reasons and lack of alternatives that have impeded a transformative imagination towards abolitionist feminism.

Blusas Verdes: um contramovimento de mulheres na década de 1930

The object of this work is to carry out a framing analysis of Folha das Blusas Verdes, a column in the integralist newspaper A Offensiva. The Blusas Verdes movement was the integralist women's movement in the 1930s. Thus, the research discusses from the concept of countermovement how the Blusas Verdes competed with the feminsta movement of the time for a vision of the role of women in Brazilian society. Through two analysis frameworks: threat and duty, it was possible to understand how the countermovement had to deal with the new demands placed by and for women in the 1930s, giving conservative responses to the feminist movements of the time.

Succession revolution: feminist movements and the birth of female heir in China, 1928–1930

ABSTRACT This article sheds light on the efforts of intellectuals and women’s circles in the struggle for equal inheritance rights in modern China. By analyzing various social campaigns for women’s equal rights during this period, specifically in relation to daughters’ access to inheritance rights, this article explores the complexities and contradictions surrounding daughters’ inheritance rights in twentieth-century China. The argument put forth is that the interaction between the new state-building process and the influence of social campaigns enabled female to explore new rights holder. However, local practices often adhered to traditional customs that marginalized daughters without inheritance rights. Nevertheless, with the assistance of feminist movements, daughters’ inheritance rights have gradually gained acceptance as an essential component of social claims in modern China.

A Mirror for Men? Feminist Activism of #ImitatingGreasyMen in China

With the evolution of social media, video-sharing platforms have emerged as new arenas for feminist activism. This article examines a new form of hashtag activism on Douyin (Chinese version of TikTok), where Chinese female vloggers satirically imitate certain male behaviors that are sexual aggressive to women. The term sexual aggression is used inclusively to indicate a continuum of manifestations of unwanted sexual behaviors that cover all acts of unwanted sexual contact from sexual harassment up to and including rape. Based on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) of the top 20 most-viewed short videos tagged with #ImitatingGreasyMen, this study identifies two prevalent imitation archetypes: "Mansplainer'' and "Ordinary-But-Confident Men.", emphasizing the importance of social media platforms for women's expression of attitudes toward gender inequality using humorous language and gestures. Women can use social media platforms to mimic certain typical male behaviors through humorous language and actions in order to awaken women and stay tuned in society. The findings demonstrate a growing level of awareness and resistance to male chauvinist and patriarchal norms, suggesting a shift in traditionally male-dominated gender dynamics and the power of digital activism in challenging traditional gender norms and advancing feminist discourse in China's digital landscape.

Sexual violence against liberian school girls: White benevolence, anti-black racism, and colonial continuities in post conflict recovery

This article addresses the practices of white benevolence as it (re)produces anti-Black racism in the post-conflict country of Liberia. This is undertaken through an analysis of the ProPublica documentary “Unprotected” which chronicles sexual violence against Liberian girls at the More Than Me Academy, linked to the broader practices of gendered colonialism and racism. More than Me was founded in 2008 by Katie Meyler, a young, white American woman, to save Liberian school girls from sexual exploitation by providing them with educational opportunities; but the school became a hunting ground for sexual gender-based violence for which those in charge claimed ignorance. Katie Meyler and More than Me can be placed in the longer, iterative history of colonialism that unfold(ed) in discourses and practices of white benevolence such that structural forms of anti-Black violence are both obscured and tolerated. Furthermore, the article addresses the social reproductive work undertaken by Liberian women, especially those who were at the forefront of mass protests to end the civil war (1989-2003), and who continue to prioritize education and gender equality, viewed as central to sustainable peace and transitional justice.

Explaining leadership quality among the directors of Mexico’s subnational women’s policy agencies

ABSTRACT This article examines the effectiveness of women’s policy agencies (WPAs), with a focus on the leadership of subnational women’s institutes in the Mexican states. We contribute to the existing research with a new original dataset on WPAs in an important third-wave democracy in Latin America. Our focus on leadership quality provides a useful method for measuring one central component of institutional effectiveness across a large number of cases. We consider high-quality leaders to be those with longer tenure in office and higher levels of education, more professional experience, and closer connections to the feminist movement. Using a dataset of 226 directors, we find evidence that party ideology, electoral competition, and the institutional design of the agency influence the quality of leadership. Moreover, states with stronger women’s movements have higher-quality leadership in their WPAs. These findings support a central premise of the state feminism literature – that WPAs are most effective when allied with strong women’s movements and left-wing governments – and also point to the importance of electoral democracy in promoting institutional effectiveness.

‘Mankind Dame’: John Studley’s early modern Clytemnestra

Abstract John Studley’s Agamemnon (1566) explores women’s rule and how it can combine feminine and masculine elements to achieve and maintain political power. To do so, Studley employs the character of Clytemnestra, who simultaneously retains elements of her previous dramatic versions and is shaped to resonate with early modern English audiences. This process is twofold, taking into consideration linguistic and character traits. Clytemnestra’s language is expanded from the Latin through masculine-coded tropes characteristic of vernacular lyric. Moreover, she possesses traits traditionally considered masculine (martial courage, determination, bold speech and skill in weaponry). In Studley’s Clytemnestra, then, endurance and action combined create a gender hybridity in speech and behaviour. In turn, her portrayal resonates with discourses surrounding early modern women rulers, from Elizabeth Tudor to Mary Stuart. Ultimately, Agamemnon reshapes the treacherous queen of Mycenae to function as a commentary on how a woman in power could appear, speak and behave.

Western Feminism and Indian Feminism: A Comparative Study

Feminism is a comprehensive movement that aims to address diverse manifestations of injustice and promote the rights of women. Despite their diverse nature, women's movements around the world express shared concerns regarding reproductive, political and legal rights. The primary objective of feminism is to emancipate women from various forms of mistreatment and foster global collaboration among women. However, there remains a substantial discrepancy in the quality of life experienced by women in economically impoverished nations in the Global South compared to those in economically prosperous countries in the Global North. Women residing in the economically developed regions of the world known as the Global North tend to benefit from capitalism and the global economy. Conversely, women living in the economically disadvantaged regions of the world known as the Global South typically encounter poverty and challenging working conditions. Indian feminism highlights the equal significance of economically exploitative behaviors, racism and gender discrimination as key issues. Indian feminism is considered more comprehensive than other forms of feminism since it places equal importance on both reproductive and productive responsibilities. The objective of this research is to examine the discrepancies between Western and Indian feminist ideology specifically focusing on the challenges associated with the adoption of Western ideals in India particularly the concept of essentialism. This research also examines the impact of increasing inequality on systems that depend on male involvement as well as the philosophical concerns associated with feminism in both Western and Indian settings. In order to illuminate the intricacies and subtleties present in these two prominent feminist traditions, the study employed a qualitative comparative analysis to emphasize discrepancies in the objectives of feminist groups regarding gender equality and women's empowerment.

“Separated, but far from alone”

Our article examines how women built an expansive community during the 1970s and 1980s through the pages of Lesbian Connection, one of the era’s most widely circulated publications of the lesbian feminist movement. To reveal this community, we map thousands of locations that appeared in the periodical, revealing a geography that tilted toward rural areas and mid-sized cities instead of the major metropolitan centers that have received much of the attention within LGBTQ scholarship. Through the magazine’s reader-submitted content, advertisements for lesbian-owned businesses, and a directory of volunteers who served as local contacts for an area, Lesbian Connection bridged the spatial scales of long-distance media networks and in-person interactions to create a vibrant lesbian community that transcended region and locality.

Soft power in complicated and complex education systems: Gender, education and global governance in organisational responses to SDG 4

This article examines how the distinction between complicated and complex education systems contributes to our understanding of global governance and how “soft power” concerned with gender is used in international development organisations’ responses to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, the global goal for education. Four global governance approaches which shape these organisations are distinguished: partnership building, gender mainstreaming, gender activism and contestation by global feminist movements. These strands of soft power have implications for how meanings of gender, education, power and accountability are interpreted. The work of three organisations – the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), the Gender at the Centre Initiative (GCI) and the Malala Fund – are reviewed to exemplify these global governance approaches. The analysis draws on a close reading of the organisations’ published documents to build a history of how the gender concerns of SDG 4 came to be interpreted, negotiated, contested or ignored. The activities of the three organisations show considerable interplay between concepts of complicated and complex education systems. The discussion raises questions regarding what kind of work soft power in gender and education does in a context of huge and growing global inequalities and insecurities. In addition, the question is posed why there is still no institutional base to articulate a global feminist politics which confronts and seeks to dismantle unjust structures of power.

Resilient Women of Sundarbans in Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide

Abstract: For decades, literature has played a vital role in the feminist movement. Fiction helps to look at the challenges of women on various levels, whether in the workplace, family, emotional, or physical. Over the years, writers have written fiction to depict women's challenges and their brilliance and determination in overcoming them. Amitav Ghosh is one such writer who has often depicted women who put their heart and soul into it when it comes to achieving their goals. Both in personal and professional life. Ghosh's novel The Hungry Tide depicts working women who put their best foot forward despite sexual assault, caste discrimination, and financial difficulties. A cetologist named Piyali Roy comes to Lusibari for her work. Despite the sexual harassment, she finds a way to achieve her dream of studying dolphins. Financial and caste barriers confront Moyna, but she still finds a way to survive by studying and working as a nurse. Nilima is being called to serve the Sundarbans' people. She tries to fit herself into the system to ensure that the Lusibari people have as many facilities as possible. Kusum finds herself in the most difficult of all female characters. She loses her mother as a child, and her husband when she was young, and almost becomes a victim of sex traffickers. The novel depicts the challenges as well as the unbreakable spirit of women vividly.

Qualitative Analysis of Female Texts in Chinese Stand-up Comedy

In the digital era, the rapid development of digital media promotes the widespread transmission of feminist viewpoints within the Chinese social context, despite the stringent regulations imposed on feminist activities by the authorities. Like Rock & Roast, stand-up comedy has become an effective medium for articulating females appeals and critiquing gender inequalities in China. Through methods of textual analysis and critical discourse analysis, this essay explores different kinds of females texts in Chinese stand-up comedy, different genres of feminism that these texts reflected, as well as male audiences attitudes towards those various types of females texts. This paper finds that the females texts offer different perspectives, with YangLi s texts particularly challenging hegemonic masculinity. As a result, her texts elicit strong resistance from male audiences, as they confront and question traditional gender power dynamics and norms. However, as a whole, the females texts created by female comedians in Chinese stand-up comedy show the features of popular feminism, which distinguishes from true feminism due to their failing to unveil the structural inequalities and oppression in social and cultural contexts.