Feminist Research Articles

Language and Gender: Insights from Japanese Feminists in the 1980s

This essay examines how language contributed to the feminist movement’s decline in Japan in the 1980s, a period that witnessed major legal reforms and socioeconomic shifts. While earlier studies have linked the sluggish progress of feminism in Japan to legal deficiencies and the shortcomings of capitalist regime, this paper clarifies that few achievement in feminist campaign during this period can be mostly ascribed to the linguistic distinctions between men and women. By analyzing the works of prominent feminists Aoki Yayoi and Ide Sachiko, the essay illustrates how gendered linguistic conventions perpetuated the marginalization of women and brought the destruction of feminist progress in the 1980s. The research underscores the importance of recognizing language’s role as an obstacle in the development of feminism and proposes that changing linguistic conventions could support feminist movements in Japan and elsewhere.

Public perceptions of feminicide and the feminist movement in Mexico

AbstractThe misclassification of murders results in the invisibilization and impunity of gender‐based violence. According to Observatorio Cuidadano Nacional del Feminicidio figures in 2024, of the 3408 cases of murdered women in Mexico in 2023, only 827 were classified as feminicides. Since few cases result in punishment, women have protested for justice nationwide. The current study examines the effects of media representation of feminicide cases. Participants were randomly assigned two of four fake newspaper articles about a feminicide case, which varied based on the description of the murdered woman and the intention of the crime. Participants who received the victim‐blaming article endorsed significantly more victim‐blaming attitudes compared to participants who received the non‐victim‐blaming article. Additionally, participants who received the article where the male assailant exhibited a will to harm the victim exhibited significantly more victim‐blaming attitudes. The results highlight the need for journalists to be mindful of the narratives they construct regarding feminicide cases.Related ArticlesAsal, Victor, and Mitchell Brown. 2010. “A Cross‐National Exploration of the Conditions that Produce Interpersonal Violence.” Politics & Policy 38(2): 175–92. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2010.00234.x.Bingham, Natasha. 2016. “Fighting for Our Cause: The Impact of Women's NGOs on Gender Policy Adoption in Four Former Soviet Republics.” Politics & Policy 44(2): 294–318. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12155.Denis, Claude. 2007. “Canadians in Trouble Abroad: Citizenship, Personal Security, and North American Regionalization.” Politics & Policy 35(4): 648–63. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2007.00078.x.

Between Feminist Solidarity and “Bible-Verse-Throwers”: Catholic Feminist Activists on Social Media and Experiences of Agency

Abstract Focusing on German-speaking progressive Catholic women, the present study aims at investigating religious women’s feminist activism on social media in relation to questions of agency. It does so by focusing on women’s own experiences of approval and empowerment on the one hand and criticism and disempowerment on the other, attending to the possible role of specific social media platforms’ affordances in this context. Taking an actor-centered approach, this article draws on in-depth interviews that are analyzed through a cgt-framework. Attention is paid to how different social media ‘bubbles’ and platform-specific affordances and vernaculars impact the responses the women receive and their possibilities of reacting thereto as their content moves between different platforms beyond their control. The results are discussed against the background of theories of agency in the context of gender, religion, and digital media, arguing for an understanding of agency as relational, situated, and dispersed.

What Happens after Nora Walks Out?——Take Regret for the Past and A Room of One’s Own as Examples to Analyze Female Liberation

At the commencement of the 20th century, concurrent with the transformation of the socioeconomic structure and the augmentation of individualistic consciousness, the feminist narrative in both the Eastern and Western contexts grew increasingly assertive. The character Nora in Ibsen’s plays significantly contributed to the consciousness awakening among women. Regret for the Past can serve as a sequel to What Happens after Nora Walks Out? Delineating the roads and ultimate fate of a consciousness-awakened woman. Concurrently, the eminent Western author, Virginia Woolf, initiated an exploration of feminism within the narrative of A Room of One’s Own marking a significant juncture in the Western feminist movement’s trajectory. This scholarly work involves a meticulous exegesis of the literary texts within Regret for the Past and A Room of One’s Own, examining the diverse experiences of women’s liberation across various historical periods. Research indicates that the status of women has enhanced subsequent to societal emancipation, with women’s liberation being concomitant with their endeavor for gender equality. Subsequently, the Women’s Liberation Movement has achieved additional advancements. It is incontrovertible that research has demonstrated the necessity of social emancipation as a prerequisite for the advancement of women’s liberation. Presently, given the enhancement of women’s societal standing, when running away from home, which had been given the meaning of awakening, was no longer the only option. What contemporary avenues are available for women and what novel challenges confront the cause of women’s liberation?

Evolving Woman in Film

Throughout the time, the film industry has always mirrored the troubling issues in the society. Especially on the evolving societal norms and the uprising feminist movements. This paper examines the change in female portrayal and social critique on both Swept Away (1975) and Promising Young Woman (2021). Both films closely examine the patriarchal constraints in an contrasting directions, creating a trend from submissible to resistance. Lina Wertmüller’s Swept Away (1975) resides in the conservative 1970s, which criticizes how the social constraints enforce the submissiveness of woman. On the other hand, Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman (2021) is more current and empower woman in their ability to reject patriarchal pressure in their own advocation for justice. Through the comparative analysis, the paper highlights the transition from passive to active portrayals of woman in film and examines the evolving societal conflicts that shape and hinger woman empowerment at different times.

Feminism in the borderscape: Juarense women against injustice.

This article critically examines the feminist movement in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, highlighting the struggles and activism of Juarense women against social injustices, particularly those exacerbated by machismo, the Narco War, and the manufacturing industry. The analysis explores the roots of machismo in Mexican culture, the impact of the maquiladora industry on women's lives, and the rise of feminist activism in response to these challenges. Emphasizing the intersection of gender violence and legal frameworks, the article incorporates feminist legal theory to argue for substantial legal reforms to combat the normalization of machismo and feminicide. It further discusses the resilience and determination of Juarense women, portraying their efforts as part of the broader global feminist movement.

From “Big White” army to White Paper Protests: China’s gendered pandemic war and feminist interventions

ABSTRACT In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many nation-states adopted militarized measures for rapid containment. China notably implemented extreme and enduring war-like procedures. This study aims to explore the implications of securitizing the pandemic through a feminist lens and suggest ethical and equitable strategies for understanding emergencies and coping with future crises. Employing discourse-based online ethnography, it analyzes social dynamics in China’s “pandemic war,” examining how gender and (in)security are co-constructed and the role of feminist activism within an authoritarian context. This article argues that framing the pandemic as war reinforces a masculinist stance of dominance, prioritizing state stability over human rights and security. State-centric securitization perpetuates state authority, gendered social hierarchies, and structural violence. The exclusionary nature of this approach created new avenues for feminist activism, both online and offline, advocating for marginalized groups, raising social and gender awareness, challenging state narratives, and fostering collective resistance. Drawing lessons from Chinese feminist initiatives during COVID-19, this study calls for alternative crisis responses focused on care, equity, ethics, and collaboration.

Beyond humanism: telling response-able stories about significant otherness in human-chatbot relations.

AI-enabled chatbots intended to build social relations with humans are becoming increasingly common in the marketplace, with millions of registered users using these chatbots as virtual companions or therapists. These chatbots make use of what is often called the "Eliza effect"-the tendency of human users to attribute human-like knowledge and understanding to a computer program. A common interpretation of this phenomenon is to consider this form of relating in terms of delusion, error, or deception, where the user misunderstands or forgets they are talking to a computer. As an alternative, we draw on the work of feminist Science and Technology Studies scholars as providing a robust and capacious tradition of thinking and engaging with human-nonhuman relationships in non-reductive ways. We closely analyze two different stories about encounters with chatbots, taking up the feminist STS challenge to attend to the agency of significant otherness in the encounter. The first is Joseph Weizenbaum's story about rejecting the ELIZA chatbot technology he designed to mimic a therapist as a monstrosity, based on his experiences watching others engage with it. The second is a story about Julie, who experiences a mental health crisis, and her chatbot Navi, as told through her descriptions of her experiences with Navi in the recent podcast Radiotopia presents: Bot Love. We argue that a reactionary humanist narrative, as presented by Weizenbaum, is incapable of attending to the possibilities of pleasure, play, or even healing that might occur in human-chatbot relatings. Other forms of engaging with, understanding, and making sense of this new technology and its potentialities are needed both in research and mental health practice, particularly as more and more patients will begin to use these technologies alongside engaging in traditional human-led psychotherapy.

The Hidden Scopophilia in Wild (2014) and Its Contribution to Feminist Road Film

Abstract: The power of movie in portraying feminist women are incredible, especially when movie are viewed as a low threshold art form. As early as 1965, Russ Meyer directed a feminist road movie called Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Since then, the protagonists of road movies have a second gender besides males. After Thelma and Louise achieving great success in 1991, feminist road movies instantly became a craze, and many directors began making films with similar themes, such as Leaving Normal (1992) and Boys on the Side (1995). The film Wild (2014), directed by Jean-Marc Valle and written by Nick Hornby, based on the 2012 memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed, focuses on the personal growth of woman in hiking. However, like many other feminist road movies, although the director tries to tell womens stories, create strong female character and reimagine story structure, but still maintains the pleasure of looking. This article starts with camera language analysis to interpret scopophilia and the to-be-looked-at-ness of female character wrapped in the innovative feminist stories and intentions.

Copycats? Do right-wing groups emulate left-wing digital advocacy organizations?

ABSTRACT In 1998 MoveOn pioneered a new and powerful form of digitally enabled, multi-issue, member-driven, rapid response, advocacy organization. This model quickly spread around the world as progressive activists emulated it in twenty other countries. These digital advocacy organizations share progressive values and have been influential actors in their national contexts. What is surprising is that right-wing actors have replicated this new organization model. We examine four right-wing digital advocacy organizations: Grassfire (United States), Advance (Australia), Patriot Petition (Germany), and CitizenGo (transnational). We find that all four ‘copycat’ organizations are rapid-response, multi-issue, on-line campaigning organizations, like their left-wing counterparts. However, none appear to be fully-member driven in their funding and decision-making, rather the right has a tendency towards “astroturfing”. We also find that these right-wing organizations explicitly sought to emulate the organizational model of their left-wing counterparts, and there was no evidence of transnational diffusion on the right. This article enriches our understanding of right-wing digital advocacy organizations, and how learning and emulation occur across partisan divides.

The Contribution of Halide Edib Adıvar to the Development of the Women’s Movement in Türkiye and Her Influence in the Context of Gender Equality

Halide Edib Adıvar, a prominent literary figure, holds a significant place in Turkish political scenes and Turkish literature during the Republican era. Her personal life, activities she participated in, and particularly her views on women's rights distinguish Halide Edib in a unique position. During the National Struggle, Halide Edib actively engaged in Anatolia and was among the first female speakers to emphasize the need for Turkish women to attain a dignified position in modern societies through her speeches, literary works, and writings. Acting as an educator advocating for active female participation in the education sphere, Halide Edib portrayed modern and educated female models in her works. Through her novels and writings, she made substantial contributions to the Turkish women's movement by presenting strong representations of women and questioning societal gender roles. Halide Edib Adıvar used various media outlets such as columns, articles, and books to promote gender equality. Drawing attention to women's education in her novels and writings, she encouraged awareness on the subject. In accordance with the directive of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, she co-founded the Anadolu Agency with Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu in Ankara on April 6, 1920, seventeen days before the inauguration of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on April 23, 1920. Halide Edib actively engaged in journalism by translating the political content of newspapers published in English at the agency. Halide Edib also played a role in the Women's Defense of Homeland Society, one of Turkey's first women's associations, striving to empower women for greater societal and political involvement. This study employs qualitative research methods to comprehensively examine Halide Edib Adıvar's role in societal change, her contributions to the women's rights movement, and her impact on empowering and raising awareness among women in Turkey and globally.

Beauty as duty: a study of the feminist movement “rejecting beauty duty” on RED

ABSTRACT RED, as a platform primarily focused on visual imagery to drive consumption, has been a bastion of pseudo-feminism in China, propagating standardized beauty ideals like the “wanghong face.” However, the active engagement of numerous women in shaping discourse on these platforms has also witnessed the resurgence of feminism on the Chinese internet. In 2023, a notable trend emerged on RED under the banner of “rejecting beauty duty.” Represented by this movement, these women are referred to as “radical feminists” on the Chinese internet, a group that has become quite emblematic in the current feminist movement in China. This movement disrupted existing forms of female expression and catalyzed a fresh wave of feminist dialogues. Through the application of Critical Discourse Analysis, this article explores how Chinese feminism seeks to reconceptualize the narrative of neoliberal feminism within the context of the post-socialist era. By juxtaposing historical perspectives with contemporary realities, this article sheds light on the intricate dilemmas inherent in Chinese feminist discourse that warrant attention.

Integrating the personal, relational, and political: empowering climate action through decolonial feminist action research

This article centres decolonial feminist contributions to action research, which orient us to see how the oppressive conceptual frameworks that enable sexism, gender violence, and gender inequality are fundamentally intertwined with those that enable racism, (neo)colonialism, and the pillaging and destruction of nature and planetary systems: all of which come together in the climate emergency. Given that climate change is unarguably a “threat multiplier”, if action research is to help combat the climate crisis, it must mobilise intersectional feminist, anti-racist, and decolonial frameworks. Integrating decolonial feminism with action research offers long-overdue theoretical, methodological, and practical insights. I use the acronym DF-AR to refer to existing and emerging forms of action research underpinned by decolonial feminist principles, as well as aspirational imaginaries gesturing towards decolonial feminist futures. Drawing on empirical insights from DF-AR processes embedded within an undergraduate final-year course in the UK, I consider how the experimental and micropolitical practices associated with these imaginaries can strengthen our response to the climate emergency: that is, the strategies and qualitative differences they afford.

Judging voluntariness: abortion assistance around 1900

ABSTRACT In this article, I focus on a practice that is legally referred to as assisting or abetting abortion. Using the example of Margarethe Hardegger (1882–1963), a Swiss women’s rights activist and socialist who was charged with this crime in 1915, I analyze how she defended her assistance before the criminal court of the city of Bern. I seek to show how her conception of voluntary action as feminist women’s solidarity entered into a battle of interpretation with patriarchal thought and legal-economic ideas of order, whose exponents sought to impute a commercial character to her engagement. Additionally, I explore how the medical profession positioned itself in this dispute and what the women who had abortions with her help had to say. In light of this case study, the article aims to bring out the multiform interpretations of a voluntary social practice and thus gain insight into the contemporary power dynamics and forms of resistance.

Negotiating Islam and feminism: the political and social participation of Muslim women in Barcelona

ABSTRACT In secular contexts, the growing presence of Muslim women activists in the public sphere has challenged the stereotype that Islam plays an oppressive role in women’s emancipation and liberation. The relationship between secular feminism and religion is far more complex. This article explores how socially or politically engaged Muslim women understand, negotiate, and challenge secular feminist discourses and practices in Barcelona, Spain. Based upon 28 semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, and participant observation of political events, this article identifies three different positionings towards feminism: (1) women who identify as ‘feminist’, (2) women who identify as ‘Islamic feminist’, (3) women who express ambivalence regarding both feminism and Islamic feminism. Far from being a static classification, these three positionings show the different dilemmas that women face over the course of their lives. I discuss the way they are the result of negotiations and ‘recognition gaps’ in feminist movements.

Abortion Law Illiberalism and Feminist Politics in Comparative Perspective

Since the 1970s, a liberal politics has dominated comparative abortion law, one almost too ubiquitous to name. This article tracks departures from liberal abortion law in Europe and the Americas that have reshaped the field of comparative abortion law. Section 2 examines the repurposing of liberal abortion law for illiberal ends in a conservative moment of authoritarian governments and their anti-gender campaigns. Drawing on larger ideas of autocratic legalism, the article analyzes how governments and courts have used the features of liberal abortion law to revoke or defeat abortion rights. Section 3 examines the counter-emergence of a feminist protest politics that has abandoned liberal abortion law in a democratic remaking of society and state. Today, in abortion lawmaking through democratized institutions and in the unmaking of abortion law through direct action, feminist movements are reclaiming comparative abortion law and its politics.

Under the shadow of legality: A shadow hauntology on the legal construction of the Women, Peace and Security agenda

Abstract Considered a landmark in feminist international politics, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda of the UN Security Council has been the object of many feminist explorations. Feminist legal scholars, however, have grappled with the ‘shadowy’ legality of the agenda, mostly analysing it as an ‘unsuccessful’ legal project: a partial or in progress legal norm, a defective legal form that attests (and furthers) the exile of inclusion of feminists in international law, or yet a formalistic discussion with lesser impact for feminist activists on the ground. Drawing from Avery Gordon’s considerations on taking shadows seriously in our production of knowledge, I propose, however, that reckoning with the shadows of the WPS’s legality enables a more comprehensive analysis of how the agenda has been a successful legal project in its own way. Offering a ‘shadow hauntology’ for the legal status of the WPS, I zoom in on the competing legality perceptions shared by relevant actors, the (gendered and colonially-continuous) shadows that have haunted those perceptions into formation, and how these competing visions have shaped the legality of the WPS as a shadow of its own. This study then offers an alternative way of studying legality both to feminist legal scholarship and studies on international legal sources more broadly. More concretely, it embraces the irresolvability of the legal status of a norm to take stock of the different legal projects and legality perceptions advanced by feminist actors and gender experts, in an effort to understand, in their own terms, the successes achieved.

Voluntary Geographies of Internationalism: The Contributions of a Radical Mexican Family to Global Pacifism, Feminism, and Anticolonialism

This article addresses geographies of internationalism, feminism, pacifism, and anticolonialism, by investigating the case of pacifist and feminist activist Clementina Batalla Torres de Bassols (1894–1987) and her son, geographer Ángel Bassols Batalla (1925–2012). Based in Mexico and involved in global conferencing on pacifism, women’s rights, and geography, this activist and scholarly family provided examples of voluntary commitment to internationalism as both an ethical stance and a political option. Although not extraneous to Cold War logics, as they explicitly sympathized with the Eastern Bloc between the 1950s and the 1980s, the Bassols Batallas acted independently from party logics, following their family history rooted in the independent socialist traditions of Cardenismo and of the Mexican Revolution. They voluntarily contributed to international circulation of ideas without seeking any leading role in the international associations with which they worked. This case allows for constructing ideas of voluntarism and individual agency as drivers for internationalism and informal diplomacy. Furthermore, although some aspects of their pacifism and feminism might seem outmoded, these scholars and activists fostered ideas of social and cultural struggles across plural axes through transnational, anticolonial, and multilingual engagement that can still inspire critical and decolonial geographies.

We are civil society!

The study expands on the current debate about post-socialist civil society and social movements, specifically in Croatia. Taking the strategic practices of the Croatian feminist movement in relation to the right to abortion in the last decade as the research unit, it employs the conception of post-socialist civil societies, focuses on the practices of civil society, and differentiates between contentious and compliant practices regardless of the form of organisation or engagement. The study examines whether the strategic practices of the Croatian feminist movement have changed in the last decade and, if so, which factors have played the most significant role. The study is based on a critical content analysis of interviews with the actors themselves and draws on their interpretations of the strategic practices. It finds that the Croatian feminist movement has, in the last decade, rethought the dominant compliant strategic practices inherent in the nonprofit sector and the organisations within it and has turned more towards contentious practices. The research described in the paper finds that there are three dominant factors behind the rethinking of the strategic practice: two external – the growing prominence of the conservative movement and the new expected abortion law – and one internal: a generational shift.

Representation of Gender Dominants in the Russian Language. Diachronic Aspect

The article speaks about gender dominants in the Russian language. In Russian linguistics the problem of studying gender becomes especially relevant in the beginning of the 21st century, although the studies of peculiarities and differences in the speech of men and women were conducted throughout the 20th century. Gender studies make it possible to analyze language taking into account the multifactorial influence of gender, with the binary opposition «male / female», «masculine / feminine» largely representing the value orientations of any ethnos. In modern society, linguistic gender dominants are associated with the activation of the feminist movement around the world, as well as with the spread of variously interpreted liberal views. In general, femininity and masculinity as part of modern linguoculture are related to the essential characteristic of an individual and are determined by the qualities considered «feminine» or «masculine» in Russian ethnoculture. That is why the phraseosemantic group of feminine and masculine lexicon is actively replenished in the modern Russian language. However, in general, it should be stated that in Russian linguoculture, first of all, the gender dominants, preserved since ancient times, which are based on the binary opposition of mother / father, man / woman.