Space For Women Research Articles

Beyond the ‘gender gap’ in agriculture: Africa's Green Revolution and gendered rural transformation in Rwanda

The African Green Revolution (AGR) aims to modernize, intensify, and commercialize agriculture through increasing technology adoption by smallholder farmers. AGR interventions also promote gender equality, aiming to close the ‘gender gap’ in agriculture by enhancing women's access to purchased inputs, technology, land, and finance. With an empirical focus on Rwanda, this article examines the gendered implications of the AGR. We critically reflect on the notion of gender gaps and the associated tendency of development research to treat gender as a variable, assessing outcomes for male-headed versus female-headed households in terms of their access to material assets. We argue that these assessments overlook (1) the differential impacts of AGR policies within households and (2) how agricultural modernization influences gendered access to material resources as well as immaterial responsibilities, norms, and identities. Our findings from a mixed-methods study with four Rwandan communities show how the AGR empowers men as ‘modern’ farmers while marginalizing women's agricultural spaces, labor, and crops. We argue that development research and practice should move beyond the narrow focus on gender gaps to additionally consider how technologies and policies are themselves gendered in ways that can constrict food security, entrench inequitable power dynamics, and further marginalize women.

Caesarean section vs vaginal birth: a narrative review of decision making and postnatal outcomes

Background/Aims Few studies have mapped decision-making factors behind mode of birth to postpartum outcomes. This review's aim was to compare factors that drive women's decision making on mode of birth and postnatal outcomes. Methods This narrative literature review of Google Scholar, PubMed, Medline and Wiley Online Library explored studies published from 2000 onwards that compared caesarean section and vaginal birth in relation to decision-making factors and postnatal quality of life. Extracted data were analysed thematically. Results A total of 10 articles were included. Most women favoured vaginal birth, associating it with satisfaction, fear of surgery and cultural norms. Caesarean sections were favoured because of a fear of pain, previous caesarean section experience and the perception that it was easier. There were poorer physical and mental postpartum quality of life outcomes for caesarean sections and assisted vaginal birth, even after 10 years. Conclusions Healthcare professionals require more exposure to supporting women to decide on mode of birth. Routine checks for new mothers require a holistic, person-centred approach as opposed to generalised care. Implications for practice Healthcare workers can and should make every contact with intending and present mothers count. Open conversations about childbirth need to be had, even outside of women's health spaces, with appropriate referrals and signposting to best available evidence for informed decisions to be made regarding mode of childbirth and expected outcomes.

"I Couldn't Leave the Farm": Rural Women's Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence and Coercive Control.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) and coercive control are prevalent across Canada; these experiences are exacerbated by regionality with women in rural areas disproportionately affected. This study explores rural women's experiences of IPV and coercive control, drawing on qualitative interviews with rural women in Saskatchewan who experienced IPV and focus groups with service providers who work with survivors. Our findings suggest rurality magnifies conditions of coercive control through physical elements of normative rurality, such as isolation that restrict women's space for action. Our participants' experiences of coercive control were exacerbated by the geographic reality of living in a rural/remote location.

Smartphone GPS-Based Exposure to Greenspace and Walkability and Accelerometer-Assessed Physical Activity During Pregnancy and Early Postpartum-Evidence from the MADRES Cohort.

A growing number of studies have associated walkability and greenspace exposure with greater physical activity (PA) in women during pregnancy. However, most studies have focused on examining women's residential environments and neglected exposure in locations outside the home neighborhood. Using 350 person-days (N = 55 participants) of smartphone global positioning system (GPS) location and accelerometer data collected during the first and third trimesters and 4-6months postpartum from 55 Hispanic pregnant women from the Maternal and Developmental Risks from Environmental and Social Stressors (MADRES) study, we examined the day-level effect of women's exposure to walkability and greenspace on their PA outcomes during pregnancy and in the early postpartum period. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity [MVPA] minutes per day was assessed using accelerometers. Walkability and greenspace were measured using geographic information systems (GIS) within women's daily activity spaces (i.e., places visited and routes taken) recorded using a smartphone GPS and weighted by time spent. We used a generalized linear mixed-effects model to estimate the effects of daily GPS-derived environmental exposures on day-level MVPA minutes. Results showed that women engaged in 23% more MVPA minutes on days when they had some versus no exposure to parks and open spaces in activity spaces (b = 1.23; 95%CI: 1.02-1.48). In addition, protective effects of daily greenspace and walkability exposure on MVPA were stronger in the first and third trimesters, among first-time mothers, and among women who had high pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and lived in least-safe neighborhoods. Our results suggest that daily greenspace and walkability exposure are important for women's PA and associated health outcomes during pregnancy and early postpartum.

SPACES OF ART CULTURE ORGANIZATION CREATED BY WOMEN INTELLECTUALS OF THE 17TH CENTURY

Background. The concepts of cultural space and cultural space were analyzed by A.Ya. Flier, L.P. Repina and others. In Western European culture of the 17th century, the problem of the place and role of a woman creator became more acute. The beginning of the present of women’s creativity originates in those times. Women's intellectual culture is a mental and verbal foundation created by creative women of a specific historical era and a specific country. The relevance of the study of women's intellectual culture of the 17th century is associated with the revival of the awareness of women creators of the past and the destruction of stereotypes in relation to women's creativity. The article analyzes the aspect of the organization of women's intellectual culture of the 17th century in order to identify the spaces in which women creators created works of art. Methods. While analyzing cultural institutions, an axiological approach is used with the inclusion of an anthropological component. While analyzing the space of art culture organization, methods such as analysis of the physical characteristics of the space, its internal structure, functions, values, place and role of creators in it and the results of their creative activity are used. Results. Creative women in the 17th century create their own spaces for the production of artistic cultural objects. Such spaces are monastery, female academy, salon, and Women’s Republic of Letters. Conclusion. The closed spaces for the organization of women's intellectual culture were monastery and female academy, where works of art were created within the framework of tradition. The open space was the salon, which created favorable conditions for creative innovation. In the space of Women’s Republic of Letters the new principles of upbringing and education were worked out.

Gerakan Perlawanan Body Shaming melalui Musik Video Lagu Berhak Bahagia

This research was motivated by the many acts of body shaming that attack women. The emergence of society's views regarding ideal body image encourages people, whether consciously or not, to compare themselves with other people. Women's space for movement becomes narrow due to patriarchy which regulates men in a dominant position while women are in a subordinate position. This is why women experience body shaming more often than men. The impacts range from a person's lack of self-confidence to mental disorders. Basically everyone can be a target for body shaming, such as Aurel Hermansyah. Aurel Hermansyah experienced body shaming through social media comments when she was pregnant with her first child because she was considered to have changed her body shape. The negative comments given to Aurel Hermansyah made Atta Hlilintar release a song entitled Berhak Bahagia. Therefore, this research aims to determine the form of resistance of the anti-body shaming movement in the song Berhak Bahagia. Using qualitative methods with a critical approach. The data collection techniques used were observation, literature study and documentation.

“We Know It's a Library”: Black Space, Black Women's Labor, and Radical Black Joy

The Junior Scholars Program (JSP) is a tuition-free youth learning program at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York. At JSP, Damaris, a former JSP instructor, was introduced to Kadiatou, the Schomburg Center's former education and outreach programs manager. They write collaboratively to (re)member the dialectical relationship between Black women's labor, Black Space, and Radical Black Joy.

Noken, Women's Identity Space and Strategy In Power Contestation

Asmat women have undergone a process of transformation due to contact with the agents present and changing the pattern of existing gender relations. This intersection has given birth to a new process of creation regarding women's space and identity. This paper will discuss the impact of the transformation of gender relations experienced by Asmat Women. The impact that occurs then needs to be seen in relation to the current context of the new conditions that occur in it, especially in the space of women's cultural identity which is now embedded and as if produced as a cultural identity for Asmat women, namely noken. Bourdieu's perspective is used to look at agents who fall into the scale of gender relations transformation, namely investors, traders, buyers and the many economic spaces that are also present in it. Noken as part of the results of the process of gender relations transformation occurred in Papua, especially in Asmat. The research method used is qualitative method of analysis The results of the study show that Asmat Tribe Women find themselves in the process of identity reconstruction that they begin to interpret with actions and efforts on the awareness they have. The transformation process that occurs due to the intervention of agents is seen as part of a change that they cannot control but can manage for the benefit they are trying to achieve as "key players" in gender relations both reproductive roles, productive roles and social roles, through the production of noken

BARGAINING POWER, ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE, DECISION MAKING: CASE STUDY OF WOMEN INFORMAL WORKERS THROUGH PHILOSOPHER JOHN STUART MILL

The scope of this research is at the level of experience of women informal workers in Pasar Besar Palangka Raya. This experience speaks of bargaining power, empowerment in terms of decision-making, economic independence, body and future authorsity and freedom of expression. Nevertheless, the authors found the imprisonment of double burden in the lives of 3 research subjects. The purpose of this study is to show the extent to which the narrative leads them to live the values of equality through informal work. The research method used is qualitative research with interviews., then the authors recorded, transcribed, made a factual solid and then classified into themes that are close to this research. The results of the research through the experiences of women informal workers in Pasar Besar show that women are found to be empowered over assets, time and in decision-making. On the other hand, both empowerment and imprisonment of women's double burden make John Stuart Mill's philosophical lens dialogue in it when talking about marriage as friendship and not as property or slavery. Mill's intersubjective space becomes a buffer in the narrative of women's experiences of informal workers. In addition, the authors finds that gossiping as a negative stigma by society becomes erroneous when confronted with the daily life practices of women informal workers. Gossip/ngerumpi is able to make women's space a place of self-development, self-protection and self-promotion when women are hit by a flood of fatigue, boredom in terms of waiting for the arrival of buyers.

Miracle Meal Ragi: Perspectives On Ragi Ragini: Chronicles From Aji's Kitchen From Alimentary Domain

Ragi Ragini: Chronicles from Aji's Kitchen, Anjali Purohit's debut work, is an intriguing mash-up of recipe writing, pictographic visualizations, and narrative writing. It presents a sensitive story about the miracle meal ragi, which is intertwined with the protagonist Ragini's life in various ways. What unfolds is a one-of-a-kind story about women and food traditions encouraging each other through a mutually supportive relationship. The study explores the diverse responses to food narratives, with female characters often conforming to patriarchal codes while resisting them. Authors like Anjali Purohit challenge patriarchal ideologies by incorporating kitchen locations as women's spaces for knowledge creation, sharing, and caring. Purohit's narrative aligns with the contingencies of Third World women, who lead lives in deeply patriarchal locations. By writing narratives anchored on alimentary traditions, she offers a new prescription for women's enablement, offering a nuanced understanding of empowerment discourses.

Gender Space and Collaboration Politics: Christine Longford’s The Furies (1933)

ABSTRACT In the context of intersectional gender economies, collaborative genealogies, and hierarchies of (in)visibility in theatre making, this inquiry turns to Christine Longford's little-known play-version The Furies (1933) to explore how gender exclusions, class privileges, and uneven dynamics of spousal joint authorship have historically been overlooked within modern Irish theatre history. By examining the trajectory of her partnership with the Dublin Gate Theatre's male artistic collaborators, i.e., her spouse Edward Longford as well as Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir (also known as The Boys), this study further attends to the ways Christine Longford created a space for herself within an androcentric/queer collective at the backdrop of the European avant-garde and the rise of fascism. Christine Longford's theatre work in 1930s post-independence Ireland countervails resonances about the political economy of intellectual agency in joint writing which make manifest a complex mosaic of uncharted women's spaces, labour, and biographies.

Navigating access to golden lands: Gender roles and constraints of women in artisanal and small‐scale mining operations in north‐western Ghana

AbstractThe daily lives of female artisanal and small‐scale miners revolve around an array of complex and labour‐driven activities. The complexities and labour demands vary depending on the type of artisanal and small‐scale mining involved, the underground pit (ghetto) or surface mining. Few studies have explored how gender roles manifest in the two major mining types to inform policy on the creation of a gendered mining environment for women. This paper fills the lacuna in the literature by investigating gender roles and the consequential effects on female artisanal miners' daily lives and practices along the underground pit and surface mining. The liberal feminist theoretical lens is employed as a framework. Data were sourced through field observations and in‐depth interviews with 13 lead miners (men) and 67 female miners in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Findings show that sociocultural marginalisation of women is predominant in underground pit/ghetto mining. Women are content to work in surface mining operations and can form gangs to operate independently; nevertheless, sociocultural framings have limited women's space and access to mineralised concessions. The study argues that steps towards promoting gender equality in artisanal and small‐scale mining should explore a gendered mineralised concessions distribution; thus, the distribution of mining concessions under the community mining project by the government of Ghana should be gender‐sensitive.

Gender and sand extraction in the Usumacinta River basin

Globally, sand and gravel are the second most extracted natural resources by volume after water. Despite that, knowledge about social and gender implications of sand-supply systems is limited. Here we aimed to advance the understanding of practices and gender relations in sand mining at male and female spaces in the Usumacinta River basin in Mexico and Guatemala. Drawing from desk and field research carried out in 79 locations on the riverbanks of the Usumacinta River and eight tributaries, this paper examines the extractive activities, gender roles and conditions of the workers. Sand extraction is characterized by a large diversity of actors, forms of organization, and local practices. We provide empirical evidence of a prevalent gender imbalance in the sand mining sector, as well as between men and women's spaces. Women participate in sand-mining related works in 19.51% of the sites, although in half of those cases they perform administrative tasks from town offices. Overall, their roles are seen as peripheral and minor even as they sell and classify materials and contribute to organizational tasks. We argue that the low participation of women at extraction sites is due to a combination of physically demanding work conditions and deeply ingrained gender norms in rural communities.

Painting the Kitchen Tables: Exploring women's domestic creative spaces through publication design

The spaces women take up in society have been shrouded in shame, disenfranchisement, and contention, with the kitchen as a focal point of this argument. This article aims to suggest ways in which women can take up space in the kitchen, this integral pillar of society that upholds connection and creativity as an art form. Adjacent to this subversive shift of connotation is the shifts within feminism, as feminist perspectives on women within kitchens develop alongside the historical movement. In this project, the researcher has utilised a post-positivist paradigm under an auto-ethnographic methodology to document, analyse, and celebrate the variations within feminist perspectives on creativity within domestic spaces through textile and publication design. In order to shift perspectives on these domestic spaces, the design outcomes paid tribute to feminist artists who made the kitchen their studio and others who captured the kitchen as an artistic contribution to the feminist perspectives on these spaces. Through heuristic methods of testing, experimentation, and physical outputs, the researcher curated a series of design artefacts that distil the visceral experiences of how women take up space in kitchens. Through publication design, there is a documentation of the shifting feminist perspectives on women's domestic spaces through contrast and analysis of articles, poems, recipes, and artist insights. These contexts are supported by the tactility of the physical design outcome made using textile, pottery, and printed matter. The research distils and provides a destination for the celebration of ways in which women take up space within the kitchen and the integral artistic creations within those spaces.

“The spectators ask, is it a boy or a girl? What is it?”: Cultural cisgenderism and trans men's sporting experiences in Iran

In this article, we draw on cultural cisgenderism to analyse the sporting experiences of trans men in Iran. Utilising semi-structured interviews with twelve trans men in different stages of transition, we consider their experiences of women's sport environments, the extent to which cisnormativity is embedded into the culture, and whether their gender identities are accepted. We found that essentialist understandings of sex and gender are evident in sport environments, with gender presentation policed by others, and expectations this should align with ascribed biological sex. While some interviewees’ masculine expressions were valued, others were considered ‘too masculine’ to be eligible to participate in women's sport spaces; this led to restrictions around appearance and clothing, alongside instances of compulsory hormone testing. Finally, for those who were ‘out’ about their gender identity, this often led to hostility from others, including coaches, teammates, and spectators. Overall, this paper provides a critical understanding of trans inclusion in sport spaces in Iran. However, the findings may be useful for anyone working to make sport more accessible, regardless of geographical location.

Study of Women's Space in Bagas Godang In the Village of Wek II Batang Toru South Tapanuli

The traditional house in South Tapanuli is an architecture with a distinctive shape with a type of house on stilts. One such building is bagas godang. This building functions as a residence or residence of the king, also functions as a place for holding traditional ceremonies, and as a place of protection for members of the community. The women's room in the godang bagas is a place for women's activities. Currently the space has changed its function. This study aims to re-describe women's space as a private space inside the godang bagas. The method used in this study is descriptive qualitative by way of observation, interviews and documentation. The results obtained are that several rooms inside the godang bagas are women's rooms. These spaces include a bedroom, kitchen and circulation room. This space is used by women in their daily activities. The women's room is very special in the house, a space that makes women feel at home and comfortable.

Women, technology, and water: creating new waterscapes and contesting cultural norms

Abstract With the analysis of primary data, the paper looks at how the adoption of new modes of water technologies and subsequent water commercialization has created new waterscapes. Water commercialization is changing cultural norms associated with water collection in the drought-prone villages of western Rajasthan. The newly introduced water tankers have selectively benefited the upper caste rich households who now buy water from the tankers at doorsteps. The majority of the poor and low caste households remain dependent on common water sources that are drying up due to neglect with the advent of water commercialization. Women from low caste poor households have to walk for long distances to fetch water in addition to doing physical labor to support family income. Though domestic water use remains a domain of woman's working space, men from high caste rich households have started fetching and storing water as it entails cash transactions.

Chivalry, Reading, and Women's Culture in Early Modern Spain: From Amadís de Gaula to Don Quixote

Chivalry, Reading, and Women's Culture in Early Modern Spain: From Amadís de Gaula to Don Quixote

Women's spaces in the vernacular Qatari courtyard house: how privacy and gendered spatial segregation shape architectural identity

PurposeThis research study aims to explore sociocultural factors such as privacy and gender segregation as they relate to the spatial perception of women's spaces within the vernacular Qatari household, and the activities, habits and practiced culture of its inhabitants.Design/methodology/approachThis analysis utilizes the Space Syntax methodology to examine a sample of vernacular courtyard houses with respect to space connectivity, conducting an analytical exploration of the role of women based on the system of activities.FindingsThe findings shed light on the spatial complexity and sensitivity of the Qatari household as it reflects the prevailing sociocultural imperatives in Qatari urbanities, including the country's capital, Doha.Research limitations/implicationsThis research study thus reinforces the importance of traditional residential architecture in conserving Qatar's distinctive architectural identity, rooted in its sociocultural attributes.Social implicationsSociocultural features such as privacy and gender segregation are among the most prominent factors influencing the spatial form of vernacular courtyard houses in the Arabian Gulf country of Qatar.Originality/valueIt is argued that within a typical vernacular Qatari household, women's spaces are the least connected (most segregated) areas, due mainly to the influence of privacy norms and gender segregation on the spatial configuration of the house.

Marginalisasi dan Subordinasi terhadap Perempuan dalam Film Kim Ji Young: Born 1982 dan Film Kartini: Suatu Kajian Sastra Bandingan

The purpose of this study is to describe 1) marginalization and subordination in Kim Ji Young: Born 1982’s film, 2) marginalization and subordination in Kartini’s film, and 3) similarities and differences in Kim Ji Young: Born 1982’s film and Kartini’s film. This research uses a descriptive-qualitative method with a comparative literature review. The approach used in this research is a feminist approach. The data of this research are the speeches of characters and scenes without dialogue in Kim Ji Young: Born 1982’s film and the Kartini’s film which contain forms of marginalization and subordination of women. The data source or object of study in this study is the Kim Ji Young: Born 1982’s film which was produced in 2019 and the Kartini’s film which was produced in 2017. The data collection technique used in this study was the note-taking technique. The process of analyzing the data in this study consisted of three stages. First, classifying the data. Second, interpreting data. Third, conclude the results of data analysis. The results of this study indicate that there are similarities and differences in the forms of marginalization and subordination of women. The similarity in the form of marginalization is in the form of restrictions on women's movement space. The similarity in the form of subordination in the form of the position of women is considered unimportant so that they are subordinated to men.