Showing papers in "Journal of Gender Studies in 2001"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors illustrate the points made in this paper by drawing from interviews with gender liminal people who live in New Zealand and who belong to cultures indigenous to the South Pacific.
Abstract: Queer theories have received criticism for their ethnocentrism and their lack of careful attention to the lived realities of transsexual and transgendered people. A forum is being established through the publication of transgender theorists' work, where transgender theorists may rework 'queer', but how well does this reworking address concerns about ethnocentrism? For some 'transpeople' it is important to maintain traditional cultural values by resisting identification with (contemporary western) medical discourses on transsexuality. How might queer and transgender theorising inform and be informed by the discursive pathways being carved out by people for whom medicalised understandings of gender may be deemed culturally inappropriate? I illustrate the points made in this paper by drawing from interviews with gender liminal people who live in New Zealand and who belong to cultures indigenous to the South Pacific. Whilst wholeheartedly supporting the efforts of transgenderists to challenge medical construc...
149 citations
TL;DR: This article explored issues of gender, racial identity in the research process, control and ownership of data and how this affects research, and looked at the influence of outsider/insider status in carrying out research and found that women who have some shared experience with researchers may be more willing to speak to researchers who reflect this.
Abstract: This paper explores issues of gender, racial identity in the research process, control and ownership of data and how this affects research. It also looks at the influence of outsider/insider status in carrying out research. The article draws upon research carried out in East London on South Asian women. It argues that our racial identity can and does affect the research process in which women who have some shared experience with researchers may be more willing to speak to researchers who reflect this. Furthermore, the control and ownership of the research project and data can also affect our relationship to the project and often black/Asian researchers may be recruited to be interviewers in studies that are not always controlled by them. When considering our outsider/insider status within the research process, this is influenced by our own personal experiences, our 'race', gender and other physical characteristics in ways in which we may have no control.
85 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that an approach based upon reflexivity with responsibility is a useful starting point from which to confront the dominant positions of white researchers within leisure and sport discourse, and contextualise debates surrounding the shifting boundaries of insider-outsider dynamics within the research and assess how confronting whiteness is possible within the dynamic nature of feminist leisure theory and research.
Abstract: This paper reflects critical engagement with the development of feminist analyses of leisure and sport and more broadly debates within feminist theory and research epistemology and methodology. It focuses in particular upon the methodological issues raised in researching the leisure lives of South Asian mothers, examining critically the role of the white researchers involved. It argues that an approach based upon reflexivity with responsibility is a useful starting point from which to confront the dominant positions of white researchers within leisure and sport discourse. Comments from the research participants are used to contextualise debates surrounding the shifting boundaries of insider-outsider dynamics within the research and an assessment of how confronting whiteness is possible within the dynamic nature of feminist leisure theory and research.
75 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a discourse analysis of three small group discussions with a sample of nine male undergraduate students is presented, pointing to a repertoire commonly used by the participants about suppressing one's thoughts and practices ('biting your tongue') in particular contexts, notably at college in discussions with 'feminist' colleagues, at home addressing the division of domestic labour with spouse/partner and in the pub with old male friends.
Abstract: The burgeoning literature on 'masculinities' has produced many insightful theoretical and cultural analyses. Yet, apart from a few notable exceptions, very little work has analysed the things men say, or the social practices implied therein. The present paper, then, is based on a discourse analysis of three small group discussions with a sample of nine male undergraduate students. The analysis points to a repertoire commonly used by the participants about suppressing one's thoughts and practices ('biting your tongue') in particular contexts, notably at college in discussions with 'feminist' colleagues, at home addressing the division of domestic labour with spouse/partner and in the pub with old male friends. In addition, some anti-feminist and sexist discourses are reproduced in the talk, although these were not presented consistently and, indeed, were occasionally juxtaposed with egalitarian arguments. The ideological implications of such discourse on gender (relations) are discussed.
68 citations
TL;DR: This paper present a discursive analysis of the production of male heterosexual subjectivity as exteriorised, using as texts extracts from popular media material, and transcripts from interviews with men and women on notions of heterosexual health, safer sex practices, and male sexuality.
Abstract: Hegemonic masculine sexual subjectivity is constituted via the inside/outside dichotomy in ways that perpetuate the distancing of men from the sexual actions of their bodies. This occurs through the metaphorical exteriorisation of male sexual corporeality: the penis comes to represent the man, to stand in for/up for him as a separate entity, a 'self' with its own will outside the man's conscious control. This 'penis-brain', culturally invested with a primal 'carnal' intelligence, operates in contrast to, and thereby resists, the man's rational cerebral thought. This paper presents a discursive analysis of the production of male heterosexual subjectivity as exteriorised, using as texts extracts from popular media material, and transcripts from interviews with men and women on notions of heterosexual health, safer sex practices, and male sexuality. It examines how men may employ the concept of the irrational penis-self as an alibi, or excuse, for the enactment of coercive and riskier heterosexual behaviours.
57 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared two research projects which explored men's beliefs about their health and concluded that the experience of the researcher in each project was quite different, and the possible reasons for this, including the part played by gender.
Abstract: This paper compares two research projects which explored men's beliefs about their health. The concern of the paper is not with the findings themselves, but with the methodological issues concerned, in particular, the issue of interviewing men about health. The paper first discusses relevant issues from the literature concerning gender and interviewing. It then goes on to describe the two research projects, both of which involved interviews with men, firstly about health in general, and secondly with men who had had a heart attack. The experience of the researcher in each project was quite different, and the paper discusses possible reasons for this, including the part played by gender. It concludes by suggesting reasons for men talking, or not talking, about health the way they do.
42 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compare and contrast the gendered subjectivities of women and men Further Education managers, and contrast these with similar discussions in respect of the gender subjectivity of men, while acknowledging the seductive notion of such analysis and the shifts in many women's epistemological and ontological locations.
Abstract: Debates as to the efficacy of a 'new gender order', a place/time where women enjoy social ascendancy having displaced men/masculinity in 'crisis', increasingly inspire both academic and more popularist writings. Whilst recognising the seductive notion of such analysis and the shifts in many women's epistemological and ontological locations, this article considers whether any celebration might be somewhat premature. For whilst profound changes appear to have occurred in the self-perceptions of many women, to what extent have men changed? Drawing on feminist and pro-feminist analysis, and informed by recently completed research into education management, this article compares and contrasts the gendered subjectivities of women and men Further Education managers. In so doing, attention is given to the continuing debates surrounding the validity of feminist/womanist epistemologies, contrasting these with similar discussions in respect of the gendered subjectivities of men.
41 citations
TL;DR: The research reported here aimed to explore women's own concerns about their health and how they understand their health problems, seeing it as shaped by their lack of control over the conditions of their lives.
Abstract: Discussions of the health of women in the developing world have typically been shaped by the concerns of policy makers, health care professionals and other experts. They have focused on reproductive health and, above all, women have been defined in terms of their childbearing role. Yet when women themselves are given a voice, a different set of issues emerges. The research reported here aimed to explore women's own concerns about their health and how they understand their health problems. The study was conducted in the Volta region of Ghana and it included interviews with 75 women of varying background. Almost three-quarters of the women reported 'thinking too much' and many also said that they had problems sleeping, suffered frequent headaches and often felt unhappy or sad. They explain these psycho-social health problems in terms of their social and material circumstances and one of the main themes women emphasised was their relationships with men. Relying on women's accounts, we trace the ways in which...
33 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the nature of the policy framework for gender equality in the context of gender equality, and find that there is also a need to critically assess the role of gender inequality in the policies.
Abstract: Now that governments throughout the world are beginning to focus more attention on the subject of gender equality, there is also greater need to critically assess the nature of the policy framework...
28 citations
TL;DR: The authors discusses the impact of different constructions or interpretations of equality, and what is necessary to achieve it, upon the definition of successful legislation, and argues that despite significant differences in these feminist approaches, it is important to consider both the strengths and weakness of each to highlight current limitations of maternity legislation and equal rights policies.
Abstract: This article looks at the three feminist interpretations of maternity legislation and equal rights policies. It discusses the impact of different constructions or interpretations of equality, and what is necessary to achieve it, upon the definition of successful legislation. Equality, difference and post-structuralist feminisms have each introduced different concepts and issues to the analysis of the relationship between gender, society, and legal structures. The argument developed in the article engages both with the equality - difference debate and with post-structuralist constructions of woman and mother. The central argument is that, despite significant differences in these feminist approaches, it is important to consider both the strengths and weakness of each to highlight current limitations of maternity legislation and equal rights policies. The focus on maternity legislation arises from the nature of the issues it seeks to address. Although maternity legislation is part of health and safety and em...
27 citations
TL;DR: This article explored the intersection of race and gender and the construction of different'masculinities' and argued that speaking autobiographically, and from a cross-cultural perspective, provides a means of addressing the challenges of misappropriation in envisioning (black) male feminism.
Abstract: This paper addresses the question of (black) men's presence in feminism and the tensions that sometimes result. It explores the intersection of race and gender and the construction of different 'masculinities'. I argue that speaking autobiographically, and from a cross-cultural perspective, provides a means of addressing the challenges of misappropriation in envisioning (black) male feminism. Crucial to the issue is an understanding of the dynamics of gender and race relations, and the internal and external actualities of womanhood/manhood found in various (con)texts. The forging of a productive alliance between women and pro-feminist (black) males through a collective action could advance the struggle against sexism, racism and systemic power imbalances in society.
TL;DR: In this paper, the issue of white poor and working class female racism was investigated further than previous research has done. And they found that expressed racism similar to that of white working class men exists among a group of white middle school girls in a community centre, and argued that the existence of this neighbourhood organisation, which serves a predominantly white clientele, actually encourages the formation of racist attitudes while, at the same time, offering a space wherein girls can begin to articulate their concerns about domestic violence in their communities.
Abstract: Here we pull together data drawn from three studies to probe the issue of white poor and working class female racism further than previous research has done. All three investigations are deep ethnographic portraits of men and women, boys and girls, in the urban north-east, spanning middle school through young adulthood. In the first two studies, we present data gathered from men and boys and then suggest the relative absence of racialised discourse among girls and women. In the final study, we show how expressed racism similar to that of white working class men exists among a group of white poor middle school girls in a community centre, and we argue that the existence of this neighbourhood organisation, which serves a predominantly white clientele, actually encourages the formation of racist attitudes while, at the same time, offering a space wherein girls can begin to articulate their concerns about domestic violence in their communities. In this latter section, we probe further the potentially contradi...
TL;DR: The authors examines the gendering of violence in Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers" and demonstrates that the apparently gender-neutral term "natural born killers" is used to disguise the normalisation of male violence on and off-screen.
Abstract: With a lawsuit implicating Natural Born Killers in real-world violence still pending, the representation of violence in Oliver Stone's 1994 film remains a controversial issue. This article examines the gendering of violence - both in the film itself and in three of the most infamous 'copycat' cases - and demonstrates that the apparently gender-neutral term 'natural born killers' is used to disguise the normalisation of male violence on- and off-screen. While male violence is normalised, it is argued that representations of female violence emphasise transformation and undercut women's violent subjectivity through a re-positioning of women as erotic objects.
TL;DR: The Silence of the Lambs as discussed by the authors deconstructs femininity as it has been constructed in four classic genres: the serial killer movie, the horror or monster movies, the "pupil and mentor" movie and the "psychiatrist and patient" movie.
Abstract: In this paper it is argued that the habitual representation of women in film has played a considerable part in constructing ideas of femininity, which contemporary filmmaking can deconstruct. The Silence of the Lambs deconstructs femininity as it has been constructed in four classic genres: the serial killer movie, the horror or monster movie, the 'pupil and mentor' movie and the 'psychiatrist and patient' movie. The Silence of the Lambs can be shown to deconstruct the generic amalgam of voyeurism, the 'male gaze' of the camera, castration anxiety and the confused and reinstated gender identities typical of the serial killer movie. The empathy between Doctor Hannibal 'the cannibal' Lecter and young FBI agent Clarice Starling criticises the encoding strategies of the classic monster movie wherein both woman and monster are feared objects within patriarchal orders of seeing. Starling's appetite for success coincides with Lecter's more obviously worrying appetite; the film deconstructs those films wherein th...
TL;DR: The authors argue that interdependence is a feature of responsible citizenship and that independence requires dependency and nurturance in our intimate lives and results in the connectedness of citizens in our socio-political lives.
Abstract: Single parenting rarely is seen in its fullest sense - as a social, economic, political, policy, and gender concern. My attempt to address single parenting as fully as possible is to situate it in the context of citizenship. A central task of any society is to produce responsible citizens. Accordingly, I respond to the escalation of single parenting by examining the conditions under which single parenting does or does not foster responsible citizenship. I develop three main arguments. First, I maintain it is necessary to work out what sorts of values best encourage the sort of traits in family life that allow decent communities to flourish, irrespective of family structure. Second, I contend that interdependence is a feature of responsible citizenship - it highlights the ways that independence requires dependency and nurturance in our intimate lives and results in the connectedness of citizens in our socio-political lives. Third, I argue that shared parenting can accommodate flexible family forms, the res...
TL;DR: This paper explored the complex, colliding worlds of puppetry, live action and animation in Jan Svankmajer's film Faust through the realms of the surreal, the Freudian uncanny and the Kristevian abject.
Abstract: This paper explores the complex, colliding worlds of puppetry, live action and animation in Jan Svankmajer's film Faust , through the realms of the surreal, the Freudian uncanny and the Kristevian abject. Central to this exploration is the figure of what is traditionally assumed to be the asexual body of the exquisite corpse . Through his encounter with the puppet succuba Helen, the film's protagonist, Faustus, is haunted by an exquisite and specifically female corpse. It is this body, together with the filmic form of animation, which speaks simultaneously of surreal, uncanny and abject impulses, and most vividly reveals Faustus' surging madness. Svankmajer offers a loveless film that terrorises coherent bodily identity.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine feminist appropriations of the terms "identification", "incorporation" and "the grotesque", and consider the effect of these processes on the subjectivity of the reader of murder mysteries.
Abstract: This paper is concerned with the narrative operations of the murder mystery and their effect on the reader's process of identification. I examine feminist appropriations of the terms 'identification', 'incorporation' and 'the grotesque', and consider the effect of these processes on the subjectivity of the reader of murder mysteries. My case study is of Minette Walter's popular novel The Ice House , and I demonstrate how the failure of the detectives to solve the mystery is due to their inability to identify with a female killer. I conclude that the reader of this popular murder mystery is forced into an unhappy identification with the textually incorporated writer, and is therefore unable to come to terms with the secret at the heart of the novel. This in turn results in the cyclical consumption of the popular thriller.
TL;DR: Louise, Marie, Petra, Annabelle and Jayne as discussed by the authors conducted a focus group with five women, all of whom attend a support group for people with eating problems, at which I act as facilitator.
Abstract: The ‘superwaif summit’ held by the Government in June 2000 triggered a swell of media coverage around the issue of anorexia, laying ‘blame’ at the hands of thin models and stars, reducing the condition to a trivial preoccupation of an individual with appearance, ignoring underlying psychological and social factors. As someone who has encountered anorexia firsthand, I feel it is important to air the perspectives of those best informed on the subject: those who are or have been labelled as ‘anorexic’. Unfortunately, medical professionals and other ‘experts’ judged to have the kudos to offer authoritative soundbites frequently supersede such opinions in the media. But there is no substitute for experience. Therefore, I held a focus group with five women, all of whom attend a support group for people with eating problems, at which I act as facilitator. Their views have been incorporated into this work under the following pseudonyms: Louise, Marie, Petra, Annabelle and Jayne. It is not suggested that these women’s statements reflect the thoughts of all those defined as ‘anorexic’, but their publication will enable the personal voice to become political.