Journal•ISSN: 0049-7878
Women's Studies
Taylor & Francis
About: Women's Studies is an academic journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Feminism & Poetry. It has an ISSN identifier of 0049-7878. Over the lifetime, 1842 publications have been published receiving 8699 citations.
Topics: Feminism, Poetry, Narrative, Politics, Computer science
Papers published on a yearly basis
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors use causal talk about hair to examine how media and social interactive processes mediate one's grooming choices while simultaneously ascribing an aesthetic value on one's body.
Abstract: Since I was a teenager, I have chemically altered the natural state of my hair. At the time, I never really thought about why I did it, or the extent to which that chemical would rule over me. But my hairstory is not unique. For the vast majority of Black women, hair is not just hair; it contains emotive qualities that are linked to one’s lived experience. The crux of the Black hair issue centers on three oppositional binaries—the natural/unnatural Black, good/bad hair, and the authentic/inauthentic Black. On the one hand, scholars in the Caribbean, Britain, and the United States speak of the importance given to the dominant beauty paradigm, which privileges “white/light skin, straight hair and what are seen to be European facial features” (Tate 301). On the other hand, the legacy of the 1960s and 1970s Black Power Movement is that Blackness was redefined such that Afrocentric or “naturally” Black hairstyles became associated with the authentic. As such, “Within this Black anti-racist aesthetic the beauty that was valorized and recognized was that of ‘dark skin’ and ‘natural afro-hair’. . . the only authentic Black hairstyles would be dreadlocks, afro, cane-row and plaits. By extension, the only authentic Blackness would be a dark-skinned one. These are the valorized signifiers of the ideal of ‘natural Black beauty’” (Tate 302–03). This article uses causal talk about hair to examine how media and social interactive processes mediate one’s grooming choices while simultaneously ascribing an aesthetic value on one’s body.
148 citations
TL;DR: To examine selected popular folktales from the perspective of modern feminism is to revisualize those paradigms which shape our romantic expectations and to illuminate psychic ambiguities which often confound contemporary women as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: To examine selected popular folktales from the perspective of modern feminism is to revisualize those paradigms which shape our romantic expectations and to illuminate psychic ambiguities which often confound contemporary women. Portrayals of adolescent waiting and dreaming, patterns of double enchantment, and romanticizations of marriage contribute to the potency of fairy tales. Yet, such alluring fantasies gloss the heroine's inability to act self‐assertively, total reliance on external rescues, willing bondage to father and prince, and her restriction to hearth and nursery. Although many readers discount obvious fantasy elements, they may still fall prey to more subtle paradigms through identification with the heroine. Thus, subconsciously women may transfer from fairy tales into real life cultural norms which exalt passivity, dependency, and self‐sacrifice as a female's cardinal virtues. In short, fairy tales perpetuate the patriarchal status quo by making female subordination seem a romantically desi...
116 citations
TL;DR: Recently, I was shopping with a thin friend and waiting patiently in the little corridor outside the fitting rooms, ready to gauge whether it was appropriate for me to give approving comments as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Recently, I was shopping with a thin friend. Or rather, I was waiting patiently in the little corridor outside the fitting rooms, ready to gauge whether it was appropriate for me to give approving ...
66 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze the pipeline metaphor and argue that it imposes an appealing but simplistic symbol onto a labor market filled with exceptions and divergences, and call attention to a normative "flow" rather than lived work experiences.
Abstract: In scholarly and practical discourse, the under-representation of women in technology and science is often attributed to a shortage of women “in the pipeline.” In this essay, we analyze this dominant metaphor and argue that it imposes an appealing but simplistic symbol onto a labor market filled with exceptions and divergences. Further, it calls attention to a normative “flow” rather than lived work experiences. We suggest the pipeline metaphor be augmented with a focus on the layers of culture surrounding IT work. Research on culture change suggests that significant systemic interventions are required; organizations must achieve a critical mass in the number of women before change can occur. Without systemic change, short-term strategies will not make the crucial difference in the numbers of women in IT.
63 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, women mystics and eucharistie devotion in the thirteenth century were studied in the context of women in the Middle Ages, focusing on the eucharistic devotion of women.
Abstract: (1984). Women mystics and eucharistie devotion in the thirteenth century. Women's Studies: Vol. 11, Women in the Middle Ages, pp. 179-214.
52 citations