Journal of Research on Women and Gender
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10877/12803
The Journal of Research on Women and Gender is a peer-reviewed online electronic publication. The mission of the Journal is to promote critical dialogue about the experiences of women and persons of various gender identities in diverse cultural contexts. The Journal welcomes manuscripts that give voice to the unique and varied expressions of women and various genders. It is an interdisciplinary publication that welcomes qualitative research, quantitative research, pedagogical work, and creative projects. We encourage and welcome graduate student submissions.
Journal Website: https://journals.tdl.org/jrwg/index.php/jrwg
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Item Climbing High or Falling Flat? Representations of Female Rock Climbers in Climbing Magazine (1991-2004)(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2010-03) Vodden-McKay, Sarah; Schell, Lea AnnRock climbing and mountaineering have historically been viewed as "male only endeavor" which are too strenuous and too dangerous to be undertaken by women. However, since the 1970s, more women have joined the climbing community and have pushed the limits of difficulty once thought to be unattainable. Although still a minority, women do engage in this athletic endeavor yet receive little or no attention in the media for their successes. Climbing magazine is the longest running and most widely circulated publication in the United States that is dedicated solely to reporting on rock climbing and mountaineering. The purpose of this study was to analyze the way in which female rock climbers are represented in Climbing magazine by investigating the publication"Ÿs feature articles and photographs over a 14-year time period, 1991-2004. Results suggest that the few images and descriptors of female climbers in Climbing work to "normalize" the female climbers as "real" women by emphasizing their heterosexuality and domesticity, highlighting their feminine physique, and infantilizing them as a means to disempower.Item Straightjacket or Freedom: Transgender in the Life and Works of Rachilde(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2010-03) Stankiewicz, TeresaQueer theory keeps changing as scholarly studies introduce new hypotheses on the relevance of gender in examination of culture and art. Using the definition of transgender as crossing the boundaries of society's "normative" sexual roles, this paper explores how transgender in Rachilde's life significantly impacted her plays. It touches upon transvestitism, staging gender and adds to the scholarly works on women's studies and gender studies. Marguerite Eymery Vallette presented herself as Rachilde, a man of letters in 1877. She was an important member of the symbolism and decadent writing movements in the 1890s. Cross-dressing and presenting herself as a man profoundly impacted the themes, symbolism and characters of her plays. Did this transgender give her freedom or did it become a straight-jacket limiting her work? Even though she claimed she was not a feminist, Rachilde embodied the freedom that women sought and wrote plays that vivified the struggles men and women had against conventions of society that defined civilized or gentile behavior. The critical methodology used for the examination of her plays is to review her themes, symbolism, characters and dialogue in terms of transgender reflections. Rachilde used transgender in complicated forms to express her frustrations with society's view of her personally and her works. Scholarly works on Rachilde have primarily focused on the translation of her work, her biography and analysis of her novels with no consideration of how the influence of transgender is manifested in her dramatic works. This paper will discuss transgender and explore its influence on Madame La Mort, La Poupee Transparent and L'Araignée de cristal to fill a gap in the analysis of Rachilde's work. Rachilde's plays express the complexity of transgender that is not only valid during le fin de siècle but continues to be significant during the current era.Item Engendering the Public Sphere: Between Modernity and Tradition the Dynamics of Shaping and Reshaping the Public Sphere with Reference to Zimbabwe's Political Landscape(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2010-03) Marowa, IvanThe world in general has experienced the division of the society into public and private spheres as a consequent, in most cases, of the patriarchal nature of the societies. The private sphere has for long been identified as the preserve of women while the public sphere has been identified with men. The public is identified with decision making, control, economic participation and authority and as a sphere of cultural politics. Today calls are being made to reverse patriarchal thinking and engender the public sphere and do away with the idea of viewing women as inferior and taking them as capable and equal participants in the public sphere. The 21st century has moved to accept women not only as capable leaders but also talented persons. The African public sphere has been affected by both modernity and tradition in its attempt to address the issue of gender equity. This paper argues first that the African public sphere is an imagined concept and a social construct by the society. As a result, the public sphere has been shaped and reshaped, defined and redefined owing to struggles between tradition and modernity and women and men in trying to engender this sphere.This paper argues that the public sphere though trying to fit in the globalisation process where gender has become fashionable, tradition has remained afloat and very significant. A gender concept that has become powerful in the African public sphere is masculinity as opposed to femininity and gender equality. In as much as gender equity has been accepted, the African society has remained dominated by several masculinities. However, as this paper argues, this is done not to address the woman question but to use women in the ensuing fights between the society's existing masculinities. This paper examines the question that "Is the numerical increase of women in the African public sphere part of affirmative action or it is a career punctuated by talent and leadership qualities in governing the African public sphere?" The other issue relates to women as a class and the inequalities that come with women representation in the public sphere. All these issues constitute the dynamics of making and remaking the African public sphere as modernity and tradition are at continuous loggerheads. The paper examines these ideas using Zimbabwean politics and women politicians. Politics has been chosen because it is the most significant public sphere that allows women into public governing organs of decision making and authority.Item Choice or Chance? Gender, Victimization, and Responsibility in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2010-03) Foss, KatherineThis research applied Andrew Karmen's classifications of shared responsibility to the fictional victimizations of "anonymous victims" in the television program CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, exploring the extent to which male and female victims were considered responsible for their attacks. Findings indicate a disparity between the victimization of men and women. Storylines and visual aesthetics suggested that the victimization of anonymous men was random, therefore, male victims were not responsible for their crimes and were considered "completely innocent." The victimization of anonymous men was quick and no sexual assault was involved. Female victims, on the other hand, were typically considered "facilitators" in their victimizations because they ignored basic rules of crime prevention or behaved in a "sexually inviting" manner. Almost all female victims were sexually assaulted and murdered, suggesting that they were not just killed, but were punished for their careless behavior. For both male and female victims, resistance proved to be futile and, in some cases, incited further attack. Given the popularity of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, these findings are alarming. Numerous storylines convey the message that that women place themselves in danger and therefore are, to extent, responsible for becoming victims, whereas, male victims are "completely innocent." These diverging representations perpetuate myths about rape (that women somehow "ask for it") and overall reinforce a patriarchal hegemony in which women are too vulnerable to venture alone in public. By implicating female victims in their crimes, these fictional representations could hinder overall support in victimization discourse, and may discourage victims from reporting their crimes.Item Sports Reporting and Gender: Women Journalists who Broke the Locker Room Barrier(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2010-03) Everbach, Tracy; Matysiak, LauraThis qualitative study examined female sportswriters' influences on sports journalism. Interviews with 12 women who broke the locker room barrier in the 1970s and 1980s showed that the journalists fought hard to gain access to athletes' inner sanctum. Once they gained access, they endured harassment and embarrassment, but ultimately landed compelling stories from their subjects. The women broke many barriers for women sportswriters today. However, with a shrinking journalism industry and continuing discrimination, their efforts are unlikely to produce job equity in the near future for women journalists or for media coverage of women's sports.Item Women's Interpretations of Music Videos Featuring Women Artists(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2010-03) Boosalis, Elizabeth McKenna; Golombisky, KimDuring six focus groups of mass communications majors viewing three music videos featuring women artists, women read the videos critically for gender. But their critiques relied on problematic "girl power" versions of feminism that resulted in incomplete or ineffective arguments. Although participants rejected what they perceived as unrealistically beautiful and hyper-sexualized representations of women's bodies, participants' interest in critiquing the videos was limited to what the artists looked like. Participants did not name the visual production techniques that objectify women's bodies and did not discuss industry sexism or power relations unless prompted. Instead, participants blamed women artists for exploiting "sex sells" in their videos.Item The Exoticism of Maya Women: Foreign Obsession and Repulsion, 1820-1900(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2010-03) Chiero, HeatherA revisionist look at historical writing from nineteenth century Guatemala with the strong suggestion that historians include non-traditional forms of historical data, such as travel writing, to illuminate the lives of underrepresented peoples in society. The author investigates Anglo-American travelers, comparing and contrasting the accounts of male and female adventurers and their specific mention of Mayan women in dress, manner, occupation, and as primary examples of the exotic "other" in Latin American context.Item A Conceptual Framework for Developing the Female Entrepreneurship Literature(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2010-03) Parker, Betty J.Over the past 30 years, a great deal of research has been undertaken to enhance understanding of individual and organizational characteristics associated with entrepreneurship in general and women entrepreneurs in particular. As the scholarly study of female entrepreneurs and their businesses increases, a clearer understanding of women entrepreneurs and their businesses has begun to emerge. This paper contributes to the entrepreneurship literature by organizing the research stream about female entrepreneurs into several key areas, taking a critical and timely look at the key issues, and providing recommendations for addressing gaps in the literature.Item Deontology and Female Eudaimonia in the World Polity: A Grotian Perspective(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2010-03) Kuiler, Erik W.The last decades of the 20th century witnessed a renewed emphasis on issues of women's rights in the world polity. However, the growing importance of the international economy, with its attendant migratory labor and capital regimes, has increased the potential to exacerbate economic inequities and cultural differences, including those that perpetuate gender inequalities. Using Grotian political theories and post-1989 data from diverse sources, this study analyzes macro-level world polity aspects of international development, gender equality, and the potential for achieving female eudaimonia. The study posits different testable hypotheses and supports these with a multivariate cross-sectional time-series analysis of the data.Item Water and the Indigenous Women's Leadership Project(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2011-06) Ornelas, RoxanneIndigenous women are frequently the traditional caretakers of water for their peoples but often their personal experiences in response to relocation or environmental ruin are ignored by researchers. This study examines the environmental challenges and the negative impacts that indigenous women experience in their cultural and spiritual roles with regard to water. Featured in this paper are the results of a conference that was co-organized by the author's Indigenous Women's Leadership Project and the Indigenous Peoples Task Force in the state of Minnesota in March 2008 with follow-up participant activity reports from 2009 and 2010. The conference brought together several indigenous women and girls from the United States, Canada, and Mexico to discuss the importance of water policy issues for indigenous women in their traditional role as caretakers of the water. Of significant importance were the exchanges that focused on the sacred nature of water and the many customary activities that have been compromised by environmental impacts on the surrounding natural habitats of fish, terrestrial animals, and ceremonial and medicinal plants. The implications for future research suggest that the development of culturally relevant political and public policy strategies that integrate the traditional values of indigenous peoples is essential for developing the environmental management and leadership potential among indigenous women and girls.Item Minority Females and the Thin Ideal: Ethnic Versus Mainstream Fashion Magazines and their Effects on Acculturation and Body Image in Young Black and Latino Women(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2011-06) Kraeplin, Camille R.Studies have linked thin-ideal imagery in popular media to eating pathologies and related disorders. Although these disorders have long been associated with middle- and upper-class white women, racial or ethnic status may no longer confer a protective benefit, in part because the dominant white society's cultural values, as conveyed through mainstream media, reach all ethnic groups. This survey of 106 young African American and 102 young Latino women supports the conclusion that Latinas identify more closely with mediated thin-ideal imagery, while black respondents appear more satisfied with their body image. Acculturation theory suggests that ethnic minority individuals who maintain links, including ethnic-media use, to their culture of origin will be less acculturated to the norms and values of dominant white society. Three-quarters of Latinas read a mainstream fashion/beauty magazine regularly, while half of African-Americans read ethnic magazines published for the black community.Item Gender, Leadership, and Crisis: A Framing Analysis of Sally Mason's Presidency of the University of Iowa(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2011-06) Barnes, Emileigh; Durham, FrankThis textual analysis of a gendered media framing process addresses news coverage of Sally Mason, who was inaugurated as president of the University of Iowa in 2007. The coverage analyzed here focuses on two crises which Mason faced shortly after taking office: The alleged multiple sexual assault in 2007 of a female student-athlete by two male student-athletes and the flooding of the Iowa campus in 2008. In examining the related news texts of the city's principal newspaper, the Press-Citizen, the authors have engaged in a critical inquiry into the ways in which reportorial routines reproduce the cultural-historical themes of patriarchy. Their analysis of the divergent directions of these two frames assigned to Mason and her leadership style– one negative in the sexual assault case and one positive in the later flood– are explained based on Reese's (2008) framing process model of reification, transmission, and naturalization.Item Fertility Control and Its Effect on Chinese Women(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2011-09) Zhou, YunPopulation policy, especially fertility control policy, has been vital for China in the past few decades. At the end of 1970s, due to the fast speed of population growth and eagerness of economic and social development, China started a unique population policy known as the "one-child policy". In this paper, we will explore the effects of the current fertility control policy on Chinese women. More specifically, the paper will explain the gains of Chinese women from the policy. According to our study, we find that women benefited from dissemination and promotion of contraceptive uses, at least when the policy was implemented in the earlier 1980s. Through methods of contraception, women were able to control fertility by themselves. By reducing number of children each woman has, a family accumulates more resources for children in the next generation, including female children. Due to the reduction in family members by fertility control, Chinese find more female or female-related relatives in their life. These changes will lead to a more harmonious society among human beings as well as between humans and nature.Item A Black Woman's Choice: Depo-provera and Reproductive rights(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2011-09) Jackson, Nicole M.African American and Black British women exhibited a complicated relationship with reproductive rights activism in the 1970s and 1980s. As women's health work developed in both countries and focused their attention on abortion or expanding women's access to birth control methods, Black women were often wary of these newfound "freedoms." Much of this disagreement centered on the ways in which "choice" had been defined by mainstream society. Black women's participation in the women's health movement attempted to develop a more complicated definition of choice to demonstrate that more contraceptive options for White women could also means fewer choices for Black women. They provided a critique of reproductive abuses that centered race, class, and immigration status as significant arbiters of Black women's health status. They demonstrated a deep-seated hostility and mistrust of medical professionals who they saw as working to systematically strip Black women of their reproductive freedom. They believed that their doctors saw them as incapable of controlling their fertility and used this as a reason to rob them of their agency. Opposition to Depo-Provera provides one demonstration of the complexity of this issue and illustrates that Black women's reproductive rights activism was as much about protecting Black women's bodies and safeguarding Black motherhood, as forestalling it. And in this ways they connected reproductive health with the general health of all Black women, and at times the Black community as a whole. In this way, they made reproductive rights a distinct domain of women of color, poor women and, at times, Black people writ large.Item Sustainability and Population Growth in the Context of Globalization: A Postcolonial Feminist Social Work Perspective(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2011-09) Deepak, Anne C.In this paper, a postcolonial feminist social work perspective is presented as key to analyzing the intersections between population growth and sustainability within the context of globalization. This new theoretical perspective offers attention to the historical complexity of gendered and racialized power relations within and between systems, honors the agency of all women and reflects core values of social work, social justice and self-determination. The application of this perspective to the intersections between population growth and sustainability can lead to a re-envisioning international and national policies to promote both reproductive justice and sustainability. World population growth is identified in popular discourse as a key barrier to environmental sustainability (Campbell, 2007), causing or exacerbating a multitude of problems, including "climate change and global warming, fragile and failed states, migration and refugee crises, food and water insecurity, poverty, disease, debt, and illiteracy"(Redding, 2007, p. 1). The link made between women's fertility and ecological and social disaster is not new, and has sometimes led to policies that impede women's reproductive rights and jeopardize their health (Hartmann & Hendrixon, 2005). A postcolonial feminist social work perspective draws attention to the context of global inequality, produced historically by colonialism and currently by the economic dimensions of globalization. It is the economic dimensions of globalization that threaten environmental sustainability and reproductive justice. In this paper, a postcolonial feminist social work perspective is used to reframe the discussion of population growth and sustainability to one that represents social work values of social justice and self-determination, promoting both reproductive justice and sustainability.Item China's Population Policy: Aging, Gender, and Sustainability(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2011-09) Yuan, LijunChina is about to undergo a stunning demographic transformation, a rapidly aging population. Despite the influence of the aging process on women's lives, very few works analyze the interconnectedness of gender and aging. This article analyzes the interrelationship between China's aging population, gender inequality, and elderly women's poverty. Since gender issues in aging have been ignored, idealistic models to promote the well-being of the elderly fail to address the specific needs of aging women. Traditional attitudes in China toward caring for the elderly have met serious challenges as a result of China's economic reform, one-child policy, and social acceptance of individualistic development and competitive life-styles. I argue that a fruitful way for dealing with the "graying" population of China is not to abandon her traditions but to call upon a Confucian notion of reciprocity that provides guidelines for the respect and care for the elderly through a joint effort of family, community, and government support. When properly revised and infused with gender consciousness, the Confucian tradition points the way to attending specifically to the needs of disadvantaged elderly women. While Confucianism emphasizes how humans can live together and create a just society with a benevolent government, it, like Daoism, points to the importance of harmony with nature. I will argue that the needs of elderly Chinese will be well-served not just by interweaving gender consciousness into the tradition of Confucianism, but also by emphasizing an ecological consciousness; cooperation with nature will foster limited growth within a steady state economy and sustainable development that will help all elderly, both women and men, in the long run.Item The Campus as Stage: A Qualitative Study of the Hypervisibility and Invisibility of African American Female Identity in the Built Campus Environment(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2012-03) Krusemark, StephanieIn this article, excerpts from a qualitative dissertation study conducted in 2009-2010 at a predominantly white institution in the Rocky Mountain region are shared through the narratives of Rachel, Abbie, and Marilyn, three African American female students attending the institution. This article challenges us to consider the dynamics that occur between African American women and the physical and landscaped spaces of a predominantly white campus environment. Through their narratives we discover their experiences of navigating the boundaries of hypervisibility and invisibility as racially gendered women. This inquiry posits that we need to consider the psychological impact of how the architectural design of a campus environment can create unwelcoming spaces and unpleasant experiences. These spaces serve to further perpetuate the historical dominant ideologies of identity that lead to the marginalization and harassment of African American women.Item From Jezebel to Ho: An Analysis of Creative and Imaginative Shared Representations of African-American Women(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2012-03) Moody, MiaCritical race theory has affirmed that popular culture represents African-American women in narrowly defined stereotypical roles that are long lasting, dichotomous and degrading. However, not as common are studies that look at creative and imaginative shared portrayals of the group. This essay applies symbolic convergence theory (SCT) with its critical method, fantasy theme analysis (FTA), to explore Don Imus and his co-hosts' use of stereotypes in their depiction of members of the Rutgers basketball team. While Imus began the characterization of members of the mostly black team as "rough girls" and "nappy-headed hos," his co-hosts contributed to his fantasy, resorting to stereotypes deeply entrenched in cultural narratives of black women. The Imus faux pas occurred several years ago; however, many of the same stereotypes continue to resurface in media portrayals of African-American women, particularly in social media outlets. For instance, dozens of Facebook hate groups target Michelle Obama, using both racist and sexist language that questions her personality, femininity and beauty. While media have made inroads in improving representations of women and people of color, historical stereotypes of black women are still a prominent part of cultural narratives. Scholars must constantly challenge such portrayals and advocate for alternative, meaningful and consistent depictions.Item From One Young Woman to Two Old Women: How Cultural Continuity is Illustrated through Athabascan Values(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2012-03) Williams, CarolineCultural continuity exists in Native America today, although the channel for transmission of cultural values continually changes. Athabascan women in both Alaska and Canada have been interviewed extensively throughout the twentieth century to show important ethnographic details of their lives. Four researchers in particular are of interest in this study because of their research on women's puberty observances in Athabascan societies: Cornelius Osgood who worked with the Gwich'in in both Alaska and Canada in 1932; Dorothy Libby who worked over the summer of 1948 and 1949 in Southern Yukon Territory, Canada; Anna Rooth who worked in 1966 in Alaska; and Julie Cruikshank who worked in Yukon Territory 1975 -- 1976. The above researchers identified personal challenges faced by Athabascan women during times of great change. Changes in government policies, western encroachment and subsequent historical events, such as the gold rush and the introduction of the Alaskan highway, have led Athabascan women to adapt age old observances, for example puberty observances, to incorporate in modern lives. In today's Northern Athabascan society, puberty seclusion is no longer followed, yet Athabascan values, which girls were taught during puberty seclusion and observances, can be seen in the everyday life of contemporary Athabascan peoples. The transmission of cultural values can be seen in contemporary vehicles, such as Velma Wallis' book Two Old Women. The discussion which follows illustrates cultural continuity in today's Northern Athabascan societies, by comparing and contrasting Northern Athabascan people's puberty observances and seclusion with Velma Wallis' book Two Old Women. By first examining the early ethnographic scholarship and marking the changes over time, evidence of this continuity can be seen in the continuance of Northern Athabascan values such as self-sufficiency, hard work, and responsibility to village. I further illustrate how such values have endured into the present day.Item "A Man is Only a Man Among Other Men, But to His Woman He is All Things": Hip Hop Video Vixens' Impact on Singleness Crisis Rhetoric(Texas State University, Center for Diversity and Gender Studies, 2012-03) Austin, Sierra J.With the rise of a black female presence in hip-hop culture, scholars are continually interrogating the ways in which race, gender, and sexuality function in (re)negotiating black womanhood. Specifically, much of this discourse involves music videos. The critique of the hip-hop video vixen's objectification and exploitation is being largely supplanted with discourses of agency and empowerment under the guise of feminism. Several of hip-hop's most notable vixens are utilizing the publishing platform in an attempt to redefine black female sexuality, adding what they argue is an unconventional twist to black feminist and hip-hop feminist paradigms. With three New York Times Best Sellers under her belt, former hip-hop music video vixen Karrine Steffans leads this pseudo-sexual revolution, while simultaneously perpetuating stigmas plaguing single Black women. In each book, a motif of the importance of sexual and/or emotional connections with men is explored, elucidating the notion of a Black antifeminism. As its title suggests, The Vixen Manual: How to Find, Seduce, & Keep The Man You Want, focuses on the importance of social and/or legal coupling. Through a critical analysis of hip-hop as an agent of gender socialization and society's manufacturing of marriage crisis rhetoric, this paper seeks to challenge the fears of singleness among heterosexual African American women by using nonfiction contextual analysis, and considering the possibilities of hip-hop feminism to function as an ideology and critical literacy tool that encourages egalitarian romantic relationships, as well as the reimagining of kinship and community via othersistering.