女性主义：七夕诗阐释的现代维度

现代人将七夕诗单一地理解为“情诗”,我们有必要对七夕诗进行多维度的阐释。如果从女性主义的视角将七夕诗加以解读,可以发现,七夕的重要仪礼——“乞巧”,是当时少女们生活希冀中对爱情的价值认同;七夕诗中表达得最丰富的爱情,其实是妇女求得身份平等的情感承诺;而男女不同诗人所作的七夕诗,在视角转换中可以明显看出男人和女人眼中的“女性”有别而情有所同。     

女权心理学及其对西方主流心理学的挑战

女权心理学是西方女权主义运动中的一股重要力量。女权心理学试图揭示西方心理学的内容和方法中的男性中心偏见 ,反对扭曲和病态化女性的经验与行为。在女性心理的研究中 ,它既反对夸大性别差异 ,也反对抹杀和取消性别差异。女权心理学质疑西方主流心理学的科学观和方法论 ,认为自然科学的经验实证范式不适合心理学 ,心理学不可能脱离社会文化的影响而进行价值中立的研究     

从拆解到重构——西方女性主义对女性与自然关系的解读理路

基于女性和自然在西方政治文化中所遭遇的歧视性联姻,西方女性主义在如何对待女性与自然关系的问题上,虽然面临着多种立场选择,但从总的发展过程来看,仍清晰地呈现着从拆解到重构的解读理路。正是这种对女性与自然关系的拆解与重构,引发了人们对女性概念、自然概念、女性与自然关联的重新思考。     

“姐妹情谊”及其在新时期文学中的展开方式

“姐妹情谊”是一种女性疏离父权社会、背叛异性恋秩序、在同性情缘中寻求支持与满足的性别僭越行为。中国新时期文学中的“姐妹情谊”叙事经过了异性恋机制中的精神“方舟”、欲望化的嫘斯宾情结等不同的发展阶段。“姐妹情谊”并非女性主义乌托邦,它的建构或解构既昭示了一条反抗男权文化的女性同盟之路,也体现了这一过程的曲折与艰难。     

The feminist defense of law

The purpose of this essay is to highlight the fact that certain specific governing or guideline criteria are in fact necessary before one can establish cases in which it would be admissible to treat the genders unequally. Those criteria, insofar as women＇s rights are concerned, consist of the need to overcome a situation of inequality which arises due to cultural and social reasons. An analysis of the different types of feminist movements follows, concluding that feminism implies two types of hypotheses. On one level feminism can be said to be a theory for equality; on another level it is a theory which turns around the objectivity of law, although it does, in both cases, challenge classical political and iudicial theses.     

Rape investigation and prosecution: Stuck in the mud?

Abstract

This paper evaluates the Stern Review of rape in the context of public responses to rape, in England and Wales. The piece is based on an anti-rape feminist approach and so weighs a woman-centred approach to rape responses against the mainstream justice model. Overall, the argument made is that nothing much is really changing in public responses to rape. The work outlines problems with the Stern contention that the conviction rates for rape need to be calculated differently, and takes issue with the claim that the “policies are right”. Stern's call for greater support for women who have been raped is welcomed, but the effectiveness of the review process itself is questioned. These discussions illustrate the process of attrition as it is variously understood by feminists and by Baroness Stern. It is suggested that reviews themselves may be little more than a dampener, brought in when claims for change create a need to be seen to be doing something. A preferred alternative might be some form of ongoing body, reviewing and challenging practice and policy; however, it is recognised that this could be difficult to achieve amid the current spending cuts. The paper then turns to evaluate trends in support for survivors and notes that the more “professional” models of the Sexual Assault Referral Centre and the Independent Sexual Violence Advisers have held sway for some time. However, under the new coalition, government funding is also being directed towards women-only Rape Crisis centres, and this move is warmly welcomed here. The work concludes that much does indeed remain the same, despite positive signs in terms of respect for this survivor-centred model.     

African Renaissance: The need for gender-inclusive developmental states

ABSTRACT

This article was developed from a paper presented at a seminar at the Africa Institute of South Africa in Pretoria in 2006 while the author was an Archie Mafeje Fellow. It argues the urgent need for the construction and consolidation of gender-inclusive democratic developmental states as central to grounding the concept of an African Renaissance, for an effective transformation of the human condition, and for ensuring that this renaissance does not become romanticised and meaningless. While the notion of developmental states has gained currency in recent years, very little, if at all, has been said about gender in relation to these debates – despite the United Nations warning that ‘without engendering development, development itself is endangered.’ In other words, formulating and implementing development policies with gender lenses are crucial for development.     

African women in leadership: Current knowledge and a framework for future studies

Abstract

While the empirical literature on leadership and management in Africa is sparse, the literature on African women in leadership is even sparser. This article offers a critical examination of the current state of knowledge on African women in leadership and management. It draws from an extensive review of existing published research to summarise what has been studied and is currently known about their status, leadership styles, and the influence of gender on their experiences as leaders and managers. Based on this review, an integrative framework, drawing from African feminism and postcolonial theory, is proposed to advance the study of African women in leadership and management.     

Is sextremism the new feminism? Perspectives from Pussy Riot and Femen

As Pussy Riot has changed the face of political protest in Russia, to the south, Ukraine has seen the emergence of Femen, famous for their topless protests against everything from sex tourism and trafficking to hot water shut-offs in Kyiv to sexism in the Ukrainian government to Putin's visits to Ukraine. Their concurrent appearance in the post-Soviet sphere encourages a discussion around the mobilization of sexuality as protest in the region. Both groups appropriate sexual language and imagery as well as physical sexuality in protest of their current regimes. This article engages the question of similarities between the two groups’ efforts and considers what differences structure their political goals and philosophies. What potential does the global visibility of these groups have to influence an emerging women's movement, and, more generally, how can sexuality be harnessed as a unifying force in anti-government activism in post-socialist Russia and Ukraine?     

The Discourse of Tattoo Consumption among Female Youth in Nigeria

Abstract

Among female youth in Nigeria, especially those living in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and its environs, skin design or tattooing has become a trendy social ritual in reinventing the notion of the “self” or perceived personhood, according to some subjective relevance. The body, or the skin in particular, has become a site for cultural (re)production and interpretation of meaning and a symbolic resource for embodied social capital and individual agency. This article interrogates the practice of tattooing among these youth: its motivations, semiotic interpretations, and perception. It illuminates how female tattoos have helped to create a conceptual dialogue between the biological (objective) body and the social (subjective) body. The study is conceptually rooted in African feminist thoughts and postmodern perspectives about the (female) body which view it as a text that can be written, rewritten and interpreted in powerful ways through a cultural lens. The results indicate that female tattoos are symbolic investments that represent fashion, self-expression, individuality, social change and sexual agency. Fundamentally, the aesthetic and artistic female body is deployed to reconstruct postmodern female identity while protesting the mainstream stereotyped representation of women especially in a male-dominated conservative society like Nigeria.