Women in the U.S.S.R.

Genia K. Browning, Women and Politics in the USSR. Consciousness Raising and Soviet Women's Croups (Wheatsheaf Books) Sussex, 1987; Tatyana Mamonova, Russian Women's Studies. Essays on Sexism in Soviet Culture (Pergamon Press) Oxford, 1989.     

Mayor short and the I.W.W. Agricultural workers

The following article analyzes the under-researched theme of Indian migration during indenture in British Guiana and Trinidad. It is understood that Indians were brought to the Caribbean under a series of restrictive colonial policies that stymied free movement. However, it is argued that some Indians resisted these very colonial regulations and exercised their individual right to migrate and subsequently dictate their own lives. Some independently took illegal action to acquire freedom while others waited until their contracts expired to migrate. While the number of those who migrated was consistently smaller than those who remained on the plantations, migration was a permanent feature of the plantation system that lasted as long as indenture itself. Indian migration during indenture can be conceptualized into three overlapping historical phases: (1) desertion from the plantations; (2) migration from the plantations to settlements (rural) to urban areas; and (3) intra-regional migration from one Caribbean island to the other.     

A Conversation About Q. D. Leavis

Mary Ellen Mark's photographic collection Twins (2003) raises provocative questions about performance, contingency and the relativity of difference, self and other. Her images complicate notions of individuality and foundational difference and challenge both self-recognition and recognition by others. They require viewers to observe closely, to spend time studying her subjects and to address the relativity—sometimes the radical relativity—of difference but also of sameness. Difficult questions about where ‘you’ end and ‘I’ begin are raised. Though Twins contains images of fraternal twins and triplets, Mark's subjects are, overwhelmingly, identical twins. She usually photographs them standing together, dressed in precisely the same way, in carefully constructed poses. This recreates the carnivalesque, performative aspect of Twins Day, held each year in Twinsburg, Ohio, in which the fact of being a twin (or in some cases triplet) is affirmed. Some identical twins choose to represent themselves as twins rather than solely as individuals, or as siblings who are also twins, in order to test out the limits of individuality. Here, I consider the ways in which such a chosen celebratory representation challenges different ways in which identical twins have been conceived of, which emphasise instead alterity and uncanniness.     

Fatal Women of Romanticism. Adriana Craciun. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2003.

The fatal woman, or femme fatale, is a familiar archetype: an aggressive seductress who lures her enemies into compromising situations. Literature is full of vivid characterizations of this type: Eve, Pandora, Cleopatra, Salome, Lady MacBeth. Film noir has rendered indelible images of fast-talking dames in pencil skirts and seamed stockings, exhaling cigarette smoke as they misdirect our heroes. In this incarnation, the fatal woman is often celebrated, as in film reviewer Mick LaSalle's recently published Complicated Women, and can be seen, in the right smoky light, as a protofeminist. Academics such as Virginia Allen and Bram Dijkstra have dissected the history of the femme fatale as a male fantasy, an "erotic and fatal muse" (Allen) and an "idol of perversity" (Dijkstra). What interests Adriana Craciun in Fatal Women of Romanticism is not the issues or intentions of male authors who invoke the archetype, but the appearance of femmes fatales in the works of several women writers of the Romantic period.     

The Woman in the Red Dress: Gender,Space, and Reading. Minrose C. Gwin. Urbana: U of Illinois P, 2002.

An eclectic montage of literary analysis, autobiography, and reader response, taking the form of personal anecdotes and autonomous essays, The Woman in the Red Dress takes the reader on a journey in which Minrose C. Gwin analyzes both metaphoric and physical personal space. As Gwin defines it, space is "not an entity that contains something else but [is] the swirl of social relations and productions in particular locations, whether these locations be material, cultural, or even psychological" (6). The purpose of Gwin's work, as she says, perhaps too repetitively is: "to dramatize textual encounters in which narrative, space, and gender inscribe themselves on one another and their readers" (38). The title of this volume refers to the first work Gwin discusses in her introduction: Native American poet Joy Harjo's poem, "Deer Dancer," about a woman in a stained red dress who dances naked on a bar, changing not just the lives of those present, but also those who, like the narrator, merely hear the story (6-7).     

Not `Social Justice': The Housing Association, the Judges, the Tenant and his Lover Fitzpatrick v. Sterling Housing Association [1997] 4 All E.R. 991; [1998] 1 F.L.R. 6 (C.A.); [1999] 4 All E.R. 705 (H.L.)

This note analyses the decision of the House of Lords in Fitzpatrick, which held that gay partners could fall within the legal definition of ‘family’ for some purposes. The note argues that despite the real (if overstated) benefits that this case bestows on gay partners in the form of legal rights, under analysis, the decision self-deconstructs to reveal that it is grounded on the principle of discrimination on the basis of sexuality. However, it is also suggested that the encounter between discursive legal reasoning (underpinned by normative heterosexuality), and aversion of the family which is ‘other’ to this discourse, is one which leaves its mark on law, as the potential undermining or deconstruction of law’s normative assumptions. The note further argues that although this decision is properly seen as a moment in the struggle for gay rights, it also serves as a reminder that the fortunes of critical theories and political movements that seek to challenge the legal paradigm of the white, heterosexual male are inextricably linked. Fitzpatrick, whatever else it is, is also an object lesson in the debt that current campaigns for gay legal rights owe to feminist critiques of, and campaigns that have successfully challenged, the role of this norm in legal discourse. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Embodying the Law:Coker and Osamor v. The Lord Chancellorand the Lord Chancellor's Department [2002]I.R.L.R. 80 (Court of Appeal)

In Britiain, it is unlawful,regardless of the motive of the discriminator,to refuse to give a woman a job because of hersex. On the other hand, the U.K. case ofCoker and Osamor v. The Lord Chancellor and theLord Chancellor's Department suggests that itis permissible, by `pre-selecting' anindividual man, to rule out any possible femalecandidates. The singular facts of this caseshould not disguise the troubling conclusionthat while sex (and race) discrimination maysometimes be blatant and deliberate, morefrequently it is subtle and routine. Furthermore, discrimination is much moredifficult to challenge, let alone eradicate,when it is embedded in the system. This notestarts from the premise that, while sexequality requires more than the appointment ofwomen to influential posts, that is, at least,a start and if it is decided in advance thatappointments will be made only from a smallcircle of `acceptable' people there is a realdanger that the idea of the `establishment' asa self-perpetuating (white) male enclave willbe confirmed.     

R. v. Hakopian

The writer would like to thank Jenny Morgan for her assistance, and the Lionel Murphy Foundation for its financial support.     

Surety Wives in the House of Lords: Time forSolicitors to `Get Real'?Royal Bank of Scotland plc v. Etridge (No. 2) [2001] 4 All E.R. 449

This note considers the recent House of Lordsdecision in Royal Bank of Scotland plc. v.Etridge (No. 2). It concerns the familiarscenario of a wife jointly mortgaging (orproviding a guarantee for a mortgage of) thefamily home in order to secure financialsupport for a business run by her husband. Ina landmark judgement, Lord Nicholls set out newand specific procedures to be followed bylenders and solicitors who are providingindependent advice, in order to counter anyargument by the wife that the charge should beset aside because her signature on the lender'scharge has been obtained by the undue influenceof her husband. This note considers the impactof the decision upon the parties involved insuch transactions. Special consideration isgiven to the surety wife and her chances ofdefending possession proceedings brought bylenders in the post Etridge era.     

Phenomenological aspects of psychosocial maturity in adolescence. Part I. Boys

This paper explores the phenomenological and psychodynamic differences between adolescent boys who score at the high and low extremes of the Psychosocial Maturity Inventory. The development of psychosocial maturity is viewed against the background of adolescent ego development. The freedom from impulse, the gains in self-esteem, the resolution of sexual identity, and the growth of autonomy that are the outcomes of the adolescent process all contribute to a higher degree of individual and social adequacy. The growth of heterosexuality, however, is shown to have a complex and nonlinear relationship to psychosocial maturity.Preparation of this paper was supported by funds from the National Institute of Education, Contract No. NE-C-00-3-0013.Received Ph. D. in psychology from the University of Michigan. Main research interests: psychology of adolescence and psychology of women.Received Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Radcliffe College. Main interest: personality development from childhood through adolescence.Main interest: Evaluation methodology.For a complete discussion, see Greenberger and Sørensen (1974).     

The third aspect: An investigation of U.K. business networks

The research was a study of 16 women's networks in the United Kingdom. Information was mainly collected via a self-completion postal questionnaire in Summer 1987. The purpose of this paper is to develop concepts which might be used to understand the characteristics and activities of such networks and to test out the hypothesis that a network's political stance is predictive of some of its main features. It seeks to demonstrate that Tomlinson's dichotomous political classification of networks (Women in Management Review, 2(4), 238–247, 1987) can usefully be extended to encompass a third category. The hypothesis that the political stance of a network will be predictive of its orientation — discussed in terms of the relative importance of training and lobbying to a given group — and the inclusivity/exclusivity of its membership policy is supported. Conversely, it is shown that attitudes to men as potential members, organisational structures, and sources and levels of funding cannot be predicted purely by reference to a network's political position.     

Gender Mainstreaming Strategies in the E.U.: Delivering on an Agenda?

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of anew policy style within the E.U., characterized by voluntary policy transfer between member states and soft policy instruments including exchange of best practice, targets, benchmarking and national league tables. This article examines how these methods have been used by gender mainstreaming advocates and evaluates the impact of this strategy to-date upon E.U. policy-making procedures and outputs. It is argued that mainstreaming has provided new opportunities for feminists to influence the E.U. policy agenda, but that the impact of mainstreaming varies between sectors and member states. The concluding section considers the implications of E.U. mainstreaming from the perspective of the European Women's Lobby(E.W.L.). This discussion highlights the potential opportunities and risks for feminists of mainstreaming. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Gender Mainstreaming Strategies in the E.U.: Delivering on an Agenda?

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of anew policy style within the E.U., characterized by voluntary policy transfer between member states and soft policy instruments including exchange of best practice, targets, benchmarking and national league tables. This article examines how these methods have been used by gender mainstreaming advocates and evaluates the impact of this strategy to-date upon E.U. policy-making procedures and outputs. It is argued that mainstreaming has provided new opportunities for feminists to influence the E.U. policy agenda, but that the impact of mainstreaming varies between sectors and member states. The concluding section considers the implications of E.U. mainstreaming from the perspective of the European Women's Lobby(E.W.L.). This discussion highlights the potential opportunities and risks for feminists of mainstreaming.