Race,gender and sexuality: The oppression of multiculturalism

In this article we analyse the impact of multicultural ideology on struggles for equality in the spheres of gender, race/ethnicity and sexuality. We argue that multiculturalism has permeated theory, policy and action in these areas and that this has resulted in divisions and conflicts between movements for human rights. This has allowed an uncritical brand of multiculturalism to flourish which operates to further oppress already disadvantaged groups. We illustrate our thesis in relation to the violence committed against Black/Asian women through such cultural practices as forced arranged marriage, domestic violence and female genital mutilation. We also note the violence against gay and lesbian people which is sanctioned by some cultural and religious traditions. We conclude that failure to address fundamental questions about possible limits to cultural diversity in liberal democratic societies has implications for the continued oppression of the least powerful and the future of human rights.     

Female genital mutilation: implications for female sexuality

The purpose of this study was to find out how female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female circumcision, affects the sexuality of female students at Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria. A 20-item questionnaire was developed by the investigators and administered to 400 respondents using a variety of sampling techniques. The study found that the students who were circumcised favored circumcision more than those who were not circumcised. It also found out that being circumcised did not lead to early sexual experience. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that campaigning against female genital mutilation should be waged against those women who are already circumcised and women with low level of education.     

Turn-taking in mother-adolescent conversations about sexuality and conflict

The current study examined the nature and style of mother-adolescent conversations, how these conversations differ by subject matter, and dyadic and individual differences. Thirty-one mother-adolescent dyads (17 boys, 14 girls) with a child between the ages of 11 and 14 had a nonstructured conversation, and conversations about conflict and sexuality. They also completed questionnaires on beliefs about acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Conversations were measured for turn taking, total number of words, and conversational dominance, as well as nonverbal measures of affiliation, shame, and contempt. Conversations about sexuality involved less turn taking, fewer words, and more mother dominance than nonstructured conversations. Conversations about conflicts involved less turn taking but more words than nonstructured conversations. Some gender and age differences were found. More interactive conflict conversations contained higher levels of affiliation, and lower levels of child shame than conversations with fewer turns or higher mother dominance. In addition, children in more interactive dyads possessed a larger percentage of their mother's AIDS knowledge, and worried about AIDS a moderate amount.This research was supported by National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development Grant No. HD27035.Received M.A. from UCLA. Current research interests include parent-adolescent relationships, adolescent peer relations, and adolescent sexuality.Received Ph.D. from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Major research interest is in parent-adolescent communication and emotional development.Received Ph.D. from Boston University. Major research interest is in parent-child affective communication.     

the body,sexuality and precarity

This article aims at revealing the patriarchal pattern that has dominated Turkish political thought in the 20th century. I analyse the construction of woman's identity in the writings of three prominent thinkers of the early-republican era (1923–1945); namely, Ahmet A?ao?lu, Peyami Safa and Zekeriya Sertel. The thinkers are deliberately chosen since each represents challenging political dispositions vis-à-vis the others. Ahmet A?ao?lu is a liberal-nationalist, Peyami Safa is a well-known conservative thinker and Zekeriya Sertel is a leftist. However, despite the differences between and/or opposing foundations of their approaches all the three thinkers agree that there is a universally valid woman nature, attested by women's reproductive function, and approach the ‘woman issue’ on the basis of this assumption. The thinkers also argue that participation of women in public sphere inevitably results in their masculinization. Moreover, they distinguish between femininity and womanhood and offer their ideal models of womanhood. Although one can trace differences among the models, all converge on the concept of ‘nation's motherhood’ as the most significant feature of ideal womanhood. The main argument of the article is that women's subordination in the Turkish context is reinforced by the wide acceptance of these assumptions, and is further reproduced by the exclusion of the construction of gender typologies in the studies on Turkish political thought for a considerably long time.     

other mothers: encountering in/visible femininities in migration and urban contexts

Whereas much has been written about migrants’ visibility, the multiple and complex layers of migrants’ invisibility invite further exploration. Migrants’ in/visibility is not clear-cut: it differs across various locations and, as such, demands a comparative, intersectional analysis. This paper seeks to explore it by investigating how recent migrants make sense of their own appearance, as well as those of others they encounter in their new places of residence. Specifically, I inquire into the notion of femininity as it is performed and perceived by Polish migrant mothers living in German and British cities. I discuss whose performances of femininity are visible and whose femininity is rendered invisible in the eyes of my research participants, and what implications this may carry for urban and migration research. Strikingly, the women I interviewed only seem to recognise white British and German women’s performances of femininity for what they are. Non-white and Muslim femininities remain, at best, invisible or, in the not infrequent cases of racism and Islamophobia, are stripped not only of their unique gendered features, but of humanity altogether. As seemingly peaceful interactions in urban space do not exclude privately harboured racial, ethnic, religious and class prejudice, a feminist revision of encounters with diversity provides valuable insight into the structure of such metropolitan paradoxes, yielding new understandings of how racism, classism and sexism persist alongside ostensibly inclusive urban cultures.     

Queer nations: Nationalism, sexuality and the discourse of rights in Quebec

Gays and lesbians are full-fledged members of the great Quebec family, and it is perhaps time to reinvent and enlarge our family. The research on which this article is based was undertaken while I was a visitor at the Faculty of Law, McGill University, Montreal, in 1996. I would like to thank the University and colleagues in the Faculty of Law for their collegiality during my stay. An earlier version of this article was presented at the Critical Legal Conference, University of East London, 6 September 1996. My thanks to the participants for their insightful questions and comments, and thanks also to Didi Herman and Davina Cooper for their help on a previous draft.