European law as a lever for female workers at the national level: Belgium and the Equal Pay Directive of 1975

‘Equal pay for equal work’ is a longstanding feminist claim. In this regard, the 1975 Equal Pay Directive of the European Economic Community has generated momentum for women at the national level. Based on the Belgian case, we explain how national actors – and more specifically trade unions and their women’s committees – have used European law to foster wage equality. Despite the existence of binding norms since the 1950s, this principle of equal pay has been poorly applied. The implementation of the directive in the Belgian neo-corporatist institutional framework has given trade unions the possibility to secure an extensive interpretation of the directive’s general provisions. The assumption driving this paper is that this directive has generated momentum for change – though this is not a synonym of ‘a miracle solution’ – in Belgium regarding wage equality. More fundamentally, this study is about the intertwining of European and national laws and the way in which European norms can offer instrumental opportunities to national actors to impact their domestic polity and policies, here on social and gender matters.     

Beyond quota seats for women in the Tanzanian legislature

To assess the utility of quota experience in winning open seats, this article examined the factors explaining why only a small number of quota members of parliament (MPs) switch to non-quota seats in the context of Tanzania, where quota seats for women have been in place for three decades. Despite the socioeconomic and political forces offsetting the advantages of quota seats, special seats, if used effectively, are instrumental to winning constituency seats. To materialize a switch to a constituency seat, an early decision to run, strategic selection of a constituency, a track record of service to the target constituency, and mobilization of grassroots women are essential for special-seat women. The findings of this study, therefore, shed some light on how women’s parliamentary representation can move beyond the dependence on gender quotas.     

Unnecessary bleeding,unnecessary suffering: normalcy and necessity of menstruation in promoting NovaSure®

NovaSure® is an endometrial ablation procedure that destroys the inner lining of uterus to stop heavy bleeding. It is performed mostly on women entering menopause who are experiencing irregular and heavy bleeding. In this article, this biotechnology, promoted for women approaching the end of their reproductive life, is analyzed. The analysis is informed by a feminist science studies and medical anthropology background. The discourse of ‘normal’ menstruation and representations of menstruation in the promotional materials for NovaSure® are explored through a textual analysis of the NovaSure® website and patient brochure. The themes in the materials analyzed include the idea of getting back to life, ‘normal’ bleeding, and having a choice among different medical procedures and interventions. The possibility of getting rid of embarrassment that accompanies heavy bleeding is also emphasized. It will be argued that NovaSure® contributes to the redefinition of what is ‘natural’ and ‘necessary’ by combining the ‘unnecessary period’ idea of pills such as Seasonale®, which is aimed toward women in their reproductive years, with the ‘unnecessary suffering’ idea related to menopausal complaints. While advertising the procedure, NovaSure® promotional materials co-construct the ideal user for the technology and reproduce the taboos and embarrassment that accompany menstruation.     

Troubling the ontological bubble: middle school students challenging gender stereotypes

In this paper, we discuss how a selection of eighth-grade students (13–14-year-olds) responded when they were asked to publicly challenge the gender binary for a critical media literacy school assignment in the USA. We describe the ways in which students negotiated the dual projects of complying with the assignment to create video ads that challenged gender stereotypes and maintaining their gendered sense of self. While the videos had virtually all students disrupting gender in some way, many did so even as they reinforced the notion of gender as a binary. We apply the idea of ontological bubble, as well as concepts from post-structural theories, to help us make sense of the different methods students used to maintain the gender binary.     

比例制:当代中国性别平等参政的效力抉择

今天,绝大多数国家都已认同,两性参政的平等程度是衡量一国民主政治发展程度不可或缺的一项重要指标。虽然自建国以来中国的主流意识形态极力倡扬男女平等,并在正式制度中对女性参政采取保护性的政策,但传统社会性别制度排斥女性参政的惯性作用力在当今中国社会仍牵制着人们的思想观念和行为。因此,以强制性的制度安排保证女性一定的参政比例,虽然由此引起褒贬不一的争论,但仍不失为实现性别平等参政的一种效力抉择。     

Beyond the wounds: The SCAR Project as space for examining breast cancer and mastectomy experiences

Most people never see the impact of breast cancer removal on a body. Even breast cancer survivors rarely see its physical effects on others. Gender-laden symbols underwrite breast cancer narratives, with mass media romanticizing the female body through pink ribbon imagery and youthful fashion model-perfect representations. The real body which has experienced breast cancer surgery through lumpectomy or mastectomy mostly is invisible, passive, and features scar tissue damage considered un-gaze-worthy. Yet, the Pulitzer Prize nominated Surviving Cancer: Absolute Reality (SCAR) Project uses Facebook to enable those who experience breast cancer to see post-mastectomy images and to share their own stories. Actual use of the SCAR Project Facebook page and to what end is the current study's focus. Four themes emerged among narratives: (1) Inspiration and Support, (2) Cancer Scar Meanings, (3) Authenticity, and (4) Redefined Beauty and Femininity. By examining women's experiences with breast cancer as shared on Facebook, we discuss slippages that emerge between pink ribbon imagery and processes of rebuilding female gender identity.     

高校“青马工程”培养路径研究——基于对大学生创业教育视角的思考

高校“青马工程”的培养,旨在帮助高校大学生骨干学习和掌握党的理论创新成果,了解国情,认识社会,提高思想政治素质,坚定理想信念.但是,高校“青马工程”的开展,在培养实践过程应该更好的总结经验,采取多层次、立体化、互动学习的培训模式,要立足于高校创业教育的视角,立足于大学生全面成才发展的需要,将理论和实践相融合,设置符合“青马工程”培养需求的创业教育机制,建立“青马工程”创业教育评价标准,从而完善“青马工程”的教育体系.     

Communicating sociocultural norms and social and religious practices in Iranian death notices

Drawing on a corpus of 100 randomly collected death notices published in an Iranian national newspaper, this study examined generic structures as well as their lexico-grammatical patterning to reveal what communicative functions are articulated by these generic components. Basing our identification of moves on Swales [1990. Genre Analysis: English in Academic and Research Settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press], we identified 12 rhetorical moves in the corpus. We illustrated that these recurrent rhetorical moves reflect the Iranian sociocultural norms, as well as social and religious beliefs. Also, the results substantiated [Kress, Gunther, and Theo van Leeuwen. 1996. Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge] multimodality perspective on textual analysis in that they rejected linguistic items as the only meaning-making device and identified colour, position, photo and size, among others, as worthwhile veritable semiotic devices.     

权力腐败的法理透析

坚决惩治权力腐败和有效预防权力腐败,关系人心向背和党的生死存亡,这一重大课题始终是我们党和国家面临的重大政治任务。权力腐败是权力的权利化和权力的非责任化,因为权力时刻存在着走向腐败的可能性,权力具有私欲性,权力具有可交换性,权力具有不平等性。权力腐败的本质是剥削,其法律属性与民本、民生、和谐社会、核心价值体系完全相悖。要充分认识反腐倡廉建设的战略意义,充分认识反腐败斗争的长期性、复杂性和艰巨性。     

已婚者变性权问题初探

我国法律目前并没有禁止已婚者变性的规定。按照法无禁止即许可原则,只要其符合医学上有关变性的公认条件,就应当确认和保护他们的变性权。同时,已婚者实施变性手术不应以离婚为前提条件。我们应当加快立法步伐,从法律上赋予其变性权利,并将变性作为夫妻感情确已破裂的法定理由。