Limits of the Appeal to Women's Experiences Reconsidered

Horizons ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (01) ◽  
pp. 54-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Beste
Keyword(s):  
Feminist Theology ◽  
Moral Knowledge ◽  
Trauma Theory ◽  
Martha Nussbaum ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Women's Experience ◽  
Postmodern Thought ◽  
Credible Source

ABSTRACTIn the light of what appears to be a growing consensus that historicist and postmodern thought undermines the credibility of appeals to women's experience as a source of theological and moral knowledge, I assess whether these criticisms do indeed discredit appeals to experience as a legitimate source of knowledge and norm for feminist theology. While such critiques pose insightful challenges to assumptions underlying the appeal to experience, I argue that they do not definitively discredit the appeal to experience itself. Drawing on trauma theory and the work of Margaret Farley and Martha Nussbaum, I seek to show how women's experiences can be defended as a credible source of knowledge and a norm for feminist theology.

scholarly journals Older Women’s Experiences of Aging and Health: An Interpretive Phenomenological Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 233372141983430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dympna Tuohy ◽  
Adeline Cooney
Keyword(s):  
Older Women ◽  
Health Care Services ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Individual Case ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Women's Experience ◽  
Aging And Health ◽  
Major Factors

Objective: This interpretive phenomenological study explored older Irish women’s experiences of aging and health related issues. Method: Data were collected using in-depth interviews with 23 older women (coresearchers). Data analysis followed the “Vancouver school of doing phenomenology” framework and included a meta-synthesis of individual case constructions. Results: “Retaining autonomy within a process of adaptation and continued engagement” describes the essential meaning of coresearchers’ experiences. Four themes were identified: “Being in control: Balancing needs and supports,” “Navigating a changing world,” “Being connected and involved,” “Trying to stay well.” Discussion: Gender shapes older women’s experience of aging, health, and ill health. Three major factors moderate their experience: autonomy and control, proactivity and adaptability, and staying engaged with life. The study concludes that aging, gender, and health are intrinsically linked and collectively shape older women’s experience. This is an important consideration when planning gender-appropriate health care services for older women.

Exploring Some Swedish Women’s Experiences of Support During Childbirth

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Nystedt ◽  
Lisbeth Kristiansen ◽  
Kerstin Ehrenstråle ◽  
Ingegerd Hildingsson
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Study Design ◽  
Birth Experience ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Pregnancy And Childbirth ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Women's Experience ◽  
Open Coding

BACKGROUND: Caregivers need to better understand women’s experiences of support during childbirth because research suggests that social support positively influences childbirth.AIM: This study describes women’s experiences of support given by caregivers during pregnancy and childbirth.METHOD: The study design was inspired by grounded theory. Seven interviews of women were analyzed with an open coding, and different time-related categories related to the childbirth process emerged. The categories were marked by fear and a negative birth experience, being guided on own terms, feel supported, and transformation into courage to give birth. The analysis continued with a selective coding, reflecting the process of mistrust to trust in caregivers.FINDINGS: The mistrust in caregivers began with feelings of fear of birth and a negative birth experience. Through being guided on own terms and feeling supported by the caregivers, a trusting relationship could be established. If the trusting relationship continued during labor, then a woman could transform the fear of birth into the courage to give birth.CONCLUSIONS: Women’s experience of support can be seen as a product of earlier experiences from interactions with caregivers. Therefore, caregivers must be sensitive to the potential power and far-reaching consequences their actions can have.

Immediate Breast Reconstruction

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Avital Gershfeld Litvin ◽  
Rebecca Jacoby
Keyword(s):  
Breast Reconstruction ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Immediate Breast Reconstruction ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Women's Experience ◽  
The Moment ◽  
Continuous Narrative ◽  
Reconstructed Breast

This article represents findings of a qualitative analysis of interviews with women age 30 to 64 years ( n = 14) who had undergone immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) following mastectomy. The purpose of the study was to explore women’s experiences for electing IBR. According to our analysis, women experienced mastectomy as a disability, and their expectations of IBR to restore their sense of normalcy were not fulfilled. Most women perceived the reconstructed breast mainly as a visual replacement. Women’s experience formed a continuous narrative from the moment of diagnosis, through mastectomy until the completion of the reconstruction.

Violence, Trauma, and Resistance: A Feminist Appraisal of Metz's Mysticism of Suffering unto God

Horizons ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johann M. Vento
Keyword(s):  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Feminist Theology ◽  
Theological Reflection ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Essential Contribution ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACTThe trauma that results from violence against women presents a challenge to theological reflection on the meaning of suffering. The mysticism of suffering unto God in the theology of J.B. Metz offers an essential contribution to this reflection. There is a remarkable compatibility between women's experiences of trauma and healing and Metz's understanding of suffering unto God, especially in its refusal to glorify suffering. Further, Metz's understanding presents a much needed mystical-political dimension to theological reflection on violence against women, because of its capacity to nurture on going resistance to the victimization of all women, past and present. Metz's mystical stance, holding together both anguish and radical hope, challenges feminist theology, in its treatment of violence against women, to attend to the relationship between the mystical and political.

Women’s Experience of Infertility and Disenfranchised Grief

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tristan D. McBain ◽  
Patricia Reeves
Keyword(s):  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Counseling Services ◽  
Disenfranchised Grief ◽  
Infertile Women ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Women's Experience ◽  
Affected Woman

Infertility grief often takes an emotional and mental toll on the affected woman. This phenomenological study examined women’s experiences of infertility grief and how their grief has been disenfranchised by other people in their lives. Interviews were conducted with eight women who met criteria for infertility and were U.S. residents. The women were asked to share aspects of their grief associated with infertility and findings were categorized into the three domains of disenfranchised grief. Findings provided a greater understanding of how women experienced invalidation from others and how invalidation further complicated their grief. Implications included how to increase support for infertile women and provide validating counseling services.

Women’s Experience of Birth: Childbirth as a Rite of Passage

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Reed ◽  
Margaret Barnes ◽  
Jennifer Rowe
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Self ◽  
External World ◽  
Rite Of Passage ◽  
Transformative Experience ◽  
Birth Stories ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Women's Experience ◽  
Altered State Of Consciousness

BACKGROUND: Within midwifery, there is a move toward reclaiming and promoting physiological birth. Because midwifery is woman-centered in nature, it is essential that the experience of birth is understood from the woman’s perspective. To date, there has been little research focusing exclusively on women’s experience of physiological birth.AIM: The aim of this study was to explore women’s experiences of physiological birth.METHOD: A narrative approach was taken, and in-depth face-to-face interviews were used to gather birth stories. The participants were 10 women who had recently experienced a physiological birth. Data were analyzed to identify themes occurring across the narratives.FINDINGS: The findings are presented within the explanatory framework of childbirth as a rite of passage composing of three phases: separation, liminal, and incorporation. During birth, women separated from the external world and sought to minimize external and internal distractions. In the liminal phase, they entered “their own world” and experienced an altered state of consciousness. After their baby was born, they reintegrated with the external world and incorporated their birth experience into their sense of self.CONCLUSION: The findings of this study suggest that women’s experiences during physiological birth are multidimensional and not aligned with biomedical descriptions of physically defined stages of labor. Birth was an empowering and transformative experience for the women in the study. The rites of passage framework may assist with developing a discourse about birth that resonates with women’s experiences.

scholarly journals Female visibility through Korean literature: Feminist theological critique

2003 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eun Ok Jeong ◽  
Yolanda Dreyer
Keyword(s):  
Feminist Perspective ◽  
Feminist Critique ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Korean Literature ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Women's Experience ◽  
Theological Critique

This article introduces Korean women’s experience as seen through the lense of social and cultural backgrounds, from the premodern through to the postmodern era. Korean literature is used as a source to investigate Korean women’s experiences and perspectives. By means of feminist critique this article explores men-centered influences in Korean literature. It aims to illustrate the importance of the issue of female visibility through Korean literature from a Korean woman’s perspective. Two texts are analyzed and critiqued: the first is the myth of Korean origin. The second is a story of Gasi Gogi (a thorny fish). The article is intended to stimulate debate on gender, voices, and authority from a feminist perspective, in order to transcend the more traditional interpretations.

scholarly journals Intertwining the Role of Partner and Caregiver: a Phenomenological Study of the Experiences of Four New Zealand Rural Women Who have Cared for Their Terminally Ill Partners

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Karen Ann Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Rural Women ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Terminally Ill ◽  
District Nurse ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Women's Experience

<p>The stories of the women who live and work in rural settings in New Zealand have begun to reveal unique contributions that they have made to their families and community. Meeting with and listening to rural women's stories reveals insights into the character of these powerful women.  This research study evolved from a trend the researcher observed as a district nurse providing community palliative care in rural New Zealand; that the majority of carers of those who are terminally in home-settings are in fact women. This qualitative study aimed to explore through guided conversational interviews the experiences of four New Zealand women who have cared for their terminally ill partners who have subsequently died.  The study investigated if these women's experiences were comparable to that of other women in existing palliative care literature. This research project focused particularly on elucidating the women's experience of intertwining the role of partner and caregiver. Heidegger's hermeneutic philosophy informed the methodology because he focused on what it meant to 'be' rather than 'how we know what we know'. The project focused on the meanings the women made of this dual role in their lives. Women already in the role of partner were now faced with the added responsibility of caregiver to meet the complex needs of their loved one.  Usually they had no training to prepare them for this experience. The study reveals ways in which the visiting palliative care nurse becomes very important to them. The women's own voices reveal the high level of respect for their partners and address the harsh realities, revealing poignant and striking concerns in their lives. These stories are shared with the intent of enriching nurses' and other health professionals' understanding of the women's experiences.  The intention of the study is to highlight the need for closer attention by nurses to women's requirements when caring for their partner at home. Understanding these women's experience is not only a way of honouring these remarkable women but more widely it will inform and possibly transform practice through guideline and policy refinement.</p>

scholarly journals Women’s experience of termination of a pregnancy

Curationis ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Poggenpoel ◽  
CPH Myburgh
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Central Theme ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Purposive Sampling ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Educational Psychologists ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Women's Experience ◽  
Descriptive Approach

In November 1996 the Act on the Termination of Pregnancies (no 92 of 1996) was promulgated. This Act enabled women from the age of twelve years old to decide to terminate their pregnancies before twelve weeks gestation without permission of anybody else. Since February 1997 almost 160 000 terminations of pregnancy have been carried out in South Africa. Little research has been conducted to explore and describe the effect of the termination of pregnancies on women Two aims were formulated for the research project described in this article: (1) the exploration and description of the women’s experience of terminating a pregnancy, and (2) the description of counselling guidelines for caring professionals to assist these women. Participants were included in the sample through purposive sampling. Phenomenological interviews were conducted individually. Data were analysed by means of Tesch’s descriptive approach. Counselling guidelines for educational psychologists and other caring professionals to empower the involved were being logically inferred from the results of the interviews. Measures to ensure trustworthiness have been applied in the research and ethical measures have been strictly adhered to during the research. One central theme was identified from the results of the interviews and naïve sketches, namely women’s experiences of a negative relationship with themselves and other persons as well as their focus on their terminated pregnancies.

scholarly journals The variety of women's experiences as servants in England (1548–1649): evidence from church court depositions

2018 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charmian Mansell
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Early Modern ◽  
Life Stories ◽  
Early Modern England ◽  
Individual Life ◽  
Women’S Experiences ◽  
Women's Experiences ◽  
Working Lives ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Women's Experience

AbstractThis article demonstrates, using evidence from church court depositions, that women's experience of service in early modern England was more varied than scholarship suggests. Moving beyond its conception as a life-cycle annual occupation, the article situates service within individual life-stories. It argues firstly, that service extended across the whole of women's working lives and secondly, that employment arrangements took a wide range of forms. Service for women is shown to have been flexible, varied and contingent, employing a diversity of individuals under a variety of different employment agreements.

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