12. Gender

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Chambers
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Sex Equality ◽  
And Gender

This chapter examines the main themes of feminism and the role that feminism plays in political theory. Much progress has been made towards sex equality, but there is still a long way to go. The chapter first considers the three theses that all feminists support, in one form or another: the entrenchment of gender, the existence of patriarchy, and the need for change. It then discusses the role of family life, the distinction between sex and gender, feminism and liberalism, and the relevance of sex and violence to feminism. A case study on pornography is presented, along with Key Thinkers boxes featuring Andrea Dworkin and Catharine A. MacKinnon.

Populist Discourse and Desire for Social Justice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erzsébet Barát
Keyword(s):  
Gender Ideology ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
The People ◽  
Right Wing Populism ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Empty Signifier

This chapter reviews research on populism by describing the role of discourse in articulating a “we” as an empty signifier. The emergence of “gender-ideology” discourse is presented as key to contemporary forms of exclusionary populism, as demonstrated in a case study of Hungary’s recent modification of the national register to prevent transgender individuals from retroactively changing their “sex at birth” status. The chapter argues that the discrediting of gender as an ideology mobilizes not only exclusionary right-wing populism but also feminisms asserting binary distinctions of a biologized sex and gender. While the government defends “us, the Hungarian people” against a “gender” that is not material but pure propaganda, self-identified progressive feminists dismiss trans-politics for focusing on identity instead of political economy. Both groups thus use “gender ideology” to mobilize an exclusionary rhetoric of hate. The chapter proposes that “us, the people” may instead be used to motivate a radical left populism organized around a “feminist people” of flexible inclusivity.

scholarly journals The feminist critique

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-161
Author(s):  
Fernanda Neubauer ◽  
Michael J. Schaefer
Keyword(s):  
Brazilian Amazon ◽  
Individual Identity ◽  
Feminist Critique ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Social Lives ◽  
The Past ◽  
Marajó Island ◽  
And Gender

We discuss the important role of the feminist critique in bringing awareness to gender, childhood, and identity research, and in giving voice to the perspectives of underrepresented groups. As a case study of ancient social lives and gender, we discuss a range of Marajoara identity markers interpreted through the study of ceramic tangas (female pubic coverings) from Marajó Island in the Brazilian Amazon (A.D. 400-1400). There, tangas were made and used by women as a material representation of social position, gender, and individual identity. We argue that identity constitutes a fundamentally important aspect of archaeological research, and that the strongest case studies in identity are those that encompass a variety of gendered inferences to understand social lives of the past.

Reverse tomboy: (Re)definitions of gender fluidity through sensory engagement with material culture

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 149-170
Author(s):  
Charlie Athill
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Subject Position ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Sensory Ethnography ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Cross Dressing ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Embodied Practice

This narrative case study explores how material culture, in the form of dress, grooming and accessories, is utilized to establish a gender-fluid presentation of the self. It focuses on Tim Mustoe, a 42-year-old heterosexual creative living and working in London, whose embodied practice contributes to the problematization of gender normativity through a disruption of culturally established links between appearance, gender and sex. The study considers how a particular form of non-spectacular cross dressing is used to integrate into a work environment and also operate within a non-queer social environment. The study explores the affective power of material culture in the reification of subject position and as a means of resilience and empowerment through everyday practice and also considers its significance on a social, intersubjective level. The methodology used for this case draws on sensory ethnography and includes a queer reflexive turn to consider parallels and contrasts between my own and Tim’s experience and practice. Conceptualizations of subjectivity, sex, gender are considered in relation to those on material culture, and the study draws on scholarship related to cross-dressing in the United Kingdom. Tim identifies as a man, as do I; however, his embodied practice and gender identification proffer a particular response to culturally embedded norms relating to the binaries of sex and gender. Therefore, in relation to male femininity, I propose the notion of feminizing as an amendment to the concept of femaling, which assumes the identification with or transition to a cisgender position. This study explores the phenomenology of dress as an expressive tool of gratification and as a means of integration for which the imperatives of professionalism, age and respectability are key factors.

Ageing and gender

2020 ◽  
pp. 41-68
Author(s):  
Chris Gilleard ◽  
Paul Higgs
Keyword(s):  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Imaginary ◽  
Financial Assets ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Bonding Capital

This chapter begins by considering the distinction between sex and gender. The latter constitutes the source of the social division between men and women considered as social beings. It serves as both a reflection of division and inequality and a source of difference and identity. The chapter then explores the framing of this division in terms of patriarchy and the inequalities that are organised by and structured within the relations of work and of social reproduction. It focuses next upon the consequences of such a division, first in terms of both financial assets and resources and then in terms of social relational capital, drawing upon Putnam’s distinction between bridging and bonding capital. It then considers other sources of difference that become more salient in later life, in terms of health illness and longevity. The chapter ends with the role of gender in representing later life, and the role of later life in representing gender. It concludes by distinguishing between gender as a structure shaping third age culture, and gender as a constituent in the social imaginary of the fourth age.

scholarly journals Intersectional observations of the Human Brain Project’s approach to sex and gender

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-144
Author(s):  
B. Tyr Fothergill ◽  
William Knight ◽  
Bernd Carsten Stahl ◽  
Inga Ulnicane
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Single Case ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Discursive Space ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
And Gender

Purpose This paper aims to critically assess approaches to sex and gender in the Human Brain Project (HBP) as a large information and communication technology (ICT) project case study using intersectionality. Design/methodology/approach The strategy of the HBP is contextualised within the wider context of the representation of women in ICT, and critically reflected upon from an intersectional standpoint. Findings The policy underpinning the approach deployed by the HBP in response to these issues parallels Horizon 2020 wording and emphasises economic outcomes, productivity and value, which aligns with other “equality” initiatives influenced by neoliberalised versions of feminism. Research limitations/implications Limitations include focussing on a single case study, the authors being funded as part of the Ethics and Society Subproject of the HBP, and the limited temporal period under consideration. Social implications The frameworks underpinning the HBP approach to sex and gender issues present risks with regard to the further entrenchment of present disparities in the ICT sector, may fail to acknowledge systemic inequalities and biases and ignore the importance of intersectionality. Shortcomings of the approach employed by the HBP up to March, 2018 included aspects of each of these risks, and replicated problematic understandings of sex, gender and diversity. Originality/value This paper is the first to use an intersectional approach to issues of sex and gender in the context of large-scale ICT research. Its value lies in raising awareness, opening a discursive space and presenting opportunities to consider and reflect upon potential, contextualised intersectional solutions to such issues.

scholarly journals Sex and Gender Disparities in Melanoma

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 1819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Bellenghi ◽  
Rossella Puglisi ◽  
Giada Pontecorvi ◽  
Alessandra De Feo ◽  
Alessandra Carè ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
X Chromosome ◽  
Immune Surveillance ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
System A ◽  
Total Incidence ◽  
Sex Disparities ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Anatomic Localization

Worldwide, the total incidence of cutaneous melanoma is higher in men than in women, with some differences related to ethnicity and age and, above all, sex and gender. Differences exist in respect to the anatomic localization of melanoma, in that it is more frequent on the trunk in men and on the lower limbs in women. A debated issue is if—and to what extent—melanoma development can be attributed to gender-specific behaviors or to biologically intrinsic differences. In the search for factors responsible for the divergences, a pivotal role of sex hormones has been observed, although conflicting results indicate the involvement of other mechanisms. The presence on the X chromosome of numerous miRNAs and coding genes playing immunological roles represents another important factor, whose relevance can be even increased by the incomplete X chromosome random inactivation. Considering the known advantages of the female immune system, a different cancer immune surveillance efficacy was suggested to explain some sex disparities. Indeed, the complexity of this picture emerged when the recently developed immunotherapies unexpectedly showed better improvements in men than in women. Altogether, these data support the necessity of further studies, which consider enrolling a balanced number of men and women in clinical trials to better understand the differences and obtain actual gender-equitable healthcare.

scholarly journals Losing sight of women's rights: the unregulated introduction of gender self-identification as a case study of policy capture in Scotland

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 262-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kath Murray ◽  
Lucy Hunter Blackburn
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Public Consultation ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Intense Debate ◽  
Roll Out

Within the last two years, respective proposals by the Scottish and UK Governments to reform the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA) to allow people to change their legal sex based only on making a legally-registered self-declaration have sparked an intense debate on how sex and gender identity should be defined in law and policy. This paper examines how gender self-identification had in fact become a feature of Scottish policy-making and practice, long before public consultation on GRA reform began. The analysis is structured as two case-studies that examine firstly, policy development on the census in relation to the ‘sex’ question, and second, Scottish Prison Service policy on transgender prisoners. The analysis shows that the unregulated roll-out of gender self-identification in Scotland has taken place with weak or non-existent scrutiny and a lack of due process, and that this relates to a process of policy capture, whereby decision-making on sex and gender identity issues has been directed towards the interests of a specific interest group, without due regard for other affected groups or the wider population. The paper raises questions about the adequacy of institutional safeguards against well-organised and highly purposeful lobbying, particularly where any groups detrimentally affected do not have effective representation.

The politics of (in)visibility displays: Ultra-Orthodox women manoeuvring within and between visibility regimes

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (12) ◽  
pp. 1609-1631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Varda Wasserman ◽  
Michal Frenkel
Keyword(s):  
Gender Studies ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
The Other ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Jewish Women ◽  
Matrix Of Domination ◽  
And Gender

How does the multiplicity of surveilling gazes affect the experience of employees subjected to a matrix of domination in organisations? Building on a case study of ultra-religious Jewish women in Israeli high-tech organisations, the article demonstrates how the intersectionality of gender and religiosity exposed them to a matrix of contradicting visibility regimes – managerial, peers, and religious community. By displaying their compliance with each visibility regime, they were constructed as hyper-subjugated employees, but simultaneously were able to use (in)visibility as a resource. Specifically, by manoeuvring between the various gazes and playing one visibility regime against the other, they challenged some of the organisational and religious norms that served to marginalise them, yet upheld their status as worthy members of both institutions. Juxtaposing theoretical insights from organisational surveillance and gender studies, the article reveals the role of multiple surveilling gazes in both the reproduction of minorities’ marginalisation, and their ability to mobilise it to maintain their collective identities.

‘I wanted to see if you are one of us’: The role of identity in the migration experience, a case study of Latin Americans in Australia

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-98
Author(s):  
Catherine Gomes ◽  
Glenda Mejía
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Economic Class ◽  
Migration Experience ◽  
Education Levels ◽  
Sources Of Support ◽  
And Gender ◽  
New Community

The literature on transnational migrations tells us that new migrants often look for points of similarity and familiarity with people in destination countries. Whether they intend to settle permanently or if they are transient and temporary, new migrants whatever their histories (e.g., as forced, lifestyle, economic, worker and study migrants) look to create connections with people in destination countries. These connections allow migrants to feel a sense of belonging through established or new community networks that anchor them in their adopted/host country. Moreover, these connections provide practical benefit in terms of allowing migrants to access sources of support (e.g., emotional) and information that are useful in navigating everyday life in the new country. Often, the connections that migrants make are with fellow migrants who are from the same country of origin or migrants from elsewhere primarily because of their shared migration experience. This shared migration experience though is subject to variables such as socio-economic class, education levels, religious affiliation and gender, or a combination of these, just to name a few. For migrants, connecting with people who they identify and recognize as fellow migrant actors, in other words, is a common, if not, instinctual occurrence for migrant belonging-making. While this article acknowledges the significance of the identity-migrant nexus by referring to two separate research projects conducted in Australia involving Latin American participants as a case study, it observes that migrants may also seek out those who they perceive to be fellow co-national/co-ethnic migrants through conventional or perceived visual and cultural markers.

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