Feminism and Firearms: Gun Ownership, Gun Carrying, and Women’s Empowerment

2021 ◽  
pp. 073112142110286
Author(s):  
Margaret S. Kelley

In this article, I use the 2018 Guns in American Life Survey (GALS) to investigate the relationship between feminist identity, gun ownership, gun carrying, and women’s empowerment. Notably, while identifying as a feminist lessens the likelihood that a woman will own a gun, of women who own handguns, feminists are more likely to carry their guns all or most of the time. Past victimization is associated with ownership and carrying, confirming genuine concern by women about their safety. Finally, findings reveal that women are more empowered by guns than are men and the relationship is moderated by age. Results are discussed in light of the current American gun culture focused on self-defense and a carry mindset that some women develop as feminist culture in action.

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (14) ◽  
pp. 1682-1688 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jocelyn A. Hollander ◽  
C. J. Pascoe

Brush and Miller have provided an astute critique of “gender-transformative” antiviolence programming, encouraging us to take more seriously the effects of history, gender, and social structure. In this commentary, we extend their analysis in four directions by highlighting the everydayness of gendered violence, the relationship between masculinity and social legibility, the seductive rewards of masculine conformity, and the way norms are enforced through nets of accountability. We elaborate on the model provided by women’s empowerment self-defense training to suggest a potential way forward for these programs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kursat Cinar ◽  
Meral Ugur-Cinar

AbstractThis article examines the relationship between urbanization and women's empowerment through the Turkish case. The article first tests statistically the overall impact of urbanization on women's empowerment by tapping into educational, economic, and political indicators at the province level. The results yield a positive relationship between urbanization and women's empowerment. We argue that these empowerment indicators demonstrate the necessary conditions of women's empowerment, yet whether these are sufficient for women to feel empowered needs to be further tested. To do so, the article utilizes an extensive original survey of 334 well-educated urban women in 43 out of 81 provinces of Turkey to examine the extent to which the results found in the quantitative section are paralleled by the actual experiences of women. The survey analysis reveals prospects and obstacles that well-educated women face in old and new urban centers. This nonrandom, purposive sample of seemingly empowered urban women shows that the barriers faced by these women would easily multiply when lower strata of society are reached. The Turkish case demonstrates that societal transformations such as urbanization have an imprint on the fates of women, yet further women's empowerment needs collective action at the political, legal, and societal levels.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-154
Author(s):  
Priniti Panday

This article examines the relationship between women’s empowerment and child well-being in Nepal. Various indicators of women’s empowerment and child well-being are presented and compared across the seven provinces in the country. A strong positive relationship between the two is established. In fact, women’s empowerment appears to have a stronger relationship to children’s well-being than wealth indicators.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calistus Wilunda ◽  
Milkah Wanjohi ◽  
Risa Takahashi ◽  
Elizabeth Kimani-Murage ◽  
Antonina Mutoro

Abstract The relationship between different dimensions of women's empowerment and childhood anaemia in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is unclear. We assessed the associations between women’s empowerment and anaemia and haemoglobin (Hb) concentration among children using data from 72,032 women and their singleton children aged 6-59 months from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 2006 and 2019 in 31 SSA countries. Of the included children, 65.8% were anaemic and the mean Hb concentration was 102.3 g/dl (SD 16.1). The odds of anaemia in children reduced with increasing empowerment in the dimensions of attitude towards violence [quintile (Q1) vs. Q5, OR 0.80; 95% CI 0.71–0.89, Ptrend <0.001], decision making (Q1 vs. Q5, OR 0.68; 95% CI 0.59–0.79, Ptrend <0.001), education (Q1 vs. Q5, OR 0.80; 95% CI 0.72–0.89, Ptrend <0.001), and social independence (Q1 vs. Q5, OR 0.89; 95% CI 0.79–1.00, Ptrend <0.015). Similarly, children’s mean Hb concentration increased with increasing women’s empowerment in all the above dimensions. In conclusion, women empowerment was associated with reduced odds of anaemia and higher Hb concentration in children. Promotion of women's empowerment may reduce the burden of childhood anaemia in SSA.


2017 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 713-743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ndola Prata ◽  
Ashley Fraser ◽  
Megan J. Huchko ◽  
Jessica D. Gipson ◽  
Mellissa Withers ◽  
...  

SummaryThis paper reviews the literature examining the relationship between women’s empowerment and contraceptive use, unmet need for contraception and related family planning topics in developing countries. Searches were conducted using PubMed, Popline and Web of Science search engines in May 2013 to examine literature published between January 1990 and December 2012. Among the 46 articles included in the review, the majority were conducted in South Asia (n=24). Household decision-making (n=21) and mobility (n=17) were the most commonly examined domains of women’s empowerment. Findings show that the relationship between empowerment and family planning is complex, with mixed positive and null associations. Consistently positive associations between empowerment and family planning outcomes were found for most family planning outcomes but those investigations represented fewer than two-fifths of the analyses. Current use of contraception was the most commonly studied family planning outcome, examined in more than half the analyses, but reviewed articles showed inconsistent findings. This review provides the first critical synthesis of the literature and assesses existing evidence between women’s empowerment and family planning use.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. e0250014
Author(s):  
Michael Nnachebe Onah ◽  
Sue Horton ◽  
John Hoddinott

This paper draws on data from five sub-Sahara African countries; Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia, and Mozambique consisting of 10,041 married women who were cohabitating with a male spouse. The study aim was to investigate the relationship between women’s empowerment and women’s dietary diversity and consumption of different food items. Women’s empowerment was measured using the indicators in the five domains of Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture index (WEAI) and women’s dietary diversity and food consumption was examined using the women’s dietary diversity score (WDDS) measure. OLS and LPM regressions were used and analyses were confirmed using marginal effects from Poisson and logistic regressions. Results suggest that three out of the 10 WEAI indicators of empowerment showed different magnitude and direction in significant associations with improved WDDS and varied associations were found in three out of the five countries examined. In addition, the three significant empowerment indicators were associated with the consumption of different food groups in three out of the five countries examined suggesting that diverse food groups account for the association between the WEAI and WDDS. Improved autonomy, and input in production were associated with improved likelihoods of consumption of dairy products, and fruits and vegetables including vitamin A-rich produce. Empowerment in public speaking was associated with improved consumption of other fruits and vegetables including vitamin A-rich produce. The varied nature of empowerment indicators towards improving women’s dietary diversity and food consumption suggests that different empowerment strategies might confer different benefits towards the consumption of different food groups. Further, findings imply that interventions that seek to empower women should tailor their strategies on existing contextual factors that impact on women


2018 ◽  
pp. 194-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sohela Nazneen

In this paper, I investigate how binary framings of women’s identity have influenced struggles for women’s rights and the interpretations of the relationship between Islam and women’s empowerment in Bangladesh. These binary framings position women at opposite ends by diving them between ‘Muslim/religious/ moral/ authentic/ traditional’ or ‘Bengali/secular/ immoral/ Westernized/ modern’.  I trace the particular genealogies of these binary constructs which emerged during specific historical junctures and are influenced by the shifts in regional in international politics. Drawing on primary research with women in religious political parties and women’s movement actors and newspaper reports, I provide an account of how binary framings have been used by the Islamist actors and the counter framings used by the feminists to make claims over the state. I show how these framings have influenced the politics of representation of gender equality concerns, and and reflect on what this means for possibilities of women’s empowerment and strategies for resistance


Author(s):  
Laura K. Merrell ◽  
Sarah R. Blackstone

Improving maternal outcomes and reducing pregnancy morbidity and mortality are critical public health goals. The provision of quality antenatal care (ANC) is one method of doing so. Increasing women’s empowerment is associated with positive women’s health outcomes, including the adequate timing and amount of ANC use. However, little is known about the relationship between women’s empowerment and quality ANC care. Despite a history of political instability, low women’s equality and poor maternal health, the Republic of Guinea has committed to improving the status of women and access to health. However, the 2014 Ebola outbreak may have had a negative impact on achieving these goals. This study sought to examine factors in the relationship between women’s empowerment and the receipt of quality ANC (indicated by the number of health components) within the context of the Ebola outbreak. This study conducted multiple logistic regressions examining associations between covariates and the number of ANC components received using data from the 2012 and 2018 Guinea Demographic Health Surveys. Several aspects of women’s empowerment (healthcare decision-making, literacy/access to magazines, monogamous relationship status, contraceptive use, socio-economic status/employment) were significantly linked with the receipt of a greater number of ANC components, highlighting the importance of women’s empowerment in accessing quality maternity care.


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