scholarly journals Gender Transgression as Heresy: The Trial of Joan of Arc

2008 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Grigat ◽  
Gregory Carrier

Joan of Arc has exercised a hold on the imagination, both medieval and modern, far exceeding her limited military achievements. It is perhaps for this reason that the trial of Joan on charges of heresy, culminating in her conviction and execution, is typically interpreted in a cynical light. The primary theme of the literature is that the she was brought to trial and convicted for challenging the institutionalized power of state and church. The issue of gender transgression, which is repeated throughout the transcripts of Joan’s trial, is either ignored or dismissed as irrelevant. It is typical of the medieval narrative that belief systems no longer accepted today are not taken seriously, and this is done through reducing them to familiar categories. This paper aims to take the trial of Joan of Arc seriously by arguing that Joan really was a heretic because she was different from orthodox Christians in that she transgressed traditional gender roles. This issue played a major role in Joan’s trial and one can scarcely read two paragraphs of the record without issues of gender transgression being raised and denounced. Furthermore, gender transgression was explicitly identified as amounting to heresy, and theological arguments were given by learned experts to justify this connection. This is not to deny that Joan was a heretic on other grounds; her obstinate refusal to submit herself to the Church militant and insistence on her ability to interpret her own revelations are crucial issues. Likewise, we do not intend to deny the political aspect of her trial, but rather to argue that the defense and reinforcement of traditional authority structures cannot be demarcated from the issue of heresy and gender transgression.

Author(s):  
Talia Gukert

This paper examines the significance of post-apocalyptic narratives as a means of expressing deep-seated anxieties about colonialism, capitalism, and cultural erasure in Rebecca Roanhorse’s Trail of Lightning. By viewing the novel through an ecofeminist lens, I seek to illuminate and explain the political changes Roanhorse’s post-apocalyptic world, and how this new environment allows for the transformation of social and gender structures of power. The theory of ecofeminism relies upon the belief that both women and nature are equally compromised and exploited by the patriarchy, constrained by the masculine forces of colonialization and capitalism. By situating her novel in a post-apocalyptic environment, Roanhorse implies that just as the earth has asserted its power over the effects of unrestricted capitalism through the consequences of global warming, Indigenous women have similarly taken back their powers of autonomy, liberating themselves from traditional gender roles. This paper shows how the connection between women and nature is most evident in the novel’s female protagonist, Maggie, who has been able to aggressively deviate from traditional gender norms and expectations due to the apocalypse. Through this complete reversal of common gender tropes in post-apocalyptic literature, Roanhorse demonstrates that the apocalypse has proven to be instrumental in freeing women from the constraints of gender roles, advocating the ecofeminist view that cooperation between women and nature is necessary for the liberation of both.


2020 ◽  
pp. 121-148
Author(s):  
Tony Tian-Ren Lin

The demands of Prosperity Gospel Pentecostalism on the family and gender roles are many. The home is a space where the paradox of Prosperity Gospel Pentecostalism is lived out daily. In traditional Christianity, the family is supposed to be a small-scale replica of the church, where there is a father who serves as the priest, a mother who is his assistant, and a congregation, represented by children who need instruction and guidance. This chapter shows how Prosperity Gospel Pentecostalism shapes family dynamics and the logic they use to bridge their family reality to the religious ideal.


Author(s):  
Brian J. Willoughby ◽  
Spencer L. James

This chapter provides an overview of emerging adults’ views on gender and gender roles. The authors describe their findings regarding who emerging adults believe benefits more from marriage, men or women. Little consensus seemed to exist regarding how emerging adults viewed the connection between gender and marriage; the authors propose that this is a reflection of our current culture, which continues to move toward gender neutrality and the dismissal of gender differences. The authors also explore how emerging adults believe gender roles will play out in their own marriages. A specific paradox whereby emerging adults aspire to an egalitarian role balance yet tend to end up in traditional gender roles is discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-81
Author(s):  
Hilde Rustad

Abstract This article examines issues related to age and gender within the European contact improvisation community (ECIC). In particular, my research interest is to find out more about experiences related to values in the dance genre of contact improvisation (CI), and how they relate to the values associated with democracy understood to be embedded in CI. From 2014 to 2017, I conducted interviews with seven persons who are CI dancers and teachers from different European countries. The interview material shows that a double set of values is communicated in the ECIC: one that is taught, spoken, written and understood to be holding on to and embodying ’the social ideologies of the early ’70s which rejected traditional gender roles and social hierarchies’ (Novack, 1990, 11) and a second set in which traditional gender roles and social hierarchies are active and experienced by European CI dancer-teachers and dancers when participating in CI events.


2019 ◽  
pp. 139-167
Author(s):  
Nicole Bourbonnais

This chapter uses the Jamaican Garveyite weekly New Negro Voice to examine gender dynamics and gender politics in the Harmony Division of the Universal Negro Improvement Association in the early 1940s. While the UNIA promoted patriarchal structure and binary gender roles, the pages of the New Negro Voice and the meetings of the Harmony Division also provided space for alternative visions of gender roles and critiques of women’s subordination by both female and male Garveyites who valued women’s broader activities outside the home, argued that women’s full equality was pivotal to the future of the race, and praised Jamaican women’s political leadership. Similarly, alongside images of the nurturing, caretaking “race mother” or patriarchal “race man,” the sources highlight other means of status-claiming within the organization that were more gender-neutral, based on a member’s militarism, sense of justice, their level of commitment to the organization, etc. These principles allowed women like Maymie L.T. de Mena Aiken to exercise considerable authority at Liberty Hall and beyond. The complexity of these dynamics are explored in an examination of the debate over birth control, which split the leadership of the Harmony Division among rigid gender lines and tested the flexibility of Garvey’s ideology.


2020 ◽  
pp. 83-108
Author(s):  
Michelson and

Prejudice against transgender people is often linked to traditional or even toxic conceptualizations of gender and gender identity and particularly to norms and expression of masculinity. Attitudes toward transgender people and rights are deeply divided by gender, with lower levels of support among men, and also by attitudes about traditional gender roles. Two experiments provide evidence that among men, threats to masculinity generate greater opposition to transgender people and rights while reassurances of masculinity generate greater support, particularly for support of transgender military service. Consistent with expectations, women who are exposed to information threatening or reassuring them of their femininity tend not to be affected.


2019 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-235
Author(s):  
Annette Haußmann ◽  
Jonathan Spanos

AbstractThe article reflects on the interdependence of the political and ecclesial sphere and the influence of Protestant women in the first two decades after 1945. Two different biographies of women from Bavaria with active influence in politics and church and both members of the CSU, Elisabeth Nägelsbach (member of the Landtag) and Ingeborg Geisendörfer (member of the Bundestag), are taken into account concerning their self-understanding, their agenda setting and their rhetoric self-presentation. We argue, that the spheres of politics and church are interdependent and gender construction plays an important role. Furthermore, the developments in the ecclesial sphere took much longer and emancipation of women was implemented more hesitantly than in the political system. Also, theological arguments were crucial for this delay. The article suggests to consider a differentiated and context-sensible approach to understand the relationship between religious denomination and emancipation as well as the role of political conservative female politicians with an association to the church in the development of gender equalization.


1997 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane N. Lye ◽  
Ingrid Waldron

This study investigates four hypotheses concerning relationships between values or beliefs and attitudes toward cohabitation, family and gender roles. These are the Social Concerns Hypothesis, the Political Ideology Hypothesis, the Higher Order Needs Hypothesis, and the Consumerism Hypothesis. Each hypothesis has been tested, using data from several nationally representative subsamples of white high school seniors. As predicted by the Social Concerns Hypothesis, students with more social concerns had more favorable attitudes toward gender equality and nontraditional gender roles, particularly among males. This finding suggests that, for males, concern for fairness and the well-being of others may be an important motive for support for gender equality and acceptance of nontraditional gender roles. As predicted by the Political Ideology Hypothesis, conservative political beliefs were associated with traditional attitudes toward cohabitation, family, and gender roles. In contrast, our findings provide only weak support for the Higher Order Needs Hypothesis, and our findings suggest that the Consumerism Hypothesis should be reformulated.


2021 ◽  
pp. 146879412098408
Author(s):  
Kate Haddow

This article addresses the complexities of being a female ethnographer studying an all-male group, as well as the advantages and the effects this had on the researcher. It draws on research undertaken for a doctoral research project, employing ethnography and semi-structured interviews to explore ‘hidden’ food insecurity in the town of Middlesbrough, with predominantly male participants. The existing literature surrounding research and gender addresses the problems associated with gender differences in the field such as fitting in, sexualisation and sexist treatment and confinement to traditional gender roles. This research highlighted many problems associated with being a female ethnographer but that ultimately gender was beneficial in gaining and maintaining access to the field. It concludes by arguing for academia to develop the notion of ‘hidden ethnography’, alongside a recognition that researchers should be supported emotionally in problems they face in the field.


Author(s):  
Zainab Alam

Abstract This paper explores the protest claims of Pakistani women against the everyday oppression of traditional gender roles and the complex backlash they provoke as an instance of violence against women in politics. Taking the annual Aurat March (Women’s March) as a focal point, I analyze the provocative placards and slogans that have gone viral in both traditional and digital media and investigate the misogynistic counter attacks launched by conservatives, men’s rights advocates, and anti-feminists. Contesting narrow definitions of the political in mainstream research, I argue that Aurat March protesters and activists are women in politics, and that counter-discourses designed to delegitimize the protest and the women’s issues it represents, constitute a mode of discursive violence that should be included in scholarly and activist discussions of violence against women in politics.


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