scholarly journals ‘Having It All’? : Pre-Teen Girls Negotiate Successful Femininity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sophie Cossens
Keyword(s):  
Young Women ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Girl Power ◽  
Future Aspirations ◽  
Employment Success ◽  
Narrow Scope ◽  
Feminist Poststructuralist ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Traditional Femininity

<p>Depictions of girls and young women as powerful, unconstrained and outshining boys and men characterise the modern postfeminist cultural climate and imbue femininity with wide reaching success. However, research into postfeminist discourse reveals a far more complicated picture than this straightforward ode to success. Previously the focus has been on successful femininity within education or employment, or on the future aspirations of girls and young women. Yet considering the grandiose postfeminist claims of successful femininity it is important to examine specifically what success means to those who are expected to hold it. The current research has done so from the perspective of ethnically diverse pre-adolescent girls, addressing the lack of research with this age group and with girls from minority ethnic backgrounds. Incorporating the latter enabled the thesis to examine how ethnic identities may intersect with understandings of successful femininity. Focus groups and photo-narrative books were used to explore the ways 32 girls between 11- and 13-years old made sense of successful girl/womanhood, including media representations of successful femininity. Participants were recruited from two urban schools within New Zealand. The study used a feminist poststructuralist framework and employed thematic and Foucauldian discourse analysis to analyse the data. Two overarching themes were identified: ‘Success as Individual Qualities’ and ‘Spheres of Success.’ Across these themes the girls’ drew heavily on postfeminist and neoliberal discourses and constructed success through the competing and contradictory discourses of girl power and traditional femininity. Successful femininity was constructed as a highly individualised endeavour, predicated on the individual qualities of hard work, constant striving towards goals and overcoming adversity. These qualities were required to accomplishing success within three mandatory spheres of success; education, employment and motherhood. The successful female subject was expected to move linearly through these three spheres, engaging in higher education to earn a successful career in order to financially sustain motherhood. Discussions of employment success oscillated between constructions of unbounded possibility for young women in the workforce and recognition of the barriers facing young women and especially Māori women who work. Motherhood, described as the apex of successful femininity, was also shot through with complexity. The girls constructed a narrow scope for success through motherhood: those who had children without planning, had many children or who gave birth while young or single were positioned outside of this successfulness. The ultimate form of successful femininity required a delicate balancing of the three spheres of success in order for women to achieve the contradictory and unobtainable task of ‘having it all.’ Findings demonstrate girls’ lack of access to a language with which to articulate oppression and inequality and emphasise the problematic entanglement of ‘new’ discourses of equality, empowerment and success with the enduring presence of powerful and regulatory traditional discourses of femininity.</p>

scholarly journals ‘Having It All’? : Pre-Teen Girls Negotiate Successful Femininity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sophie Cossens
Keyword(s):  
Young Women ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Girl Power ◽  
Future Aspirations ◽  
Employment Success ◽  
Narrow Scope ◽  
Feminist Poststructuralist ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Traditional Femininity

<p>Depictions of girls and young women as powerful, unconstrained and outshining boys and men characterise the modern postfeminist cultural climate and imbue femininity with wide reaching success. However, research into postfeminist discourse reveals a far more complicated picture than this straightforward ode to success. Previously the focus has been on successful femininity within education or employment, or on the future aspirations of girls and young women. Yet considering the grandiose postfeminist claims of successful femininity it is important to examine specifically what success means to those who are expected to hold it. The current research has done so from the perspective of ethnically diverse pre-adolescent girls, addressing the lack of research with this age group and with girls from minority ethnic backgrounds. Incorporating the latter enabled the thesis to examine how ethnic identities may intersect with understandings of successful femininity. Focus groups and photo-narrative books were used to explore the ways 32 girls between 11- and 13-years old made sense of successful girl/womanhood, including media representations of successful femininity. Participants were recruited from two urban schools within New Zealand. The study used a feminist poststructuralist framework and employed thematic and Foucauldian discourse analysis to analyse the data. Two overarching themes were identified: ‘Success as Individual Qualities’ and ‘Spheres of Success.’ Across these themes the girls’ drew heavily on postfeminist and neoliberal discourses and constructed success through the competing and contradictory discourses of girl power and traditional femininity. Successful femininity was constructed as a highly individualised endeavour, predicated on the individual qualities of hard work, constant striving towards goals and overcoming adversity. These qualities were required to accomplishing success within three mandatory spheres of success; education, employment and motherhood. The successful female subject was expected to move linearly through these three spheres, engaging in higher education to earn a successful career in order to financially sustain motherhood. Discussions of employment success oscillated between constructions of unbounded possibility for young women in the workforce and recognition of the barriers facing young women and especially Māori women who work. Motherhood, described as the apex of successful femininity, was also shot through with complexity. The girls constructed a narrow scope for success through motherhood: those who had children without planning, had many children or who gave birth while young or single were positioned outside of this successfulness. The ultimate form of successful femininity required a delicate balancing of the three spheres of success in order for women to achieve the contradictory and unobtainable task of ‘having it all.’ Findings demonstrate girls’ lack of access to a language with which to articulate oppression and inequality and emphasise the problematic entanglement of ‘new’ discourses of equality, empowerment and success with the enduring presence of powerful and regulatory traditional discourses of femininity.</p>

scholarly journals Personal, Powerful, Political

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. vii-xv
Author(s):  
Catherine Vanner ◽  
Anuradha Dugal
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Role Model ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Collaborative Spaces ◽  
The World ◽  
The Individual

“Today I met my role model,” tweeted climate change activist Greta Thunberg on 25 February 2020, captioning a picture of herself with girls’ education activist Malala Yousafzai, who also tweeted the picture, proclaiming that Greta was “the only friend I would skip school for.” The proclamations of mutual admiration illustrate a form of solidarity between the two most famous girl activists, who are often pointed to as examples of the power of the individual girl activist in spite of their intentionally collective approaches that connect young activists and civil society organizations around the world. These girl activists have garnered worldwide attention for their causes but have also been subject to problematic media representations that elevate voices of privilege and/or focus on girl activists as exceptional individuals (Gordon and Taft 2010; Hesford 2014), often obscuring the movements behind them. For this reason, this special issue explores activism networks by, for, and with girls and young women, examining and emphasizing girls’ activism in collective and collaborative spaces.

Glosa do Wyroku Trybunału Konstytucyjnego z dnia 14 grudnia 2017 r., sygn. akt K 17/14

2021 ◽  
Vol 1(162) ◽  
pp. 179-191
Author(s):  
Justyna Karaźniewicz
Keyword(s):  
Narrow Scope ◽  
Constitutional Tribunal ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right ◽  
Laws And Regulations

In the commented judgment, the Constitutional Tribunal stated that the provisions of laws and regulations providing for the right of officers of many services to search a person or carry out a personal inspection are inconsistent with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. The inappropriate division of regulations between laws and sub-statutory acts, violating the constitutional requirement of specifying the principles and procedure of limiting the rights and freedoms of the individual at the level of a law, was rightly questioned. The Tribunal also referred to the obligation to ensure effective mechanisms of protection of individuals against unjustified interference with their rights through the introduction of effective measures of appeal against undertaken actions. Due to the narrow scope of the Ombudsman’s request initiating proceedings before the Tribunal, the consideration was limited only to certain aspects of searches and personal inspection. However, valuable, albeit fragmentary, references to the essence of these activities and their normative shape, desirable from the constitutional perspective, can be found in the judgement.

Alumni of National Civic Service: Comparing the experience of at-risk and mainstream volunteers

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 1027-1041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anat Zeira ◽  
Rivka Tuval-Mashiach ◽  
Galit Meir ◽  
Drorit Levy ◽  
Tehila Refaeli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Developmental Stage ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Civic Service ◽  
Youth At Risk ◽  
The Individual

This article describes the perspectives of alumni of National Civic Service (NCS) in Israel on its impact at the individual level. We compared 250 young women who were identified as youth at risk with 295 mainstream volunteers. Overall, the two groups show similar outcomes that are typical to this developmental stage of life. Yet youth at risk experience more difficulties. While NCS aims at increasing equality between groups, it seems that it is not enough to bridge the gaps between the groups. The findings imply a need for a continued intervention to accompany the at-risk alumni that would leverage the progress made during the NCS period.

scholarly journals A BOOK REVIEW: FEMINISM ANDNERSUS FEMINITY OF MODERN WOMEN

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 189
Author(s):  
B. Retang Wohangara
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Pop Culture ◽  
Politics Of Representation ◽  
Girl Power ◽  
Young Girls ◽  
And Control

One important theme attached to pop culture is the politics of representation and sub-cultural identity. The pop singer Madonna and then the Spice Girls are frequently regarded as the representation of modern women offering a different face of feminism ideology. Successfully entering the market competition, Madonna, through her cry of 'material girl', characterizes herself as an independent woman in the still dominating patriarchal world while challenging the burden of morality placed on the shoulders of women. She asks young women to rebel against male-centred traditions and unashamedly exposes her sensuality as a source of power and even domination, or in short celebrating 'being women'. The flag of Girl Power is also waved by the 1990'sBritish female singers, the Spice Girls, who call young girls to "be strong, be brave, be loud and control your own destiny. Believe that your self can do anything you want to do and be confident. We have to be independent, but it does not mean that you don't need a boy" (Swastika 2004: 66).

Red Threads and Amulets: Women’s ‘Unofficial’ Life in the Family

2021 ◽  
pp. 208-251
Author(s):  
Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz
Keyword(s):  
Young Women ◽  
Jewish Education ◽  
Shape Change ◽  
Western World ◽  
Jewish Literature ◽  
The Family ◽  
Women's Lives ◽  
Religious Lives ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Everyday Context

This chapter explores unofficial domestic customs. The least visible aspect of Jewish women's lives is the individual customs or practices they perform in a domestic or everyday context, many learnt from female relatives, and the part these play in their religious lives. Individual practices are often so automatic that women do not reflect on them. In some cases, they receive so little attention from rabbis or in popular Jewish literature that women themselves discount or denigrate them as 'superstitions', even as they practise them. There has been a decline in older practices, which are more likely to be identified as magical or superstitious by women operating partly within a Western worldview, whereas more pietistic practices have increased in number among young women with higher levels of formal Jewish education. Other factors that facilitate and shape change in women's religious lives include developing technology in the Western world, such as the replacement of domestic manufacture by industrial production, leading to the demise of customs associated with these technologies, and the growing possibilities offered by the Internet in spreading knowledge of recently invented or expanded customs. Traditionalist women, though principally Western in their education and thinking, are still inextricably linked to their Jewish identity, which often includes customs and practices for which they might struggle to find a rationale, but which they are committed to observing. These customs provide a fertile field for women to adapt and reinterpret existing practices, and to invent new ones that express their most urgent concerns and aims.

scholarly journals The Heart as a Compass: Preaching Self-worth and Success to Single Young Women in a Nigerian Pentecostal Church

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 307-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliet Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Young Women ◽  
Social Group ◽  
Sense Of Self ◽  
Southeastern Nigeria ◽  
Individual Project ◽  
Self Worth ◽  
The Individual

The quiet city of Calabar in southeastern Nigeria is famed for its burgeoning church scene offering various spiritual services. In this religious marketplace, The Brook Church stands out due to its beautiful building, well-dressed congregation, clever branding, and its ‘unique’ preaching. Focusing on young women’s engagement with The Brook Church, this article builds on recent analyses seeking to understand the attraction of Pentecostalism for this often marginalised and disenfranchised social group. Examining The Brook Church’s life-affirming doctrine of Zoe, in which individual aspirations are realised through careful and timely management of the religious self, the article explores how religious action and rhetoric mould new subjectivities aimed for success. Illustrating how Pentecostal practice gives young women a newfound sense of self-worth and confidence, the article’s emphasis on the individual project suggests we should broaden debates that solely equate young women’s engagement with Pentecostalism with sexuality and marriage opportunities.

scholarly journals Community Influences on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting in Kenya: Norms, Opportunities, and Ethnic Diversity

2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rose Grace Grose ◽  
Sarah R. Hayford ◽  
Yuk Fai Cheong ◽  
Sarah Garver ◽  
Ngianga-Bakwin Kandala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Female Genital Mutilation ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Genital Mutilation ◽  
Contextual Risk ◽  
Community Influences ◽  
Diverse Community ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Female Genital

Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGMC) is a human rights violation with adverse health consequences. Although prevalence is declining, the practice persists in many countries, and the individual and contextual risk factors associated with FGMC remain poorly understood. We propose an integrated theory about contextual factors and test it using multilevel discrete-time hazard models in a nationally representative sample of 7,535 women with daughters who participated in the 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey. A daughter’s adjusted hazard of FGMC was lower if she had an uncut mother who disfavored FGMC, lived in a community that was more opposed to FGMC, and lived in a more ethnically diverse community. Unexpectedly, a daughter’s adjusted FGMC hazard was higher if she lived in a community with more extrafamilial opportunities for women. Other measures of women’s opportunities warrant consideration, and interventions to shift FGMC norms in more ethnically diverse communities show promise to accelerate abandonment.

scholarly journals Short-term administration of progesterone and estradiol independently alter carotid-vasomotor, but not carotid-cardiac, baroreflex function in young women

2013 ◽  
Vol 305 (7) ◽  
pp. H1041-H1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vienna E. Brunt ◽  
Jennifer A. Miner ◽  
Paul F. Kaplan ◽  
John R. Halliwill ◽  
Lisa A. Strycker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Young Women ◽  
Baroreflex Sensitivity ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Plasma Concentrations ◽  
Baroreflex Function ◽  
Hormone Effects ◽  
Term Administration ◽  
17Β Estradiol ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Neck Pressure

The individual effects of estrogen and progesterone on baroreflex function remain poorly understood. We sought to determine how estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4) independently alter the carotid-cardiac and carotid-vasomotor baroreflexes in young women by using a hormone suppression and exogenous add-back design. Thirty-two young women were divided into two groups and studied under three conditions: 1) after 4 days of endogenous hormone suppression with a gonadotropin releasing hormone antagonist (control condition), 2) after continued suppression and 3 to 4 days of supplementation with either 200 mg/day oral progesterone ( N = 16) or 0.1 to 0.2 mg/day transdermal 17β-estradiol ( N = 16), and 3) after continued suppression and 3 to 4 days of supplementation with both hormones. Changes in heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and femoral vascular conductance (FVC) were measured in response to 5 s of +50 mmHg external neck pressure to unload the carotid baroreceptors. Significant hormone effects on the change in HR, MAP, and FVC from baseline at the onset of neck pressure were determined using mixed model covariate analyses accounting for P4 and E2 plasma concentrations. Neither P4 ( P = 0.95) nor E2 ( P = 0.95) affected the HR response to neck pressure. Higher P4 concentrations were associated with an attenuated fall in FVC ( P = 0.01), whereas higher E2 concentrations were associated with an augmented fall in FVC ( P = 0.02). Higher E2 was also associated with an augmented rise in MAP ( P = 0.01). We conclude that progesterone blunts whereas estradiol enhances carotid-vasomotor baroreflex sensitivity, perhaps explaining why no differences in sympathetic baroreflex sensitivity are commonly reported between low and high combined hormone phases of the menstrual cycle.

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