The Presence of Women in the Illustrated Magazine Liang You during the Second Sino-Japanese War through Photographs

The photographic presence of women on war in journalism and the gender inequality suffered by women are often ignored in previous investigations. This study focuses on analyzing the photographic images of women published in the monthly illustrated magazine 'Liang You' during the Second Sino-Japanese War, with the aim of knowing the presence of Chinese women and verifying the existence of inequality of gender suffered during the war. To this end, the photographs published from 1937 to 1945 have been qualitatively studied following the theories of Vilches (1983) and Facio (2009). The quantity and regularity of the publication are analyzed in this study. The areas in which women enter, women’s identities and activities shown in photographs are investigated. We find that the presence of women on war is active in journalism. Chinese women appear in family, social, educational and work environments. They have diverse identities as social activists, nationalists and protestors. However, they are despised, subordinate and marginalized because they suffer the limitations built by a sexist society with a low level of development. We argue that it is necessary to maintain a vision of gender equality in the study of war to reveal the silent history of women and understand their submission in a purely masculine world.

Changes in Women’s Representations in Turkish Cinema from the 1980s to the Early 1990s

This article focuses on the representations of women alongside the social and historical background of Turkish cinema from the 1980s through the early 1990s. In the following section, I articulate the political events in the 1980s - the early1990s and its impacts on Turkish society and cinema. I delve into the modernist representations of women in the 1980s cinema to analyze women’s gender codes (based on social/cultural and cinematic codes). Finally, in the last section, I examine Atıf Yılmaz’s cinematic images of women in his films and analyze two of his films A Sip of Love (1984) and The Night, Angel and Our Gang (1994) in terms of gender codes.

Women of War in Paul Auster’s Man in the Dark

Auster’s Man in the Dark includes numerous war stories that altogether contribute to its overall message about the different shape of the world if there were no wars. Most of these war stories are about the miscellaneous effective roles of women during wartime and its aftermath; their contributions to the progress of wars; their victimization as wives and captives; their sufferings as widows and laborers; and their drastic change of identity in accepting new social roles traditionally unachievable. These images of women of war make Man in the Dark a novel about women, although it literally seems not to offer any points about them. This paper is thus to argue that Auster seems to be presenting himself as a pro-feminist in this novel, which is basically about war and what causes war, in highlighting women’s roles during wartime and how their contributions have been unfairly silenced. Keywords: Auster, Man in the Dark, war, women.

Patriarchy and Inequality in Bharti Kirchner’s Sharmila’s Book and Pastries: A Novel of Desserts and Discoveries

Literature produced by men was a prejudiced one and focused mainly on the might of men and feebleness of female members. This was resisted by women writers and they started shattering the prejudiced views of men and gave a proper solution to it. Moreover, they violated the sanctities of women as mere service renders and broke the stereotyped images of women as the classical Sita or Kannagi who were projected as submissive partners having no identity of their own. It is only through the writings of women writers, the real identity of the women was recognized and they became equal partners at home and in the society. This awakening was highly instrumental in turning the dark pages of the history of literature and spread brightness and happiness everywhere. At present, gender inequality has gained global attraction and this has resulted in the production of vast literature.

A Critique of Twentieth Century Feminist Criticism

Feminist criticism arose in response to developments in the field of the feminist movement. Many thinkers such as John Stuart Mill, Mary Wollstonecraft raised their voice against the injustice done to women in every sphere of life. As this gained momentum throughout the world, feminist also awakened to the depiction and representation of women in literature which is one of the influential medium of socialization and culture. They argued that woman and womanhood are not biological facts but are given social constructs. One is not born a woman, but becomes one through culture and socialization. At first, feminist criticism was reactionary in the nature in the sense that they exposed stereotypical images of women in the literature. These images of women were promulgated by the male writers. These images of women were what men think of women. Gradually, feminist criticism moved from this phase to more constructive work. They unearthed many women writers that were either suppressed or neglected by the male literary tradition. In this way, they created a separate literary tradition of women writers. Feminist critics divided this tradition in such phases as feminine phase, feminist phase and female phase. They also studied the problems faced by female creative writers. They used theories from post-structuralism, Marxism, psychoanalysis to study the nature of female creativity. They also realized that there is an innate difference between male and female modes of writing. Feminist critics also exposed the sexiest nature of man-made language. They also exposed phallic centrism of much of the western literary theory and criticism. They also started to study the language used by the women writers. Simon De Beauvoir, Virginia Woolf, Elaine Showalter and Juliet Mitchell are some of the feminist critics discussed in this paper.

To See or Not to See: The Issue of Visuality in Ancient Near Eastern Art Images of Queens, High Priestesses, and Other Elite Women in the 3rd Millennium BC

The presence of veil usually characterises and defines women in ancient Near Eastern societies: indeed, the use of veil has been usually interpreted as to define both gender and role of the represented characters. But can the veil be so exclusively targeted? The analysis of the presence or even the absence of the veil needs to be contextualised: this contribution offers a short consideration on the use of the veil by women in ancient Mesopotamian and Syrian societies, trying to single out moments and circumstances, showing how images of women with veil are not so clearly identifiable and detectable as pointing to only one category, an exclusive role and a special position.

Men Find Trophies Where Women Find Insults: Sharing Nude Images of Others as Collective Rituals of Sexual Pursuit and Rejection

As sexting has become more common, so has the sharing of nude and semi-nude images of others. While women and men may both engage in this practice, when they do so they often participate in distinct gendered rituals. Drawing on 55 in-depth interviews with college students, I examine how the symbolic meanings attached to men and women’s nude images in the context of intimate heterosexual interactions shape collective rituals of sexual pursuit and sexual rejection. I find that men share images of women with their peers to demonstrate sexual prowess and receive praise, whereas women share images of men with their peers to cope with unwelcome sexual advances and receive support. These gendered rituals are linked to the perceived desirability of men’s and women’s nude images. While rituals of domination appear among men and reproduce unequal gender relations, rituals of commiseration appear among women to resist unequal gender relations.

Images of Women in Abhijnanashakuntalam as Role Model for Women Empowerment

This paper aims to oversee the forms and image of women in the play Abhijnanashakuntalam written by Kalidasa; a great poet in Sanskrit literature. It is found that most of his works represent two different aspects of woman, one in the form of the poetic and artistic depiction of woman and the other in the form of her status in the prevailing society. The women were able to inspire action and hero’s aspirations with her own nobility and deep human affection which is the typical image for female character and an endless source of inspiration for contemporary art and literature. Hence, the portrayal of women is with the outer and inner beauty in relation to social issues like religion, caste, marriage, sacrifice etc.

Women and Fairness. Navigating an Unfair World

This collection brings together scholars from various disciplines to ask fundamental questions concerning how women handle the manifold impediments placed before them as they simply attempt to live full human lives. The collection explores narratives of women – real and fictional – who fight against these barriers, who succumb to them, who remain unaware of them, or choose to ignore them. It explores the ways we read women in cultural production, and how women are read in society. We assert the obstacles constructed into the very fabric of societies against fifty percent of the population are unfair, be they hindrances for women to attain their goals, encumbrances that limit women’s speech and societal participation – communal and artistic – or hindrances that prohibit specific behaviors and images of women.

The Art of Being Dangerous

The idea that women are dangerous – individually or collectively – runs throughout history and across cultures. Behind this label lies a significant set of questions about the dynamics, conflicts, identities and power relations with which women live today. The Art of Being Dangerous offers many different images of women, some humorous, some challenging, some well-known, some forgotten, but all unique. In a dazzling variety of creative forms, artists and writers of diverse identities explore what it means to be a dangerous woman. With almost 100 evocative images, this collection showcases an array of contemporary art that highlights the staggering breadth of talent among today’s female artists. It offers an unparalleled gallery of feminist creativity, ranging from emerging visual artists from the UK to multi-award-winning writers and translators from the Global South.