Conclusion

The conclusion returns to actress Josephine Clifton, whose legacy underscores starring women’s negotiation of new entertainment opportunities in U.S. theater, celebrity culture, and gender roles in the early nineteenth century chronicled in this book. Neither their marginalized social status nor their cultural power liberated women stars from the patriarchal expectations governing family and entertainment. Navigating the shifting publics and address of American theater required the appearance of conformity to gendered scripts, as well as sometimes a disavowal of the very real cultural power and, in rare cases, personal autonomy that some achieved.

Notorious, The Paradine Case, Rope, Under Capricorn, Stage Fright

Still in Ingrid Bergman’s thrall, Hitchcock made one of his most romantic pictures for her, Notorious (1946), in which she and Cary Grant work out many of the contrasts and tensions in their screen personas. Hitchcock was stymied by casting decisions not his own on The Paradine Case (1947), which was the last film he made for producer David O. Selznick, and then he foundered on miscasting again when James Stewart was given the central role of a queer academic in Rope (1948), his first color picture. Hitchcock made Under Capricorn (1949) as a valentine to Ingrid Bergman, allowing her to dominate an eight minute and forty-seven second take where her character confesses to a crime, a rare instance of acting for its own sake in Hitchcock’s work. Though Marlene Dietrich was superficially in the mode of the liberated women that Hitchcock enjoyed like Carole Lombard and Tallulah Bankhead, the Master was mainly bemused by Dietrich’s demands for special lighting in Stage Fright (1950), and so he lets her have her way as he lets Charles Laughton dominate Jamaica Inn.

GENDER IN ISLAMIC INHERITANCE

This article examines a debate on gender equality, which is considered by some to be in conflict with the Qur’an, an-Nisa [4]:11. Using a philosophical approach and analyzing Sa‘ id Ramadan al-Buti’s concept of inheritance in his Al-Mar’ah Bayna Tughyan al-Nizam al-Gharbi wa Lata’if al-Tashri’ al-Rabbani, this paper tries to refute this allegation and offers a more gender-friendly interpretation. For al-Buti, the verse has actually liberated women because the provisions are caused by the responsibilities imposed by Islam on men as prospective husbands, not on women. On the contrary, if women are more empowered than men, that becomes a moral issue, not a shari’a one. Women have been given freedom by the shari’a in order to determine their choice to participate in bringing about stability in life. A condition that women are more empowered than men will not be the cause of changes in the shari’a’s provisions concerning inheritance.

‘Men on Transit’ and the Rural ‘Farmer Housewives’: Women in Decision-making Roles in Migrant-labour Societies in North-Western Zimbabwe

Studies on migrant-labour systems have focused on the negatives, particularly on women left behind as guardians of men’s interests, but with no real control. My extended research on former migrant-labour societies in north-western Zimbabwe has challenged this ‘doomsday’ narrative. It did not only reveal the feminisation of household and societal decisions, but also how the migration of men has liberated women and allowed them to play crucial roles within the household and society systems. My study thus illuminates differences between rural societies and cautions against the risks of over-generalisation when looking at the relationship between women and migration. It stresses the importance of migration on development, and the empowerment potential on women who take up prominent positions in the household and in society decision-making structures.

Liberated Women and Travesty Fetishes: Conflicting Representations of Gender in Parisian Fin-de-Siècle Music-Hall Ballet

This article explores the multiple and often contradictory representations of women in Parisian music-hall ballets staged at the turn of the twentieth century as reflections of shifting conceptions of women's social roles in fin-de-siècle France. Music-hall ballets mirrored both the broadening of gender norms and the societal fears which accompanied these changing social mores; they helped reinforce shifting perceptions of women while simultaneously undermining them. Created at a rate of six or seven per year for fun-loving socialites, music-hall productions were as up-to-date as they were ephemeral, serving as an unusually direct theatrical barometer of middle- and upper-class Parisians’ tastes and values.

Nepali Hindu Women's Thorny Path to Liberation

This article explains how Nepali Hindu women’s oppressive position was created in the past and how they are still struggling for their full liberation – mukti. It also reflects that Hindu women’s long journey towards freedom and equality has been moving through a thorny path. Deriving mainly from literatures, this paper discusses how Nepali Hindu women’s identity ‘Aimai’ was constructed and how, through their continuous struggle, they are getting better condition as dignified ‘Mahila’ yet far from their reach to the position of fully liberated women –mukta Mahila.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jer.v4i1.10013 Journal of Education and Research, March 2014, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 34-52