“A Gauntlet” by Bjornstjerne Martinius Bjørnson and “Vera: One for Many: From a Girl's Diary” by Bettina Dorothea Kris in the context of a public discussion about male chastity and double morality in the Russian Empire in the late 19th – early 20th centuries

The article examines the controversy that arose in the public space of the Russian Empire after the publication in Russian of two resonant works of fiction – “A Gauntlet” by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and “One for Many” by Betty Kris – and gave impetus to the development of ethical views broadcast by their authors. In these books, translated into Russian with a difference of almost ten years, practically identical innovative and, one might say, sensational ideas for their time are expressed – Svava and Vera, the main heroines of the works, advocate the abolition of “unjust dual morality” and expect from a man the same premarital “purity”, the preservation of which was traditionally required exclusively from a woman within the framework of the patriarchal paradigm of marriage and family relations. The call for the abolition of double standards, expressed by B.Bjørnson and B.Kris (and embodied, which is important, precisely through the women, the heroines of their works), was directly related to the women’s movement developing during this period. There were incomparably more opponents of the ideas broadcast by the authors, who continued to adhere to the traditional view of sexual morality and the position of women in society, than its supporters. However, the very fact that such a discussion appeared in the public field and the fact that a number of representatives of the medical community, public figures, writers and journalists supported these ideas, speaks of the changes that have already begun to take place in the public consciousness.

The EU Democratisation of The Southern Neighbours Since the “Arab Spring”: An Inherently Inadequate Approach

This Article draws on the analysis of historical relations between the European Union and the Southern Mediterranean countries and highlights the main initiatives and consequences of the adopted practices of democratisation in the region following the Arab Uprisings. The main focus is on the continuity and limited changes in the new approach. One of the main findings is that the limited reform of the EU approach primarily resulted from the inherited political constraints. The net result was a set of structured security-orientated relationships that will continue to repeat earlier mistakes before 2011. The mechanisms of democracy promotion including conditionality remained inherently full of contradictions. The double standards in applying the conditionality principle in addition to the lack of significant leverage rendered the EU democratisation approach of the Southern neighbours inapt. Despite the 2011 ENP review promise of a substantial change in the EU democratisation approach, it seems that the EU’s initial euphoria following the “Arab spring” has waned as it seems to repeat the same old approach of liberalisation and securitisation of the Southern Mediterranean region rather than democratisation.

A Mirror of Society: Feminist Advocacy in Emilia Pardo Bazán's Short Stories

<p>This thesis is concerned with the manner in which the fin de siècle Spanish writer Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851–1921) disseminated her feminist views through her short stories published in popular newspapers and journals. As a female writer, she incurred the ire of many of her male contemporaries, challenging them both personally with her feminist views, and professionally, with her erudition and immense literary output. In this thesis I offer firstly an overview of Spanish society during Pardo Bazán’s lifetime with particular reference to the situation of women and go on to outline her life and most significant achievements, literary and otherwise, with a view to contextualising the narrative analysis which follows. Twelve of Pardo Bazán’s selected short stories are analysed in the light of the feminist topics which she addressed in several of her essays and, where possible, I correlate these stories with the relevant essays. In particular, I examine issues of female literacy, legal rights and prostitution, as well as the gendered double standards of the time in the area of religious observance and, in particular, the double moral standard. I also examine stories where women did exercise a degree of agency and act in ways that went against patriarchal standards of behaviour, making life-changing decisions. I argue that in these twelve stories, it is evident that not only is each one able to be read as seemingly conforming with the mores of the patriarchal society, but that each one also has a veiled subtext where the injustices suffered by the female protagonists are made evident. Thus, I show that these stories align with Pardo Bazán’s essays and promote her broader feminist views to the reader willing to consider them.</p>

A Mirror of Society: Feminist Advocacy in Emilia Pardo Bazán's Short Stories

<p>This thesis is concerned with the manner in which the fin de siècle Spanish writer Emilia Pardo Bazán (1851–1921) disseminated her feminist views through her short stories published in popular newspapers and journals. As a female writer, she incurred the ire of many of her male contemporaries, challenging them both personally with her feminist views, and professionally, with her erudition and immense literary output. In this thesis I offer firstly an overview of Spanish society during Pardo Bazán’s lifetime with particular reference to the situation of women and go on to outline her life and most significant achievements, literary and otherwise, with a view to contextualising the narrative analysis which follows. Twelve of Pardo Bazán’s selected short stories are analysed in the light of the feminist topics which she addressed in several of her essays and, where possible, I correlate these stories with the relevant essays. In particular, I examine issues of female literacy, legal rights and prostitution, as well as the gendered double standards of the time in the area of religious observance and, in particular, the double moral standard. I also examine stories where women did exercise a degree of agency and act in ways that went against patriarchal standards of behaviour, making life-changing decisions. I argue that in these twelve stories, it is evident that not only is each one able to be read as seemingly conforming with the mores of the patriarchal society, but that each one also has a veiled subtext where the injustices suffered by the female protagonists are made evident. Thus, I show that these stories align with Pardo Bazán’s essays and promote her broader feminist views to the reader willing to consider them.</p>

Sexual Double Standards: Contributions of Sexual Socialization by Parents, Peers, and the Media

Abstract(Hetero)sexual double standards (SDS) entail that different sexual behaviors are appropriate for men and women. There is large variation in whether people endorse SDS in their expectations about the sexual behavior of women and men (i.e., SDS-norms). To explain these individual differences, we examined associations between SDS-norms of Dutch adolescents (aged 16–20 years, N = 566) and what parents, peers, and the media teach adolescents about appropriate sexual behavior of boys and girls (i.e., SDS-socialization). Adolescents completed an online survey at school. Regarding SDS-socialization, more traditional SDS-norms conveyed by the media and peers, but not of parents, and less perceived sexual activity of female peers, were associated with more traditional SDS-norms. Only for boys, exposure to sexy girls/women on social media and sexual music videos of female artists were associated with more traditional SDS-norms. Thus, SDS-socialization by peers and the media and opposite gender models (for boys) are important in light of adolescents’ SDS-norms.

Feminist concern of Girish Karnad Novel: Nagamandala

This present paper attempts to critically analyse the selected novel of Girish Karnad _Nagamandala. Girish Karnad, as a dramatist, is free from any such feminist tags and like Shashi Deshpande, an Indian woman novelist, treats ‘woman as a woman’ and as ‘a human being’. As a male feminist, he has treated the feminist issues like child marriage, loveless marriage, exploitation of wife in the hands of husband, double standards of society and law operating against her in the society etc. It also expresses the hollowness and injustice of patriarchal society. He insists that it is not patriarchy but matriarchy which is essential for society. Thus, the refined sensibilities of woman like love, sex, compassion and tolerance make her unsurpassable in the society. The pride of woman also finds a space in his play Naga Mandala.

The East–West Divide Revisited 30 Years On

Thirty years after the end of the Cold War and the division of the continent, are we witnessing a renewed east–west divide in Europe? Fifteen years following the enlargement of the European Union to countries of central and eastern Europe, are we witnessing mere political differences or is there an emerging divergence between the ‘old’ and ‘new’ EU member states on issues as fundamental as democracy and the rule of law? The triggering of Article 7 of the Lisbon Treaty against Poland and Hungary suggests the latter. This is the interpretation favoured in the media or in declarations of political figures on both sides of a newly restored dividing line. In the west, it tends to be perceived as a challenge to the European project and sometimes even as a justification for reservations regarding the very idea of the EU’s eastward expansion. In the Visegrád Group, there are claims of being treated as second-class members of the EU and resentment of alleged double standards and interference from Brussels, sometimes compared to pre-1989 control from Moscow. How can this triple divide on democracy, migration, and societal issues—three aspects of European liberalism—be accounted for after a quarter-century of unprecedented economic, political, and institutional convergence? One place to start is the misunderstandings concerning the process and meaning given to the post-1989 EU integration process (‘enlargement to the east’ or ‘European unification’). Different security concerns and threat perceptions (east versus south) also remain an obstacle in shaping a Common Foreign and Security Policy. There are deeper historical and cultural differences, the understanding of which is important to avoid recent divisions becoming fault lines. Finally these trends should be understood not as irreconcilable differences, but as a specific and acute version of a transeuropean crisis of democracy.