Feminisms: Forwards, Backwards and Something in Between

A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760). This special issue belongs to the section "Gender Studies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2018) | Viewed by 38394

Special Issue Editor

School of Social Work and Social Policy, University of Strathclyde, 141 St James Road, Glasgow G4 0LT, UK
Interests: feminism; older age; mental health; disability

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hillary Clinton, in the 2016 Presidential election, failed to break the glass ceiling and win the presidency. Many reasons have been put forward for Donald Trump’s success, but it is pertinent to note that Trump won 42% of the female vote, and this was despite his obvious misogyny. An obvious question is why so many women voted for Trump, especially as he overtly made it clear that women should be beautiful and know their place. His frequent references to Hillary Clinton, as lacking the stamina for the presidential role, was widely viewed as another manifestation of his misogyny in terms of women not being up to the job. We also find many young women viewing feminism in stereotypical terms and consequently rejecting it as having any meaning for them. We have had popular movements, such as ‘girl power’, which on the one hand can be regarded as young women flaunting their sexuality as a means of re owning and revaluing it. On the other, it can be regarded as an assertion of more of the same, with definitions of female sexuality remaining male defined. We also continue to see women supporting and sometimes actively promoting a series of social, cultural and religious rules, obligations and ways of behaving, which do not appear to be empowering for them.

In terms of professional and job opportunities and gendered practices within a wide range of professions, as we head for 20/20, women from a range of social, cultural and religious backgrounds and ethnicities still find that they can face more limited opportunities than their male counterparts. They continue to have greater pressures placed upon them to conform to prevailing influences, be these sexual, religious or more context specific. Despite Equal Pay legislation in many countries, the pay gap also appears to be growing. Similarly, within organizations, gendered practices, which can reflect unacknowledged as well as overt discrimination, continue to play a part.

The rational for this Special Issue is to look at the contemporary relevance of the various feminism for women today from individual and professional viewpoints. The intention is to focus on current issues and to explore key questions from contemporary, yet historically informed perspectives, combining analysis with concurrent issues and practices.

Prof. Barbara Fawcett
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • feminisms
  • gender disparities
  • inequality
  • individual and organizational perspectives

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 241 KiB  
Article
Feminists against Sexual Violence in War: The Question of Perpetrators and Victims Revisited
by Maja Korac
Soc. Sci. 2018, 7(10), 182; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7100182 - 30 Sep 2018
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 5794
Abstract
This article reflects upon feminist activism and analyses of sexual victimisation of women in war during the 1990s. It critically examines the reasons for the continuation of this type of violence against women, despite its recognition as a war crime; the recognition that [...] Read more.
This article reflects upon feminist activism and analyses of sexual victimisation of women in war during the 1990s. It critically examines the reasons for the continuation of this type of violence against women, despite its recognition as a war crime; the recognition that marked one of the significant achievements of feminist activism during the last decade of the 20th century. The discussion points to the centrality of sexual violence in war for the system of gender based violence (GBV) against both women and men in war. It argues that a relational understanding of the gendered processes of victimisation in war is critical. This approach enables an acknowledgement that sexual violence in war and rape, as one of its expressions, is a violent political act that is highly gendered both in its causes and consequences, and, as such, it affects both women and men. This article provides an overall argument for the need of feminist scholarship and activism to engage with these differently situated experiences and practices of victimisation in war, to ‘unmake’ it. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feminisms: Forwards, Backwards and Something in Between)
19 pages, 323 KiB  
Article
The Personal is Political: Assessing Feminist Fundamentals in the Digital Age
by Frances Rogan and Shelley Budgeon
Soc. Sci. 2018, 7(8), 132; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7080132 - 09 Aug 2018
Cited by 27 | Viewed by 20121
Abstract
The ‘personal is political’ has long been recognised as the definitive slogan of second-wave feminism but can it still inform our understanding of the contemporary practice of feminism? Questioning the importance of this claim now invites us to critically reflect upon the trajectory [...] Read more.
The ‘personal is political’ has long been recognised as the definitive slogan of second-wave feminism but can it still inform our understanding of the contemporary practice of feminism? Questioning the importance of this claim now invites us to critically reflect upon the trajectory Western feminism has followed in light of the efforts made by the Women’s Liberation movement to politicise formerly unquestioned aspects of social relations. In this paper, the significance of this feminist slogan will be assessed by locating it within two broadly defined historical periods. Firstly we identify the critical work performed by the ideas expressed in the slogan in the early years of the 1970s and then assess their continued relevance within the context of the early 21st century. Drawing upon the empirical analysis of young women’s experience of and relationship to feminism via their engagement with social media in Britain, this research critically assesses digital spaces as places where young women explore their personal experiences. We aim to understand how this may constitute a contemporary form of feminist practice consistent with the claim that ‘the personal is political’. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feminisms: Forwards, Backwards and Something in Between)
14 pages, 227 KiB  
Article
Femifesta? A Feminist Manifesto for the 21st Century
by Miriam David
Soc. Sci. 2018, 7(6), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7060091 - 05 Jun 2018
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4581
Abstract
I discuss the challenges that feminist activists in academia have raised about how to deal with violence against women and girls (VAWG) and gender-related violence (GRV) through education and training. Whilst VAWG and GRV have been on feminist agendas since the early days [...] Read more.
I discuss the challenges that feminist activists in academia have raised about how to deal with violence against women and girls (VAWG) and gender-related violence (GRV) through education and training. Whilst VAWG and GRV have been on feminist agendas since the early days of the Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM) in the 1960s and 1970s they were rarely linked with key demands for equal educational opportunities. It is still the case that feminist work on VAWG is rarely coupled with feminist studies in mainstream education. Drawing on a European Union (EU) funded study in the Daphne programme III—the GAP-work project—I consider strategies to address questions of VAWG and GRV for children and young people through education. This entailed involving ‘youth professionals’ and educators in four countries, namely Ireland, Italy, Spain and the UK in training. Drawing on this international educational work, I present an outline of a Feminist Manifesto or a ‘femifesta’ for education. This brings together feminist demands for policy changes in mainstream education through sex and relationships education to deal with VAWG and GRV, with feminist pedagogies to transform social and sexual or gender relations in schools. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feminisms: Forwards, Backwards and Something in Between)
15 pages, 858 KiB  
Article
Contemporary Feminist Analysis of Australian Farm Women in the Context of Climate Changes
by Margaret Alston, Josephine Clarke and Kerri Whittenbury
Soc. Sci. 2018, 7(2), 16; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci7020016 - 23 Jan 2018
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 7351
Abstract
Climate changes are reshaping agricultural production and food security across the world. One result is that women in both the developed and developing world are increasingly being drawn into agricultural labour. Yet, because the labour of women has historically been marginalised and ignored, [...] Read more.
Climate changes are reshaping agricultural production and food security across the world. One result is that women in both the developed and developing world are increasingly being drawn into agricultural labour. Yet, because the labour of women has historically been marginalised and ignored, these changes remain largely unacknowledged. In this paper, we examine gender changes in agricultural labour allocations on Australian irrigated dairy farms impacted by climate-related reductions in water available for irrigation. In the Murray-Darling Basin area of Australia, long years of drought and the need to address ecological degradation have led to the introduction of water saving methods and these have had major impacts at the farm level. We present research indicating that a major outcome has been an increase in women’s labour on- and off-farms. Yet, the lack of attention to gendered labour distribution continues the historical neglect of women’s labour, maintains patriarchal relations in agriculture, significantly impacts women’s views of themselves as agricultural outsiders, and reduces attention to a gendered analysis of climate change outcomes. We argue that gender mainstreaming of climate and agricultural policies is long overdue. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feminisms: Forwards, Backwards and Something in Between)
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