Negotiating Femininity: Women and representation in emergency employment in Peru

This article analyses the contradictory nature of the 'new space' created by women working in emergency employment programmes in Peru. It focuses on the different forms of opposition towards this new space and illustrates the mechanisms women have used in order to negotiate their place within it. The article briefly outlines the role played by the Peruvian state in legitimating this new space for women and argues that with the representations women make of themselves, of other workers, and of their workplace, these employees take strategic steps in forging new femininities. Empirical evidence is used to show how women simultaneously identify difference and commonality with their fellow female workers. In theoretical terms, the implications of these processes are examined in the context of the reproduction and subversion of stereotypes and the contestation of dominant gendered ideologies in Peru. The article examines how the reproduction and subversion of stereotypes involves the manipulation of binary categories of 'good' and 'bad' women. It argues that strategic representations, in everyday contexts, are vital to the renegotiation of femininities. It introduces the notions of 'strategic representations' and 'contradictory spaces' to examine some of the debates concerning the role of 'survival strategies' in gender and development analysis.     

Men at home,men and home in two Anglophone novels by Indian women writers

Postcolonial Indian women novelists writing in English have been deeply concerned with addressing the ways in which ‘home’ in patriarchal societies is an ambiguous space, characterized by unequal gender relationships that make it a terrain rife with violence, and feelings of alienation and discontent for women. Through the lens of two contemporary Anglophone novels by Indian women writers, Arundhati Roy’s (1997) The God of Small Things and Manju Kapur’s (2006) Home, this article evaluates the significance of the relationship between male identities, politics and domestic spaces in India. Focusing primarily on two bourgeois male characters, Estha and Vicky, the article examines, in depth, their painful coming-of-age in terms of the complex intersection of gender, class and age hierarchies in the domestic arena and demonstrates the centrality of the concept of home to their sense of self and space.     

发展与困惑——新时期中国大陆的妇女史研究

本文是对 2 0世纪 80年代以来中国大陆妇女史研究发展历程的总结与思考。作者认为妇女史定义应涵盖以妇女为研究对象的历史和以女性视角撰写的历史 ;论述了妇女史在中国的产生、发展、断裂、复兴过程与当前妇女史研究的特色以及妇女史对于传统史学的借鉴与超越 ;提出了当前妇女史研究中存在的一些值得探讨的理论问题 ;并指出当前应做好基础研究 ,不必急于建立理论框架 ;要积极与国外学者对话 ,但不要盲从。     

Women and Law in Colonial India: A Social History

Book reviewed in this article: Women and Law in Colonial India: A Social History, by Srimati Basu.     

Women who DARE: driving attitudes and road experiences among ultraorthodox women in Israel

This study seeks to gain insight into a unique group, ultraorthodox women in Israel, and their views and attitudes on driving and road experiences. Ultraorthodox women are generally contending with spatial and mobility restrictions due to stringent gendered spaces and social norms in their communities. Specifically in Israel, throughout the ultraorthodox sector, women are strictly forbidden to drive. In this research, we put the emphasis on driving dilemmas that have received marginal attention both socially and empirically. A qualitative method was used, based on face-to-face in-depth interviews, with women from three major ultraorthodox communities. The findings reveal that the driving ban for ultraorthodox women in Israel generates ambivalence and conflict, and exacts a heavy social price. Moreover, in line with approaches of feminist geography, it raises issues of gender relations and cultural implications, such as restricting the space and the mobility of women in order to keep them in a subordinate position. The results are discussed in terms of gender roles, cultural exclusion, and spatiality, on both the practical and emotional levels. The study opens a window to a unique sector of the Israeli population, revealing unique dilemmas with which ultraorthodox women grapple daily in their community.