Toward a reconceptualization of "choice": challenges by women at the margins

It has been suggested that recent first world and third world feminist movements have gained impetus from a shared emphasis on "body politics" (abortion, rape, and domestic violence). It has been made clear by other writers, however, that first and third world women (including women of color in the first world) have very different conceptions of which policies and practices should be pursued to change their reproduction experiences (because the overriding experiences of their entire lives are so very different). Likewise, the concept of "the right to choose" has been challenged on the grounds that it ignores the external conditions (such as economics) which, in fact, dictate "choice." Eugenics also influences which "choices" are promoted among populations considered "undesirable." The dilemmas associated with reproductive choices are further highlighted by debate about the use of amniocentesis in India for sex determination and female feticide. At the center of this debate is whether calling for a ban on this practice would support or violate a woman's choice. The rhetoric of choice arose in the first place because women who wanted to end a pregnancy had "no choice" but to seek illegal abortions. However, working class women and Black women in the US object to the narrowness in the abortion rights agenda dictated by the use of this term. To assert women's "choice" absolves all others of the responsibility for a pregnancy. The "choice" concept is also vulnerable to political manipulation. "Choice" also evades ethical problems such as sex selection. Disabled feminists have also pointed out that it is as important to create conditions which include "the choice to have a disabled child" as it is to choose not to be a mother. Can feminists oppose the selective abortion of female fetuses while leaving the choice to abort a defective or unwanted fetus of either sex up to the mother? Objection to sex determination can be categorized as consequentialist (based on various predicted social and psychological consequences, such as more men would lead to more violence in the world) or nonconsequentialist (based on the inherent immorality of selective abortion). The benefits of sex selection would possibly include a reduction in sex-linked diseases and a reduction in the overall birth rate. Most US feminists support the moral, but not the legal, condemnation of sex selection. In India, where sex selection is openly practiced, feminists have tried to achieve legal prohibition of the use of tests for this purpose. This difference from the US position may be due to the difference in the abortion context in the 2 countries. Whether feminists support legal and/or moral prohibition of sex selection, however, almost all call for the longterm structural changes which must be made in the context of imperialism, racism, and poverty which would allow true "choices" to prevail.     

DEVELOPING AN IDENTITY AS A FEMINIST FAMILY THERAPIST: IMPLICATIONS FOR TRAINING

Although feminists have profoundly influenced the field of family therapy, little has been written about the process by which these women came to identify themselves as feminist family therapists. This article reports the results of a qualitative research study that explored that process and suggests a model of feminist family therapy identity development. Implications for training programs are reveived.     

Traditional and Nontraditional Mormon Women:

Political attitudes and sociolization of traditional, tranisitional, feminist Mormon and feminist ex-Mormon women were examined. The feminist groups had less conservative political beliefs and party affiliations and more liberal attitudes toward authority than the traditional and transitional women. Contrary to hypotheses, sense of personal control in the childhood family and mother's independence were not greater among feminists than among traditional women nor were fathers more encouraging of mothers' autonomy. Feminists were, as expected, less emotionally close to their mothers. Mothers of feminists were less politically conservative and likely to work full-time. An argument for a modeling and a dissatisfaction effect was made.     

Humorous Assaults on Patriarchal Ideology*

Humor is a significant weapon in interpersonal and intergroup conflict and competition. Over the centuries, males have used humor and jokes to create and perpetuate patriarchal ideals, relationships, and structures. Today, feminists and other proponents of gender equality use humor to deconstruct patriarchal ideologies and sexist stereotypes. This exploratory study analyzes a collection of over 1,700 jokes identified as feminist and women's humor to discover what these jokes suggest with regard to the male‐dominant structure in society and how these jokes are subversive in attempting to disrupt gender stereotypes and roles. We find that the humor of women and feminists seeks, in part, to discredit assumptions of males’ superiority, masterfulness, sexual prowess, and extraordinary value to women and society. These jokes may, however, also work to reinforce stereotypes associated with men and women: “If they could send a man to the moon, why not just send all of them?”     

Empowered Women,Failed Patriarchs: Neoliberalism and Global Gender Anxieties

Notions of “empowered women,” promoted by NGOs, economists, and feminists beginning in the 1970s, do not necessitate a countervailing notion of “failed patriarchs.” However, our review of the feminist literatures on globalization, development, and migration in the United States, the former Soviet Union, and South Asia suggests that discourses of empowered women and failed patriarchs are fused in the specter of the “reverse gender order.” A presumption of this new order is that global capitalism has liberated women to such an extent that they have surpassed men who are now the truly “disadvantaged.” Drawing on these literatures as evidence, we argue that the large‐scale incorporation of poor and working‐class women into global capitalism relies upon an ideology of the family that keeps women's labor “cheap” and draws support from the feminist idea that work is empowering for women. Diverse nationalisms uphold the ideology of the family as central to capitalist expansion, providing culturally resonant justifications for women's unpaid reproductive work, while men are breadwinners. Thus, poor and working‐class men experience a painful dissonance between breadwinning expectations and economic opportunities. We show that these tensions between ideologies and material conditions make women's responsibility for reproductive work a structural feature of neoliberalism.     

Brothels as families: Reflections on the history of Bombay's1 kothas

Abstract

Feminist theory typically locates prostitution outside the ambit of familial institutions. In particular, sex radical feminists and some feminist historians cast prostitution as an alternative to heteronormative domesticity. This article stresses the continuities between families and brothels in their structures of affection, obligation and domination. Given that brothels have often been sites of residence in South Asia, the question I address is, to what extent have brothel relations mirrored conventional family roles? In doing so, I offer a caution against universalizing work as a category for framing and understanding commercial sex. I begin the article by explaining the need for greater specificity in transnational feminist conversations about prostitution, and pointing out absences in sex radical and feminist historical accounts. I then analyze brothel life in 1920s Bombay drawing on annual reports of social work organizations, testimonies from high court cases, police files, census figures and anecdotal accounts. I demonstrate how families facilitated the entry of women and girls into prostitution, and how kinship – both actual and fictive – legitimized participation in the sex trade. Within brothels, familial roles provided a ready-made hierarchy that secured the loyalty and obedience of subordinates. I close by showing how brothels functioned as alternate, rather than alternative, residences, especially for those sent there by their families.     

Reflections on The Reproduction of Mothering—Twenty Years Later

The Reproduction of Mothering attracted readers from a wide variety of backgrounds—ordinary women seeking to understand themselves; psychoanalysts and psychotherapists; feminist scholars from a range of disciplines including literature, philosophy, political theory, sociology, and anthropology; and social and cultural theorists. These reflections address all these readers. I restate what I see as the main contribution of the book, suggesting why it has had enduring appeal. In so doing, I also respond to criticisms or areas or unease articulated by feminists, social scientists, and psychoanalysts. In concluding, I point to tensions faced by feminists, psychoanalysts, and other proponents of liberatory change, between psychological Understanding and social and political advocacy.     

Unpopularising Feminism: 'Blaming Feminism' in the Generation Debate and the Mother Wars

Over the last three decades, 'blaming feminism' has been a strong thread in two popular debates concerning the women's movement. The first is the generation debate, between second-wave baby-boomer feminists and the third wave or generation × feminists. Third-wave feminists blame second-wave feminists for sabotaging women's potential by taking on the mantle of 'victim' feminism; second-wave feminists retort that third wavers embrace an individualistic and consumerist approach. In the second debate, the mother wars (mommy wars in the United States), second-wave feminists are blamed for denigrating full-time mothers and telling young women they can 'have it all': they can readily combine career and motherhood. This article reviews the debates, with attention to the media's role and the larger social context in Australia, Great Britain and the United States.     

"I,Black woman,resist]" Katrina Payne talks to Alzira Rufino. Interview

In this interview, Alzira Rufino describes her involvement in the feminist movement and what caused her to found the Black Women's House of Culture in Brazil in 1990. Rufino located the center in Santos because it is a port city which sees a great deal of violence and is very sexist and racist. The center, which exists to assist all women, grew out of a Rufino's realization that Black women needed a group to support their rights. The name for the center came from the fact that women have been the keepers of African culture in Brazil. In Brazil, White men dominate the culture, even the cultural expressions produced by Black people such as the Carnival. The center has had to overcome the criticism directed at it because it was created for women and for Black women in particular, and Black feminists are beginning to understand that Black women make up 25% of the population of Brazil and must celebrate their heritage. Increasing the self-esteem of Black women can be instrumental in helping women undergo training for better jobs and to take the initiative to become entrepreneurs. Black women in Brazil are beginning to occupy positions formerly denied them and to denounce the racism and sexism directed toward them.     

Women,work, and family in the Czech Republic—and comparisons with the West

What are the work-family experiences of Czech women, and to what extent are there similarities and differences with women in the West? Drawing on a cross-national survey and other findings, this paper points out that unlike the extensive part-time employment of many Western European women, most Czech women in the post-Communist era have continued to combine full-time employment with family roles. Maternity and parental leaves, kindergartens, and other policies have been important supports. It is argued that employment and economic independence remain important to Czech women, and although gender differentiation in women's domestic activities and men's preponderance in upper-level jobs in the economy and government is recognized, Western attributions of patriarchy have been resisted. Since family life is highly valued, many have seen women as advantaged in their greater family involvement and integration of both family and employment roles. Rather than opposition between men and women, Czechs generally point to partnership and overall social equality. During Communism Czechs learned that ‘time at work’ does not equal productivity, and women practiced an informal flextime to aid work-family integration. This ‘self-management’ of work time and of work and family activities is cited as a component of Czech women‘s sense of efficacy and gender equality. An interesting question for the post-Communist success of Czech women and work organizations is whether women's interest in self-management will be met by the support of managers and of workplace cultures and structures.     

'The downright torture of women': moral lobby women, feminists and pornography

Apparent alliances between moral campaigners and certain feminists in opposition to pornography have been the subject of discussion both in the United States and in Britain. Drawing on a wider study of the views of women in British moral and pro-family organisations, this article examines the attitudes of such women to pornography. It then compares these views with those of anti-pornography feminists, commenting in particular on the moral reasoning underlining different perspectives. Attention to moral reasoning, it is argued, helps to further explicate the charges of 'alliance' between the moral lobby and anti-pornography feminists, even where such alliance is neither sought or desired. The potential difficulties and uses of an assessment of pornography as 'moral' concern for the development of feminist ethics are then considered. Finally, the apparent willingness of moral lobby women to express support for anti-pornography feminists is examined. The article concludes by suggesting that this support reflects both complexities of gender identification amongst moral lobby women, and, crucially, power imbalances between anti-pornography feminists and the moral lobby rooted in the institutionalisation of heterosexuality. The implications of these findings for sociologists and for feminist theory and activism are outlined.     

Disabled Women and Reproductive Rights

Both the women's and disability rights movements have paid scant attention to the concerns of disabled women, especially involving sexuality, reproductive freedom and mothering. Although their concerns may seem opposite of the women's movement's primary agenda, they are based on the same position: women must not be defined solely by biological characteristics and have the right to make decisions about their bodies and lives. Disabled feminists often support 'reproductive rights', but also have different perspectives on abortion and reproductive technologies than non-disabled feminists. The literature indicates that the reproductive rights of disabled women are constrained by: the assumption that disabled women are asexual; lack of reproductive health care, contraception, and sexuality information; and, social resistance to reproduction and mothering among disabled women. Disabled women are at risk for a range of undesirable outcomes, including coercive sterilization, abortion or loss of child custody.     

Rights Spaces: An Exploration of Feminist Approaches to Refugee Law

The exigent needs of refugee women necessitate feminist attempts to use legal mechanisms, however imperfect, to their benefit. However, the temptation to overestimate the importance of feminist gains in this realm must be avoided due to current constraints within the international refugee regime. Most forcibly displaced persons never reach the borders of western countries to claim asylum. Moreover, western 'refugee-receiving' countries are effectively closing their borders to migration claimed on strictly humanitarian grounds. Therefore, while feminists have successfully claimed a place for refugee women within protective rights mechanisms, they have been granted only a small portion of what is already extremely finite territory. Given this troubling state of affairs, I suggest that although proven avenues within refugee law must not be abandoned, the time is right for the sustained exploration of new and creative modes of engagement within refugee rights discourse. In this vein, the second half of the paper draws extensively upon the work of feminist legal theorist Jennifer Nedelsky to suggestively consider some possible alternatives for feminist theory and praxis.     

A FEMINIST FAMILY THERAPY SCALE*

This paper reports on the development and psychometric properties of a 17-item instrument intended to reflect the degree to which family therapists conceptualize the process of family therapy from a feminist-informed perspective. Items were adapted from those generated by 37 feminist-informed family therapists in a previous study. Factor analysis results on 383 subjects reflect a unidimensional scale. The Feminist Family Therapy Scale had a Cronbach Alpha of 83 and was found to discriminate between (a) self indentified feminists and nonfeminists, (b) women and men, and (c) subjects scoring higher on Scanzoni's (1975) Sex Role Modernity Scale and those scoring lower. Additional psychometric data are reported, and possible uses of this scale are discussed.     

Reading the Other Women,Feminism, and Islam

This essay focuses on the complex gendered particularities of the Arab region (including Iran). The debate between Islamic feminists and secular feminists is explored. Islamic feminists claim that liberation for men and women lies in following the Islamic faith and it is Islam that provides the best protection for women. Secular feminists argue for the separation of religion from civil society and the State. The essay explores the inextricable link between masculinity and the nation, and the impact of postcolonial relations on subjectivity.     

Religious Freedoms versus Gender Equality: Faith-Based Organizations, Muslim Minorities, and Islamic Headscarves in the New Europe

The intersections of gender and civil society in the formersocialist countries of Eastern Europe have been examined primarilythrough the lens of Western Aid to support feminist nongovernmentalorganizations (NGOs). What has received less scholarly attentionis the growing number of NGOs advocating for a return to moreconservative gender roles and more restricted public roles forwomen. Many of these organizations are so-called "faith-based"organizations (FBOs), and are bound to particular religiousdenominations. In this article, I will examine the presenceof Islamic FBOs in Bulgaria and how they mobilize a liberal"rights" discourse to justify practices that could be locallyinterpreted as being oppressive to women. Their insistence onguaranteeing women's "right to choose" certain religious practicesputs feminists and women's NGOs in an increasingly difficultposition.     

“Suffragettes in Satin Shorts”? Gender and Competitive Boxing

This study is an empirical and theoretical contribution to the burgeoning literature on gender and competitive boxing. By using Connell's concepts of labor, power, cathexis, and representation and a combination of content and semiotic analysis, interviews, and observations, we argue that competitive boxing can be studied productively as a paradoxical gender regime that simultaneously enables and constrains how women do gender. On one hand, the sport encourages individual women to display physical aggression when such behavior traditionally has been deemed the antithesis of femininity. Some feminists argue that this form of physical feminism enables women to transcend essentialist discourses that restrict their corporeal power. On the other hand, women boxers in general also encounter resistance to their aspirations. For example, they are still positioned by essentialist discourses about both their bodies and capacity to develop the requisite form of controlled aggression. Strongly gendered links between bodily labor and bodily capital also mean that women have less access to resources than do men and, consequently, fewer opportunities to develop their pugilistic capital. We also maintain that competitive women boxers are implicated in a body project that tends to replicate sporting practices that some feminists and pro-feminists argue are damaging to both men and women.     

Index of Volume 4, 2002

This article links a theoretical debate within poststructural feminisms – whether feminist politics can be pursued without hegemonic representations of women and gender – to the practice of transnational feminist organizing in the World Conference against Racism (WCAR) in Durban in 2001. It goes beyond the traditional analysis of ‘adding’ gender to a mega world conference and asks the critical question of what

gender signifies in this instance of UN politics. The article argues that feminists’ strategic use of the concept of ‘gender as intersectionality’ marks a paradigm shift from the predominant monolithic representation of gender as women, being equal to or different from men, in international human rights frameworks. It puts the issue of diversity among women at the forefront of the intergovernmental WCAR. Far from entailing an abandonment of feminist politics, as some poststructuralist feminists have suggested, it is argued that opening up ‘gender’ for unlimited signification in

the case of WCAR marks the beginning of a new phase of transnational feminist mobilization.     

On the Margins of the Periphery: Unassisted Childbirth and the Management of Layered Stigma

This article examines an unusual practice—unassisted childbirth—and the ways in which advocates and practitioners manage the stigma they are accorded. Given their “doubly deviant” status as not only women who birth at home but also as women who choose to give birth without professional assistance, these women provide a unique case for our theoretical understanding of stigma management. As members of homebirth social networks, the women must reckon with what I term layered stigma, the broad stigma of homebirth as well as the deeper in-group stigma within their deviant community that results from their rejection of midwives as appropriate care providers. By examining the dynamics of stigma management among practitioners of unassisted childbirth, I highlight the complex, situation-dependent nature of stigma and the impact of its management on women's sense of self.