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A conference paper on Rape in Aotearoa, New Zealand in the newspapers between the span of 1975–2015 is presented. It discusses the current scenario of silencing and objectification of women covered in various range of media forms including newspapers, women's magazines and pornography. The author presents his views regarding the representation of rape in newspaper articles and the language usage that objectifies women.

This article uses two counselling practitioner-researchers' personal responses to journal writing as a therapeutic vehicle. They presented a version of this article at the New Zealand Association of Counselling Research Conference in Christchurch in 2008. When the authors met, as counsellor educator and student, they recognised a mutual interest in the therapeutic potential of personal journal writing. Using writing as inquiry, the two co-researchers began writing short observations of their individual experiences to help them reflect on how feminisms had influenced their thinking and writing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The passing of the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) in 2003 has resulted in Aotearoa/New Zealand being in a unique position internationally in terms of the regulation of sex work. In this paper, I provide an overview of the history of sex work in Aotearoa/New Zealand leading up to and subsequent to the passing of the PRA. Underlying this overview are theoretically informed discussions considering how discourses of heteronormative sexuality result in sex work being gendered in particular ways, and how different models of regulating prostitution reflect different ideological and political concerns, and have different outcomes. The specifics of the gendering of sex work means that these understandings and outcomes have particular effects on women. While the interests of women are thus prioritised in recent theorising and, in some instances, in the regulation of prostitution, it is apparent that what is considered to be in 'women's interests' varies. I conclude by suggesting that while the PRA may not challenge the gendered nature of the industry, it protects the immediate interests of the women who work within it. This paper is intended to serve the dual purpose of providing the reader of this special issue of the Women's Studies Journal with some relevant background, and giving students interested in the area -- especially those in Aotearoa/New Zealand - a starting point for their research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'FeminEast' is a feminist club that was founded by students at Wellington East Girls' College in 2013. At the time of writing, the club's popularity is growing and has attracted attention from national media. This paper reports on a pilot study based on conversations with FeminEast co-founder Jess Dellabarca and analysis of media texts by and about the club. The author contextualises FeminEast in a neoliberal climate, focussing on the neoliberal discourse usually called 'postfeminism', the widespread belief that feminism is no longer needed because we have achieved gender equality. This paper foregrounds efforts by FeminEast's leaders to mobilise feminist anger and contend with contemporary gender norms and postfeminist discourse. These efforts are discussed particularly in relation to the 2013-2014 'Roast Busters' scandal. FeminEast members adeptly navigate postfeminist social dynamics; ultimately, they succeed in developing and disseminating their view that the Roast Busters are a product of persistent and pernicious rape culture, a key weapon of contemporary patriarchy. This paper shows that girls can and do engage activistic practices that are more worthy of scholarly attention than the dearth of recent research on girls' activism would suggest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2003, New Zealand passed the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA), becoming the first country in the world to decriminalise sex work. Aotearoa/New Zealand's model of decriminalisation is internationally regarded as an ideal model for prioritising sex workers' rights and safety, and is understood to have had several positive impacts in these areas. The decriminalised model is often described as 'full decriminalisation', to distinguish it from legal frameworks which decriminalise sex workers while still criminalising clients and/or third parties. However, an infrequently discussed aspect of the Aotearoa/New Zealand model of 'full' decriminalisation is that it prohibits migrant sex work as an anti-trafficking measure. In this paper I discuss the contradictory nature of Aotearoa/New Zealand's sex work law in relation to the precarious legal status of migrant sex workers. I explore the disconnect between the intention and consequences of this policy, outlining the challenges this poses for sex workers, and those committed to the full realisation of sex worker rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender and ethnicity are recognised as two of the leading axes of marginality in late twentieth century western liberal democratic societies -- the former emerged in the wake of Second Wave feminism of the 1970s and the latter, with the rise of 'identity politics' in the 1980s and 1990s. Both have similarities. As categories of disadvantage, their basis is 'natural' in that the complex webs of social and political organisation, and consequent disadvantages, based on gender or ethnicity can be traced to physiology, that is, differences in either skin colour or sex. These are also, as Nancy Fraser (1997) points out, 'bivalent categories' of disadvantage in that gender and ethnicity display simultaneous discriminations in areas of resource allocation (Redistribution) and as socially acceptable identities (Recognition). Here, however, the common trajectory followed by these social markers ends. Drawing on the changing nature of society and governance in New Zealand, the present paper argues that the differences between gender and ethnicity, rather than their similarities, expose fundamental attributes of contemporary marginality in increasingly diverse western democracies. This paper advances the following proposition (and contradiction): in the past decade, ethnicity and diversity as an axis of social division has gained credibility and has markedly influenced political, economic and social (re)organisation in New Zealand, while in contrast, it has proven harder to justify gender as structural disadvantage. Thus, while the boundaries of 'gender' are ruptured, porous and, at moments, open to erasure, 'ethnicity' has coalesced to become a new, valid, and increasingly relevant border of social inequity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feminist critics of the mythopoetic men's movement (MMM) have argued that the MMM de-politicises and reinforces gender inequalities. This paper revisits these 1990s critiques, acknowledging their value, and also identifies concepts of gender that cut across the MMM and particular feminist legacies. Specifically, it shows that the MMM and certain strands of feminist thought share binary and essentialist gender constructs, which remain broadly influential today and arguably hamper the common goals of shifting culturally dominant gender ideologies in (neo) liberal social contexts. Research is lacking in New Zealand (and elsewhere) on contemporary manifestations of the MMM, and on feminist responses to and engagements with it. This paper draws on preliminary fieldwork, including recent conflictual conversations amongst MMM participants and feminist activists in New Zealand, in order to signal and to challenge middle-class, Pākehā, and heteronormative standards that are persistently embedded in universalising assumptions about gender identity. In an 'age of difference' for both women and men, the paper also identifies alternative and diversifying concepts of gender that could support more productive dialogue. The analysis is underpinned by an international body of feminist literature supporting poly-vocal, intersectional, and multi-layered accounts of identity wherein gender is one discourse and category of experience among many. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations (UN) has long been seen as one of the world's most influential organisations in the movement for gender equality. The UN is unique in its ability to produce binding inter-governmental normative frame-works which have led to legislative and policy reform at the national level, including in New Zealand. The UN has also played an important role through its research, advocacy and programmes. However, during the 2000s many gender equality advocates became increasingly concerned with the gap between policy and practice and the significant weaknesses within the UN system. In particular, the UN has been criticised for providing inadequate resourcing, capacity support and senior-level espousal for its gender architecture. In New Zealand, UNIFEM's weak presence and low capacity to provide technical support to the government and visible advocacy exemplifies the UN's past inability to support gender equality at the national level. It is hoped that the recent establishment of UN Women in January 2011 will alleviate many of the issues related to the UN's gender architecture and signal a new era for the UN's work on gender equality. This paper explores the core reasons for the imperative reform of the UN's gender architecture. The paper then analyses whether UN Women has the necessary scope and funding to address the UN's past failings and deliver tangible results. A strong UN agency with country-level capacity in New Zealand would ill a gap within New Zealand civil society for a leading specialist organisation for gender equality that not only supports governmental and civil society efforts in New Zealand, but also contributes to equality within the wider Pacific community. Therefore the paper then outlines steps for action for New Zealand civil society organisations to ensure that UN Women lives up to its potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The journey mapped herein is based on a women's studies conference paper written and presented in 1999 (Waitere-Ang & Johnston, 1999) . When we (Hine and Trish) wrote the paper, we worked together in Te Uru Marau-rau: the Department of Māori and Multicultural Education at Massey University. A decade later Hine works in the Masters of Educational Administration Programme at Massey and Patricia is a professor and the Head of the Graduate School at Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiārangi, a 'Indigenous University" in Whakatane. Engaging the original paper we create a reflexive dialogue in which we work to connect tacit knowing to explicit knowledge (Cunliffe, 2002). As we re-enter a conversation that decried the absence of mana wahine in institutional spaces, uppermost in our thinking as we look back and talk forward is the question -- what has changed for us? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests that a women's studies epistemology is the most productive way of developing hypotheses about the factors attracting an increasing number of women to machine gambling. It uses a women's studies approach of listening to and reflecting upon the significance of 'anecdotal' evidence which may otherwise be overlooked or dismissed. It explores the growth of machine gambling and problem gambling among women in New Zealand from 1990 and suggests that a similar pattern may develop in Britain in the future. This paper observes that forms of 'equal chance' gambling have few barriers to participation by groups excluded from other forms of opportunity. The New Zealand experience of a rapid growth of gambling activity among women suggests that where lotteries and gambling machines have become easily accessible, they have led to a rapid development of new markets among groups to whom they offer an equal chance to become a 'winner'. These forms of gambling do not discriminate. Participation may be perceived as the only opportunity some groups have of participating in an economic activity with an equal chance of success. It is argued that this may be particularly potent where participation is encouraged by the way the mode of gambling is designed, and when it is supplied from convenient locations which offer some safe opportunities for social interaction. Reflecting on anecdote and observation, a new hypothesis is proposed about why women gamble and the modes of gambling they prefer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper aims to look at the contexts of meanings that surround Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) in practice, particularly for issues of gender justice. At the heart of the paper is a critical appraisal of one EEO event; an example drawn from the New Zealand public sector where claims to 'gender disadvantage' is made by an employee and responded to by the agency to which the claim is made. The event is representative of an instance where all parties are equally claiming the need to further EEO and fairness. By deconstructing the language and context of EEO in practice, the paper argues the point that EEO policy is not implemented in discursively uncontested contexts. At a substantive level, the paper builds on feminist theoretical perspectives of social justice, and questions if the contemporary frameworks of meaning in the public sector can support transformations of relationships of disadvantage. More pertinently, it asks if the "removal of unfair disadvantage", on which EEO strategies are based, constitutes the promotion of social and gender justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there has been substantial research conducted in New Zealand over the last 20 years into prostitution, there has been no enquiry into the lives of strippers, strip clubs or the striptease industry in general. Yet, women who take their clothes off for a living are a discrete group in the sex industry with distinct motivations who occupy a different habitus to prostitutes or pornographic actresses. This paper, based on undergraduate research, is a review of international literature pertaining to strippers from the year 2000 onwards. The review revealed that, in contrast to the research conducted on the industry before 2000, current feminist scholarship has moved away from a polarised narrative of stripping work as either oppressive or emancipating. Instead, recent research has been concerned with the complexities of the occupation of stripping for young women, both in the workplace and in their wider lives. In particular, this study identified four dominant thematic areas where current research was focused: (a) othering (or the differentiation of strippers from other women); (b) sexualisation (self-worth as based on their sexuality); (c) gender performance (stripping on a spectrum of femininity), and (d) emotional work (stripping work and its emotional demands). In summary, it would seem that the strip-club is a site of both oppression and resistance, a space where women can use their sexual power for financial gain if they are willing to make compromises at work and in their personal lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a couple has a baby, one of the first significant decisions they make is who will be primarily responsible for care of that baby. Biological considerations, social norms, a range of policies, and various other structural factors have an impact on how parents make decisions regarding the care of their new-born babies, with outcomes that can be significantly gendered. In this paper, I examine the ways in which 12 Pakeha middle class heterosexual couples who were first-time parents made decisions regarding who would be their babies' primary carer, and how much leave each person would take, when their babies were born. Among those with different income levels, their decisions were rationalised on the basis of this difference. However, among those with roughly equivalent incomes, other reasons were given, including breastfeeding. In all but one case, the couples conformed to normative gendered roles, with the mothers taking extended leave and being the babies' primary carers for the first year. The effects of this on both mothers and fathers are discussed, with mothers feeling both satisfaction and constraint, and fathers being framed as 'helpers' in some instances. I conclude with suggestions as to how parental leave policies might be structured so as to minimise the 'motherhood penalty' and allow for greater gender equity in parenting, while also meeting the needs and preferences of parents themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there has been a growing body of research that claims that there is a link between abortion and mental health problems among women. While there is extensive critique of this research, there is less of an understanding of the wider social and political implications of disseminating the idea that women who have abortions are mentally troubled. This paper examines the political and performative effects of this body of psychological research that represent abortion as pathological and those who seek it as needing legal protection, focusing particularly on the context of New Zealand. A two-fold critique is developed: first, I look at the political implications of this research; namely, the way that anti-abortion groups in New Zealand have used this research to galvanise support to restrict access to abortions. Second, I also consider its performative impact, in terms of the ability for such research to be constituted as 'truth', edging out alternative explanations of women's heterogeneous experiences of abortions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the passing of the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) in 2003, New Zealand became the first country to implement a full decriminalisation of street and in-house prostitution, nationwide. As few New Zealanders have direct regular contact with prostitutes, the media has a strong role in shaping public discourse in relation to the sex industry. Using Foucauldian inspired poststructuralist analysis, from a critical feminist perspective, this paper investigates the representation of prostitution in the New Zealand print media before and after the passing of the PRA. Newspaper articles from 2000 to 2013 were analysed to identify key discursive constructions of the PRA, prostitution, sex workers, and other key players in the New Zealand sex industry. The main representations identified in the data were adult or child street prostitution, those who sell sex were always depicted as women (or girls) and those who buy sex, as men. Discussions of men who buy sex were noticeably absent, except in coverage of men who had been violent towards sex workers and men who bought sex from children. Inhouse prostitution was depicted as a more legitimate profession than street prostitution and the (street) sex worker was portrayed in disparaging ways. We conclude that although New Zealand has decriminalised prostitution, visible sex worker activity on the street continues to be deplored, due to its violation of various codes of traditional femininity and female sexuality. The media also work to individualise issues related to the sex industry, which require a more social, structural, and economic analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite strong legislative protection, sexual harassment is still prevalent in New Zealand and thus remains an impediment to the full achievement of women's human rights as well as undermining the mental and physical well-being of a woman. This paper focuses on sexual harassment in New Zealand universities. Universities are a critical part of modern society not just for teaching and research but also as a place where new generations of leaders will emerge. We undertook a survey of New Zealand university websites to test and compare the ease by which a student who thinks they may be experiencing sexual harassment, could find out about the policies and support services available to them. We highlight the failings found with many websites and make recommendations for improving access to this vital information. We argue that comprehensive sexual harassment information must be made more visible to prevent the acceptance and normalisation of sexually harassing behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents findings from my doctoral research on the medical management of intersexuality in New Zealand, as well as the type of support for intersex New Zealanders and their families. Specifically, I discuss the implications of New Zealand's small population on both medical management and undertaking research on what can be considered a rare condition and sensitive topic respectively. One such implication is that clinicians in New Zealand hospitals encounter a smaller number of intersex births compared to Australia, for example, and therefore have little experience or awareness of intersex conditions. Another implication is the difficulty of maintaining confidentiality in a small population. In New Zealand, providing anonymity is difficult compared to larger-populated countries such as the USA. I also discuss poststructuralist theorising about power structures in society -- particularly in New Zealand, where there appears to be a connection amongst every New Zealander. And while New Zealand boasts about being an accepting, egalitarian nation, my findings show that judgemental attitudes towards a lesser-known condition still exist in parts of New Zealand society. I argue that New Zealanders' connectedness contributes to maintaining power structures to silence and isolate individuals for the fear of being found out -- because their anatomies do not meet societal assumptions of male and female (binary) norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While literary analysis of Witi Ihimaera's The uncle's story (2005 [2000]) has predominantly focused on the novel's male, homosexual protagonists Sam and Michael, this article intends to put centre stage the minor, but nonetheless innovative, and highly diverse female characters of Auntie Pat, Roimata and Amiria. The complex negotiations of modern and traditional attitudes, sexualities and ethnicities, Māori heritage and Pākehā ideologies that play out with regard to these fictional personae will be taken into consideration, hence opening up a scholarly space and a potential fictional point of reference for the heterogeneity of Māori women's life worlds in contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand. Implementing the rather novel research paradigm of intersectionality in literary and cultural theory and combining it with New Zealand-specific cultural concepts, this paper aims at spiralling in and out of the complexities and intricacies of fictional representations of Māori women's identities -- focusing thus, on the auntie's story in The uncle's story. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caring for people with dementia remains gendered with women still expected to undertake much of the paid and unpaid caring work in the community. This study draws on survey and interview data collected from 48 women community workers in Alzheimers Societies throughout New Zealand. Through the lens of the women community workers the gendered expectations about paid and unpaid work are revealed. The paper argues that cultural ideas about gender differences in caring abilities have implications for women and men as the population ages and the dementia 'epidemic' impacts in New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural Safety is a significant nursing discourse in the nursing education curriculum in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, when nurses graduate and begin working in different practice settings it is only one of several competing discourses they negotiate in their daily practice. Cultural Safety, which is based on privileging the knowledge of the person who is being cared for, becomes a point of conflict within an environment where discourses of traditional nursing care and medicine compete. In this paper we examine how power relations are played out in practice settings by registered nurses who at times struggle to implement cultural safety knowledge in their work practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article critiques the work of the Ministry of Women's Affairs, using its own publications and website, evaluations of others, and my analysis and experience as a lesbian feminist economist and academic, who worked two years for MWA in 1989 and 1990. It outlines international literature on state feminism and its recent history, with MWA's survival as an independent entity being atypical. Examining MWA's effectiveness from a variety of viewpoints, it discusses the tightrope it has to walk as a policy department responsible to the Minister and government of the day committed to neoliberal policies but with strong perceived community group stakeholders. I argue that the constraints have inevitably resulted in feminists and their community organisations being often dissatisfied with MWA's work and the partially disappointing outcomes for women. My examples come largely from the labour market and unpaid work, my main areas of expertise, together with MWA's attention (or lack of it) to lesbian issues. The paper concludes by looking at the current situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite second wave feminist campaigns like 'Girls can do anything' women scientists still find that juggling career expectations with family responsibilities presents a major barrier to their full participation. History shows that scientific values and culture have been created by and for men and that women and minority groups are expected to fit in with pre-existing norms; separation of personal and professional lives should be maintained. Drawing on auto/biographies, a review of feminist science studies literature and oral history interviews with women scientists in Aotearoa/ New Zealand this paper shows that femininity and science have invariably been viewed as mutually exclusive and that the 'two body problem' is one that just 'won't go away'. Interviews reveal that women who 'succeed' as scientists are either childfree or have someone who is prepared to share family responsibilities. For most women in science, and increasingly men too, there is a continual challenge between balancing quality of life with career success. Obsolete gender norms are now commonly rejected by involved mothers and fathers, both of whom crave family-friendly policies that do not penalize them for 'doing too much childcare'. Mentoring, leadership programmes, affirmative action and work/family balance have limited utility. If true equity is to be achieved, then fathers need to share family responsibilities equally and the culture of science must change to accommodate diversity. The spotlight needs to be removed from women and focused instead on transforming science culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]