Search

This study presents an interdisciplinary analysis of Márcia Denser's work Diana the Huntress, focusing on the complex dynamics between desire and guilt that permeate the protagonist's journey. Utilising Freudian concepts of Eros and Thanatos, the Oedipus complex, and the compulsion to repeat, the research interprets Diana's self-destructive behaviours as expressions of unconscious conflicts and repressed desires. It incorporates Émile Durkheim's sociological theory on asceticism, considering the impact of cultural values and the internalisation of social judgements on the female psyche. This analysis reveals how the character reflects a cycle of seeking pleasure followed by emptiness and self-punishment, reinforcing a critique of the superficiality of a life guided by patriarchal norms and unfulfilled desires. By integrating psychoanalysis and sociology, the study highlights Denser's critique of the cultural oppression of female identity and the emotional void that results from it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

يحاول البحث دراسة ملامح الكتابة بالجسد في كتابات المرأة، وبخاصة أن هذه الكتابات شكلت رؤية جديدة مغايرة للكتابة في حد ذاتها، لما تتمتع به كتابتهن من وعي عميق بالجسد، ومع ازدياد كتابات المرأة التي تعلن عن جرأتها في التعامل مع الجسد وفضح المسكوت عنه والإفصاح عن العالم الداخلي، مما يحمل تحولًا وتغيرًا في التعبير عن هويتها الأنثوية، نابعًا من رفضها لأن تقف عاجزة تكتفي بقراءة ما تنتجه الكتابات عنها إلى أن تتولى زمام العملية الإبداعية، لتعبر عن وعي عميق بخصوصيتها في الإبداع الأدبي. وقد اختار البحث دراسة الأعمال الروائية للكاتبة الجزائرية فضيلة الفاروق؛ لما تميزت به تجربتها الروائية من احتفاء بتيمة الجسد وكيفية إبرازه بصورة مغايرة، تحمل الجمع بين نظرة المجتمع الذكوري في التعامل مع الجسد وبين جرأتها في التعبير والانتقال من الجسد حسيا إلى الجسد كنص، وقد حاول البحث الإجابة على مجموعة من التساؤلات، أهمها : كيف استطاعت الأعمال الروائية التعامل مع الجسد والكشف عن الهوية الأنثوية، وكيف استطاعت العبور من الوعي العميق بالجسد الأنثوي إلى كتابة الجسد نصًا، وقد اقتضى ذلك التعامل مع آليات المنهج التحليلي الوصفي، مع الاتجاه صوب النقد الثقافي؛ رغبة في فضح الصورة الذهنية الثابتة في الموروث الثقافي، وانتهى البحث إلى مجموعة من النتائج، لعل من أهمها: جرأة النصوص الروائية في التعبير عن الجسد، بصورة أخرجته من الصورة الثقافية التي عاشت داخل الموروث المجتمعي، وعدم حصره في كونه رمزا للعار أو أداة للشهوة ، بل التعامل معه كجزء من الهوية الأنثوية، التي لا يمكن حصرها في أطر أو قيود، بحكم كونها أنثى.Abstract The research attempts to study the features of writing with the body in women’s writings, especially since these writings formed a new vision different from writing itself, due to their writing’s deep awareness of the body, and with the increase in women’s writings declaring their boldness in dealing with the body, exposing what is kept secret and disclosing The inner world, which carries a transformation and change in the expression of her feminine identity, stemming from her refusal to stand helpless and content herself with reading what writings produce about her until she takes control of the creative process to express a deep awareness of its specificity in literary creativity, the current research chose to study the novels of the Algerian writer Fadela Al-Farouq. Because her novelistic experience was distinguished by her celebration of the theme of the body and how to highlight it in a different way, it carries the combination of the male society’s view of dealing with the body and its boldness in expression and the transition from the body sensually to the body as text. The research attempted to answer a set of questions, the most important of which are:How were fictional works able to deal with the body and reveal female identity, and how were they able to cross from deep awareness of the female body to writing the body in text? This required dealing with the descriptive analytical approach, and the research ended with a set of results, perhaps the most important of which is: the boldness of fictional texts in expression. About the body, in a way that removed it from the cultural image that lived within the societal heritage, and not limiting it to being a symbol of shame or a tool of lust, but rather treating it as part of the feminine identity, which cannot be confined to frameworks or restrictions, by virtue of being female.

This paper examines the emergence and evolution of the courtship novel in eighteenth-century England. Within the context of societal upheaval and growing feminist consciousness, the courtship novel served as a platform for women to explore their roles and wishes within the restraints of patriarchal society. By examining the socio-historical background, key authors and works, the paper analyses how the genre evolved from idealised romantic narratives to more complex reflections of women's experiences and ambitions. It particularly highlights the courage of pivotal female authors, such as Frances Burney, Jane Austen, and Maria Edgeworth, in shaping this subgenre and contributing to the ongoing discourse on women's rights and duties. This article concludes that the courtship novel served as a significant tool in the continuing struggle for female empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of development programs of the second Pahlavi is analyzed from an economic or political view, while they are implied in the field of culture. The Iranian woman's identity has undergone changes under the influence of these cultural development policies. In this article, we study the representation of female identity in the movies of this period with the aim of investigating the changes of that. Considering that this representation was made under the programs of capitalist development, the theoretical framework of Adorno and Horkheimer's cultural industry from the Frankfurt school was used to critically show the representation of the implications of capitalist development on the cultural industry in the cinema of this period. In accordance with the framework of the Frankfurt school, the critical discourse analysis method of Laclau and Mouffe was used to identify the discursive changes of this representation in different periods of production and distribution of cinematographic works. Based on the findings of the research, four discourses have been identified from the beginning of the second Pahlavi period to 1327, the implementation of the construction program (1327-1343), the Ministry of Mehrdad Pahlabad (1343 to 1357) and the emerging discourse of the "new wave of Iranian cinema" (1340-1357). The analysis of these discourses shows that the representation of female identity in the cinema of this period has gradually changed from the traditional veiled identity to a more naked western identity, and the latter identity has been represented as the identity of the progressive and developed class.

Feminist criticism emphasizes the position of women within society. The novel Alati Ta’ud al Salalim (She who counts the staircases) was authored by the Omani author Hoda Hamed. In her novel, she takes a critical approach to women’s position in society critically in her novel, addressingconcepts like social class inequality among women, cultural challenges they face, and masculine dominance. The present study aims to investigate this novel based on four gynocriticism models that Elaine Showalter has proposed: biological, linguistic, psychoanalytic, and cultural. The objective of this study is to provide an answer to the following inquiry: “how does the writer reflect women’s components in her novel?” She has brought up concerns regarding childbirth, female circumcision, and pregnancy, considering the biological model. In terms of the psychoanalytic model, she has made reference to bipolar disorder, obsessions, compulsions, and sleep. Hamed has produced an exemplary and enlightening piece by utilizing noticeable linguistic characteristics, including vocabulary and Arabic dialect, to address women’s concerns and cultural challenges, like women trafficking and physical abuse. According to the findings of the research, she has effectively identified women who are concerned with the social and cultural issues of women. Furthermore, its feministic nature is confirmed by the high frequency with which the components of Showalter’s model appear in the novel under study. The narrative places such an emphasis on the cultural dimension of women that fundamental and profound cultural concerns are overshadowed by biological and psychoanalytic issues.

This study examines Colombian author Gloria Susana Esquivel’s novel Animales del fin del mundo (2017). Narrated in first-person in the past tense, the novel follows seven-year-old Inés as she navigates an austere home life while also attempting to understand the urban violence that punctuates her affluent neighborhood amidst Colombia’s decades-long internal armed conflict. Caught in familial strife, yet unable to escape her home, Inés must keep to herself, often inventing imaginary friends and games to play in the absence of others. This study analyzes her invention of alter egos serving during child’s play as vehicles of self-discovery allowing her to play, converse, and find herself both literally and figuratively. Her relationship with child’s play, however, is complicated when Inés meets María, the housekeeper’s granddaughter. Though Inés initially idolizes María, admiration slowly turns to jealousy and rivalry, with their child’s play feeding Inés’s exploration of prejudice, greed, and pride. This study thus explores how Inés comes into her own voice as she begins to articulate expressions of class struggle and socioeconomic disparity between her and María through animal symbology, allowing Esquivel to push the boundaries of conventional notions of childhood innocence and female docility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the portrayal of female characters in the popular mobile game, Mobile Legends, focusing on the character Karina, and its implications for gender representation in the gaming industry and broader societal contexts. Drawing from feminist theories and semiotics by Roland Barthes, the research examines how Karina's characterization challenges or reinforces patriarchal norms within gaming narratives. The analysis delves into the appeal of Karina for both male and female players, exploring how her portrayal embodies a blend of masculine strength and feminine charm. Through the lens of feminist scholars such as Simone de Beauvoir and Spivak, the study evaluates whether Karina's depiction in Mobile Legends aligns with or counters traditional gender stereotypes, particularly regarding the perceived inferiority of women. Furthermore, the research examines the implications of Karina's characterization for players of different genders, considering how it reflects and potentially shapes broader societal attitudes towards gender roles and equality. Ultimately, the findings highlight the complex interplay between gender representation in gaming and societal perceptions, advocating for more inclusive and empowering portrayals of women in digital entertainment narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Studii de Ştiintă şi Cultură is the property of Studii de Stiinta si Cultura and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Feminist criticism emphasizes the position of women within society. The novel Alati Ta'ud al Salalim (She who counts the staircases) was authored by the Omani author Hoda Hamed. In her novel, she takes a critical approach to women's position in society critically in her novel, addressingconcepts like social class inequality among women, cultural challenges they face, and masculine dominance. The present study aims to investigate this novel based on four gynocriticism models that Elaine Showalter has proposed: biological, linguistic, psychoanalytic, and cultural. The objective of this study is to provide an answer to the following inquiry: "how does the writer reflect women's components in her novel?" She has brought up concerns regarding childbirth, female circumcision, and pregnancy, considering the biological model. In terms of the psychoanalytic model, she has made reference to bipolar disorder, obsessions, compulsions, and sleep. Hamed has produced an exemplary and enlightening piece by utilizing noticeable linguistic characteristics, including vocabulary and Arabic dialect, to address women's concerns and cultural challenges, like women trafficking and physical abuse. According to the findings of the research, she has effectively identified women who are concerned with the social and cultural issues of women. Furthermore, its feministic nature is confirmed by the high frequency with which the components of Showalter's model appear in the novel under study. The narrative places such an emphasis on the cultural dimension of women that fundamental and profound cultural concerns are overshadowed by biological and psychoanalytic issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of development programs of the second Pahlavi is analyzed from an economic or political view, while they are implied in the field of culture. The Iranian woman's identity has undergone changes under the influence of these cultural development policies. In this article, we study the representation of female identity in the movies of this period with the aim of investigating the changes of that. Considering that this representation was made under the programs of capitalist development, the theoretical framework of Adorno and Horkheimer's cultural industry from the Frankfurt school was used to critically show the representation of the implications of capitalist development on the cultural industry in the cinema of this period. In accordance with the framework of the Frankfurt school, the critical discourse analysis method of Laclau and Mouffe was used to identify the discursive changes of this representation in different periods of production and distribution of cinematographic works. Based on the findings of the research, four discourses have been identified from the beginning of the second Pahlavi period to 1327, the implementation of the construction program (1327-1343), the Ministry of Mehrdad Pahlabad (1343 to 1357) and the emerging discourse of the "new wave of Iranian cinema" (1340-1357). The analysis of these discourses shows that the representation of female identity in the cinema of this period has gradually changed from the traditional veiled identity to a more naked western identity, and the latter identity has been represented as the identity of the progressive and developed class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social identity theory argues that social creativity strategies undermine tendencies that foster social change, such as collective action orientation, and provide continuity for the existing social status system by reinforcing it. However, various findings indicate that this is not the case, at least for the strategy of “changing value of the in-group dimension”. The findings suggest that as identification with the ingroup increases, this strategy motivates individuals to engage in social competition and thus bring about social change. This study, conducted with 219 female college students in Turkey, aims to examine the mediating role of social creativity strategies in the relationship between identification with female identity and participation in collective actions intended to improve women’s social status through structural equation modeling. Political view was included in the model as a control variable to ensure that the possible relationships were not due to political view. The present study is unique in that it examines the relationship between social creativity strategies and collective action orientation, on the one hand, and reveals a new mechanism that plays a mediating role in the relationship between identification and collective action orientation, on the other. The structural equation modeling results show that changing the out-group strategy negatively predicts collective action orientation, while the new dimension and changing the values strategies predict it positively. In addition, as participants’ political views shift to the left, their collective action orientation increases. In the relationship between identification with female identity and collective action orientation, changing the out-group has a negative mediating role, while the other two strategies play a positive mediating role. These findings indicate that social creativity strategies can have important implications for collective actions aimed at reducing social inequality and increasing social status. Based on the findings, it can be said that social creativity strategies are not only cognitive strategies affirming ingroup identity and enhancing self-esteem but also instruments that reinforce or weaken collective action motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 'City upon a Hill' has always been the phrase which depicted the ideal and the perfect society the puritans sought to establish in Massachusetts, yet there can be several discrepancies noticed within their social and intellectual life and the way they dealt with the female intellectuals and poets. The current study tackles the way puritan patriarchal society marginalizes female writers and intellectuals, such as Ann Bradstreet, in a way that demolishes their identities. It also aims to depict these female intellectuals as breakers of the social norms in challenging the Puritan spiritual authority and its social system, so their writings were not valuable, and their voices were not heard. More significantly, the study shows how the social/religious conventions created within the puritan were used as a weapon against female writers. Thus, for puritans, the idea of women being writers or poets was not acceptable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the multifaceted representations of food as a symbolic medium in constructing and negotiating female identities, tracing the lineage from mythological narratives to postmodern feminist texts. By delving into the thematic intersections of food symbolism and female agency within a broad spectrum of literature, the arts, and media, the study elucidates how culinary motifs articulate power dynamics, social politics, and resistance movements. It engages with Vandana Shiva’s critique of global food politics in Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply (2000), and Michaela DeSoucey’s analysis of culinary resistance in Contested Tastes: Foie Gras and the Politics of Food (2016). Furthermore, it highlights the contributions of Jessica B. Harris in High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America (2011), illustrating the profound connection between gastronomy, identity politics, and the feminist movement. Employing a multidisciplinary approach, the research juxtaposes mythological depictions of women as nurturers and providers with postmodern representations that challenge and subvert traditional roles through culinary metaphors. It highlights the evolution of female identities from passive subjects of mythic lore to active agents of feminist resistance, underscoring the transformative power of food imagery in articulating and contesting gender norms. Furthermore, it examines how contemporary feminist narratives harness the symbolism of food to critique societal structures, thereby reinforcing the connection between gastronomy and the politics of identity. By analyzing the contributions of scholars like Carole Counihan, and Penny Van Esterik in Food and Culture: A Reader (2013) and the critical perspectives offered by Arlene Voski Avakian and Barbara Haber in From Betty Crocker to Feminist Food Studies (2005), the article reveals the nuanced ways food serves as a vehicle for exploring and asserting female identities across temporal and cultural divides. It contributes to the broader discourse on gender, power, and resistance by showcasing the enduring relevance of food symbolism in the ongoing struggle for female autonomy and empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the concept of identity in Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar and explores the definition of female identity from the point of view of the self and by the public. Different approaches to defining female identity are examined by comparing studies on gender theories and analysing the roles of women in the period of the 1950s. The study takes into account the personal life of Sylvia Plath, focusing on several works written by close friends or experts and using Plath's own thoughts and comments from her journals and personal diaries. The next part of the paper outlines the similarities between Plath's life experiences and her most famous character, Esther Greenwood in The Bell Jar. Using direct quotes from the novel, the paper focuses on how identity is formed and then shattered in a society where women had to follow strict rules without the opportunity to experience life on their own, through their own choices. The final part of the study presents the findings of an in-depth analysis, the aim of which was to show what the consequences of a deeply repressed individual identity can be, and how much damage can be done to someone's mental state by hiding behind masks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventionally singled out of the class of antidepressants, Prozac is further associated in what follows with poetic activity in terms of postmodern female identity. The two women under consideration, Liza Porter and Martha Silano, are lost and adrift in their stressed-out dysfunctional families, not in the least because of their mood disorders, major depression and respectively postpartum psychosis. Psychotherapy turning out to be inefficient for them in the long run, antidepressants or rather a combination of them come into play, and they restore a sense, even if more or less altered, of some poetic identity. In their interviews, they actually admit they are both cases of a definite progress from non-poetry to poetry. We will take either at her word, intent as we are on relating poet restoration to human recuperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Katabasis represents a narrative trope which refers to the hero’s journey into the underworld, a descent into the realm of the dead, and whose presence can be found across the world, from ancient mythologies to contemporary literature. The aim of this paper is to point to the possibility of reading Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale as a katabatic narrative, more precisely as a variation of the archetypal hero’s journey into the underworld, where, instead of the land of the past, the descent is directed towards a dystopian future and where, instead of a mythical superhero, the protagonist is a modern-day heroine. Having already tackled the subject of Western capitalism governed by patriarchal power relations, its obsession with controlling nature, especially the process of reproduction, and the ensuing feminist descent from it, in The Handmaid’s Tale Atwood adjusts and adapts the dynamic topos of the katabasis so as to suit the contemporary reality and modern traumas. She presents a female narrator, a superheroine, trapped within the boundaries of a claustrophobic world, where women live subjugated and segregated by the oppressive male regime. Following the generic features of the term katabasis, the paper analyses the katabatic experience of Offred in the Republic of Gilead, a topos of Hell in not such a distant future, where the past has been erased and the citizens, especially the female ones, have been denied any right to identity and individuality. As there are numerous instances of carnivalesque elements, it is possible to approach the community of Gilead from the perspective of the carnivalization of the katabasis, both in the way it was defined by Mikhail Bakhtin and in a modern rendition explained by Linda Hutcheon, i.e. both a positive and an ironizing version of the concept.

Copyright of Social Sciences Studies is the property of Social Sciences Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article draws a parallel between the two “récits de formation” that can be found, respectively, in Émile and in La Nouvelle Héloïse. In the pedagogical treatise, Sophie is presented to the reader as someone naturally endowed with the social and psychological characteristics functional to her encounter with Émile, and the story ends with the description of the two young people’s conjugal happiness. The novel, on the other hand, takes Julie on a painful journey of amorous sublimation and renunciation; despite its stated aims, the work culminates in the protagonist’s death and the desolation of all the other characters. From this point onwards, we can see that, as far as the theme of formation is concerned, the novel elaborates a vision of things that is much more complex than the one developed by the pedagogical discourse: Julie’s final death belies the possibility of the formative journey of a woman who has renounced love-passion in order to sublimate it into family and social love, according to the thesis of the Émile. What Rousseau maintains as a philosopher he disavows as a novelist.

This study aims to analyze the use of dramatic monologue in constructing female identity in the poems "Xantippe" by Amy Levy and "Faded" by Augusta Webster. In this sense, this study has dual layers, which aim to complicate the general realisation of the dramatic monologue by focusing on the women poets' monologues having an important place in the tradition of form, and to foreground Victorian women poets' construction of feminine identity by using the dramatic monologue. The analysis of poems displays that women poets, Augusta Webster and Amy Levy challenged Victorian female identity, which imprisoned women in the Victorian ideal female image, and represented women's identity as free from male identity by violating Victorian gender norms. Thanks to dramatic monologues that provide a large horizon of female characters, from the mythological wife to the old spinster, Levy and Webster question, protest, revise, and criticise societal perception of women and cultural expectations from women. In this way, the analysis of Webster's and Levy's dramatic monologues as a medium for constructing female identity allows us to discover the worlds of women under the social pressure of their age, as well. Moreover, while they are exemplifying the new image of women, they are touching on a common issue of all Victorian suppressed women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies on anthropogonic myths and on the origins of patriarchy agree in pointing out that the myth of Adam and Eve is one of the most influential in shaping the identity and destiny of women in Western civilization. This paper analyzes a corpus of literary works from the 20th and 21st century written by Spanish and Latin American women writers that offer a female vision of the myth. By transferring the voice to Eve, they rewrite the plot and redefine the characters. The article focuses on the analysis of two of the modifications that these works, manifestly hypertextual, introduce with respect to the hypotext: Eve's perspective and voice, and the transformation of the story of the creation of the primordial couple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Women comprise one of the major population groups of any society that have been studied separately in recent decades due to their specific sexual, social, economic, and cultural traits. They make up half of the country's population, so their potential abilities and injuries should not be neglected. Identity is a complex concept in social sciences that it is very difficult to reach a consensus on its definition. The aim of this study was to explore female identity through the systematic review of the literature. Methods: This was a systematic review in which the sources addressing female identity and its characteristics available in credible Persian and English databases were analysed. Then an operational definition was provided for the concept under study. To analyse the data, the text of each source was read carefully, and each sentence, phrase, or words contributing to the meaning, definition, attributes, and measurement of the concept were collected in a separate Microsoft Word file. In the next step, the data collected were coded and finally categorized. Results: The features of the concept of female identity in reproductive health appeared in three themes: Adaptation to the changes of the identity concept based on individual, temporal, and spatial conditions, facing life crises, and peace arising from constructive interactions. Conclusions: Female identity in reproductive health" is a dynamic, complex, and multidimensional concept comprising a set of characteristics, including adaptation with the changes of the concept of identity based on individual, temporal, and spatial circumstances, encountering life crises, and peace arising from constructive interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social Sciences & Humanities Studies / Društvene i Humanističke Studije (DHS) is the property of Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, University of Tuzla and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this article titled "Truly Victoria: A journey towards her origins," the author Virginia Lárez Cotúa examines the sources of identity construction in a psychoanalytic process through the analysis of an adult patient named Victoria. The analysis of the patient is reviewed through the transference and countertransference movements that occur in the analytic process and reveal the construction of identity through the analysis of her origins with the analyst. The importance of emotional and physical support provided by the mother for the baby to acquire their own singularity and become an independent subject is highlighted. Additionally, the importance of internal space and the mother's capacity for containment in the construction of female identity is mentioned. The text also addresses the relationship between the analyst and the patient and the importance of establishing boundaries in the analytic process. In conclusion, it is emphasized that the analysis of origins can provide the patient with a sense of continuity and structure in their psyche. [Extracted from the article]

This paper focuses on the character of the queen Elizabeth I of England in La española inglesa in contrast to Isabela, her protagonist. First, a critical review of the interpretations of the novel that observe the tolerance of the sovereign is realized. Hereafter, based on the analysis of this character appearances, it proposes that the figure of the queen is not completely positive, but has negative connotations. Finally, it concludes that the principal character it does not build as a direct reflection of the queen, but she develops her female condition, her religiosity, and her sexuality in an opposite manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women comprise one of the major population groups of any society that have been studied separately in recent decades due to their specific sexual, social, economic, and cultural traits. They make up half of the country's population, so their potential abilities and injuries should not be neglected. Identity is a complex concept in social sciences that it is very difficult to reach a consensus on its definition. The aim of this study was to explore female identity through the systematic review of the literature. This was a systematic review in which the sources addressing female identity and its characteristics available in credible Persian and English databases were analyzed. Then an operational definition was provided for the concept under study. To analyze the data, the text of each source was read carefully, and each sentence, phrase, or words contributing to the meaning, definition, attributes, and measurement of the concept were collected in a separate Microsoft Word file. In the next step, the data collected were coded and finally categorized. The features of the concept of female identity in reproductive health appeared in three themes: adaptation to the changes of the identity concept based on individual, temporal, and spatial conditions, facing life crises, and peace arising from constructive interactions. Female identity in reproductive health is a dynamic, complex, and multidimensional concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most contested concepts of race, gender, class have an adverse effect in the lives of millions of people throughout the history. In White America, if Afro-American men suffer on the grounds of their skin colour, Black women are the victims of both gender and race. It is also interesting to note that race, gender and class-the three major sources of oppression of Black Americans in America are not separate entities but intertwined and closely linked with each other. Many a Black writer attempts to express the oppression faced by both Afro-American men and women in their book of art where "Literature has become an important vehicle to represent the social context, to expose inequality racism and social injustice". Morrison examines and analyses the social conditions that prevailed during 1960s in America and scrutinizes the problem of growing up black and female in a society which equates beauty with blue eyed whiteness in her first novel 'The Bluest Eye' The present paper is an attempt to explore the issue of Afro American female identity in Toni Morrison's The Bluest eye and explain the triple jeopardy-racism, sexism and classism the three forms oppression portrayed in the novel for the victimization of the major character-Pecola. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescent motherhood raises questions that are always current and transversal in socio-cultural contexts as South American countries facing birth policies. It expresses a fundamental dimension of sexuality that needs to be analyzed from a clinical and cultural point of view in the educational field. Based on a research experience carried out in Colombia, this article analyzes the psychic, intersubjective and cultural stakes of the relationship to contraception and motherhood during adolescence, in the face of the medical and educational discourse on family planning and, in the background, on the voluntary interruption of pregnancy. Through certain themes, female subjects express themselves in their relationships with others, with parents before sexual partners, defying health and academic knowledge and discourse, in the cultural contexts of socalled "southern" countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) occurs in women before the age of 40. Although the outcomes of POI in women include its adverse effects on general health, sexual-reproductive health, and finally reduced quality of life. One of the first adverse consequences is a threat to female identity of the patients. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the perception and experience of women with POI about female identity. Methods: In this qualitative study, interviews were conducted with 15 women having POI. Data included participants' recorded voices that were analyzed using conventional content analysis. Results: After content analysis of the interviews with a focus on the perception and experience of women with POI about female identity, four categories emerged; they included the failure in realization of motherhood dream, the importance of menstruation, construction of female identity, and attempts to normalize the situation. Conclusion: After analyzing the emerged categories obtained by interviewing with POI women, it seems that physicians need to pay special attention to the distortion of the female identity of these patients and educate the medical team about the importance of the effect of treatment on improving their emotional health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Campbell (1990) argues that the myth is present in social actions in which man cannot understand and/or resolve through rationality. Durand (1998) corroborates this theory by stating that human thought is a representation of symbolic articulations. When there are problem-situations, man often takes possession of symbolic representations and myth, in order to seek clarifications that guide him in the understanding of interpersonal relationships. Based on these theoretical assumptions, the objective of this research is organized, which aims to make a literary analysis from the interpretative reading of the social role of the Amazonian myth to explain the behaviors and characteristics of the character Dinaura - associated with the hybrid figures that live in the rivers of Manaus by the narrator of Orphans of Eldorado (2015) by Milton Hatoum, to justify his love frustrations and masculine legitimation in the face of female non-domination. Therefore, this investigation started from a bibliographic theoretical-methodological procedure of literature review of authors such as those already mentioned, in addition to others that contributed to the foundation of the argument that in the narratives of a writer like Hatoum, sculptor of novels by an engaged and critical political-social Literature, there are also themes with an approach to the Amazonian myth in his work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of F@ro: Revista Teórica del Departamento de Ciencias de la Comunicación y de la Información is the property of Universidad de Playa Ancha de Ciencias de la Educacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A correlation between media, gender identity and society is central in this information era. Gender and sexuality has seen a paradigm shift in recent decades, making female representation a subject of several cultural studies. International media contributed to shaping women's identity and impacting social construction. The aim of this study was to analyse the role played by international media organisations like Netflix through the lens of Systematic Functional Linguistics (SFL). In order to offer an in-depth analysis of the female identity, the study opted for a qualitative research method using discourse analysis and a systematic literature review to achieve the research objectives. The findings of the study demonstrated that Netflix, as an international media organisation, has been using a biased representation of female characters where the major focus has been led on the overt masculinity of white female characters. The study used contextuality to study two recently released Netflix original series Sex Education and Ginny and Georgia. Further, to achieve the second objective of the study, semantics analysis was conducted to review the studies published by previous scholars. The findings of the study further demonstrated the stereotypical representation of the female protagonists portrayed by Netflix and other international media organisations. Additionally, the study offered a further analysis of Systematic Functional Linguistics to study the language used for shaping female identity on a global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rivista Italiana di Filosofia Politica is the property of Firenze University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Erciyes Communication / Erciyes İletişim Dergisi is the property of Erciyes University, Faculty of Communication / Erciyes Universitesi Iletism Fakultesi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Miscelánea: A Journal of English & American Studies is the property of Miscelanea: A Journal of English & American Studies and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Signa is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper examines gender and relational issues in the amorous and family context in Tre donne. Una storia d’amore e disamore of Dacia Maraini. Through mythological and literary antecedents, the author analyzes with a lively irony the male / female relationship, the mother-daughter bond, the generational conflict, the female genealogy, the sentimental ambivalence and she interprets the archetypes of the Feminine and the Great Mother, the antithesis life / death, the double, the birth, the female identity. The critical analysis, which also recognizes autobiographical motifs, makes use of psychoanalytic, psychological, theoretical and literary references.

The article analyses how Doris Lessing's short story To Room Nineteen (1963) is a particularly relevant case study because it stages the crisis of language and the very possibility of adopting the realist fiction by inscribing them in the crisis of a female character who questions the traditional roles socially attributed to women. The essay opens with an exploration of Lessing's literary background and her complex relationship with the Marxist literary theories of the 1940s and continues with a close-reading of the text to show how the textual strategy of employing madness, the protagonist's silence and her final suicide are used a form of resistance to speak out against the phallus-logic-centric symbolic order by questioning the mimetic quality of language. The article concludes with an analysis of the chronotope of the room to show the intertextual dialogue with the works of Charlotte Brontë, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Virginia Woolf and Jean Rhys that allow Lessing's short story to be placed within a feminist genealogical approach.

After the release of the album Bangerz (2013) the teen idol Miley Cyrus has reshaped her image becoming in few months an "over the top" celebrity. With the mise en scène of visual excess during her live shows, but also with her scandalous manners on her social profiles (smoking drugs or simulating sexual acts), she has tried to avoid the image of the ordinary girl that has characterized the previous part of her career, when she was enrolled by Disney for the sitcom, Hannah Montana, redefining her identity as an alternative girl, and pornifing her innocent imagine to become a fetishized icon, going beyond the normalized and controlled gender. As the result of a soft porn pastiche where Camp and queer elements are combined together producing a carnivalesque excess, she has (re)designed the female body, subverting the idea of the objectified and commodified woman through self-mocking attitude and wearing ironic and iconic outfits that mix different styles and cultures, basing her live performances to highlight the question about gender fluid and sexual freedom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study analyzes discursive practices that work to construct particular female identities and re/construct gender inequalities in Turkish educational system. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) was utilized to analyze 124 publicly available educational policy documents directly related to gender in education. Additionally, CDA was applied to a total of 252 Turkish newspaper clippings published over the last decade in 14 different national newspapers. Analysis of the data was used to critically examine perceptions of teachers regarding gender issues in education. A total of 13 semi-structured interviews with teachers working at public schools in Ankara province were conducted for this purpose. The analysis describes the effects of discourse produced by and through the framing of policies and educational practices that shape Turkish social identities. Specific discursive effects examined include the construction and normalization of a female identity that is inferior, submissive, and conservative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Oikos: Lithuanian Migration & Diaspora Studies is the property of Lithuanian Emigration Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Philological Review (00151807) is the property of University of Belgrade, Faculty of Philology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: In Latin America, more than 80% of adolescent girls are physically inactive. Inactivity may be reinforced by female stereotypes and objectification in the Latin American sociocultural context. Methods: We examined the influence of objectification on the adoption of an active lifestyle among 192 adolescents (14 and 17 years old) from urban and rural areas in Costa Rica. Analyses of 48 focus-groups sessions were grounded in Objectification Theory. Results: Vigorous exercises were gender-typed as masculine while girls had to maintain an aesthetic appearance at all times. Adolescents described how girls were anxious around the prospect of being shamed and sexually objectified during exercises. This contributed to a decrease in girls' desire to engage in physical activities. Among males, there is also a budding tolerance of female participation in vigorous sports, as long as girls maintained a feminine stereotype outside their participation. Conclusion: Self-objectification influenced Costa Rican adolescent girls' decisions to participate in physical activities. Interventions may include: procuring safe environments for physical activity where girls are protected from fear of ridicule and objectification; sensitizing boys about girl objectification and fostering the adoption of a modern positive masculine and female identities to encourage girls' participation in sports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, depicts the struggle of a woman in search of her own identity and her desire to liberate from the Angel vs Monster dichotomy imposed by society. Esther Greenwood is torn between her mother, who wants her to become an Angel and her vocation as a female writer, more compatible with the Monster. As she encounters different women who represent these archetypes in New York, Betsy and Doreen, her division of the self grows prominent in her life. This paper aims to undertake an analysis on Esther's struggle to find herself in this dichotomy and how the displacement that she suffers while failing to identify with neither of the binaries available is the main cause of her mental illness. Esther cannot be categorized as neither Angel or Monster, but still, society's fixation on erasing women's dichotomization of identity force her to choose between one of them. As there is no placement in society for a woman who does not complain with either one side or the other of the identity spectrum, Esther must leave the mental asylum as either a reformed Angel or a Monster in disguise in order to continue with her life, eliminating every trace of binarism in the female identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Second World War which lasted from 1939-1945 left a deep dent in the lives of many victims in the world. The four-year Japanese rule in Malaya created a permanent scar in the hearts of the Malayans which lingered on even after many decades. The sufferings of the Malayan people under the inhuman Japanese army are clearly depicted in the two novels selected for this research, Rani Manicka's The Rice Mother (2002) and The Japanese Lover (2010). The novels are about how women are subjected to the effects of war during the Japanese occupation, the pain of separation from a mother and her child, and the challenges a woman goes through to survive within a community. Manicka has used the Japanese occupation in Malaya as part of the settings for both novels. The characters will be studied under the light of trauma theory to highlight the irreparable damages caused by war on the psyche and the emotions of the characters as portrayed in the two novels. Trauma describes experiences that are emotionally painful and distressing whereby the victims face the inability to cope with life and it leaves behind a fundamental life-altering effect. This study aims to highlight the atrocities of the Japanese army in Malaya by studying the female characters in the selected novels. Secondly, this study will analyze the damages brought by the war to the female characters in the novels using the trauma theory and finally show how the war left a permanent damage in the lives of the female victims. The novelist highlights the injustices done to women in such societies and how they suffer even more after colonization. This double marginalization shatters and traumatizes the female identities. Therefore, this article will further break down the coping mechanisms used by the female characters to survive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marie-Luise Kohlke’s concept of neo-Victorian ‘sexsation’ characterises the project of contemporary novelist Sarah Waters to explore sensational representations of the Victorians’ sexual lives. In Fingersmith, Waters re-imagines patriarchal Victorian pornography rife with masculine stereotypes of male domination and female subjugation embodied in the pornographic archive of Mr Lilly. Subverting the structures of subjugation, however, she describes Maud and Susan’s own discovery of lesbian sexuality; a sexual awakening accompanied with Maud’s journey towards literary creativity for she eventually emerges as a writer of erotica in her own right, thus recalling New Woman figures of the 1890s. The aim of this essay will be first to explore how such a sexsational narrative enables a radical revision of patriarchal discourses on sexuality. Then we shall examine to what extent Waters’s plot of lesbian creativity is indebted to the artist’s novel of the 1890s and to the late-Victorian New Woman novel. With its emphasis on ‘dissident’ sexualities and woman’s emancipation through writing, can Waters’s Fingersmith be considered as neo-New Woman fiction?

In this report I describe the considerations that went into my choosing a profession as doctor and psychoanalyst. I had never really thought about it so deeply, and was surprised myself to discover that it involved a complex process with many influences, turning points and inspirations from the widest possible range of people from my social environment. I start with my childhood and youth, the effects of female role definitions in the post-war period, the parentification but also promotion by my parents, the stabilizing, continuous relationships in the kindergarten and school, the sense of rootedness in a place, the early interest in people and their history, the first encounter with the writings of Freud. The choice of medicine as a study subject after finishing school was partly due to paternal influence, but was also an active, conscious decision linked with the idea of being able to practice a worthwhile, self-determined profession as a doctor. I also talk about the discovery of the areas of psychiatry, psychosomatics and psychoanalysis which became for me determining and fulfilling in the area of medicine, but also brought difficult phases of conflict due to hierarchical structures and the then still existing disharmony between the various disciplines. For me, however, the importance of the trench wars has faded today, including those of the psychotherapeutic institutions with which I was later confronted. What appears most important to me in the meantime is that psychotherapy and psychoanalysis – starting from a psychology of the unconscious and the drives – have become more a psychology of the relationship. This brings me to the conclusion in the final reflection on the numerous changes on my professional career path that I could only become what I have become with the help of reference persons who stimulated, confronted and supported me. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Historia y Politica: Ideas, Procesos y Movimientos Sociales is the property of Departamento De Historia del Pensamiento y de los Moviemientos Sociales y Politicos (Madrid) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)