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This paper employs Johan Galtung’s (1990) typology of violence – direct, structural and cultural – as an analytical lens to examine the ways in which schools, teachers and students draw on aspects of hegemonic masculinity to establish and endorse difference between boys’ and girls’ capacities to be violent, and willfully ignore performances of violent masculinities. It focuses on school values and policies represented in disciplinary structures, contact sports, and curricular knowledges, as well as practices of students and teachers, to explore the ways in which they collectively code violence in the script of masculinity. The conclusion proposes strategies for challenging the cultural violence of hegemonic masculinity in schools.

This article is excerpted from a longer research paper and project examining moments amongst the intersections of immigrant rights, gender justice, and social change. This piece is collaboratively crafted by two Ph.D. students, one in Urban Planning and the other in Women’s Studies, as a reflection on their actions with Tod@s Somos Arizona, a grassroots collective. These excerpts emerge from experiences right before a major act of civil disobedience and the ensuing jail time. Both women identify as queer women of color who are also experimenting with a spectrum of queer as an analytic.

A Review of the Archives, Libraries, Museums, and Special Collections 2011 Conference.

A review by Jillian Beck of Thinking Gender 2011's panel "Ambiguous Rights: Gender Politics and Theory."

While feminist scholarship generally looks at Mill’s ambiguities as confusions or flaws, I suggest that Mill’s ambivalence has to be taken at face value by feminist theory.Many feminists – and particularly liberal feminists- feel that human beings cannot develop their true potential until they would live in a society where men and women have complete equality. One solution to this problem is to abolish gender roles, or to value social and legal norms because they promote gender neutrality. Because actual gender roles are shaped by patriarchy, the elimination of gender roles would open up possibilities for human emancipation. Like Mill, many feminists believe that new relationships grounded in an ideal of equality would be an outcome of dismantling and denaturalizing the idea of masculine and feminine. However, other feminists (Schwartzman, 2006; Pateman and Mills, 2007) feel that gender oppression is pervasive and that is ideal theory is not the only good response to women’s oppression. The ideal of gender equality obscures the significance and the strength of women’s subordination. For some feminists, analyses of gender inequality need to engage with actual conditions of power and oppression before designing new gender norms. The tension between representing a gender ideal and describing actual conditions of oppression is critical for feminist theory. I address this tension in my paper by investigating Mill relationship with the idea of gender and argue that Mill represents an important resource for contemporary feminists.

The Norwegian Gender Equality Act of 1978 established that “women and men shall be given equal opportunities in education, employment and cultural and professional advancement” (1978:1). However, there is still a gap between women’s entry into careers historically dominated by men. Taking the example of women pursuing doctoral degrees, there are several barriers that women face when completing their dissertation and entering the job market in academia: having fewer hours to work on their dissertation due to their duties as wives and mothers, as well as the sexist attitudes of mentors (Rogg 2001, Husu 2001, Knudsen 2002). Creating quotas for women in jobs and encouraging them to enter male‐dominated professions is not enough; the very idea that women are natural carers and men are natural workers needs to be addressed through policy initiatives (Borchorst 2008). Many policies have been implemented in the Nordic countries to dismantle the obstacles that women face in their careers, and men face in caregiving.

This review considers the literature on sexual problems, with a focus on the most prevalent sexual dysfunction among women – low sexual desire disorder. I first discuss the debates over the definition of Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) and then I consider the extent and nature of low sexual desire among women. Next I provide an overview of the underlying mechanisms that are said to account for HSDD. I end the review with a discussion of avenues for future work on sexual problems by sociologists.

Same‐sex love and desire in sex‐segregated spaces has a long history, not only in the United States but around the world, as feminist historian Leila Rupp argues in her book "Sapphistries: A Global History of Love Between Women." My paper focuses on a particularly notorious site of female same‐sex desire: the women’s college, specifically, the remaining single‐sex Seven Sisters colleges of the Eastern United States. I argue that these campuses – particularly Mount Holyoke and Smith, the primary sites of my research – have become spaces for the celebration and promotion of same‐sex desire in the 2000s. Further, I argue that these campuses serve as a case study for understanding sexual fluidity in action as well as for examining what could possibly happen if women lived in a larger social structure that promoted same‐sex sexuality and love. I ask, what can we gain for a progressive politics of sexuality if we acknowledge that these campuses both attract queer women to apply for admission based on their lesbian reputations while at the same time creating an environment that has the potential to influence and possibly shift and/or expand sexual identities?

Although the term “female sexual dysfunction” is fairly new, the medicalization of women's sexuality is not. As early as the sixteenth century, diagnosis of nymphomania was not uncommon, and the Victorian era saw a dramatic increase in the numbers of women with this “medical condition” (Groneman 1994). A canonical 1973 review of gynecology textbooks documented the profession's reliance on cultural views of women as “frigid,” and of sex and sexual pleasure as male‐centered; the authors suggest that gynecology may be “medicine practiced on women for the benefit of men” (Scully & Bart 2003: 14). While this is an oversimplification, this statement calls attention to the material and cultural biases that inform how biomedicine treats women's sexuality. Cultural and material influences on medical knowledge dominate current literature on the medicalization of female sexual dysfunction (FSD). In the twenty‐first century the pertinent influences include consumerism, privatization of medical research, and “Viagra culture.” This paper will review both feminist critiques and sociological studies of the medicalization of sex and especially female sexual dysfunction.

From the author: "For the last three years I have researched different aspects of the gender identity of bind women in Israel and representations of sight and blindness in the Israeli public sphere. In this presentation I will offer an ethnographic glance into what I call 'blind women's claim over normalcy,' and a short discussion of this idea."

This paper was presented at the 2011 Thinking Gender Conference and discusses the Argentinian branch of the organization Esras Noschim. Specifically, the paper addresses Esras Nochim's morality certification system and its effects on Jewish prostitute mothers in 1930s Buenos Aires.

This paper explores the highly gendered role of chastity (pudicitia) in the work of the Roman historian, Titus Livius. Livy, who lived from around 64 B.C.E to 12 C.E., composed a monumental work, the Ab Urbe Condita, which traced Rome's history from its mythic beginnings to 9 B.C.E. While only a fraction of the work remains, the Ab Urbe Condita provides insight into how one writer viewed Roman expansion and how he used the framework of gender to give shape to his vision of Rome's history.

This article discusses constitutional and feminist critiques of present rape shield laws in the United States, and ends with a comparative perspective throughout the Anglo-American legal space today. Finally, although the rape shield laws can be approached from a variety of discourses, this article engages specifically with a discourse that intersects legal and feminist analyses

A brief discussion of UCLA center for the Study of Women's Research Scholar Karina Eileraas' work using "American Girl and its products as a case study through which to address the fashioning and anchoring of racial and national identity in relationship to visual culture and collective memory."

Abortion-related mortality and morbidity has long been an important public health problem in Mexico. Between 1990 and 2005, abortion-related cause of maternal mortality nationally, and the third leading cause in Mexico City (Schiavon, Polo, & Troncoso, 2007). In 2006, an estimated 149,700 women were hospitalized for complications from induced abortion, a 40% increase over the number hospitalized in 1990 (Juarez et al. 2008). A key factor underlying these statistics is that abortion was, until recently, a largely illegal practice in Mexico. As a result, women faced with unintended pregnancies who wished to terminate them had to do so clandestinely often risking their health and lives. This situation led to social inequalities because it was the poorest, the least educated, the youngest, and women from indigenous backgrounds who were at highest risk for unsafe abortions, while afford safe services (Sousa, Lozano, & Gakidou, 2010).

This article focuses on the Rape Shield Laws and their evolution in the United States, one of the pioneers in this field. The article also discusses constitutional and feminist critiques of present Rape Shield Laws, and ends with a comparative perspective throughout the Anglo-American legal space today. Finally, although the Rape Shield Laws can be approached from a variety of discourses, this article engages specifically with a discourse that intersects legal and feminist analyses.

This paper presents a history and discussion of female directors in mainstream movies in the US. The author addresses the involvement of various professional organizations in Hollywood in advocating for more gender diversity in film making.

Since the release of the 1967 film classic, The Graduate, the name ‘Mrs. Robinson’ has become synonymous with older women seducing younger men. However, the historical context produces her character as much as her actions, and the way society portrays women like Mrs. Robinson changes over time. Because of cultural, political, scientific, and legal innovations, a woman today who behaves like Mrs. Robinson has different motivations and will be treated differently by society than she would have in the 1960s. Films and television shows simultaneously shape cultural norms while reflecting existing ones. Thus, depictions of real and fictional Mrs. Robinsons jointly figure her within a particular time period. This essay focuses on three disparate ways in which society has portrayed women who have sex with younger men: calculating predators, liberated role models, or troubled criminals.

The author argues that commonplace sexist practices lay the conditions for femicide and the political discourses that surround it. She examines two case studies: the over five hundred femicides that have occurred in the border city of Juarez, Mexico since 1993 and George Sodini's murder of three women in a gym in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

An overview of the performance piece "becoming transreal: a Mixed Realty, Bio Digital Performance" and accompanying panel discussion at UCLA.

A brief overview of Gloria Wekker's work in anticipation for her visit to UCLA for the Talk "Innocence Unltd." The article discusses the themes in her upcoming book "Inncovence Unltd. Intersections on Gender, Race, and Sexuality in the Dutch Cultural Archive. It also touches on her Doctoral thesis which focuses on the mati work of Afro-Surinamese working class women.

The author discusses her inspirations and inquiries for her research on the adolescent culture in Zinacantan, Mexico. She takes note of the current shift from a more family oriented society to a new model of individualism through more education and urbanization of the area in the influence of shifting gender roles amongst the local youth.

The story began in the winter of 2007 during a Critical Media Literacy course taught by Dr. Rhonda Hammer. Understanding how the media constructs images to influence and sway the public in different and politically charged ways, and identifying and critiquing those characterizations is the course's objective. As we became progressively more aware of the the influencing factors of media, we took our first step toward learning how to create film with this consciousness. Though our topic had yet to be finalized, we knew the video documentary would delve into the politics and social representations of black women, and how black women deal with their intersectional identities. The double consciousness of black women, who concurrently negotiate their race and gender, was the focus.

It seems harder and harder these days to find individual conviction in relationships pertaining to current societal events, given that so many voices on so many issues go unheard. By finding like minded people we can begin to discuss and debate a variety of dominant cultural beliefs and practices which the majority seems to accept as the norm (or what the esteemed cultural studies expert, Stuart Hall, has called common sense). In other words, there is a pressing need for courses or workshops that provide students with the opportunity to express their own concerns and help them gain the necessary critical skills.

Directing and co-producing "Commodifying Lolita: The Hypersexualization of Tweens in America" gave my group the opportunity to combine media literacy discourse, feminist theory, personal artistic expression and activism. I also learned how to use the media as a catalyst for discussion, education and social change. Examining the hypersexualization of "tweens" (girls between the ages of 8 and 12), our film reveals a connection between the hypersexualization of young girls and the prevalence of pedophilia in the U.S. Why, our film asks, does a society that claims to oppose pedophilia and child pornography market images that promote the sexual exploitation of young girls?

Making the short video documentary, "Deconstructing the Superhero: American Idols in Film" on the politics of superheros was a whirlwind experience. We learned film making techniques while expanding our analysis of popular culture, especially in relation to media constructions of masculinity. Research was situated within the historical context of film studies and included interactions with students and faculty, both inside and outside of the classroom. Our film contained both short interviews with students framed by a longer interview with Emeritus Professor John Lawrence who has written extensively on the role of superheros in American culture. We then juxtaposed these interviews with clips from a number of recent superhero films. Our documentary not only offered an entry way into video/ film making techniques, but it also encouraged a more critical view of media itself.

The two leading scholars for gender and queer studies, Susan Stryker, Associate Professor in the Gender Studies Program at Indiana University, Bloomington, and Kara Keeling, Associate Professor in the Critical Studies Program of USC's School of Cinematic Arts, were the featured speakers in the plenary session of this year's UCLA Queer Studies Conference. Organized by UCLA's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Program the annual conference showcases a rich variety of queer research and provides a chance for students, faculty and independent researchers to share work and insights. Stryker and Keeling were critical of existing paradigms or ontologies but were also optimistic, engaging with the liminal spaces of queer- and trans- potentialities situated within a broader context of current political and social discourses concerning lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities.

My group learned how current media creates problematic and often harmful stereotypes that are essentially harmful to the community. Our group decided that the central topic of our project, "Inside the Digital Closet" would be the misrepresentations of queer people in the corporate mass media. We wanted to distinguish what it means to be queer, queer theory and LBGT (Lesbian, Bi-Sexual, Gay and Transgendered)

A brief history of the Journal of Middle East Women's Studies upon its move from UCLA to Yale.

How does feminism contribute to religious revival? How does feminism impact the ways that religion is interpreted? How do the goals of self-proclaimed religious feminists compare to those who claim to be secular? This presentation will offer insight into the relationship between feminism and religious revival through evidence from contemporary Morocco. The country provides an excellent space in which to answer these questions as it has been hailed as a leader in the region in women’s rights, but recently as political Islam is on the rise and Wahhabism and Shi’ism are emerging, several Islamic and conservative groups have halted progress on these issues. My paper will explore the unique ways that feminists in Morocco have negotiated the desires of liberals and conservatives while continuing to push for and accomplish changes to public policy. I will look specifically at two policies in which feminist groups are playing a large role: the Islamic Family Code and the abortion laws. Using a textual analysis and ethnographic data collected in Morocco, I will show that many feminist groups are not calling for the abandoning of Islam, even though in global discourses women are oftentimes seen to be suppressed within Islamic ideologies. Rather, these feminists who proclaim themselves as Muslims have productively based their arguments for women’s issues in the context of the sacred books. I hope to highlight that while their methods to achieve change may differ, in reality there is little variation as to the objectives of Moroccan religious and secular feminists.

Zombie films, books, and metaphors appear to be here to stay, and this paper will go further to question the extension of the zombie metaphors into other realms. This work seeks to question whether workers in general, and specifically, sex-workers are an imagined zombie community. Do the original perceptions of the zonbi in the Haitian context mobilize this metaphor? And can the zombie metaphor be related to the literature on the subaltern, and on perceptions of modernity and coloniality?

My paper focuses on the memorialization of Stonewall through the 2009 “Rainbow Pilgrimage" campaign and the ways in which it serves to preserve and construct social memory. I am interested in the ways in which inclusion is mobilized as a technology of governance and domination, enclosing radical spaces and dreams into the fold of the state, while failing to address the needs of the communities out from which those acts of resistance and desires emerged. Finally, I plan to explore the affective responses to Stonewall and Compton's Café uprisings and how the monumentalization of sites of resistance coincides with teleological narratives in which queer insurrection and trauma are seen as vestiges of the past.

The idea that research on ethnicity and sexuality has increased, while other social science research on ethnicity has potentially decreased, suggests that there may be something unique about the intersection of ethnicity and sexuality specifically which has sparked the interest of researchers. Patricia Hill Collins supports this concept with her assertion that “sexuality can be seen as a site of intersectionality, a specific constellation of social practices that demonstrate how oppressions converge” (11). Joane Nagel also entertains this notion through her employment of the term “ethnosexual intersections,” which she uses in order to discuss the ways in which ethnicity and sexuality inscribe themselves on each other (118). Based on this understanding that sexuality may occupy a unique site for studying intersectionality, the main focus of this paper is to explore the ways in which the design, implementation, and analysis of research on Black women and masturbation in the United States may reinforce historically racist and sexist ideologies. The four studies specifically included in this analysis are as follows: “Personality Correlates of Sexual Behavior in Black Women” (Fisher, 1980), “Kinsey Revisited, Part II: Comparisons of the Sexual Socialization and Sexual Behavior of Black Women Over 33 Years” (Wyatt, Peters, & Guthrie, 1988), “Masturbation and Sexual Health: An Exploratory Study of Low Income African American Women” (Robinson, Bockting, & Harrell, 2002), and “The Use of Self-Pleasure: Masturbation and Body Image among African American and European American Women” (Shulman & Horne, 2003). Scrutinizing this research through a feminist lens, I ultimately suggest that these studies reinforce white supremacy through the invocation of a Black/White paradigm, reinforce historically racist and sexist notions of Blackness and sexuality, as well as situate the studying of the sexual practice of female masturbation within a social problems framework in order to exploit the concept of sexual deviance and construct racism and sexism.

Since the 1960s, independent women filmmakers like Chick Strand, Peggy Ahwesh, Abigail Child, Su Friedrich, and Leslie Thornton have been appropriating film footage, sometimes using appropriation to critique dominant representations of women. Leslie Thornton’s Adynata, for instance, appropriates as well as reenacts instances of the subjugation of women and their bodies by men, and her later film Another Worldy similarly uses found footage to reveal the ways in which women’s bodies are placed under the control of the male gaze in a range of historical and cultural contexts. Since these influential critiques, however, a new generation of critical appropriation filmmakers has emerged in order to challenge the persistent tropes of femininity.

In this paper, I outline the heteronormative characteristics of computer code using a Critical Code Studies approach. First, I introduce Zach Blas’ transCoder: Queer Programming Antilanguage. With this scripting bible, I interpret Julie Levin Russo’s Slash Goggles algorithm, fictional software for exploring variant romantic pair possibilities and sexual subtexts (or slashtexts) on the remake of the television program “Battlestar Gallactica.” Out of these tools, I develop a framework for viewing the heteronormative code in other functioning algorithms. Applying the tools to 2000-2001 AnnaKournikova Visual Basic Script worm, I interrogate the viral qualities of heterosocial norms. This paper also includes discussions of encryption, fan culture, and Cylons.

Past research has shown that transit passengers’ fears and concerns about safety influence their travel decisions. While the relationship between women’s fear of crime and public space has been the focus of considerable research, transit environments—which are especially threatening to female passengers—have received much less attention. This study examines the issue of women’s safety on transit through a survey of U.S. transit operators. The findings show that most respondents believe women have distinct safety and security needs, but most do not think agencies should put specific programs into place to address these needs. In addition, only a handful of agencies currently have programs that target the safety and security needs of women. This survey suggests that there is a significant mismatch between the safety and security needs and desires of female passengers and the types and locations of strategies that transit agencies use.