Gender Studies - Page 3

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

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Gender Queer: A Memoir. Author: Maia Kobabe. Publication Date: 2019. Pages: 240. Publisher: Lion Forge. ISBN: 978-1-5493-0400-2.

Reviewed by
Anjitha Tom  
Christ (Deemed to be University)

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 15, Issue 4, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n4.r01
[First published: 20 October 2023.]
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Gender Queer: A Memoir is one of the most challenged books in the US since its publication in 2019. The life and creative expressions of Maia Kobabe, an American cartoonist, serve to challenge the conventional heterosexual coherence that our society is built upon. Through eir work Gender Queer: A Memoir which is presented in graphic format, Maia recounts eir experiences during childhood and adolescence, grappling with uncertainties surrounding gender identity, sexuality, and the process of coming out. The memoir is composed of a retrospective standpoint after Maia has come to embrace a non-binary, genderqueer identity and identifies as asexual. Keep Reading

Baby Boom amidst Covid-19 Pandemic: of Unwilling Fathers, Painful Motherhood and Poverty in Ozuitem Rural Community, Southeast Nigeria

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Victor Okoro Ukaogo1    & Ogechi Cecilia Ukaogo2
1,2 University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 15, Issue 3, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.32
[Article History: Received: 28 July 2023. Revised: 25 Sept 2023. Accepted: 26 Sept 2023. Published: 28 Sept 2023.]
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Abstract

This study interrogates the socio-economic outcomes of the COVID-19 lockdown especially the unexamined theme of the baby boom and unrestrained sexual behavior of teenagers in Ozuitem rural community, Abia State southeast Nigeria. It contends that although the lockdown restricted movements by keeping nearly everybody at home, it inadvertently provided opportunities for the predictably idle teenagers to grow their sexual appetite and experiment with their bodies. This yielded unwilling fathers and painful motherhood. With thirty-five (35) teenage mothers and a colony of male partners as of December 29, 2020, what appeared as a sex bazaar in a sleepy rural community clearly put UNICEF’s prediction of a massive baby boom for Africa between now and 2050 in sharper perspective. Using an admixture of oral interviews, participant-observer method and secondary sources, the study yielded curious and bizarre outcomes particularly the demography of the unwilling fathers, inappropriate rural perceptions and unpalatable insight into the future of the community and the wider society. To achieve this, newspapers, interviews, archival materials and other extant secondary sources have been used for data collection, analysis and the interpretation of results. The paper employs the qualitative method of analysis.

Keywords: Baby Boom, COVID-19, Unwilling Fathers, Teenage Motherhood, UNICEF, Africa.

Sustainable Development Goals: Gender Equality, Good Health and Well-being, Reduced Inequalities
Citation: Ukaogo, Victor Okoro & Ogechi Cecilia Ukaogo. 2023 Baby Boom amidst Covid-19 Pandemic: of Unwilling Fathers, Painful Motherhood and    Poverty in Ozuitem Rural Community, Southeast Nigeria. Rupkatha Journal 15:3. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.32 

Ecotopia: Ecological Concerns and Alternate Womanspace in Select Novels of Ursula K. Le Guin

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Asish Kr. Charan & Tanu Gupta
1,2Chandigarh University, Punjab, India. 

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 15, Issue 3, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.28
[Article History: Received 10 June 2023. Revised: 17 Sept 2023. Accepted: 18 Sept 2023. Published: 20 Sept 2023.]
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Abstract:

The term ecotopia draws attention to the etymological link between utopia and ecologism, which emphasizes the importance of maintaining a sustainable relationship with the natural world in the context of an ideal egalitarian society. Literary utopias aim to evoke a longing for a society that differs from the present, playing a crucial role in breaking free from conventional thinking and envisioning alternatives to oppressive social institutions. The concept of green utopias is unthinkable without radical social reforms and changes in culture and lifestyle. Feminist ecotopia proposes a gendered deconstruction and reconstruction of a green utopian society. In her ecotopian novels Always Coming Home and Tehanu, Ursula K. Le Guin explores the relationship between ecologism and utopia. The structure of these novels frequently exhibits an ecotopian sensibility, while their content emphasizes the process of creating a better society. Le Guin’s transgressive concept of utopia and ecology seeks to challenge and subvert the ideological frameworks that support materialist and dominant patriarchal conceptions. It provides feminist writers with a distinct space to imagine transgressive and oppositional ecotopian alternatives, where mothering-related myths and femininized characteristics are valued. This paper delves into how Le Guin’s utopian novels interrogate and deconstruct powerful patriarchal structures, creating a cultural space for women to imagine transgressive and oppositional ecotopian alternatives.

Keywords: Ecotopia, Utopia, Ecology, Feminist Utopia, Terraforming, Yin-Yang, Daoism   

Sustainable Development Goals: Gender Equality, Life on Land
Citation: Charan. Asish Kr. & Tanu Gupta. 2023. Ecotopia: Ecological Concerns and Alternate Womanspace in Select Novels of Ursula K. Le Guin. Rupkatha Journal 15:3. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.28 

Keeping Myth Memory Alive: The Usual and the Unusual in Sudha Murty’s Unusual Tales Series

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Susan Lobo
Associate Professor, Department of English, St. Andrew’s College of Arts, Science, and Commerce

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 15, Issue 3, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.27
[Article History: Received: 12 June 2023. Revised: 10 Sept 2023. Accepted: 11 Sept 2023. Published: 12 Sept 2023]
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Abstract  
If myth is vital to a community, its memory must be kept alive. But how, is the question? Is it always prudent to remain faithful to the ‘original’ version of the received myth, or is it desirable to tamper with, or destabilize, the source myth? In India, mainstream versions of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata have long been disrupted by folk, feminist, and queer adaptations. Reversions of these oral, transhistorical master narratives of Hinduism have made a resurgence in a post-independence India that is precariously perched between tradition and modernity, and hence more acutely desirous that its children veer closer to their roots, or so the flourishing market for myth retellings for children suggests. Amongst this incandescent body of literature is Sudha Murty’s series of five books that revisits popular stories about the gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon — The Serpent’s Revenge: Unusual Tales from the Mahabharata (2016), The Man from the Egg: Unusual Tales about the Trinity (2017), The Upside Down King: Unusual Tales about Rama and Krishna (2018), The Daughter from a Wishing Tree: Unusual Tales about Women in Mythology (2019), and The Sage with Two Horns: Unusual Tales from Mythology (2021). This paper explores how these tales of antiquity, refracted and reconstructed through the author’s own personal memory, intersect with the more public and collective myth memory of the community. In reviewing Murty’s retrieval of myths by reimagining and re-situating the ‘evidentiary traces’ of myth in the here and now for the children of today, it interrogates how, if at all, the retold myths counter the metanarratives of gender, religion, culture and perhaps, history too. Finally, it argues that the genre of myth retelling must go beyond simply reviving myth memory to destabilizing myth by ‘fiddling ‘with the sacred, especially when adapted for children.

Keywords: destabilization, evidentiary traces, myth memory, myth retelling
Sustainable Development Goals: Gender Equality
Citation: Lobo, Susan, 2023. Keeping Myth Memory Alive: The Usual and the Unusual in Sudha Murty’s Unusual Tales Series. Rupkatha Journal 15:3. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.27

Socio-cultural practices and stress among working mothers of underage children in the Public Universities of Nigeria

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Ngozi Christina Nwadike 1, John Thompson Okpa 2, Nnana Okoi Ofem 3, Benjamin Okorie Ajah 4, Uzochukwu Chukwuka Chinweze 5, Isife, Chima Theresa6
1,3 Department of Social Work, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
 2 Department of Sociology, University of Calabar, Nigeria
3 Department of Social Work, University of Calabar, Nigeria
4 Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka:
5 Social Sciences Unit, School of General Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka
6Institute for Development Studies, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, Nigeria

Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 15, Issue 3, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.22
[Article History: Received: 18 June 2023. Revised: 30 August 2023. Accepted: 1 September 2023. Published: 4 September 2023]
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Abstract

The study examined the sociocultural factors that bring about stress to working mothers of underage children at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka by recruiting 504 academic and non-academic staff.  To assess the study variables in a cross-sectional survey, a questionnaire, and an in-depth interview schedule were employed in collecting data from working mothers of underage children in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The Chi-square (?2) statistical analysis indicated that there is a significant relationship between the husband’s attitude towards domestic duties and the stressful experience of working mothers with underage children. The data also demonstrated that there is no statistically significant relationship between the husband’s educational status and the stressful experience of working mothers with underage children. The study concluded that the husband’s attitude is a significant predictor of working mothers of underage children’s stress experience. It was, therefore, recommended that policies should be enacted by the Nigerian government and enforced in public sectors to enhance ‘favorable’ working conditions for working mothers of underage children. This should include an extension of maternity leave to at least six months, less demanding/accommodative job times, and assigned duties in tunes that do not compromise the ethos of a given profession.

Keywords: Stress, working mothers, underage children, husband’s attitude towards domestic duties
Sustainable Development Goals: Reduced Inequalities, Gender Equality, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Citation: Nwadike, Ngozi Christina, John Thompson Okpa, Nnana Okoi Ofem, Benjamin Okorie Ajah, Uzochukwu Chukwuka Chinweze, Isife, Chima Theresa. 2023. Socio-cultural practices and stress among working mothers of underage children in Nigeria Public Universities. Rupkatha Journal 15:3. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.22 

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Born twice: A redemptive revisioning uncovering the metaphors of representation

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 Anu Mathai 1 & Rolla Das 2
1,2Department of English, Christ Junior College IBDP, Christ (Deemed to be University) Bangalore, India
Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 15, Issue 3, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.19
[Article History: Received: 10 July 2023. Revised: 25 August 2023. Accepted: 27 August 2023. Published: 28 August 2023]
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Abstract

The graphic narrative space is a complex labyrinth of nested stories subtly holding a tension between the visual and the verbal metaphors of representation. Every narrative canvas opens up possibilities of new ways of metaphorical seeing, unravelling the encoded signs of the dominant and the popular. Challenging and dissenting the normative ideas of gender representations, the graphic medium becomes a space to interrogate how the revisioned perspectives from the margins, embody a subversive voice to reclaim and reaffirm identity. This research paper aims to unfold the poetics of metaphorical representation in retellings and how the unconventional visual and verbal underscores an agency and voice to the female characters in the studied graphic narratives. The analysis will uncover how a revisioning of the aesthetics of the visual, the landscape of the mythological and the politics of the contemporary can subvert the traditional discourses that promote a conventional or hegemonic worldview. The paper situates Saraswati Nagpal’s Sita; Daughter of the Earth, Sibaji Bandyopadhyay and Sankha Banerjee’s Panchali: The Game of Dice and Priya’s Mirror by Paromita Vohra and Ram Devineni in the cultural milieu of graphic content that encourages new ways of metaphorical seeing amid the precariousness of identity, ideology and agency of the mythical women characters.

Keywords: Graphic narratives, mythology, postmodern feminist narratives.
Sustainable Development Goals: Reduced Inequalities, Gender Equality, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Citation: Mathai, Anu, Rolla Das. 2023. Born twice: A redemptive revisioning uncovering the metaphors of representation. Rupkatha Journal 15:3. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.19

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Representing Gender Equality through Advertisements from the Electronic Media: A Study in Discourse Analysis

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Shubham Pathak 1, Swasti Mishra2 & Ipsita Mondal3
1,2Indian Institute of Technology, BHU, Varanasi (U.P.), India
3Burdwan, Kolkata, mondal.ipsitamimi@gmail.com
Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 15, Issue 3, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.18
[Article History: Received: 09 February 2023. Revised: 23 August 2023. Accepted: 27 August 2023. Published: 28 August 2023]
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Abstract

Television advertisements play a significant role in shaping societal norms and values, particularly regarding gender roles and expectations. In India, where television is a major source of entertainment and information for many people, the portrayal of gender in television advertisements can significantly impact how gender is perceived and performed in society. This study attempts to understand and define the equality of gender roles in advertising, using select discourse analysis tools, including speech acts, deixis, politeness theory, modality, presuppositions, and vocabulary, to study the interplay of the verbal and visual effects. The study explores select advertisements from Indian media and finds that the theme of gender equality is gradually gaining prominence. The paper attempts to highlight that advertisements play a major role in creating and transforming gender stereotypes in society and in constructing a world of acceptability for those women who want to create their own identities. The study reveals that women now stand up for their rights against the societal norms and play a substantial role in influencing society, whereas men also participate in the tasks that are stereotypically assigned to women. The study also highlights that the verbal language in advertisements supports visuals in the text.

Keywords: Advertisements, patriarchy, masculinity, representation, manipulate, discourse analysis.
Sustainable Development Goals: Reduced Inequalities, Gender Equality, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Citation: Pathak, Shubham, Swasti Mishra & Ipsita Mondal. 2023. Representing Gender Equality through Advertisements from the Electronic Media: A Study in Discourse Analysis. Rupkatha Journal 15:3. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.18

 

Childbirth and Pollution: Exploring the politics of Prasava Raksha through food practices in Kerala

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Alicia Jacob
Department of English and Cultural Studies at Christ University, Bangalore.
Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 15, Issue 3, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.12
[Article History: Received: 11 July 2023. Revised: 24 August 2023. Accepted: 25 August 2023. Published: 26 August 2023]
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Abstract

Women’s body has been the site of patriarchal control and the formation of gendered ideologies, often subjecting it to multiple cultural interventions, especially while experiencing pregnancy and childbirth. Childbirth is considered a state of ritual pollution for a woman that starts from the day of birth and lasts up to several weeks or months, depending on regional and religious contexts. Prasava Raksha is a traditional practice in Kerala where massages, herbal baths, and a specific diet are prescribed for the health and well-being of the mother and child. Prasava Raksha can be considered the culturally appropriated version of the practice of pollution, practised by women belonging to Hindu, Christian and Muslim religious sects in Kerala. The purpose of this qualitative ethnographic study is to investigate the cultural context of how women’s body has been subjected to patriarchal control, particularly during pregnancy and childbirth, with food at the centre of analysis. This article aims to explore the practice of Prasava Raksha, its process and dietary prescriptions, to identify and analyse the cultural politics behind this practice that normalises the patriarchal exploitation of reproductive women. The study uses in-depth semi-structured interviews of 12 women from Kerala who have experienced childbirth and practised Prasava Raksha during the postnatal period, in addition to the interviews of a Prasava Raksha helper and an OB-GYN.

Keywords: Prasava Raksha, Childbirth, Pollution Postnatal care, Food practices.
[Sustainable Development Goals: Gender Equality]
Citation: Jacob, Alicia. 2023. Childbirth and Pollution: Exploring the politics of Prasava Raksha through food practices in Kerala. Rupkatha Journal 15:3. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.12 

Urban Space for Indonesian Women: Ambiguity in Nanti Kita Cerita Tentang Hari Ini (2019) Web Series

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Aidatul Chusna 1, Budi Irawanto 2 & Dian Arymami 3
1,2,3Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia.
Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 15, Issue 3, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.10
[Article History: Received: 31 January 2023. Revised: 16 August 2023. Accepted: 17 August 2023. Published: 26 August 2023.]
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Abstract

The depiction of Indonesian women’s experiences in urban spaces has been little discussed. Do urban spaces provide equal opportunities and access for Indonesian women and men? This paper tries to answer this question. It investigates how Indonesian women experience urban spaces as represented in an Indonesian web series entitled Nanti Kita Cerita Tentang Hari Ini (2019). The paper uses the multimodal analysis method. The result of the analysis shows that there is a discrepancy in the portrayal of the female protagonist and of the urban spaces that she experiences. The ambiguity is seen in the depiction of an urban woman who is empowered, but on the other hand, has limited rights in urban spaces. In particular, the female protagonist is portrayed as an independent urban woman who can make her own choices for her future. The depiction is in line with the idealization of a modern woman, which Indonesian women have long dreamt of. However, the female protagonist does not fully enjoy this freedom and independence as there is still gender stratification that regards women as being inferior to men. It is seen in the spaces that she experiences. The patriarchal system that has long dominated Indonesian society confines women’s mobility and existence in the public space.

Keywords: modern woman, ambiguity, urban space, web series.
[Sustainable Development Goals: Gender Equality]
Citation: Chusna, Aidatul, Budi Irawanto & Dian Arymami. 2023. Urban Space for Indonesian Women: Ambiguity in Nanti Kita Cerita Tentang Hari Ini (2019) Web Series. Rupkatha Journal 15:3. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.10 

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‘I’ll tell that human tale’: Documenting the Wartime Sexual Violence in Jing-Jing Lee’s How We Disappeared (2019)

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Ashmita Biswas
Research Scholar, Department of English, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Kolkata.
Rupkatha Journal, Vol. 15, Issue 3, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.01
[Article History: Received: 13 June 2023. Revised: 04 August 2023. Accepted: 05 August 2023. Published: 11 August 2023]
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Abstract

Sexual slavery as a phenomenon of war was rampant during the Japanese Imperial Army’s occupation of territories before and during the Second World War (1939-1945). These innumerable sex slaves, or “comfort women”, as the Japanese Army had named them, were women (a striking number of them being minors) who were forcefully captured and separated from their families and placed at comfort stations built to fulfill the sexual needs of the Japanese soldiers. While this entire system was created on the pretext of reducing wartime rapes and curbing the spread of venereal diseases, these comfort stations did just the opposite. Studies conducted into these comfort stations reveal how they had become sites of inhuman sexual violence, torture, disease, and death. This paper will look at how Jing-Jing Lee’s historical fiction How We Disappeared (2019) rewrites these innumerable, nameless, brutalized women into the world’s history as victims of a bloody war that had tainted unassuming lives and had snuffed out their existence ruthlessly. Lee’s narrative is scarred by violence committed along gendered lines – illustrating the reduction of the female body to a disposable sexual tool, existing merely to bear the brunt of a war that was not theirs. This paper decodes the politics of gender violence behind Japan’s enforced and licensed prostitution, the nature of sexual violence, the commodification of women’s bodies, the place of women in the socio-cultural context of the era, and the gendered role of women, in what was quintessentially men’s war.

Keywords: Sexual violence, prostitution, sexual slavery, torture, gender violence
[Sustainable Development Goals: Reduced Inequalities, Gender Equality, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions]
Citation: Biswas, Ashmita. 2023. ‘I’ll tell that human tale’: Documenting Wartime Sexual Violence in Jing-Jing Lee’s How We Disappeared (2019). Rupkatha Journal 15:3. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.01.

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