The following research explores female authority's experiences with gender roles in faith and church and the subsequent handling of gender sensitivity in confirmation work. The qualitative study is conducted based on empirical data to answer the research questions. The chosen feminist standpoint theory assists in identifying the sampling consisting of female authorities as participants who are in charge of the confirmation work. The theory examines resources to create a standpoint through feminist experiences as knowledge, creating feminist solidarity and agency. The constructionist thematic analysis identifies and establishes repeating patterns in combination with the participant's answers and the theory. The lived experiences are gathered through online questionnaires and analyzed and interpreted through the lens of the feminist standpoint theory. The qualitative study shows that women make various experiences based on gender roles in faith and church. Majorly challenging is the normalization of male-dominated structures and concepts. Still, the participants form standpoints concerning the significance of gender-sensitive confirmation work. The study's outcome shows that mainstream knowledge can be opposed by creating feminist knowledge, solidarity, and agency. A broad audience is addressed because the result can be generalized into several fields.

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Assyriology as a field of study has long been dominated by the ideas and values of the white, Western men who, during the 19th century, were responsible for the development and growth of all scientific research. This has resulted in a resilient androcentric bias in the discipline, which to this day continues to influence scholarly perceptions of Ancient Mesopotamian society - and particularly of Mesopotamian women. Amongst many other things this includes the application of modern, misogynistic prejudice regarding the female body onto Akkadian women; one such modern concept which, despite recent criticism, is still widely accepted as true, is the notion of ‘menstrual impurity’. By the implementation of standpoint theory - an epistemology which emphasises the influence of a scholar’s own experiences on their perception and interpretation of their field of study - this paper examines the translations of three Akkadian terms which have been used to support the alleged existence of the concept of menstrual impurity in Mesopotamia. The terms are reexamined through an analysis of their etymological and contextual semantics, the results of which are then used comparatively in order to determine the validity of their current translations. The results of this analysis reveal a thoroughly biassed and unscientific interpretation process, which perpetuates the androcentric perspective within the discipline and contributes to the spread of a false image of Ancient Mesopotamian women and their lives. Not only is it highly unlikely that any of the analysed terms actually signify menstruation, but the very notion of ‘impurity’, which is indeed a significant part of the words’ meaning, is interpreted in a modern, stereotypically negative sense that most certainly is not reflective of the Mesopotamian perception of the concept.

The Office of Head Start has prioritized holistic quality education services for children and communities in greatest need. First, since 1965, the federal government has funded, regulated, and publicly aided over 38 million children through Head Start programming, including AIAN and Migrant programs (Administration for Children and Families, n.d.). In 2019, over $10 billion was budgeted for the program, resulting in 1,047,000 low-income children and their families receiving services (Office of Head Start, 2022a). In addition, the Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation has funded research to improve quality and child outcomes, with research recommendations that significantly guide state and local early childhood policy (Kooragayala, 2019). The Office of Head Start noted programming should be shaped based on research that meets Head Start’s definition of “principles of scientific research” necessary to be considered for policy (Head Start Act, 2007, Sec 637). Lastly, updated in 2023, the multicultural principles have served as a resource to improve programming and service delivery for children and families. Unlike the Head Start performance standards, the multicultural principles are not attached to funding or performance reviews. Still, they are instead considered best practices for the programs. These principles do not do enough to support Indigenous pedagogy outside of tribal reservations (Administration for Children and Families, 2010). The Office of Head Start can recognize the potential and necessity for Indigenization in Head Start by amplifying the voices of Indigenous teachers already weaving and making their way into classrooms. The disconnect between research, policy, and the lived experiences of Indigenous teachers can only be bridged through meaningful collaboration and acknowledgment of the unique ways of knowing and teaching that Indigenous educators bring to Head Start spaces. Through Survivance, Indigenous teachers continue to reclaim what colonization has attempted to erase. The journey toward Indigenization and Survivance must be guided by an understanding of Indigenous practices’ holistic and sacred nature, creating spaces honoring diversity and defying the limitations of a Eurocentric education system.

Women in the Theological Anthropology of the Afrikaans Reformed Tradition This dissertation examines women in the theological anthropology of the Afrikaans Reformed Churches. The study is set out as follows: In Chapter 1, a survey of methodology is presented. The exposition of the question about the theological anthropology is done against a poststructural background. Both structuralism and poststructuralism largely put aside existentialism as an inadequate methodology. Chapter 2 aims to give an overview of the contribution of Michel Foucault. The chapter begins with a discussion of structuralism. This brief overview is then followed by a classification and investigation of the basic aspects of Foucault's approach. The chapter highlights Foucault's rootedness in poststructuralism. Chapter 3 attempts to explain silence of women in the theological anthropology of Dutch Reformed Church. The central aim of Chapter 3 is to demonstrate, against the development of the women ministries and the discourse about the ordination of women, that the Dutch Reformed Church theological anthropology is deeply influenced by the discursive practices developed during 1928-1932. Chapter 4 gives an overview of the developments in the theological anthropology of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church, Dutch Reformed Church of Africa and the Uniting Reformed Church of Southern Africa that took place from 1924 until 2002. Different approaches to the women question developed in the course of time. At the heart of the discourse is the shift in the reading process. The developments in the feminist standpoint theory as such led to this displacement. In Chapter 5 the deconstruction of the theological anthropology are being discussed. Preference is given in this chapter to the concept partnership or transformative relations. In the concluding chapter [Chapter 6], a poststructural feminist discourse is presented. Selected guidelines that the church may wish to take into account in the deconstructing of the theological anthropology are suggested. In the future, the frame of reference to the women question would likely be poststructural. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

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No description available.

Women in the Theological Anthropology of the Afrikaans Reformed Tradition This dissertation examines women in the theological anthropology of the Afrikaans Reformed Churches. The study is set out as follows: In Chapter 1, a survey of methodology is presented. The exposition of the question about the theological anthropology is done against a poststructural background. Both structuralism and poststructuralism largely put aside existentialism as an inadequate methodology. Chapter 2 aims to give an overview of the contribution of Michel Foucault. The chapter begins with a discussion of structuralism. This brief overview is then followed by a classification and investigation of the basic aspects of Foucault's approach. The chapter highlights Foucault's rootedness in poststructuralism. Chapter 3 attempts to explain silence of women in the theological anthropology of Dutch Reformed Church. The central aim of Chapter 3 is to demonstrate, against the development of the women ministries and the discourse about the ordination of women, that the Dutch Reformed Church theological anthropology is deeply influenced by the discursive practices developed during 1928-1932. Chapter 4 gives an overview of the developments in the theological anthropology of the Dutch Reformed Mission Church, Dutch Reformed Church of Africa and the Uniting Reformed Church of Southern Africa that took place from 1924 until 2002. Different approaches to the women question developed in the course of time. At the heart of the discourse is the shift in the reading process. The developments in the feminist standpoint theory as such led to this displacement. In Chapter 5 the deconstruction of the theological anthropology are being discussed. Preference is given in this chapter to the concept partnership or transformative relations. In the concluding chapter [Chapter 6], a poststructural feminist discourse is presented. Selected guidelines that the church may wish to take into account in the deconstructing of the theological anthropology are suggested. In the future, the frame of reference to the women question would likely be poststructural. / Systematic Theology and Theological Ethics / D. Th. (Systematic Theology)

Women in the sex industry struggle with emotional turmoil, drug and alcohol addiction, poverty, and spiritual disillusionment. Their lived experiences as stigmatized individuals engender feelings of powerlessness, which inhibits their attempts to leave the sex industry. This study illuminates how personal narratives develop throughout the process of shedding stigmatized identities and how mutual support functions as a tool in life transformation. Social identity theory and feminist standpoint theory are used as theoretical frameworks of this research, with each theory adding nuanced understanding to life transformations of female former sex workers. Results indicate that women in the sex industry share common narratives that reveal experiences of a "Living Hell", transitional language, and ultimate alignment with traditional norms. Implications of SIT and FST reveal the role of feminist organizations as possible patriarchal entities and adherence to stereotypical masculine ideology as an anchoring factor in continued sex work.

Abstract Inspired by feminist standpoint theory, this doctoral thesis studies what the voices and silences about experiences of sexual violence tell us when voiced by adolescent girls who have been in residential care institutions. This group of girls evidently experience more sexual violence compared to their peers. This dissertation is based on four scientific Articles. In Article I, Erving Goffman’s theory is used to analyse the girls’ experiences of being in residential institutions and Articles II–IV focus on their sexual violence experiences. Data is generated in 2013 through semi-structured interviews with 11 girls aged 14–17 years old, and through interviews with one of these girls from 2013–2017. Data from Bulgaria, Catalonia and Italy regarding the violent experiences of 46 girls is also used in Article II. Qualitative content analysis (Articles I–III) and the Listening Guide method (Article IV) were used in data analysis. The Articles reveal that the girls have multiple vulnerabilities that affect on creating safe connections, as well as voicing their experiences. The majority of the girls did not voice their experiences of sexual violence as violence and based on the data it can be interpreted that the sense of being cared for by someone might impact on what was named and/or recognised as sexual violence. The phenomenon was named abusive illusion of care and proposed to be included in Jenny Pearce’s social model of abused consent. A new term was also suggested for the area of girls’ sexually risky behaviour, which is further developed in this compilation report as sexism-related internalised sexual violence. In this compilation report, the main results of the Articles are combined and re-read in the light of Carol Gilligan’s theorisations. Those findings confirm that girls’ voices and silences about their sexual violence experiences are a complex and multidimensional combination of self-silence and being silenced, connection and resistance. Sexual violence experiences should be considered as contextual, relational, contradictory and situational phenomena. It is suggested that violence prevention programmes be organised in a gender-responsible way for all from an early age. Furthermore, professionals should be educated to recognise the hidden aspects in sexual violence and conceptualisations of sexual violence needs to be developed further. / Tiivistelmä Feministisen standpoint-teorian inspiroimana tässä väitöskirjassa tutkitaan, mitä lastensuojelulaitoksissa asuneiden tyttöjen äänellisyydet ja vaikenemiset kertovat heidän kokemastaan seksuaalisesta väkivallasta. Aiempi tutkimustieto osoittaa tämän tyttöryhmän kokevan vertaisiaan enemmän seksuaalista väkivaltaa. Väitöskirjaan sisältyy neljä tieteellistä artikkelia. Artikkeli I:ssa analysoidaan tyttöjen laitoskokemuksia Erving Goffmanin teorian avulla. Artikkeleissa II–IV keskitytään tyttöjen seksuaalisen väkivallan kokemuksiin. Aineisto koostuu yhdentoista 14–17-vuotiaan tytön puolistrukturoidusta haastattelusta vuodelta 2013 sekä yhden tytön haastatteluista vuosilta 2013–2017. Artikkeli II:ssa on otteita Bulgariasta, Italiasta ja Kataloniasta kerätyistä aineistoista koskien neljänkymmenenkuuden tytön väkivaltakokemuksia. Analyysissa käytettiin sisällönanalyysiä (Artikkelit I–III) ja Listening Guide -metodia (Artikkeli IV). Osatutkimuksista selvisi, että tyttöjen moniulotteiset haavoittuvuudet vaikuttavat turvallisten yhteyksien luomiseen sekä omien kokemusten kertomiseen. Suurin osa tytöistä ei sanallistanut seksuaalisen väkivallan kokemuksiaan väkivallaksi, ja tyttöjen kokema välittäminen näytti vaikuttavan siihen, minkä he tunnistivat ja/tai nimesivät seksuaaliseksi väkivallaksi. Ilmiö nimettiin “vahingolliseksi välittämisen illuusioksi,” ja se esitetään lisättäväksi Jenny Pearcen seksuaalista suostumusta koskevaan malliin. Tyttöjen seksuaalisen riskikäyttäytymisen alueelle ehdotettiin uutta termiä, ja tässä yhteenveto-osuudessa se on edelleen kehiteltynä “seksismiin perustuva sisäistetty seksuaalinen väkivalta.” Yhteenveto-osuudessa artikkeleiden päätulokset on yhdistetty ja niitä on uudelleen luettu Carol Gilliganin teoriaa hyödyntäen. Näin saadut tulokset osoittavat, että tyttöjen äänellisyydet ja vaikenemiset seksuaalisesta väkivallasta sisältävät moniulotteisen yhdistelmän vaikenemista ja vaietuksi tulemista, kuulumisen tunnetta sekä vastarintaa. Seksuaalisen väkivallan kokemukset tulisikin nähdä relationaalisena ja moniäänisenä, sekä tilanne- ja kontekstisidonnaisena ilmiönä. Lapsille tulisi suunnata varhaisessa vaiheessa väkivaltaa ennaltaehkäiseviä sukupuolivastuullisia koulutuksia. Lisäksi ammattilaisille tulisi järjestää koulutusta seksuaalisen väkivallan piiloisten muotojen tunnistamiseksi ja seksuaalisen väkivallan sanallistuksia tulisi edelleen kehittää.