Despite a plethora of empirical evidence on the work-family interface in 'the West', very little research has been carried out on the experiences of women in the context of Pakistan. Gender inequalities persist in the Pakistani labour market and women's employment is skewed towards agriculture and 'respectable' professions, such as academia and medicine. However, following the privatisation of the banking industry, women have been gaining visibility in this profession despite societal pressures to either conform to the homemaker role or remain in 'women's work'. What makes the Pakistani context unique is the interplay between gender, culture, religion, class and family structure. This affects reconciliation of work and family roles among working women. This thesis contributes to an understanding of the experiences of working women in a gendered, patriarchal, Muslim society. It offers an indigenous conceptualisation of the contours, causes, consequences and coping strategies (Four C's) of work-family conflict (WFC) among women working in Pakistani banks through a multi-layered, feminist, intersectional approach that gives voice to women. The study foregrounds women's experiences at the individual-level; however, it also considers the broader structures such as the extended family system, the male-dominated banking industry and the contradiction of Islamic teachings with the societal norms regarding women's paid employment. Consequently, the conceptual model of Four C's of WFC offers a systematic and coherent categorisation of the causes, consequences and coping strategies of WFC in a context-sensitive, multi-level, intersectional, feminist approach framework. Such indigenous manifestations of WFC in the Pakistani context can inform research in similar contexts. Based on a mixed method approach the fieldwork collected empirical evidence through 280 scoping questionnaires and 47 in-depth, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews in four different banks in Punjab province of Pakistan. The study reveals the most extreme, yet masked, forms of oppression and the subtleties of agency in the context of religious, patriarchal and cultural understandings of 'work' that also impact the salience of other social categories, e.g. class and family structure. In the main, the findings suggest a gendered culture of silence in Pakistan in which women working in Pakistani banks lack opportunities to vocalise their subjugated positions in the work and family spheres. More specifically, the thesis points to the fact that these women are subject to, sometimes conflicting, organisational and societal pressures to conform to the respective images of 'ideal worker' and 'good woman' simultaneously. This, of course, has implications for the intensity. In doing so the study extends the existing WFC theoretical framework to include and consider not just the Four C's of WFC but the intensity, duration and types experienced by women in particular contexts. However, the research also revealed that women in Pakistani banks are not passive victims, but active agents, making context dependent constrained choices to prevent or cope with WFC. For policymakers, the findings suggest the need for the formulation of context-specific initiatives to address work-family issues in patriarchal Muslim societies.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Victoria University (Melbourne, Vic.), 2008.

The topic of this thesis is gender analysis of "hantec", a specific dialect spoken in the second largest city in the Czech Republic - Brno. The aim of the work is to search for differences between manifestation and perception of women/female and men/male in "hantec" from the perspective of gender linguistics. On example of local dialect I demonstrate how the general gender discourse prevails. By analysing the vocabulary and literary forms of "hantec" I want to show to what extent this dialect (specific for Brno) reflected the principles of gender inequality. The focus lies on the presence of language sexism and reproduction of gender stereotypes in "hantec". In the thesis I also document the historical development of "hantec" and how were the principles of gender inequality displayed in the different stages of its development.

This case study investigates gender-sensitive institutional reforms in post-war Liberia. It applies key concepts developed by the Research Network on Gender Politics and the State to explore the extent to which the emergent theory of state feminism might be applicable to countries outside of the West. Preliminary findings suggest that Liberia is a feminist state insofar as both the women’s machinery and the Sirleaf Administration are allied with feminist and women’s movement actors outside the state, and that they grant these actors access to policymaking fora. Policy content also appears to reflect many of the goals identified by women’s movement actors. However, given the lack of state capacity and the degree of state penetration by international organizations, it is difficult to determine the drivers of ostensibly state-led gender equity initiatives in the country. Because multi-level governance is the norm in areas where the capacity of the state is severely circumscribed, this research introduces the concept of “supra-state feminism” to demonstrate the major limitation of state feminist theory in Liberia. This notion of feminist policy transfer in areas of limited statehood adds to the comparative literature on engendering political transitions in sub-Saharan Africa.

This thesis deals in it?s theoretical part with the changing of social role of women in the course of human existence and history of the feminist movement. It observes the differences between men and women from three perspectives: biological, psychological, sociological, and on their basis reveals their properties for which individuals choose the preference of life partner. Thesis also focuses on the labor market situation in terms of gender. In the practical part, based on interviews with 10 men and 10 women, I evaluate the views at how men see the role of women in society and also as well how women themselves see their role. At first I found out how the household in which the respondents grew up in work in the division of daily tasks, how they want their own households to work (or as they works) and then I compared the results. Then I focused on qualities and skills which are in interviews attributed to women and men, what´s the position of women in the labor market in their opinion or why the number of divorces is constantly increasing and why the age for starting a family is increasing as well. The work affects not only the view of men of women's social mission, but also the view of women themselves in the light of expectations that men (and society) have towards to women.

Feminist Science Fiction: Cherie Priest's The Clockwork Century Diploma Thesis Petra Nováková Abstract Marleen S. Barr, one of the pioneers of feminist science fiction criticism, is an outspoken commentator on gender inequality in this genre. In Feminist Fabulation: Space/Postmodern Fiction and Future Females: A Critical Anthology, Barr defines feminist science fiction as metafiction about patriarchal fiction. She speaks out against both authors and critics who recycle narratives restricted by a patriarchal view of the world in which women are silenced and/or relegated to the position of an accessory of the male hero, made to behave in a stereotypically feminine manner. While Barr does not include steampunk fiction but focuses on science fiction oriented towards the future and space exploration, her analysis of the female character's plight is nonetheless applicable to the steampunk genre. In this respect, feminist steampunk fiction can be read as a meditation on established gender norms. Cherie Priest's work is a prime example of such an innovative re-examination of gender stereotypes that Barr calls for in her critical work. As both a woman and a writer of science fiction, the author has adopted a feminist approach in her steampunk series The Clockwork Century. Among other things, Priest examines the role...

The aim of the thesis is to analyse Virginia Woolf's novels and non-fiction in light of several recent trends in feminism and gender theory relevant to her work. The thesis considers Woolf's label of a feminist writer from a contemporary perspective. It examines a variety of ways in which her writing poses a challenge to patriarchal values regarding the treatment and representation of women. Woolf's position regarding gender issues, women and feminism is not monolithic or unified which must be accounted for. At points, some of her stances can be seen as problematic from a present-day feminist perspective. At the same time, in her work she raises concerns which have been relevant for and expanded by proponents of contemporary feminism and gender theory. The thesis focuses on three areas regarding gender awareness and representation in Woolf's work. They are her narrative style, the sociopolitical context of her work and the questioning of gender categories. Woolf's narrative style and strategies are viewed in light of écriture féminine as conceptualised by Hélène Cixous. Through her manner of writing Woolf aimed to disrupt established ways of narrating women's experience. Her concept of the woman's sentence can be seen as foreshadowing écriture féminine. Apart from her style, Woolf's development as a...

In view of the fact that David Lodge’s campus novels are renowned for their ability to make light of traditional gender stereotypes as well as for their purportedly liberal, pro-feminist, intertexual, dialogical and metatextual dimensions, this article seeks to explore more precisely the strategic and unavowedly political functions humour and the comic fulfil in Changing Places, Small World and Nice Work. What will be demonstrated is that Lodge’s light-hearted, tolerant and at times even progressive liberalism is little more than an effect produced by the textual surface structure. In the case of Nice Work, this discrepancy between the surface and the deep structure leads to the paradox that while voyeuristic structures and male bonding are overtly ridiculed, on a deep structural level they are effectively reaffirmed. Though Lodge’s novels are at the level of their surface structure sustained by a logic which uses the “comic mode” as a more or less subtle form to critique traditional gender stereotypes, literary conventions, the British university system and British industry, ultimately his ‘Rummidge trilogy’ reinforces an aesthetically, morally and politically conservative subtext.

Theoretical part is focused on the philosophical and historical solutions which led to poststtructural and feministic approach to the gender identity. The art reflexive part seeks the visual parallel to above mentioned approach in art, respectively in the art depicting mother identity. Didactic part of the work provides possible option on how to get the gender identity theme over to the high school students. The work itself is a personal reflection of the maternity corporality topic.

Esta pesquisa parte da leitura de uma cobertura jornalística e desvenda o processo de produção das notícias e as condições de sua veiculação, com mediações dos estudos de jornalismo, estudos de direito e dos estudos de gênero. Iniciamos com a análise empírica do conteúdo jornalístico produzido pelo jornal Folha de S.Paulo entre janeiro de 2009 e maio de 2015, sobre os acontecimentos relacionados à investigação, ao julgamento, à fuga e à prisão de Roger Abdelmassih, especialista em reprodução humana assistida condenado a 278 anos de prisão por cometer crimes contra a dignidade sexual de 37 pacientes. O processo de leitura colocou-nos interrogações sobre a cobertura jornalística. Em busca de respostas, entrevistamos jornalistas e profissionais do direito envolvidos no caso e constatamos diferenças e relações de interdependência no trabalho deles, que condicionam os acontecimentos em 1) fatos jurídicos culminados em processos de caráter privado na Justiça e 2) em fatos jornalísticos culminados em informações traduzidas em textos publicáveis na imprensa, conforme demonstramos no Capítulo 2 desta dissertação. Estudos de jornalismo apontam as limitações do fazer jornalístico e sua inserção na vida cotidiana e o processo de repetição do senso comum que pode ser desafiado em condições especiais (MORETZSHON, 2007). Mas pesquisa da feminista (SEGATO, 2003) destaca a importância da informação veiculada pela imprensa para a defesa dos direitos das mulheres. Estudos de gênero rastreiam a construção dos estereótipos de gênero e a ordem patriarcal de gênero que embasam valores morais a partir dos quais são forjados os estigmas e preconceitos que atingem as vítimas de estupro (SAFFIOTI, 2015). Na análise de conteúdo do jornal Folha de S.Paulo, constamos uso de termos inadequados para nominar vítimas e agressor, erros jurídicos e julgamentos morais impertinentes ao caso. Essas visões dominantes e equivocadas sobre as vítimas de estupro precisam ser desconstruídas por outro modo de fazer jornalismo. Esta pesquisa nos mostrou que, ao descolar-se dos fatos jurídicos, a cobertura jornalística confinou no universo privado a violência sexual. Deixando de tratá-la como questão de saúde pública, não promoveu a divulgação de informações que poderiam contribuir para a construção da cidadania das mulheres. / This research stems from the reading of a news story coverage and unveils the production process of news stories and their dissemination, negotiated by media, law, and gender studies. We begin with the empirical analysis of the journalistic content produced by Folha de São Paulo between January 2009 and May 2015 about the incidents involving the investigation, trial, escape and arrest of Roger Abdelmassih - specialist in assisted human reproduction condemned to 278 years of prison for committing crimes against the sexual dignity of 37 patients. The process of reading posed questions about the news coverage. In search for answers, we interviews journalists and lawyers involved in the case and found differences and relations of interdependence in their work, which condition the events in 1) legal facts culminating in private processes in the legal system and 2) in journalistic facts culminating in information translated into publishable texts in the press, as demonstrated in the 2nd chapter of this dissertation. Media studies point the limitations of journalistic procedures and its insertion in the daily lives and the repetition process of commen sense that may be challenged in special conditions (MORETZSHON, 2007). But feminist research (SEGATO, 2003) highlights the importance of the information circulated by the media to defend women\'s rights. Gender studies trace the construction of gender stereotypes and the patriarchal gender order that ground the moral values on which the stigma and prejudice that affect rape victims is forged (SAFFIOTI, 2015). In the content analysis of Folha de São Paulo we found the use of inadequate terms to name the victims and the aggressor, legal errors, and unconnected value judgments about the case. These dominant and erroneous views about rape victims must be deconstructed by a different type of journalistic procedure. This research demonstrates that in disconnecting from legal facts, the news coverage confined sexual violence to a private realm. By not treating it as a matter of public health, it did not promote the circulation of useful information that would help the women\'s rights cause.