This thesis is a study of the relationship between gender, citizenship and reproductive rights in the poblaciones of Santiago, both in relation to the Chilean State and in terms of the categories of international human rights law. At a time in which there has been a great deal of debate about women's international rights and new areas of rights directed at women have begun to be defined, this study seeks to draw attention to the need to consider how such rights operate in specific cultural contexts. In particular, it considers how dominant cultural discourses of gender are constructed and reproduced in the context of marginal urban communities in Santiago, Chile, and the constraints they may place on the conception and exercise of women's citizenship. The thesis sets out to show the ways in which these discourses are embedded in state institutions and reproduced in its practices. It describes the ways in which the law operates in a discursive way to allow or disallow interpretations of events and thereby conditions and delimits women's citizenship. Rather then depicting these dominant discourses as totalizing, the thesis aims to present a more complex picture in which women may on the one hand be seen to be complicit in their own subordination, but on the other to adopt alternative discourses, for example the new feminist discourse on human rights and the discourses emanating from NGOs which focus on concepts of freedom and autonomy. Women may be seen to reinterpret these discourses in the course of applying them to their own situations, accepting, rejecting and transforming them in the process. It draws on interviews with 89 women living in marginal urban communities, which investigate the exercise of citizenship and the variables affecting women's capacity to operationalise their rights. The data aims to show how rights discourses, including human rights can play a transformative role in the content and practice of citizenship. The extension of the concept of citizen to incorporate new areas of rights such as reproductive and sexual rights, creates the potential for women to use these conceptual tools to challenge traditional gender discourse that discriminate against them and inhibit the exercise of their citizenship. The thesis lays out the theoretical debates in relation to gender and citizenship, the state, the universalist-relativist debate in anthropology and the feminist discourse on human rights and argues in favour of a perspective that incorporates a gendered analysis of the cultural factors influencing the operation of laws.

This thesis is a critical review of educated women’s leadership in their emancipation in Ethiopia. Did they provide leadership and to what extent? It is to be noted that educated women’s leadership has been of great importance to women’s emancipation worldwide. Strong leadership was also the driving force behind women’s movements and feminism everywhere. However, the role of educated women in Ethiopia is hard to discern and their leadership efforts are largely invisible. On the other hand, many among the educated also lack the passion and desire to commit themselves in the fight for women’s emancipation. In this thesis I researched the settings and frameworks of women’s leadership and discussed the factors that function as limitations and/or opportunities. Overall there were more limitations than opportunities. These limitations are often historically rooted in the country’s religious, cultural, economic, political and traditional systems. And, as much as history and religion can be a source of strength and pride for many, they can also be a serious obstacle. The political regime of the Derg also scarred an entire population to the extent that despite the currently proclaimed ‘freedom’ of the EPRDF ruling party, women remain reluctant to step forward and claim their rights. The ruling party appears to appropriate women’s emancipation as a “private” interest and to use it for political gain, in the same manner as the Derg regime had done before it. Nowhere is there any sign of genuine freedom and equality for women in practice. Rhetoric reigns supreme through laws and policy documents, but they are not matched by genuine actions and concrete strategies. The traditional religious base of society is also making it more difficult to challenge autocratic tendencies of the ruling elite. The effect is that civil society is slowly being pushed to extinction, leaving the ruling party in charge as the main actor in all public services. This has serious consequences for the genuine emancipation of women in the country. The thesis finds that women’s leadership is not a luxury or personal demand, but a crucial step for the development of the country at large. It is encouraging to note that there are different sections of active women in the country waiting for strong leadership, leadership that can unite them into a movement and guide them on their unique emancipation paths. After all, it is only women themselves who, with their existing epistemic advantage, can transform their situation and change their status. / Sociology / (D.Litt. et Phil.(Sociology))

This thesis is a critical review of educated women’s leadership in their emancipation in Ethiopia. Did they provide leadership and to what extent? It is to be noted that educated women’s leadership has been of great importance to women’s emancipation worldwide. Strong leadership was also the driving force behind women’s movements and feminism everywhere. However, the role of educated women in Ethiopia is hard to discern and their leadership efforts are largely invisible. On the other hand, many among the educated also lack the passion and desire to commit themselves in the fight for women’s emancipation. In this thesis I researched the settings and frameworks of women’s leadership and discussed the factors that function as limitations and/or opportunities. Overall there were more limitations than opportunities. These limitations are often historically rooted in the country’s religious, cultural, economic, political and traditional systems. And, as much as history and religion can be a source of strength and pride for many, they can also be a serious obstacle. The political regime of the Derg also scarred an entire population to the extent that despite the currently proclaimed ‘freedom’ of the EPRDF ruling party, women remain reluctant to step forward and claim their rights. The ruling party appears to appropriate women’s emancipation as a “private” interest and to use it for political gain, in the same manner as the Derg regime had done before it. Nowhere is there any sign of genuine freedom and equality for women in practice. Rhetoric reigns supreme through laws and policy documents, but they are not matched by genuine actions and concrete strategies. The traditional religious base of society is also making it more difficult to challenge autocratic tendencies of the ruling elite. The effect is that civil society is slowly being pushed to extinction, leaving the ruling party in charge as the main actor in all public services. This has serious consequences for the genuine emancipation of women in the country. The thesis finds that women’s leadership is not a luxury or personal demand, but a crucial step for the development of the country at large. It is encouraging to note that there are different sections of active women in the country waiting for strong leadership, leadership that can unite them into a movement and guide them on their unique emancipation paths. After all, it is only women themselves who, with their existing epistemic advantage, can transform their situation and change their status. / Sociology / (D.Litt. et Phil.(Sociology))

This thesis contributes to a relatively small but burgeoning body of feminist and critical discourse analytic research into the social construction of gender and gender inequality conducted within critical social psychology. It begins by critically discussing the various theories of gender within the discipline. The thesis is an explicitly political endeavour. As is discussed, all work is political even if it fails to acknowledge this. This research aims to be openly reflexive about its ideological underpinnings and the historical and cultural climate in which the work emerges. Feminist theories of gender are also critically discussed. Having explored the various theories of gender and their relative de/merits, the adopted feminist social constructionist approach is explicated. Such an approach addresses the main failings of other approaches which are variously centred around, for example, inattention to power, language, multiplicity of identities and genders, essentialism, self-contained individualism and the historical, cultural and contextual relativity of meaning. These issues are explicitly attended to through the chosen methodology of critical discourse analysis. Three studies were carried out. All utilise the same analytical methodology but vary in terms of context, focus and data collection method. The first study analyses the interview talk of male psychology undergraduates at a northern English university. The men were found to present themselves, and men generally, as Victims'. The second study aims to address a wide-scale problem in social constructionist work on gender which also afflicts the first study presented here. Whilst theory has shifted away from essentialism, both theoretical and empirical work continues to promote an implicit essentialism by assuming that the biological sex of participants should correspond to the gender of interest (e.g. studying 'men and masculinity'). The second study includes both male and female volunteer interviewees from a similar sample population as the first study. Both sexes were found to be bolstering inequality by constructing a picture of equality between the sexes. This was achieved through three repertoires. One overtly constructed 'equality as imminent/achieved'. Another, the 'women as oppressors/men as victims' repertoire, presents instances of women's capability of inverting men's general power. The third, 'women as manipulators', was only utilised by the women and suggests women have a more covert power which counterbalances men's overt power. This greater focus on discourses and shift away from essentialism, evidenced in the diminished interest given to embodiment and identity, is more fully embraced in the third study which concentrates on an internet discussion board. In this context, embodiment and identity cannot be known with confidence. The discussion board contributors construct men and women as internally homogeneous and oppositional groups. Two repertoires are discussed: 'communication difficulties' and 'the spokesperson'. Men and women are said to find communication between them incredibly difficult. Contradictorily, men and women are solicited for, or take it upon themselves to offer, 'insider' views on their particular sex group. Taken together, the three studies therefore represent quite different contexts, samples, and methodological approaches to the problem of the net inequality between the sexes, and contribute to a growing body of research on how inequality is maintained through linguistic practice in particular contexts.

There is a problem with attitudes that blame the victim of sexual assault: these attitudes are widespread and show popular adhesion to assumptions about rape that have been criticized and combatted by feminists. These assumptions are known as “rape myths.” It is important to look at the role newspapers play in contemporary discourse around rape and the extent to which they reproduce rape myths or, alternatively, incorporate a feminist critique. This research examines how sexual assault is constructed in three English-language newspapers, The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, and The National Post in the year 2012. Using qualitative content analysis, themes of rape myths and the presence of feminist discourse are categorized. The power of language when describing rape in the media is recognized and a description of rape-supportive culture, within a feminist theoretical framework, is provided. The ultimate aim of this research is to identify and challenge myths and stereotypes surrounding rape as well as identify possible feminist discourse on rape in print news media in Canada.

In me tota ruens Venus Vênus derrubando-se inteira sobre mim, esse verso de Horácio representa claramente a posição dos personagens de Fedra e Hipólito na tragédia Hipólito de Eurípides. Em linhas gerais, Fedra, enfeitiçada por Afrodite, sofre de amor pelo seu enteado Hipólito, que a rejeita veementemente. Enfurecida pelo tratamento dispensado por Hipólito não só a ela, mas às mulheres em geral, Fedra acusa Hipólito de estupro, através de um bilhete e suicida-se logo em seguida. Teseu, pai de Hipólito, ao encontrar a esposa morta, exila o filho e providencia que ele seja morto. As tensões criadas pelos discursos de Fedra e Hipólito têm sido material de inúmeros debates críticos. A análise da fortuna crítica levanta mais perguntas que fornece respostas. De todas as linhas críticas, duas linhas antagônicas merecem ser ressaltadas. A leitura crítica do discurso misógino que irá defender que Eurípides não pregava a misoginia através dos seus textos, mas, muito pelo contrário, a combatia ao fazer mudanças no mito dando voz a personagens femininas tão fortes quanto Fedra. E a leitura do discurso feminista que irá defender que há um discurso misógino presente no texto de Eurípides, fruto de uma imposição ideológica vigente na Grécia do século V a.C.. O presente trabalho irá discutir ambos discursos e demonstrar, que a sua maneira, Eurípides não era misógino / In me tota ruens Venus Venus falling all over me, this verse of Horace clearly represents the position Phaedras and Hippolytus characters have in Euripides tragedy Hippolytus. In general lines, Phaedra, enchanted by Aphrodite, suffers because she loves her stepson Hippolytus, who rejects her strongly. Enraged for his treatment not only toward her, but to all women, Phaedra accuses Hippolytus, through a plate, of raping her and suicides right after. Theseus, Hippolytus father, while finding his dead wife, exiles his son and makes arrangements for his death. The tensions created by Phaedras and Hippolytus discourses have been used in countless debates by the critical scholarship. Analyzing Euripides critics raises more questions that enlighten answers. Of all critical postures, two opposed lines deserve to have a closer look. The readings of the misogynistic discourse, that will defend that Euripides did not preach the misogyny through his texts, but, on the contrary, stroke it while doing changes on the myths to give voice to female characters as strong as Phaedra. On the other hand, the readings of the feminist discourse that will defend that there is a misogynistic discourse in Euripides texts, product of an ideological imposition present in Ancient Greece. The present work will discuss both discourses and demonstrate that, in his own maner, Euripides was not a misogynist

In me tota ruens Venus Vênus derrubando-se inteira sobre mim, esse verso de Horácio representa claramente a posição dos personagens de Fedra e Hipólito na tragédia Hipólito de Eurípides. Em linhas gerais, Fedra, enfeitiçada por Afrodite, sofre de amor pelo seu enteado Hipólito, que a rejeita veementemente. Enfurecida pelo tratamento dispensado por Hipólito não só a ela, mas às mulheres em geral, Fedra acusa Hipólito de estupro, através de um bilhete e suicida-se logo em seguida. Teseu, pai de Hipólito, ao encontrar a esposa morta, exila o filho e providencia que ele seja morto. As tensões criadas pelos discursos de Fedra e Hipólito têm sido material de inúmeros debates críticos. A análise da fortuna crítica levanta mais perguntas que fornece respostas. De todas as linhas críticas, duas linhas antagônicas merecem ser ressaltadas. A leitura crítica do discurso misógino que irá defender que Eurípides não pregava a misoginia através dos seus textos, mas, muito pelo contrário, a combatia ao fazer mudanças no mito dando voz a personagens femininas tão fortes quanto Fedra. E a leitura do discurso feminista que irá defender que há um discurso misógino presente no texto de Eurípides, fruto de uma imposição ideológica vigente na Grécia do século V a.C.. O presente trabalho irá discutir ambos discursos e demonstrar, que a sua maneira, Eurípides não era misógino / In me tota ruens Venus Venus falling all over me, this verse of Horace clearly represents the position Phaedras and Hippolytus characters have in Euripides tragedy Hippolytus. In general lines, Phaedra, enchanted by Aphrodite, suffers because she loves her stepson Hippolytus, who rejects her strongly. Enraged for his treatment not only toward her, but to all women, Phaedra accuses Hippolytus, through a plate, of raping her and suicides right after. Theseus, Hippolytus father, while finding his dead wife, exiles his son and makes arrangements for his death. The tensions created by Phaedras and Hippolytus discourses have been used in countless debates by the critical scholarship. Analyzing Euripides critics raises more questions that enlighten answers. Of all critical postures, two opposed lines deserve to have a closer look. The readings of the misogynistic discourse, that will defend that Euripides did not preach the misogyny through his texts, but, on the contrary, stroke it while doing changes on the myths to give voice to female characters as strong as Phaedra. On the other hand, the readings of the feminist discourse that will defend that there is a misogynistic discourse in Euripides texts, product of an ideological imposition present in Ancient Greece. The present work will discuss both discourses and demonstrate that, in his own maner, Euripides was not a misogynist

This study explores the representation of women in Chinese "Femvertising" (female empowerment video advertisements) and the post-feminist discourse conveyed within these advertisements over the past five years. By examining recent Chinese video commercials, the research aims to critically analyze the ideologies behind female empowerment advertisements in China, shedding light on how advertising both shapes and reflects societal values. Employing a qualitative research methodology, the study uses thematic analysis to uncover the underlying messages, narratives, and ideologies. The findings reveal a shift toward depicting women in diversified and empowered roles, emphasizing authenticity and emotional connection. Three key thematic discourses—Body Self-Acceptance, Breaking Stereotypes, and Girl’s Power—are identified. However, the study also highlights that many empowerment advertisements are primarily marketing tools rather than genuine support for women's rights, often excluding broader spectrums of women and reinforcing certain stereotypes

A law proposal was passed by the Danish parliament in 2018 prohibiting the wear of niqab and burqa in all public spaces. This study aims to analyse the discourse of the debate in the parliament leading up to the passing of the law by using Fairclough’s method of critical discourse analysis. The analysis focusses on the construction of Muslim women in the Danish parliament’s debate regarding the ban on niqab/burqa in public spaces, thereby centering the gendered role of islamophobia. Fairclough’s method of critical discourse analysis is used in the analysis in conjunction with perspectives from postcolonial theorists such as Said, Spivak, Yeğenoğlu and Mohanty. The study concludes that the discourse of the debate can be understood as a form of cultural violence. By drawing on orientalist and white feminist discourse it reproduces a cultural hegemonic relation between Western societies and their “Others”. Culture and religion are used as explanations for gender oppression, placing the fault on the “Other”. This not only stigmatizes anyone who is understood as an “Other” but also obscures gender oppression among the majority Danish population making it harder to address.

Literature on marriage shows that in the span of a single generation it has become the norm for both spouses to work outside the home. The inception of dual career marriages in the 1970s has created challenges and complications in the marital system as women break traditional gender roles in families and lead the way toward equality at home, just as they do in the industrial world. Black South African communities are no exception to this trend. The theoretical framework of social constructionism was used to identify the ways in which the participants construct their identities as Black professional women in dual career marriages. In-depth interviews were conducted with 11 Black professional women in dual career marriages to identify the discourses that construct their marriages, their autonomy in marriage and how their construction of autonomy influences their construction of marital satisfaction. The study found that cultural and Christian discourses inform the ways in which the participants construct marriage, autonomy and marital satisfaction. Although the participants construct themselves as empowered and autonomous individuals, particularly in the workplace, they construct themselves as less autonomous within their marriages despite their expressed need to be seen as equal partners. As a result of their dual identities the participants consciously adopt different behaviours in different contexts and in this way reproduce dominant constructions of women. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Psychology / unrestricted