Catfight – the social construction Cover Image

Catfight - Družbena konstrukcija ženskega ravsa
Catfight – the social construction

Author(s): Nataša Pivec
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Slovensko sociološko društvo (in FDV)
Keywords: femininity; Other; body; queer

Summary/Abstract: The article discusses “catfight” as an umbrella term and pejorative word for any kind of intra-women aggression (relational or physical). The author derives the definition of the phenomenon from challenging a cultural assumption about women and cats (also present in the naming of this act), both constituted as Other, the construction of normative femininity as complicit to hegemonic masculinity, and the gender ambiguity or non-binary of the phenomenon (a catfight as a queer act). An analysis of selected media representations showed that the catfight is positioned as liminal and at the intersection of gender, sexuality and class.

  • Issue Year: 29/2013
  • Issue No: 74
  • Page Range: 45-66
  • Page Count: 22
  • Language: Slovenian