‘If You Are a Girl, Stay at Home’ – An Ethnographic Examination of Female Social Engagement from the Rural 19th Century to Contemporary Political Protests in Macedonia

Author(s): Ilina Jakimovska / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2017

Balkan history has been presented, in gender terms, as a history of oppressed women, stark patriarchy and male domination. This narrative has rarely been questioned, its echoes still lingering in the corridors of those disciplines that helped its creation and promotion. Being one of them, ethnology can, and should play a central role in the deconstruction of the role of women in the so-called traditional cultures, thus establishing a potential continuity between their past and their present struggles.

‘Sworn virgins’ as Enhancers of Albanian Patriarchal Society in Contrast to Emerging Roles for Albanian Women

Author(s): Antonia Young,Larenda Twigg / Language(s): English Issue: 32/2009

Northern Albania is known for its patriarchal social system - strict traditional oral laws dictate definitive gender roles. As a ‘sworn virgin’ a woman breaks from societal expectations but also reinforces the traditional culture. The need for the ‘sworn virgin’ may be reduced as changes in society bring acceptance of non-traditional family groups and roles.

“(Un)performed roles”. Conflicts of social roles in the lives of women with disabilities resulting from undergone breast cancer

Author(s): Katarzyna Piątek / Language(s): English Issue: 27/2018

Contemporary women perform many social roles simultaneously, which creates a lot of difficulties and tensions. Women suffering from a chronic illness and women with disabilities experience a very particular conflict of roles. Disability or illness, especially a long-standing one, is connected with an inability to perform all previously existing roles, affecting the way women function and the scope of their participation in family, professional and social life. This, in turn, directly influences their self-perception, which is constructed on the basis of the relations with other people and the degree of adaptation to a new situation. As it is indicated by the author, according to her own research into women with neoplastic disease, the conflict of roles can take several forms. A typical conflict between family and work loses its importance and the one which begins to prevail is the conflict between the role of a motherwife and the role of a person with illness and disability. A woman is confronted by contradictory expectations and standards she cannot keep up to effectively. In this new situation, different coping mechanisms are deployed. The article presents some key dilemmas connected with the performance of roles experienced by women and adaptive models more or less successfully applied by them.

“...Социалната работа, която избрах за професия на моя живот...". Райна Петкова (1895 - 1957) в огледалото на своето служебно досие

Author(s): Kristina Popova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/2011

Rayna Petkova was an activist of the Bulgarian Women’s Union and one of the first Bulgarian professional social worker. In the early 30-es she was a student at the Alice Salomon Women’s Social Academy in Berlin. Coming back to Sofia she gave lectures in methods of social work in the High Social School for Women opened by the Bulgarian Women’s Union. She worked also in the Department for struggle against moral decline in the Police (1932 . 1944). The article presents her life, her professional views and values as social worker as well as the conditions of social isolation, persecution and police surveillance she lived in after September 1944. It is reconstructed on the base of the documents in Rayna Petkova’s personal dossier in the Police department.

“A THING LIKE DEATH”: MEDICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF FEMALE BODIES IN SHAKESPEARE’S PLAYS

Author(s): Greta Perletti / Language(s): English Issue: 12/2013

While the hysterical ailments of women in Shakespeare’s works have often been read from psychoanalytical standpoints, early modern medicine may provide new insights into the ‘frozen’, seemingly dead bodies of some of his heroines, such as Desdemona, Thaisa, and Hermione. In the wake of recent critical work (Peterson, Slights, Pettigrew), this paper will shed fresh light on the ‘excess’ of female physiology and on Shakespeare’s creative redeployment of some medical concepts and narratives.

“Ava‟s body is a good one”: (Dis)Embodiment in Ex Machina

Author(s): JENNIFER HENKE / Language(s): English Issue: 29/2017

This article discusses the role of the body in Alex Garland’s film Ex Machina (2015). It focuses on Ava’s female cyborg body against the backdrop of both classic post-humanist theories and current reflections from scholars in the field of body studies. I argue that Ex Machina addresses but also transcends questions of gender and feminism. It stresses the importance of the body for social interaction both in the virtual as well as the real world. Ava’s lack of humanity results from her mind that is derived from the digital network Blue Book in which disembodied communication dominates. Moreover, the particular construction of Nathan’s progeny demonstrates his longing for a docile sex toy since he created Ava with fully functional genitals but without morals. Ex Machina further exhibits various network metaphors both on the visual and the audio level that contribute to the (re)acknowledgement that we need a body in order to be human.

“Bread and circuses”: The Spectacular Technology of Bare Life in "The Hunger Games"

Author(s): Fran Cettl / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2014

I will argue in this essay that the political universe depicted by The Hunger Games and the biopolitical theories of Giorgio Agamben—for which he takes his cue from Michel Foucault—can mutually inform one another. In other words, I will try to read the two film sequels The Hunger Games (2012) and Catching Fire (2013), adapted from the novels (and with two more sequels announced that will cover the narrative of the final novel in the trilogy) from a biopolitical perspective. I will follow Agamben’s understanding of biopolitics as a political decision through which sovereign power decides which life can be killed and thus manages life/death, as linked historically both in Agamben and The Hunger Games to the sovereignty of the modern nation-state. Relatedly, modern science and technology come to play a crucial role in deciding on life/death, and therefore in the second part of the essay, I will look at how in Agamben and the Hunger Games political universe we can associate the management of death with a particular modern technological development—technology of the “spectacle”, as a certain management of attention.

“Chick Noir”: Shopaholic Meets Double Indemnity

Author(s): Victoria Kennedy / Language(s): English Issue: 28/2017

In early 2014, several articles appeared proclaiming the rise to prominence of a new subgenre of the crime novel: “chick noir,” which included popular books like Gone Girl, The Silent Wife, and Before We Met. However, there was also resistance to the new genre label from critics who viewed it as belittling to women’s writing and to female focused narratives. Indeed, the separation of female-centred books – whether “chick lit” or “chick noir” – from mainstream fiction remains highly problematic and reflects the persistence of a gendered literary hierarchy. However, as this paper suggests, the label “chick noir” also reflects the fact that in these novels the crime thriller has been revitalized through cross-pollination with the so-called chick lit novel. I contend that chick lit and chick noir are two narrative forms addressing many of the same concerns relating to the modern woman, offering two different responses: humour and horror. Comparing the features of chick noir to those of chick lit and noir crime fiction, I suggest that chick noir may be read as a manifestation of feminist anger and anxiety – responses to the contemporary pressure to be “wonder women.”

“CONTENDING WITH THE FRETFUL ELEMENT”: SHAKESPEARE AND THE (GENDERED) GREAT CHAIN OF BEING

Author(s): György Endre Szőnyi / Language(s): English Issue: 11/2012

E. M. W. Tillyard’s short but seminal book, The Elizabethan World Picture made its appearance as a ground-breaking work in the mid-1940s. It successfully adapted Arthur O. Lovejoy’s discovery of the Great Chain of Being as the central idea and metaphor of the premodern world picture for English Renaissance culture and literature, offering a key to understanding the often unfamiliar and obscure natural philosophy and metaphysics behind its works of art and literature. The concept of the Great Chain also led to Shakespeare being seen as a supporter of a conservative order in which religious, moral, philosophical, and scientific notions corresponded with each other in a strict hierarchy. The poststructuralist turn unleashed a severe attack on Tillyard and his legacy. As Ewan Fernie in a recent book on the Renaissance has diagnosed: “Now, after the theoretical overhaul, the notion of an ultimately authoritarian Renaissance has been thoroughly revised. In place of Tillyard’s full-fledged and secured physical, social and cosmological system, more recent critics tend to posit a conflicted and constantly negotiated culture with no essential pattern”. But what has happened to the idea of the Great Chain of Being, which, without doubt, played a major role in the Renaissance world picture and provided a basic knowledge about the elements? In my paper I am going to revisit some aspects of this world picture and examine how Shakespeare related to this (more often than not) in a subversive way, while still remaining within the

“Dağlari Deldim” Toplumsal Cinsiyet Perspektifinden Popüler Müzikte Metnin Analizi

Author(s): Mümtaz Hakan Sakar / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 58/2009

This study aims to contribute to the question of how to analyze the songs which are named as “text” in popular music. It also makes an effort to put forward the phenomenon of social gender in popular music in terms of woman and music. On the other hand, it is also observed that social gender can also be discussed as a motive for identification. It is worthwhile to underline a significant point at the very beginning: this methodology envisages the fact that traditional musicological analysis can also be applicable for popular music taking account of the inner parameters of popular music. Within the context of the theoretical framework presented, the song of Özlem Tekin called “Daglari Deldim” is analyzed.

“Dance Kolinda Yes Kolinda Yes Kolinda Dance”: Humorous Representations of the Croatian President

Author(s): Renata Jambrešić Kirin / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2017

The aim of this paper is to combine an analysis of performative and Internet genres where traditional humor genres (jokes, irony, satire) at the expense of the Croatia’s first woman president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, are semiotically transformed in novel ways. Although several women in Croatia held high political offices since 1991, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović’s campaign and later victory caused an avalanche of derisive weblore that calls for an interdisciplinary approach. A special challenge for folklorists is to grasp the transgressive nature of humor and satire, i.e., the transgression of cultural, moral and political norms in different discourses – from humorous political activism to satirical “provocation”. The author analyzes the terms “non-offensive” and “offensive” humor (from practical to rough jokes and “stupid clips”), the public and counterpublics, popular and vernacular culture in the digital age, as well as folklore attributes that characterize humorous genres: esthetic nature, transgressive quality and the element of play. The folklorist approach is complemented by a feminist analysis of the sociocultural, political and gender characteristics of selected humorous genres (particularly stand-up performance), based in the undermining of the binary gender categories. The abundance of weblore which targets the public persona and the physical appearance of Croatia’s woman president can thus be interpreted as signaling: a) the end of authoritarian regimes and politicians; b) a rise in the digital counterpublics which ideologically undermines the matrifocal nationalist and conservative worldview and c) a neoliberal contradiction whereby the feminization of a (devalued) political sphere goes hand in hand with a strengthening of conservative, racist and homophobic forces in society.

“Deaf Wedding”: The Time in the Beliefs and Ritual Practices of the Female Folk Healers / Wizards

Author(s): Vesna Petreska / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

The subject of interest of the present article is time in the traditional Balkan cultures, with special emphasis on Macedonian female folk healers i.e. the time when they perform their ritual practices. The ritual practices of treatment, whether it is about collective curing practices, when the entire rural community is threatened, mostly due to an epidemic, or it is an individual in question, usually is performed at night, or in the so-called "deaf time", or "no time”, “dead hours" – that is, the time around midnight or the twilight after the setting of the sun; at moonlight (under the influence of the lunar phases); before sunrise, etc., which can be related to the liminal periods during this period of a day and night. On the basis of symbolic and semantic analysis, the present article tries to make a link between the symbolic representations of the time with the day and the night, further to those of the Sun and the Moon, which are connected with the interpretation of the this-worldly and the otherworldly.

“Dekanesa” i “dekanica” – normativni status

Author(s): Belkisa Dolić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 30/2019

Given that on a daily basis, both in the work environment and in media coverage, we witness the usage of three forms (dekan, dekanica, dekanesa) to denominate a female person as a faculty leader, of which only one is standard (the one in the so-called generic masculine form), we realized the need to nominate the form dekanica for standard word status in a subsequent normative handbook of the Bosnian language. We are encouraged by the established linguistic practice, the Law on Gender Equality in BiH (2010), the treatment of other members of the semantic group of academic titles / occupations / vocations / functions in the normative books of the Bosnian standard language of recent date, as well as the ever increasing frequency of the form dekanesa in public discourse, which is not acceptable for the Bosnian language for several reasons.

“Don’t Underestimate the Girls... Some of them are More Genuine Ultras than You”

Author(s): Kremena Iordanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2017

Sports and football in particular are always considered a typical male occupation,which stresses male values and where the presence of the opposite sex is regarded as unnatural. In the last decade, the European stadiums witness the unprecedented presence of women attending the football games. This leads to the conclusion that the idea of male hegemony on the stadium could be questioned. The study is conducted among women–football fans in Bulgaria. The main questions, which it aims to answer,are: What are the ways of becoming a football fan? How do the female football fans spend their time in the circles that were until recently considered male? To what extent is their behaviour on the stadium independent?

“Femeia care face carieră”: stereotipurile ca anateme

Author(s): Brânduşa Palade / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 03/1998

This paper deals with the current linguistic censorship of women’s achievment of visible carrer standards. This censorship works both on the level of discourse and the collective imaginery. The discourse reflects the collective imaginary and the collective imaginary shapes and informs the discourse. Moreover, this mutual relationship between these elements creates a broad propensity of dissaproving women’s career interests. Thus, the continual use of patriarchal stereotypes may succeed in discouraging a local reinvention of women’s identity.

“Geisha Girls Strike”: An Overlooked Aspect of the Women's Labor Movement in Modern Japan

Author(s): Yuhei Yambe / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2017

This paper analyzes a geisha strike that occurred in Osaka on February 26, 1937. At Nanchi Gokagai (Osaka), the largest geisha district in modern Japan, about sixty geisha went on strike because the manager of the call-office refused to recognize the union they had formed. All geisha had to register with the call-office, but they had no voice in deciding the call-office's policies. The geisha strikers climbed Mount Shigi and stayed at Gyokuzō Buddhistt emple for several days. At the time, the strike caused a sensation. However the strike has not been the focus of attention in studies of Women's Labor Movements by Women's Studies scholars in Japan until recently. Geisha have seldom been viewed as 'regular' female workers. Rather, they are often treated only as victims of human trafficking and thus are marked by the stigma of 'being a prostitute.' Therefore, focusing on the geishas' self-representations and the high level of self-awareness seen in them, my paper discusses the Osaka geisha strike as a significant moment in the history of the women's labor movements that helped geisha to acquire confidence as women workers.

“GLEDAN IZ DOLINE BOSNE, VIS ZVAN VISOČICA, SA RUŠEVINAMA GRADA VISOKOG, DAJE IZGLED VELIKE ČETVEROSTRANE PIRAMIDE”

Author(s): Husein Sejko Mekanović / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 25/2006

“GÖZALTINDA YAŞAMAK ÖYKÜSÜ1” TANIKLIĞINDA NAMUS VE KADIN BEDENİNE YÖNELİK EXOCANNİBALİSM

Author(s): Berfin Ural / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 20/2016

In this article, honesty, loss of self-identity and modern human cannibalism on a symbolic level are studied using the story of "Living in a Custody" as an example. This is called “Exocannibalism” by Western Countries and includes also the notion that the act of eating human. In this article it is noted nowadays symbolic act of eating human with the fact that woman's identity is destructed by other people under the concept of virtue rather than the same kinds deal with each other. Güler, who is the heroine of the story feeling, is accused of being impure by other types within the plot as a result of her feelings she has lived with her boyfriend. In this context, her being accused and her virginity test, which is the only solution for her to prove her purity, which means “death” even on the symbolic level is the tragic reflection of pressure that patriarchal society exert over woman. Therefore, in this study it will be discussed the family situation in patriarchal society and the pressure that the family exert over woman and also the concept of purity which is maybe one of the most important power source of pressure in the light of Güler’s case. Besides, during this discussion process, the relationship of symbolic exocannibalism with the concept of pressure and purity will be also examined. Another point that should be considered over is the fact that to what extent the men are competent in this maledominated society where the women are deprived of having a voice and rights over their own bodies and their future.

“Gypsy Rooms” and Other Discriminatory Treatment Against Romani Women in Hungarian Hospitals

Author(s): Rita Izsák / Language(s): English Issue: 3-4/2004

The complaints indicate possible abuse of the principle of equal treatment in the provision of health care services to Romani women. Romani women are humiliated by being segregated from non-Romani women in maternity wards; in many cases they are subjected to less qualified treatment and sometimes to negligent treatment; finally, they experience constant verbal abuse on racial grounds by both nurses and medical doctors. Apart from the lack of access to equal standards of health care due to discriminatory treatment by medical personnel, Romani women are exposed to the risks of less qualified treatment due to the fact that they cannot afford to offer doctors tips for better health services [...].

“'Tis Bargain'd 'Twixt Us”: The Reclamation of Kate in The Taming of the Shrew

Author(s): Mary L. Hjelm / Language(s): English Issue: 05/2016

Using games as a theoretical structure helps to bridge the gap between Renaissance expectations and modern wishes concerning Kate's behaviour and Petruchio's treatment of her in William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, allowing us to recognize which of the two main characters‟ actions are for entertainment only and which are intended to produce significant and lasting results that benefit the players and contribute to the forward movement of the play. Two different game structures exist in The Taming of the Shrew. The sparks of sexual tension are the most readily apparent indication of the linguistic game, but an analysis of the underlying social games reveals that their relationship is largely about restructuring Kate's voice and actions in a more acceptable fashion for a Renaissance audience. The key difference is that, while society and/or characters are unchanged by a recreation game, in re-creation games both are transformed in permanent and significant ways.