<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> The article charts the development of womanism as a movement which has presented an alternative to feminism. It advocates inclusiveness instead of exclusiveness, whether it is related to race, class or gender. Womanism provided political framework for colored women and gave them tools in their struggle with patriarchy which imposed restrictive norms and negative stereotypes on them. It also tackled the restrictiveness of feminism which was especially evident in the field of literary scholarship. Womanism is also related to new movements within feminism such as womanist theology and eco-feminism</abstract>

Alice Walker’s Womanism: Perspectives Past and Present

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> 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 boundaries of this organic and proto-modern system. Since the concept of the elements had gender aspects, too, I will also focus on the question of how proto-modern natural philosophy theorised about the dichotomy, antagonism, and the cooperation of male and female principles.</abstract>

“Contending with the Fretful Element”: Shakespeare and the (Gendered) Great Chain of Being

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> More than any other Shakespearean play, Twelfth Night demonstrates hogender can be performed and impersonated with the use of voice, costume and mannerisms. The play explores the relationship between gender and desire, allowing us to understand the complex ways in which Shakespeare responded imaginatively to sex, gender and sexuality as determinants of human identity. The article also discusses various movie versions of the play.</abstract>

She’s the Man: Gender Dynamics in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>The expectation and arrival of a baby has always played a significant role in many societies across the globe. For simple reasons, babies are perceived as blessings from God. Hence, there is the need to shower the mother-to-be and her unborn baby with gifts and advice in preparation for welcoming, not only the bundle of joy, but also the new additional member into the family. The article is based on data that were collected from baby showers in greater Gaborone over a period of twelve months. The concept of Botho/Ubuntu cuts across as one of the major initiatives that drive baby showers. The goal of this paper is to establish what baby showers entail, how these initiatives started and how they are conducted. But most importantly, the paper will argue that baby showers are a community building initiative in the urban space. The paper seeks to establish the extent to which baby showers are gendered, using analytical insights from the theory of the “good mother”.</abstract>

“A Little Baby is on the Way:” <italic>Botho/Ubuntu</italic> and Community-Building in Gaborone Baby Showers

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>The Enlightenment triggered different reactions among women in Europe (the most illustrious case is France) and in the USA. The present paper analyses these reactions kindled by the Enlightenment in the two abovementioned geopolitical and cultural realms. It also analyses the development of certain social movements triggered by these reactions. Therefore, the epicentral question that I will attempt to answer is: what did the Enlightenment lead to in Europe (as exemplified by France) and in the USA: women’s activism, women’s movement, or feminism? Why did the Enlightenment influence the women’s rights movement differently in these two countries?</abstract>

What did the Enlightenment Lead to: Women’s Activism, Women’s Movement or Feminism? A Case-Study of France and the Usa

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Over the past five years violence against women has been growing in Serbia. However, the aim of this paper is not to explore the reasons for the violence itself, but the way it is presented in the media. In this paper, representations of domestic violence are analysed by focusing on the image of women in newspapers, TV shows and film. Therefore, my intention is to examine: 1. How the media manipulate through the construct of gender; 2. The ways in which the media deepen gender differentiation and construct women as a weaker, inferior subject.</abstract>

The Victimization of Women in the Media: A Discourse on the Victim and Gender Differentiation in Serbia

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The purpose of this essay is to consider the practice of bride price and some of the various outcomes of the practice. Of interest is better understanding cultural tradition, meaning, potential changes in meaning and their associations with the lives of young women, both adverse (e.g., relationships with poverty, domestic violence, etc.) as well as positive outcomes (e.g., higher levels of education, elevated levels of happiness, less tolerance of interpersonal violence, etc.). Considerations and implications are explored as related to the advancement of young women and girls.
</abstract>

The Price of Bride Price? Considerations

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
In India, male dominance historically prevailed in the realms of travel and travel writing due to their alignment with ideals of masculine courage and sexuality. However, in the post-millennial era, Indian women began to emerge as solo travelers in the tourism industry, facilitated by increased access to higher education and diverse professions. By analyzing the travel memoir of Shivya Nath, a prominent Indian female travel blogger, titled The Shooting Star (2018), this article explores the concept of solo travel as a heterotopic space—a realm of resistance and negotiation that empowers women and offers an alternative form of liberation. Nath’s memoir celebrates female emancipation, defying narratives of victimhood. The argument presented is that solo travel represents an active form of resistance against gender stereotypes, enabling women to overcome personal fears and logistical obstacles.
</abstract>

“With a Home Nowhere, I Belong Everywhere”: Travel as a Heterotopic Space of Feminist Resistance in Shivya Nath’s <italic>The Shooting Star</italic> (2018)

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
Elisabeth of Neuwied (1843-1916) was the first Queen of Romania and the wife of Charles I Hollenzolern-Sigmaringen. As a writer she is known under the name of Carmen Sylva. The Queen was a very active and gifted personality but one of her main interests was literature. This article focuses on Carmen Sylva’s literary position as a writer who rejected narrow nationalism although her public position obliged her to impersonate Romanian values while integrating them into an Occident all too eager to spread all over the place. Carmen Sylva is an interesting case of a European trans-national literary identity.
</abstract>

Carmen Sylva (Queen Elisabeth of Romania): A Trans-National Writer

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The paper examines the manner in which female anger and anxiety are channelled through two recent American reproductive dystopias, Leni Zumas’s Red Clocks (2018) and Louise Erdrich’s Future Home of the Living God (2017). Starting from these two novels, I argue that anger and anxiety in feminist dystopias represent both the vehicle for political and social critique and the response to (potential) oppressive reproductive practices.
</abstract>

“Being Treated Like a Fetal Container is Enraging”: Examining Anger and Anxiety in Contemporary American Reproductive Dystopias

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
This article analyses the film <italic>Thappad (The Slap)</italic> (2020) directed by Anubhav Sinha, which portrays slapping as a form of domestic abuse and a violation of women’s right to self-respect. This study investigates the incorporation of Universal Human Rights principles into the discourse of Hindi cinema. Through textual analysis of the film text, the paper examines how the film employs the language of rights as a counter-narrative against patriarchal ideologies, promoting gender equality and dignity within domestic settings. It argues that by countering the conservative cultural perspectives pertaining to spousal abuse through the discourse and philosophy of Human Rights, the film contributes to societal transformation. The paper identifies a shift in the film’s discourse from traditional, orthodox narratives to universal narratives centred around rights.
</abstract>

From Orthodoxy to the Universal Logic of Human Rights: A Case Study of Film <italic>Thappad</italic> (<italic>The Slap</italic>)

<abstract>
<title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>
The advent of the Enlightenment and the cultural shift from the France of the Bourbons resulted in significant changes for Spanish women. The changes in their ways of life turned Enlightenment women into subjects who were conscious of the new ideas and of their own capacities, which they asserted in various spaces. This study centres on Josefa Amar y Borbón, a highly educated woman and a pioneer in joining cultural societies, who created a body of work related to the education and worth of women. Based on the historical-educational method, we analyse its impact and reception in the Spanish press from the end of the 18th century to the first third of the 20th century. We point to Josefa Amar y Borbón’s qualities as a translator and to the vindication of her figure as a feminist in Spain, starting in the mid-19th century.
</abstract>

The Cultural Elevation of Women in the Thought and Reception of Josefa Amar Y Borbón

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> Despite a high growth rate and plentiful Government measures to encourage gender equality, the gender gap still exists in India. Lack of gender equality not only limits women’s access to resources and opportunities, but also imperils the life prospects of the future generation. In the present article an attempt has been made to examine the problem of gender inequality in India. In this process, the article not only discusses the extent, causes and consequences of the problem, but also suggests policy measures to reduce gender inequality in India.</abstract>

The State of Gender Inequality in India

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Transgender identity can be defined as the self-awareness of a discrepancy between the assigned sex at birth and the personal gender identity of an individual. This study assumed the constructionist perspective, focused on the influence of culture on sex-typing and the representations of gender in child development. This research considers how parents of transgender children emotionally handled the transition. Being faced with a child’s transgender identity may cause an emotional experience similar to mourning, in particular, ambiguous loss (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_genst-2020-0011_ref_021_w2aab3b7c10b1b6b1ab1ac21Aa">Coolhart, Ritenour &amp; Grodzinski 2018</xref>, <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_genst-2020-0011_ref_048_w2aab3b7c10b1b6b1ab1ac48Aa">McGuire et al. 2016</xref>, <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="j_genst-2020-0011_ref_052_w2aab3b7c10b1b6b1ab1ac52Aa">Norwood 2013</xref>). In this qualitative research, 97 associations dealing with Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) issues were contacted to recruit participants from three different countries: Italy, Spain and U.S.A. The sample includes 18 parents of trangender people who completed an ad hoc questionnaire. A brief standard story was constructed about an experience of sexual transition, followed by some questions on the experience of parental mourning during the transgender transition of their children. The corpora were analysed in the three original languages, and the analysis was performed with Atlas.ti. From the qualitative analysis of the texts that describe parents’ experience, three fundamental elements emerged. The first is inherent to the mourning orientation to loss and the fear of death; the second to the disenfranchisement of mourning and transgender identity between family and society; and the third illustrates the final restorative outcome of mourning.</abstract>

Grieving those Who Still Live: Loss Experienced by Parents of Transgender Children

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>The purpose of this study is to see whether gender plays a role in the apology strategies employed by native speakers of Arabic, i.e., how Arab males and females express apologies in different situations. Data necessary for this study were collected via a Discourse Completion Task (DCT) questionnaire, incorporating 10 real-life scenarios in the form of short descriptive statements. In accordance with the Cross-Cultural Speech Act Realisation Patterns, participants’ responses(n = 20) were analysed and further classified into five distinct apology strategies: (Illocutionary Force Indicating Device (IFID), Responsibility (RESP), Explanation (EXPL), Repair (REPR), and Forbearance (FORB)). The researcher initially hypothesised that apology strategies employed by participants would exhibit more differences than similarities among native speakers of Arabic. Contrary to previously conducted research on this subject (i.e., attesting more differences), the data analysed (n = 350 apology exchanges) revealed more similarities than differences regardless of gender. In fact, no statistically significant differences were found. In addition to contributing to the current theoretical debate on gender and gender-related topics, the results of this study may entail pedagogical implications for those in direct contact with Arab learners of English as a Second Language or with speakers of Arabic in general terms.</abstract>

On Gender and Apology Strategies: The Case of Arabic

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>This study investigates the socioeconomic determinants of early marriage among the women living in rural Bangladesh through an empirical cross-sectional research. The data were collected primarily from a sample of 576 ever married women using a semi-structured interview schedule. Results show that more than half of the respondents (58.3%) were early married and the mean age of the first marriage was 16.8. Both in bivariate and multivariate setups, respondents’ age, religion, education level, family type, father’s occupation and household income were found to be significantly associated with marital age (p&lt;0.001).</abstract>

Determinants of Early Marriage Among Women: An Experience from Rural Bangladesh

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title>Under the theoretical wing of Conceptual Metaphor Theory, we present a contrastive cognitive and linguistic analysis of the <sc>women are animals</sc> metaphor as used in Romanian and Serbian. Our main aim is to establish whether the names of the same animals are used in the two languages to conceptualise women and their various characteristics (particularly physical appearance and character traits), or alternatively, whether the two languages exhibit any linguistic or conceptual differences in this regard.</abstract>

Politehnica University Timişoara, 2, Victoriei Sq, 300006 Timişoara, Romania

University of Belgrade, Serbia, 6, Kamenička St., Belgrade, Serbia

<italic>Beauty And The Beast</italic> From A Cognitive Linguistic Perspective: Animal Metaphors For Women In Serbian And Romanian

<abstract><title style='display:none'>Abstract</title> The aim of the paper is to present the results of a study on the interplay of gender and disagreement strategies employed by Hungarian undergraduate students. The data for analysis is a corpus of oral face-to-face dyadic interactions; the methodology makes use of both qualitative and quantitative tools and involves identifying disagreement strategies on the basis of previous research as well as patterns emerging from the corpus. The results of the study contradict previous claims that in comparison to men, women disagree less frequently and, when they do disagree, they employ less direct strategies</abstract>

The Role of Gender in Verbal Disagreement: A Study of Disagreement Strategies Employed by Hungarian Undergraduate Students

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For our 2024 issue, in addition to manuscripts on various gender related topics, we invite contributions to a special section titled “Barbie in the...

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The Journal of West University, Timisoara, Interdisciplinary Centre for Gender Studies

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