This study examines the role of hyemo–a Korean emotion category–in shaping the discourse of the 4B movement in South Korea, a digital feminist initiative that rejects heteronormative practices, such as childbirth, dating, marriage, and sexual intercourse. Drawing on Nussbaum’s socio-cognitive approach to emotion and Foucault’s concept of neoliberal governmentality, the study employs social actor analysis of the online community, Yeosungsidae ‘Women’s Generation.’ The analysis reveals that hyemo encodes relational patterns of other-blaming and other-inferiorizing directed at Korean men and Korean women in heterosexual relationships. In the construction of these patterns, the neoliberal imperative of self-optimization serves as the barometer for morality and social superiority. By framing heterosexuality as a site for the contamination of inferiority and moral failure, the movement positions the rejection of heterosexual activity as a form of avoidance and retaliation. Ultimately, the study argues that hyemo–by encoding a set of patterns of relationship constructed through the logic of contamination–explains the intersection of seemingly conflicting characteristics within the 4B movement, namely feminist resistance against patriarchy and the emergence of exclusionary identity politics.
This article examines female cyber-jihadism through primary data collected in Iraq. Drawing on in-person interviews with 24 ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) female prisoners, supplemented by interviews with Iraqi and Kurdistan Region security officials, this study investigates the roles of Iraqi women in radicalization and terrorist activities conducted inside Iraq from 2014 to 2025. The study advances a hybrid radicalization model in which Iraqi women were recruited through offline social and institutional networks, trained within ISIL’s organizational structures, and subsequently deployed as a domestic cyber-jihadist workforce across digital platforms. The findings demonstrate that women’s participation extended far beyond passive support, encompassing propaganda dissemination, online recruitment, and the management of ISIL’s social media presence. This study’s contribution lies in shifting analytical attention from the dominant Western-focused literature on female radicalization toward the domestic Iraqi experience, revealing a distinct pathway shaped by patriarchal structures, institutional pressures and ISIL’s systematic exploitation of local women.
While research on domestic violence and abuse (DVA) frequently examines physical harm, the ways in which financial and emotional vulnerabilities—disclosed early in a relationship—are weaponised as instruments of control remain under-theorised. Ten years after the criminalisation of coercive control in England and Wales, and in the wake of the 2025 implementation of Raneem’s Law, investigating the “grooming” phase of non-physical abuse is a matter of urgent social and legal importance. This study utilises Mary Douglas’s theoretical framework of “matter out of place” to interrogate how abusers in heterosexual and same-sex contexts disrupt relational norms, framing their partners as anomalous or deficient to legitimise coercive tactics. Drawing on qualitative case studies and oral interviews detailing the lived experiences of two women, the research examines the exploitation of personal vulnerability. The analysis reveals four distinct mechanisms of control: degradation and symbolic pollution; financial moralising; the erosion of self-perception through economic dependence; and the progression from devaluation to physical violence. These patterns demonstrate how abusers construct a reality where the victim is positioned as “out of place,” destabilising their identity and agency. By applying Douglas’s framework to these dynamics, this study offers fresh perspectives on the architecture of emotional and financial abuse. The findings advocate for a shift in policy and practice that recognises these subtle patterns of grooming, challenging the societal frameworks that frequently marginalise victims as anomalies.
Despite the increasing presence of Muslim women in the Western labor market, they continue to face significant challenges, not only in obtaining jobs but also within secular workplace environments. Most studies tend to focus on Muslim men or overlook gender considerations. However, the intersection of religion with gender and race/ethnicity compounds these difficulties, particularly for hijabi Muslim women who often face heightened visibility and bias due to their religious attire. By employing an intersectional approach and reviewing 49 scholarly works published in English from 2000 to 2025, this scoping review paper explores Muslim women's employment and workplace challenges in the Western labor market and the strategies they employ to overcome these challenges. The findings underscore the high rate of unemployment among Muslim women, largely due to the persistence of structural discrimination in hiring practices. Avoid applying for occupations that require interactions with white non-Muslim clients, opting to skip interviews or removing headscarves are some identified strategies. In terms of workplace challenges, Muslim women encounter skepticism regarding their skills, struggle to accommodate their religious practices, and face difficulties balancing home responsibilities with work commitments. To overcome these challenges, Muslim women work hard to prove their capabilities, learn how to navigate religious practices, get support from spouses or work from home to achieve work-life balance. This review concludes by identifying research gaps and suggesting future directions to inform evidence-based policies and practices aimed at fostering an inclusive and equitable labor market.
Contemporary scholarship on women, peace and security has consistently interrogated issues of gender disparity in peace processes and the constrained integration of women in conventional peace architectures. Various analytical models, such as the liberal, indigenous, and hybridisation frameworks, have argued for the democratisation and decentralisation of peace processes to include grassroots actors and indigenous peace mechanisms. Nonetheless, the representation of women in hybridised peace infrastructures such as the institution of chieftaincy and their involvement and influence in conflict resolution processes anchored in such institutions remains understudied. This study interrogates this underexplored area of women’s representation, influence and relevance for conflict resolution within the chieftaincy institution of the Northern Region of Ghana. Leveraging the hybridisation framework, the study argues that hybridity in its current form reproduces exclusion, contrasting sharply with indigenous peace processes that are collective, informal, and participatory. The study relied on transnational discourses on conflict resolution and peacebuilding, as well as insights from individual interviews and focus group discussions with 78 differently situated women and men to explore women’s representation in the institution of chieftaincy and their influence and relevance in conflict resolution practices in the Northern Region of Ghana. The participants were sampled using the maximum variation purposive sampling technique, while the collected data were analysed using an inductive thematic analytical technique with the help of NVivo Software. The Northern Region occupies a distinctive position in which women are appointed as chiefs rather than as queens, a common practice across Ghana. Nonetheless, the roles of women in conflict resolution anchored on the institution of chieftaincy are deeply constrained by prevailing patriarchal ideologies and gender discriminatory norms and practices. The study found that although there were powerful female chiefs such as the Gundogu-Naa and the Bugulaana in the Northern region, they were not part of the councils of chiefs, depicting a gendered exclusion within the hybridised institution of chieftaincy in Ghana. The study builds upon these limitations proposing the concept of cautious hybridity. It concludes that women’s inclusion in decision-making is not only a matter of justice and equality, but also a pragmatic approach to achieving sustainable peace. This inclusion can be achieved through a cautious hybridisation of peace process. The study, therefore, advocates for a cautious hybridisation of the institution of chieftaincy, where indigenous peace processes that recognise and promote women’s contributions to peacebuilding are enhanced and repositioned to embrace the values of democracy, transparency, and accountability without losing their essential indigenous characteristics.
Alternative family networks challenge normative ideas of family, subvert social orders, and create new spaces.This paper examines how the emergence of alternative families among Indian trans women constitutes a form of resistance against dominant social structures and conventional kinship models, enabling marginalized individuals to reclaim a sense of belonging. Drawing on Michel Foucault's theories of power, knowledge, and resistance, the paper situates these formations as critical sites of support through which Indian trans women resist and reimagine restrictive gender norms. It introduces the concept of biopolitical kinship while also engaging with post-Foucauldian thinkers to interrogate the local cultural context more closely. By positioning the gharana within a Foucauldian framework, the paper argues that such kinship systems are neither purely emancipatory nor wholly oppressive; rather, they function as complex sites where control and resistance coexist, shaping trans subjectivity in historically and culturally specific ways. Through this lens, the paper contributes to broader debates on recognition, belonging, and social justice by foregrounding indigenous forms of social organization that remain under-theorized in both Indian and global scholarship. The analysis positions alternative families as meaningful for reshaping conversations around social inclusion and diversity, suggesting how marginalized communities celebrate gender plurality, construct collective identities, and mobilize resistance by reshaping personal and cultural understandings of family.
This study examines gender differences in consumer responses to brand hate on social media within the Moroccan context. Drawing on data collected from 250 consumers through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling, the findings reveal a clear distinction between attitudinal and behavioral brand hate. Attitudinal brand hate—characterized by emotional detachment, disgust, and contempt—drives indirect responses such as brand avoidance, switching, and private complaining. In contrast, behavioral brand hate—associated with anger and hostility—leads to more direct and publicly expressed actions, including public complaining, retaliation, and revenge on social media platforms. The results further demonstrate that gender shapes how these emotional responses translate into behavior: women are more likely to channel brand hate into private, relational forms of complaining, whereas men tend to externalize these emotions through public and confrontational expressions. These findings highlight the underlying mechanism through which gender influences the transformation of negative emotions into distinct behavioral outcomes. By extending the Triangular Theory of Hate, this study provides a more nuanced understanding of how customer emotions, attitudes, and behaviors are linked in social media environments. It also offers managerial insights for designing gender-sensitive strategies to mitigate brand hate.
Drawing on Sylvia Walby’s conception of patriarchy and R.W. Connell’s theory of masculinities, this paper shifts the analytical focus to men’s perspective within gender power relations. Conceptualising patriarchy as both structural and interactional processes, the study measures men’s patriarchal attitudes in two key domains: decision-making and sexual relations. Using data from a nationally representative sample of 101,839 men aged 15–54 from the National Family Health Survey 5 (2019–21), we employ bivariate analyses and multilevel regression models to determine the factors of men’s patriarchal attitudes. Additionally, spatial autocorrelation analysis using Moran’s I is conducted to assess the geographic clustering of patriarchal attitudes across the districts. The findings show that higher levels of education and wealth are associated with lower odds of endorsing patriarchal attitudes. Older men are also less likely to exhibit patriarchal attitudes. In contrast, men who own land, are employed, and report a family history of domestic violence are significantly more likely to endorse patriarchal attitudes. Significant variations are observed across caste and religions, suggesting the influence of broader socio-cultural factors rather than identity alone. Men in the Northeast are less likely to endorse patriarchal attitudes, whereas those in the South are more likely; this regional pattern should be interpreted cautiously, as the study focuses on attitudinal norms rather than outcome-based indicators of women’s empowerment. The significant positive Moran’s I values indicate that patriarchal attitudes are spatially clustered across districts rather than randomly distributed. Our results underscore the need for engaging men in attitudinal change programs alongside gender empowerment initiatives to collectively challenge patriarchal norms.
This study examines the impact of the Turkish tax system on gender equality, focusing particularly on income, consumption, and wealth taxation. Its purpose is to evaluate how tax policies and practices may reinforce or alleviate structural gender inequalities in labor force participation, earnings, and wealth accumulation. The study adopts a document analysis approach using official statistics from Turkish Statistical Institute, OECD, the World Bank, and relevant literature, analyzing direct and indirect gender biases present in tax legislation, including income tax exemptions and deductions, value-added tax, inheritance, and property taxes. The findings indicate that while Türkiye’s individual income taxation system avoids some explicit biases, women are disproportionately affected due to implicit biases such as wage gaps and fiscal drag. Indirect taxes, including value-added and special consumption taxes, as well as gender-based pricing of women-targeted products, produce regressive effects on low-income women. Wealth taxes remain insufficient, contributing to the intergenerational persistence of the gender wealth gap. The study emphasizes the need for gender-focused tax policies, including wealth taxes designed to support female ownership, income tax incentives, and the reduction of discriminatory consumption taxes.
Empowering females and enhancing their representation in leadership roles are critical components of sustainable development. This study uniquely explores how female directors with Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) backgrounds influence the relationship between Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices and firm performance in Malaysia, through the lens of feminist theory. Utilizing comprehensive data from 398 firm-year observations across various sectors from 2018 to 2021, the study employs advanced econometric techniques, including the Durbin-Watson test for autocorrelation, Propensity Score Matching (PSM) to mitigate selection bias, and Generalized Least Squares (GLS) to ensure robust estimation. The findings highlight that female directors with NGO experience significantly strengthen ESG integration within firms, particularly by enhancing the social dimension through improved stakeholder engagement, transparency, and ethical governance. This distinctive influence notably translates into enhanced corporate performance, closely aligning corporate strategies with broader sustainability goals. By linking feminist empowerment principles to corporate governance, female NGO directors effectively bridge civic engagement with strategic business decision-making processes. This study offers valuable insights for organizations and policymakers aiming to integrate gender diversity and NGO expertise into corporate governance frameworks, promoting sustainable, inclusive, and equitable business practices.
In August 2024, access to Instagram was restricted in Türkiye. Although social media bans have drawn increasing attention, their psychological impact on users remains largely unexplored. This study examines the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) during the ban, with a specific focus on the psychosocial profiles of Instagram users. A total of 280 participants (ages 18–45) from 55 provinces in Türkiye were categorized into high- and low-risk groups through cluster analysis based on their levels of excessive social media use, FoMO, loneliness, and well-being. Chi-square tests showed that high-risk males were significantly more likely to use VPNs. The findings suggest that male and female users responded differently to the restrictions. These differences may be linked to underlying psychological factors such as FoMO, loneliness, and well-being.
The concept of double discrimination faced by lesbians, bisexuals, or female asexuals—both as women and as individuals deviating from heterosexual norms—finds its epitome in cinema, a historically significant medium of expression and visibility. The aim of this paper is to trace the genealogy of queer female authorship in Spanish cinematography and identify characteristics that the corresponding film productions potentially have in common. The article shows a sparse number of openly queer female filmmakers in Spanish cinema: from the 1990s onwards only five can be found who have directed at least one feature film. In our research, these five filmmakers, Marta Balletbò-Coll, Zaida Carmona, Alba Cros, Arantxa Echevarría, and Sonia Sebastián, are interviewed about their creative processes and their relation with the Spanish film industry, evincing similarities closely related to their identities of queer and female creators. Despite the years separating some of their works, our study highlights the multiple challenges they have faced trying to establish themselves within the industry, working mainly with limited budgets and strategies such as crowdfunding. Only one of them, Arantxa Echevarría, has managed to maintain a continuous career alternating commissioned films with personal works, despite releasing her first feature film at the age of fifty.
This study investigates the intersection of gender equality and ethical artificial intelligence (AI) development, emphasizing its importance for building sustainable and equitable societies. The research aims to examine how gender perspectives influence the design, implementation, and governance of AI systems and to identify strategies that mitigate algorithmic bias. A bibliometric analysis of 1030 scientific publications indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) database from 2013 to mid-2024 was conducted using the VOSviewer tool. The analysis explored publication trends, most-cited studies, leading authors, influential countries, and collaboration networks. The results reveal a steady increase in research on Gender-AI since 2013, with the USA and the University of Oxford leading in output and citations. Commonly occurring keywords such as “gender diversity,” “bias,” and “sustainable development” highlight a growing recognition of the ethical dimensions of AI. This study contributes by providing a comprehensive mapping of Gender-AI research and offering insights for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners aiming to design inclusive AI systems. The findings offer valuable guidance and references for future research for policymakers, AI researchers, and practitioners who aim to develop AI that promotes equity, inclusion, and sustainability. Limitations include the exclusive reliance on WoS-indexed, English-language publications, which may omit relevant work from other databases and regions. Future research should expand to non-English sources and examine practical case studies of gender-sensitive AI policy implementation.
The current study aimed to identify barriers to help-seeking behaviours among Australian men, with a specific focus on the influence of traditional masculinity and perceived public stigma. A total of 210 adult men aged 18 and above currently residing in Australia completed an online survey. Results revealed that adherence to traditional masculine behaviours and perceived public stigma are negatively associated with help-seeking behaviours. Furthermore, a hierarchical regression analysis revealed that both adherence to traditional masculine behaviours and perceived public stigma were significant predictors of help-seeking among men, even after accounting for age, income, education, and geographic location. The results underscore the pervasive nature of traditional notions of masculinity and highlight the intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to mental health help-seeking among men. Findings have important implications for how interventions should challenge and redefine these traditional notions of masculinity acquired from early childhood to incorporate health-enhancing values.
Migration has often been framed as a form of salvation for individuals facing crises such as war, economic collapse, or natural disasters. However, state policies strongly shape this process and can create distinct challenges for women. These challenges include health problems, social and occupational deprivation, limited access to education, deterioration of family structures, exposure to violence, racism, and harmful media portrayals. As a result, women are often relegated to the “other” or “uncertain” group within society. This study examines differences in media representations of Syrian and Ukrainian women who were compelled to migrate due to the Syrian Civil War (2011) and the Russia–Ukraine conflict (2022). The study measures how these women are portrayed during migration and examines the role of media in perpetuating othering, drawing on theories of precarity, performativity, and dispossession. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study applies content and thematic analysis to news coverage from 2012 to 2023 for Syrian women and from 2022 to 2023 for Ukrainian women across five global media channels. This study fills a gap in both Turkish- and English-language scholarship by applying these theoretical frameworks to media representations of Syrian and Ukrainian women and offering a novel perspective.
Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) has gained growing prominence globally, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where persistent gender and social disparities continue to hinder equitable development. In Ghana, despite significant progress in institutionalizing gender mainstreaming through national policies and frameworks, translating these commitments into transformative outcomes remains a challenge. This study thus aimed to explore the factors that enable or constrain GESI in Ghana, drawing on the perspectives of practitioners selected across multiple institutional domains. Anchored in Intersectionality Theory, data were collected from 20 participants in a qualitative inquiry. The findings reveal that institutional reforms, advocacy, and training initiatives are advancing GESI implementation in Ghana; however, systemic barriers, including limited resources, entrenched socio-cultural norms, and fluctuating political will, continue to undermine progress. The study concludes that achieving sustained GESI transformation in Ghana requires intersectionality-informed, multi-sectoral, and context-responsive policy and practice interventions.
This study examines the impact of gender and attire on audience perceptions of YouTube video presenters, specifically in terms of effectiveness, credibility, attention, and arousal. Participants evaluated male and female presenters appearing in videos dressed in either formal or casual attire. The results revealed a notable gender bias: male presenters received higher mean ratings than females. However, physiological measures did not show clear gender differences in the indices assessed; thus, the self-report pattern was not accompanied by corresponding differences in these physiological measures. Formal clothing improved evaluations for all presenters, with a particularly pronounced effect for male presenters. These findings underscore the significant role of gender and attire in shaping audience perceptions in social media and highlight the need to establish standardized evaluation criteria to address gender bias. Establishing such criteria could promote fairer assessments and foster more equitable opportunities for presenters in professional and educational YouTube contexts.
This study examines how gender shapes college students’ mental health help-seeking using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Although Generation Z students report high levels of psychological distress, engagement with campus mental health services remains low. Gender-homogeneous focus groups were conducted with undergraduate students at a large southeastern university to explore attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control related to seeking professional help and discussing mental health with peers. Findings revealed clear gender differences across all TPB constructs. Male students commonly associated help-seeking with weakness, described strong stigma within peer groups, and reported limited knowledge of how to access services. Female students expressed greater openness toward emotional disclosure and help-seeking in principle but reported logistical barriers, long wait times, and ethical hesitation about using resources perceived as scarce. In peer contexts, males largely avoided mental health conversations, whereas females described frequent emotional sharing that seldom transitioned into formal help-seeking. These findings suggest the need for qualitative gender-responsive approaches to promoting campus mental health services.
This study examines whether gender-based property tax concessions in India can improve women's residential property ownership while remaining fiscally sustainable for Urban Local Bodies. Despite legal reforms, women remain underrepresented as property owners due to socio-cultural norms and institutional barriers. Using mixed methods, the study combines municipal tax data with surveys of women property owners and officials from Indian states with different policy contexts. Analysis shows gender-targeted incentives correlate with higher women's property registration, particularly where stamp duty rebates and tax concessions are combined. However, regional outcomes vary significantly. States with higher administrative capacity maintain revenue while increasing ownership, while others face fiscal strain. Qualitative evidence indicates formal ownership may not translate to economic autonomy due to inheritance practices and patriarchal control. The study concludes that property tax incentives can promote women's asset ownership, but long-term effectiveness depends on institutional capacity, legal reforms, and sustainable revenue strategies. By evaluating ownership and municipal finance outcomes, the paper provides evidence for equitable gender-responsive property tax design in India.
Sericulture in the Kashmir Valley, under Indian administration, sustains rural livelihoods through mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing, and relying on women as the backbone of its workforce. Yet, their systemic exclusion is now being recalibrated and intensified through pervasive digital divides. While existing literature prioritizes technical and financial dimensions, this study deploys a feminist political economy lens to illuminate how the digitalization of agrifood systems amplifies women’s exploitation. It reveals their “double burden” of unpaid domestic and underpaid sericulture work, and how patriarchal bargains, sociocultural norms, and institutional gatekeeping now manifest digitally,acutely excluding women from technologies, online markets, and e-governance schemes. This digital patriarchy reinforces male control over information, subsidies, and value chains, rendering women’s labour invisible in both physical and digital economies. The study challenges Euro-centric feminist debates by highlighting Global South realities, arguing that without gender-transformative interventions, digitalization modernizes rather than dismantles patriarchal control. Findings underscore the urgent need to target these structural digital biases to foster equitable growth in digitalizing agrarian economies.
