Pub Date : 2022-01-02DOI: 10.1080/12259276.2021.2023282
Asmita Verma, Sourabh B. Paul
ABSTRACT Although significant strides have been made in improving maternal and child health outcomes following the millennium development goals, India's progress has been slow, as reflected by its relatively high maternal and child mortality rates. This calls for investigation into the quality of care (QOC) offered to women during pregnancy and childbirth. This study uses primary data to evaluate women's experience of the postnatal care they receive in order to understand maternal perceptions about QOC in Uttarakhand, India. Specifically, we try to measure women's satisfaction with postnatal care and construct a maternal satisfaction index. We also attempt to understand the demographic, socio-economic and obstetric factors that affect them. Results show that a sufficient number of postnatal checks for both the mother and baby were done, while they felt the length of stay in health facilities had been adequate and they had adequate privacy during these processes. These emerged as the most important components of maternal satisfaction. Factors such as women's working status, place of residence, number of children born, pregnancy and delivery related complications, and planned place of delivery were important for their satisfaction. This study may have policy implications to help bridge the supply-demand gaps in the QOC framework.
{"title":"Women’s experience of post-natal care: A study from Uttarakhand, India","authors":"Asmita Verma, Sourabh B. Paul","doi":"10.1080/12259276.2021.2023282","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2021.2023282","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Although significant strides have been made in improving maternal and child health outcomes following the millennium development goals, India's progress has been slow, as reflected by its relatively high maternal and child mortality rates. This calls for investigation into the quality of care (QOC) offered to women during pregnancy and childbirth. This study uses primary data to evaluate women's experience of the postnatal care they receive in order to understand maternal perceptions about QOC in Uttarakhand, India. Specifically, we try to measure women's satisfaction with postnatal care and construct a maternal satisfaction index. We also attempt to understand the demographic, socio-economic and obstetric factors that affect them. Results show that a sufficient number of postnatal checks for both the mother and baby were done, while they felt the length of stay in health facilities had been adequate and they had adequate privacy during these processes. These emerged as the most important components of maternal satisfaction. Factors such as women's working status, place of residence, number of children born, pregnancy and delivery related complications, and planned place of delivery were important for their satisfaction. This study may have policy implications to help bridge the supply-demand gaps in the QOC framework.","PeriodicalId":44322,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Womens Studies","volume":"28 1","pages":"85 - 110"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45918518","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-12-20DOI: 10.1080/12259276.2021.2010907
P. Shabna, K. Kalpana
ABSTRACT This paper explores the discursive construction of ideal Islamic womanhood and its associated gendered subjectivities in the South Indian state of Kerala. It outlines the articulation of ideal womanhood in and through intra-community debates between the principal Muslim groups (“traditionalists” and “reformists”) in Kerala regarding the status of women in Islam. It traces the making of a discourse on the cultivation of pious modern female subjecthood and situates it in the context of wider socio-political changes among Kerala’s Muslims, such as those wrought by nationwide debates on the prospect of personal law reform since the Shah Bano controversy of the mid-1980s. It shows how the traditionalist and reformist interventions in the field of Muslim women’s education, in particular, have converged in recent times with respect to propagating idealized conceptions of pious modern female subjecthood. In conclusion, the paper contextualizes ideal Islamic womanhood with respect to the making of modern Malayali identities and a dominant gender order that spans religious groups, castes, and communities in Kerala.
{"title":"Re-making the self: Discourses of ideal Islamic womanhood in Kerala","authors":"P. Shabna, K. Kalpana","doi":"10.1080/12259276.2021.2010907","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2021.2010907","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT\u0000 This paper explores the discursive construction of ideal Islamic womanhood and its associated gendered subjectivities in the South Indian state of Kerala. It outlines the articulation of ideal womanhood in and through intra-community debates between the principal Muslim groups (“traditionalists” and “reformists”) in Kerala regarding the status of women in Islam. It traces the making of a discourse on the cultivation of pious modern female subjecthood and situates it in the context of wider socio-political changes among Kerala’s Muslims, such as those wrought by nationwide debates on the prospect of personal law reform since the Shah Bano controversy of the mid-1980s. It shows how the traditionalist and reformist interventions in the field of Muslim women’s education, in particular, have converged in recent times with respect to propagating idealized conceptions of pious modern female subjecthood. In conclusion, the paper contextualizes ideal Islamic womanhood with respect to the making of modern Malayali identities and a dominant gender order that spans religious groups, castes, and communities in Kerala.","PeriodicalId":44322,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Womens Studies","volume":"28 1","pages":"24 - 43"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2021-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48502125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-12-01DOI: 10.1080/12259276.2021.2007582
Hu Li, Chen Dong, Xiaofeng Wang
ABSTRACT Researchers have found a negative relationship between female fertility and employment. China’s floating population comprises 244 million as of 2017. This migrant population has relevance in view of China’s hukou (household registration) system, with the proportion of females increasing annually. This study is grounded in social role theory and employs the 2016 China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS) to examine the impact of second child fertility behavior on the employment stability of female migrants in China, with respect to urban and rural differences. Binary logistic regression results indicate that bearing second children negatively affects the employment stability of female migrants. Also, its impact is stronger for female migrants of urban origin than their rural counterparts. In addition, family migration is noted to mitigate the conflict between childbearing and employment stability for them as they continue to face the dilemma of having children or seeking employment stability, especially if family and social support is weak or absent. We discuss the implications of this study on policy changes to alleviate the conflict female migrants experience in choosing between fertility and employment.
{"title":"Female migrants in China: Second child fertility behavior and employment stability","authors":"Hu Li, Chen Dong, Xiaofeng Wang","doi":"10.1080/12259276.2021.2007582","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2021.2007582","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT\u0000 Researchers have found a negative relationship between female fertility and employment. China’s floating population comprises 244 million as of 2017. This migrant population has relevance in view of China’s hukou (household registration) system, with the proportion of females increasing annually. This study is grounded in social role theory and employs the 2016 China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS) to examine the impact of second child fertility behavior on the employment stability of female migrants in China, with respect to urban and rural differences. Binary logistic regression results indicate that bearing second children negatively affects the employment stability of female migrants. Also, its impact is stronger for female migrants of urban origin than their rural counterparts. In addition, family migration is noted to mitigate the conflict between childbearing and employment stability for them as they continue to face the dilemma of having children or seeking employment stability, especially if family and social support is weak or absent. We discuss the implications of this study on policy changes to alleviate the conflict female migrants experience in choosing between fertility and employment.","PeriodicalId":44322,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Womens Studies","volume":"28 1","pages":"2 - 23"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2021-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48104012","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-02DOI: 10.1080/12259276.2021.1993600
Sreya Majumdar, A. Majumdar
ABSTRACT In this paper, we define what we understand by birth professionals and examine how they have emerged in India in response to existing obstetric and gynecological practices. The focus here is on the emerging category of the “birth professional,” as we look back into how professional midwifery, doulas, childbirth educators and lactation consultants have come to define “newer” birthing options for women, with the corresponding decline of traditional midwifery in India. Finally, the paper uses ethnographic field data on professional midwives and doulas, to define what birth professionalism represents in India through case studies.
{"title":"The birth professionals: Emerging practices of birthing in contemporary India","authors":"Sreya Majumdar, A. Majumdar","doi":"10.1080/12259276.2021.1993600","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2021.1993600","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In this paper, we define what we understand by birth professionals and examine how they have emerged in India in response to existing obstetric and gynecological practices. The focus here is on the emerging category of the “birth professional,” as we look back into how professional midwifery, doulas, childbirth educators and lactation consultants have come to define “newer” birthing options for women, with the corresponding decline of traditional midwifery in India. Finally, the paper uses ethnographic field data on professional midwives and doulas, to define what birth professionalism represents in India through case studies.","PeriodicalId":44322,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Womens Studies","volume":"27 1","pages":"555 - 574"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46922092","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-02DOI: 10.1080/12259276.2021.1995153
Khushboo Srivastava
ABSTRACT Feminist analysis of surrogacy remains caught between calls for abolition on the one hand, and regulation, on the other. Within this dualistic discourse, the question of recognizing commercial gestational surrogacy as a new form of work–labor remains undermined. This paper brings together the abolition-regulation conceptual framework to examine surrogacy as work–labor. Based on ethnographic research conducted in two surrogacy hotspots in India, it illustrates how women understand and construct meaning from their labor as surrogates. In doing so, the study extends the existing feminist framework, using ethnographic research, to open up a space where the labor of surrogacy can be looked upon as both empowering and subjugating at the same time and in differing ways.
{"title":"Empowerment and subjugation: Re-conceiving commercial surrogacy as work–labor in India","authors":"Khushboo Srivastava","doi":"10.1080/12259276.2021.1995153","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2021.1995153","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Feminist analysis of surrogacy remains caught between calls for abolition on the one hand, and regulation, on the other. Within this dualistic discourse, the question of recognizing commercial gestational surrogacy as a new form of work–labor remains undermined. This paper brings together the abolition-regulation conceptual framework to examine surrogacy as work–labor. Based on ethnographic research conducted in two surrogacy hotspots in India, it illustrates how women understand and construct meaning from their labor as surrogates. In doing so, the study extends the existing feminist framework, using ethnographic research, to open up a space where the labor of surrogacy can be looked upon as both empowering and subjugating at the same time and in differing ways.","PeriodicalId":44322,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Womens Studies","volume":"27 1","pages":"575 - 596"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41550054","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-02DOI: 10.1080/12259276.2021.1999717
Rosevi Mojica-Sung
{"title":"Citizen of the world, Soon-Young and the UN","authors":"Rosevi Mojica-Sung","doi":"10.1080/12259276.2021.1999717","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2021.1999717","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":44322,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Womens Studies","volume":"597 ","pages":"607 - 610"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41278549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-02DOI: 10.1080/12259276.2021.1993599
Ö. Galip
ABSTRACT Research on Kurdish women has burgeoned during the last decade, which is a positive sign of the growing interest regarding a highly marginalized population and region. However, most of these works contain theoretical and methodological inadequacies, fallacies and contradictory messages regarding the agency, or lack of it, of Kurdish women, along with an orientalist approach. Using feminist rhetorical criticism and discourse approaches, together with a focus on intersectionality, orientalism and postcolonial feminism, I examine some existing studies on Kurdish women and attempt to uncover the construction of and implications about Kurdish women. I also examine the degrees to which these studies promote narratives that uphold assumptions on gender and implicitly contribute to traditional ideologies of patriarchy and the stigma of being westernized. By demonstrating the significance of a plural model, which examines the lived realities of women, their negotiations and struggles, I urge a fresh approach to the discursive and contextual practice of scholarship on Kurdish women.
{"title":"Move over? Feminist reading of academic writing on Kurdish women","authors":"Ö. Galip","doi":"10.1080/12259276.2021.1993599","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2021.1993599","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Research on Kurdish women has burgeoned during the last decade, which is a positive sign of the growing interest regarding a highly marginalized population and region. However, most of these works contain theoretical and methodological inadequacies, fallacies and contradictory messages regarding the agency, or lack of it, of Kurdish women, along with an orientalist approach. Using feminist rhetorical criticism and discourse approaches, together with a focus on intersectionality, orientalism and postcolonial feminism, I examine some existing studies on Kurdish women and attempt to uncover the construction of and implications about Kurdish women. I also examine the degrees to which these studies promote narratives that uphold assumptions on gender and implicitly contribute to traditional ideologies of patriarchy and the stigma of being westernized. By demonstrating the significance of a plural model, which examines the lived realities of women, their negotiations and struggles, I urge a fresh approach to the discursive and contextual practice of scholarship on Kurdish women.","PeriodicalId":44322,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Womens Studies","volume":"27 1","pages":"509 - 529"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44872993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-02DOI: 10.1080/12259276.2021.1995154
Swayamshree Mishra, R. Kaur
ABSTRACT In this paper, we explore how women who are unable to conform to age-specific conventions of marriage and childbearing construct their adult identities in socio-cultural contexts that valorize fertility and mandate compulsory marriage and motherhood. Through a detailed ethnography of women’s experiences with menstrual anomalies and reproductive aging, this study examines Odia women’s negotiations with their seemingly “incomplete bodies” and “disrupted identities” in the backdrop of experiencing infertility or anticipating it.
{"title":"“If I cannot give birth to a child, why would anyone accept me?”: Menstrual anxieties, late marriage, and reproductive aging","authors":"Swayamshree Mishra, R. Kaur","doi":"10.1080/12259276.2021.1995154","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2021.1995154","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In this paper, we explore how women who are unable to conform to age-specific conventions of marriage and childbearing construct their adult identities in socio-cultural contexts that valorize fertility and mandate compulsory marriage and motherhood. Through a detailed ethnography of women’s experiences with menstrual anomalies and reproductive aging, this study examines Odia women’s negotiations with their seemingly “incomplete bodies” and “disrupted identities” in the backdrop of experiencing infertility or anticipating it.","PeriodicalId":44322,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Womens Studies","volume":"27 1","pages":"535 - 554"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41656071","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-02DOI: 10.1080/12259276.2021.1982459
Tingting Liu, Lijing Yang
ABSTRACT This qualitative study seeks to contribute to studies on the gender division of labor by examining how Chinese policewomen cope with the still-socialist or danwei style of human resource management. In the post-socialist market reform era, the police department has gone through significant changes, undertaking greater economic monitoring and social service functions, including more office work, with an increasing emphasis on the harmonious relationship between the police and public or service-oriented work. These changes have led to a larger number of policewomen, but have not led to a more equitable division of labor due to the persistence of familial norms of womanhood and the enduring police service performance evaluation system that prioritizes crime-fighting tasks over public-service duties. Against this backdrop, we find that policewomen display a certain degree of flexibility, utilizing certain feminine traits in their community service work while maintaining a non-feminine and physically robust outlook.
{"title":"Men in charge of “real” work and women the office “housework”: Chinese policewomen in the post-socialist era","authors":"Tingting Liu, Lijing Yang","doi":"10.1080/12259276.2021.1982459","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2021.1982459","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This qualitative study seeks to contribute to studies on the gender division of labor by examining how Chinese policewomen cope with the still-socialist or danwei style of human resource management. In the post-socialist market reform era, the police department has gone through significant changes, undertaking greater economic monitoring and social service functions, including more office work, with an increasing emphasis on the harmonious relationship between the police and public or service-oriented work. These changes have led to a larger number of policewomen, but have not led to a more equitable division of labor due to the persistence of familial norms of womanhood and the enduring police service performance evaluation system that prioritizes crime-fighting tasks over public-service duties. Against this backdrop, we find that policewomen display a certain degree of flexibility, utilizing certain feminine traits in their community service work while maintaining a non-feminine and physically robust outlook.","PeriodicalId":44322,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Womens Studies","volume":"27 1","pages":"488 - 508"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43836779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-10-02DOI: 10.1080/12259276.2021.2002010
Paro Mishra, Yogita Suresh
ABSTRACT This article examines the growing industry of digital self-tracking technologies designed for the female body, popularly known as femtech. Focusing mainly on reproductive technologies and applications, it situates femtech within the broader historical context of excluding women from research on medicine and clinical trials. Approaching femtech as datafied body projects, we argue that, even though these digital reproductive health technologies enhance user capacity for self-knowledge by quantifying reproduction, they raise apprehensions about issues of reproductive surveillance. These datafied body projects are not only technology-driven, but are also shaped by the neo-liberal ethos in which the state-corporate nexus shifts the onus of health management to participatory individuated forms, deemed as “empowering,” while simultaneously harnessing this user-generated data for control and profit. Finally, we argue that merely representing women in all spheres of health and procuring data on the female body is insufficient to address the larger concerns of gender in health. A more close-grained approach that addresses the structural embeddedness of exploitation of the female body for profit and the masculine epistemology around which these technologies are built is necessary.
{"title":"Datafied body projects in India: Femtech and the rise of reproductive surveillance in the digital era","authors":"Paro Mishra, Yogita Suresh","doi":"10.1080/12259276.2021.2002010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/12259276.2021.2002010","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article examines the growing industry of digital self-tracking technologies designed for the female body, popularly known as femtech. Focusing mainly on reproductive technologies and applications, it situates femtech within the broader historical context of excluding women from research on medicine and clinical trials. Approaching femtech as datafied body projects, we argue that, even though these digital reproductive health technologies enhance user capacity for self-knowledge by quantifying reproduction, they raise apprehensions about issues of reproductive surveillance. These datafied body projects are not only technology-driven, but are also shaped by the neo-liberal ethos in which the state-corporate nexus shifts the onus of health management to participatory individuated forms, deemed as “empowering,” while simultaneously harnessing this user-generated data for control and profit. Finally, we argue that merely representing women in all spheres of health and procuring data on the female body is insufficient to address the larger concerns of gender in health. A more close-grained approach that addresses the structural embeddedness of exploitation of the female body for profit and the masculine epistemology around which these technologies are built is necessary.","PeriodicalId":44322,"journal":{"name":"Asian Journal of Womens Studies","volume":"27 1","pages":"597 - 606"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49153893","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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