Race, Class, Sex and Gender

My First Experience at a Women-Only Conference by Grace Yia-Hei Kao

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

“This ain’t your daddy’s conference!”

I knew that I was going to be attending a totally different type of... more “This ain’t your daddy’s conference!”

I knew that I was going to be attending a totally different type of conference than I had ever been to before when I received the following instructions on additional items to pack: (1) my own mug with which to drink coffee or tea (“we will go green in this conference as much as possible”), (2) 3 oz. of water “from a source of nature near your home” to be offered during “opening worship,” and (3) a small, modest, pre-owned, homemade, or inexpensive “earth-honoring gift for exchange.”

Sweepin’ Spirits: Power and Transformation on the Plantation Landscape

by Whitney Battle-Baptiste

The Rhetoric of Freedom of Religion in the Debate about Contraception Coverage By Elise M. Edwards

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

Does freedom of religion include the right to impose your religious views on your employees?  Should freedom of... more Does freedom of religion include the right to impose your religious views on your employees?  Should freedom of religion exempt you from financially contributing to a medical benefit for your employees that you consider sinful?

According to an Associated Baptist Press article, Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, “called a new rule [by the Obama Administration] requiring insurance plans to cover birth control — including those paid for by religious employers that believe artificial birth control is a sin — a ‘horrible decision’ that poses a problem not just for faiths that object to birth control” in the January 28 broadcast of Richard Land Live.  Land believes that this policy infringes on religious freedom.  (Note that the health care policy  does exempt houses of worship and religious organizations that employ primarily those of the same faith, but not organizations like hospitals and colleges that employ and serve people of all faiths, or no faith. An article by Religion News Service, posted here, also on a Baptist media outlet, explains the policy in more depth.)

Black and White. On Symbolical Implications of an Aesthetical Polarization.

by Roman Meinhold

In: Boleswa Journal of Philosophy, Theology and Religion. Vol.1, No.3. December 2007. 155-166. ISSN 1817-2741

This paper attempts to show that the aesthetic opposition of black and white as
aesthetic perceptible... more This paper attempts to show that the aesthetic opposition of black and white as
aesthetic perceptible "colours" applied to the description of the density of human
skin pigment (as it is still done, for example, in southern Africa) does not reflect
aesthetic reality. To make its case, the paper argues that human beings are not
simply black or white in skin colour; this categorisation is not precise, because
the black and white scheme is a simplifying reductionism. Besides being a
simplification and reductionism, the application of this colour scheme to humans
is also wrong, because from the perspective of human perception black and white
"colours" are opposites or extremes, while humans with contrasting skin
pigmentations are by no means necessarily opposites or extremes. Another
argument advanced in the paper is that this aesthetic opposition may lead to an
anthropological extremism and thus to an ethical problem. The paper concludes
with two normative suggestions, namely that the black and white scheme should
be replaced with a non-binary scheme and that an individual should not be
signified by her/his skin colour alone.

Gender, Social Class, and Exclusion: Collegiate Peer Cultures and Social Reproduction

by Joshua Klugman

Jenny M. Stuber is the primary author. Published in Sociological Perspectives (2011).

This article explores gender and class exclusion among college students. The authors use qualitative data to explore... more This article explores gender and class exclusion among college students. The authors use qualitative data to explore how students talk about gender and class exclusion and quantitative data to model patterns of exclusion within the Greek system. The Greek system serves as a site for social reproduction. Students constructed young women as elitist and prone to class exclusion, while typifying young men as unconcerned with such matters. Quantitative analyses complicate these findings. Within the Greek system, women are less exclusive than alleged and men more so. This discontinuity may reflect gender stereotypes and gender differences in the embodiment of social class. The authors argue that these patterns reinforce male privilege through the assertion that they are not engaged in social class exclusion while lacing undue blame on women as agents of class reproduction.

Pierre Bourdieu and the Distinctive Body

by Nadeem Fayaz

Review of film series 'Race, the Power of an Illusion'

by Christopher Phelps

Journal of American History (Dec. 2004):  1119-1121.

Dockside Prostitution in South African Ports

by Henry Trotter

History Compass 6/3 (2008): 673-690

Prostitution has been a staple of dockside social life for centuries. In South Africa, it dates from the Dutch East... more Prostitution has been a staple of dockside social life for centuries. In South Africa, it dates from the Dutch East India Company's establishment of a refreshment station at the Cape of Good Hope. But unlike other prostitution sectors—streets, brothels, agencies—the women of the dockside sex trade in Cape Town and Durban participate in a global traffic of ideas, diseases, DNA, contraband, and currency through their ceaseless interactions with foreign sailors. They exploit their knowledge of the seamen's languages and cultures so as to more effectively solicit their marks in a competitive and cosmopolitan environment.

Social historians provide passing glimpses of dockside prostitution in their consideration of larger historical themes—Company rule, slavery, British colonial governance, the Mineral Revolution, the Anglo-Boer War, and apartheid—but they have yet to treat it as a distinct analytical category through which to view the past. Yet popular intellectual trends suggest that research into the dockside sex trade would add new dimensions to the histories of cosmopolitanism, gender, globalization, maritime recreation, and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

This article provides a quick and accessible introduction to the historiography of dockside prostitution in South Africa.

The Virtues of Dockside Dalliance: Why Maritime Sugar Girls are Safer then Urban Streetwalkers in South Africa's Prostitution Industry

by Henry Trotter

in Susan Dewey & Patty Kelly (Eds.), Policing Pleasure: Sex Work, Policy and the State in Global Perspective (New York: NYU Press, 2011), pp. 86-99

South African sex workers are exposed to different amounts of violence depending on the prostitution sector that they... more South African sex workers are exposed to different amounts of violence depending on the prostitution sector that they work in, such as the street, truck stop, hotel, agency, brothel, and dockside trades. By comparing the structural features of these sectors, we can not only gauge the likelihood of violence within each, but also devise more precise policy instruments to reduce violence at an industry-wide level. I focus here on the neglected dockside prostitution sector, showing how its structural characteristics enhance the women’s power vis-à-vis their clients. Detailed policy recommendations conclude the article.

Navigating Risk: Lessons From the Dockside Sex Trade for Reducing Violence in South Africa's Prostitution Industry

by Henry Trotter

Sexuality Research & Social Policy: Journal of NSRC, 4/4 (Dec 2007): 106-119

The diversity of South Africa's prostitution industry exposes sex workers to varying levels of violence. The street,... more The diversity of South Africa's prostitution industry exposes sex workers to varying levels of violence. The street, truck stop, hotel, agency, brothel, and dockside trades are characterized by different structural features that determine the prevalence of client, police, and third-party abuse against prostitutes. Comparing the structural elements of each sector allows not only gauging the likelihood of violence within a given niche but also devising more precise policy instruments to reduce violence at an industry-wide level.

This article, "Navigating Risk," focuses on the dockside prostitution sector in Cape Town and Durban, showing how its structural features enhance the women's power vis-à-vis their clients and the police. It discusses 5 key variables that influence the likelihood of violence within each prostitution sector:

* the social and legal status of the client
* the location of the negotiation
* the location of the sexual act
* the level of discretion in the solicitation process
* and the role of third-party involvement

Detailed policy recommendations conclude the argument.

The Women of Durban's Dockside Sex Industry

by Henry Trotter

in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (eds.), Undressing Durban (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), 441-452.

This article, "The Women of Durban's Dockside Sex Industry," looks at the lives of female prostitutes in... more This article, "The Women of Durban's Dockside Sex Industry," looks at the lives of female prostitutes in Durban's dockside sex sector. They solicit at a nightclub catering to foreign sailors. The paper considers their experiences as sex workers and how they deal with stigmatization, family concerns, chemical abuse, moral dilemmas, diseases, and violence. It assesses their fears and frustrations. And it ponders their dreams and longings for what they hope to achieve through this work.

The article concludes with the idea that dockside women are relatively empowered compared to their streetwalking & brothel-working counterparts. Since most hail from upcountry locales, they successfully live "double lives" that protect them from family and communal reprisal. Since their clients are foreign transients, the men pose no threat to their identities (they have no social power outside the dockside world). Since the women solicit from a safe nightclub, they retain the right of refusal. And because they're the knowledgeable locals, they choose the location of sex, which enhances their power to insist on condom-use.

Ironically, these upcountry women are perhaps the most cosmopolitan citizens of Durban as they entertain dozens of nationalities every evening.

Call for Papers: Midwest Society for Women in Philosophy Fall 2012

by Summer Renault-Steele

Race and Genealogy : Buffon and the Formation of the Concept of “Race

by Claude-Olivier Doron

Draft to be published in Humana.Mente, 22, Special Issue “Making sense of Gender, Sex, Race and the Family”, July 2012

This article analyses the conditions of formation of the concept of “race” in natural history in the middle of the... more This article analyses the conditions of formation of the concept of “race” in natural history in the middle of the XVIIIth century. Relying on the method of historical epistemology to avoid some of the aporia raised by the traditional historiography of “racism”, it focuses on the specifities of the concept of “race” in contrast to others (“variety”, “species”…) and tries to answer the following questions: to what extent the concept of “race” was integrated in natural history’s discourses before the middle of the XVIIIth century? To which kind of concepts and problems was it linked and to which style of reasoning did it pertain? To which conditions could it enter natural history and develop in it? The article answers that “race” pertained to a genealogical style of reasoning which was largely extraneous to natural history before the middle of the XVIIIth century. Natural history was rather dominated by another style of reasoning, logical and classificatory, which principles and concepts defined strong obstacles to the development of a concept of “race”. To understand how the concept of “race” developed in natural history, one has to understand how the genealogical style of reasoning entered natural history and modified the very principles of classification that organized it. I try to establish that it is through Buffon and some of the main authors of the “monogenist” tradition that the most fundamental conditions for the integration of a genealogical style of reasoning and the development of a concept of “race” are met. To put it clearly, in contrast to many scholars’ analysis and following some intuitions of P.R Sloan, I argue that Buffon in particular, and monogenism in general, were decisive in the integration and development of the concept of “race” in natural history.

A Phenomenology of Fetishism: Alienated Production and the Appearance of "Race"

by Anna Carastathis

International Studies in Philosophy 39(2), 2007, 17-33
Special Issue of the Society for Social and Political Philosophy

(Dis)entangling Desire in Passing

by Tyler Carson

Irene Redflield in Passing is a seemingly dull and insipid character in contrast to the flamboyant and hyperbolic... more Irene Redflield in Passing is a seemingly dull and insipid character in contrast to the flamboyant and hyperbolic nature of Clare Kendry. Yet, as Irene’s character develops she captures the critical reader’s attention, becoming a fruitful, complex, and intriguing object of analysis. At the beginning of the novel, Irene presents herself as a woman in control of her body, her emotions, and her social relations. However, with the return of her childhood friend Clare Kendry—whose lifestyle she strongly repudiates—Irene’s notions of herself become unhinged. Indeed, by the end of Passing, Irene’s entire sense of self becomes completely destabilized. This essay will explore Irene’s dyadic relationship with Clare and will analyze why her identity is troubled by the emergence of this character. I posit that Clare’s presence evokes some of Irene’s repressed and unspeakable queer desires, effectively challenging the statement that “to [Irene] security was the most important and desired thing in life” (Larsen, 1929, p. 107, emphasis added). An examination of Irene’s different positions and subjectivities—including race, class, and gender—will reveal how these identities intersect, interact and ultimately work to constrain and delimit her sexuality.

Selftubes: Construction of Identities in Web Porn [Selftubes: konštrukcia identít vo webovom porne]

by Michal Bočák

Bočák, Michal. 2012. "Selftubes: Construction of Identities in Web Porn." Paper presented at conference Media and Text 3, Veľký Šariš (Slovakia), 21st – 22nd October 2010. [Paper in Slovak submitted for review.]

This study presents results of the qualitative analysis of constructions of identities in heterosexual pornographic... more This study presents results of the qualitative analysis of constructions of identities in heterosexual pornographic videos’ titles on pornographic websites (tubes). Conceptualising porn as a contemporary Western androcentric discourse of sexuality, the author argues that if porn ought to appeal to socially determined desires of its consumers, it can’t be done only by shooting the bodies in detail: it has to represent identities as “ready-made”, widely shared social categories – these are what assign the status of imaginable social situation to (otherwise “mechanical”) sex act. Moreover, in a pornographised culture which is accepting a pornographic logic also beyond the pornosphere it can be reasoned that the porn partakes on re-/defining of identities (meaning not only genders and desires) significantly. The analysis of porn videos’ titles clearly confirms an introductory theoretical conceptualisation of the identity/subjectivity as an unstable, situational entity as well as it proves the multiplicity and intersectionality of identity, stated by its present theories. It appears notably in the systematic power structuring of the intersections of gender, racial/ethnic, age and other social categories, which actually are, according to the author of the study, naturalising the central gender asymetry and the androcentric order.

Keywords: pornography – porn – web – subject – identity – construction – video’s title – intersectionality – asymetry – androcentrism

Feminism, Sexualisation & Social Status

by Robbie Duschinsky

published in Media International Australia

New formulations and responses to classic questions have emerged in recent feminist thinking on the relationship... more New formulations and responses to classic questions have emerged in recent feminist thinking on the relationship between gender and consumption. One instance of this is the work of Abigail Bray on the damage caused by the media sexualisation of girls. She offers important insights into some problems with the discourse of media and sexual empowerment, and also critically considers the social distinction that such a discourse tends to confer. This article offers a sympathetic account of her argument, but also moves beyond Bray to express concerns regarding the class and race codings of the discourse of childhood innocence.

A Troubled Experiment's Forgotten Lesson in Racial Integration

by Carina Ray

A version of this op-ed was first published in the Point Reyes Light in March 2012: http://www.ptreyeslight.com/Point_Reyes_Light/Opinion/Entries/2012/3/15_A_troubled_experiments_forgotten_lesson_in_racial_integration.html

The distribution of wages in Belarus

by Francesco Pastore

Co-authored with Alina Verashchagina.
Revised version published in: Comparative Economic Studies, 2006, 48 (3), 351-376.

This paper uncovers evidence on the distribution of wages in Belarus in the second half of the 1990s. The returns to... more This paper uncovers evidence on the distribution of wages in Belarus in the second half of the 1990s. The returns to education and work experience are high and stable. While the former is a typical finding of transition studies, the latter is not.
This might be due to the pervasive role of the state in fixing wages in the dominant budget sector, rather than to market forces coming into play. Women experience a small, though largely unexplained wage gap coupled with higher than average
returns to education. A wage curve effect is found, which is similar in size to that of other transition countries, but much higher than in market economies.

The Tea Party: The discourse of class, race, & gender/sexuality

by Benjamin Schrader