Dissertation Ideas - Politics and Gender

[argumentativefeminist]

Hoping some of you lovely people can give me some ideas/starting points for my upcoming dissertation. Throw anything you've got at me, it's all useful!

My degree is combined gender studies, media and politics - but the dissertation needs to be mostly politics based rather than media. Anything about feminism or women and politics will be great, just struggling to think about what could be good but also interesting and exciting.

[thejeangenie36]

OP, my advice would be to wait until you start the course before picking a topic. You'll find ideas from the reading you are given. Masters dissertations require you to react to, and critique, literature in the field to show your own analysis. It can often be easier to do this if you find a topic where there are competing ideas in the scholarship. Also, pick a topic that matches the expertise of a (available and supportive) member of staff so you have a viable supervisor.

Good advice up thread about having a focused topic. Students almost always try to do too much. So eg the representation of female politicians is too broad; that of the 1997 'Blair's Babes' (ugh) more manageable.

If you are doing gender and politics, there's some really interesting work at present on masculinity and public life. Eg how politicians perform masculine roles in speeches.

[mumsastudent]

re fatherbuzz about picking time frame you can always add current situations as an addenda in your conclusion regarding further investigations

[mumsastudent]

www.parliament.uk/business/lords/ have a wander round the site!

[argumentativefeminist]

Thank you Titchy, I'll definitely check those out. I agree it's a pity, but for now I just dont feel capable.

[titchy]

House of Commons Library has loads of publicly available synopses of stuff too.

Pity you've not bothered to engage with the feminist boards though...

[argumentativefeminist]

mums Excited to hear about the HoL information office! I was happy to hear today that all of Hansard from the 1800s to today will finally be in one searchable place! I love Hansard 😍

That's so interesting Figment - definitely would never have known that otherwise, so thank you.

[mumsastudent]

did you know the house of lords (!) website has an information office with phone number! They are very helpful!

[mumsastudent]

&language used in media (including ahem Trump!) in twitter & elsewhere in election (dare I say Guardian as a source!) the issue in Australia recently - hmm- current language pc not acceptable becoming acceptable again?) think about chapter plan ie what you going to discuss in each chapter, you will find dissertation starts to shape itself. Don't worry your supervisor will advise you how to do this :)

[Figmentofmyimagination]

Gender discrimination in online "pay-per task" work - Amazon Mechanical Turk etc? I don't know much about it TBH, and you may struggle to collect evidence - but I understand that the gender pay gap is showing up in new "online" work, just as it always has been in the "real world", which is fascinating, especially as it is not regulated (and probably not susceptible to regulation). There is a good book - "Humans as a service" by Jeremias Prassi you could look at - about this work in general, not necessarily just gender. Maybe you could find some task workers to interview and find out how they organise their day, bid for work etc etc, whether the platform knows their gender etc

[argumentativefeminist]

FatherBuzz That's very good advice! I think I'm going to go up to the end of this Parliament at Christmas Recess, so it feels fresh and up to date but I can finish research then, and get on with the writing in second semester.

[FatherBuzzCagney]

OP, a piece of advice I give to my dissertation students: whatever you decide to write on, if your subject is contemporary, then pick a cutoff date for your material and stick to it (e.g., don't look at anything that happens after 30 September 2018). I supervise a lot of dissertation students in a field that overlaps with yours, and they give themselves a lot of unnecessary anxiety if they are constantly revising their work to reflect new developments. So, for example, if you wanted to write about the impact of #MeToo in on US politics, it would be a very bad idea to try to keep updating your argument to refelect every latest insane pronouncement from Cheeto Benito and his henchmen/women. Pick a time period at the start and stick to it. Good luck!

[argumentativefeminist]

sashh Thank you! That's totally the sort of things I'm interested in! Thinking of doing a comparative Cameron vs May (with the shadow cabinets too) on representation of women and women's issues, so that sort of thing sounds perfect!

[sashh]

How female politicians, particularly leaders are portrayed in the media.

Why was it Trump v Hillary not Trump v Clinton or Donald v Hillary?

Julia Gillard being called a witch.

The reaction to Jacinda Arden's pregnancy compared to benazir bhutto's.

How parliament being broadcast first on the radio and then on TV has influenced hoe parliament works ie you don't get sniggering and sexist remarks if someone is discussing smear tests now. You did before radio broadcasts. After TV broadcasts male MP's stopped making 'tit gestures' to female MPs.

How 'women's issues' are discussed in parliament now compared to 20 or 30 years ago eg the opposition to making rape in marriage illegal, tampon tax, when the VAT was reduced to 5% the chancellor was too embarrassed to announce it in the budget. Cameron said after Brexit there would be no tampon tax, current government says it needs the tax but will spend it on shelters.

[argumentativefeminist]

DieAntword Definitely do it if you can! Kind of sad I never did Anthropology - although I do seem to have done a bit of mostly every other social science so I suppose that isn't too bad 😂

[DieAntword]

@argumentativefeminist no but I have a daydream when my kids are old enough going back to uni to do Anthropology (my degree is computer science). I'm very interested in cross cultural stuff and since being a mum I've wanted to study how it plays out in other cultural contexts.

[argumentativefeminist]

DieAntword That sounds really interesting! I've considered that in a UK context and done a bit of reading, but a comparison piece would be really interesting I think. Is it something you've written/read about?

[DieAntword]

How motherhood effects political participation (local and national) across different socio-economic classes in East Africa.

[argumentativefeminist]

I'm not doubting that feminists on Mumsnet are concerned with a wide range of issues. What I am saying, is that it's hard to find debate on here that is about that wider range of issues. If someone can point me in the right direction and I've just been missing it, I'd be grateful! 😊

[TellsEveryoneRealFacts]

I know, painful isn't it...all women are ever concerned with are handbags and nappies.

And Trans of course.

Not about women's rights at all.

Sigh.

[argumentativefeminist]

Wasn't intending to go back to the trans based threads to look for politics. Was potentially going to look in the broader feminist chat to look for threads about other issues, but I'm not sure I'd have much luck.

[TellsEveryoneRealFacts]

Interested to hear being inspired by or interested in the ideas of other women and then using that to create my own research is patriarchal - better drop out of my modules with women lecturers now before I accidentally become a raging misogynist.

If you chose to not attend their lectures, because they upset you but then you sneaked a look at a video of their lectures when you need it - yes I'd say the same.

[argumentativefeminist]

mumsastudent Was already thinking about doing something comparative about women in government so adding a historical element with franchise would be really good! Thank you 😊

I'm not talking about trans issues. I'm not writing about trans issues. I do keep up with the debate but have hidden the discussions for a short period of time for my own good because it was upsetting me to see some of the content that was on my active talk section, and being ambushed by transphobia when the title of the thread seemed to be about something else. Interested to hear being inspired by or interested in the ideas of other women and then using that to create my own research is patriarchal - better drop out of my modules with women lecturers now before I accidentally become a raging misogynist.

[mumsastudent]

franchise -compare when different countries gave vote to women, whether there was different qualifications ie age, financial, compared to men, Stats over time for women in gov compare countries, & link to attitudes and language describing women in power (media bit) has it changed over time

[isthistoonosy]

If you disagree read the board, read around and educate yourself on the subject and write from.the other side of the argument. You've taken the time to form an opinion so must be interested in it already. Why men should be allowed to self id as women and take places, join lists and fill quotas previously only open to biological women.

Or write more generally on why domens quotas, lists etc are no longer needed.

This actually my oh research area so I will try to post a few general reading ideas later when he is home.

[TellsEveryoneRealFacts]

I'm in disagreement with everyone else here about the big issue of the day 😂 but maybe I'll peek back in for a bit and try to find some stuff actually about politics.

Yes, good idea - why not use the work of other women [who you disagree with] to short cut/reduce your own? Very patriarchal. Top work.