Feminist women wanted for PhD research.

[CarlyGuest]

Hi Everyone,

I am a PhD student in the Department of Psychosocial Studies, Birkbeck College, University of London

I am looking for women aged between 18 and 35 to take part in a study of women?s feminist identities.

As a participant in this study, you would be asked to take part in an interview about how you came to see yourself as a feminist and what being feminist means to you. This will involve talking about personal photos and images that say something about your feminism.

Your participation would involve one interview lasting approximately between one and two hours.

If you are interested in taking part in this study, or would like further information please contact me (Carly Guest) Email: [email protected]

This study has received ethical approval from the Birkbeck College School of Social Science, History and Philosophy Ethics Committee.

Thanks!

Carly

I do think there has been a great deal written by and about feminists from the 70's generation, those women who are in their 60s and 70s now. A lot is known about that generation's experience of feminism. There have been novels, TV programmes, as well as lots of academic research.
There is also a great deal of research on women managers. And on both women and men managers and parenthood. That's the sort of area I have worked in and there is no shortage of studies on the impact of gender, and parenthood, on managers.

And so far there is less on the youngest generation of feminists, because obviously they haven't been around as long. This group of under 35s is already experiencing life in a very different way to us old codgers over 35. They've been growing up with different media and cultural experiences. Most of them will have had working mothers, for instance, whereas when I was a child in the 70s my mother was the only mother I knew who worked full time outside the home. These things are different for each generation and to do a decent academic study you need to take these things into account. It's not always stratified by age, or generation, or cohort, but there are good reasons for doing this.

As for the funding (don't get me started on funding... grumble whinge..) many phds aren't funded so that's often less of a constraint at phd level than subsequently.

I think this sounds interesting, and I'm within the age limit, but would like to know more about the project please.

Also I totally agree with dittany that images have had a negligible impact on my feminism, unless you count screenshots of MN, I Blame the Patriarchy, Shakesville, Echidne of the Snakes etc :o

I do have some nice photos of Million Women Rise though :)

Me too. More info and I might take part :) Agreed on the images thing too, though.

"Actually, I'd be interested in that research because it seems to me that claiming to be a feminist is rife in younger women but backed up with zero foundation at all when pushed for their reasoning even a tiny bit. Along with spouting some, frankly incredible, mysogynistic viewpoints."

^ This is SO true. I live with two girls who claim to be feminists yet one says she looks down on anyone who stays at home to look after her children rather than works and SAHMs are all idiots, and the other is the most insanely un-feminist (and racist, and homophobic, etc) person I've ever come across. She voted for the BNP and is proud of it

I'm within the age limit too. I would potentially be interested in taking part, but I'd be hard-pushed to think of any images... unless you can count the pictures of Hypatia, Christine de Pizan et al that I've found whilst wikipediaing!

"I have done research on women under 35 before because there is simply no need for anything else, because it has all been done before".

That's a ridiculous statement. As a historian (with a PhD) to me it is obvious that we will get different answers to the same questions depending on the lens we use to look at what we're examining. What may have been true for 36 year olds, 10 or 20 or 30 or 40 etc years ago will not be the same for 36 year olds today or 36 year olds in 2021. You have to examine everthing by looking at in context. So it is a complete inane fallacy to say 'it has all been done before.' I wish you were one of my students [evil emoticon]

I fall within the age limit but tbh the only images that have affected me as a feminist are the mental ones I have of DV and rape victims I have treated. Not really what I think you are looking for OP? However, in the interest of your research being truly representative I would be willing to be interviewed

Hannah Baby boomers are usuall those born post war and not after 1965 ish. When it became gen x - the no hope generation until about 1978 when everything changed again.

I fall within the age limit too (just) but feel uncomfortable with the age limit imposed.

Originally there was a cut off of age 30, so I would have been too old, but apparently the researcher had to extend the range to 35 to attract more people who were willing to be interviewed.

I'm not entirely sure what the age limit of 18-30 (originally) or 18-35 is intended to achieve. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Carly, come back! It's a shame that you didn't let us know about this discussion that you've just organised On What Terms?: Re-Thinking Feminism and Radicalism Not stalking, just interested in understanding the work your uni (or any uni, actually) is doing in terms of feminism.

That sounds interesting and I bet some of our London based FeMNists would have made an effort to go.

'stripping for chubby middle-class goths'

Brilliant!

I though that too. Carly, why was that?

I also thought that it sounded like a prelude to finally chucking radical feminism out the door of the university and would have been interesting to me on that basis. As in trying to understand wtf is going on in universities.

Just had a look at that FB page. My problem with most of academia is that it is just so far removed from reality, I mean '^This panel aims to consider some of the complex intersections between feminism
and radicality/radicalism, asking: How can we understand the deployment of the
terms 'radical' and radicalism' and what might feminist politics contribute to
considerations of radically?^'. WTF?!? How does this attempt to understand any real aspect of feminism as a relevant movement?

I'm all for intelligent discussion and in debt debate but discussions such as the above have as much use as obscuring the real issues of (for example) DV through the discussion of the fragility of the male psyche.

MBJ, I agree

I am not an academic, although I am highly educated

That bollocks you quoted just does not make sense

words, words, words and fuck-all substance, IMO

YY PA. I am an educated (and I think) intelligent woman and I can see bollock for what it is, and that certainly is a load of shit!

To clarify, I posted an advert for Carly's research on the Lashings of Ginger Beer (feminist burlesque) blog because we often advertise events, jobs and research relevant to feminists. She has no direct connection with us. I apologise if this was inappropriate and has given a misleading impression of the nature of Carly's work.

For those assuming that burlesque is all about stripping, pole dancing and tassles, I suggest you look it up on wikipedia and then take a look at our website at lashings.org. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Ahem. I'm too old for the research too and agree that images are not nearly as relevant as words to the feminist movement.

I'm also too old and cynical radical a feminist to find anything pleasant about burlesque...

Oh Lordy, have checked out the website, thank you annalytica.

I'm mighty puzzled by the juxtaposition of 'radical feminists' with 'thigh-high fetish-boots' and 'titillation for the brain'.

Shouldn't that read 'fun feminists'?

(let me just be clear, I am not necessarily saying that Carly's research is important and relevant, but so far from what she's posted on this thread I don't think it deserves the trashing it's getting):

In a sense, the way that the predominantly over-35 women on this thread do not see the importance and relevance of images to feminism, and do not see the relevance of an under-35 study, are related. Maybe those of us over 35 primarily view feminism as to do with words and language (I certainly do, language, words, communication are core interests of mine). And perhaps those under 35 do experience the world and feminism in a more visual or multi-media way. Maybe images are more relevant to them than they are to the older generation.

As for what is happening with feminism in academia. There are various quite distinct strands of feminism in different academic disciplines. The Birkbeck gender and sexuality/queer theory strand is in line with one field of feminist work. You get different approaches, key theories, methodologies and ways of talking and resarching in sociology, psychology, health and medical research fields, law, geography, philosophy etc. All of those areas have lots of active feminist activity going on, and they have different influences and interests. There is no one "academic feminist" approach. The sort of "academic feminism" that is sometimes criticised on mumsnet bears little relation to the sorts of academic feminism I'm used to. My feminist colleagues are often very motivated by changing the law, policy, government initiatives, educational systems, health practices, etc. That is rather different from the queer theory area, say, though there are some overlaps.

Thank you for taking the time to have a look at our website, Beachcomber. A lot of what we do is about challenging stereotypes through subverting people's expectations, so puzzling juxtapositions are intentional. We aim to challenge and expand ideas about acceptable ways of being. We don't have to choose between being radical and being fun - we are both. I don't want to derail this thread too much by getting into a discussion of burlesque here though.

I notice that there is already a more appropriate thread on this very website, in fact, if people are interested in discussing the issue further:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/1188571-Burlesque-Feminism

Carly, I would like to hear more about your project, I'm in the age group.

Definitely NOT interested in getting my tits out though. Soz.

"don't have to choose between being radical and being fun"

Bleeeurgh. Who the fuck wants to be "fun"?!?! Sounds suspiciously like being "bubbly" to me.

But yes, if you could just reassure me that this is NOT the general slant of your research, that would be v helpful.

Annalytica why burlesque and not just plain old satire?

From what I know of it, burlesque was male dominated satire until the time (sorry don't know the date) when a bit of titillation in the form of stripping women was brought in to jazz things up a bit.

I can see that you are not just about pasties and empowerfulment however.

Perhaps I'm just too old and grumpy to think that radical feminism is fun. I do think it can be funny/witty but most of the time I find it bloody heartbreaking (rape, DV, porn, etc).