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- Convenor:
-
Debra McDougall
(University of Melbourne)
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- Format:
- Panel
- Stream:
- Gender, Reproduction and Sexuality
- Location:
- WPE Anglesea
- Sessions:
- Thursday 24 November, -
Time zone: Australia/Melbourne
Short Abstract:
This panel invites papers that consider anthropological interventions in the context of evolving public debates about gender, sexuality, reproductive rights, intersectionality, and gendered violence.
Long Abstract:
Anthropological understandings of gender identity, sexuality, gendered violence, reproduction, and kinship exist in a global media environment that has in recent years included discussions - both virulent and edifying - around #metoo, feminisms, transgender experience, and the gender spectrum. From the US Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade to the work of Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins in making misogyny visible in Australia, gendered relationships and rights are back at the heart of political debates.
This panel invites papers that (re)interrogate gender themes and ask questions such as:
• What novel provocations emerge from the question of how lives are (or are not) 'gendered'?
• In the years following the #metoo movement, how has the landscape for discussing gender changed?
• What is the role of anthropology as a community of practitioners in addressing gendered violence in the field?
[This panel abstract has been updated to revise some problematic phrasing. The convener thanks colleagues for their constructive feedback.]
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Wednesday 23 November, 2022, -Paper short abstract:
This presentation is based on my research in Nepal, where I witnessed a transition from old to new gender practices and identities. These processes reveal the persistence of gender constructions while at the same time allowing for individual expression and for the affirmation of personal desires.
Paper long abstract:
This presentation is based on my research in Nepal and rotates around themes of gender norms contestation in the domestic sphere. By focusing on marriage choices and practices, I explore how new emerging ideals of companionship and individual well-being among younger generations in Nepal challenge established gender roles and expectations and are mediated at the family level, particularly in ‘conversation’ between parents and their adult children in the Newar city of Bhaktapur. On the one hand, marriage constitutes a crucial step in the shaping of the moral self in Newar society, being a religious sacrament leading to the affirmation of the householder’s path, and a fundamental occasion for attunement to social expectations. On the other hand, my observations suggest that spousal dynamics are becoming central in the contestation of traditional and oppressive gender roles in both joint and nuclear household. Yet, through a discussion of personal narratives, it also emerges that new ideas of gender are generated and creatively negotiated with pre-existing norms and ideals. Ultimately, the material discussed reveals a transition from old to new gender practices and identities, demonstrating the persistence of gender constructions while at the same time allowing for individual expression and for the affirmation of personal desires.
Paper short abstract:
In 2021 the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reported stable rates of partner violence in Australia since 2005 despite a decline in overall violence. This ethnographic case study asks if current measures to address family violence are perpetuating the very problem they claim to address.
Paper long abstract:
In 2021 the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reported stable rates of partner violence in Australia since 2005 despite a decline in overall violence. This worrying statistic leads to a sensitive question: could current measures to address family violence be perpetuating the very problem they claim to address? In the spirit of fostering academic debate and providing rigorous reflective material for clinicians, educators and researchers, this nuanced ethnographic case study of emotional abuse and child neglect offers an opportunity to reflect upon the pathways offered to partners and co-parents to address challenging situations. The case study is based upon over 1,500 pages of ethnographic fieldnotes but, to embody responsible fallibility, should be considered fictional. Listeners are invited to critically reflect upon the gendered dimension of debates about family violence, the available pathways for addressing non-physical abuse, and methods of effectively intervening to reduce the cumulative harm of child neglect.