Leading the change: Women in research consider women's roles
By Isabella Hollingsworth-Sons and Sarah Shoaf, Staff Writers
From humanities to industry, three Governors State University (GovState) faculty members share how the topics they've explored in their research reflect innovation in women's roles. From portrayals of women in the media to women fruit pickers, and business leaders, faculty share their expertise on the evolution of social expectations.
The avenging-woman in popular television and film
By examining popular culture and media for representations of gender and sexuality, Lara Stache, Professor of Communication Studies, has found that media can tell the story of society at the time of its production.
“At first glance, a television series, film, song, meme, or book that has become popular may not seem like a social or political artifact, but when we delve deeper and peel back the layers of construction, messaging, and power in these products that drive significant revenue and receive millions of eyes on them, we find out a lot about how our society works,” said Stache.
In her research, Stache looks specifically at the avenging-woman in popular television and film. She’s noticed that in every revenge narrative featuring a female lead, the role only exists if the justice system has failed to protect her or those she loves.
“We can look at avenging-woman narratives in television, film, music, and books to tell us how our society is making sense of female empowerment, sexual assault, and gendered violence,” shared Stache. “Media is both a mirror that reflects our world, and a creator that produces stories.”
She adds that current events also impact the media created. She cited the recent scandal involving billionaires and those in power taking advantage of young women.
“In a time where we are confronting the release of the [Jeffrey] Epstein files and dealing with significant political and social revelations about imbalances of power at the intersection of money, celebrity, and politics, media narratives reveal underlying tensions and help us make sense of the aftermath.”
The mythical fingers of women in fruit
Jelena Radovich-Fanta, is a Professor of Anthropology at GovState, and researches exploring the exportation of grapes from Chile, and the women behind the work.
Chile is one of the world’s top exporters of grapes, and the field workers who pick them for export to countries like America are primarily women.
“It’s mostly women who work three months out of the year, very intensive, long workout hours, processing the grapes that go for export.”
What started as a summer job for women ended up becoming a main source of income for households.
With newfound financial freedom, women have been able to take a stronger role both in married households and as single mothers. But that still begs the question: Why Women? She points to a common narrative.
“Whether you're looking at the fruit industry or the garment industry, there's the feminization of labor. There's a narrative that women have more delicate fingers, and they could take care of the grape. The grape is very delicate, so if you crush it, you can't export it. But really, that’s a way to justify a low-paying and hazardous job.”
Despite the tough nature of the job, the women in Chile have found personal empowerment through the opportunities they didn’t have before. “Women have told me that with their first salary, they bought a microwave and a washing machine.”
Having personal income allowed women to make household purchases, support their children, and participate in social activities outside the home, going out, purchasing makeup and jewelry from companies like Avon, and exploring their identity outside of a wife or daughter.
The working woman and her family
Having lived the past 20 years in the United States, and abroad for years before that, Ujvala Rajadhyaksha, Associate Dean in the College of Business, has lived experience with how juggling family and work can differ across cultures, yet a common thread is the expectations that often fall on women.
Her research reveals how family responsibilities tend to interfere more with work duties in family-oriented cultures.
“Work is the big monster that tends to interfere with family life for both men and women, but certainly so for women in certain contexts,” said Rajadhyaksha. “Certain occupations have an innate flexibility built into them in terms of the place of work, hours of work and things like that.”
Another factor that could upset the balance is caregiving, both for younger children and older adults.
“Caregiving is a responsibility that the evidence seems to suggest still tends to fall very heavily on women compared to men across cultures, across the globe, and even across income levels,” said Rajadhyaksha.
“It would also seem that higher income people are perhaps in a better position to afford caregiving help, but the gendering of caregiving doesn't go away because the person you hire invariably is more likely to be a woman than a man.”
While there are many organizational and HR policies across companies intended to increase work flexibility, there is still a gender bias.
“To me that is a problem that really needs to be solved because that's the key to trying to build a semblance of equity in people's work lives.”