Center for Women's Studies and Research, University of TehranInternational Journal of Women's Research2322-39013220141001The Role of Political Parties in Empowering Women’s Positions in the UK Parliament12314360800ENHessameddinVaez-ZadehAssistant Professor in International Relations/European Studies University of Tehran, Tehran, IranShahirehNozariM.A. in British Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, IranJournal Article20150214Women’s political representation has been for decades ahead of women’s rights movement. However, women presence in politics is not only limited to women political participation but their position in party politics as well. This paper aims to analyze the role of parties in empowering women at the UK parliament and tries to contribute towards the existing literature through presenting an interdisciplinary view of the issue– notably from a political perspective. Through examining issues such as political participation and legislative behavior, the paper captures the scope of the position of women MPs in British political party life and represents answers to the question whether parties can make a change in favor of changing women’s positions at the UK parliament or not. By the scope emerging from different resources, this study shows the British parties have played an important role in empowering women in the United Kingdom parliament mainly through the feminization of some of their partisan aspects and offering new opportunities to women representative at the parliament. Despite this fact, some traditional partisan structures still continue to hinder this process.<br /><br />Center for Women's Studies and Research, University of TehranInternational Journal of Women's Research2322-39013220141001Dilemma and Intricacies of Law, Society and Religion towards the Empowerment of Women in Bangladesh14516760801ENMahmudulHasanLecturer of Law at the University of Development Alternative (UODA), BangladeshAbdulAlimLecturer of Law at the University of Asia Pacific (UAP), BangladeshJournal Article20150113As a signatory of different international instruments approbating women’s empowerment, Bangladesh is committed to playing a lead role especially in the harmonious field of gender-sensitive employment for its citizens. Many laws and regulations have been made to combat the ideas and practices of depriving women of their rights. But the provisions regarding the rights of women in these instruments have failed to show proper success, mainly due to a deficient societal approach, including values of the society and the mind setup of its inhabitants, especially the males who dominate the country. Legal lacuna, religious misconceptions and misinterpretations, and patriarchal interpretation of law reinforce the mindset of the society to be more problematic. This paper depicts the framework of the empowerment of women, comments on the legal, social and religious status of women in Bangladesh, identifies key challenges for empowering women and suggests some recommendations to overcome thereof. Center for Women's Studies and Research, University of TehranInternational Journal of Women's Research2322-39013220141001Gissing’s Zolaist determinism and the heroines of The Nether World16918460802ENSusanPoursanatiPhD in English Language and Literature, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, IranJournal Article20150113Zola, in his book The Experimental Novel, introduces the aspects of what is now called the naturalistic novel. Later on, Zola’s ideas were exported to the English literature and the works of English novelists. George Gissing is one of the English authors who have successfully adopted the premises and the key elements of Zola’s naturalistic novel in their work. This paper deals with the naturalistic and Zolaist essence of George Gissing’s novel, The Nether World. The crucial aspects of Zola’s experimental and naturalistic novel are first discussed. Then the idea of determinism and its connection to the novels of Zola and Gissing’s The Nether World comes to light. Finally, the subject of Gissing’s treatment of the presence of women and their entrapment in deterministic webs of life is discussed. Center for Women's Studies and Research, University of TehranInternational Journal of Women's Research2322-39013220141001Evolution of the female roles in the US (Case study: The Hollywood movies in the late 1970s and early 1980s)18520360803ENMohammad JavadBakhtiariPhD Student in North American Studies, Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, IranFaribaHossein Nia SalimiMA in British Studies, Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, IranJournal Article20150310Prior to the 1980s, numerous charges of discrimination were noteworthy among women in Hollywood. In those years, women were in uncertain situations, so they seemed aimless and vulnerable. In the period that this article focuses on, the female characters are or have become intelligent and therefore open-minded and potentially independent. Although, they are still vulnerable and unsure of themselves in the new environment created by feminism. The main question this paper seeks to answer is how the change of women’s roles in America was depicted and how it can be explained through feminism. Through the use of cultural and media studies, it would be concluded that the Hollywood descriptions of the women of 1980s are the women who have been highlighted out of their previously uncertain situations. A number of movies for that specific decade have been studied and the results have been used to prove the claims.<br /><br />Center for Women's Studies and Research, University of TehranInternational Journal of Women's Research2322-39013220141001Analyzing the European Union citizenship through feminist perspectives20521560804ENPawanMathurDoctoral Research Scholar, Centre for European Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, IndiaJournal Article20150303The European Union has aspired to create an “ever closer union” among its people since the articulation of the European Union citizenship has been an important instrument towards it. However, attempts at creating this “ever closer union” have focused on homogenizing European citizens as a single entity without taking into account the heterogeneous differentials among such citizens. Gender differential is one such important aspect. The present paper analyzes the citizenship under EU from a feminist perspective. It attempts to conceptualize the term of citizenship and delineates the basic features of the European citizenship. Thereafter, the major feminist criticisms of the notion of citizenship are examined with specific regards to the gendered discrimination against EU citizens.<br /><br />Center for Women's Studies and Research, University of TehranInternational Journal of Women's Research2322-39013220141001Translating genderism, a way of manipulating gender norms21724060805ENNadiaGhazanfari-MoghaddamPhD Candidate of Translation Studies, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, IranAzadehSharifimoghaddamAssociate Professor, Department of Foreign Language and Literature, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran,Journal Article20150216Genderism is a segregating ideology that unfairly divides society into two groups of “inferior” and “superior” merely based on one’s sex. Sociocultural norms are accordingly assigned and although societies agree on its discrimination, they sometimes diverge in their perspectives when dealing with it; thus, its intercultural transmission can be challenging. The present paper aims to investigate the translation of genderism from English to Persian in a case study, a novel that has deliberately been developed on gender biased concepts. Sidney Sheldon’s best-seller, The Stars Shine Down, was found eligible, whose Persian Translation was Parvaneh Ahanin by Sharaf-Aldin Sharafi (1988). Based on a CDA framework, sexist data were extracted from ST and then compared with their translations. The results revealed that TT and ST diverged greatly regarding their expression of genderism, which ultimately had modified the main intention of the ST (provoking independency and development of a “feminine” identity in females). The translation choices had turned the TT into a domesticated adaptation of the ST in favor of patriarchal agendas. While ST encourages change in culture, TT preserves the target society from possible cultural inconveniences.Center for Women's Studies and Research, University of TehranInternational Journal of Women's Research2322-39013220141001Postcolonial feminist reading of Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns24125460806ENEnsiehShabaniradPhD Candidate, University of Tehran, Tehran, IranElhamSeifiMA in English Language and Literature, University of Semnan, Semnan, IranJournal Article20141216Postcolonial feminism is an exploration into the interactions of colonialism with gender, nation, class, race, and sexualities in different contexts of women’s lives. Postcolonial feminism or the ‘Third World feminism’ originated as a critique of mainstreams in the Western feminist theorists, investigating the portrayal of women in the literature and society of the colonized countries as marginalized and oppressed ones in every aspect of life, namely, cultural, religious, political, economic, social, legal and artistic, in such a way that they are considered as inferior beings. Postcolonial feminism declares that an inclination towards homogenizing and universalizing women by focusing exclusively on the involvement of women in Western lifestyle is a heedless attempt, because in this case, they are only defined by their gender and not by social class, race, feelings, ethnicity, sexual preferences, and setting of the colonized territories. Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns depicts the social, cultural, and political structures that support the devaluation, degradation, and violence endured by the female characters in the novel. From a postcolonial feministic perspective, this paper attempts to investigate the plights of women, particularly the two major characters of the novel, Mariam and Laila, which are enforced on them through the patriarchal culture and standards.