The German transgender self-determination law: explanatory factors for support within the population
Autor/in:
Wurthmann, L. Constantin
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, 1 (2023) aop, S 1–5
Details
Inhalt: Transgender people in Germany have been discriminated against for decades. The introduction of the so-called ‘Transsexuellen-Gesetz’ (Transsexuals Act) in 1980 allowed transgender individuals to align their first names with their gender identity. However, lengthy expert hearings were necessary for this and transgender individuals were not allowed to marry or, in case they were already married, had to file for divorce; they also had to be incapable of procreation or had to be sterilised, and had to undergo operations to adjust their body image. Some of these conditions for the official change of gender entry have since been overturned by judicial rulings, though there has been no amendment to date. The current federal government made up of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Alliance 90/The Greens (Greens) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) has sought to change this through a new self-determination law that will enable transgender individuals to change their gender record by way of self-disclosure at registry offices (Bundesministeriums für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend (BMFSFJ), 2022; Lesben- und Schwulenverband, 2022).
This contribution aims to explain how this law is perceived by the population and which factors have an influence on its perception. The explanatory factors are based on the existing literature, according to which conservatively oriented or politically right-wing individuals take a negative stance towards trans* individuals (Prusaczyk and Hodson, 2020). Moreover, findings suggest that conventional gender-conforming attitudes lead to the rejection of trans* candidates for public office (Haider-Markel et al, 2017). One might similarly expect opposition towards a liberalisation of transgender laws. Therefore, attitudes in favour of either a modern or a traditional family image are included in the analysis. Furthermore, homophobic and transphobic attitudes are closely related (Nagoshi et al, 2008), which is why support for marriage reserved to heterosexual couples only is also used as an explanatory variable.
Schlagwörter:attitude; Deutsch; Einstellung; Germany; legislation; policy making; trans rights
CEWS Kategorie:Diversity
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Producing feminist solidarities in practice
Autor/in:
Rawłuszko, Marta
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, (2022) , S 1–17
Details
Inhalt: The aim of this article is to provide empirical insights into the process of building solidarity. I focus on the way in which feminist movements are funded and discuss the question of the structural conditions for building feminist solidarities within movements that already display different hierarchies of income, visibility and recognition. My key message is that feminist solidarities are more easily produced if feminist movements challenge traditional alliances of money, expertise and power, and thus propose an alternative to ‘NGO-isation’. I outline the particular practices of participatory grant-making of the Polish Feminist Fund and argue that such organisation practices may foster greater solidarities across different identities, issues and locations, and result in the more politically oriented redistribution of funds to those who are in most pressing need of support.
Schlagwörter:feminist; feminist movement; feministische Forschung; intersectional; intersectionality; Intersektionalität; Poland; Polen
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Choosing to stay? Lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer people and the war in Ukraine
Autor/in:
Shevtsova, Maryna
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, (2022) , S 1–3
Details
Schlagwörter:gay; lesbian woman; LGBTQ; LGBTQ+; militarisation; queer; trans; war
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Geschlechterverhältnis
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Contested gender mainstreaming in the European Parliament: political groups and committees as gatekeepers
Autor/in:
Elomäki, Anna; Ahrens, Petra
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, 5 (2022) 3, S 322–340
Details
Inhalt: This article analyses the implementation of gender mainstreaming in the European Parliament and aims at deciphering the role of its committees and political groups in advancing or hindering the integration of gender perspectives. The article engages with feminist institutionalism and micro-political approaches, and is based on interview and documentary data. It examines how formal and informal institutions and micro-political strategies within committees and political groups affect the abilities of this representative European Union institution to ensure a gender perspective is present in European Union policies. We suggest that although the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (the gender-focused parliamentary body) oversees gender mainstreaming, committees and political groups, as the core actors of European Parliament policymaking, are the gatekeepers that determine the outcomes. Our findings advance understandings of the limits of gender mainstreaming in European Union policymaking and shed light on the specific challenges of gender mainstreaming and broader gender equality change in parliaments.
Schlagwörter:European Parliament; feminist institutionalism; gender equality; Gender Mainstreaming; Politics and government
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Gender and the Ukrainian refugee crisis: the case of Poland
Autor/in:
Brzezinska, Olga; Logvinenko, Igor
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, (2022) , S 1–4
Details
Schlagwörter:Flüchtling; Geflüchtete; Krieg; Refugee; Russia; Russland; Ukraine; war
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Policy evaluation and gender mainstreaming in the European Union: the perfect (mis)match?
Autor/in:
Minto, Rachel; Mergaert, Lut; Bustelo, María
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, (2020)
Details
Inhalt: This article assesses the ability of the European Commission’s current approach to policy evaluation to evaluate gender mainstreaming and, in turn, other cross-cutting social agendas (Articles 8–10 TFEU). Taking European Union research policy as a case study, through our analysis, we reveal mismatches between current evaluation standards adopted within the Better Regulation framework and requirements for effectively assessing progress towards cross-cutting social objectives, such as gender equality. The article concludes with a series of recommendations to overcome the identified shortcomings. Our analysis constitutes a key contribution to the development of feminist scholarship on the post-implementation phase of the policy process.
Schlagwörter:Europa; Europäische Kommission; Evaluationsforschung; impact analysis; political science; Politikfeldanalyse; Politikwissenschaft; social aspects
CEWS Kategorie:Europa und Internationales, Gleichstellungspolitik
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Feminist critical friends : Dilemmas of feminist engagement with governance and gender reform agendas
Autor/in:
Chappell, Louise; Mackay, Fiona
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, (2020) , 20 S
Details
Inhalt: This article advances the concept of ‘feminist critical friends’ as a descriptor for those studying the efforts of ‘insider’ gender justice advocates working to transform governance structures and advance gender reform agendas within political, social, economic and military institutions. In refining the concept of feminist critical friendship, we reject perspectives that overstate the failures and ‘co-option’ that comes with engagement, while also resisting voluntarist versions that cede too much influence to feminist insiders. We pay attention to, and take seriously, the small wins that are achieved against the gendered, institutional and political odds, and recognise that sometimes, though not always, these can align to produce significant shifts in the gendered status quo. The article seeks to unpack the who, what, why and how of feminist critical friendship in order to advance this as a productive standpoint for feminist researchers interested in analysing processes of institutional stasis and change.
Schlagwörter:co-optation; critical friendship; feminist institutional perspective; feministische Forschung; Governance; institutional change; policy analysis; politics; Politikfeldanalyse; Resistenz
CEWS Kategorie:Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
The subjective meaning of gender: how survey designs affect perceptions of femininity and masculinity
Autor/in:
Markstedt, Elias; Wängnerud, Lena; Solevid, Maria; Djerf-Pierre, Monika
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, 20 (2020) 20, S 1–20
Details
Inhalt: The rationale for this study is that self-categorising rating scales are becoming increasingly popular in large-scale survey research moving beyond binary ways of measuring gender. We are referring here to the use of rating scales that are similar to graded scales capturing left—right or liberal—conservative political ideology, that is, scales that do not include predefinitions of the core concepts (femininity/masculinity, as compared to left/right or liberal/conservative). Yet, previous studies including such non-binary gender measures have paid little attention to potential effects of survey designs. Using an experimental set-up, we are able to show that sequencing of gender measurements influences the answers received. Men were especially affected by our treatments and rated themselves as significantly ‘less masculine’ when prompted to reason about the meaning of gender prior to self-categorisation on scales measuring degrees of femininity and masculinity. Moreover, self-categorising seems to trigger more biological understandings of gender than anticipated in theory.
Schlagwörter:gender identity; Geschlechteridentität; measurement; Messkonzept; nicht-binär; non-binary; Selbsteinschätzung; self-categorisation; Studiendesign
CEWS Kategorie:Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Categorical and gradational: alternative survey measures of sex and gender
Autor/in:
Saperstein, Aliya; Westbrook, Laurel
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, 20 (2020) 20, S 1–18
Details
Inhalt: Demands for recognition of gender diversity and transgender people are growing. We tested non-binary sex and gender measures using nationally representative samples of US adults to assess feasibility for general population surveys. We find more support for a two-step categorical approach, with separate questions about natal sex and gender identity, than for a single question assessing transgender status as the latter was less reliable within our online surveys and over time. We also consider the challenge of determining measurement reliability for fluid characteristics and argue that using categorical and gradational gender measures in combination should become standard practice.
Schlagwörter:Diversität; Diversity; gender diversity; measurement; Messkonzept; nicht-binär; non-binary; Studiendesign; survey design
CEWS Kategorie:Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Comparing self-categorisation approaches to measuring gender identity
Autor/in:
Gidengil, Elisabeth; Stolle, Dietlind
Quelle: European Journal of Politics and Gender, 20 (2020) 20, S 1–22
Details
Inhalt: This article compares two different measures of gender identity. Drawing on an online survey conducted with a representative sample of Americans that included both a single bipolar scale and separate masculinity and femininity scales, we compare how the same people respond depending on how gender identity is measured. The results of validation tests suggest that a single bipolar scale performs just as well in differentiating among those with sex-typical gender identities but separate masculinity and femininity scales are needed for studies investigating the political behaviour and preferences of those with sex-atypical identities.
Schlagwörter:gender identity; Geschlechtsidentität; measurement; Messkonzept; Methodenentwicklung
CEWS Kategorie:Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung
Dokumenttyp:Zeitschriftenaufsatz