Editorial

Abstract

In this edition of NORA, we present seven articles which cover a broad range of topics, such as literature, education, maternality, fat temporality, queer ageing, and development of leadership skills in traditionally male dominated organizations. This compilation of articles reflects the diversity of the fields of feminist and gender research in the Nordic countries. In Jennifer Hobbins, Elsa Kristiansen & Eric Carlström’s article Women, Leadership, and Change —Navigating between Contradictory Cultures the focus is on how women in leader positions navigate between two often dichotomous cultures, “cultures of masculine leadership ideals and societal expectations of femininity”. To illuminate the women’s experience of these positionings through changes over time, data were collected via working life biographical interviews with five women who held top leadership positions in Nordic emergency and crisis management sectors. Focusing on the tensions between the masculine and feminine expectations, the authors found that the women leaders developed throughout their careers and found ways to perform gender outside of the “homosocial norm”. In “Following the Views of Young Former Conservative Laestadian Women on Reproductive Freedom, Procreational Ethos, and Pronatalist Politics”, Teija Rantala discusses norms regarding reproductive practices as shaped by Laestadianism. Conservative Laestadians are a religious movement that holds some prominence in the Sápmi area in Northern Scandinavia. The movement endorses conservative and patriarchal values, with a heavy emphasis on motherhood. Rantala examines the views of five young women previously involved in the Conservative Laestadian movement, especially their views on reproductive freedom and the procreational politics of the movement. She considers their perception of the Laestadian procreational ethos and connections to nationalist and global pronatalist interests. Kaisu Hynnä-Granberg‘s article “Enduring Emotions. Fat Time and Weight Loss in the Finnish Body Positive Podcasts Jenny and the Fat Myth Busters and The Soft“is an analysis of two Finnish body positive podcasts: Jenny and the Fat Myth Busters and The Soft. The article explores the notion of fat time, or fat temporality, building on the notion of queer time. Hynnä-Granberg specifically looks at stories of weight-loss, associated emotions discussed in the two podcasts, and introduces the concept of “ugly feelings that stay”, with the aim of increasing understanding within fat studies and feminist studes of the relation of people of different sizes to body positivity. Carola Maria Wide’s “’Grandmas Do Worse:’ The Kristevan Feminine in Contemporary Versions of Little Red Riding Hood” (LRRH) seeks to explore “intergenerational female relationships through Kristeva’s work on daughtering and the role of the feminine. Through providing an alternative reading on multigenerational feminine relationships, Wide’s article engages with “the feminine dimensions of reliance and relationality” to uncover both conflicts and opportunities to better understand female familial relationship between over several generations. Through an analysis of Cross’s Wolf, Carter’s short story “The Werewolf” and Smith’s photo essay “Bedlam”, the adolescent relationship with a grand-maternal figure illustrates bonding and attachment development in disparate yet interconnected ways. Inkeri Tanhua’s article “The Gendering of Technology Education: Minority Ethnic Students’ Experiences of a Women-Dominated Vocational Dental Technology Programme” seeks to broaden the discussion around tech as a male dominated field located in higher education. Tanhua does this by examining how gendering happens in women dominated in fields of technology. She argues that such gendering of educational programmes maintains gender segregation that underlines the NORA—NORDIC JOURNAL OF FEMINIST AND GENDER RESEARCH 2023, VOL. 31, NO. 3, 207–208 https://doi.org/10.1080/08038740.2023.2247838