The Sexualization of Servitude
Performances of femininity in Ethiopian coffee houses
This is an audio piece from our SEX issue, which you can listen to on our podcast here or with the audio clip above.
In this in-house interview with FFJ’s founding editors. Isabela talks to Zoë about her master's thesis research on bunabéts, otherwise known as coffee houses, in Ethiopia and the links between serving coffee feminization and the sexualization of feminized labour.
Zoë's research went on to be published in the Journal of Gender and Research. You can read it here.
This podcast features writing, research, and sound editing by Isabela Vera and Zoë Johnson and original music from the Electric Muffin Research Kitchen. You can also listen to it on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
Further reading
Bhopal, K. (2010). 'Gender, Identity and Experience: Researching Marginalised Groups.' Women's Studies International Forum, (33, 3: 188-195).
Campbell, R., & Wasco, S. M. (2000). 'Feminist Approaches to Social Science: Epistemological and Methodological Tenets.' American Journal of Community Psychology, (28, 6: 773-791).
Cornwall, A., & Anyidoho, N. A. (2010). 'Introduction: Women's Empowerment: Contentions and Contestations.' Development, (53, 2: 144-149).
Cornwall, A., Harrison, E., & Whitehead, A. (2008). 'Gender Myths and Feminist Fables: The Struggle for Interpretive Power in Gender and Development.' In A. Cornwall, E. Harrison, & A. Whitehead,(Eds: pp. 1-19 ). Gender Myths and Feminist Fables. Malden. MA: Blackwell Publishing.
Devault, M. L. (1990). 'Talking and Listening from Women's Standpoint: Feminist Strategies for Interviewing and Analysis.' Social Problems, (37, 1: 96-116).
Gregson, N., & Rose, G. (2000). 'Taking Butler Elsewhere: Performativities, Spatialities and Subjectivities.' Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, (18, 4: 433-452).
Hoppe, K. (1993). 'Whose Life Is It, Anyway?: Issues of Representation in Life Narrative Texts of African Women.' The International Journal of African Historical Studies, (26, 3: 623-636).
McRobbie, A. (2009). The Aftermath of Feminism: Gender, Culture and Social Change. London: SAGE.
Peacock, J. L., & Holland, D. C. (1993). 'The Narrated Self: Life Stories in Process.' Ethos, (21, 4: 367-383).
Shain, F. (2012). '"The Girl Effect": Exploring Narratives of Gendered Impacts and Opportunities in Neoliberal Development.' Sociological Research Online, (18, 2: 181-191).
van Stapele, N. (2014 March). 'Intersubjectivity, Self-Reflexivity and Agency: Narrating About "Self" and "Other" in Feminist Research.' Women's Studies International Forum, (43: 13-21).