Gender Equality in Changing Times:

Multidisciplinary Reflections on
Struggles and Progress Angela Smith
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://textbookfull.com/product/gender-equality-in-changing-times-multidisciplinary-re
flections-on-struggles-and-progress-angela-smith/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Reflections on Academic Lives: Identities, Struggles,

and Triumphs in Graduate School and Beyond 1st Edition
Staci M. Zavattaro

https://textbookfull.com/product/reflections-on-academic-lives-
identities-struggles-and-triumphs-in-graduate-school-and-
beyond-1st-edition-staci-m-zavattaro/

Equality: Multidisciplinary Perspectives 1st Edition

François Levrau

https://textbookfull.com/product/equality-multidisciplinary-
perspectives-1st-edition-francois-levrau/

Pluralistic Struggles in Gender, Sexuality and

Coloniality: Challenging Swedish Exceptionalism Erika
Alm

https://textbookfull.com/product/pluralistic-struggles-in-gender-
sexuality-and-coloniality-challenging-swedish-exceptionalism-
erika-alm/

Comparative Perspectives on Work-Life Balance and

Gender Equality: Fathers on Leave Alone 1st Edition
Margaret O'Brien

https://textbookfull.com/product/comparative-perspectives-on-
work-life-balance-and-gender-equality-fathers-on-leave-alone-1st-
edition-margaret-obrien/
Direct Methods: Methodological Progress and Engineering
Applications Aurora Angela Pisano

https://textbookfull.com/product/direct-methods-methodological-
progress-and-engineering-applications-aurora-angela-pisano/

Psychoanalytic Reflections on Parenting Teens and Young

Adults Changing Patterns in Modern Love Loss and
Longing 1st Edition Anne J. Adelman

https://textbookfull.com/product/psychoanalytic-reflections-on-
parenting-teens-and-young-adults-changing-patterns-in-modern-
love-loss-and-longing-1st-edition-anne-j-adelman/

Financing for Gender Equality: Realising Women’s Rights

through Gender Responsive Budgeting 1st Edition Zohra
Khan

https://textbookfull.com/product/financing-for-gender-equality-
realising-womens-rights-through-gender-responsive-budgeting-1st-
edition-zohra-khan/

Changing Organizational Culture Cultural Change Work in

Progress 2nd Edition Mats Alvesson

https://textbookfull.com/product/changing-organizational-culture-
cultural-change-work-in-progress-2nd-edition-mats-alvesson/

Diverse Pedagogical Approaches to Experiential

Learning: Multidisciplinary Case Studies, Reflections,
and Strategies Karen Lovett

https://textbookfull.com/product/diverse-pedagogical-approaches-
to-experiential-learning-multidisciplinary-case-studies-
reflections-and-strategies-karen-lovett/
Gender Equality in
Changing Times
Multidisciplinary Reflections on
Struggles and Progress

Edited by Angela Smith

Gender Equality in Changing Times
 Angela Smith
Editor

Gender Equality
in Changing Times
Multidisciplinary Reflections
on Struggles and Progress
Editor
Angela Smith
Department of Media and Communication Studies
University of Sunderland
Sunderland, UK

ISBN 978-3-030-26569-4    ISBN 978-3-030-26570-0 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26570-0

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2020
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar
or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
 Contents

1 Introduction  1
Angela Smith

Part I    15

2 Female Role Models in a Male-­Dominated Workplace: Do

We Still Need Their Influence Today? 17
Stephanie Atkinson

3 “Oh, it’s actually quite nice up here”: Reflections on

Prejudice, Partiality and Division and Moral Challenges
to Inclusivity Created by Gender, Class and Region 39
Bridget Cooper

4 Prisoners of Inclusivity: Perspective on Spirituality,

Humanism and Place 61
Juila Janfeshar Nobari and Paul-Alan Armstrong

v
vi Contents

5 A Critical Analysis of Masculinity During Mentoring in

Contemporary Schools 83
Kim Gilligan

6 Understanding Gender Categorisation in a Binary Society107

Katie Ward

Part II  129

7 “Enough of this PC-crazed Nonsense”: The Backlash

Against Gender Equality as Personified by Emma Watson131
Angela Smith

8 Agreement and Disagreement About Social Changes

Regarding Saudi Women on Twitter153
Wjoud Almadani

9 “Straight Man Cancer”: The Discursive Representation

and Backlash of Sexism on Chinese Internet181
Xiaoping Wu

10 Gender and Media Representation: Politics and the

“Double Bind”203
Fiona McKay

11 Smart, Casual, Unisex: Can We Have Gender Equality in

Twenty-First Century Fashion and Dress?227
Janet Pearson

12 What Next? Some Concluding Thoughts247

Angela Smith

Index255
 Notes on Contributors

Wjoud Almadani is Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at Shaqra University,

Shaqraa, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She has recently completed her PhD in
the School of Culture at the University of Sunderland. Almadani is con-
ducting her research on the speech act of refusal and gender in Saudi
Arabia. She holds degrees in English (BA, King Abdul Aziz University)
and TESOL (MA, California State University, East Bay). Her research
interests include pragmatics and discourse, gender and minorities studies.
Paul-Alan Armstrong is Senior Lecturer in Human Resource
Management and Leadership at the University of Sunderland, UK. His
teaching is in the areas of management learning, professional develop-
ment and equality in the workplace. His research interests and publica-
tions are in arts-based methodologies, professional development, digital
reflection and gender issues in the workplace. Armstrong is a VC Teaching
Fellow and has presented at a range of regional, national and interna-
tional conferences on professional development, digital reflection and
arts-based methodologies.
Stephanie Atkinson is from the University of Sunderland, UK, and has
recent research interests, PhD and Masters supervision, and publications
concerning issues within science, technology, engineering and
­mathematics (STEM)-related subjects both in higher education and in
schools. This has included the demise of design and technology within an
vii
viii Notes on Contributors

educational context, factors that have influenced woman’s continued

underrepresentation in STEM education and subsequent careers and the
place that role models have played in the hope of improving that situation.
Bridget Cooper has taught in schools and adult education for 15 years
and has researched and taught in various higher education (HE) institu-
tions since 1995: the Open University, Leeds University, Leeds
Metropolitan University and University of Sunderland, where she was
the Director of the Centre for Pedagogy and is now Emeritus Professor of
Education. She has written on a wide range of research issues in teaching
and learning including affective issues, moral education, information
technology, the impact of OFSTED and issues of equality in education
and society.
Kim Gilligan is Principal Lecturer in Teaching and Learning at the
University of Sunderland. Her PhD explored areas of gender, class and
culture in YA fiction. Her current research is in teaching and learning,
social justice, class and gender.
Fiona McKay is a lecturer in Journalism at Robert Gordon University
(RGU) in Aberdeen. During her undergraduate course at the University
of Glasgow, she studied English Literature; she obtained an MLitt in
Journalism Studies from the University of Strathclyde, where she pro-
ceeded to pursue her PhD in Journalism. Her research focused on the
mediated representation of gender in the 2014 Scottish independence
referendum and was funded by the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of
Scotland. McKay’s research focus is at the intersections of gender, media,
politics, and journalistic practice. Her professional experience includes
working as a journalist, mostly for the Herald and Times Group
(Newsquest) in Scotland.
Juila Janfeshar Nobari is Lecturer in Accounting and Finance in the
Faculty of Business, Law and Tourism at the University of Sunderland,
UK. Her research interests are broadly within the area of social account-
ing and reporting in relation to accountability and business ethics issues.
More specifically, her current research involves financialisation of daily
life and history within the focus on the workings of finance and gender.
 Notes on Contributors ix

Janet Pearson is an independent researcher interested in ideas pertain-

ing to individuality and identity. An experienced teacher, and former
designer-dressmaker, her research interests include art, language and lit-
erature (especially German literature), history of ideas, narratology, gen-
der and psychology of fashion. She wrote her doctoral thesis (University
of Sunderland, 2015) on the theme of mass culture and individuality in
the work of Austrian-Jewish intellectual Hermann Broch (1886–1951),
focusing particularly on his magnum opus The Death of Virgil (Der Tod
des Vergil). Pearson has presented research papers at several international
conferences and has written journal articles on the themes of time and
crisis in art, in Broch’s work.
Angela Smith is Professor of Language and Culture in the School of
Media, Journalism and Communication Studies at the University of
Sunderland, UK. She has research interests in language and gender, media
discourses and children’s literature and has written widely in these areas.
With Dr Claire Nally at the University of Northumbria, she edits the
Bloomsbury International Library of Gender in Popular Culture.
Katie Ward has recently completed her PhD in Language and Gender
Identity from the University of Sunderland, UK. Her area of research
interest is language and identity in which she has explored the lexicon of
gender diversity and its use in society. Ward has worked with schools and
LGBT societies to explore the impact of language on gender diverse people.
Xiaoping Wu is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of
Communication, University of Macau, China. She has published in
Discourse Studies, Media, Culture and Society, Discourse, Context and
Media, Language and Intercultural Communication and Babel in the areas
of social media discourse studies, new media and translation studies, and
intercultural studies. She is a member of the Editorial Board of Discourse,
Context and Media.
 List of Figures and Tables

Fig. 9.1 Internet meme of “straight man cancer”. Translation of the

verbal message: Let’s listen to what “straight man cancer” says:
hi, beauty. How old are you? Young sister, you should not
wear makeup at such a young age. I think you look better
without makeup. Don’t wear makeup when we are together.
Send me your selfie, young sister. Why do you buy so many
lipsticks? Women should be diligent and thrifty. Do you do
housework? I don’t like lazy women 186

Table 4.1 Outline of conversations 63

Table 4.2 Keys themes and explanation 64
Table 8.1 Date of creation of hashtags and number of tweets 160
Table 8.2 Percentage of Saudi men and women expressing
agreement and disagreement 161
Table 8.3 Percentage of Saudi men and women expressing
agreement and disagreement 167
Table 8.4 Percentage of Saudi men and women expressing
agreement and disagreement 173

xi
 1
Introduction
Angela Smith

This book offers a collection of chapters that explores and interrogates

gender equality issues, through both the personal experiences of people
themselves and the representation of gender and sexuality. Gender equal-
ity has been at the heart of feminist campaigns throughout the twentieth
century. The early First Wave Feminist campaigns had crystallised around
the call for universal suffrage, with most Westernised countries achieving
this by 1930. This gave women the platform to raise issues of equality
from inside the political system, a process that continues to this day. As
Karen Boyle (2019) points out, at the time of writing this book, we are
in a moment when feminism’s popularity is once more resurgent. At the
same time, Sarah Banet-Weiser (2018) has argued that this coincides with
popular misogyny. And it is not only the binary male/female backlash
that is apparent, as other issues of gender and sexuality show a tension
between liberation and oppression.

A. Smith (*)
Department of Media and Communication Studies, University of Sunderland,
Sunderland, UK
e-mail: angela.smith@sunderland.ac.uk

© The Author(s) 2020 1

A. Smith (ed.), Gender Equality in Changing Times,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26570-0_1
2 A. Smith

By the 1980s, the political activism of feminists spanning the twenti-

eth century appeared to achieve the goals of equality. Laws were in place
in Westernised societies that gave women and men equal rights to
employment, education and legal powers. A vocabulary of “empower-
ment” and “choice” crystallised into what became known as “post-­
feminism”, a term which implied we no longer needed feminism: we were
beyond that. However, many feminists challenged this post-feminist uto-
pia. For example, Angela McRobbie (2009) challenged the basic assump-
tion that feminism had “ended” in a scathing critique of the myth of
female empowerment that post-feminism apparently offered. The various
strands of post-feminism shifted in dominance from the “ladette” who
apparently embraced the opportunity to behave as a young man would in
terms of drinking, socialising and general rowdiness to the retraditionali-
sation of femininity that offered women the “choice” to be domesticated
and traditionally feminine. This fluctuation between aspects of post-­
feminist choice can be seen in action in reality TV programmes such as
the internationally franchised “Ladette to Lady” (2005–2008) (see Smith
2011). Diane Negra (2009) has also explored the concept of having-it-all
post-feminism of popular culture, with the underlying dissatisfaction in
the consumerisation of female aspiration. As we will see later, the demoni-
sation of feminism in the post-feminist concept led to the assumption
that feminists are joyless and anti-men, contrasting with the deluded
post-feminist woman who has been conned into believing that the sexu-
alising of her body is empowering (Whelehan 2000). Stéphanie Genz
and Ben Brabon (2010) offer a more nuanced view of post-feminism,
suggesting that it does have scope to be celebrated and at the very least
that it is a transitional point between the political gains of Second Wave
Feminism and what is yet to come. It is this transition that chapters in
this book explore.
One-hundred years after some women first gained national suffrage in
Britain, gender equality is firmly back on the agenda. The attention given
to issues of gender equality achieved international recognition through
the #MeToo social media campaigns of 2017 and 2018, which saw the
arts and entertainment industries rocked by accusations of sexism and
sexual harassment. These claims were led by women, but included the
stories of gay participants too, who felt that they had been exploited or
 1 Introduction 3

assaulted by powerful men in the industry. Gender equality in the twenty-­

first century now encompasses multiple sexualities in its reach, offering
evidence of how far equality campaigns have actually come in that there
is now a general acceptance of non-binary sexuality, both legally and
socially. That said, there remain parts of the world, including the
Westernised world, where attitudes, if not the law, continue to discrimi-
nate against those who are not binary, heterosexual identified. This book
seeks to explore how these attitudes persist, despite decades of legal
changes towards inclusivity, particularly over the last 50 years.
Legislation towards gender equality has been enacted throughout the
twentieth century but most recently since the 1960s. The Second Wave
Feminist movement in Westernised countries saw campaigns that were
broadly grouped under “seven goals” as outlined by the UK’s Women’s
Liberation Movement:

• Equal pay now

• Equality education and job opportunities
• Free contraception and abortion on demand
• Free 24-hour nursery care
• Financial and legal independence
• Equality irrespective of sexuality
• End to all discrimination against lesbians and women’s rights to define
her own sexuality

It is telling that, half a century later, there is still legislation being

developed even in Westernised countries to act on these goals. For exam-
ple, from 6 April 2017 employers in Great Britain with more than 250
staff were required by law to publish statistics detailing staff pay by gen-
der, annually on their own website and on a government website. The
first full report of this appeared in April 2018 and showed that even
48 years since the passing of the Equal Pay Act (1970) in the UK, women
consistently lag behind their male counterparts when it comes to pay.
According to the Office for National Statistics, in 2017 the gap between
what UK male and female workers earned, based on median hourly earn-
ings, stood at 18.4%. This had risen from 18.2% in 2016.
4 A. Smith

This is against a background of more women being in paid employ-

ment than ever before. As Myra Macdonald (1995) and many others
have pointed out, this leads to a double bind where women are damned
if they go out to work (implicitly neglecting their domestic duties) or
damned if they stay at home (implicitly rejecting the hard-fought-for
rights for women in the workplace). Whilst Second Wave Feminist cam-
paigns led to equality in terms of the legal obligations of employers, cul-
tural expectations also needed to change. For example, in her 2017
autobiography, UK Labour MP and former Minister for Women, Harriet
Harman, recounts that her mother, who had qualified as a barrister in the
1940s, had felt obliged to give up work when she had her children in
order to fulfil the role of housewife. Harman laments that her mother’s
barrister’s robe and wig ended up in the dressing-up box, and uses this
ignominious act to highlight the inequality in pre-1970s’ society that
deprived the world of the brains and skills of highly educated women
purely on the basis of the compulsion to conform to domestic gendered
expectations (Harman 2017). It is not just the university-educated
women whose skills and knowledge were confined to the family on mar-
riage through cultural expectations. My own mother had qualified as a
nurse in 1961, becoming one of the youngest women of her generation
to be promoted to the rank of ward sister when she was just 21. However,
like Harman’s mother, on giving birth to her first child, my mother also
gave up her profession, and the costume associated with her job—her
nurse’s watch, registration badges and silver-buckled belt—also found
their way into our dressing-­up box. The inequality of the system affected
women at all points of the social class scale, although working-class
women were less prominent during the Second Wave Feminist move-
ment. Bridget Cooper explores this in her chapter.
It is now commonplace for women to continue working after becom-
ing mothers, and in many European countries the State has increasingly
stepped in to fund childcare (although in post-2008 austerity Britain,
this has been sadly diminished). According to the Office of National
Statistics data in the UK, the female employment rate has increased
steadily from 52.8% in 1971 to 70.8% by the end of 2017 (ONS 2018a).
This contrasts with the statistics for male employment over the same
period, with 92.1% of men in employment in 1971 (overall employment
 1 Introduction 5

rate of 72.2%) falling to 79.8% in 2017 (overall employment rate of

75.4%) (ONS 2018b, 2018c). These statistics alone show how far we
have come from the social context of the Second Wave Feminist move-
ment which pushed for equal pay legislation and equal access to employ-
ment opportunities across Westernised countries. A greater parity in the
employment of both men and women is used by some to claim that
women are “taking over” and “doing men out of work”, but this argu-
ment seemingly ignores the parallel decline in heavy industry over this
period, an area where vast numbers of men were employed prior to the
1980s. Statistics also show that women are now more likely than men to
go into higher education (the UK University Admission Service reported
young women were 36% more likely to start a degree course than their
male peers in August 2017), a trend that emerges across Westernised
countries (PA, The Guardian 2017), and 2018 saw the ban on female
soldiers serving on the front line lifted from all UK armed services. This
is a pattern that extends across many Westernised countries, yet the gen-
der pay gap is also prevalent.
The converse side of the legal acceptance of women in traditionally
male occupations, and in the public sphere more generally, has been an
increase in sexual harassment. In the context of post-feminist culture,
where certain strands existed to endorse the self-sexualisation of women
as a means of empowerment, this was largely unacknowledged. To do so,
it seemed, would be too close to the killjoy legacy of the perceptions of
the Second Wave Feminism. Second Wave Feminism is coded as angry,
humourless, ugly but, most importantly, ineffectual and unnecessary and
so most post-feminist texts represent a battle of wits between the older
feminist woman and the young post-feminist girl. As Imelda Whelehan
and others have argued, the epitome of self-sexualisation is the deluded
embodiment of the ladette, or in US culture, riot girl.

The ladette offers the most shallow model of gender equality; it suggests
that women could or should adopt the most anti-social and pointless of
‘male’ behaviour as a sign of empowerment. The Wonderbra, unsurpris-
ingly, remains the essential style statement for a wannabe ladette. (Whelehan
2000, p. 9)
6 A. Smith

This self-sexualisation as a means of exhibiting gender equality is an

extension of the broader aims of the Second Wave Feminism for women
to achieve equality by essentially adopting male behaviour in the work-
place. In other words, women are misguided, or misinformed, about just
what “gender equality” is. The ladette of the 1990s was rejecting the femi-
nist ideals of her mother a generation before as children have always done
in their desire to rebel from parental influence. As with Whelehan’s argu-
ment, dissatisfaction with this state of affairs developed into anger and
eventually protest. Initially, this was articulated through the voices of
established feminists.
The first decade of the twenty-first century saw increasing attention
paid to the notion of “feminism”. Susan Faludi’s Backlash (1992) has
been an early warning of the demise of feminism as a desirable or neces-
sary political force. It appeared to exist at the level of common sense: it
was hegemonic. A survey of 1000 readers of Cosmopolitan in the UK in
2007 reported the vast majority (96%) of respondents believed in equal
pay and the right to a career over motherhood, and only slightly fewer
(85%) believed women should have the right to choose an abortion.
However, the same survey found that only 25% of respondents said they
would describe themselves as “feminists”. Thus the adult women respond-
ers of this and many other similar surveys at this time show that the femi-
nist aims of the 1970s have largely been achieved and equality exists, but
they were alienated from the movement that had fought to achieve these.
Moseley and Read had highlighted this in 2002 when they pointed out:

[t]he lucrative, 18-34 female market, a generation that has grown up taking
for granted the feminist victories won by their mothers and thus for whom
feminism exists at the level of popular commonsense rather than at the
level of theoretical abstraction. (Moseley and Read 2002, p. 238)

Coupled with this, the 1990s had seen the emergence of a new social
emphasis on individual gains at the expense of social collective action
that had seen the Second Wave Feminists achieve so much a generation
before. Women were growing up with the opportunities won for them in
Western societies but in an increasing consumerist and work-obsessed
 1 Introduction 7

world where a good work/life balance is desired. As Moseley and Read

commented,

This is a generation who have found that despite the best efforts of femi-
nists, you cannot just wish femininity away, relegate it to the dustbin of
history as the bad ‘other’ of feminism. This is a generation for whom ‘hav-
ing it all’ means not giving things up but struggling to reconcile our femi-
nist desires with our feminine desires. (Moseley and Read 2002, p. 238)

Thus it would seem that for the Cosmo readers, “feminism” as a con-
cept is both taken for granted and “over” and also associated with anti-­
feminine tropes such as hating men, dressing in an androgynous
(“unfeminine”) way and often linked with social collectives that are “last
century”. Writing in her Guardian column in 2003, Zoe Williams argued
that feminism “was as noble and important as any other civil rights move-
ment, and yet we seem to take no pride in it. We are crazy to disown it
like some sort of embarrassing old aunt” (Williams 2003). Unlike the
participants in the Cosmo survey, Williams was highlighting the impor-
tance of feminism and its relevance in the twenty-first century. If the
collective voice Williams’ Guardian readership implies is that of the older
age group who would have emerged from the cohort Moseley and Read
highlighted in 2003, then what of the younger age groups, the so-called
millennials? In the same year, 2007, Girlguiding UK found that 65% of
their members would describe themselves as “feminists” (Ward 2007).
This offers more hope for the future of feminism and in fact is what we
have come to see as Fourth Wave Feminism from around 2010 onwards.
Judith Williamson (2003) observed that “the problem is that sexism
didn’t go away, we just stopped talking about it”. “Sexism” had come to
be mocked or hijacked by the media with the close associations of percep-
tions of unfashionable Second Wave Feminism.
By the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, gender rela-
tions in Westernised societies were starting to re-emerge with issues of
political and social relevance. Throughout this first decade, there had
been a developing argument that was highlighting the gaps in gender
equality. Catherine Redfern and Kristin Aune had set up The F-Word
blog in 2001, making the most of emerging forms of social media. This
8 A. Smith

blog explores contemporary UK feminism and continues to be edited by

young British feminists to this day. Ten years later, Laura Bates set up the
Everyday Sexism blog to collect and disseminate stories of the minor,
seemingly routine examples of sexism that she and other women encoun-
tered on a daily basis. The arrival of Twitter had allowed the individual
voices of women to be heard in a much wider context; thus, the individu-
alism that Redfern and Aune (2010) claim had seemed to deter women
from engaging with feminism in the early part of the century became
instrumental in the formation of what became known as Fourth Wave
Feminism. This appears in popular culture with increasing frequency,
including in 2014 Beyoncé’s performance against the giant, illuminated
word FEMINIST at the MTV Music Video Awards, and actor Emma
Watson’s speech at the UN Women #HeForShe campaign launch (Banet-­
Weiser 2018). The inherent sexism in the film world in particular came
to public attention in late 2017 through the use of the #MeToo hashtag
and saw unprecedented changes occurring in that business as seemingly
untouchable sexual preditors at the top of the industry found nowhere to
hide. Harvey Weinstein in particular became symbolic of the lack of tol-
erance of sexist behaviour that had previously been treated as common
knowledge without anyone paying much attention to the implications
(legitimised sexual abuse) or consequences (patriarchal power enacted
through the threat of sexual abuse).
Gender equality is not just a Westernised nations’ issue. It is a global
issue, and as mentioned above in relation to Emma Watson, this was
explicitly recognised in the United Nations’ formation of the HeForShe
campaign in 2014. This has the mission statement:

The world is at a turning point. People everywhere understand and support

the idea of gender equality. They know it’s not just a women’s issue, it’s a
human rights issue. And when these powerful voices are heard, they will
change the world. The time for that change is now.
HeForShe is inviting people around the world to stand together to create
a bold, visible force for gender equality. And it starts by taking action right
now to create a gender equal world.
 1 Introduction 9

Unlike previous campaigns, this one explicitly aims to recruit men, as

reflected in its title. Whilst the earlier Second Wave Feminist campaigns
had relied on collective voices through co-present demonstrations,
HeForShe makes effective use of social media to reach more people than
ever attended even the largest feminist rally. However, the very name of
the campaign has been the focus of criticisms of its ethos, with Cathy
Young (2014) in Time magazine arguing that the “He” for “She” is actu-
ally drawing on stereotypes of stronger men needing to support female
victims. She further argues that this campaign sidelines men and in fact
discriminates against them at the expense of gender equality. This article
was accompanied by a series of quotations from women in the entertain-
ment industry, responding to the question, “would you call yourself a
feminist?” Most of the responses were positive, but several were along the
lines of actor and environmental activist Shailene Woodley’s response:

No, because I love men. I think the idea of “raise women to power, take the
men away from power” is never going to work out because you need bal-
ance. … My biggest thing is really sisterhood more than feminism.

This reflects the misunderstanding of feminism as man-hating (trig-

gered here by “I love men” as a statement which appears to reflect the
assumption that feminists hate men) and the associated assumption of
women wanting to gain power at the expense of men. In other words, it
is a view that rearticulates “equality” as “disparity”. However, this is not
entirely without an element of truth, as is commonly found in such rejec-
tions of equality arguments. As Kim Gilligan’s chapter here shows, the
perception of men as being inappropriate primary school teachers is one
that runs deep into the culture of British schools. This is based on the
underlying stereotype of the caring, nurturing women who is best suited
“naturally” to be responsible for young children. This gendered stereotype
then is conflated with the male sexual predator who we see emerging in
the #MeToo campaign, someone who can’t be trusted around vulnerable
young people. Such is the complexity of issues relating to gender equality,
it is difficult to entirely dismiss the misguided assumptions about gender
equality that are embodied in Shailene Woodley’s comments above.
10 A. Smith

The use of social media to campaign for recognition or equality for

disadvantaged or invisible groups is not just a Western phenomenon. In
parts of the world where gender equality issues have a very different his-
tory, social media is hastening change. For example, as Wjoud Almadani
shows in her chapter, in Saudi Arabia the ultra-conservative laws govern-
ing gender in that part of the world led to women being confined to the
domestic domain and patriarchal rule, unable to leave the house without
the explicit permission of a (male) “guardian”. With the arrival of a new
ruler, Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, in 2016, the slow move towards a
more Western notion of gender equality has been hastened, and social
media has proved a very interesting source of data relating to these
changes. This is not least as it is one of the few places where women’s
voices can be found in an unmuted context. Similarly, in China, there is
a very different approach to gender equality than is found in the Western
world. Xiaoping Wu offers us a brief history of gender in modern China
before exploring the way social media has been deployed to denigrate
women’s rise in the public domain. The responses on social media to such
objections have many similarities with what we find in Western society
when equality issues receive public attention (see also Smith 2018).
Again, we see that social media has enabled the disadvantages and dis-
criminated against to gain a voice in ways that our grandmothers could
never have imagined possible.

Book Structure
This book is roughly structured around two basic concepts: the experi-
ence of gender equality issues in the contemporary world and the repre-
sentation of gender equality as an ongoing battle.
In Part I of the book, we find experiences of equality and inequality
being discussed. This includes some accounts that are built from their
authors’ personal reflections on their own experiences and circumstances.
Such accounts are at the heart of much feminist research, where the “per-
sonal is political”. This allows for first-hand accounts of the changes in
society that are at the heart of this book’s focus. Whilst there are risks
attached to such accounts, researchers such as Hammersley (2006) point
 1 Introduction 11

out that the perils of such methodology are generally outweighed by the
potential for great rewards to be gleaned from such data. With this in
mind, the experiences of two women who have lived through the fight for
gender equality since the 1960s are recorded in the chapters by Bridget
Cooper and Stephanie Atkinson.
Atkinson in Chap. 2 offers a unique view of someone who has been a
role model for women throughout her working life. As the first female
woodwork teacher in England, she has worked in STEM (science, tech-
nology, engineering and maths) subjects all her life and witnessed the
incremental balancing of gender participation in these traditionally mas-
culine fields. With more than half a century’s experience of this, Atkinson
reassesses the part role models have to play in encouraging young women
into STEM-based careers. Cooper in Chap. 3 offers an historical view of
the issue of inequality in general, and gender in particular, in respect of
her own life experiences. She argues for the inclusion of geographical
location in any discussion of gender equality and ultimately offers the
view that we learn nothing from history when it comes to tackling
inequality.
Linking into Cooper’s call for geographical location to be included as
a factor in discussing gender equality, Chap. 4 by Juila Nobari and Paul-­
Alan Armstrong explores “place” as a factor in identity. Their conversa-
tion explores their identities in terms of spirituality and humanism,
questioning the place of gender in this framework.
The occupational stereotyping that Atkinson writes about in Chap. 2
highlights her own experiences. We return to the context of education in
Chap. 5, with Kim Gilligan’s study of the experiences of primary school
teacher training. Like the female politicians McKay discussed later in her
chapter, who are “out of place” because of their gender, here we find that
male trainees in a stereotypically female occupation face a number of
complex challenges and their own version of the “double bind” that
McKay and others have highlighted as part of the experience of women
in politics.
All four of these chapters explore gender equality in terms of its posi-
tion in relation to traditional gender stereotypes and expectations.
Chapter 6 investigates this in the context of sexuality, with Katie Ward
12 A. Smith

looking at the lives of people in the trans community, in particular how

they identify themselves.
Part II of this book explores gender equality in terms of its representa-
tion. The first three chapters look at how the campaigns of gender equal-
ity are fought in different international fronts. Chapter 7 by Angela Smith
looks at the Western HeForShe campaign and its links with “political
correctness” where it is challenged by those who see any change to gender
imbalance as being a step too far. Whilst the focus of many of the chap-
ters in this book is on Western issues of gender equality, Wjoud Almadani
in Chap. 8 and Wu Xiaoping in Chap. 9 look at active campaigns of
gender equality in other parts of the world. Wu’s chapter explores the
rejection of gender equality activism in China, where “straight man can-
cer” is roughly synonymous with “male chauvinist pigs” in Western cul-
ture. She discusses the ways in which this anti-feminist trope is found in
popular culture, despite there being a very different history of gender
equality in China than we find in the West. Almadani focuses on the
recent liberalisation of gender relations in Saudi Arabia, exploring the
Twitter arguments about specific changes in the liberalisation of the
Saudi women’s lives.
One of the issues that recurs in these chapters is that women are “out
of place” in the public sphere. Chapter 10 by Fiona McKay explores the
phenomenon of there being two leading female politicians in the UK at
one time: Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland and Theresa May in England, as
prime minister of the whole UK. McKay’s chapter looks at how these two
powerful women are reported in print media and how the concept of the
“double bind” sees them criticised for being either too feminine or not
feminine enough.
Finally, Chap. 11 by Janet Pearson discusses the concept of “fashion”
and asks the question: can fashion ever be gender neutral? Against a back-
drop of encroaching equality in employment, and advances in technolo-
gies that allow for experiences and behaviours to be reshaped, fashion itself
has adapted over the years. However, with the articulation of equality
comes the offer of choice, and it is this which is central to Pearson’s chapter.
In all, the contributions to this book seek to explore how issues of
gender equality are experienced and represented in the world and map
some of the ways in which progress has been made whilst also pointing at
work yet still be done.
 1 Introduction 13

References
Banet-Weiser, Sarah. 2018. Empowered: Popular feminism and popular misogyny.
Duke: Duke University Press.
Boyle, Karen. 2019. #MeToo, Weinstein and Feminism. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Faludi, S. 1992. Backlash: The undeclared war against women. London:
Chatto & Windus.
Genz, S., and B.A. Brabon. 2010. Postfeminism: Cultural texts and theories.
Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Hammersley, M. 2006. Ethnography: Problems and prospects. Ethnography and
Education 1 (1).
Harman, H. 2017. A Woman’s work. Milton Keynes: Allen Lane.
Macdonald, M. 1995. Representing women: Myths of femininity in popular media.
London: Edward Arnold.
McRobbie, A. 2009. The aftermath of feminism: Gender, culture and social change.
London: Sage.
Moseley, Rachel and Jacinda Read 2002. ‘“Having it Ally”: popular television
(post-) feminism’ in Feminist Media Studies, vol 2, no 2.
Negra, D. 2009. What a girl wants? Fantasizing the reclamation of self in postfemi-
nism. Abingdon: Routledge.
Office for National Statistics. 2018a. Female employment rate (age 16–64, sea-
sonally adjusted). Jan 1971–Dec 2017. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/
employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemploy-
eetypes/timeseries/lf25/lms. Accessed 23 Apr 2018.
———. 2018b. Male employment rate (aged 16–64, seasonally adjusted). Jan
1971–Dec 2017. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandla-
bourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/timeseries/mgsv/
lms. Accessed 23 Apr 2018.
———. 2018c. Employment rate (aged 16–64, seasonally adjusted). Jan 1971–
Dec 2017. Available at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmar-
ket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/timeseries/lf24/lms.
Accessed 23 Apr 2018.
Press Association. 2017. University gender gap at record high as 30,000 more
women accepted. The Guardian, August 28. Available at: https://www.the-
guardian.com/education/2017/aug/28/university-gender-gap-at-record-
high-as-30000-more-women-accepted. Accessed 23 Apr 2018.
Redfern, C., and K. Aune. 2010. Reclaiming the F word: The new feminist move-
ment. London: Zed Books.
14 A. Smith

Smith, A. 2011. Femininity repackaged: Postfeminism and Ladette to Lady. In

Women on screen: Feminism and femininity in visual culture, ed. M. Waters,
153–166. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
———. 2018. Gender in “crisis”, everyday sexism and the Twittersphere. In
Crisis and the media, ed. M. Patrona, 231–260. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Ward, L. 2007. Girl Guides see a future blighted by sex bias and pressure to be
thin. The Guardian, February 27.
Whelehan, I. 2000. Overloaded: Popular culture and the future of feminism.
London: The Women’s Press.
Williams, Z. 2003. What women want. The Guardian, July 1.
Williamson, J. 2003. Sexism with an alibi. The Guardian, May 31.
www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/index-php/vi/Do_you_use_the_F-word %3F.
Young, C. 2014. Sorry, Emma Watson, but HeForShe is rotten for men. Time.
com. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
Part I
 2
Female Role Models in a Male-­
Dominated Workplace: Do We Still Need
Their Influence Today?
Stephanie Atkinson

Introduction
This chapter focuses on gender representation inequalities. Specifically, it
concentrates on the under-representation of women in science, technol-
ogy, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and workplaces
across the world and whether or not “good” role models can positively
impact upon the situation. My personal story as a STEM professional for
over 60 years, discussing the influence that specific role models have had
upon me in developing my passion for everything STEM related, and my

I dedicate this chapter to the two role models that influenced the direction of my life and career
based in mainly male-dominated workplaces. To Miss Darcy Thompson, my craft teacher at school
who introduced me to making things from wood and encouraging me to strive for perfection in all
that I did and never to be satisfied with second best. And Brian Braithwaite the craftsman from my
college days who, by example, showed me through his own love of designing and making wooden
artefacts how to achieve that perfection, alongside instilling in me a belief in myself and the wish to
pass on the passion I have for everything STEM related to those I have taught throughout my career.

S. Atkinson (*)
University of Sunderland, Sunderland, UK
e-mail: Stephanie.atkinson@sunderland.ac.uk

© The Author(s) 2020 17

A. Smith (ed.), Gender Equality in Changing Times,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26570-0_2
18 S. Atkinson

influences as a role model myself are woven into the examination and
discussion of pertinent literature.
In terms of apposite literature, the chapter first analyses and discusses
factors from relevant writings that have influenced woman’s continued
under-representation in STEM education and subsequent careers in what
is, and always has been, very heavily male-dominated workplaces. This is
followed by an analysis and discussion of role model literature concern-
ing the positive and negative effects that exposure to role models has had
and the forms that such role models have taken in order to try to improve
women’s representation in STEM. The final section sums up the findings
and provides some conclusions concerning whether or not role models
have been beneficial and whether or not they are still required today and
in the future.

Women’s Under-Representation
Gender equality is a human right, and yet gender inequality has and still
is affecting both men and women today. Under-representation and
inequality have been seen as complex issues and a great challenge even for
those wishing to overcome them (Joshi et al. 2015). A lack of gender
equality is a global issue researched in many countries, and a topic which
will be revisited later in this chapter. Stereotypes or “rules” about how
women and men and girls and boys should be begin in early childhood
and continue through to adulthood. Although it is recognised that there
are dangers of overgeneralisation inherent in this issue, gender inequali-
ties are shared by all and are so ingrained in society that adults are often
surprised to realise how early in childhood children internalise these ideas
(Martin and Ruble 2004) and how embedded they become. Inequalities
are mainly associated with health, education and ridged gender norms.
However other inequalities such as unequal opportunities, unequal
empowerment, under-representation and a lack of economic indepen-
dence are all evident in many aspects of daily life and are rightfully more
often attributed to female inequality traits, all of which are aspects that
impinge upon the theme of this chapter. Although seen as an important
human rights issue, gender inequality is also seen as an important
 2 Female Role Models in a Male-Dominated Workplace… 19

economic issue specifically in terms of women’s under-representation in

STEM in both education and careers across most industrialised countries
around the world (Blinkenstaff 2005). Ashcraft cited in Wright (2019)
researched the underlying issues (Çağatay 2001) associated with low
numbers of women working in STEM and identified three key issues:
societal influences and biases, school education and workplace systems.
This under-representation is not something new (Kanny et al. 2014).
When I decided to study to become an industrial designer in 1960 I was
the first female to apply to my university. Studies recognised this and
discussed it as a serious problem by the early 1980s (Kelly et al. 1981;
Smail et al. 1982), with unequal participation in STEM remaining virtu-
ally unchanged for the past 35 years (Smith 2011; Ceci et al. 2009;
Noonan and Laffarge 2017). In 2002 Baroness Greenfield et al. (2002) in
her Report on Women in Science, Engineering and Technology had indicated
her concern:

The under-representation of women in science, engineering and technol-

ogy threatens, above all, our global competitiveness. It is an issue for soci-
ety, for organisations, for employers and for the individual. (Greenfield
et al. 2002, p. 9)

This under-representation has been evident despite a plethora of initia-

tives such as the introduction of comprehensive education, equal oppor-
tunity legislation and many interventions specifically targeted at
encouraging female participation in various aspects of STEM, for exam-
ple TVEI, Technical and Vocational Education Initiative in 1982; WISE,
Women into Science and Engineering in 1984; GIST, Girls into Science
and Technology in 1985; and jumping to more recent times, Girls in
Tech in 2007, Technovation in 2010, Little Miss Geek in 2012, Campaign
for Science and Engineering in 2014 and 1000 Girls: 1000 Futures in
2015. Added to these in the UK has been the compulsory participation
of all pupils in STEM subjects in primary and lower secondary level since
the introduction of the National Curriculum (DES 1990) and a willing-
ness by many STEM teachers to tackle the gender imbalance. However,
shortages witnessed in girls’ take-up and their levels of success in STEM
subjects during secondary education have continued to the present day
20 S. Atkinson

(Bauer 2017) even though girls have been shown to generally do better
than boys in secondary education across the globe (Drury et al. 2011;
Voyer and Voyer 2014). This state of affairs has been debated by many
others over the past two decades (e.g. Darmody and Smyth 2005; Shin
et al. 2016; Smith 2011; van Aalderen-Smeets and Walma van der Molen
2018) and remains an area of political priority and concern (Government
Equalities Office 2010; Smith 2011) in terms of education and the cur-
rent and future job market (Bauer 2017; Noonan and Laffarge 2017).
Lawless and Pearson (2008) although referring to the difficulties of
women progressing in politics provided support for the widely held belief
(e.g. Meyer et al. 2015) that whatever male-dominated field is being
referred to:

Women must be stronger candidates, or at least candidates who are willing

to endure greater challenges, and more challengers, than their male coun-
terparts face. Women, in other words, have to be ‘better’ than men in order
to fare equally well. (Lawless and Pearson 2008, p. 78)

As reported in 2018 there is still statistical evidence of a very large

gender gap of 72% in terms of female A1 professionals compared to male
A1 professionals (World Economic Forum (WEF) 2018). The WEF also
reported specifically on the STEM skills gap, where only 14% of women
in OECD countries chose science-related subjects in universities, com-
pared with 39% of men (WEF 2018).
In recent research van Aalderen-Smeets and Walma van der Molen
(2018) unpicked some of the complexities associated with under-­
representation using three factors: self-efficacy beliefs, stereotypical think-
ing and motivational beliefs, to describe the potential relationships
between the viewpoints that students held regarding the malleability of
their STEM ability and their intentions to pursue a STEM career. While
they agreed that on the one hand, STEM could be considered the most
creative and fulfilling of subjects to study and work in, on the other hand,
STEM could also be seen as a dry, statistical and isolating discipline.
Breaking this stereotypical view and correctly representing the opportu-
nities of studying and working in STEM they indicated was a vital step
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
appendages. Pseudobranchiæ none. Branchiostegals three; air-
bladder long, not divided. Ovaries closed.
Small loach-like fishes from fresh waters of tropical Africa; two
species only, Kneria angolensis and K. spekii, are known.

Fifth Family—Characinidæ.
Body covered with scales, head naked; barbels none. Margin of
the upper jaw formed by the intermaxillaries in the middle and by the
maxillaries laterally. Generally a small adipose fin behind the dorsal.
Pyloric appendages more or less numerous; air-bladder transversely
divided into two portions, and communicating with the organ of
hearing by means of the auditory ossicles. Pseudobranchiæ none.
The fishes of this family are confined to the fresh waters of Africa,
and especially of tropical America, where they replace the
Cyprinoids, with which family, however, they have but little in
common as far as their structural characteristics are concerned.
Their co-existence in Africa with Cyprinoids proves only that that
continent is nearer to the original centre, from which the distribution
of Cyprinoids commenced than tropical America. The family includes
herbivorous as well as strictly carnivorous forms; some are toothless,
whilst others possess a most formidable dentition. The family
contains so many diversified forms as to render a subdivision into
groups necessary. They have not yet been obtained in fossiliferous
strata.
I. Erythrinina.—Adipose fin absent.
The sixteen species of this group belong to the fauna of tropical
America, and are referred to the genera Macrodon, Erythrinus,
Lebiasina, Nannostomus, Pyrrhulina, and Corynopoma.
II. Curimatina.—A short dorsal and an adipose fin; dentition
imperfect. Tropical America.
Curimatus.—Dorsal fin placed nearly in the middle of the body;
anal rather short or of moderate length; ventrals below the dorsal.
Body oblong or elevated, with the belly rounded or flattened before the
 ventrals. Cleft of the mouth transverse, lips none, margins of the jaws
trenchant. No teeth whatever. Intestinal tract very long and narrow.
About twenty species are known, of rather small size.
The other genera of this group have teeth, but they are either
rudimentary or absent in some part of the jaws: Prochilodus,
Cænotropus, Hemiodus, Saccodon, Parodon.
III. Citharinina.—A rather long dorsal and an adipose fin; minute
labial teeth. Tropical Africa.
One genus only, Citharinus, with two species, is known. Common
in the Nile, attaining to a length of three feet.
IV. Anastomatina.—A short dorsal and an adipose fin; teeth in
both jaws well developed; the gill-membranes grown to the isthmus;
nasal openings remote from each other. Tropical America.
Leporinus.—Dorsal fin placed nearly in the middle of the length of
the body; anal short; ventrals below the dorsal. Body oblong, covered
with scales of moderate size; belly rounded. Cleft of the mouth small,
with the lips well developed; teeth in the intermaxillary and mandible,
few in number, flattened, with the apex more or less truncated, and
not serrated; the middle pair of teeth is the longest in both jaws; palate
toothless.
This genus is generally distributed in the rivers east of the Andes;
about twenty species are known, some of which, like L. frederici, L.
megalepis, are very common. They are well marked by black bands
or spots, and rarely grow to a length of two feet, being generally
much smaller.—The other genera belonging to this group are
Anastomus and Rhytiodus.
V. Nannocharacina.—A short dorsal and an adipose fin; teeth in
both jaws well developed; notched incisors. The gill-membranes are
grown to the isthmus. Nostrils close together.
One genus, Nannocharax, with two species only, from the Nile
and Gaboon; very small.
VI. Tetragonopterina.—A short dorsal and an adipose fin; the
teeth in both jaws well developed, compressed, notched, or
denticulated; the gill-membranes free from the isthmus, and the
nasal openings close together. South America and Tropical Africa.
Alestes.—The dorsal fin is placed in the middle of the length of
the body, above or behind the ventrals; anal fin rather long. Body
oblong, covered with scales of moderate or large size; belly rounded.
Cleft of the mouth rather small. Maxillary teeth none; intermaxillary
teeth in two series; those of the front series more or less compressed,
more or less distinctly tricuspid; the teeth of the hinder series are
broad, molar-like, each armed with several pointed tubercles. Teeth in
the lower jaw in two series; those in the front series laterally
compressed, broader behind than in front; the hinder series is
composed of two conical teeth. All the teeth are strong, few in number.
Fourteen species from Tropical Africa; several inhabit the Nile, of
which the “Raches” (A. dentex and A. kotschyi) are the most
common.
Tetragonopterus.—The dorsal fin is placed in the middle of the
length of the body, above or immediately behind the ventrals; anal fin
long. Body oblong or elevated, covered with scales of moderate size;
belly rounded. Cleft of the mouth of moderate width. Anterior teeth
strong, lateral teeth small. Intermaxillary and mandibulary teeth
subequal in size, with a compressed and notched crown, the former in
a double, the latter in a single series; maxillary with a few teeth near
its articulation, rarely with the entire edge denticulated.
Of all the genera of this family Tetragonopterus is represented by
the greatest number of species; about fifty are known. Some of them
seem to have a very wide range, whilst others are merely local. All
are of small size, rarely exceeding a length of eight inches.
Chirodon.—Dorsal fin placed in the middle of the length of the
body, behind the ventrals; anal long or of moderate length. Body
oblong, covered with scales of moderate size; lateral line not
continued to the tail. Belly rounded before the ventrals. Cleft of the
mouth narrow, maxillary short. A single series of small serrated teeth
in the intermaxillary and mandibulary; maxillary teeth none.
 Fig. 277.—Chirodon alburnus.
Three species of small size from various parts of South America;
the species figured is represented of the natural size, and comes
from the Upper Amazons.
Megalobrycon.—Dorsal fin placed in middle of the length of the
body, immediately behind the ventrals. Anal long. Abdomen rounded
in front of, and somewhat compressed behind, the ventrals. Cleft of
the mouth of moderate width. Teeth notched, in a triple series in the
intermaxillary, and in a single in the maxillary and mandible; no other
teeth behind the mandibulary teeth or on the palate. Scales of
moderate size, with the free portion striated.
One species from the Upper Amazons (M. cephalus). Specimens
more than one foot long have been obtained.
 Fig. 278.—Megalobrycon
cephalus.
Gastropelecus.—Dorsal fin placed behind the middle of the
length of the body, above the anal; anal long; pectoral long; ventrals
very small or rudimentary. Body strongly compressed, with the
thoracic region dilated into a sub-semicircular disk. Scales of
moderate size. Lateral line descending obliquely backwards towards
the origin of the anal fin. The lower profile compressed into an acute
ridge. Cleft of the mouth of moderate width; teeth compressed,
tricuspid, in one or two series in the intermaxillary, and in a single in
the mandible; maxillary with a few minute conical teeth; palate
toothless.

Three specimens of this singular form are known from Brazil and
the Guyanas; they are of very small size.
The majority of the other genera belonging to this group are
South American, viz. Piabucina, Scissor, Pseudochalceus,
Aphyocharax, Chalceus, Brycon, Chalcinopsis, Bryconops,
Creagrutus, Chalcinus, Piabuca, Paragoniates, and Agoniates; two
only are African, viz. Nannæthiops, which represents the South
American Tetragonopterus, and Bryconæthiops, which is allied to
Brycon.
VII. Hydrocyonina.—A short dorsal and an adipose fin; teeth in
both jaws well developed and conical; gill membranes free from the
isthmus; nasal openings close together. South America and Tropical
Africa. Fishes of prey.
 Hydrocyon.—The dorsal fin is in the middle of the length of the
body, above the ventrals; anal of moderate length. Body oblong,
compressed, covered with scales of moderate size; belly rounded.
Cleft of the mouth wide, without lips; the intermaxillaries and
mandibles are armed with strong pointed teeth, widely set and few in
number; they are received in notches of the opposite jaw, and visible
externally when the mouth is closed. Palate toothless. Cheeks
covered with the enlarged sub-orbital bones. Orbit with an anterior
and posterior adipose eyelid. Intestinal tract short.
Four species from Tropical Africa; two occur in the Nile, H.
forskalii being abundant, and well known by the names “Kelb el bahr”
and “Kelb el moyeh.” Their formidable dentition renders them most
destructive to other fishes; they grow to a length of four feet.
Cynodon.—Dorsal fin placed behind, or nearly in, the middle of
the length of the body, behind the ventrals; anal long. Head and body
compressed, oblong, the latter covered with very small scales; belly
compressed, keeled. Teeth in the intermaxillary, maxillary, and
mandible in a single series, conical, widely set, of unequal size; a pair
of very large canine teeth anteriorly in the lower jaw, received in two
grooves on the palate; palate with patches of minute granulated teeth.
The outer branchial arch without gill-rakers, but with very short
tubercles.
Four species from Brazil and the Guyanas; they are as
formidable fishes of prey as the preceding, and grow to the same
size.
With the exception of Sarcodaces, all the remaining genera of
this group belong to the fauna of Tropical America, viz. Anacyrtus,
Hystricodon, Salminus, Oligosarcus, Xiphorhamphus, and
Xiphostoma.
VIII. Distichodontina.—Dorsal fin rather elongate; adipose fin
present. Gill-membranes attached to the isthmus; belly rounded.
Tropical Africa.
The species, ten in number, belong to one genus only
(Distichodus), well known on the Nile under the name of “Nefasch.”
They grow to a considerable size, being sometimes four feet long
and one and a half foot deep. They are used as food.
 IX. Ichthyborina.—An adipose fin; number of dorsal rays
increased (12–17); gill-membranes free from the isthmus. Belly
rounded; canine teeth. Tropical Africa.
Two genera only: Ichthyborus from the Nile, and Phago from
West Africa. Small fishes of very rare occurrence.
X. Crenuchina.—Dorsal fin rather elongate; an adipose fin. Gill-
membranes free from the isthmus, with the belly rounded, and
without canine teeth.
This small group is represented in the Essequibo by a single
species, Crenuchus spilurus, and by another in West Africa,
Xenocharax spilurus.
XI. Serrasalmonina.—Dorsal fin rather elongate; an adipose fin.
Gill-membranes free from the isthmus; belly serrated. Tropical
America.
Although the fishes of this family do not attain any considerable
size, the largest scarcely exceeding two feet in length, their voracity,
fearlessness, and number renders them a perfect pest in many rivers
of tropical America. In all, the teeth are strong, short, sharp,
sometimes lobed incisors, arranged in one or more series; by means
of them they cut off a mouthful of flesh as with a pair of scissors; and
any animal falling into the water where these fishes abound is
immediately attacked and cut in pieces in an incredibly short time.
They assail persons entering the water, inflicting dangerous wounds
before the victims are able to make their escape. In some localities it
is scarcely possible to catch fishes with the hook and line, as the fish
hooked is immediately attacked by the “Caribe” (as these fishes are
called), and torn to pieces before it can be withdrawn from the water.
The Caribes themselves are rarely hooked, as they snap the hook or
cut the line. The smell of blood is said to attract at once thousands of
these fishes to a spot. They are most abundant in the Brazils and
Guyanas; some forty species are known, and referred to the genera
Mylesinus, Serrasalmo, Myletes, and Catoprion.
 Fig. 279.—Serrasalmo scapularis, from the Essequibo.

Sixth Family—Cyprinodontidæ.
Head and body covered with scales; barbels none. Margin of the
upper jaw formed by the intermaxillaries only. Teeth in both jaws;
upper and lower pharyngeals with cardiform teeth. Adipose fin none;
dorsal fin situated on the hinder half of the body. Stomach without
blind sac; pyloric appendages none. Pseudobranchiæ none; air-
bladder simple, without ossicula auditus.
Small fishes, inhabiting fresh, brackish, and salt water of
Southern Europe, Africa, Asia, and America. The majority are
viviparous; and to facilitate copulation the anal fin of the adult male
of many species is modified into a copulatory organ, which is
probably (partially at least) introduced into the vulva of the female;
but it is uncertain whether it serves to conduct the semen, or merely
to give the male a firmer hold of the female during the act. Also
secondary sexual differences are developed in the Cyprinodonts; the
males are always the smaller, sometimes several times smaller than
the females, quite diminutive; and they are perhaps the smallest
fishes in existence. The fins generally are more developed in the
males, and the coloration is frequently different also. Some species
are carnivorous; others live on the organic substances mixed with
mud. Fossil remains have been found in tertiary strata, all apparently
referable to the existing genus Cyprinodon; they occur near Aix in
Provence, in the marl of Gesso, St. Angelo, in the Brown coal near
Bonn, near Frankfort, and in the freshwater-chalk of Oeningen. In the
latter locality a Poecilia occurs likewise.
The genera can be divided into two groups:
I. Cyprinodontidæ Carnivoræ.—The bones of each ramus of
the mandible are firmly united; intestinal tract short, or but little
convoluted. Carnivorous or insectivorous.
Cyprinodon.—Cleft of the mouth small, developed laterally and
horizontally. Snout short. Teeth of moderate size, incisor-like, notched,
in a single series. Scales rather large. Origin of the anal fin behind that
of the dorsal in both sexes, both fins being larger in the male than in
the female. Anal not modified into a sexual organ.
Seven species occur in the Mediterranean region, all of which
seem able to live in briny springs or pools, the water of which
contains a much greater percentage of salts than sea-water, as the
brine-springs near the Dead Sea or in the Sahara. They are as little
affected by the high temperature of some of these springs (91°), for
instance of that at Sidi Ohkbar in the Sahara. Like other fishes living
in limited localities or concealing themselves in mud, Cyprinodonts
lose sometimes their ventral fins; such specimens have been
described as Tellia. The species of the New World are less known
than those of the Old, but not less numerous.
Allied to Cyprinodon are Fitzroyia from Monte Video, and
Characodon from Central America.
Haplochilus.—Snout flat, both jaws being much depressed, and
armed with a narrow band of villiform teeth. Body oblong, depressed
anteriorly, compressed posteriorly. Dorsal fin short, commencing
behind the origin of the anal, which is more or less elongate.

Twenty species from the East Indies, tropical Africa, and

temperate and tropical America.
 Fundulus.—Cleft of the mouth of moderate width, developed
laterally and horizontally. Snout of moderate length. Teeth in a narrow
band, those of the outer series being largest, conical. Scales of
moderate size. Dorsal fin commencing before or opposite the origin of
the anal. Sexes not differentiated.
“Killifish,” abundant in the New World, where about twenty
species have been found; F. heteroclitus, majalis, diaphanus, being
common on the Atlantic coast of the United States; from the Old
World two species only are known, viz. F. hispanicus from Spain, and
F. orthonotus from the east coast of Africa. Allied to Fundulus are the
South American Limnurgus, Lucania, Rivulus, and Cynolebias.
Orestias.—Ventral fins none. Cleft of the mouth of moderate
width, directed upwards, with the lower jaw prominent, and with the
upper protractile. Both jaws with a narrow band Of small conical teeth.
Scales rather small or of moderate size, those on the head and upper
part of the trunk frequently enlarged, plate-like, and granulated. Dorsal
and anal fins moderately developed, opposite to each other. Sexes
not differentiated by modification of the anal fin. The gill-membranes
of both sides are united for a short distance, and not attached to the
isthmus.
Inhabitants of Lake Titicaca and other elevated sheets of water
on the Cordilleras of Peru and Bolivia, between the 14th and 19th
degrees of latitude, at an elevation of 13,000 and 14,000 feet above
the level of the sea. Singularly, the fishes of this outlying genus attain
to a greater size than any other members of this family, being about
eight inches long and comparatively bulky. They are considered a
delicacy. Six species.
Jenynsia.—Cleft of the mouth small, developed laterally and
horizontally; snout not produced. Both jaws with a series of tricuspid
teeth of moderate size. Scales of moderate size. The origin of the anal
fin is, in both sexes, behind that of the dorsal, although the anal of the
male is modified into an intromittent organ, in which scarcely any of
the rays remain distinct.
One species from Maldonado.
 Fig. 280.—Gambusia punctata, from Cuba. A. Male; B. Female.
Gambusia.—Cleft of the mouth developed laterally and
horizontally. Snout not produced, with the lower jaw more or less
prominent. Both jaws with a band of teeth, those of the outer series
being strongest and conical. Scales rather large. Origin of the anal fin
more or less in advance of that of the dorsal. Anal fin of the male
modified into an intromittent organ and much advanced.

Eight species from the West Indies and the southern parts of
South America.—Allied genera are the Central American
Pseudoxiphophorus and Belonesox.
Anableps.—Head broad and depressed, with the supraorbital part
very much raised. Body elongate, depressed anteriorly and
compressed posteriorly. Cleft of the mouth horizontal, of moderate
width, the mandible being short; upper jaw protractile. Both jaws
armed with a band of villiform teeth, those of the outer series being
largest and somewhat movable. The integuments of the eye are
divided into an upper and lower portion by a dark-coloured transverse
band of the conjunctiva; also the pupil is completely divided into two
by a pair of lobes projecting from each side of the iris. Scales rather
small or of moderate size. Dorsal and anal fins short, the former
 behind the latter. The anal fin of the male is modified into a thick and
long scaly conical organ with an orifice at its extremity.
Three species from tropical America. They are the longest
Cyprinodonts, attaining to the length of nearly twelve inches. Their
peculiar habit of swimming with part of the head out of the water has
been noticed above (p. 113).
II. Cyprinodontidæ Limnophagæ.—The bones of each ramus
of the mandible are but loosely joined; intestinal tract with numerous
circumvolutions. Sexes differentiated. Mud-eating. Tropical America.
Poecilia.—Cleft of the mouth small, transverse; mandible very
short. Both jaws with a narrow band of minute teeth. Scales rather
large. Origin of the anal fin generally nearly opposite to that of the
dorsal fin in the female, but in the male it is modified into an
intromittent organ and much advanced. Dorsal fin short, with not more
than eleven rays.
Sixteen species.
Mollienesia.—Differing from Poecilia in having a larger dorsal fin,
with twelve or more rays.
Five species. The males are most beautifully coloured, and their
dorsal fin is much enlarged. In one species (M. hellerii), besides, the
lower caudal rays of the mature male are prolonged into a long,
sword-shaped, generally black and yellow appendage.
Two other genera belong to this group: Platypoecilus and
Girardinus.

Seventh Family—Heteropygii.
Head naked; body covered with very small scales; barbels none.
Margin of the upper jaw formed, by the intermaxillaries. Villiform
teeth in the jaws and on the palate. Adipose fin none. Dorsal fin
belonging to the caudal portion of the vertebral column, opposite to
the anal. Ventral fins rudimentary or absent. Vent situated before the
pectorals. Stomach coecal; pyloric appendages present.
Pseudobranchiæ none; air-bladder deeply notched anteriorly.
 To this small family, which is closely allied to the Cyprinodonts
and Umbridæ, belongs the famous Blind Fish of the Mammoth Cave
in Kentucky, Amblyopsis spelæus. It is destitute of external eyes,
and the body is colourless; although the eyes, with the optic nerve,
are quite rudimentary, the optic lobes are as much developed as in
fishes with perfect eyes. The loss of vision is compensated by the
acuteness of its sense of hearing, as well as by a great number of
tactile papillæ, arranged on transverse ridges on the head, and
provided with nervous filaments coming from the fifth pair. The ovary
is single, and the fish is viviparous, like the Cyprinodonts. It seems to
occur in all the subterranean rivers that flow through the great
limestone region underlying the carboniferous rocks in the central
portion of the United States. As in Cyprinodon, so in this genus,
specimens occur without ventral fins; they have been called
Typhlichthys. The largest size to which Amblyopsis grows is five
inches.
Chologaster is closely allied, but provided with small external
eyes; its body is coloured, but it is destitute of ventrals. It was found
once in a rice field in South Carolina.
[See Tellkampf, Müll. Arch. 1844, p. 381; Packard and Putnam,
“The Mammoth Cave and its Inhabitants.” Salem. 1872. 8o.]

Eighth Family—Umbridæ.
Head and body covered with scales; barbels none. Margin of the
upper jaw formed by the intermaxillaries mesially, and by the
maxillaries laterally. Adipose fin none; the dorsal fin belongs partly to
the abdominal portion of the vertebral column. Stomach siphonal;
pyloric appendages none; pseudobranchiæ glandular, hidden; air-
bladder simple.
Two small species only are known: Umbra krameri from Austria
and Hungary, and Umbra limi, locally distributed in the United States;
called “Hunds-fish” in Germany, “Dog-fish” or “Mud-fish” in America.
 Ninth Family—Scombresocidæ.
Body covered with scales; a series of keeled scales along each
side of the belly. Margin of the upper jaw formed by the
intermaxillaries mesially, and by the maxillaries laterally. Lower
pharyngeals united into a single bone. Dorsal fin opposite the anal,
belonging to the caudal portion of the vertebral column. Adipose fin
none. Air-bladder generally present, simple, sometimes cellular,
without pneumatic duct. Pseudobranchiæ hidden, glandular.
Stomach not distinct from the intestine, which is quite straight,
without appendages.
The fishes of this family are chiefly marine, some living in the
open ocean, whilst others have become acclimatised in fresh water;
many of the latter are viviparous, all the marine forms being
oviparous. They are found in all the temperate and tropical zones.
Carnivorous.
This family is represented in the strata of Monte Bolca by rare
remains of a fish named Holosteus, allied to Belone or Scombresox,
and by a species of Belone in the miocene of Licata.
Belone.—Both jaws are prolonged into a long slender beak. All
the dorsal and anal rays connected by membrane.

The long upper jaw of the “Gar-pike” is formed by the

intermaxillaries, which are united by a longitudinal suture. Both jaws
are beset with asperities, and with a series of longer, conical-pointed,
widely-set teeth. Skimming along the surface of the water, the Gar-
pike seize with these long jaws small fish as a bird would seize them
with its beak; but their gullet is narrow, so that they can swallow
small fish only. They swim with an undulating motion of the body;
although they are in constant activity, their progress through the
water is much slower than that of the Mackerels, the shoals of which
sometimes appear simultaneously with them on our coasts. Young
specimens are frequently met in the open ocean; when very young
their jaws are not prolonged, and during growth the lower jaw is
much in advance of the upper, so that these young fishes resemble a
Hemirhamphus. About fifty species are known from tropical and
temperate seas, Belone belone being a common fish on the British
coast. Its bones, like those of all its congeners, are green; and
therefore the fish, although good eating, is disliked by many persons.
Some species attain a length of five feet.
Scombresox.—Both jaws are prolonged into a long slender beak.
A number of detached finlets behind the dorsal and anal fins.
The “Saury” or “Skipper” resemble the Gar-pike, but the teeth in
the jaws are minute; they seem to feed chiefly on soft pelagic
animals. In their habits they are still more pelagic; and the young, in
which the beak is still undeveloped, are met with everywhere in the
open ocean, in the Atlantic as well as in the Pacific. The European
species, Sc. saurus, is not rare on the British coast; four other
species have been described, closely allied to Sc. saurus.
Hemirhamphus.—The lower jaw only is prolonged into a long
slender beak.
In the young both jaws are short; the upper is never prolonged,
the intermaxillaries forming a triangular, more or less convex, plate.
The “Half-beaks” are common between and near the tropics; some
forty species are known, none of which attain to the same length as
the Gar-pike, scarcely ever exceeding a length of two feet. Some of
the tropical species live in fresh water only; they are of small size
and viviparous.
Arrhamphus.—Mouth formed as in Hemirhamphus, except that
the lower jaw is not produced into a beak. Pectoral fins of moderate
length.
One species (A. sclerolepis) from the coast of Queensland (not
New Zealand); it may be regarded as a Hemirhamphus, with
retarded development of the lower jaw.
Exocoetus.—Jaws short, intermaxillaries and maxillaries
separate. Teeth minute, rudimental, and sometimes absent. Body
moderately oblong, covered with rather large scales. Pectorals very
long, an organ of flying.
 Fig. 281.—Flying Fish; Exocoetus callopterus.
Forty-four different kinds of “Flying-fishes” are known from
tropical and sub-tropical seas; some have a very wide range, whilst
others seem to remain within one particular part of the ocean; thus,
the species figured, E. callopterus, has been hitherto found on the
Pacific side of the isthmus of Panama only. Their usual length is
about 10 or 12 inches, but specimens of 18 inches have been
caught. They always live in shoals, and their numbers at certain
times and localities are immense; thus, at Barbadoes many boats
engage in their capture, as they are excellent eating. The pectorals
are in the various species of unequal length; in some they extend to
the anal fin only; in others (and these are the best fliers) to the
caudal. A few have curious, barbel-like appendages at the lower jaw,
which may disappear with age or be persistent throughout life. The
literature on the subject of Flying-fishes is very extensive, and great
diversity of opinion exists among observers as regards the mode and
power of their flight; but the most reliable agree that the fishes do not
leave the water for the purpose of catching insects (!), and that they
are unable to move their fins in the manner of a bat or bird, or to
change voluntarily the direction of their flight, or to fly beyond a very
limited distance. The most recent enquiries are those of K. Möbius
(“Die Bewegungen der Fliegenden Fische durch die Luft,” Leip.
1878, 8vo), the chief results of which may be summed up thus:
Flying-fish are more frequently observed in rough weather and in a
disturbed sea than during calm; they dart out of the water when
pursued by their enemies, or frightened by an approaching vessel,
but frequently also without any apparent cause, as is also observed
in many other fishes; and they rise without regard to the direction of
the wind or waves. The fins are kept quietly distended, without any
motion, except an occasional vibration caused by the air whenever
the surface of the wing is parallel with the current of the wind. Their
flight is rapid, but gradually decreasing in velocity, greatly exceeding
that of a ship going 10 miles an hour, and a distance of 500 feet.
Generally, it is longer when the fishes fly against than with or at an
angle to the wind. Any vertical or horizontal deviation from a straight
line is not caused at the will of the fish, but by currents of the air;
thus they retain a horizontally straight course when flying with or
against the wind, but are carried towards the right or left whenever
the direction of the wind is at an angle with that of their flight.
However, it sometimes happens that the fish during its flight
immerses its caudal fin in the water, and by a stroke of its tail turns
towards the right or left. In a calm the line of their flight is always also
vertically straight, or rather parabolic, like the course of a projectile,
but it may become undulated in a rough sea, when they are flying
against the course of the waves; they then frequently overtop each
wave, being carried over it by the pressure of the disturbed air.
Flying-fishes often fall on board of vessels, but this never happens
during a calm, or from the lee side, but during a breeze only, and
from the weather side. In daytime they avoid a ship, flying away from
it; but during the night, when they are unable to see, they frequently
fly against the weather-board, where they are caught by the current
of air, and carried upwards to a height of 20 feet above the surface of
the water, while, under ordinary circumstances, they keep close to it.
All these observations point clearly to the fact that any deflection
from a straight course is due to external circumstances, and not to
voluntary action on the part of the fish.

Tenth Family—Esocidæ.
Body covered with scales; barbels none. Margin of the upper jaw
formed by the intermaxillaries mesially, and by the maxillaries
laterally. Adipose fin none; the dorsal fin belongs to the caudal
portion of the vertebral column. Stomach without blind sac; pyloric
appendages none. Pseudobranchiæ glandular, hidden; air-bladder
simple; gill-opening very wide.
This family includes one genus only, Esox, the “Pikes,”
inhabitants of the fresh waters of the temperate parts of Europe,
Asia, and America. The European species, E. lucius, inhabits all
three continents, but the North American waters harbour five, or
perhaps more, other species, of which the “Muskellunge,” or
“Maskinonge” (E. estor) of the Great Lakes attains to the same large
size as the common Pike. The other species are generally called
“Pickerell” in the United States.

Fig. 282.—The Pike. (Esox lucius.)

Fossil Pike, belonging to the existing genus, have been found in
the freshwater-chalk of Oeningen, and in the diluvial marl of Silesia.
Remains of the common Pike occur in abundance in quaternary
deposits.

Eleventh Family—Galaxiidæ.
Body naked, barbels none. Margin of the upper jaw chiefly
formed by the intermaxillaries, which are short, and continued by a
thick lip, behind which are the maxillaries. Belly rounded; adipose fin
none; dorsal opposite to anal. Pyloric appendages in small number.
Air-bladder large, simple; pseudobranchiæ none. The ova fall into
the cavity of the abdomen before exclusion.
Small freshwater fishes of the southern hemisphere, belonging to
two genera, Galaxias and Neochanna. Of the former genus five
species are found in New Zealand, where this type is most
developed, three in New South Wales, two in Tasmania, and four in
the southern extremity of South America. Their native name in New
Zealand is “Kokopu,” and they were dignified with the name of
“Trout” by the settlers before the introduction of true Salmonidæ.
They rarely exceed a length of eight inches. Neochanna is a
degraded form of Galaxias, from which it differs by the absence of
ventral fins. This fish has hitherto been found only in burrows, which
it excavates in clay or consolidated mud, at a distance from water.

Fig. 283.—Galaxias truttaceus, from Tasmania.

Twelfth Family—Mormyridæ.
Body and tail scaly; head scaleless; barbels none. The margin of
the upper jaw is formed in the middle by the intermaxillaries, which
coalesce into a single bone, and laterally by the maxillaries. Sub-
and inter-operculum present, the latter very small. On each side of
the single parietal bone a cavity leading into the interior of the skull,
and covered with a thin bony lamella. All the fins are well developed,
in Mormyrus; or caudal, anal, and ventral fins are absent, in
Gymnarchus. No adipose fin. Pseudobranchiæ none; gill-openings
reduced to a short slit. Air-bladder simple. Two coeca pylorica behind
the stomach.
This family is characteristic of the freshwater fauna of tropical
Africa. Of Mormyrus (including Hyperopisus and Mormyrops), fifty-
one species are known, of which eleven occur in the Nile. Some
attain a length of three or four feet, others remain small. Their flesh
is said to have an excellent flavour. The species figured (and
probably other allied species) was an object of veneration to the
ancient Egyptians, and, therefore, frequently occurs in their
emblematic inscriptions. They abstained from eating it because it
was one of three different kinds of fishes accused of having
devoured a member of the body of Osiris, which, therefore, Isis was
unable to recover when she collected the rest of the scattered
members of her husband.

Fig. 284.—Mormyrus oxyrhynchus.

The Mormyri possess a singular organ on each side of the tail,
without electric functions, but evidently representing a transitional
condition from muscular substance to an electric organ. It is an
oblong capsule divided into numerous compartments by vertical
transverse septa, and containing a gelatinous substance. The
Mormyri differ much with regard to the extent of the dorsal and anal
fins, the former sometimes occupying the greater portion of the
length of the back, sometimes being much shorter and limited to the