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This article focuses on South African teenage girls' engagement with pornography. Using a decolonial approach and drawing upon new feminist materialism, this study focuses on the ways in which bodies, gender and sexuality configure to produce and constrain girls' capacities for sexual expression. The paper makes three claims. First, the article turns away from a one-sided representation of girls as only possible to know through the lens of sexual suffering while challenging childhood sexual innocence. Second, the online pornographic field is situated in a gendered and racialised system of organisation whereby the perfect body is naturalised as an esteemed object of desire. Third, the desire for the perfect, slim, blemish-free, hairless body through self-surveillance constricts capacities in line with normative standards of female beauty. A decolonial porn assemblage is harnessed to illustrate the contradictions produced as girls both desire and object to idealised bodies that are naturalised through heterosexual and racialised hierarchies. The paper concludes by considering the implications of approaching girls' engagement with pornography in relation to the expansion and limitation of their capacities and the body as an intense site of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose:The purpose of this study is to assess and describe the meanings given to “gender” in scientific publications that evaluate multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary or multimodal rehabilitation for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Method:A systematic literature search for papers evaluating multimodal rehabilitation was conducted. The PubMed and EBSCO databases were searched from 1995 to 2015. Two or three researchers independently read each paper, performed a quality assessment and coded meanings of gender using qualitative content analysis. Results:Twenty-seven papers were included in the review. Gender was used very differently in the MMR studies investigated but primarily it referred to factual differences between men and women. Only one paper provided a definition of the concept of gender and how it had been used in that study. In the content analysis, the meaning of gender formed three categories: “Gender as a factual difference”, “The man is the ideal” and “Gender as a result of social role expectations”. Conclusions:The meaning of the concept of gender in multimodal rehabilitation is undefined and needs to be developed further. The way the concept is used should be defined in the design and evaluation of multimodal rehabilitation in future studies.Implications for rehabilitationHealthcare professionals should reflect on gender relations in encounters with patients, selection of patients into rehabilitation programs and design of programs.In rehabilitation for chronic pain the patients’ social circumstances and cultural context should be given the same consideration as biological sex and pain symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Child marriage is a problem that has continued to attract global attention. The media have been identified as critical to the fight against the scourge as it discusses the capacity to raise awareness of the issue as well as trigger action in solving the problem. The report of the alleged abduction of a minor, Ese Oruru by one Yunusa Dahiru for marriage jolted the nation and sparked public outcry for her release. This study explored newspaper framing of the incident. Drawing from qualitative frame analysis, it examined how Punch and Daily Trust newspapers framed the alleged abduction saga. The study found that there was contrastive framing of the incident with Punch newspaper portraying the issue as abduction while Daily Trust newspaper depicted it as elopement. The influence of socio-cultural leanings of these papers on the contrastive framing is discussed. The implication of the divergent framing of the saga on the fight against child marriage is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the associations between gender, collaboration and research methods in distance education research. Following a bibliometric approach, collaboration is operationalised through co-author relationships. The study is based on a review of 695 papers published in five prominent distance education journals between 2000 and 2008. It reveals a significant trend towards collaborative research in distance education. There are no significant gender differences regarding the number of co-authors of collaborative papers. However, female researchers significantly choose different research topics than their male colleagues. Women are over-represented in research areas such as learner characteristics, learner support or interaction, and communication in learning communities, while men are more concerned with topics stereotypically associated with them: technology and management. There is a significant propensity for female researchers to apply qualitative methods or to triangulate qualitative and quantitative methods. Research methods also affect collaboration. On average, research teams on quantitative projects are significantly bigger than those who produce articles that are qualitative in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Balancing higher education, study, family life and a professional role is a complex task for many women students. Family support, work commitments and feelings of guilt can impact on how mothers carve out time and space for family life and their studies. This paper draws on qualitative research with women doctoral students to examine their use of time and space. Following a narrative line of inquiry with methods of mind mapping and focused interviews, family capital was used as a theoretical lens to analyse the role the family plays in supporting access to time and space. Findings reveal factors that may act as a barrier to a woman's success and highlight certain strategies that mothers use to find time and space to study. This paper highlights the important role of economic, social, cultural and emotional capital in the family and how access to capital influences study patterns, especially in terms of 'headspace'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various activities are increasingly characterised as 'addictions', including within the law, and raise important questions. Do 'addicts' have agency? Do addictions shape social problems such as family and sexual violence? And how do those involved in legal systems perceive addictions? This paper explores these questions. Drawing on qualitative interviews with lawyers and decision makers (N = 48), it explores addiction in law. Lawyers and decision makers see themselves as playing important roles in making addiction and 'addicts'. Addiction is an effect principally of legal strategy, and other forces. Legal processes bring differing conceptions of agency and responsibility into being, problematising understandings of agency as an 'effect' of addiction, or as pre-existing legal processes. There are also important variations in approach regarding different addictions. Alcohol or other drug addiction is seen as 'genuine', and a major factor in family violence, while sex addiction lacks credibility. I explore some implications of these approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, women with disabilities experience heightened and unique forms of violence compared to men with disabilities and women without disabilities. Yet formalised guidelines for their inclusion in gender-based violence (GBV) research is lacking. This paper draws on ethical guidelines for researching violence against women, and studies on the ethicality of including people with disabilities in research, to advocate for women with disabilities' inclusion and safety in GBV research. Reflecting on lessons from a qualitative study on violence against women living with disabilities in South Africa, the paper considers what could be of value for GBV researchers and ethics review committees in low-middle income countries (LMICs). It aims to stimulate debate around the integration of reasonable accommodation, accessibility, and equal participation of women with disabilities in planning and conducting ethical GBV research. The paper recommends that considerations are practically applied and tested in other LMICs, and thereafter critiqued in consultation with a range of stakeholders and women with disabilities, to enhance best practice and form a basis for developing guidelines for undertaking ethical and inclusive GBV research in LMICs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decades of collective and cumulative work by practitioners, activists and researchers have made violence prevention an important part of international development agendas. However, violence prevention and response work addressing women and children has historically been siloed. Those working at the intersection of violence against women (VaW) and violence against children (VaC) have wrestled with the age–gender divide. Addressing the historical and political influences that underpin this divide will likely enhance progress towards more integrated strategies. This paper examines the origins and development of this polarisation and potential strategies for a more coordinated and collaborative agenda. This paper draws on the insights gained from eleven (11) semi-structured interviews conducted with key violence prevention actors in VaW and VaC from across the globe, alongside relevant published literature. Informants were purposively sampled on the basis of their expertise in the field. Findings reveal key differences and tensions between the two fields, including in collection and use of research and evidence, core conceptual frameworks, and the development, funding and implementation of policy and practice. Potential opportunities for future synergies between the two fields are highlighted, particularly through a focus on the adolescent girl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community mobilisation is recognised as an important strategy to shift inequitable gender norms and ensure an enabling environment to prevent gender-based violence (GBV). Yet there is a need to better understand the factors that facilitate effective community activism in particular contexts. Although fundamental to the success of mobilisation programmes, there is also limited appreciation of the experiences and agency of engaged community activists. This paper draws on qualitative evaluations from two community mobilisation GBV prevention programmes: the Gender Violence in the Amazon of Peru (GAP) Project and the Indashyikirwa programme in Rwanda. In Peru, participatory data was collected, in addition to baseline and endline interviews with 8 activists. In Rwanda, baseline and endline interviews and observations were conducted with 12 activists, and interviews were conducted with 8 staff members. The data was thematically analysed, and a comparative case study approach was applied to both data sets. The comparative study identified similar programmatic aspects that could hinder or enable activist's engagement and development, and how these are embedded within contextual social and structural factors. We discuss these insights in reference to the current emphasis in public health on individualistic programming, with insufficient attention to how wider environments influence violence prevention programming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Feminism is a theoretical position that allows researchers to explore, identify and potentially address issues that negatively impact on women, including on their health and health care. It has been used for many years in health care professions such as nursing. Method: In this paper, we argue that feminist research could underpin innovation in our professional practice as speech-language pathologists. We present research from within and outside of speech pathology that supports this position, and describe how feminism as an epistemology can guide qualitative research and discuss how other health care professions have used this framework to ask questions across broad areas. Conclusion: A feminist lens enables critique of ourselves and our profession to help us to understand how being female-dominated interacts with being portrayed, understood or conceptualised as feminine, and the consequences of this for professional practice. Feminism could also support us to better understand and support our clients, who may experience their disability, health and lives in ways that vary because of gendered experiences, expectations, or limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and asexual (LGBTQA+) Australians are vulnerable to religion-based attempts to change or suppress their sexuality and/or gender identity, including conversion ideology messaging in school-based sex education. Conversion bans are currently being debated across the country. This paper reports on a critical survivor-driven study which retrospectively explored Australian LGBTQA+ youth exposure to conversion practices both within and outside of education settings. It privileges the perspectives of self-titled 'survivors' of conversion ideology and practices through the use of a reference group and constructivist grounded theory. Qualitative data were collected 20 from Australian LGBTQA+ conversion ideology and/or practice survivors aged 18 years and over, using focus groups and 35 individual interviews between 2016 and 2020. In conversion-promoting religious contexts including education institutions and groups, messages concerning sexuality and gender changed as individuals grew older and were drawn into more/enclosed settings in which core conversion messages of LGBTQA+ 'brokenness' were prevalent. While individuals progressed through the conversion experience in different ways, their experience was characterised by the absence of any form of affirming LGBTQA+ education – enabling conversion itself to become their LGBTQA+ (mis)information source. School policy addressing conversion, alongside enhanced provision of affirmative age-appropriate gender and sexuality education, may mediate this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to expose those socio-structural contexts revealing the social injustice and human rights violations that sub-Saharan women face every day when forced into sex work by unemployment or sickness. Results of a qualitative study highlighting some key structural determinants of sex work and HIV infection among FSWs will be presented and examined through the lens of the WHO conceptual framework for action on the social determinants of health. The results showed that most FSWs had lacked the necessary financial support at some point in their lives. Also, both the socioeconomic and political context failed to provide proper support to prevent involvement in sex work and the consequent risks of HIV. The cultural and societal values placed on the health and well-being of FSWs in Benin appear to depend on the degree to which sexual violence and adultery are perceived as a collective social concern. This portrait of FSWs calls for both long-term interventions through a structural determinant approach to HIV prevention, targeting all the women who could face such a financial situation well before their entry into sex work, while maintaining short and medium-term interventions on the intermediary determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we draw upon a qualitative study to investigate how black teenage girls interact with digital spaces to provide both capacities to express and constrain sexuality. Following a new feminist materialist approach, we demonstrate girls' experiences of sexuality as embedded within a complex entanglement of matter (both human and more-than-human) that produce capacities, mediating what girls can do, feel or be on social media. Specifically, we conceptualize girls' experiences within a 'techno-sexual' assemblage of bodies, things, ideas, social media applications, videos and pictures to illustrate how ideals of heterosexuality are connected to an affective flow of matter that creates vibrancy, permitting capacities and constraints. Firstly, we show how girls' entanglement with celebrity and media culture, sexy selfies, and videos through digital affordances unlocked agentive capacities for the experience of heterosexual desire. Secondly, we illuminate how the assemblage generated restrictive capacities for girls who did not ascribe to heteronormative and racialized ideals of beauty through objectification and online sexual harassment. We argue that a recognition of this online micro-political space remains a vital part of gender transformative interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to gain a deeper understanding of gendered practices in academia by further exploring the embodiment of gender; we do so by comparing these practices between the experiences of female and male respondents concerning gender stereotypes and the individual embodiment thereof in academics within research universities in the Netherlands. Our analysis includes interviews with 26 female and male associate professors – thirteen pairs matched at the department and discipline levels – which enabled us to compare academic experiences of each gender. A significant proportion of the interviewed academics perceived the Dutch academic context as a gendered and embodied professional setting and implied women are not only considered less eligible for promotion because of their gender; notably, some male respondents were blind to these stereotypes. Several of the reported stereotypes refer to the appearance of the female body and the behaviour of women and provided clarification of different career progressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper calls for a critical reframing of masculinity as an intersectional construct in the HIV epidemic and in public health. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with a sample of 56 Black men who have sex with men and women in the San Francisco Bay Area. Men described their sexual identities and practices via complex narratives of masculinity that drew on subordinated and resourceful adaptations to the structural effects of racism, economic marginalisation and homophobia. By focusing on men whose experience of masculinity operates outside fixed identity categories, the paper draws attention to the intersectionality that is, by necessity, constitutive of men's lived experiences. Findings suggest the value of an integrative framework for understanding Black masculinities as processes and practices simultaneously informed by structural inequalities (racism, economic marginalisation and/or homophobia, in particular) and cultural meanings of gender. By utilising an intersectional approach, public health and sociology can better understand the concurrent resilience and vulnerability of masculinities, while building an interdisciplinary understanding of the symbolic role of Black masculinities in the USA, as well as a means by which to promote health and well-being in and through these gendered contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous literature reports that low male partner support is a barrier to women's adherence and retention in HIV care programs. This qualitative study explored the relationships between partners to understand what is meant by male partner support in adherence of HIV-positive women in four healthcare facilities in Southern Malawi. We conducted 8 semi-structured focus group discussions (FGDs) with 73 participants (40 men and 33 women) and 10 in-depth interviews (IDIs) between August 2018 to December 2019. Participants were HIV-positive patients, healthcare workers (HCWs), expert patients (EPs), and couples attending the clinic. All data were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using a gender-responsive grounded theory approach. This study confirms previous literature, which suggests male partner support is expressed by providing access to transport to the clinic and accompaniment to appointments. However, we found that men can also control access to resources and decision-making. Support is more complex than previous literature reported and, in some cases, gender norms significantly limit women's capacity to engage in care independently of male support since women need male partner permission to access the resources to attend clinics. This paper suggests that restrictive male-partner gender norms limit women's power to engage in care. Most importantly, the gender analysis reveals that what previous literature describes as male partner support can sometimes hide male partner control in permitting access to resources to attend health facilities. For this reason, policies enhancing male support should consider the gender power relationship between partners to avoid reinforcing gender inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sexual consent has increasingly become a central component of Relationships and Sex Education. This paper draws upon findings from qualitative research conducted with teenagers in England, which explored their perspectives on consent within their contemporary youth sexual cultures, including in digital (sexting) contexts. The findings suggest that young people's definitions of consent often did not correspond to the socially- and contextually contingent realities of negotiating and establishing consensual sex(ting). While young people's contemporary sexual cultures may look somewhat different, longstanding gender norms and sexual scripts shaped their attitudes towards consent. The implications of the findings for RSE are discussed, including the need for more collaborative dialogue and exchange between educators and learners that engages with the situated realities of contemporary youth sexual culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on qualitative research with adolescent youth of color, this paper imagines the power and potential of informal youth-driven spaces in schools as sites of emotional safety and rebellion. Calling upon Hochshild's (1979) conceptualization of the social regulation of emotions, we examine the racialized and gendered feeling rules that govern the social worlds of adolescents of color, particularly within educational institutions. Additionally, we theorize how the presence of informal youth-driven spaces inside schools, but outside of the traditional classroom or club structure, provide a place where young people can safely express their emotions, experience emotional understanding from their peers, and freely critique the institutional and systemic injustices they experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a framework to examine the kinds of careers that rural disadvantaged youth would like to know about in a career guidance intervention as also related findings from two different rural disadvantaged contexts in India. Differences across gender, age group, region, and participation/non-participation in youth programmes are also explored. The results validate the importance of comprehensive career needs assessment and provide specific directions for designing and adapting career guidance interventions for rural disadvantaged youth. Implications for research and practice are discussed in general as well as for the specific contexts included in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Telling personal stories of violence has been central to recent advocacy efforts to prevent violence against women around the world. In this paper, we explore the use of personal storytelling as a form of activism to prevent femicide in Turkey. This study is part of a broader storytelling initiative called SHAER (Storytelling for Health: Acknowledgement, Expression and Recovery) to alleviate the psychological and emotional suffering of women who have experienced gender-based violence in high-prevalence settings. Objectives: We conceptually explore personal stories of violence as a form of both distributed agency and activism. This conceptual framework is used to answer the following research question in the Turkish context: How do women use their personal stories of interpersonal violence for their own benefit (support) and that of others (activism)? Methods: Our study is based on 20 in-depth semi-structured interviews with women who have experienced violence and were purposefully recruited by the 'We Will End Femicide' Platform in Istanbul. Interviews were conducted between March and August 2019. We used inductive and deductive thematic analysis to identify instances of personal storytelling at three levels: intrapersonal, relational and collective. Results: Our results show how the use of personal storytelling can provide a means of healing from experiences of violence. However, this process is not linear and is often influenced by the surrounding context including: the listener of the story, their reaction, and what social networks the woman has to support her. In supportive social contexts, personal storytelling can be an effective support for activism against violence: personal stories can provide opportunities for individuals to shape broader discourses about violence against women and the right of women to share their stories. Conclusions: Telling one's personal story of violence can both support women's agency and contribute to the collective struggle against violence against women more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:This article aims to provide insights into men’s accounts of infertility in the context of their intimate partnerships. Background:Although we are beginning to understand that men experience the emotions of infertility acutely, little is known about how such emotions impact on men’s intimate partner relationships. Evidence suggests that infertility can impact intimate partner relationships (both positively and negatively), but there is a paucity of research around how men talk about such relationship impacts, and how they share their stories with other men. Men are often viewed as the silent supporting partner within infertility contexts, with women narrated as taking the burden within the relationship. Methodology:The paper draws on data from a general discussion board on an online men-only forum. Inductive thematic analysis was utilised to identify key themes across the men’s online posts. Results:Men’s posts demonstrate that infertility challenges relationships, and that men use the forum examined to offer each other advice on coping with infertility in their relationships. Men highlighted a sense of having less agency than their female partners in relation to infertility and that they were less able to access support for themselves as a result. Conclusion:We argue that infertility can be a challenging and complex time within intimate partner relationships and that men construct this situation with reference to gendered norms and constraints within their online accounts. Consideration of both parties in couples experiencing infertility is important for supporting relationships during any diagnosis and treatment processes for infertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

VACTERL Association is a medical diagnosis that represents a broad range of characteristics affecting the following body systems: vertebrae; anal; cardiovascular; trachea; esophageal; renal and radial; and limb. Auditory, growth, sex, and reproductive characteristics are often present as well. Thus far, VACTERL has only been examined within the medical system, and, within that framework, it has become identified as an anomaly and ‘disability,’ leaving the embodied experiential realities of individuals who live with it unexplored. This paper reports on a qualitative study with eight self-identified women with VACTERL Association. This paper provides an introduction to the experiences of these women and provides an exploration of the elements and processes of identity negotiation, with particular focus on the intersection between gender and ability. As well, the impact of a medical label as it affects identity formation is examined. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores the intersection of gender and class concerning welfare clients with medically unexplained symptoms. The study is conducted in Denmark using qualitative interviews with welfare officers and clients. The paper's focus is on how issues of gender and class intersect in the negotiation of illness among welfare officers and clients. The particular client group in question consists of individuals that are defined by their lack of a bio-medical diagnosis. Their 'lack' of identity accentuates how gender and class become central in the categorisation practices, constructing the ill person as either bio-medically sick or as a person who may be suffering but only from diffuse psychological problems. The paper shows that it is predominantly poorly educated women without a bio-medical diagnosis that welfare officers describe as suffering from psychological problems despite the fact that the women themselves focus on physical ailments in their illness stories. Men and better-educated women are described by the welfare officers as tired and exhausted or truly stressed after a long working life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bangladeshi diaspora in East London exists in a rapidly changing social geography. Drawing on fieldwork conducted with Bangladeshi mothers in East London over a period of 18 months (2003-2004), this paper explores the different ways in which becoming a mother is conceptualised, and examines the cultural claims that mothers make through their narratives of motherhood. The research focuses on health and motherhood because they are important points where personal experience, social institutions and notions of 'culture' all intersect. Through examination of the different sources of information these women used to build their narratives, debates around ethnicity and class are brought into sharper focus, as are the potential challenges in providing services to mothers that successfully deal with both with diversity and social inequality. In investigating the complexity and possible contradictions within personal narrative, this paper also highlights some of the practical challenges involved in providing services for diverse populations in a manner that recognises difference at both a community and an individual level. Finally, by utilising biographical research more fully, this paper argues that it is possible to investigate critically the role of ethnicity in the provision of services more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last 20 years, adolescents' heavy drinking in many western countries has declined. Simultaneously, researchers have identified an increased interest in health among young people. The paper compares adolescents' gendered discourses and practices on intoxication and health in order to clarify the role gender plays in their current low alcohol consumption. The data consists of semi-structured interviews about alcohol, health and leisure activities among adolescents aged between 15 and 19 (N = 56). In the coding of the material, we have singled out two approaches to health and well-being among the participants, which we name the 'social' and 'physical health' approaches. By drawing on Butler's work on 'gender as performativity', Connell's understanding of gendered identities as 'multidimensional' and Bourdieu's concept of 'habitus', we analyse how the participants align with, negotiate or oppose the hegemonic masculinities and femininities in these approaches, and examine the everyday practices that the two approaches are embedded in. Our analysis shows that the participants' gendered performances in the 'physical health' approach are more variable, reflective and critical than those in the 'social health' approach. Moreover, the physical health approach modifies young people's risk-taking practices of heavy drinking and helps to reinforce practices that favour young people's low alcohol consumption. We propose that the move from doing gender in relation to risk-taking by heavy drinking towards doing it more through health- and physical appearance-related activities may generate processes that narrow the gender gap between masculinities and femininities and encourage new kinds of interaction and gender blending between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foster care research and social work practice tend to focus on how women look after children living in foster care. This focus has limited our understanding of what it is that men do within foster caring families and they are automatically assigned secondary or breadwinning roles. Families who foster involve some form of renegotiation of roles to care for children they foster. While foster caring arrangements are internationally diverse, foster carers often work with social workers. It would therefore seem important for social workers to understand how foster carers negotiate their parenting roles. This paper reports findings from seven main caring foster-fathers who took part in a wider study involving twentythree foster-fathers. The evidence provided by these foster-fathers demonstrate they are highly motivated to care for children and, alongside delivering traditional parenting roles, they negotiate new, non-traditional parenting roles as foster-fathers. These new roles, taken on by foster-fathers, often challenge stereotyped masculinity while they also concurrently enact parenting norms. This study applied Judith Butler's work on performing gender to foster caring families to theorise on the process whereby foster-fathers negotiate diverse masculinities and continue to reproduce gendered relations in foster caring families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large body of evidence suggests that within the juvenile justice system, girls fare worse than boys on several measures, including number of arrests, length of stay, and mental health outcomes while in the system. Scholarship suggests a myriad of gendered social factors that precipitate girls' involvement in the juvenile justice system; however, less is known about how stakeholders within the juvenile justice system perceive the girls they work with or interpret their experiences. The current paper examines the attributions that juvenile justice system workers make about the reasons girls offend. In line with previous research, we identify both internal (personality, character traits) and external (situational) explanations for girls' involvement in the juvenile justice system that correspond to gender stereotypes and expectations of girls. Furthermore, we identify structural attributions as a special subset of external attributions that take into account how larger social, economic, and historical factors shape girls' situations and experiences and contribute to their criminal behavior. These structural attributions have implications for practitioners' views of justice and the role of the juvenile justice system in the lives of girls. We conclude with a set of implications for practice and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The literature shows how gender mandates contribute to differences in exposure and vulnerability to certain health risk factors. This paper presents the results of a study developed in the south of Spain, where research aimed at understanding men from a gender perspective is still limited. Objective: The aim of this paper is to explore the lay perceptions and meanings ascribed to the idea of masculinity, identifying ways in which gender displays are related to health. Design: The study is based on a mixed-methods data collection strategy typical of qualitative research. We performed a qualitative content analysis focused on manifest and latent content. Results: Our analysis showed that the relationship between masculinity and health was mainly defined with regard to behavioural explanations with an evident performative meaning. With regard to issues such as driving, the use of recreational drugs, aggressive behaviour, sexuality, and body image, important connections were established between manhood acts and health outcomes. Different ways of understanding and performing the male identity also emerged from the results. The findings revealed the implications of these aspects in the processes of change in the identity codes of men and women. Conclusions: The study provides insights into how the category 'man' is highly dependent on collective practices and performative acts. Consideration of how males perform manhood acts might be required in guidance on the development of programmes and policies aimed at addressing gender inequalities in health in a particular local context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HIV is a significant social, political and economic problem in Zimbabwe. However, few researchers have explored peoples’ experiences of living with HIV in that country. Drawing on 60 qualitative interviews conducted with Zimbabweans living in Harare in 2010, this paper focuses on how people from four different urban communities cope with HIV-related social stigma. To provide theoretical context to this issue, we utilised the ideas of Erving Goffman for exploring the individual experience of stigma and the concept of structural violence to understand stigma as a social phenomenon. This paper considers the relevance and role of stigma in the context of a country undergoing significant social, political and economic crisis. We investigated the strategies adopted by the Zimbabwean state and the influence of traditional and religious interpretations to appreciate the historical roots of HIV-related stigma. We took into account the ways in which the articulation of HIV with gender has caused women to experience stigma differently than men, and more intensely, and how grassroots activism and biomedical technologies have transformed the experience of stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Public debate on the consumption of alcohol by adolescents has grown over recent years. It has intensified in Spain after epidemiological reports of a significant increase in alcohol consumption among adolescent girls. We designed this study to gain insights into this new trend from a gender perspective. The objective was to understand the meanings and motivations attributed to alcohol consumption by female adolescents. A qualitative study was undertaken with 96 female and male adolescents aged between 14 and 17 years, using focus groups and in-depth individual interviews. The analysis presented in this paper is based largely on the female sample. We subjected their narratives to summative content analysis. The results show how the attributed meanings of disinhibition and having a good time may be contributing to the generation of new expectations and demands in relation to codes of femininity and breaks with the gender system. We discuss the results in terms of the implications for preventive interventions with a gender perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the adolescent female perspective on women's participation as leaders in society. Using a qualitative approach, the study outlined in this paper investigated this phenomenon through the use of student focus groups. Participants were students in their final year of schooling from secondary girls' schools located in Australia, with one school located in South Africa. This study found that students identified the patriarchal nature of leadership positions, women's possible lack of desire to hold a leadership position, and the impact of gender stereotypes as concerns. However, students were mostly positive with regard to their ability to overcome these issues in the future. It is recommended through the findings of this study that girls are given voice through their formal schooling in order to discuss issues of gender and leadership, and as a consequence, an awareness of issues concerning gender inequity may be created. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The literature shows how gender mandates contribute to differences in exposure and vulnerability to certain health risk factors. This paper presents the results of a study developed in the south of Spain, where research aimed at understanding men from a gender perspective is still limited. Objective: The aim of this paper is to explore the lay perceptions and meanings ascribed to the idea of masculinity, identifying ways in which gender displays are related to health. Design: The study is based on a mixed-methods data collection strategy typical of qualitative research. We performed a qualitative content analysis focused on manifest and latent content. Results: Our analysis showed that the relationship between masculinity and health was mainly defined with regard to behavioural explanations with an evident performative meaning. With regard to issues such as driving, the use of recreational drugs, aggressive behaviour, sexuality, and body image, important connections were established between manhood acts and health outcomes. Different ways of understanding and performing the male identity also emerged from the results. The findings revealed the implications of these aspects in the processes of change in the identity codes of men and women. Conclusions: The study provides insights into how the category 'man' is highly dependent on collective practices and performative acts. Consideration of how males perform manhood acts might be required in guidance on the development of programmes and policies aimed at addressing gender inequalities in health in a particular local context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects upon the methodology and methods of a qualitative study that examined the lived educational experiences of four African-American women labeled with disabilities and from low socioeconomic backgrounds. This paper offers discussion as to the usefulness of alternate methods of representing data, specifically poetry and narrative, as a means of circumventing dilemmas associated with intersectional research and promoting more equitable research processes for individuals that have been historically marginalized by traditional research methods. How qualitative inquiry may enhance and bring about new insights into the lived experiences of individuals located at marginalized and intersecting discourses is explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is part of a larger study that investigates the cause of increased singlehood among women in Japan. On the basis of findings from qualitative research this paper argues that Japanese corporate practices and culture have severely limited women's opportunities for romantic encounters. In-depth, open-ended interviews were conducted in the Tokyo area with forty never-married and married women aged 25 to 46. The data were analyzed inductively. The findings reveal that long work hours for men, and in some cases for women, impeded opportunities for women to form romantic relationships in several ways: (i) men were seldom available; (ii) many married women expressed discontent with marriage due to the absence of husbands; many single women held ambivalent views toward marriage after having heard negative stories from married friends; (iii) some single women found it unappealing that corporate men could talk about nothing but work; and (iv) single women with careers regularly worked overtime and their devotion to work was regarded as 'unfeminine'. Additionally, workplaces are often segregated by gender, further limiting opportunities for single women to meet potential partners. This paper sheds critical light on the culture and practices of Japanese corporations, arguing that such culture and practices create serious consequences for individuals' lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Culture, Health & Sexuality is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Drawing on the traditions of critical race theory, the paper is presented as a chronicle - a narrative - featuring two invented characters with different histories and expertise. Together they explore the strengths and weaknesses of quantitative approaches to race equality in education. In societies that are structured in racial domination, such as the USA and the UK, quantitative approaches often encode particular assumptions about the nature of social processes and the generation of educational inequality that reflect a generally superficial understanding of racism. Statistical methods can obscure the material reality of racism and the more that statisticians manipulate their data, the more it is likely that majoritarian assumptions will be introduced as part of the fabric of the calculations themselves and the conclusions that are drawn. Focusing on the case of recent national data on the secondary education of minoritized children in England, the paper highlights statisticians' ability to define what counts as a 'real' inequality without public challenge or scrutiny; reflects on the dangers of statistical 'explanations' in the realm of public debate and policy outcomes; and questions quantitative assumptions about the intersectional relationships between different forms of oppression, including gender, class and race. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social & Cultural Geography is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper has been structured in three areas. In the first one, the author shows the relevance that words and conversations among individuals have on social research, both terms being very important to the well-known sociologist and writer Franco Ferrarotti. In the second part, the author explains the necessary qualitative methodology to be used when analysing a main topic. In the third one, the author analyses the reality of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from the gender perspective to detect if they are or not a reflection of that Spanish reality regarding sex discrimination. Finally, this paper states the challenge the Spanish society needs to face to outweigh sex inequality without excluding the NGOs or any other form of association. This paper calls for the involvement of society, which along with the state and market, has an important task to accomplish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on employment narratives recounted in life history interviews with women workers in Nanjing, China. Drawing on feminist perspectives on gender and global economic changes, it examines the micro-processes that underpinned China's economic restructuring and, through a gender-based analysis, shows how working women lost out in this process. After an overview of the institutional context in which China's economic restructuring occurred, this paper examines women's experiences in the workplace and identifies factors that contributed to their disadvantageous position in the work unit and that increased their vulnerability in the changing labor market. The evidence of gender inequality, assumptions about women's labor capacities, and the gendered consequences of economic restructuring suggest that older, less educated women workers, mostly from the Cultural Revolution generation, are unlikely to gain any benefit from whatever advantages accrue from China's economic integration into the global economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical realism (CR) is a useful philosophical framework for social science; however, little guidance is available on which precise methods – including methods of data collection, coding, and analysis – are best suited to applied CR research. This article provides a concrete example of applied qualitative research using CR as a philosophical and methodological framework. Drawing examples from a study of Canadian farm women’s experiences with agricultural policy, I suggest a flexible deductive process of coding and data analysis that is consistent with CR ontology and epistemology. The paper follows the typical stages of qualitative research while demonstrating the application of methods informed by CR at each stage. Important considerations CR ontology and epistemology raise, such as the use of existing theory and critical engagement with participants’ knowledge and experience, are discussed throughout. Ultimately, I identify two key causal mechanisms shaping the lives of farm women and suggest a future direction for feminist political economy theory to more effectively analyze women’s work in agricultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In relation to clinical trials, it is far more usual to speak of the community (singular, static) than of publics (multiple, emergent). Rarely defined, the community is commonly taken to be the existing people in a given area, which the trial will engage, mobilise or sensitise to facilitate successful recruitment and retention. Communities are assumed to pre-exist the research, to be timeless, and to be a whole (sometimes consisting of different parts, referred to as stakeholder groups). In this paper, we suggest a conceptual shift from ‘trial community’ to ‘experimental publics’. Using an empirical case study of an HIV prevention trial in Zambia, we draw out the following key points: firstly, publics do not pre-exist research activities but are enacted in concert with them. Secondly, publics are dynamic and transient. And thirdly, experimental publics are situated at the intersection of various forms of inclusion and exclusion, both locally and globally. Our findings emphasise the need to create long-term forms of participation in science, which transcend both the instrumental goals and the individual timelines of specific trials. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mining projects affect the health of surrounding communities by inducing environmental, economic, social and cultural changes in different population groups. Health impact assessment (HIA) offers an opportunity to manage these impacts. This paper aims to explore gender differences of impacts on the wider determinants of health as described by communities impacted by industrial gold mining and consider the implications for impact assessment. We conducted 24 gender-separated, participatory focus group discussions at three study sites in northwestern Tanzania. Participants reported on a broad range of impacts on the wider determinants of health. Based on a thematic analysis, we identified gendered health impacts on men and women; in addition, children and adolescent boys and girls emerged as differently affected subpopulation groups. Located in the theory of the 'triple role of women', we suggest that different gender needs should be addressed more explicitly by HIA. Increased use of mitigation measures that recognise and address impacts on women's engendered roles, and their health, through addressing women's strategic gender needs, would strengthen HIA as a tool towards sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present a qualitative secondary analysis of two empirical studies that focused on the leadership practices of female practitioners at the secondary level engaging in discourse and practices to disrupt educational inequities. The guiding research question is, “How do school leaders engage in courageous conversations to: (1) transform beliefs and practices concerning educational inequities, and; (2) engender equity to enhance learning for all students?” Building on Singleton and Linton’s (2006) framework on courageous conversations, this study examines how some school leaders break the silence and interrogate educational inequities to improve schools. Findings explicate how conversations amongst practitioners can be the impetus for transformative actions, which in turn, lead to the educational achievement of all students. The voices of participants are magnified and lessons from the field are forwarded. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper discusses changing views about gender and drinking in Sweden c. 1830-1922. The author posits that the emergence of bourgeois morals in the 19th century were associated with a decline in the tolerance for female alcohol consumption, and also shows how the values, norms, and activities of the temperance movement interconnected with religion and notions of purity. Yet, in spite of hardening attitudes against women's drinking, alcohol remained integral in Swedish upper-class women's lives. The results are based on a qualitative study of Swedish women's diaries. The study was financed by the Swedish Research Council, 2009-2012. Study limitations are also noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates young women's alcohol consumption in the United Kingdom within a widespread culture of intoxication in relation to recent debates about postfeminism and contemporary femininity. Young women are faced with an 'impossible dilemma,' arising from the contradiction between a hedonistic discourse of alcohol consumption and postfeminist discourse around attaining and maintaining the 'right' form of hypersexual heterosexual femininity. Drawing on a recent interview study with 24 young white working-class and middle-class women in the South-West of England, we explore how young women inhabit the dilemmas of contemporary femininity in youth drinking cultures, striving to achieve the 'right' form of hypersexual femininity and an 'optimum' level of drunkenness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While much research has documented unsatisfactory sexual and reproductive health (SRH) awareness among young people in South Africa, understanding of gender differences in access to and evaluation of SRH information is limited. This paper concerned itself with men and women's informal sources and content of SRH, and gendered divergences around accessibility, evaluation, and impact of such information. Fifty sexual history narrative interviews and twenty-five narrative interviews with women were conducted with participants purposively sampled from a range of ages, cultural and racial backgrounds, and in urban and rural sites across five provinces in South Africa. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. While young women were more likely to learn about SRH information from family members, they also reported greater regulation concerning their sexuality. This could enhance stigma surrounding women's sexuality and hinder open communication. Men predominantly learned about sex through pornography and peers, which was reported to encourage sexual prowess to the neglect of practising safer sex. Lack of adequate SRH instruction for young people as revealed through the narratives had significant and often negative implications for men and women's early safer sex behaviours. In response to these insights, recommendations are offered to strengthen informal sources of SRH awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using peer-reviewed articles, this activity informs students of experiences female-identifying patients encounter in health-care contexts. The activity draws the students' attention to gendered and racial prejudices and how those could impact patients' relationship with practitioners. Courses: Suitable for undergraduate courses, such as Gender and Women's Studies, Interpersonal Communication, Medical Sociology, Communication Research Methods, Health Communication, Qualitative Research Methods, Race and Ethnicity, and Sociology of Gender. Objectives: After completing this unit activity, students will learn how to (1) analyze the impact of race and gender on patients, (2) advocate for female-identifying patients, (3) help create more welcoming and equitable interactions in health care, and (4) advocate for themselves within the health-care context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cisgender women represent over half of people living with HIV globally. However, current research efforts toward a cure for HIV focus predominantly on cisgender men. The under-representation of women in HIV cure clinical studies is particularly problematic given data suggesting that sex-dependent phenotypes limit scientific discovery. We aimed to generate considerations to increase the meaningful involvement of women in HIV cure-related research. We conducted in-depth interviews with biomedical researchers and community members to better understand factors that could increase the meaningful involvement of women in HIV cure clinical trials. Participants were affiliated with academia, industry, community advisory boards, and community-based organizations, and were identified using listings from the AIDS Clinical Trials Group and the Martin Delaney Collaboratories. We used conventional content analysis to analyze the qualitative data. We recruited 27 participants, of whom 11 were biomedical researchers and 16 were community members. Participants included 25 cisgender women, 1 transgender woman, and 1 cisgender man. Key considerations emerged, including the need to ensure that HIV cure studies reflect HIV epidemiologic trends and having accurate representation by sex and gender in HIV cure research. To increase the meaningful involvement of women, recommendations included instituting intentional enrollment goals, frequent and mandatory reporting on enrollment, and incentives for sites to enroll women. Additional themes included the need for agency and self-determination, attention to lived experiences, trauma and healing, and adequate support for women (e.g. logistical, psychosocial, mental, emotional, and physical). Participants noted that women would be willing to participate in HIV cure trials, related procedures (e.g. biopsies), and analytical treatment interruptions. They also expressed a desired for women-centered and holistic clinical trial designs that account for intersectionality. Our empirical inquiry extends recent calls to action to increase diversity of people involved in HIV cure research. Redressing the under-inclusion of women in HIV cure research is an urgent imperative. The entire field must mobilize and reform to achieve this goal. Meaningfully involving women across the gender spectrum in HIV cure research is needed to ensure that interventions are safe, effective, scalable, and acceptable for all people with HIV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]