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Objective: To describe the women's perception in a stable relationship, about the female vulnerability to acquire Aids. Method: Descriptive, qualitative research accomplished in 2008 in a University Campus in Rio de Janeiro. Interviews were carried out with 15 women, who declare themselves as in a stable relationship, of different educational levels, ethnic origins and religions. The study complied with the requirements of the National Research Ethics Committee. For data analysis was used the content analysis. Results: The interviewees considerated women in stable relationship vulnerable when trusting the partner, for not using preservative and for the lack of information. Taboos and shame were showed as obstacles for prevention. Conclusion: It was evidenced that the interviewees recognize the other women as vulnerable since they exclude themselves from vulnerable groups. One of the challenges for AIDS prevention is to revert this low perception related to risk of these women.

Objective: To understand the inclusion of the companion support in the obstetric ward and to identify the actions developed to support the pregnant mother during labor, delivery and immediate postpartum. Method: An exploratorydescriptive study with a qualitative approach. Data was collected from September to November 2011, through unstructured participant observation with 17 companions, which remained in the obstetric center of a maternity school. Data analysis followed the procedures of apprehension, synthesis, theorization and transfer. Results: Five categories emerged: Aspects related to the inclusion of the companion in the obstetric ward; actions of support of the partner during labor; the role of the partner at delivery; first contact of the partner with of the newborn; and the accompanying interaction with the binomial in the immediate postpartum period. Conclusion: The companion develops actions of support in all clinical delivery periods; however, it has greater autonomy and feels more confident in the pre-partum.

Objective: understand the influence of breastfeeding on the experience of sexuality from the perspective of a group of recent mothers. Method: descriptive and qualitative research conducted with women who were experiencing puerperium. Data were collected through semi-structured individual interviews and submitted to thematic content analysis of the operative proposal. Results: the experience of sexuality during breastfeeding was marked by discomfort related to changes in sexual relationship, bodily changes, restricted time of the women with the partner, besides some negative behaviors of the partner. In other cases, breastfeeding did not bring significant changes in the experience of sexuality, contributing to the friendship and partnership between the couple. Conclusions: It is necessary to broaden the perspectives on the theme of sexuality during breastfeeding, perceiving it as a basic human need that needs to be discussed among women, couples and healthcare professionals.

Objective: to reflect the perception of postpartum women about the partner participation to the mother and son care. Method: a descriptive study, qualitative in nature, carried out with 20 postpartum women living in the city of Campo Mourão-PR. Data were collected between February-March 2014, through recorded and subsequently subjected to content analysis thematic semi-structured interviews. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee in Research under protocol 727 405/2014. Results: two categories emerged: Feelings touched upon with the arrival of a new member in the family; Hands promoting livelihood also care. Conclusion: the effective participation of the partner was evidenced by the women. However, the baby care are still incipient and participation is more effective in the postpartum care and domestic tasks.

When proposing to surpass the political alternative family-individual, the author underlines that the variety of contemporary families becomes comprehensible only if analyzed in the context of big structural, political and cultural evolutions that affects the entire society. With contemporary conjugality turning more and more contractual, privatized but also more unstable, the link of filiations goes the other way around, turning more unconditional. Hence, the author introduces three important aspects concerning the family institution nowadays. The first is connected to the increasing number of mixed couples. The second aspect is linked to an ever increasing life expectancy. Lastly, the third concerns the diversification of filiations by means of adoption, family reorganizations, and medically assisted conception.

"In this paper I wish to examine how changes have occurred in the processes of gendered identity construction amongst Mexican youths through examining local experiences of global, and specifically Mexican, modernities. Based on f eldwork carried out amongst youths in the city of San Cristobal de las Casas, in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas, my analysis addresses how youths plan for the future in the context of economic and political marginalisation, and how this affects the way in which they pursue different forms of romantic relationships. I also address changes that have occurred in youths’ understandings, perceptions and performances of their gendered identities in the context of a highly developed local tourist industry, the advent of mass media, and new online social worlds. My study shows how gendered identity construction amongst youths here becomes context-dependent, and how it encompasses individual agency whilst at the same time being negotiated through wider structural and social limitations. I also wish to demonstrate how changing gendered identities amongst youths are constantly constructed and renegotiated by individuals seeking to accommodate notions of modernity with perceptions of the traditional, and how these individuals balance contesting notions of gendered identities within themselves. This is, therefore, a study of local and gendered identity change amongst youths in the context of localised modernities and rapid social change." (author's abstract)