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The article contributes to a genealogy of the global articulation of reproductive rights principles, as established at the 1994 United Nations (UN) Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo and the UN Women's Conference held in Beijing the following year. It highlights the key role played by an emerging global women's health movement in the 1970s–80s, in shaping UN debates on family planning, women's rights in procreative choice and women's roles in socio‐economic development. The article focuses on the International Campaign for Abortion, Sterilisation and Contraception (est. London 1978) and the Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights (Amsterdam and Manila 1984; ECOSOC consultative status in 1992). Adopting an intersectional perspective, the paper highlights the local embeddedness of feminist positions, the shortcomings of Western feminism and the ways in which conflicts between women's organisations allowed for an original and evolving concept of reproductive rights to emerge. It is based on UN papers and the archives of the above organisations and family planning movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Females might be more affected by sociocultural barriers to physical activity because of their gender roles. This review was conducted to examine the available evidence on socioculture barriers to attaining recommended levels of physical activity among females. After thorough review, 34 articles were selected. Childcare, household work, cultural beliefs, social isolation, and unsafe neighborhood environment were leading sociocultural barriers preventing females from attaining recommended levels of physical activity. Lack of social support from family, living in extended families, living in rural areas, absence of culturally appropriate facilities, and, in some countries, past experiences of war were the main barriers. Observations of people in the family and in neighborhood performing physical activity were positively associated with physical activity. Females are a disadvantaged group that lacks social support and have poor control over decisions related to their health. Sociocultural factors act as the main barriers to recommended levels of physical activity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article features part of the research results referred to the critical discourse analysis applied to press articles published in El Tiempo and El Espectador newspapers about female sexual dysfunction between August 2014 and December 2015. Results of those articles classified as hegemonic are shown. Main findings: reductionist display of female sexual dysfunction in the mass media; "technologization" of the press discourse; "hybridization of genders" in the semantic structure of the articles; hiding or absence of main topics in the news headlines; "taking advantage of the Viagra brand" with advertising purposes by Addyi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I analyse the historical constructions of menstruation in mid‐twentieth century Britain. I examine the complex intertwining relations between the female human body and the female nonhuman body. My argument is twofold: firstly, I argue that endocrinological experiments on nonhuman animals' reproductive cycles were mobilised towards affirming a binary division of female/male, animal/human. This facilitated the perpetuation of patriarchal ideologies in British biomedical research. Secondly, I argue that as a result of these dualistic conceptualisations, the female nonhuman body intersected with the female human body in scientific discourses. These bodily transmutations in scientific research contributed towards a form of social control over women, strategically rendering them as 'Other' with nonhuman animals. I illustrate this using Carol J Adams' (2015) concept of the absent referent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast and cervical cancers are the commonest cancers diagnosed in women living in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), where opportunities for prevention, early detection, or both, are few. Yet several cost-effective interventions could be used to reduce the burden of these two cancers in resource-limited environments. Population- wide vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV) linked to cervical screening, at least once, for adult women has the potential to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer substantially. Strategies such as visual inspection with acetic acid and testing for oncogenic HPV types could make prevention of cervical cancer programmatically feasible. These two cancers need not be viewed as inevitably fatal, and can be cured, particularly if detected and treated at an early stage. Investing in the health of girls and women is an investment in the development of nations and their futures. Here we explore ways to lessen the divide between LMICs and high-income countries for breast and cervical cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses International Women's Day 2018 in the parliament of India, the vice-president and chairman of Rajya Sabha invited both the houses to honour the commitment and determination of ordinary women in India. Two issues discussed were gender equality and women's safety, to improve the participation of women's in economy. Comments of different party leaders have been included in the article.

Background: Although Bangladesh has achieved tremendous success in health care over the last four decades, it still lagged behind in the areas of maternal and child malnutrition and primary health care (PHC). To increase access to PHC, the Bangladesh government established approximately 18,000 community clinics (CCs). The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of socioeconomic determinants of women aged 12-49 years with the CCs awareness and visitation. Methods: We analyzed secondary data provided by Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey-2011. A two-stage cluster sampling was used to collect the data. A total of 18,222 ever married women aged 12-49 years were identified from selected households and 17,842 were interviewed. The main outcome measures of our study were awareness and visitation of CCs. Bivariate logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratio (OR) and 95 % confidence interval (CI) to examine the associations between the awareness and visiting CCs with socioeconomic determinants. Results: Low prevalence of awareness about CC (18 %) was observed among studied women and only 17 % of them visited CCs. Significant associations (P < 0.05) with CCs awareness and visitation were observed among aged 20-29 years (adjusted OR = 1.18; 95 % CI = 1.03-1.35 and adjusted OR = 1.49; 95 % CI = 1.05-2.11), primary education (adjusted OR = 1.20; 95 % CI = 1.08-1.34 and adjusted OR = 1.37; 95 % CI = 1.05-1.78), and poorest family (adjusted OR = 1.21; 95 % CI = 1.03-1.42 and adjusted OR = 2.36; 95 % CI = 1.56-3.55, respectively), after controlling potential confounders. Conclusions: Awareness and visitation of CCs were found to be positively associated with lower economic conditions, young age, and primary education. Awareness and access to CCs might be increased through community activities that involve health care workers. The government should also lower barriers to PHC access through CCs by providing adequate logistics, such as human resources and equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the menstrual hygiene management challenges facing schoolgirls in low-income-country contexts have gained global attention. We applied Gusfield's sociological analysis of the culture of public problems to better understand how this relatively newly recognized public health challenge rose to the level of global public health awareness and action. We similarly applied the conceptualization by Dorfman et al. of the role of public health messaging in changing corporate practice to explore the conceptual frames and the news frames that are being used to shape the perceptions of menstrual hygiene management as an issue of social justice within the context of public health. Important lessons were revealed for getting other public health problems onto the global-, national-, and local-level agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tensions between second and third wave understandings of the body and embodiment have led to disagreements about whether to situate the body as corporeal and concrete or theoretical, diverse, and complex. Drawing from key tactics of the second wave women's health movement, including cervical viewing, menstrual extraction, genital diversity work, orgasm training, and self-defense classes, I first trace the political framing of the body in second wave feminism, followed by a consideration of third wave pedagogies transmitted through teaching the psychology of women. After analyzing the five most popular textbooks and ten syllabi for the psychology of women, I trace the stories about embodiment that have continued across waves and the stories that have shifted over time. I ultimately argue for a renewed consideration of how to merge the priorities of each wave into a new policy-driven and activist-centered understanding of corporeal embodiment both within and outside of the university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Feminist research and activism have made a distinctive contribution to social studies of health and have also had a significant impact on public health policy. Gender is widely recognised as a key driver in the social determination of health and is a well-established category of analysis in fields such as the sociology of health. As a response to Broom, this article focuses on two ways in which feminist social science has complicated the understandings of gender and health which underlie much health policy and research. The first is the framework of intersectionality, which emphasises the interactions between different aspects of social identity and reveals the limitations of a singular or primary focus on gender in analysing experiences of health and ill-health. The second is the critical analysis of health as a regulatory ideal, prompted by the rise of the ‘new public health’ and its emphasis on individual responsibility for risk reduction. Together these critical insights reveal some of the tensions embedded in feminist goals such as improving women's well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Current research recognizes that the HIV pandemic uniquely impacts women, as they are socially and biologically more vulnerable to the infection. However, present measurement strategies focus on assessing the level of HIV infection among women, rather than inequality in the distribution of HIV cases by gender in less-developed nations. In this study, we compare the cross-national determinants of the level of female HIV prevalence to the determinants of the percentage of HIV cases among women. Ordinary least squares ( OLS) regressions suggest that the predictors of female HIV differ across the two measures, where aspects of female empowerment and female access to health resources are more influential in explaining the distribution of HIV cases across gender than the level of female HIV prevalence. These results suggest that analyzing the distribution of HIV cases by gender is a more appropriate way to measure gender disparities in the HIV pandemic. Therefore, future research should be cautious to consider the implications of investigating levels of HIV versus the distribution of HIV cases across populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The determinants that underlie a healthy or unhealthy pregnancy are complex and not well understood. We assess the relationship between the built environment and maternal psychosocial status using directly observed residential neighborhood characteristics (housing damage, property disorder, tenure status, vacancy, security measures, violent crime, and nuisances) and a wide range of psychosocial attributes (interpersonal support evaluation list, self-efficacy, John Henryism active coping, negative partner support, Perceived Stress Scale, perceived racism, Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression) on a pregnant cohort of women living in the urban core of Durham, NC, USA. We found some associations between built environment characteristic and psychosocial health varied by exposure categorization approach, while others (residence in environments with more rental property is associated with higher reported active coping and negative partner support) were consistent across exposure categorizations. This study outlines specific neighborhood characteristics that are modifiable risk markers and therefore important targets for increased research and public health intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is an ethnographic exploration of the way that young women use food to reconfigure their social relationships within a context of cultural change. Based on 16 months of fieldwork in southern Italy, I describe the symbolic power of food within this social context to underscore how women continually negotiate their social relations and identities through their daily food practices. I argue that the refusal of food enables individuals to disconnect from others and alter social relations, while sustained practices of refusing to eat (i.e., anorexia) become vehicles of self-transformation and meaning-making. Through an in-depth analysis of women's disordered eating experiences, I show how disordered eating practices are rooted in tensions and conflicts embedded in social relations rather than in ideals of beauty or phobias about fat. The findings advocate considering disordered eating behaviors from a perspective that emphasizes an individual's social position and relatedness to others. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this theoretical paper, we argue that menstruation is a source of social stigma for women. The word stigma refers to any stain or mark that renders the individual's body or character defective. This stigma is transmitted through powerful socialization agents in popular culture such as advertisements and educational materials. We demonstrate, in our review of the psychological literature concerning attitudes and experiences of predominantly American girls and women, that the stigmatized status of menstruation has important consequences for their health, sexuality, and well-being. We argue that the stigma of menstruation both reflects and contributes to women's lower social status and conclude with suggestions for ways to resist the stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This discussion piece reflects on menstrual cycle research since the founding of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research in the context of contemporary research presented in this special issue of Sex Roles. Although women researchers in the 19th century began documenting that normal menstruation is neither disabling nor dangerous, taboos, concealment and avoidance of menstruation persist. Feminist researchers have worked to find ways to support women's health and wellbeing within a sociocultural milieu still reflecting largely negative views of menstrual cycle phenomena. The present collection of current menstrual cycle research offers useful contextual approaches to understanding why menstruation remains in the shadows, and how to resist negative characterizations, as well as encourage curiosity and body awareness. Alternatives to mainstream corporate and medical views of menstrual phenomena are discussed. Fruitful theoretical and methodological directions for research are identified to support advocacy, educational, and therapeutic interventions for menstrual health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article bridges the literatures on the economic consequences of divorce for women with that on marital transitions and health by focusing on women’s health insurance. Using a monthly calendar of marital status and health insurance coverage from 1,442 women in the Survey of Income and Program Participation, we examine how women’s health insurance changes after divorce. Our estimates suggest that roughly 115,000 American women lose private health insurance annually in the months following divorce and that roughly 65,000 of these women become uninsured. The loss of insurance coverage we observe is not just a short-term disruption. Women’s rates of insurance coverage remain depressed for more than two years after divorce. Insurance loss may compound the economic losses women experience after divorce and contribute to as well as compound previously documented health declines following divorce. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Occupational mobility is highly valued in American society, but is it consequential to women’s health? Previous studies have yielded inconsistent results, but most measured occupational mobility by identifying transitions across occupational categories. Drawing from cumulative inequality theory, this study (1) compares objective and subjective measures of work trajectories and (2) examines the contributions of each to self-rated health. With 36 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Mature Women (1967-2003), growth curve models are used to estimate the effects of middle-aged work trajectories on health among 2,503 U.S. women. Work trajectories as measured by the Duncan Socioeconomic Index predict health, but not after adjustment for perceived work trajectories and status characteristics. The findings reveal that subjective measures of occupational mobility provide important information for assessing health consequences of work transitions and that downward occupational mobility in middle age is deleterious to women’s health in later life. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines how feminist politics are made to ‘stick’ to appropriated technologies in the context of a contemporary feminist women’s health clinic in the US. Feminist clinics such as ‘FemHealth’, founded as part of 1970s women’s health movements, put medical tools and knowledge into lay women’s hands, making the appropriation of medical technologies a centerpiece of their political project. In the process, they rejected the authority of physicians and gave new politicized meanings to the tools they claimed as their own. As lay healthworkers at FemHealth continued the project of appropriation, they also continued to negotiate their dependence on physicians to perform tasks that required a medical license. Drawing on participant observation and interviews with healthworkers, I argue that struggles over the role and authority of physicians in this clinic play out through debates over two similar and competing tools used in the abortion procedure: the single-tooth tenaculum and the cervical stabilizer. Many healthworkers invested in the stabilizer as ‘inherently feminist’ in hopes that it would maintain its politics even when passed into physicians’ hands. While appropriation depends on the ability of users to alter a technology’s meanings, actors may feel invested in the new politics taken on by appropriated tools and work towards making those meanings persist, or ‘stick’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current emphasis on women's health and gender egalitarianism in Taiwan means that urban women are joining sport and health clubs in pursuit of self-development. The aim in this study was to develop and analyze the motivations, constraints, and methods of lifestyle adjustment in regard to urban women's use of sport and health clubs in Taiwan. Participants were 373 women from 5 cities in Taiwan and tests were conducted using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that the motivations, constraints, and lifestyle adjustments with regard to leisure sports positively affected women's participation in sports clubs. Specifically, although participation constrains acted as crucial antecedent variables influencing motivations to participate, they did not have any influence on lifestyle adjustments. Based on the results of this study, suggestions are made about management and policies of sport and health clubs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field work information shows that traditional midwives have acted directly to enforce women's rights. They shared a common vision, in which women have equal rights in all sorts of areas, not only in their private space, but in marriage relations, as well. That information affirms the importance that collaboration in housework and child care should be shared by equal parts between wife and husband. Decisions about sexuality and family planning must be taken in an open and consensual fashion. Midwives have sufficient authority in the community to influence people private life, and repeatedly they confront male authority in domestic issues, without being intimidated by the resulting conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the mediating effect of utilization propensity (UP) on gender differences in healthcare utilization (HCU), a representative sample of the German general population ( N = 2,510) was assessed with questionnaires. Gender differences in HCU, UP, and the mediating effect of UP were investigated using regression analyses. UP was significantly associated with HCU. The explanatory power of gender for UP, and of UP for HCU was prevailingly weak. UP had a mediating effect on gender differences in HCU, but the effect was very small. This is partly attributable to common problems in the prediction of behavior by attitudes and the operationalization of UP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study conducted to analyze the several health policies in India. It informs that the study examines the negotiation processes within and different groups and also discusses the women status in health policies with mechanism for empowering them. According to the results, policy research should implement the localized version of requirements.

Current public debate on “female genital mutilation” often renders the impression that it is possible to draw an unambiguous line between acceptable and condemnable practices of female genital cutting. In this paper, the cultural histories of cutting of the female genitalia are presented and discussed. Available historical accounts of female circumcision practices in Africa reflect Western, mainly European, ideas and ideologies at certain points in time. In a sense, these descriptions have more to say about “us” than “them”. Further, the historical descriptions of female circumcision in Africa are intertwined with time-bound notions and cutting practices in Western countries in different epochs. Through retrospective reflections, it is possible to see how current commonsensical standpoints, among them the hegemony of a “zero tolerance” attitude regarding cutting of the female genitalia among Africans, are a product of a recently introduced perspective, and also how this generally accepted perspective may render it more difficult to present multi-faceted ethnographic accounts of lived experiences today. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on the issues related to ethics, data quality and management focused on art-based activity to elicit data focused on seldom heard group in South Asia. It mentions that the people from the minority ethnic communities are not included in the health research. It mentions that conceptual exclusion is related to cultural differences in the research.

The article offers information on a study conducted on socioeconomic conditions and number of pain sites (NPS) in women, as they are deprived of socioeconomic conditions. It states that the final sample comprised of 319 gynecological cancer survivors and 1276 women from general population. It mentions that more women reporting 3 NPS had high body mass index (BMI), and women reporting 4-7 NPS were more often single, had lower education and had lower income.

ABSTRACT I examine the transmission of ideas, from both scientific research and state-sponsored misinformation, with respect to AIDS in southern Africa. On the basis of research among women in AIDS support groups, advocates with South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign, and global health activists, I interpret the role of grassroots social movements in relation to organic intellectuals and their abilities to address the commons from the local to the global. My research has focused specifically on how women's interests have registered in the scientific arena, in global AIDS funding, and at the local political level. As I analyze these issues, I comment more broadly on the role of public intellectuals in relation to social movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There exist remarkably large differences in body weights and obesity prevalence between black and white women in the United States; and crucially, these differences are a significant contributor to black-white inequalities in health. In this article, we investigate the most proximal explanations for the weight gap: namely, differences in diet and exercise. More specifically, we decompose black-white differences in body mass index and waist-to-height ratio into components reflecting black-white differences in energy intake and energy expenditure. The analysis indicates that overconsumption is much more important than a lack of exercise in explaining the weight gap, which suggests that diet interventions will have to play a fundamental role if the weight gap between black and white women is to decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Perceived vaccine effectiveness is linked to vaccine-uptake. This study aims to determine if hearing about the HPV vaccine from family/friends (social source) or discussing the vaccine with family/friends (social discussion) is associated with perceived HPV vaccine effectiveness among female ethnic-minority, medical-decision-makers of vaccine-eligible girls. Methods: Data come from a cross-sectional HPV vaccine telephone-survey administered by the Los Angeles County Office of Women's Health (OWH) hotline operators between January-November 2009. Among survey participants who reported awareness of the HPV vaccine (n=294), two logistic regression models of perceived HPV vaccine effectiveness were conducted; a source of information model with social source as the main predictor, and a discussion model with social discussion as the main predictor. These were adjusted for medical source and medical discussion, and covariates affecting interaction with the health care system. Results: Women who heard about the HPV vaccine from a social source were more likely to perceive the vaccine as effective compared to those who did not report a social source of information (adjusted OR 4.78, 95% CI 1.76 - 12.98). Medical source of information was also associated with perceived vaccine effectiveness (adjusted OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.06-4.05). Those who reported social discussion, but not those who discussed the vaccine with a medical provider, had increased odds of perceived vaccine effectiveness (adjusted OR 1.98, 95% Cl 1.04-3.78). Conclusions: Social source of information and social discussion were associated with perceived HPV vaccine effectiveness; this highlights the value of social communication among low-income minority women, and the need for vaccine-messaging interventions that utilize a social network approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prospective cohort study examined whether Ecuadorian women with early pregnancy nausea and vomiting (NVP) are more likely to develop food aversions and cravings, and if so, whether the specific foods identified as aversive or craved are the same as those predicted by the popular maternal-embryo protection hypothesis (MEPH). Consistent with MEPH predictions, women with NVP were more likely to report increased odor sensitivity and aversions for some predicted 'toxic' foods and more likely to crave fruits. However, other hypothesis predictions were not supported. The relationship of food aversions and cravings with NVP appears more complicated than that explained by the MEPH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is little research on women's experience of abortion, despite its prevalence and considerable public debate. Women have abortions in a discursive environment that can pit the foetus against the woman and identifies motherhood as a woman's destiny. What does it mean to have an abortion in these circumstances? The research reported in this paper investigated abortion from the woman's perspective. Interviews were conducted with 60 women who had contacted a public pregnancy advisory service in Victoria, Australia. Discourse analysis revealed the women's primary discourse around "contemplating or having an abortion" to be "Abortion is a difficult solution to a problem". This discourse encompassed being a responsible woman who took other's needs into account, including the potential child's. Most women found having an abortion difficult for reasons concerning the foetus, herself, and others. Women's accounts exemplified the complex personal and social contexts within which reproductive events, such as those in which the potential for abortion may play a part, must be understood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Method To test the hypothesis that psychosocial symptomatology differs by country of origin and acculturation among Hispanic women, we examined 419 women, aged 42-52 years at baseline, enrolled in the New Jersey site of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN). Women were categorized into six groups: Central (CA, n = 29) or South American (SA, n = 106), Puerto Rican (PR, n = 56), Dominican (D, n = 42), Cuban (Cu, n = 44) and non-Hispanic Caucasian (NHC, n = 142). Acculturation, depressive symptoms, hostility/cynicism, mistreatment/discrimination, sleep quality, social support, and perceived stress were assessed at baseline. Physical functioning, trait anxiety and anger were assessed at the fourth annual follow-up. Comparisons between Hispanic and non-Hispanic Caucasians used χ2, t test or non-parametric alternatives; ANOVA or Kruskal-Wallis testing examined differences among the five Hispanic sub-groups. Multivariable regression models used PR women as the reference group. Results Hispanic women were overall less educated, less acculturated ( p < 0.001 for both) and reported more depressive symptoms, cynicism, perceived stress, and less mistreatment/discrimination than NHCs. Along with D women, PR women reported worse sleep than Cu women ( p < 0.01) and more trait anxiety than SA and Cu women ( p < 0.01). Yet, PR women were most acculturated (21.4% highly acculturated vs. CA (0.0%), D (4.8%), SA (4.8%) and Cu (2.3%) women; p < 0.001). In regression models, PR women reported depressive symptoms more frequently than D, Cu, or SA women, and reported trait anxiety more frequently than Cu or SA women. Greater acculturation was associated with more favorable psychosocial status, but PR ethnicity was negatively related to psychosocial status. Conclusion Psychosocial symptomatology among Hispanic women differs by country of origin and the relatively adverse profile of Puerto Rican women is not explained by acculturation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to assess the hypercholesterolemia (HC) and some sociodemographic factors related on it in adults people in the north of Iran during three months in 2006.Methods This is a crossectional-descriptive study based on the population and 1995 cases(997 men and 998 women) between 25-65 years old,were selected by cluster and stratify sampling in the north of Iran.We interviewed all of the cases and determined anthropometric and biochemical indexes .Plasma cholesterol and glucose measured in the morning after an 12-hour fast.Cholesterol and fasting blood glucose (FBS) were determined using laboratory kits (enzymatic methods),and spectrophotometery technique.The SPSS.15 software analyzed data.HC was defined by a serum cholesterol level over 200 mg/dl.Results Mean of the age was 39.2 year old and mean ±`SD of serum cholesterol in men and women was 196.7 ±39.11 and 209.4 ±42.9,respectively.Prevalence of HC was significantly differenced between men(44.7%) and women(57%),(P <0.05) and the mean of serum cholesterol significantly differenced among age groups,residential area,physical activity level,BMI level and central obesity,separately (P <0.001). Weekly consumption of fresh fruits,vegetables and fish were 4.84,3.65 and 2 times,respectively.Vegetable and fish were consumed in HC group more than non-HC group.Conclusion HC is one of the most health problems in the north of Iran and it is more in women than men.Life style and food behavior are the more common risk factors for it.Thereby modify of social behavior and diet can be decline incidence of cardiovascular disease . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the marketing by Cellucotton Products Co. of Kotex brand sanitary napkins to women in magazine advertising from 1921-1926. Advertising by Kotex presented in the periodical "Good Housekeeping" is considered and created by the Lord & Thomas Advertising agency is considered. The advertising is said to equate consumerism with the modernity represented by a product such as Kotex, and to have attempted to create a demand among women for the product by defining menstruation as a problem for women carrying a real social stigma.

Few charitable organizations have achieved the status of global recognition enjoyed by UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, which embodies the international effort to provide for needy children the world over. Created because of its synchronicity with the United Nations' stated purpose-to maintain peace in the world-UNICEF launched its operations in 1946. Its founding, early operations and eventual restructuring reveal a great deal about concurrent political and economic events, but also provide keen insight into international ideas about who qualified for full citizenship in the post-war world. The consequences of UNICEF's policies, procedures and practices posed challenges to notions of citizenship for both women and children. It challenged citizenship not by questioning sex-specific gender roles, but by judiciously adhering to the United Nations' promise to create equality for men and women alike. UNICEF found itself in the unique position to be able to globalize definitions of what constituted full citizenship in any nation, due to its rapid expansion throughout the world. Through its programs, especially those related to health care, it not only challenged these roles in the West, but began over several decades to complicate the definition of citizenship as it became a forceful presence in Asia and Africa throughout the 1970s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides a summary on the health condition of women in Torres Strait Islander community in Australia. It provides statistical information about specific areas of indigenous health and offers literature review on the history of wome's health condition. It offers information on the community's population, mortality, birth and pregnancy, hospitalization and health risk factors.

The article explores the new paradigm of health that prioritizes the prevention of illness and the promotion of health and its relationship with femininity. It discusses the evolution of the Women's Health Movement and the concept of feminization explained by sociologists. The article concludes that the new paradigm establishes health-consciousness as an ideal vehicle for the performance of femininity.

This article provides information on the movements into and out of paid work by mid-life women. This is a group whose representation in the paid workforce is growing as population ageing proceeds and as educational qualifications expand. It is also a group that will be critical to any labour supply response to the economic challenges posed by population ageing. However, current understandings of the needs and circumstances of mid-life women in paid work are limited. To help address this knowledge gap we use data from the first five waves of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey (2001-2005) to identify the causal influences of health, care and other factors on the ability of mid-life women to remain in and re-enter paid work. The results show that poor health and/or substantial care roles have a negative impact on the employment chances of this group. However, importantly, there is asymmetry in these health and care effects, in that improvements in health and/or reductions in care roles do not increase the chances of returning to paid work. This finding indicates that many mid-life women who experience poor health and/or undertake large care roles face substantial long-term negative consequences for their employment chances and, thus, their retirement and pre-retirement incomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been estimated that 20-30% of all women will be sexually and/or physically abused at some time in their lives, and women who come for treatment of substance abuse report an even higher incidence of sexual and/or physical abuse. Using case vignettes, this article presents an integrated model of group treatment for substance-abusing women who have also experienced some form of interpersonal trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the prevalence of sexual and substance use behaviors among a group of young women who have sex with women (WSW) aged 16 to 24. A convenience sample of 137 young WSW participants completed a confidential survey that included demographics, substance use, and sexual risk behaviors. Descriptive analyses were used to interpret the data. Comparisons were made between rates of risk behaviors in this sample and non-sexual minority youth in a national dataset. The mean age of participants was 19.6 (SD = 2.3) and 59% were from communities of color. Participants reported a history of risky behaviors including anal intercourse with men (26%), monthly binge drinking (22%), pregnancy (20%), and tobacco use (54%). These findings highlight the need for health promotion interventions aimed at reducing risky health behaviors in this highly vulnerable and underserved sub-population of young women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Weight status perception is an important factor in nutritional behavior. The aim of this study was to determine Islamshahr women's self-perception of their obesity status and perception of their husbands' opinions regarding women's obesity status, as compared with the actual central obesity status of the women. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional (descriptive-analytical) study carried out in 2003 on a cluster sample of Islamshahr women aged 20-65 years (n = 704). Data were collected by interviews and weight, height, and waist and hip circumferences were measured. A waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) greater than 0.849 was considered as central obesity. Based on the body mass index [BMI=weight/height2(kg/m2)], underweight, normal, overweight, and obese were defined as a BMI <18.5, 18.5-24.9 , 25-29.9, and ≥30, respectively. Results: About 35% of the women with central obesity considered themselves underweight or normal. Married women's perception of husbands' opinions regarding their obesity status showed about 45% misclassification. Women with central obesity who thought their husbands would assess them as underweight or normal were more likely [OR=18.6, 95% CI: 9.1 to 38.2] to underestimate their obesity status as well. Conclusion: Misperception of obesity status is common among Islamshahr women. Considering the role of central obesity in metabolic diseases, menstrual disorders and increasing serum androgens, conducting nutrition education programs is essential for prevention and control of central obesity in the region studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a research about the important gender aspects of access to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing, care and treatment in the Middle East and North Africa region. It cites the stigma linked with HIV and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in the MENA region. It discusses the obstacles to meeting women's health needs in the region. It also highlights the need for multisectoral response, availability of HIV treatment, and further research on HIV prevention.

Levels of childlessness reported by the same cohorts of women and surveyed by the British General Household Survey increase with age by over 50 per cent between their early 40s and their late 50s for women born in the early 1940s. Yet the reported mean fertility of parous women remains constant with increasing age. Similar results hold within sub-groups such as different educational and marital status groups. Possible reasons for these findings include declining comparability of the base population over time due to differential migration, mortality, or institutionalization, changes in survey design and content, and differential non-response by childless and parous women. The evidence shows that these are not adequate explanations. The most likely reason is deliberate under-reporting of childbearing among older cohorts of women. The findings have implications for the interpretation of retrospective data in surveys and for the availability of informal care for older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]