Gender Studies

Body and Soul, the infinite dualism of existenz.

A credible fear test is an in-depth interview process given to undocumented people of any age arriving at a U.S. port of entry to determine qualification for asylum-seeking. Credible fear tests as a typical immigration procedure demonstrate not only what structural epistemic violence looks like but also how this violence lives in and through the design of asylum policy. Key terms of credible fear tests such as “significant possibility,” “evidence,” “consistency,” and “credibility” can never be neutral in the context of (...) colonial administrative violence. We argue that these terms function as mechanisms of exclusion and demonstrate that the capacity to be violent (i.e. to be an instrument of violence) is built into these tests, ready to be deployed when an administration wants to stop certain people from certain places from entering without regard to their own ongoing occupation of Indigenous lands. Not only are such practices instruments of violence, but the concept of ‘violence’ continues to be organized, defined, and conceived within settler colonial epistemologies so as to exclude these administrative forms of violence deployed against Indigenous peoples and people of color from recognition and nameability. We argue that this is an intentional strategy of colonial power preservation that is functionalized through social processes that remain structurally stable and self-regenerating across historical and political changes. (shrink)

Lars von Trier's works give us allways plenty of exquisite philosophical food for thought, mostly in very dense and hermetic language. 'Melancholia' , a 2011 movie, has been seen by us as a brilliant dramatization of Schopenhauer's and Nietzsche's philosophy, also available on PhilArchives. 'Antichrist', another movies of his from 2009, deploys a similar doom perspective regarding our times, now focusing the perpetual struggle between men and women as a leitomotiv. This brief review, however, does not intend to go beyond (...) an exposition of the mental structures which grounds both so different reactions: the husband's, and the wife's. (shrink)

In recent years, feminist scholarship on emotional labor has proliferated. I identify a related but distinct form of care labor, hermeneutic labor. Hermeneutic labor is the burdensome activity of: understanding and coherently expressing one’s own feelings, desires, intentions, and movitations; discerning those of others; and inventing solutions for relational issues arising from interpersonal tensions. I argue that hermeneutic labor disproportionately falls on women’s shoulders in heteropatriachal societies, especially in intimate relationships between women and men. I also suggest that some of (...) the gendered burdens of emotional labor that feminist scholars point out would better be described as hermeneutic labor. Drawing on feminist philosophy as well as findings from social psychology and sociology, I argue that the exploitation of women’s hermeneutic labor is a pervasive element of what Sandra Bartky calls the ‘micropolitics’ of intimate relationships. The widespread expectation that women are relationship maintenance experts, as well as the prevalence of a gendered demand-withdraw pattern of communication, leads an exploitative situation to appear natural or even desirable, even as it leads to women’s dissatisfaction. This situation may be considered misogynistic in Kate Manne’s sense, where misogyny is a property of social environments rather than a worldview. (shrink)

'Transgender’ is often described either as an identity, or else as the full spectrum of gender nonconformity. In this essay, I suggest that these descriptions do not align with the conceptual labor that we often ask ‘transgender’ to do: directing attention to people who engage in forms of self-directed gender nonconformity that are heavily penalized.

The diversity of multicultural, multi-religious, and multi-ethnic groups and communities within Britain has created cohesion and integration challenges for different community groups and authorities to adapt to the current diverse society. More recently, there has been an increased focus on Muslim segregation in Britain in official reports and reviews. Those documents mentioned the Muslims’ segregation (directly or indirectly) for various reasons, and some recommendations have aimed to improve “community cohesion” in general and Muslims’ “integration” in particular. However, community participation in (...) the design or planning of regeneration and development projects has yet to be focused on, although these documents recommended promoting community cohesion and integration through these projects. Community participation in architecture—in its broader sense—is a crucial aspect that contributes towards fulfilling the tasks of serving communities with different religious and ethnic backgrounds. Muslims’ religious and cultural practices have been problematised in urban spaces and perceived as leading to social and spatial segregation. This paper intends to explore how secular urban spaces are used and perceived by Muslims through their religious and cultural practices. Therefore, the article aspires to inform the community participation in urban projects and demonstrates the role that Muslims’ inclusion in designing urban projects has in promoting cohesion and integration. The Ellesmere Green project in Burngreave, Sheffield, UK, is an empirical example of exploring this locally through semi-structured interviews with community members, leaders, and local authorities’ officials. The findings demonstrate that sacred and secular spaces are interconnected in Muslims’ everyday lives, and the boundaries between them are blurry. The data also show that having the ability to manifest their religious and cultural practices in secular urban spaces does not suggest the desire for segregation, nor does it reduce Muslims’ willingness to have social and spatial interactions with non-Muslims. (shrink)

The diversity of multicultural, multi-religious, and multi-ethnic groups and communities within Britain has created cohesion and integration challenges for different community groups and authorities to adapt to the current diverse society. More recently, there has been an increased focus on Muslim segregation in Britain in official reports and reviews. Those documents mentioned the Muslims’ segregation (directly or indirectly) for various reasons, and some recommendations have aimed to improve “community cohesion” in general and Muslims’ “integration” in particular. However, community participation in (...) the design or planning of regeneration and development projects has yet to be focused on, although these documents recommended promoting community cohesion and integration through these projects. Community participation in architecture—in its broader sense—is a crucial aspect that contributes towards fulfilling the tasks of serving communities with different religious and ethnic backgrounds. Muslims’ religious and cultural practices have been problematised in urban spaces and perceived as leading to social and spatial segregation. This paper intends to explore how secular urban spaces are used and perceived by Muslims through their religious and cultural practices. Therefore, the article aspires to inform the community participation in urban projects and demonstrates the role that Muslims’ inclusion in designing urban projects has in promoting cohesion and integration. The Ellesmere Green project in Burngreave, Sheffield, UK, is an empirical example of exploring this locally through semi-structured interviews with community members, leaders, and local authorities’ officials. The findings demonstrate that sacred and secular spaces are interconnected in Muslims’ everyday lives, and the boundaries between them are blurry. The data also show that having the ability to manifest their religious and cultural practices in secular urban spaces does not suggest the desire for segregation, nor does it reduce Muslims’ willingness to have social and spatial interactions with non-Muslims. (shrink)

What is a woman? The definition of this central concept of feminism has lately become especially controversial and politically charged. “Ameliorative Inquirists” have rolled up their sleeves to reengineer our ordinary concept of womanhood, with a goal of including in the definition all and only those who identify as women, both “cis” and “trans.” This has proven to be a formidable challenge. Every proposal so far has failed to draw the boundaries of womanhood in a way acceptable to the Ameliorative (...) Inquirists, since not all those who identify as women count as women on these proposals, and some who count as women on these proposals don’t identify as women. This is the Trans Inclusion Problem. Is there any solution? Can there be? Recently, Katharine Jenkins, pointing to the work of Mari Mikkola, suggests that the Trans Inclusion Problem can be “deflated” rather than solved. We will investigate this proposal, and show that, unfortunately, Jenkins is mistaken: Mikkola’s project will not help us answer the Trans Inclusion Problem. After that, we’ll look at Robin Dembroff’s suggestion that we “imitate” the linguistic practices of trans inclusive and queer communities, and we will evaluate whether this would help us solve the Trans Inclusion Problem. Unfortunately, this strategy also fails to solve the problem. By the end, we’ll have a better appreciation of the challenges faced by Ameliorative Inquirists in their project of redefining “woman,” and clearer view of why the Trans Inclusion Problem cannot, in fact, be solved. That’s primarily because, no matter what it means to be a woman, it’s one thing to be a woman, and another thing to identify as a woman. (shrink)

Once widely spread in the Dinaric Mountains part of the Balkan Peninsula, swearing to virginity was a social and cultural custom recorded among all groups inhabiting the area. In the absence of a capable adult man in the household, a daughter would take over his social role by ‘becoming’ a man. The standard explanation is that the function of this practice is enabling the continuation of the household’s economic, social, and religious activities. We argue that this explanation fails. A better (...) explanation is that, because the lack of a particular kind of a man (competent and honourable) was perceived as a shame in these societies, the primary reason for swearing to virginity was saving family honour. (shrink)

During the past two decades or so, the emergence and ever-accelerating development of digital media have sparked scholarly interest, debates, and complex challenges across many disciplines in the social sciences and the humanities. Within this diverse scholarship, the research on digitality, gender, sexuality, and embodiment has contributed substantially to many academic fields, such as media studies, sociology, religion, philosophy, and education studies. As a part of the special issue “Gender, Sexuality, and Embodiment in Digital Spheres: Connecting Intersectionality and Digitality,” this (...) roundtable consists of a conversation between five researchers from different (inter)disciplinary locations, all addressing matters of methodology, intersectionality, positionality, and theory in relation to the topics of gender, sexuality, and embodiment in digital spheres. Said roundtable begins with a critical self-positioning of the participants’ (inter)disciplinary and embodied locations using examples from their own research. The conversation then progresses to how these researchers have employed contemporary theories, conceptual vocabularies, methods, and analyses of gender, sexuality, and embodiment in digital spheres to then conclude with some ethico-political notes about collaborations between scholars and (digital) activists. (shrink)

It is quite strange to see Eugenics’s vitality in China, where Confucianism is deep-rooted in the people’s beliefs, influencing their thinking and behaviors.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur sex stycken tillfrågade lärare för grundskolans lägre årskurser F-3 upplever sin undervisning kring läroplanens område sexualitet, samtycke och relationer. Studien utgår från Sandra Hardings genusteori samt Judith Butlers begrepp kring performativitet. Studien är tänkt att synliggöra hur lärare i de lägre årskurserna undervisar kring läroplanens område sexualitet, samtycke och relationer samt att lyfta hur undervisningen balanseras mellan kön och normer. -/- Resultatet av studien visar att det upplevs finnas svårigheter kring framför allt (...) ämnet sexualitet i läroplanens område sexualitet, samtycke och relationer där det framkommer en osäkerhet kring vad undervisningen förväntas innehålla samt den egna lärarens svårighet att veta hur ämnet ska anpassas till grundskolans lägre åldrar. Inte heller sexuella övergrepp och grooming lyfts av fler än två av de sex tillfrågade lärarna, något som inte svarar mot det eventuella behovet av sådan undervisningen med tanke på att forskning visar hur vanligt det är med sexuella övergrepp hos barn. -/- Studiens resultat visar också på att lärarna har ett väletablerat normkritiskt förhållningssätt där de aktivt reflekterar över sina egna normer och språkbruk för att inte förstärka normer i sin undervisning. I och med detta aktiva normkritiska förhållningssätt påvisade studien knappa svårigheter kring balansen mellan kön och normer i undervisningen inom området sexualitet, samtycke och relationer. Normerna kring genus uppfattades av de tillfrågade lärarna skapas utanför skolverksamheten. Eleverna upplevdes av lärarna att vara medvetna om normer hörande till de olika könen, vilket styrks av tidigare forskning där kulturella definitioner av manligt och kvinnligt påverkar barn även i yngre ålder. Resultatet av studien förklaras utifrån Hardings genusteori där lärarnas individuella normer kring genus, som är en produkt av hur de strukturella och symboliska normerna i samhället ser ut, kan ha en inverkan på hur de tolkar innehållet i läroplanens område sexualitet, samtycke och relationer. Det tolkas även utifrån Butlers begrepp om performativitet, att våra handlingar och ord skapar normer, där lärarna riskerar att påverka undervisningen i och med att undervisningen eventuellt kan föra vidare beteenden och normer som är påverkade av den individuella tolkningen av området. (shrink)

Politikwissenschaftler und Sozialphilosoph Karsten Schubert beleuchtet den Zusammenhang von Sexualität und schwuler Politik und fragt, welche Art von Politik in welcher Situation der HIV-Pandemie begünstigt beziehungsweise verhindert wurde. Dazu erläutert er zwei Thesen.

The Yogyakarta Principles for the application of human rights to sexual orientation and gender identity define gender identity as “each person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth, including the personal sense of the body and other expressions of gender, including dress, speech, and mannerisms.” This definition and its acknowledgment within human rights politics is a key step in the fight of trans people for legal protection. Our (...) aim is to analyze this definition both historically and systematically to find out how the Western liberal conception of rights fosters specific trans politics and limits the options for others. Specifically, we claim that political liberalism and the form of subjective rights that it brings about influence concepts of identity and political strategies. While we analyze the limits of the liberal framework, our aim is to think about how it is possible that even within this framework, non-normative bodies and queer identities can be acknowledged and supported through law. (shrink)

Then we talk about gender stereotypes in Steam education we can find in the societal mentality: „Girls don´t find STEAM interesting” „Boys are more capable for STEAM”, „Boys are oriented to achievements, girls to feelings and society”. This paper presents the results of sensitive gender workshops, to provide illustrations of stereotypes as an input for the creation of value-added content with gender awareness and continue sensitizing teachers about gender stereotypes in approach to learning that uses Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts (...) and Mathematics in education. (shrink)

The development discourse has been thrown into a disarray and paradigmatic quagmire by the impasse of neo-liberal transnational social cartographies. There are calls within the development discourse fraternity to deterritorise the concept of development so as to grapple with it sufficiently and effectively. Failure to adhere to this call, various development discourses have been accused of methodological territorialism. This paper uses critical hermeneutics to argue that the trajectory from Trickle Down and Basic Needs Theory to Human Rights, Capability and Functionings (...) approaches to development is fundamentally a paradigm shift from territorial to social cartographies. This paper further argues that despite the significance of social cartographies occasioned by neo-liberal globalisation, territorial cartographies as envisaged by structuralists, post-structuralists, post-developmentalists, post-colonialists and global ethnographers are still vital because of their thorough critique of the power discourse behind structures that disadvantage individuals. The paper contends that in order to realise engendered development, it is pertinent to ultimately look at the individual who is the basic ingredient of a moral society (ethical individualism) as well as the structures and strictures that disempower and vulnerablelise individual moral agents. (shrink)

This study assessed the partial as well as the collaborative impact of age and gender on academic staff preparedness to adopt Internet tools for research sharing in African universities during Covid-19. Although evidence abounds in the literature on gender and age as they affect relatively, scholars’ utilisation of digital tools for research communication, such studies did not examine scholars’ preparedness to adopt from a broad perspective of Africa. This study was conducted based on the argument that the preparedness of scholars (...) may affect their future interest to utilize digital tools for research sharing. A quantitative method, based on the descriptive survey research design, was adopted to provide answers to four prevailing research questions. The examination focused on a populace of 8,591 staff in African universities, nonetheless, information was gathered from 1,977 of them, who deliberately took part from 24 African nations. A validated electronic rating scale, which was mailed/posted to targeted participants, was used as the instrument for data collection. Gender and age significantly affected academic staff preparedness to adopt Internet tools for research sharing partially and interactively in African Universities during Covid-19. Female staff were more prepared than males to adopt internet tools for research sharing during the pandemic. Older lecturers reported a higher rate of preparedness than their younger colleagues to adopt Internet tools for research sharing during Covid-19. In light of these proofs, ramifications and proposals for future exploration are discussed. (shrink)

There is emerging empirical evidence showing that people who identify as gender diverse and/or non-heterosexual report higher rates of risks and harm online. To expand the available evidence, this factsheet presents new insights based on longitudinal data exploring and comparing the extent of four types of unwanted digital communications in the last two to three years. The factsheet looks at the prevalence of being the target and the sender of unwanted, potentially harmful digital communications that included physical threats, seeking to (...) embarrass, stalking, and making a sexual advance. (shrink)

This article analyzes the gendered representation of military service in the German YouTube series Die Rekruten (DR) (The Recruits), a popular web series produced on behalf of the German armed forces (Bundeswehr) for recruitment purposes, which accompanies 12 navy recruits during their basic training. The article is situated within research on masculinity and the military, in particular military recruitment. It supplements current scholarship by studying a previously neglected case that is of particular interest given Germany’s antimilitarist culture, which should make (...) military recruitment and military public relations more difficult. The article asks how military service is represented in DR, what its discursive effects are, and what role (if any) masculinity plays in this process. We find support for recent feminist research on military masculinities (including in military recruitment) that emphasizes ambiguity and contradiction. What distinguishes the construction of military masculinity in DR from, for example, recruitment advertisements in the United States or the United Kingdom is its markedly civil character. This not only broadens the military’s appeal for a more diverse audience but also increases the legitimacy of the military and its activities. It does so by concealing the violence that has for the past two decades also been a very real part of what the Bundeswehr does. (shrink)

Publishing research in respected journals, such as Nature or Science, is a key way for academics to share their findings with the scientific community and beyond.

تنتمي هذه الدراسة إلى حقل أنثروبولوجيا الفن عامةً وأنثروبولوجيا العمل الفني بشكل خاص، ونتوخى من خلالها تقديم قراءة جديدة لإشكالية المرأة وموقعها داخل النسيج السوسيو-ثقافي في المجتمع المغربي؛ والحال أن صفة "الجِدَّة" في الدراسة تتمثل أساسا في الاشتغال على المرأة المغربية لا كموضوع له وجود في الواقع الاجتماعي، إنما سَنَدْرُسُها كموضوع فني وجمالي، تماماً كما تَحْضُرُ في مِخْيَال الفنانين المغاربة والأجانب على السواء. وقد اعتمدنا لأجل ذلك المنهج "البيبليوغرافي التحليلي"، إذ سنقوم باستقراء مختلف الأدبيات الأنثروبولوجية حول موضوع "المرأة في الفنون"، (...) وذلك وفقاً لأدوات تحليلية من قبيل " التفييء " و"التتبع الكرونولوجي" للكتابات. في الختام، ينتهي بحثنا إلى خلاصة مفادها أن مضامين الأعمال الفنية تَعْكِسُ حضورا مزدوجا للهوية الأنثوية المغربية، بين تقليد فني كلاسيكي يُصَوِّرُهَا كشيء جميل يغوي الرجال ويفتنهم، وتيار آخر طليعي يقوده فنانون مناضلون، يحاولون في أعمالهم المعاصرة نقد الهيمنة الذكورية ومظاهر تشييء المرأة، خصوصا عندما يتعلق الأمر بمجال السينما المغربية. (shrink)

This article argues that postwar Seventeen magazine, a publication deeply invested in enforcing heteronormativity and conventional models of girlhood and womanhood, was in fact a more complex and multivocal serial text whose editors actively sought out, cultivated, and published girls’ creative and intellectual work. Seventeen's teen-authored “Curl Up and Read” book review columns, published from 1958 through 1969, are examples of girls’ creative intellectual labor, introducing Seventeen's readers to fiction and nonfiction which ranged beyond the emerging “young-adult” literature of the (...) period. Written by young people – including thirteen-year-old Eve Kosofsky (later Sedgwick) – who perceived Seventeen to be an important publication venue for critical work, the “Curl Up and Read” columns are literary products in their own right, not simply juvenilia. Seventeen provided these young authors the opportunity to publish their work in a forum which offered girl readers and writers opportunities for intellectual development and community. (shrink)

Vietnam reported its first known case of COVID-19 on 23 January 2020. As of 19 May, the country had 324 confirmed cases, with 263 recoveries and no deaths. In Vietnam, COVID-19 presents a range of contextual challenges including high numbers of migrant workers, high numbers of employees in the garment industry, many people working in the informal sector, and linguistically and culturally diverse ethnic minorities. The impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable groups, such as migrant workers, informal workers, garment factory workers, (...) and ethnic minorities are further marginalising these groups, exacerbating poverty and inequality and increasing their exposure to other social, economic and protection risks. Women in Vietnam have historically been underrepresented in public decision-making processes, a trend that is reflected in high-level decision-making structures on COVID-19. This means that even as women are disproportionately affected by the crisis, they have less say in how their country should respond to it. (shrink)

La realidad actual mundial del abuso sexual de niños, niñas y adolescentes reclama la existencia de estudios a fondo sobre este flagelo de la sociedad. Pues bien, el libro Child Abuse and Neglect es una de las mejores compilaciones que existen actualmente sobre todos los tipos de abusos que pueden sufrir los niños, niñas y adolescentes. Los autores no solo tratan el abuso sexual, sino que van más al fondo, pues el abuso sexual es solo la última ficha de Dominó (...) que cae después de que han ocurrido una gran cantidad de otro tipo de abusos. La genialidad de este libro radica básicamente en tres elementos: primero, arroja los resultados de las más recientes investigaciones sobre el abuso de niños, niñas y adolescentes; segundo, los capítulos son cortos, muy bien esquematizados y escritos de manera pedagógica; y tercero, cubren todos los ámbitos del abuso, desde la negligencia hasta la realidad de los abusadores. Recomendamos la lectura de este libro para todo aquel que quiera comprometerse en la lucha por la dignidad y los derechos de niños, niñas y adolescentes. (shrink)

Sexual Citizens is the product of one of the most comprehensive investigations of sexual abuse on college campuses to date. Taking as its point of reference Columbia University in New York, this study sheds abundant light on not only the dynamics of the process that leads to sexual abuse, but also launches three fundamental concepts for approaching abuse prevention on college campuses. Combining attention to students' sexual life projects with the promotion of sexual citizenship and the transformation of sexual geographies (...) suggests a route to a world where sexual abuse is less common. However, as the authors say, this book does not offer a solution as such to the problem of sexual abuse, but rather presents a new way of thinking about this problem, one that promotes an increase in the variety of intervention studies. The purpose of the book has been to look at how institutions and social structures rather than individual psyches contribute to sexual abuse (p. 153). (shrink)

Working beyond the inclination to inaugurate alternative theoretical traditions alongside canonical sociology, this article demonstrates the value of recovering latent gender theory from within classic concepts—in this case, Weber’s “charisma.” Close readings of Weber reveal, (a) tools for theorizing extraordinary, non-masculinist agency, and, (b) clues that account for the conventional wisdom (popular and scholastic) that charisma is “not for women.” While contemporary movements may be tempted to eschew charismatic leadership per se because of legacies of dominance by men, there is (...) value in Weber’s formulation, which anticipated the performative turn in social theory that would destabilize biologistic gender ontologies. Value in this exchange also flows back to Weber: by confronting his intermittent tendency to describe charisma in terms that we now recognize as “customs of manly power,” we reveal heretofore unseen imperfections (i.e., traditionalist modes of legitimation) in his ideal-type. This engagement thus demonstrates an empowering mutuality between contemporary gender theory and “the classics.” The article ends by theorising the nexus of gender and charisma in the case of Trump, pointing to possibilities for vitiating Donald Trump’s charisma, as well as for anti-Trumpian charisma. (shrink)

Afin d’examiner la forme et la fonction « cours » dans le corpus de Derrida, je propose une lecture du séminaire inédit « GREPH. Le concept de l’idéologie chez les idéologues français ». Ce séminaire fut mené dans le cadre des engagements politico-institutionnels du GREPH. Il constitue donc un point d’entrée privilégié pour saisir le rapport complexe que Derrida entretient avec l’enseignement, et plus généralement avec l’institution philosophique. Au cours de ce séminaire, Derrida s’intéresse au « corps enseignant » en (...) tant qu’il fonctionne comme « machine reproductrice » au sein de l’organisation économique générale de la société. Courant deux lièvres à la fois, Derrida mêle une réflexion généalogique sur l’histoire de l’enseignement philosophique en France et en Europe à une analyse théorique de concepts marxistes et sociologiques tels que « capital », « reproduction », ou « appareil idéologique ». À travers des lectures déconstructrices et transformatrices de Marx et d’Althusser, Derrida s’efforce de penser une autre économie — une économie du texte débordant la logique reproductrice qu’il identifie aussi bien chez les économistes classiques que chez leurs critiques marxistes. (shrink)

Positive social trends around LGBT in Russia has converted into positive political trends, but support for LGBT policies is necessary for a democratic politician.

"God wants to marry us" (p. 14, 97, 122), es decir, Dios quiere casarse con nosotros, es el tema central del presente libro, y según otros autores, es también el sentido real de la Biblia. La Biblia no es un libro que nos enseña cómo encontrar a Dios, sino el libro que nos revela cómo Dios nos busca incansablemente y nos relata las innumerables veces y maneras en las que Dios trata de hacerse el encontradizo para que el ser humano (...) lo acoja en su corazón. Pues bien, este es el principal argumento del autor de este libro. La obra de Christopher West es a todas luces teológica, y nos deja ver, con sencillas palabras, la profundidad de la teología del cuerpo propuesta por el Papa Juan Pablo II. Aquí encontraremos que el significado de la vida del ser humano está impreso en su propio cuerpo, en su sexualidad. Cabe anotar que se requiere algún mínimo de conocimiento teológico para leer este libro con facilidad, y da por sentado un cierto conocimiento de la Sagrada Escritura, la cual es citada 213 veces, además de las veces que hace referencia al capítulo quinto de la carta de San Pablo a los Efesios. De todas maneras, el estilo fluido y cercano del autor, así como la mención a algunos ejemplos de la vida cotidiana, permite que el contenido del libro se vaya asimilando poco a poco. (shrink)

When talking about sexual abuse of children we can understand culture as one of the leading determinants of child health. As a public health problem, sexual abuse has different causes, from which we can distinguish the silence and secrecy that is kept by third parties. In every single abuse there is a person or people that are present at the moment of the abuse, or without being present know that the abuse is in progress, or even help in any way (...) the perpetrator to commit the abuse. In order to work consistently in this type of abuse of children, we need to work in adding values to a culture that contribute to freely and openly talk about sexuality and to teach how to gain transparency in communities that could help disclose sexual abuses. (shrink)

PrEP (Präexpositionsprophylaxe) ist ein relativ neues Mittel zur Prävention von HIV-Infektionen. HIV-negative Menschen nehmen antivirale Medikamente ein, die verhindern, dass der Kontakt mit dem Virus zu einer Infektion führt. Im Gegensatz zum Kondomgebrauch basiert dieses Präventionsverfahren auf Medikamenten und nicht auf einer Verhaltensänderung. Aus der Perspektive der Biopolitik fügt sie sich in einen größeren Trend in Richtung Medikalisierung, des Anstiegs der Macht der Pharmaindustrie und der Reglementierung des Risikos ein. Sexuelles Verhalten ist das Ergebnis der Subjektivierung, des Prozesses, durch den (...) soziale Normen Subjekte und ihre Wünsche bilden. Die Medikalisierung von schwulem Sex durch PrEP verändert die sexuelle Subjektivierung und geht daher mit einer Veränderung der Praktiken von schwulem Sex einher. Nach einer kurzen Erläuterung der medizinischen Besonderheiten und der Geschichte von PrEP (1) vereint dieser Artikel eine Rekonstruktion zeitgenössischer theoretischer Ansätze zur Biopolitik im Zusammenhang mit PrEP (2) mit einer Darstellung aktueller politischer Debatten um PrEP (3). Die Untersuchung zeigt, dass sich Gouvernementalitätsstudien und die Italienische Theorie auf repressive Machtverhältnisse konzentrieren und daher die Komplexität der Debatte nicht berücksichtigen können, die sich aus der Subjektivität und Handlungsfähigkeit verschiedener beteiligter Akteure, insbesondere schwuler PrEP-Aktivisten, ergibt. Dennoch werden Interpretationen von PrEP als repressiver Macht auch von einigen Akteuren in der politischen Debatte um PrEP genutzt, meist ohne ausdrücklichen Bezug zur biopolitischen Theorie. Nikolas Roses und Paul Rabinows differenziertes Konzept der Biopolitik bietet einige Ansätze wie diejenigen der biopolitischen Bürgerschaft und der somatischen Ethik, um die Debatte um PrEP und die damit verbundenen komplexen Verhandlungen über Sexualität zu beschreiben. Ausgehend von diesen Ideen entwickle ich ein neues Konzept der ‚demokratischen Biopolitik‘ von PrEP, die eine weitere Demokratisierung der Sexualität im biopolitischen Zeitalter ermöglicht. (shrink)

The Politics of Military Force uses discourse theory to examine the dynamics of discursive change that made participation in military operations possible against the background of German antimilitarist culture. Once considered a strict taboo, so-called out-of-area operations have now become widely considered by German policymakers to be without alternative. The book argues that an understanding of how certain policies are made possible (in this case, military operations abroad and force transformation), one needs to focus on processes of discursive change that (...) result in different policy options appearing rational, appropriate, feasible, or even self-evident. Drawing on Essex School discourse theory, the book develops a theoretical framework to understand how discursive change works, and elaborates on how discursive change makes once unthinkable policy options not only acceptable but even without alternative. Based on a detailed discourse analysis of more than 25 years of German parliamentary debates, The Politics of Military Force provides an explanation for: (1) the emergence of a new hegemonic discourse in German security policy after the end of the Cold War (discursive change), (2) the rearticulation of German antimilitarism in the process (ideational change/norm erosion) and (3) the resulting making-possible of military operations and force transformation (policy change). In doing so, the book also demonstrates the added value of a poststructuralist approach compared to the naive realism and linear conceptions of norm change so prominent in the study of German foreign policy and International Relations more generally. (shrink)

The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has spread to almost all provinces in Indonesia, including South Sumatra. Epidemiological models are required to provide evidence for public health policymakers to mitigate the virus. The aim of this study is: 1) to create a prediction model for COVID-19 cases in South Sumatra to help inform about public health policy and 2) to reflect on women’s experiences to provide solutions for mitigating the impact of COVID-19. This study uses quantitative and qualitative methods. A quantitative modeling (...) approach called Susceptible–Infected–Recovered (SIR) model is used to predict COVID-19 cases in South Sumatra. The assumption used is that every four days, a doubling of COVID-19 cases is observed, with an average of 15 days for recovery. The sources of data are reports from the South Sumatra Provincial Government and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia (MOH RI). Qualitative data are obtained through a feminist participatory action research project, which is focused on children’s experiences of COVID-19. Reflective analysis is conducted to develop insights into how to empower women with respect to mitigating COVID-19. Results show that COVID-19 cases in South Sumatra are still underreported, with only 5%–10% of the total estimated COVID-19 cases being reported. Modeling indicates that over 1,000 people had COVID-19 by the end of April, reaching over 150,000 by the end of May, and over a third of South Sumatra’s population is likely to be infected by the end of June. Multiple interventions are needed to reduce cases and flatten the curve. Women are key to flattening this curve and must be empowered to undertake actions from a familial base. (shrink)

The impacts of pornography are varied and complex. Performers are often thought to be victims of abuse and exploitation, while viewers are regularly accused of becoming desensitized to sexual violence. Further, porn is held by some to perpetuate damaging racial and gender stereotypes. I contend that these accusations, though not entirely baseless, are undermined for two reasons: they rest on questionable empirical evidence and ignore many of the positive consequences porn may have. In this article, I organize my analysis from (...) the screen outward, critically examining the effects porn has on performers, viewers, and wider society, and finding that in each domain it may have both positive and negative outcomes. Following this, I evaluate porn as a form of Bakhtinian carnival and discuss how online porn may offer a mode of resisting hegemonic cultural norms. On the whole, therefore, I argue that the harms attributed to porn have often been overgeneralized and exaggerated, and that porn has a range of effects unable to be captured by a mere pro/anti dichotomy. (shrink)

This paper presents data on the representation of women at 98 philosophy departments in the United States, which were ranked by the Philosophical Gourmet Report (PGR) in 2015 as well as all of those schools on which data from 2004 exist. The paper makes four points in providing an overview of the state of the field. First, all programs reveal a statistically significant increase in the percentage of women tenured/tenure-track faculty, since 2004. Second, out of the 98 US philosophy departments (...) selected for evaluation by Julie Van Camp in 2004, none in 2015 has 50% women philosophy faculty overall, while one has 50% women who are tenured/tenure track. Third, as of 2015, there is a clear pyramidal shape to the discipline: Women are better represented as Assistant than Associate and as Associate than Full professors. Fourth, women philosophy faculty, especially those who are tenured/tenure track, are better represented at Non-PGR ranked programs than at PGR ranked and PGR Top-20 programs in 2015. (shrink)

Although written in Japanese, this article deals with what the gender theory is all about by reference to Beauvoir's Le Deuxième Sexe. Sartre's works are also heavily cited to clarify the background of Beauvoir's philosophy.

The purpose of the research. The main purpose of the study is to find out the experience of researching and solving the problem of professional burnout for physicians including family ones in the United States, by analyzing recent surveys and scientific papers of American and European scientists. Methodology. While working on the article, general scientific theoretical methods were used to accom-plish the tasks and achieve the purpose of the research. The methodological basis of the research was the structural-functional method, which (...) allowed considering the phenomenon of professional burnout as a whole with separate elements and their dependencies. Using a historical method, a brief overview of the research development by US scientists on the problem of professional burnout of physicians with a focus on key events that occurred at each of the stages highlighted in the scientific papers. A comparative method was used to compare the results of surveys of different years and topics, data presented in the proceedings of the scientists, and research approaches. Methods of systematization and generalization were used to formulate the paper’s conclusions, in particular, to highlight the essential features of the American research experience and practical problem solution of professional burnout of physicians. Results. It has been found that the professional burnout of physicians has been a matter of concern for the government, professional medical associations, and the general public for physicians of various US specialties for a long time. Although burnout affects physicians of all disciplines, it has been discovered that, among family physicians, this phenomenon exceeds the average level, especially compared to the general economically active population of the United States. Two approaches to identifying and reducing the risk of occupational burnout in the United States have been identified and characterized: the first approach covers measures aimed directly at a physician, that is, a specific individual, and the second, involves measures aimed at an organization, that is, a medical institution. It has been found that Ameri-can scientists have concluded that organizational measures are more effective, but the first approach should be applied as a first step in overcoming professional burnout. Practical meaning. The results of the research are applicable for further scientific exploration and practical problem solution of professional burnout of physicians, including family ones, in Ukraine. Prospects for further research. Meth-odology of surveys of physicians of various specialties on burnout, depression and professional satisfac-tion. Factors of professional burnout for family physicians in Ukraine. (shrink)

Modern tourism is an industry which role in ensuring the economic development of individual states and the world economy as a whole cannot be overestimated. The success of tourism and travel enterprises often depends on their corporate reputation. This article is devoted to the study of the elements and their connection with the peculiarities of different segments behavior. To assess the consumer's response to the corporative reputation the ranking methods were used in course of decrease of exponent importance; Likert five-grade (...) scale. There were taken the constituent parts of corporate nature and the main elements of company reputation as the variables, which influence the consumer's decision on buying the service. Paper examines three issues: the possibility of a connection between the company's nature and corporative reputation elements; the factors affecting the purchase decision of tourism service; and the corporative reputation's place in the formation of consumer's behavior of the tourism company client. During the research there was found the connection between the company's nature and the corporate reputation elements, there were also found factors that effect the decision about buying the tourism product; the personal experience and the opinion of reference group turned out to be the most important. The essential influence of the corporate reputation on the client's behavior was found. Nevertheless, the obtained results differ for different groups, which were formed according to gender, age, income rate, belonging to a profession and the typical consumer behavior. The obtained results may be used by the companies of tourism and travel industry for identifying the target audience and for the development of the PR-campaigns. (shrink)

Modern tourism is an industry which role in ensuring the economic development of individual states and the world economy as a whole cannot be overestimated. The success of tourism and travel enterprises often depends on their corporate reputation. This article is devoted to the study of the elements and their connection with the peculiarities of different segments behavior. To assess the consumer's response to the corporative reputation the ranking methods were used in course of decrease of exponent importance; Likert five-grade (...) scale. There were taken the constituent parts of corporate nature and the main elements of company reputation as the variables, which influence the consumer's decision on buying the service. Paper examines three issues: the possibility of a connection between the company's nature and corporative reputation elements; the factors affecting the purchase decision of tourism service; and the corporative reputation's place in the formation of consumer's behavior of the tourism company client. During the research there was found the connection between the company's nature and the corporate reputation elements, there were also found factors that effect the decision about buying the tourism product; the personal experience and the opinion of reference group turned out to be the most important. The essential influence of the corporate reputation on the client's behavior was found. Nevertheless, the obtained results differ for different groups, which were formed according to gender, age, income rate, belonging to a profession and the typical consumer behavior. The obtained results may be used by the companies of tourism and travel industry for identifying the target audience and for the development of the PR-campaigns. (shrink)

This article is a theoretical treatment of feminist epistemology of crime, which advocates the centrality of gender as a theoretical starting point for the investigating of digital crimes. It does so by exploring the synergy between the feminist perspectives and the Tripartite Cybercrime Framework (TCF) (which argues that three possible factors motivate cybercrimes – socioeconomic, psychosocial, and geopolitical) to critique mainstream criminology and the meaning of the term “cybercrime”. Additionally, the article examines gender gaps in online harassment, cyber‐bullying, cyber‐fraud, revenge (...) porn, and cyber‐stalking to demonstrate that who is victimised, why, and to what effect are the critical starting points for the analysis of the connections between gender and crimes. In turn, it uses the lens of intersectionality to acknowledge that, while conceptions of gender and crime interact, they intersect with other categories (e.g., sexuality) to provide additional layers of explanation. To nuance the utilitarian value of the synergy between the TCF and the feminist perspectives, the focus shifts to a recent case study (which compared socioeconomic and psychosocial cybercrimes). The article concludes that, while online and offline lives are inextricably intertwined, the victimisations in psychosocial cybercrimes may be more gendered than in socioeconomic cybercrimes. These contributions align the TCF to the feminist epistemology of crime in their attempt to move gender analysis of digital crimes “from margin to centre”. (shrink)

This dissertation takes up questions of access at the level of language itself, as well as in the context of cultural institutions in emerging global communities. Using the texts of James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, and Shani Mootoo, I argue experimental narrative techniques develop new understandings of mental disability by pushing against the limits of language, particularly in relation to mentally disabled women. The novels and plays examined function as creative objects that refigure the reader’s relationship to mental disability through embodied (...) reading practices. In resisting previous tendencies to read literary representations of mental disability as metaphor, I offer an alternative framework for understanding mental disability as an ongoing interactive process between bodies. Drawing on work from disability studies, critical gender studies, and trauma theory, I call for approaches to mental disability in literature that understand reading as an interactive process between reader and text, proposing a methodology for understanding how embodied reading practices inspire new understandings of mental disability and trauma in emerging global communities. In appreciating mental disability as an ongoing interactive process between bodies, readers can better attend to the nuanced ways in which complex embodiment calls for innovative modes of storytelling that challenge histories of representation. (shrink)

My analysis on the category of signs of times (SoT) shows how it can help to explain a few aspects of synodality. I will explain how synodality and SoT support each other and why Synods should teach a correct judgment of SoT. It is a way to educate God's people to their theology. We may also wonder if in the anti-gender campaign the church was unable to implenaent the theological vision implied in the SoT. This campaign has highlighted the Church (...) weakness in accepting the world-church relations implied in SoT theology. This weakness due to a lack in education must be corrected re-launching the Synods' tasks and processes. (shrink)

This essay examines the cultural phenomena of noise in its perceived social constructions and demonstrates its emergence as a form of resistance against prevailing dominant hegemonic codes of culture. In particular, the paper explores the ability of noise to be enacted as a tool to escape the shackles of heteronormative constructions of sexuality and gender in the cultural landscape of the United States. Examined to support this argument are the contrasting works of two American artists: John Cage and Emilie Autumn. (...) Through Cage and his avant-garde articulations of sound, covert acts of resistance against the dominant heteronormative constructions of masculinity are explored, and through Autumn’s classical crossover work, a more overt and explicit form of resistance to subvert gender stereotypes and structures of normality and patriarchy are illuminated. Additionally, the paper explores possibilities for artists to engage with other movements, such as disability activism to create new possibilities for change. -/- . (shrink)

This essay explores the complex relationship between gender and aesthetics, namely through the lens of the transgender movement. After a brief study of the challenges related to the history of gender variance and normativity, the essay will follow the trajectory of Kant’s Critique of Judgment, focusing primarily on the conception of the sublime, and move to explore connections with the work of gender theorist and public health advocate Benjamin T. Singer, whose work develops a rhizomatic model of the transgender sublime. (...) Utilising this framework, the discussion will then examine connections and parallels with the work of Rancière and later Gianni Vattimo. The final section will then explore the concept of aesthetic emergencies from Santiago Zabala, Vattimo’s pupil, who associates both Rancière and Vattimo with this concept while at the same time drawing from Heidegger’s writings. Through a re-examination of the sublime and the work of these theorists, this paper will illuminate potential new connections, pathways, and possibilities for the transgender movement, aesthetic theory, and political engagement. (shrink)

PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) is a relatively new drug-based HIV prevention technique and an important means to lower the HIV risk of gay men who are especially vulnerable to HIV. From the perspective of biopolitics, PrEP inscribes itself in a larger trend of medicalization and the rise of pharmapower. This article reconstructs and evaluates contemporary literature on biopolitical theory as it applies to PrEP, by bringing it in a dialogue with a mapping of the political debate on PrEP. As PrEP changes (...) sexual norms and subjectification, for example condom use and its meaning for gay subjectivity, it is highly contested. The article shows that the debate on PrEP can be best described with the concepts ‘sexual-somatic ethics’ and ‘democratic biopolitics’, which I develop based on the biopolitical approach of Nikolas Rose and Paul Rabinow. In contrast, interpretations of PrEP which are following governmentality studies or Italian Theory amount to either farfetched or trivial positions on PrEP, when seen in light of the political debate. Furthermore, the article is a contribution to the scholarship on gay subjectivity, highlighting how homophobia and homonormativity haunts gay sex even in liberal environments, and how PrEP can serve as an entry point for the destigmatization of gay sexuality and transformation of gay subjectivity. ‘Biopolitical democratization’ entails making explicit how medical technology and health care relates to sexual subjectification and ethics, to strengthen the voice of (potential) PrEP users in health politics, and to renegotiate the profit and power of Big Pharma. (shrink)

The intersection between virtue and care ethics is underexplored in contemporary moral philosophy. This thesis approaches care ethics from a neo-Aristotelian virtue ethical perspective, comparing the two frameworks and drawing on recent work on care to develop a theory thereof. It is split into seven substantive chapters serving three major argumentative purposes, namely the establishment of significant intertheoretical agreement, the compilation and analysis of extant and new distinctions between the two theories, and the synthesis of care ethical insights with neo-Aristotelianism (...) to generate a virtue ethical theory of care. In the first two chapters, I outline virtue ethics and care ethics, and argue for considerable agreement over central premises. Chapter 2 summarises the foundational commitments of care ethics, focusing particularly on their relational ontology and its links to the other ethical claims care ethicists universally ascribe to, namely particularism, partialism, the moral salience of emotions, and the rejection of hard public/private distinctions. Chapter 3 lays out the central concepts in neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics, including eudaimonism, virtue, and character traits, and drawing a number of comparisons between virtue and care ethics specifically with regard to relational ontology and the meta-ethical commitments it underpins. In addition to doing the necessary expository work for the remainder of the thesis, Chapters 2 and 3 also argue that care ethics and virtue ethics have much more in common than is typically acknowledged – the first major contribution of this thesis to the literature. Chapters 2 and 3 to provide at least a prima facie justification for pursuit of the questions I confront in the remainder of the thesis. In Chapter 4, I ask what differentiates these two ethical theories. I survey some of the differences which philosophers in either camp have identified and offer some of my own. I suggest that several of those differences either rest on misunderstandings of one ethic or the other, or that in erecting a divide between virtue and care ethics they also disunify ethics of care. I do, however, identify two differences which seem defensible. Specifically, they are that virtue ethics seems to lack an account of care, which I define minimally as a response or responsiveness to need, and that virtue and care ethics organise their meta-ethical and normative concepts differently. This chapter thus presents a second contribution to the literature: a study of the differences between virtue ethics and care ethics. It also serves to set the trajectory for the remaining chapters, where I respond to the claim that virtue ethics lack an account of care. I spend the remainder of the thesis constructing what I take to be a satisfying foundation for a virtue ethical theory of care. In Chapter 5, I offer three initially viable means of incorporating care into virtue ethics, all of which treat care as a virtue. These are the analogical approach, according to which care is analogous to an existing virtue; the additive approach, according to which care is a novel virtue; and the bundling approach, according to which care is a bundle of virtues. I also offer and evaluate reasons to reject the claim that care is a virtue, concluding that the claim is indeed a viable one so long as the concept of care is sufficiently thick, and I contend that analogical approaches, and particularly analogies with charity, outperform the others. Chapter 5 therefore serves two ends. First, it proffers a novel meta-analysis of concepts of care as a virtue, and thus makes a third contribution to the literature. In doing so, it makes an inroad into the second: the development of a neo-Aristotelian theory of care. Chapter 6 continues this project. I attempt to show how care can be construed as an act-type and a practice. I argue in this chapter that practices are a subcategory of actions, and that care qualifies as an Anscombean act-type which aims at the meeting of needs relating to the care-recipient’s flourishing. I go on to consider the implications of this account for ethics which deploy care as a moral concept, maintaining that it not only offers a better account of consequences than theories of care which include success criteria, but also that it affords us interesting insights into the distinction between ‘caring about’ and ‘caring for’ which allow us to make sense of certain tenets of neo-Aristotelianism. This represents a contribution to both discourses, since neither care nor virtue ethicists working at the intersection of their respective normative theories have delved very deeply into the philosophy of action. Chapter 7 discusses caring relations, suggesting that a virtue ethical theory of caring relations can lean on the work care ethicists have done, and adding some necessary refinements, such as a distinction between ideal and non-ideal caring relations, and a theory of caring relations as reasons for action. This final chapter also draws these three concepts of care together by arguing that virtuous caregivers who are invested in the flourishing of those for whom they care are also sensitive to the relations those care-recipients bear to their institutional environment. I argue that because they are caring participants in caring relations, virtuous agents are characteristically motivated by states of need and dependency to engage in certain sorts of conventionally political practices. In other words, the virtue or virtues of caring characteristically manifest in certain sorts of political or social practices, relating specifically to those areas of moral life. This allows us to build upon recent work in feminist virtue ethics of the sort offered by Tessman and Friedman. I also offer a novel analysis of migration, suggesting that the account of care presenting here is analytically useful both when it comes to historical cases of migration such as the underground railroads and escapes from Nazi-occupied Europe, but also for contemporary issues such as the migrations occurring in the Southern United States and in much of Europe. I thus conclude not only that virtue ethicists ought to incorporate care into their normative framework, and that the theory of care presented here is a coherent one, but that this leads us naturally into applied topics such as virtue politics. I conclude the thesis by considering some its implications and by identifying some further avenues for research. (shrink)