Bodily Size Research Articles

Identifying Sexual Abuse in Same-Sex Relationships: Turning Points and Meta-Narratives

Abstract Purpose Youth intimate partner violence (YIPV) is an under-researched topic within the field of domestic violence. This is particularly true of same-sex YIPV. In this article, the words of one young man, Philip, are analyzed to explore how he narrates his process of defining his sexual experiences as abuse and, consequently, himself as a possible victim of IPV. Methods The qualitative in-depth interview with Philip was conducted as part of a larger study on YIPV in Norway, with a specific focus on sexual YIPV. The article is framed both theoretically and methodologically by the assumption that narratives give meaning to our experiences. Meta-narratives and turning points are used as tools for narrative analysis. Results Important contextual issues in Philip’s storyline include his prior exposure to severe homophobic bullying, being forced to return to the closet as his partner had not yet come out, and no prior experience of serious romantic relationship. Influential cultural meta-narratives regarding IPV and gender that complicate his process of identifying his experiences as abuse include the violence of adult men towards adult women, the ever-present male sex drive, and the importance of physical violence and bodily size and strength. The findings are discussed in light of the theory of the ideal victim. Conclusion Schools need to include sexual minority youth when teaching about sex and relationships, and professionals working with youth need to actively ask them about experiences of violence and abuse in their relationships, regardless of their sexuality.

Is facial structure an honest cue to real-world dominance and fighting ability in men? A pre-registered direct replication of

Masculine facial morphology (e.g., larger jaw, prominent cheekbones) have been linked to a suite of social outcomes—including greater wealth, career progress, romantic desirability, and even greater political success. A leading explanation for these links is that dominant facial structures represent honest cues of physical dominance and fighting ability. Třebický et al. (2013) published the first study to demonstrate that masculine facial cues (e.g., large nose, deep-set eyes) similarly predict both dominance judgments and real-world fighting success, but no studies have replicated these popular findings that a large and specific assortment of masculine facial structures are implicated in both fighting ability and dominance perception. Thus, we conducted a pre-registered direct replication and extension of Třebický et al. (2013). Two separate samples of United States MTurk participants rated 516 UFC fighters' facial photographs on perceived aggressiveness (N = 500) and fighting ability (N = 500). Results showed that perceived aggressiveness was associated with masculine facial morphology (e.g., large nose, deep-set eyes) independent of bodily size. There was also some evidence that perceived fighting ability was associated with masculine facial morphology, which disappeared after controlling for bodily size. There was no support for the relation between facial structure and fighting success, and there were often negative relations between perceived aggressiveness and fighting ability on fighting success (i.e., more successful fighters were perceived as less successful and aggressive). We argue that our evolved psychology differentially processes the distinct avenues to victory that constitute overall fighting success (e.g., knockout versus submission wins).

La masculinité grotesque au dix-huitième siècle : Ingenious Pain d’Andrew Miller et The Giant, O’Brien d’Hilary Mantel

This paper considers masculinity in two twentieth-century historical novels set in the eighteenth century: Andrew Miller’s Ingenious Pain (1997) and Hilary Mantel’s The Giant, O’Brien (1998). It argues that both novels create protagonists who embody masculine-coded attributes, including resistance to pain and bodily size and strength, and that, in both novels, earning potential is concomitant with such attributes. Complicating matters, however, the very exaggeration of stereotypical masculine characteristics in these texts causes each man to seem something other and less than a man—ranging for both, at different times, from monstrous to pathetically weak (and childlike, or even womanish) victim. Qualities associated with manhood, therefore, paradoxically deny the men more agency than they allow in these stories set in the eighteenth century, inhibiting them from enjoying ideal manhood and making them the property of other men.

Gruesomeness conveys formidability: Perpetrators of gratuitously grisly acts are conceptualized as larger, stronger, and more likely to win.

While associated with extreme terrorist organizations in modern times, extensive accounts of grisly acts of violence exist in the archeological, historical, and ethnographic records. Though reasons for this dramatic form of violence are multifaceted and diverse, one possibility is that violence beyond what is required to win a conflict is a method by which violent actors communicate to others that they are formidable opponents. The formidability representation hypothesis predicts that formidability is cognitively represented using the dimensions of envisioned bodily size and strength. We tested the informational ramifications of gruesome acts using two vignette studies depicting individuals who either did or did not grievously damage the corpse of a deceased foe. Participants rated the individual's height, bodily size, and strength, as well as his aggressiveness, motivation, and the capacity to vanquish opponents in future conflicts. Results indicate that, as predicted, committing gruesome acts of violence enhances perceptions of formidability as measured both by envisioned bodily size and strength and expectations regarding the outcomes of agonistic conflicts. Moreover, the gruesome actor was perceived as more aggressive and more motivated to overcome his enemies, and this mediated the increase in conceptualized size and strength. These results both provide further evidence for the formidability representation hypothesis and support the thesis that overtly grisly violence is tactically employed, in part, because it conveys information about the perpetrator's formidability.

Scales of Normality: Displays of Extreme Weight and Weight Loss in Blackpool 1920–1940

Developments in scientific and medical understanding of disability, as well as an influx of war-disabled veterans in 1914, led to transforming societal attitudes towards those with physical deformities. Thus, scholars suggest that the beginning of the twentieth century witnessed the sudden decline of freak shows as a popular form of entertainment. Whilst freak shows undeniably became less popular in metropolitan spaces such as London or Manchester, they thrived in seaside resorts; sites dedicated to the pursuit of leisure, pleasure and entertainment. This paper examines exhibitions of freakery at British seaside resorts from 1920 to 1940. Through examining the visual material and written reports associated with the displays of unusual bodies at the margins of British life, it argues that seaside freak shows remained centrally important forms of amusement in the twentieth century. Furthermore, it demonstrates how freak shows were constructed utilising public discourse relating to contemporary concepts of health, wellness and the ‘ideal’ or ‘average’ body. Focusing on Blackpool, the foremost health and pleasure resort of the period, this paper analyses exhibitions of extreme weight, to locate their role in the popular construction of ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ bodily size within contemporary British culture.

With God on our side: Religious primes reduce the envisioned physical formidability of a menacing adversary

The imagined support of benevolent supernatural agents attenuates anxiety and risk perception. Here, we extend these findings to judgments of the threat posed by a potentially violent adversary. Conceptual representations of bodily size and strength summarize factors that determine the relative threat posed by foes. The proximity of allies moderates the envisioned physical formidability of adversaries, suggesting that cues of access to supernatural allies will reduce the envisioned physical formidability of a threatening target. Across two studies, subtle cues of both supernatural and earthly social support reduced the envisioned physical formidability of a violent criminal. These manipulations had no effect on the perceived likelihood of encountering non-conflictual physical danger, raising the possibility that imagined supernatural support leads participants to view themselves not as shielded from encountering perilous situations, but as protected should perils arise.

Sizing up Helen

Men are more prone than women to both commit physical violence and engage in nonviolent activities entailing the risk of injury or death. The Crazy Bastard Hypothesis (Fessler et al. 2014a) addresses this conjunction, arguing that nonviolent physical risk-taking communicates information about the actor’s agonistic formidability, as individuals who are indifferent to the possibility of harm are more likely to enter conflicts, and more difficult to repel, than those who are more sensitive to harm. Reflecting the use of bodily size in representations that summarize formidability, previous work demonstrates that risk-prone men are envisioned to be larger than are risk-averse men. Though less violent than men, particularly in highly competitive environments, women too sometimes benefit from engaging in violence. Correspondingly, observers should draw similar inferences regarding formidability when assessing physically risk-prone women. Results from both a large online experiment in the U.S. and a follow-up stu...

2A2-M04 テレイグジスタンスの研究(第76報) : 巨人化体験のための視覚伝送系の設計と実時間映像伝送系の実装(VR・ARとインタフェース)

We propose a concept of giant experience to extend our bodily size limitation. In this paper, we address requirements including binocular vision and much wider pupirillary distance(PD) to let users to feel surroundings smaller. As a result, it is expected to be felt as if being the giant. As a basic prototype to evaluate it, we report a basic implementation of the binocular vision under much wider PD.

Morbidly obese patients and lifestyle change: constructing ethical selves

Morbidly obese patients and lifestyle change: constructing ethical selves In contemporary societies, bodily size is an important part of individuals' self-representation. As the number of persons clinically diagnosed as morbidly obese increases, programmes are developed to make people reduce weight by changing their lifestyle, and for some, by bariatric surgery. This article presents findings from interviews with 12 participants undergoing a prerequisite course prior to bariatric surgery that is intended both as a preparation for further (surgical) treatment and as a tool to empower individuals regarding lifestyle changes. In this study, we investigate how power operates by looking at how the participants position themselves throughout the course. Findings reveal how participants construct their ability to act in line with norms of lifestyle change. They do this by positioning themselves as both included group members and as 'morally' acceptable individuals. Despite some resistance, the participants tend to glide into the role of 'good patients' acting in compliance with the aims of the course in their hope and striving for new positions as 'normal-sized'. The intention in the course is to empower individuals towards lifestyle changes. The findings provide a basis to question whether these kinds of courses create new forms of compliance and dependency.

ANALYSIS OF TEMPORAL ANTHROPOMETRIC CHANGES IN VARIOUS GROUPS OF ISRAELI MALES

Based on anthropometric surveys of 5261 Israeli males conducted in 1970, 1985, and 2000, the study examines temporal changes of bodily size and shape in two groups of Israelis – Ashkenazim and Sephardim – over thirty years. The rate of changes varied. In the Ashkenazim, body length increased mostly between 1970 and 1985. In the Sephardim, body length decreased during the same period. The difference was caused by the fact that a considerable number of people sharply different from most Israelis in physical type immigrated to Israel from Africa in the 1980s. By 2000, the difference between the Ashkenazim and the Sephardim in body length decreased due to intense admixture and to higher living standards compared to the countries from whence the immigrants had arrived.

Outsize/Outside: Bodily bignesses and the emotional experiences of British women shopping for clothes

Whilst there has been substantial research in geography concerned with ‘the body’, little consideration has been given to the ‘sized’ body. This article aims to counter this by considering the concept of ‘bodily bignesses’ as a way of understanding the plurality of female emotional and embodied experience through empirical work concerned with British women's experiences of clothes shopping. This involves breaking big bodies out of those categories that act to define their corporeal form for what they ‘represent’ within medical, moral and political contexts. Emphasis is placed upon destabilising the category of ‘bigness’, through utilising the concept of ‘the monstrous’ that is based upon the idea of understanding morphological difference beyond a simple opposition to the ‘normative body’. This provides a way to consider bodily size as a number of differential emotional experiences. For example, empirical examples focus on what it feels like to shop for ‘big clothes’, how women evaluate the suitability of clothing for their (un)suitable bodies, and acknowledges the feelings of self-acceptance that women experience as they come to terms with their bodily size. If all categories are themselves unstable and the idea of rigid universalist divisions are untenable, then it is difficult to employ meaningfully, universal categories of good and bad, right and wrong. (Shildrick, 1997, p. 104) De talla grande y afuera: la gordería del cuerpo y las experiencias emocionales de mujeres ingleses en comprar ropa Mientras que habían investigaciones substanciales en geografía que enfoca en ‘el cuerpo’, no había mucha consideración al cuerpo ‘de talla’. Haciendo uso de investigaciones empíricos que se centran en las experiencias de comprar ropas de mujeres ingleses, éste artículo se propone refutarlo a través de una comprensión del concepto de ‘la gordería del cuerpo’ como una manera de entender la pluralidad de la experiencias emocionales y encarnadas de femeninos. Este involucra romper las categorías que definan la forma corporal de los cuerpos grandes en lo que se representan en los contextos médicos, morales, y políticos. Se da énfasis en de-estabilizar la categoría de ‘gordería’, a través de utilizar el concepto del ‘gigantesco’ que se basa en la idea de entender la diferencia morfológica más allá del ‘cuerpo normativo’. Este provee una manera para considera el tamaño del cuerpo como varias experiencias emocionales y diferenciales. Por ejemplo, los casos empíricos enfocan en como se siente comprar ‘ropas grandes’, como evalúan las mujeres si la ropa sea adecuado para sus cuerpos (no)adecuado, y además, los casos reconocen los sentimientos de autoaprobación que tienen las mujeres en el momento en que acepten el tamaño corporal.

The Authority of the Fathers: Patristic Texts in Early Medieval Libraries and Scriptoria

In the 1100s Bernard of Chartres described himself and his contemporaries in words that have since become familiar. He said they enjoyed a legacy bequeathed to them by earlier generations: “We are like dwarfs perched on the shoulders of giants. We can see more and farther than our predecessors, not indeed because of the acuteness of our own vision or bodily size, but because we are lifted up and raised on high by their gigantic stature.” Over time this vivid image came to describe what many have viewed as a characteristically “medieval” attitude towards authority, particularly towards the authority of the Fathers of the Church. Medieval scholars have often been seen as no more than guardians of an inherited tradition, content to perch comfortably on the shoulders of greater men – on the shoulders of Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Gregory the Great, and other writers of Christian Antiquity.

‘Big and tough': Boys learning about sexuality and manhood

This paper explores adolescent boys' reactions to, and experiences of, school-based sex education. Using data and findings from a range of studies, it describes dominant patterns of response, and posits reasons for boys' frequent rejection and disruption of lessons. The relationship between bodily size and social capital and hierarchies of masculine sexual power and status is addressed. Evidence is presented which demonstrates that bravado and disruption are reactions to sex education which fails to address boys' needs. We need to create learning environments in which they can at least temporarily put to one side the need to behave in rigid sex-stereotypical ways.

Universities in Wonderland

Perhaps the allusions and references contained in the first part of this article might not be readily intelligible to someone whose childhood was not spent listening to stories from Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland or to someone not presently involved in the current debates about the finance of United Kingdom universities. Let me therefore offer a few words of explanation.Alice in Wonderland, and its companion Alice Through the Looking Glass, are children's stories which explore the limits of reason in most creative ways. Their author, the Reverend C. L. Dodgson, a nineteenth-century mathematician at Christchurch, Oxford who wrote under the name of Lewis Carroll, used the stories to discuss the nature of limit processes in mathematics, the phenomenon of relative size and aspects of the absurd. In the stories animals speak, playing cards come to life and the heroine, Alice, undergoes many transformations of bodily size. Since I regard the recent research selectivity exercise of the Universities Funding Council (UFC) as beyond the limits of reason, I have drawn upon the Alice stories by way of satire and I have tried to use some typical Carroll literary devices — plays on words, accounts of physical transformations and the like — to emphasize the relevant points.

Habits, habitats, and heredity: a brief history of studies in human plasticity.

There has long been controversy concerning the relative importance of environment and ancestry in determining the characteristics of living creatures including members of the human species. At the beginning of the present century most biologists and anthropologists seem to have assumed that environment had little or no effect upon our bodily traits. We inherited them. The studies of Franz Boas on Changes in bodily Form of Descendants of Immigrants cast doubts upon this assumption, and provoked considerable resentment. Since 1911, however, quite a few scholars have confirmed and elaborated upon the findings of Boas. At the same time, many other studies have demonstrated secular changes in bodily size and shape within quite a few different populations. The idea of bodily plasticity has therefore, by this decade, become quite acceptable. This paper recounts the historical sequence of events leading to the change in anthropological assumptions, mentioning the scholars whose work contributed to this important advance in scientific understanding.

Morphometric affinities of the human shoulder

A recent discussion by Corruccini and Ciochon ('76) implies that previous multivariate morphometric studies of the shoulder, reviewed in Oxnard ('73), have been misinterpreted because due allowance was not made for the overall sizes of the specimens. Results that were given functional significance in the earlier investigations are cited as being due at least in part to overall bodily size. Although examination of the range of genera selected for mention by corruccini and Ciochon seems superficially to support this view, it is demonstrated here that examination of the full range of genera in the earlier studies refutes, unequivocally, that suggestion. The discussion by Corruccini and Ciochon ('76) also implies that the more complex size correction applied in their study produces a result different from that of the previous workers. Again, although perusal of the particular part of the earlier study selected for discussion by Corruccini and Ciochon would appear to bear that out, it is demonstrated here that comparisons with all parts of the earlier results provide a different picture. Thus the main result of Corruccini and Ciochon replicates rather closely a more restricted part of the earlier result not mentioned by Corruccini and Ciochon. The difference between Corruccini and Ciochon's principal result and the main result of the prior authors is shown to rest upon the difference between the more restricted earlier study of "residual" shoulder dimensions and the other broader studies; i.e., not upon any multivariate manipulation, but upon the inclusion in the broader study of a wider range of information about the shape of the primate shoulder. Knowledge of these and other points is important in assessing the overall contribution of the discussion of Corruccini and Ciochon.

A measure of asymmetry of the skulls of odontocete whales

Linear measurements were made of the asymmetry of the skull which is characteristic of odontocete whales. Of the living genera (except Physeter, Tasmacetus, Stenella, Feresa and Lissodelphis) at least one specimen was measured; 317 skulls in all. One species, Stenodelphis blainvillei, proved symmetrical. All other species had leftward deviation of the nasal prominence. No specimen showed inverse asymmetry.When, for species or families, regressions were formed of the asymmetry measure on skull length the slopes formed a sequence such that Kogia >monodontids>delphinoids (except Orcinus)>ziphiids> Orcinus. In some species of delphinoid, in the delphinoids as a group, and more strongly in Monodon, the proportion of asymmetry to skull length increased with increasing size. In the ziphiids, as a family, asymmetry increased roughly linearly with bodily size. Orcinus orca proved an anomalous delphinoid in having little asymmetry for its size. The asymmetry of the skull of Monodon monoceros is independent of the possession of a tusk.It is suggested that the leftward deviation of the dorsal aspect of the skull acts to conserve the symmetry of the body surface by countering an opposite asymmetry of the upper breathing passages, an asymmetry which is primary but whose function is unknown.

FATIGUE CAUSED BY LABOUR IN STANDING POSTURE OF A SPINNING MILL (REPORT I)

The finishing and inspecting process of cotton cloth at spinning mill is a job performed by female workers who keep standing and do not shift their position. Moreover, the job requires the workers' steady gaze. From this point of view, the change of asthenopia and circumference of their lower legs while working in a spinning mill, particularly, are examined. 1. The average bodily size and power of these workers are: height 153.53cm, weight 52.82kg, circumference of chest 83.05cm, Vervaeck's index 88.69, visual vision 1.42 (left), 1.30 (right), grip 24.00 (left), 23.88 (right) Thus, in all the items of the list (exceptgrip ) the workers are superior to the average girl students of high schools in Japan. In grip alone the former is somewhat inferior to the latter. 2. By means of flicker test their asthenopia has been investigated. The results obtained indicate that the further the job progresses, the more the fatigue increases. This is ture of both the 1st and 2nd shifts. (The job is done in two shifts) Buta greater degree of fatigue is shown by the 1st shift. The explanation seems to be that the 2nd shift which starts the job much later than the 1st shift naturally stay longer at home and so have their asthenopia more accustomed to activity, hance less fatigue. 3. The swelling of lower legs resultant from the job is caused to both the shifts and both side legs, and increases with the progress of the work. But the bulging has been found to be greater among the 2nd shift. The reason is probably that the 2nd shift stay longer at home before the job than the 1st shift, 2nd so perform a larger amount of household work, perhaps in standing posture. To sum up, worker's fatigue at spinning mill is that resultant from light labour below medium degree. However, the job being done in shifts the fatigue is much aggravated, if they do not take enough rest or their mode of life if inadequate at hame before setting about the job.

T. Wingate Todd: Catalyst in growth research

D R. TODD brought to orthodontics the same concepts he brought to growth, generally: the dynamics of progressive unfolding, rather than the statics of the single biological moment. He brought the idea of the passage of time, rather than an isolated observabion, as the basis of diagnosis and the rationale of treatment. It is natural, therefore, that he brought to orthodontics the principle that the whole growing organism must be considered in treating one of its parts, e.g., the dentofacial complex. Growth, for Dr. Todd, was a very intricate process. In 1932 (b) he stated that it involved three concepts: (1) increase in dimensions; (2) change in proportions; (3) adjustment of parts. He went on to say that perhaps increase in dimensions might be considered as growth, per se, while change in proportions and adjustment of parts might be considered as development. To the whole he gave the name “developmental growth.” In the same year, however, he went on to introduce a further idea: when he defined development as “modification of proportion with increasing maturity.” The theme of adjustment was extended to include diferentiation, “expressed as local growth in dimensions with consequent readjustment in relation to the several structural parts inv0lved. 7 J In 1937 (b) he observed, “ G-rowth is increment, but growing up is differentiation. ” In another article in the same year (1937) (c) he observed that “growth is merely the increase in bodily size or bulk.” But even as early as 1929 he had realized the dynamic aspect of growth when he said that it “consists of two processes, addition of substance, and abstraction of substance.” Out of lhis unfolding of ideas and concepts came Todd’s basic premises: we grow (increase in size) ; we grow up (change in proportions) ; we mature (the passage of biological time in the tissues). The harmonious and uniform interplay of all three may well be included under his category “developmental growth. ” The necessity for all three to be considered jointly is signalized by Todd in his 1937 (c) observation about the insufficiency of dependence upon only part of the picture. He said, speaking of height and weight as measures of growth, that “ratings (in these dimensions) tell us merely how far the child has fulfilled what may reasonably be considered his full potentiality of growth. They give us no indication of whether his rate of growth is satisfact.ory.” The latter appraisal can come only when degree of maturity is determined. In studying growth Todd made some of his greatest contributions to orthodontics by his analysis of age-changes in the skeleton (vide his masterful summary of ageing in skeleton, locomotor syst,em, and teeth, 1939b). His basic feeling (1929) was that “bone . . . is a living tissue subject to constant change.”

The effect of certain inorganic chloride solutions upon the movement of a soil nematode (Rhabditis terrestris Stephenson), and upon its bodily size

1. Worms which had been cultured in media of different osmotic pressures were immersed in concentrated solutions of NaCl, KC1, CaCl2 and MgCl2, and the times of cessation of spontaneous movement noted.2. Worms from ‘normal’ cultures were immersed in a single concentration of each of the above solutions (all osmotically equivalent to 0·51 M NaCl) and the shrinkage curves were determined.3. Worms from ‘normal’ cultures were placed in NaCN and KCN solutions and the subsequent shrinkage on immersion in a concentrated balanced salt solution was measured. From these results it is concluded that cyanide decreases the permeability of the body to water, and also that NaCN enters the body more rapidly than KCN.4. It has been shown that the chloride solutions which produce the greatest effect on the movement of the worms produce the least shrinkage and vice versa. From this it is concluded that the substances investigated can be arranged in order of their rates of penetration approximately as follows: NaCl> CaCl2> MgCl2, KCl.5. It is suggested that the results obtained are more easily explained on the assumption that the rates of penetration of the substances used are controlled by the activities of living protoplasm than by the properties of non-living cuticle.