Euro-American Women Research Articles

Homeless People who are Animal Caretakers: A Comparative Study

Data from a Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) were used to compare homeless people who report caring for animals with homeless people who do not report caring for animals, based on demographic variables and stated reasons for homelessness. Among homeless clients (N = 4,100; M age = 39 yr., SD 13.2), 5.5% reported animal caretaking; demographic differences between caretaking and not caretaking homeless clients and life factors related to homelessness were most often associated with animal caretaking. 41% of participants (n = 1,664) were female, and 59% (n = 2,436) were male. Findings suggest that first-time homeless, Euro-American women who were homeless due to domestic violence were the most likely to say they were caring for animals. The use of such an information system could aid in identifying this subpopulation and coordinating services for animal care.

Ethnic Differences in Sexual Attitudes of U.S. College Students: Gender, Acculturation, and Religiosity Factors

Although it has been hypothesized that culture and religion play an important role in sexuality, the relative roles of acculturation and religiosity on ethnic differences in sexual attitudes have not been often empirically explored. The present study assessed differences in sexual attitudes in Euro-American, Asian, and Hispanic American populations using measures of acculturation to analyze the relative effects of heritage and mainstream cultures, as well as religiosity, within each ethnic group. A total of 1,415 college students (67% Euro-American, 16% Hispanic, 17% Asian; 32% men, 68% women) completed questionnaires which assessed attitudes towards homosexuality, gender role traditionality, casual sex, and extramarital sex. In concordance with previous studies, Asians reported more conservative sexual attitudes than did their Hispanic and Euro-American peers. Hispanics reported sexual attitudes similar to that of Euro-Americans. For both Hispanic and Asians, higher acculturation predicted sexual attitudes similar to that of Euro-Americans. For Asian, Hispanic, and Euro-American women, there was a significant interaction between intrinsic religiosity and spirituality such that the relationship between conservativism of sexual attitudes and intrinsic religiosity was stronger at higher levels of spirituality. In Euro-Americans and Asians, intrinsic religiosity and religious fundamentalism strongly predicted conservative sexual attitudes; while still significant, these relationships were not as pronounced in the Hispanic sample, implying an ethnic-by-religious effect. Novel to this study, acculturation did not mediate the relationship between religiosity and sexual attitudes, indicating that ethnic differences in religiosity effects were distinct from acculturation.

Radical Democracy, African American (Male) Subjectivity, and John Edgar Wideman's Philadelphia Fire

According to Jacques Derrida, meaning in the West is defined in terms of binary oppositions, violent hierarchy, where of the two terms governs the (41). Within the white/black binary opposition in the West, the African American is defined as a devalued Other. One of the aims of many postmodern African American writers such as Ishmael Reed, Toni Morrison, Clarence Major, Bonnie Greer, Samuel R. Delany, Xam Cartier, and others has been to deconstruct in fiction this binary opposition, unleashing and re-positioning African American subjectivities. To escape but not leave western logocentrism, of which the novel is a subsystem, these writers have turned to certain African American cultural forms such as the blues, jazz, and voodoo to challenge the Eurocentric horizon of the novel. John Edgar Wideman's Philadelphia Fire (1990) uses a peripheral, cultural paradigm or technique to challenge the conventions of the novel and to re-represent the African American. This essay examines how Fire contests the traditional, modern novel, as it aims to re-describe African American subjectivity. I also explore how Fire undermines the western quest narrative by giving heteroglossic perspectives on the MOVE bombing. Finally, I examine how Fire shows its heteroglossic limits in its treatment of women. Contesting the Traditional Novel In its desire to challenge the traditional novel, Fire plays with instrumental reason and other Enlightenment ideas. Using the concept of radical democracy--a diversity of perspectives and points of view that parallel, intersect, and contradict each other, without the desire for totality or mastery--Fire gives a different perspective on the African American, one that does not construct the African American as experientially monolithic. In an interview with James Coleman, Wideman discusses his conscious, overt efforts to violate the conventions of the modern/realistic novel, which attempts to impose a single, unitary language on heterogeneity, and to unleash differences: I don't think that you can write a very meaningful book about a culture that's in flux, a culture that is changing all the time, and a culture [that] is infused with minority points of view ... and [still] use the conventions and traditions of narrative fiction. (159) Fire engages a democratic search for the flux, or multiple meanings. It gives the reader a radically democratic text where African Americans from different socioeconomic, educational, and cultural levels represent the same event/social reality, the bombing of the MOVE row house in Philadelphia. It shows how each station in life, along with its own individuality, affects the construction/perception of reality. Although the novel is sensitive to the immense plurality of experiences among African Americans, it does not disassociate difference from economic and social inequality. It gives us radical democracy at the narrative and ideological levels, but it remains Eurocentric and hegemonic in terms of subjectivity, except for the masculine, where, theoretically, it affirms difference, but obscures this difference by positing representations of the Selfsame.1 In Fire, the masculine narratorial 'T' of Cudjoe and Wideman the character is never deconstructed. In addition to maintaining a masculine self/Other binary opposition, it fails to engage the reason of the Other, (2) particularly Euro-American women who participate in heterosexual coupling, love interest, or who are the recipient of the male gaze. It thereby erases feminine differences. Fire uses several textual strategies to push the boundaries of the traditional narrative, opening it up to other forms of speech. Wideman admits that he takes chances with the narrative: I like to take chances, and one chance that I have been taking lately ... is a chance with the texture of the narrative--letters, hymns, poems, song lyrics, thoughts, speech, time present, time past, future time, philosophical discourse, scatting, etc. …

Culture, Gender, and Assessment of Fear of Fatness

To understand the relevance of the fear of fatness construct across culture and gender, we translated the Goldfarb Fear of Fat Scale (GFFS) and examined its psychometric properties in English and Spanish languages in a sample of Euro-American male (n = 111) and female (n = 100), and Spanish male (n = 114) and female (n = 544) college students in the United States and Spain. Confirmatory and exploratory analyses tested the measurement equivalence of the instrument across samples by gender and culture. Eight of the 10 items appeared to demonstrate measurement invariance. Mean comparisons on the eight-item version suggested that there was a gender by country interaction, with Euro-American women scoring substantially higher than the three other groups. Overall, these results highlight the need for additional examinations of cross-cultural instrument invariance and explorations of the fear of fatness construct.

Extended Family Integration Among Euro and Mexican Americans: Ethnicity, Gender, and Class

This article compares the extended family integration of Euro and Mexican American women and men and assesses the importance of class and culture in explaining ethnic differences. Using National Survey of Families and Households II data (N = 7,929), we find that ethnic differences depend on the dimension of integration. Mexican Americans exhibit higher rates of kin coresidence and proximity, but lower rates of financial support than Euro Americans. Two additional differences exist only among women: Mexican American women are more likely than Euro American women to give household or child care help. As to the explanation for these differences, social class is the key factor; cultural variables have little effect. Our findings support a theoretical framework attending to intersections among ethnicity, gender, and class.

Relationship of Self-Beliefs, Social Support, and University Comfort with the Academic Success of Freshman College Women

The relationships of self-beliefs, social support, and university comfort with the academic persistence decisions and first-year grade point averages of 527 first semester female undergraduates were examined. Data were gathered in 56 classes or group meetings. These three constructs predicted academic persistence decisions, with social support as the strongest predictor, followed by self-beliefs, and then university comfort. Although there were no differences between Euro-American women and women of color on initial academic persistence decisions, Euro-American women had higher first-year GPAs than did the women of color. Research-informed practice and policy implications for increasing the persistence decisions and academic success of first-year female college students are discussed.

Friends and enemies in Penn's Woods: Indians, colonists and the racial construction of Pennsylvania

Contents List of Maps and Figures Acknowledgments Introduction: Daniel K. Richter and William A. Pencak Part I: Peoples in Conversation 1. New Sweden, Natives, and Nature Michael Dean Mackintosh 2. Colonialism and the Discursive Antecedents of Penn's Treaty with the Indians James O Neil Spady 3. Imagining Peace in Quaker and Native American Dream Stories Carla Gerona 4. Indian, Metis, and Euro-American Women on Multiple Frontiers Alison Duncan Hirsch Part II: Fragile Structures of Coexistence 5. Female Relationships and Intercultural Bonds in Moravian Indian Missions Amy C. Schutt 6. The Death of Sawantaeny and the Problem of Justice on the Frontier John Smolenski 7. Justice, Retribution, and the Case of John Toby Louis M. Waddell 8. The Diplomatic Career of Canasatego William A. Starna Part III: Toward a Pennsylvania 9. Delawares and Pennsylvanians after the Walking Purchase Steven C. Harper 10. Squatters, Indians, Proprietary Government, and Land in the Susquehanna Valley David L. Preston 11. Metonymy, Violence, Patriarchy, and the Paxton Boys Krista Camenzind 12. Real Indians, White Indians, and the Contest for the Wyoming Valley Paul Moyer 13. Whiteness and Warfare on a Revolutionary Frontier Gregory T. Knouff Afterword: James H. Merrell Abbreviations Notes Contributors Index

Recognition Accuracy and Reaction Time of Vocal Expressions of Emotion by African-American and Euro-American College Women

This study examined the relationship of racial group membership and vocal expressions of emotion. Recognition accuracy and reaction time were examined using the Diagnostic Assessment of Nonverbal Accuracy 2 Receptive Paralanguage subtests with 18 young Euro-American and African-American women. Participants listened to Euro-American children and adults speaking a neutral sentence, and identified the emotion as happy, sad, angry, or fearful. Analysis identified a significant effect for race on reaction time. Euro-American participants had faster mean RT than the African-American women for the recognition of vocal expression of emotion portrayed by Euro-Americans. However, no significant differences were found in mean accurate identification between the two groups. The finding of a significant difference in recognition RT but not in accuracy between the stimuli spoken by an adult and a child was unexpected. Both racial groups had faster mean RT in response to vocal expression of emotion by children.

Trading Gazes: Euro-American Women Photographers and Native North Americans, 1880-1940

A vast archive of photographs of the American West chronicled American expansion and the subordination of many Native peoples. Many of these images either recorded the "vanishing Indian" or idealized the "civilized" native. But most of these works, produced by male photographers, obscure a wide range of intricate stories about Anglo-Indian relations in a period when intensified restrictions of Native Americans' mobility and economy coincided with the rise of photography as a hobby and profession, as well as unprecedented opportunities for the "new woman" who was seeking to escape traditional gender constrictions. In Trading Gazes, these histories intersect in the stories of four unconventional women photographers and their subjects, providing readers with rich insights into a network of complex relationships. The essays in Trading Gazes offer historical and biographical contexts for their subjects, showing how each woman used photography in her relations of exchange with the people with whom she lived and worked. The women are: Jane Gay, who documented the allotment of land to the Nez Perce; Kate Cory, who made her home with the Hopi; Grace Nicholson, who worked with the Karuk and other northern California tribes; and Mary Schaffer, who traveled among the Stoney and Metis of Alberta, Canada. The book combines new historical information about turn-of-the-century North America with an unprecedented focus on women photographers in the U.S. and Canadian wests. In addition, the authors discuss how photographs can help us to understand the difficulties of recovering erased tribal pasts.

Happiness of Asian Americans.

Past surveys found a positive relation between job satisfaction and socioeconomic status, with Asian Americans scoring low and African Americans and Euro-Americans scoring higher. As job satisfaction is a component of happiness, the question arises whether this relationship holds for happiness in general. Responses of a sample of 499 Asian Americans, 24,432 Euro-Americans, and 2,828 African Americans were analyzed. For both sexes, Asian Americans rated happiness significantly higher than African Americans. The rated happiness of Asian American and Euro-American men was not significantly different, but Asian-American women rated happiness significantly lower than Euro-American women. Mean differences were less than one point.

Trading gazes: Euro-American women photographers and Native North Americans, 1880-1940

A vast archive of photographs of the American West chronicled American expansion and the subordination of many Native peoples. Many of these images either recorded the vanishing Indian or idealized the civilized native. But most of these works, produced by male photographers, obscure a wide range of intricate stories about Anglo-Indian relations in a period when intensified restrictions of Native Americans' mobility and economy coincided with the rise of photography as a hobby and profession, as well as unprecedented opportunities for the who was seeking to escape traditional gender constrictions. In Trading Gazes, these histories intersect in the stories of four unconventional women photographers and their subjects, providing readers with rich insights into a network of complex relationships. The essays in Trading Gazes offer historical and biographical contexts for their subjects, showing how each woman used photography in her relations of exchange with the people with whom she lived and worked. The women are: Jane Gay, who documented the allotment of land to the Nez Perce; Kate Cory, who made her home with the Hopi; Grace Nicholson, who worked with the Karuk and other northern California tribes; and Mary Schaffer, who traveled among the Stoney and Metis of Alberta, Canada. The book combines new historical information about turn-of-the-century North America with an unprecedented focus on women photographers in the U.S. and Canadian wests. In addition, the authors discuss how photographs can help us to understand the difficulties of recovering erased tribal pasts.

Menopause and the transmission of women's knowledge: African American and white women's perspectives.

Recent menopause literature does not sufficiently explore women's attitudes on the transmission of knowledge about menopause from sources other than biomedical providers. Analysis of 70 interviews with African American and Euro-American women shows that their perceptions of the intergenerational transfer of knowledge about menopause from their mothers shaped their attitudes toward menopause and the health-care technologies surrounding it. African American women who grew up in the segregated South frequently expressed that their mothers provided them with the knowledge and power to negotiate difficulties during the menopausal process, while many middle-class Euro-American women expressed that their mothers did not. Drawing on literature that examines the effects of race, class, and kinship on mother/daughter relationships, this article explores the reasons for this divergence.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY TRACKING OF EURO- AND MEXICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN OVER EIGHT YEARS

716 We investigated changes in leisure and work physical activity (PA) over 8 years in 113 Mexican-American (MA) and 75 Euro-American (EA) women (baseline age=31 yr) who had a 4-year-old child at baseline. Participants completed 2 Seven-Day Physical Activity Recall (PAR) interviews 6 months apart at baseline and 2 additional PARs 6 months apart 8 years later. Data from the two PARs at each measurement period were averaged. At baseline, subjects averaged 7.3 hours of leisure PA and 3.7 hours of work PA weekly. At follow-up, they averaged 12.5 hours of leisure PA and 7.5 hours of work PA weekly. MA and EA women had similar overall PA levels (i.e., daily energy expenditure (EE) at baseline (p < .10) and at follow-up (p < .58), and both groups increased PA over time (p < .001). Significant tracking in daily EE (r = .35; p < .001) and in moderate (r = .47; p < .001) and vigorous (r = .47; p < .001) work PA was evidenced over time for MAs. Daily EE (r = .32; p < .005) and moderate (r = .42, p < .001) and vigorous (r = .27, p < .02) work PA also tracked for EAs. Results indicate PA tracks over 8 years in MA and EA women, with tracking stronger in work than in leisure environments. The finding that both groups increased PA over time is contrary to the usual finding that PA declines with age. This unexpected increase may be attributed to changes in mothers' roles as children aged from 4 to 12 years. Further study on how the many roles of motherhood influence PA is recommended. Supported by NIH HL52449

Predictors of Body Shape Dissatisfaction in College-Educated African- & Euro-American Women

A higher prevalence of overweight exists among African-American women that may be attributed, in part, to less dissatisfaction with their body shapes and sizes than Euro-American females. The present study identified predictors of body shape dissatisfaction Subjects had at least obtained a college degree (age=25–40; n=80). A 34-item Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) was used to assess body shape dissatisfaction. The majority (82%) was of normal weight (BMI 19–25). Approximately 60% of the African-American were classified as having no body shape concern (BSQ score <80) and 62% of Euro-American women were classified as having mild body shape concern (BSQ 81–110). Euro-American women reported significantly more body shape concern than African-American females (F=4.12, p=.046). More body shape concern was associated with higher BMI (r=.432, p <.01), higher education (r=.39, p <.01) and single marital status (r=.29, p <.01). Multiple regression analyses indicated that score on body shape questionnaire was predicted by BMI, ethnicity, high fat practices, and ethnicity by education interaction (R2=.51, p <.05). These findings show that BMI, ethnicity, heavy physical activity, and high fat practices are strong predictors of body shape dissatisfaction.

A Version to Women Who Work and Perceived Discrimination among Euro-Americans and Mexican-Americans

Perceptions of discrimination based on sex are presented for groups of Mexican-American men and women and Euro-American men and women. A measure of aversion to women who work is introduced and attitudes for the four groups are presented. Based on present significant differences and current demographic trends, discrimination based on sex will continue, and cultural attitudes may in fact perpetuate that.

Weight loss methods used by African American and Euro-American women.

In this naturalistic study employing intensive interviews and anthropometric measures, an educationally and economically diverse community-based sample of 40 African American and 40 Euro-American women described their lifetime experiences with weight management. Twenty types of weight loss methods were identified and grouped into one of three categories: lifestyle work, head work, and professional services. The most frequently used weight loss methods were from the lifestyle work category, with the leading methods identified as exercise on own and reduce high calorie and/or increase low calorie foods. African Americans and Euro-Americans overwhelmingly used similar weight loss methods, with the only significant difference occurring in the more frequent use of commercial diet products among the African American group. Methods from the head work category were used significantly more often by women with higher social status, while heavier women more frequently sought professional services to lose weight than thinner women. The Euro-American women engaged in weight loss methods for significantly longer periods of time and were found to weigh significantly less than the African American women. These findings suggest that the shorter duration of weight loss attempts may be a major factor contributing to the larger body size in African American women.

Sexual Stereotypes and Perceptions of Competence and Qualifications

This study investigated differences between men and women in their use of sexual stereotypes when evaluating recent hirees. Participants (33 Euro-American undergraduate women and 45 Euro-American undergraduate men) read a job announcement for Personnel Analyst and a completed employment application form (with a picture of the applicant attached). They then completed a questionnaire, indicating their perceptions of the applicant's competence, qualifications, and status on other job-related characteristics. The information on the application form was the same except for the race and sex of the hiree. Three of the five expected interactions were statistically significant. It appears that men may underestimate the qualifications of women and rate them lower than men on other job-related characteristics.

Comparison of the Role of Mexican-American and Euro-American Family Members in the Socialization of Children

To compare the involvement of Mexican-American and Euro-American family members in the socialization of children self-reports of their own socialization were collected from 663 university students. The sample was comprised of 109 Euro-American and 100 Mexican-American men as well as 215 Euro-American and 239 Mexican-American women. Mexican-American women included bathing them, playing with them, and befriending them among their mothers' contributions to their rearing more frequently than did non-Hispanic women. More Euro-American women than Hispanic women reported their fathers “took care of them.” Euro-American men listed disciplining them, reading to them, and helping them with homework among the activities their mothers participated in more than did Mexican-American men.

Racial differences in body type preferences of men for women

Research indicates that African-American women have a significantly higher prevalence of obesity, a markedly lower prevalence of eating disorders, and greater satisfaction with their bodies than Euro-American women. One potential contributing explanation for this difference may be differential body type preferences between the men in the two communities. Sixty-three African-American and 116 Euro-American men were asked to rank, in order of attractiveness, a series of silhouettes of women of varying sizes. Additionally, they answered questions concerning their current relationships. Euro-Americans chose significantly thinner figures, and reported wishing their girlfriends would lose weight significantly more often than African-Americans. These differential preferences may translate into greater pressure within the Euro-American community for women to be thin than in the African-American community; however, a small effect size suggests that factors other than race contribute to men's body type preferences.

Socioeconomic and cultural influences on cancer care of women

Disparity exists between the scientific advances made for Euro-American women and for female African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Asian/Pacific Islanders. Studies have documented the complex relation among biological, behavioral, and social factors that affect cancer incidence, treatment, and both psychological and physical outcomes. The four major variables of physiologic and biochemical differences, socioeconomic factors, structural barriers, and cultural factors contribute to the discrepancy in cancer morbidity and mortality in ethnic populations compared to the white population.