Gender Relations Research Articles

Comprehensive Study on the Impacts of Gender Disparities Over Life and Work Balance in IT Sector in Bangalore

This study is focusing on, especially in the workforce of the information technology sectors, to look into the work and family life balance of the employees in the IT sectors, mainly in Bangalore City. The objective of this study is to learn the relation of gender and employees’ personal and professional life balance in the IT sector of Bangalore and how marital status affects work and personal life balance in the IT sector of Bangalore. The aim of this study is to identify how organizational support, policies, management, and leadership can help employees balance their personal and work lives in the organization. Work-life balance is to find time for family and family functions, neighbourhood participation, friends and relatives’ functions, enriching self-care, and personal and spiritual growth by attending sessions, other personal activities. Basically, it is to understand the need and how to adjust time and fulfil additional demands of the workplace. The method has been used with the collection of responses from different IT companies in Bangalore, and the chi square tool has been used for analysis.

Women as carriers of the ‘weaving legacy’: Shifting labour and changing gender relations in marriage

The study highlights how women bear the responsibility of perpetuating the cultural identity of the weaving community due to gendered norms around endogamous marriage, the dual burden that women bear within family enterprises, and the exit of male weavers in pursuit of more sustainable economic opportunities. Male weavers of these family enterprises rely on women's continuing allegiance to the ancestral craft to carry forward the economic gains of upholding the weaving craft when they embrace the option of mobility in order to alleviate the financial precarity and stabilise their livelihoods. The normative expectations of marriage within the weaving community, where women's labour is regulated and exploited via intra-community marriage, serve as the foundation for this practice. Women engage in complex negotiations, confront gendered expectations, and, in the worst situations, disrupt gender norms in the family, community, and the labour market throughout this process. The paper drawing from a qualitative study conducted in the handloom clusters of Nadia, West Bengal (India) critically examines the intricate negotiation of gender roles, presenting a nuanced portrayal of how women navigate societal expectations and contribute to reshaping gender norms within family enterprises and weaving community at large.

Researching Gender and Disasters of Natural Origin: Ethical Challenges

Ethical issues are very relevant in the field of women’s, gender and/or feminist studies. The aim of this article is to highlight the ethical challenges faced by the authors in their research process, with specific reference to two projects on gender and disasters in which they have been involved. In general, we try to avoid sexist bias throughout the complete research process, from the definition of the objectives themselves to the methodology design, where we ensure diversity in the selection of participants in order to take into consideration the variety of voices present in society, especially those of women. Also, when developing our research, we take into account the power relationships involved, both between those who participate in the fieldwork and with the researchers themselves. To counteract the effects of such relations, we have considered people’s wellbeing and the humanization of the whole process. Finally, when it comes to the dissemination of the results and their transfer to society at large, we follow the same principles and actively integrate the people involved. Considering these issues benefits the research process and makes the resultant knowledge more ethical and socially useful, in addition to promoting more egalitarian gender relations.

The Relationship of University Students' Internet Addiction Level Through Telephone Use and 2d:4d Ratio

Aim: To evaluate the relationship between the 2nd and 4th finger measurement ratio (2d:4d) ratio of university students' internet addiction level through phone use. Material and Method: 322 students were questioned about their demografic data, dominant extremity, and the device while using the internet. Hand width (HW), length (HL), grip strength (HGS), 2d:4d measurements were taken. Young Internet Addiction Scale (YIAS) was used for internet addiction, Smartphone Addiction Scale-Short Form (SAS) was used for smartphone addiction. Results: In men, it was determined that there was a statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of Right-Left HL, Left HGS, Right/4d, YIAS and SAS values. In addition, it was determined that the device preference, HL right, HL left, HGS left and Right/4d parameters originated from normal and dependent groups. It was determined that there was a statistically significant difference between the groups in women in terms of Left HL, Right/2d, Right/4d, Left/2d, Left/4d, Young and SAS values. It was determined that the device preference was due to individuals falling into the normal group of Left HL according to the YIAS, and the statistical difference of the Right/2d, Right/4d, Left/2d and Left/4d parameters. It was determined that there was a moderately strong negative correlation between SAS and Right/2d, Right/4d, Left/2d, Left/4d parameters in addicted men. Conclusion: The gender relations of the accepted scales regarding phone and internet addiction may be due to the length of the left hand and the movement function of the right 4d to provide control in phone use, rather than the 2d:4d finger ratios.

A conceptual analysis of gendered energy care work and epistemic injustice through a case study of Zanzibar’s Solar Mamas

AbstractEnergy and climate transitions bear an inherent risk of replicating historically embedded unjust gendered norms in the current energy regimes. Positioning our work within critical feminist scholarship, our study emphasizes the embedded nature of energy technologies within respective socio-economic, institutional and cultural contexts. We use a combined lens of care and epistemic injustice to examine the case study of Solar Mamas in Barefoot College Zanzibar, highlighting the nuanced interplay of power relations in decentralized energy transitions. This approach helps comprehend and value gendered energy care work as involving skilled labour in everyday life. Our findings illustrate the need for energy transitions research, policy and practice to be deeply informed by lived experiences, diverse practices of care within the energy webs and valuing of multiple voices. We argue that interventions prioritizing care and knowledge in decentralized, locally managed energy provisioning have the potential to disrupt established gender relations.

Anti-gender ideology and the depiction of lesbians in the manosphere.

Recent far-right and religious fundamentalist coalitions in Europe and the U.S. seek populist support through "anti-gender" rhetoric. These coalitions are in alignment with the manosphere in endorsement of biological essentialism and antifeminist, anti-LGBTQ stances. Based upon an examination of the data gathered for projects examining two manosphere communities (Red Pill and Incel), a clear picture emerges wherein they casually disparage lesbians and conflate lesbians with feminists, unearthing 1970s and 1980s political lesbian writings and discussing them out of context. Ironically, the dissatisfaction with gender relations that drove lesbian separatists at the time drives the manosphere, especially Incel, to be even more misogynistic and violent in service of their feelings of entitlement to women's bodies. This can be understood as part of a backlash against feminist and LGBTQ rights that is empowering fascists using anti-gender rhetoric in their rise to power.

ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, AND PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS USAGE BY UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OF MEDICAL GROUP IN BASRA, IRAQ

Background: Psychological disease is strongly prevalent among college and university students worldwide with negative impacts on students’ life. Specifically, medical group students have long time of study with suffer from competitive ambience and sleep privation, that lead to out of the way from perfect learning environment. When medical students are abused psychotropic drugs that lead to defect on performance, health, life style and interpose with their concentration. Aim: to investigate the prevalence rate of depression and anxiety in university students of medical group in Basra, and estimate the rate and type of psychotropic drugs consumption by them. Method: The study data was collected from 376 students of medical group at College of Medicine, College of Dentistry and College of Pharmacy of Basra University by questionnaire forma. Results: The prevalence rate of mental disorders was low about and many factors that affected on psychiatric state of them like gender, age, Family and friends Relation, missing one of parents etc. Among medical group students that used sedatives and hypnotics about (46%) than other psychotropic drugs like serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRIs) (42.9%) tricyclic antidepressants (21.4%), and atypical antipsychotic (7.1%). Conclusions: Medical group students are more likely to consumption antipsychotic drugs by physician prescription or self-medications. Therefore, there are required more interesting and pursuits for college students especially medical college students for amelioration their college and social lives. Peer Review History: Received 6 February 2024; Revised 15 March 2024; Accepted 26 April; Available online 15 May 2024 Academic Editor: Dr. Asia Selman Abdullah, Pharmacy institute, University of Basrah, Iraq, asia_abdullah65@yahoo.com Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 6.5/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 7.0/10 Reviewers: Dr. A.A. Mgbahurike, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, amaka_mgbahurike@yahoo.com Prof. Hassan A.H. Al-Shamahy, Sana'a University, Yemen, shmahe@yemen.net.ye

How do labour market conditions explain the development of mental health over the life-course? a conceptual integration of the ecological model with life-course epidemiology in an integrative review of results from the Northern Swedish Cohort

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to contribute to the theoretical development within the field of labour market effects on mental health during life by integrating Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model with mainly earlier theoretical work on life-course theory.MethodsAn integrative review was performed of all 52 publications about labour market conditions in relation to mental health from the longitudinal Northern Swedish Cohort study. Inductive and deductive qualitative content analysis were performed in relation to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological framework combined with life-course theories.ResultsThe following nine themes were identified: 1. Macroeconomic recession impairs mental health among young people. 2. The mental health effects on individuals of youth unemployment seem rather insensitive to recession. 3. Small but consistent negative effect of neighbourhood unemployment and other work-related disadvantaged on individuals’ mental health over life. 4. Youth unemployment becomes embodied as scars of mental ill-health over life. 5. Weak labour market attachment impairs mental health over life. 6. Bidirectional relations between health and weak labour market attachment over life. 7. Macrolevel structures are of importance for how labour market position cause poor health. 8. Unequal gender relations at work impacts negatively on mental health. 9. The agency to improve health over life in dyadic relations. Unemployment in society permeates from the macrolevel into the exolevel, defined by Bronfenbrenner as for example the labour market of parents or partners or the neighbourhood into the settings closest to the individual (the micro- and mesolevel) and affects the relations between the work, family, and leisure spheres of the individual. Neighbourhood unemployment leads to poor health among those who live there, independent of their employment status. Individuals’ exposure to unemployment and temporary employment leads to poorer mental health over the life-course. Temporal dimensions were identified and combined with Bronfenbrenner levels into a contextual life-course modelConclusionCombining the ecosocial theory with life-course theories provides a framework for understanding the embodiment of work-related mental health over life. The labour market conditions surrounding the individual are of crucial importance for the embodiment of mental health over life, at the same time as individual agency can be health promoting. Mental health can be improved by societal efforts in regulations of the labour market.

Quantifying transitivity: Uncovering relations of gender and power

Abstract Transitivity has come to be recognized as a promising heuristic tool for uncovering implicit ideologies in a wide range of areas. Though it has been used to explore worldviews in several kinds of discourse, nearly all have relied solely on qualitative analyses. Statistical analysis can offer a fuller understanding of past societies. This study applies a gradient, discourse-based understanding of transitivity, which lends itself nicely to corpus-based analysis, to data from 16th-century New Spain. In colonial Mexico, female behaviors were often strictly circumscribed. This paper uses a quantitative, corpus-based framework to examine how gender inequality is reflected in patterns of transitivity. It is found that female subjects are significantly associated with imperfective contexts, nonfinite constructions, akinesis, and low affectedness of the object—all markers of lower transitivity. Thus, for the most part, in these data, women are represented as inactive, inert, and powerless.

In Pursuit of Equanimity: Managing Change and Adversity in Early Modern English Households, c.1570–c.1670

Abstract This article establishes equanimity as an important emotional ideal in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In showing how equanimity served to strengthen positive emotions and temper disruptive states, it promotes a more positive view of the era’s emotional landscape. The article employs the pursuit of equanimity as an intimate analytical device for uncovering the agency of ordinary people, and thus offers historians a new perspective on momentous change and adversity in the early modern period. It charts personal experiences of adversity—from physical and spiritual threats to familial disputes, uncertain patriarchal power and economic precarity—alongside individual management of religious, social and political change following the English Reformations and during the Civil War. Where other scholars have examined how different social groups reactively negotiated new realities, this microhistorical study of one gentry family in the North West of England urges historians to refocus their attention on the proactive courses that people took. Through a detailed examination of 541 manuscript letters, domestic decorative schemes, and archaeological evidence of ritual practices of protection, the article uncovers how the Moretons of Little Moreton Hall in Cheshire managed change and mitigated disaster. It discusses instances where equanimity played a persistent role in motivating the family’s actions and behaviours in daily life, and argues that practices designed to promote emotional harmony were crucial for preserving kinship networks and managing personal well-being, as well as gender relations within households, in early modern England.

Women on the move: Understanding the female face of migration to develop targeted policies

Women migrants and refugees are playing an increasingly important socio-economic role in our societies. As gender has an impact on their experience and on their integration process, it is necessary to develop a gender-sensitive, targeted approach, which enables their contribution to society to be fully appreciated. Female migrants and refugees may face stronger, and double, discrimination and experience further barriers to integration in their host countries. Yet, the societal inclusion of women is key for their families; has multiplier effects; and can stimulate changes in social norms, gender relations and discriminatory practices. Furthermore, investing in women contributes to economic growth, social cohesion and stability. Therefore, promoting gender mainstreaming in migration policies is both a social and an economic necessity. It must not be overlooked.

Reimagining Feminism and Gender Relations in Saudi Arabia: A New Theoretical Framework

This article seeks a deeper understanding of the issues Arab women face in the Arab world and their rights. It is set in a framework that considers the context of these rights and issues. Whilst women throughout the Arab world often share similar experiences, there is variation, and this article focuses mainly on the experience of Saudi women. Theoretical feminist and interdisciplinary approaches analyse and highlight diverse perspectives in seeking a more profound understanding of women's rights, roles, status, challenges, and achievements. They also expose the various feminist paradigms underlying the theoretical framework. The study emphasises the importance of recognising the unique experiences of Arab women, respecting cultural differences, and avoiding universalisation and homogenisation of gender. It highlights the value of integrating feminist and postcolonial theoretical perspectives to comprehend better the complexities surrounding Saudi women's study. It also emphasises the contextualisation of literary works within local environments to provide a deep understanding of women's evolving roles, rights, and status contributions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Ultimately, the study aims to bridge the academic gap between English and Arabic scholarship in the representation of Saudi women.

Between Koenji and Brooklyn: Tokyo, New York, and the Circulations of Experimental Musics in a Global World

Abstract Using a group of Japanese-born experimental musicians who make their lives in Tokyo and New York as a case study, this article examines how new musical genres are created, shared, and mediated through layers of circulations, identities, and locations. The author argues that these musicians’ lives and music have a kind of “noisy” quality, complicating genre boundaries and identity binaries in their wake. Through ethnographic “thick descriptions” and the words of the musicians themselves, the author shows the web of musical genres, languages, geopolitical identities, and gender relations that combine to make up the texture of musical performances. This article is also thinking through and with a sea change in the study of Japanese music. In recent years, building on the work of scholars of Japanese cultural studies, ethnomusicologists have critiqued how monocultural and mono-ethnic mythologies have influenced the study and production of Japanese music. Ethnomusicology and area studies are Cold War enterprises, designed to create research that would help maintain that world order, educate Americans as global leaders, and change hearts and minds in foreign lands, leading to a cultural conservatism that often led scholars to focus on “traditional” Japanese music. Recently, however, research on Japanese music has increasingly focused on popular and experimental musics and examines how Japanese contemporary identity is created and maintained through music. Thus this article gives readers a view of how US-based Japanese music scholarship is moving away from such Cold War paradigms and contributes to this shift in studies of Japanese music and culture.

The Effect of Watching Turkish Series on Gender Harmony in Jordanian Society

The Effect of Watching Turkish Series on Gender Harmony in Jordanian Society

Equal Representation: Challenges and Opportunities

This article explores the contours of the highly politicised and gendered spaces in Kenya that female aspirant leaders still struggle to overcome in order to participate fully as citizens. It aims to highlight the exclusionary nature of the political and democratic space in Kenya, notwithstanding constitutional and legal provisions for gender equity. We argue that enjoying a simple majority in terms of overall population figures (50.1%) has not necessarily translated into political capital for Kenyan women, who are perpetually locked out of meaningful political participation due to entrenched patriarchy and sexism. The introduction of political affirmative action through the two-thirds gender rule augmented female representation in parliamentary and other public and legislative offices. This was also meant to regulate the monopoly of any one gender in the occupation of political and public positions. The article utilises secondary data and related theories in supporting the argument that the insignificant number of female parliamentarians is, inter alia, a result of entrenched and skewed power relations. Outdated cultural practices, gender stereotypes, negative rhetoric and ethnicity, patriarchy, and a lack of economic and social capital have indeed adversely affected women’s trajectory in politics. Results of the past two elections (2013 and 2017) have indicated that gender skewing in parliament and other competitive positions in the public service is still an issue to reckon with. This, we observe, is tantamount to non-compliance with constitutional and legal provisions that were geared toward achieving an equal society. We suggest the implementation of the gender rule as envisaged in the 2010 Constitution. A conducive legal framework, coupled with collaborative efforts of relevant state and non-state actors, is paramount. A significant and current discussion should encompass new realignments aimed at disrupting and deconstructing the pervasive gendered relationships.

Comparison of Singh’s index in view of osteoporosis in patient with in tertrochanteric fracture and intracapsular fracture

Background: Osteoporosis is a progressive, systemic, skeletal disease with low bone mass. Diagnosing osteoporosis in practice is a major challenge, where resources are limited and costly. Measurement of osteoporosis through Singh’s index in proximal femur fracture patients is consistent with Bone Mineral Density estimation like DEXA scan. Singh’s index is a reliable, reproducible and easily available investigation for osteoporosis. The aim of this study is to evaluate the Singh’s index of the patients with inter-trochanteric and intra-capsular fracture. Methods: A retrospective observational study of 20 IT and IC fracture each. Singh’s index evaluated from the X-rays at time of fracture presentation. Other required information collected at presentation. Results: Out of 40 Patients, 6 had Singh's Index Grade 1 (15%), 11 had Grade 2 (27.5%), 10 had Grade 3 (25%), 7 had Grade 4 (17.5%), 6 had Grade 5 (15%), 0 Patients had Singh’s index Grade 6. There was no noticeable significant variation in relation of gender with the type of fracture. Patients with higher age tend to have a lower grade of Singh’s index. Conclusions: Singh’s Index indeed represents bone quality and a fall in the grades predisposes to fractures. Inter trochanteric fractures are common in the older age group with poor Singh’s index (<3) compared to the relatively younger age group with Singh’s index around 3. Gender, exercise, history of hypertension and diabetes, sunlight exposure, etc. has no significant impact on Singh's Index. Age is deciding factor for Singh’s Index.

Rethinking “Transition” in Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union Through the Lens of Disability

ABSTRACT The concept of disability can serve as a valuable lens through which a host of established subjects can be revisited in a new light. These include welfare and “welfare dependency,” unemployment, gender relations, social movements, and grassroots activities, the impact of international norms such as human rights and their application in local contexts, and the impact of neoliberal reforms. Despite this potential, disability, unlike the concepts of class, “race,” sexuality, and ethnicity, has yet to make inroads into the field of postsocialist studies. It is precisely this lacuna which our special issue seeks to address.

Young children’s expression of gender and sexuality a multimodal research method

ABSTRACT Despite flourishing gender studies over the last decades, gender equality continues to reflect imbalance, with the dominance of gender binary thinking, lacking an emphasis on a more fluid approach where children themselves are active participants. The aim of this study was to explore young children’s perceptions of gender roles and sexuality. The research applied a poststructural feminist theoretical framework as well as a research method inspired by the story completion method and the mosaic approach. The children’s views were underpinned by heteronormativity, but they occasionally diverged from that framework to refer to non-heteronormative families and characters. We argue that our findings demonstrate the considerable impact of heteronormativity on gender relations in preschools and the need to take that influence into account when creating a gender-sensitive pedagogy. Valuing children’s agency, supporting children’s power by listening to their perspectives might be the way forward, towards finding balance to promote gender equality in preschools.

The Truth(s) of Western Civilization in Julian Barnes’ A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters

A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters (1989) promises a history of the world, however, it only provides its readers with subjective perceptions of various Western characters. Barnes’ collection of vaguely connected stories depicts the world as a hegemonic Western space in which the Western definition of universal truth is used as a tool of cultural imperialism. The connections between the stories might seem oblique but meticulously structured patriarchal, religious, and artistic elements seem to expose the multiplicity of the definition of truth while simultaneously revealing how truth is used as a tool to create a specific and an exclusive understanding of civilization that is reserved for the West. This study explores how gender relations, religion, art, and perceptions towards cultures outside the Western civilization are narrated in A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters to reveal how Barnes reinstalls the very dynamics of the Western civilization he aims to deconstruct. The study starts with an exploration of the truths that are narrated in Barnes’ novel in order to demonstrate how Barnes attempts to deconstruct the fundamental values of civilization in his work through his stories offered from subjective points of view that are exclusively Western. The second part of the study defines the main ideals of the Western civilization and correlates these ideals with Barnes’ narrative which offers a seemingly deconstructive discourse while simultaneously reinstating hegemonic undertones. The third part of the study focuses on how Barnes reinstalls a fundamentally exclusive Western understanding of patriarchy, religion and art through his stories.

The Hundred: A sociological analysis of gender relations and the (semi-) professionalisation of women's cricket in England

In this article, we adopt a critical sociological perspective to understanding gender relations and cricket, through the lens of The Hundred – a new, short-form tournament, described by the England and Wales Cricket Board as being part of its long-term commitment to making cricket a gender-equal sport. The Hundred is the first sporting tournament in the world which, from the outset, featured fully aligned competitions for both men's and women's teams, including equal prize money, but not equal pay, which the recent Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket condemned. Drawing on concepts of professionalisation as a gendered process we discuss data from interviews with 33 people working in cricket to consider how gender relations continue to impact opportunities for women in cricket. This article further supports the need to conceptualise professionalisation in sport as gendered by considering the ways The Hundred facilitates opportunities for men's and women's cricket differently.