Group Of Teenage Girls Research Articles

Friendship without Borders: Women's Stories of Power, Politics, and Everyday Life across East and West Germany by Phil Leask

Reviewed by: Friendship without Borders: Women's Stories of Power, Politics, and Everyday Life across East and West Germany by Phil Leask Kara Ritzheimer Friendship without Borders: Women's Stories of Power, Politics, and Everyday Life across East and West Germany. By Phil Leask. New York: Berghahn Books, 2020. Pp. ix + 326. Cloth $149.00. ISBN 9781789206555. On September 1, 1940, a group of teenage girls who were classmates in Schönebeck, a small town in central Germany, "made a solemn promise" to meet ten years hence at the Cathedral Square in nearby Magdeburg. And so, on September 1, 1950, fourteen of these girls, now young women, "gathered in the square, in the shadow of the damaged cathedral" (1). They made two important decisions. First, they would meet annually. Second, they would start and circulate a Rundbrief (circular). From 1950 to 2000, as many as thirty women contributed approximately a thousand letters to this Rundbrief. Nearly half of these former classmates migrated to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) while the other half remained in what became the German Democratic Republic (GDR). These letters form the basis of Phil Leask's 2020 monograph Friendship without Borders: Women's Stories of Power, Politics, and Everyday Life across East and West Germany, alongside interviews the author [End Page 600] conducted with a handful of these women between 2012 and 2016 and photos these women pasted into the Rundbrief. Friendship Without Borders consists of three interwoven histories. The first is a history of these individual women. Contributors shared updates about their children, spouses, parents, homes and gardens, jobs, careers, health, travels, and everyday experiences. The second is a history of women, gender policy, and family policy in both the FRG and the GDR. And the third, which Leask uses to frame each chapter, is the political, social, and economic history of the two Germanies. The book is organized chronologically. It begins in the 1930s and ends in the early 2000s, and each chapter examines a different decade. Leask traces several themes over the course of these fifty years. The first of these is power and agency. Leask is interested in these "nonpolitical" (3) women's sense of agency, their ability and efforts to exercise agency, and the social and political restraints they encountered. He observes that as teenagers, most of these women belonged to the League of German Girls (BDM), an organization the Nazi regime used to "give power at a very local level to hundreds of thousands of young women who were group leaders" (6). It was this sense of power and their ability to build community, he suggests, that led these women to believe they could "build and sustain their own group long after the end of the Nazi regime" (6). The second theme is the shifting position of women in both Germanies and how these particular women understood, at different moments, "what their place was and should be in society" (3). The third theme is that of continuities and ruptures. Leask interestingly observes that women living in the GDR experienced reunification as a larger rupture than Nazi Germany's defeat. In 1945, they had been young and felt capable of starting anew; in 1990, many feared they were too old and financially insecure to start over. Another theme is that of unity. Leask argues that these women hoped that the unity of their group meant that Germany and its people "remained united" despite its—what they hoped was only temporary—division. And finally, Leask explains in the book's introduction that he is eager to identify moments when these women experienced humiliation. Leask uses the Rundbrief skillfully to write an everyday history of the two Germanies, one seen through the eyes of women passing through various life stages. And these women address details that political histories frequently neglect, such as the occupational challenges women encountered in both Germanies, the quality of education and childcare, and the pain of being separated from family members living on the other side of a political boundary. Leask does a fine job of underscoring key factors that increasingly differentiated the experiences of women living in the FRG from those who remained in the GDR. One...

The Women West of Here: Reckoning Their Place in the Western, Pop Culture, and History

The Women West of HereReckoning Their Place in the Western, Pop Culture, and History Robert James Russell (bio) A woman on the prairie is an unwanted thing … Nothing but a burden and a tie-down, keeping the ones she loves from doing what they want to do. —Alan Le May, The Siege at Dancing Bird1 Here it is, imagine it: Blue-gray thunderclouds roil overhead, promising rain soon. The outdoor sporting pavilion is flanked on both sides by high school football game–style bleachers glinting in what's left of the Sunday afternoon sun thrusting yet through the overcast. And they are packed, the stands, filled with families and veterans and children carrying massive corndogs and Bavarian-style pretzels and sticky elephant ears trailing powdered sugar and syrupy strawberry jam behind. On either end of the pavilion, rodeo crew get things ready: calves wedged in double-digits in blue-metal holding pens, ears tagged with bright plastic, lowing frequently but with so little energy it amounts to only a subtle bowing of their head. On the other end of the pavilion, trailers sit backed up against more pens, these filled with bucks poised, touring cowboys in slim jeans and boots, sitting cross-legged on the posts and surveying the thin-yet-boisterous Click for larger view View full resolution Fig 1. Lobby card for the film The White Outlaw (1925) (Wikimedia Commons). Look how Vivian Bay needs three big ol' men to protect her from the Western wilds! With men in the lead, the whole world's ripe for the taking! crowd still taking their seats. They have uneven facial hair, deep-set eyes, jagged cheekbones, all of them. They're anemic, and in unison they spit along the ground, chew the tobacco folded under the tongues, spit again. Behind them, leading to the parking lot, are trailers, an ambulance with its EMT professionals sitting side by side along the front bumper, talking quietly, waiting. Thunder in the distance, but only the audience gasps, looks over. The cowboys ready themselves, chew and [End Page 127] spit again. One laughs, one stretches his shoulders. Piles of men in denim and leather wearing numbered tags. Carbon copy dynamos. There are no women here. Thunder again, closer this time. The announcer rides out on his sorrel. He tests the microphone, taps it with the butt of his palm, but there's no sound. Fairground rides sparkle and flare behind him, along the horizon. You can just make out the food stands: hamburgers and Philly cheesesteaks and bubble tea and BBQ of every variety. A hissing pop, static, and then the man's voice comes through the speakers, burping a jovial thanks, a welcome. Things are set in motion. A rodeo clown comes out, and he—wearing oversized pantaloons, the bare basics of a cowboy's silhouette, a tiny hat atop his bulbous red wig—shares banter with the announcer. They make jokes about Southern women, Hoosier women, women in general. How they have hardly any teeth. No teeth. How Southern men—and Hoosier men, too, he adds—are lazy. And then there's leering comments about women in the stands, about making them their wives. Almost no one laughs, and yet they double down—this is, we know, scripted anyway. Up first's the bareback bronc event. The first horse, tired from the midday heat, won't stand up in the pen, won't start. Its cowboy, frustrated, tries to get situated, to rile the horse to stand. It won't, and the announcer, impotent, struggles to improvise. But he finds a target: a group of teenage girls who've already had enough and have started to mosey out toward the parking lot—girls who, during the opening prayer and the jingoist salute to America were laughing, already plotting their escape. The announcer rides along the inside fence of the pavilion, following them. "Hey, y'all," he shouts, smiling. The teens don't pay attention, don't know he's talking at them. "Where y'all going? We're just getting started." Finally, one teen turns toward him. They've nearly made their escape, at the end of the bleachers, near...

Yarning about Sport: Indigenous Research Methodologies and Transformative Historical Narratives

Indigenous research methodologies prioritize community voices, perspectives, and stories. In Australia, yarning has emerged as a promising Indigenous oral history research methodology. Taking many forms for different purposes, common features of yarning include un-structured or semi-structured research interviews and discussion, flexible time schedules and Indigenous facilitation. Yarning is valued as a culturally appropriate and safe research conversational methodology that has the potential to yield findings and conclusions that are not always possible via traditional archive-based research. In this paper, we introduce a case study of yarning used specifically in a sport history research project in Australia. The focus is on a group of teenage girls from the Cherbourg Aboriginal Settlement in Queensland who competed in marching in the 1950s and 1960s and offer a rare example of female Indigenous participation in organized sport during the oppressive ‘protection era’. Urged to ‘tell our story’ by surviving marchers, who are now community elders, we approached this research methodologically in two ways: archival-based research and yarning. The results from these two approaches were vastly different, and highlight the value of this oral history methodology in producing rich insight and counter-narratives to those available from traditional empirical sources.

Radical Hospitality and Political Intimacy in Grahamite Boardinghouses, 1830–1850

Radical Hospitality and Political Intimacy in Grahamite Boardinghouses, 1830–1850 April Haynes (bio) After enduring three days of crowded steamboats, segregated cars, and rutted roads, three hundred travel-weary abolitionists filed slowly toward their appointed meeting place in May of 1840 only to meet a menacing crowd. Residents of New York City's fourth ward lined Franklin Street to jeer the unwelcome arrivals. Familiar with such episodes, the antislavery delegation from New England moved with practiced calm toward St. John's Hotel. Urban boardinghouses overflowed with reformers during each anniversary week in the 1830s and 1840s, inundating the scarce lodging spaces otherwise accessible to abolitionists. Added to these usual pressures, the Garrisonian contingent also anticipated an exceptionally ugly battle among fellow abolitionists at the annual meeting of the American Anti-Slavery Society. The cresting debate over women's full membership in antislavery organizations had attracted, according to one observer, "far greater numbers" of activists than had attended prior conventions.1 The Franklin Street crowd had been summoned by a white man who [End Page 397] claimed to have witnessed an instance of interracial flirting in the street near the hotel. But a domestic threat soon overshadowed the sexual one. The crowd roared at the sight of "white, black and mulatto, men and women, married and single" carrying "trunks, cloaks, umbrellas, band-boxes, carpet bags, smelling bottles, bedding and other necessary articles" for what appeared to be the start of housekeeping together. Reporters on the scene noted the "cart loads of beds, kitchen utensils, provisions cooked and raw" that the abolitionists carried with them. They watched as the first arrivals "took possession" of the hotel's kitchen to cook a communal meal. A group of teenage girls from the Plymouth Juvenile Antislavery Society realized that the hotel would not have beds for everyone and began hanging up their shawls to portion its ballroom into makeshift sleeping quarters. In the street, "light-colored fathers" ushered their "precious family" indoors. As abolitionists "tumbled in the Hall, with luggage, bed and bedding," men in the crowd bellowed that it would just be a matter of time until they "all lay, like pigs, amalgamated together." A few of them accosted the hotel's proprietor and threatened to burn his building to the ground. He admitted that Arthur Tappan had reserved the hotel for a large group of "religious" travelers but denied admitting this "mixed multitude of commingling colors, tongues and notions of propriety" into his large, elegant hotel. Escorted by street toughs, the hotelier "downed the rough-board table of his early customers, tumbled it and their mass of trumpery into the street, and then compelled the amalgamators to follow their luggage."2 Where could this enormous group of abolitionists find lodging on a moment's notice? And even if the delegation broke into smaller parties, where would African Americans be welcome? Urban entrepreneurs and municipal authorities had built the exclusion of black lodgers into the first national network of hotels. Those who allowed black guests to stay among their predominantly white clientele risked legal suppression as well as extralegal violence. Their businesses could be closed by court order, a policy that survived until the mid-twentieth century. The problem of navigating hostile spaces was nothing new to African Americans in the 1830s and 1840s, particularly when it came to lodging, which was a necessity during journeys that took days or weeks. As Elizabeth Pryor [End Page 398] has recently shown, black mobility was heavily constrained by exclusion, segregation, and harassment. These actions profoundly limited black freedom and citizenship. Unrestricted mobility theoretically separated free people from slaves and bound servants. As freedom of movement increasingly defined citizenship in an expanding nation, "colored travelers" undermined the association in many white minds between blackness and servility. In this context, white Americans fortified their monopoly on travel accommodations and black activists fought campaign after campaign for the right to move freely. In practical terms, the black abolitionists ousted from St. John's Hotel would ordinarily have turned to hospitable friends or black-owned boardinghouses. African American boardinghouse-keepers such as Amelia Seaman advertised directly to black abolitionists, but these resources stretched thin during mass political gatherings. One attendee...

Trudna sztuka dorastania a świat bohaterów Aleksandra Kuprina

Ambiguous status of adolescents who are no longer children, while not yet adults clearly attracted Aleksandr Kuprin’s attention. In his works we find a large group of teenage girls and boys. There are also both reflections on rapid physical, physiological and psychological changes characteristic of this period as well as their impact on relationships with other people. Apart from that, Kuprin presents nightmares of puberty (fear, rebellion, alienation , loneliness and the desire to be understood at the same time, the need to be part of a group, sacrum of infatuation and profanum of nascent sensuality).

оценка взаимоотношений между представителями вагинальной микроэкосистемы у девочек-подростков с нарушениями репродуктивной системы

Violations of indigenous microflora composition associates with a wide variety of gynecological compli-cations. Thus, the qualitative and quantitative composition of lactobacilli and their associative capacity and functional activity may serve as a criterion of microecological well-being in the body. Aim. To study species diversity of lactobacilli in vaginal biotope teenage girls with gynecological pathologies and to assess the extent of their relationship with the combination of diversity profiles associated opportunistic pathogens.Materials and methods. The study included 107 adolescents with reproductive system disorders. The study was con-ducted with the use of gynecological and general microbiological methods.Results. It was revealed that in vaginal biocenosis of the studied group of teenage girls dominating lactobacilli were Lactobacillus plantarum and L. crispatus, the incidence of other species did not exceed 21 %. Among the representa-tives of opportunistic pathogenic microflora dominated coccal microflora and Corynebacterium spp., being the part of normal flora of vaginal mucosa. Analysis of species composition revealed a statistically significant relationship between certain types of lactobacilli and opportunistic microorganisms, i.e. lactobacilli showed no antagonistic activity towards the opportunistic microorganisms, and formed symbiotic relationships with them.Conclusions. Most commonness was found among the minor species of lactobacilli (L. iners, L. gasseri, L. jensenii), coagulase-negative staphylococci and fungi of Candida genus, and that increases the risk of transformation of normal microflora in the pathological one.

"How Should I Be?" A Photovoice Exploration Into Body Image Messaging for Young Women Across Ethnicities and Cultures.

Photovoice, a community-based participatory research method that allows participants to inform research questions in an intimate way, has proven successful with youth. A diverse group of teenage girls living in New York City were asked to take photographs and reflect on what messages they received and from whom, how these messages translate across cultures and ethnicities, and how these messages are internalized and acted on. The group selected specific photographs to discuss together and themes emerged to answer the research questions; themes were reinforced by journal responses and agreed on by the group at the concluding session. The participants identified the media, peers, and family as cultural influencers on body image but noted that these messages change depending on the delivering medium. Participants not only offered recommendations with policy implications for advertising and media giants but also urged public health practitioners, teachers, and other key stakeholders working with young women of color to simply provide them with more space for talking. While Photovoice served as an effective methodology for gaining a more expansive understanding of how body image messages are received with young women of color, the tool should be considered for youth development interventions that take a community-based participatory approach.

Twelve-month follow-up of advance provision of emergency contraception among teenage girls in Sweden—a randomized controlled trial

Objective. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of an intervention with advance provision of emergency contraceptive pills (ECP), condoms, and extended information to a targeted group of teenage girls, compared with a control group, 12 months after intervention.Material and methods. A randomized controlled trial among 420 girls, 15–19 years old, requesting emergency contraception at a youth clinic in Sweden was carried out. Data were collected by a questionnaire at the initial visit and structured telephone interviews 12 months after enrolment. Differences between the intervention group and the control group regarding ECP use, time interval from unprotected intercourse to ECP intake, contraceptive use, and sexual risk-taking were analysed.Results. One year after the intervention 62% of the girls could be reached for follow-up. The girls in the intervention group reported a shorter time interval (mean 15.3 hours) from unprotected intercourse to ECP intake compared to the control group (mean 25.8 hours) (p = 0.019), without any evidence of decreased use of contraceptives or increased sexual risk-taking.Conclusion. Even up to 12 months following the intervention, advance provision of ECP at one single occasion, to a specific target group of adolescent girls, shortens the time interval from unprotected intercourse to pill intake, without jeopardizing contraceptive use or increasing sexual risk-taking. Considering the clinical relevance of these results, we suggest that advance provision of ECP could be implemented as a routine preventive measure for this target group.

Cultural Citizenship and Cosmopolitan Practice: Global Youth Communicate Online

Calls now abound in a range of literatures “philosophy, education, sociology, anthropology, media studies;” to reimagine citizenship and identity in ways befitting a global age. A concept predominant in many such calls is the ancient idea of cosmopolitanism. Refashioned now to serve as a compass in a world that is at once radically interconnected and increasingly divided, a cosmopolitan point of view remains resiliently hopeful, asserting that people can both uphold local commitments and take into consideration larger arenas of concern. This article animates theorizing about cultural citizenship, identity formation, and communication with an examination of what might be considered sites for cosmopolitan practice’ an online international social network and offline local programs designed to engage youth in representing themselves and interacting with the representations of others. Specifically, we report our initial research with a group of teenage girls in India, tracing their participation online and offline and their cosmopolitan imaginings of self and other. We hope that this work with young people worlds away geographically, culturally, and ideologically will speak to English educators in the United States who feel likewise compelled to support their students in developing twenty-first-century literacies’ both the technological competencies and the values, knowledge, and dispositions’needed to participate confidently and critically as citizens of local and global worlds.

A Repeated Measure Analysis of the Serial Color-Word Test in Anorexia Nervosa

Patterns of adaptation to conflict in anorexia nervosa were assessed with the Serial Color-Word Test. A group of teenage girls with anorexia nervosa (n = 34) was compared with an age-matched group of normal girls (n = 54). Measures of linear and nonlinear change of reading times during each of the five consecutive trials of the test were compared between groups by means of a multivariate model with doubly repeated measures. Multivariate testing indicated statistically significant main effects of group and time, as well as a group x time interaction. The groups did not differ on linear change, while anorexia patients had higher scores of nonlinear change. When the same analysis was performed covarying for total reading times, the main effect of group remained significant and anorexia patients had higher scores on linear change. The anorexia group seemed less able to master the conflict situation over time, a tendency which could be related to treatment outcomes.

Viewpoint: Eating disorder wannabes

I first heard about “wannarexia” while sitting on a bus. A group of teenage girls were dissecting each of their classmates. One girl in particular received marked censure. “She's such a wannarexic,” said one. The others all agreed. Forced to admit that I was out of the loop with teen jargon I turned to the internet, the bible of youth trends. Wannarexia is a pejorative term and, says Urban Dictionary (www.urbandictionary.com), is “an imaginary disease most commonly found amongst preteen to teenage, overweight females who claim to have the eating disorder …

The relationship between knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases and actual sexual behaviour in a group of teenage girls.

To assess longitudinally the relationship between knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and sexual behaviour, contraceptive use, STD protection and social class in a group of Swedish teenage girls. Girls starting their upper secondary school education were invited to attend a teenage clinic during a period of 2 years (5 visits). Questions were asked about family situation, sexual activity, contraceptives, STD protection and knowledge about STD. Gynaecological examinations were performed on entry and completion, and when necessary during the observation period. Eighty-eight girls completed all visits during the observation period. At 16 years of age there were no significant differences in knowledge about various STD and STD protection between girls from different social classes or with respect to coital experience, age of coitarche and the subsequent number of sexual partners at 18 years of age. At 18 years of age there was a better knowledge about STDs and the need for STD protection (p < 0.01) among girls with coital experience compared with those who had no coital experience. Girls reporting many lifetime partners were best informed, but in spite of solid knowledge they did not protect themselves from infection. Even though 34% of the girls with coital experience were found to harbour a STD during the course of this study, almost all girls denied the possibility of having acquired or transmitted an infection. Although girls were well-informed about sexually transmitted diseases and knew how to avoid infections this knowledge had little influence on behaviour.