Heterosexual Union Research Articles

Food-based domestic violence and anemia among women in sexual unions in Nigeria: the effect of urbanization

In 2019, 1.74 billion people worldwide had anemia. In Nigeria, women of reproductive age are the most affected. Domestic violence affects the anemia prevalence, but few studies have examined the influence of urbanization on women in heterosexual unions (currently married, and cohabiting between). Using the social determinants of health framework, we argue that food-based violence and anemia vary among women residing in rural and urban areas. We used the Chi-square test and logistic regression to analyze the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey records (n = 10,499). The study showed that anemia occurs more among women in rural (66%) than in urban (34%) areas. In rural areas, anemia was 29% higher among women who approved food-based domestic violence (OR: 1.29, CI 1.15–1.57) than those who did not. In urban areas, food-based domestic violence was not significantly associated with anemia. This study emphasizes the urgent need for culturally sensitive maternal health interventions aimed at re-orienting individuals and families on violence in rural areas.

Do more egalitarian men experience less union dissolution? A couple‐level analysis

AbstractObjectiveWe consider whether heterosexual unions in which male partners are more gender egalitarian experience less union dissolution.BackgroundGender revolution theory argues that as men become more egalitarian in their attitudes and behaviors, female partners experience reduced work–family conflict, and couples enjoy more stable partnerships. In contrast, the “flip side” perspective argues that consequences of men's increased egalitarian behavior for their own experience of role incompatibility may counterbalance effects on union stability.MethodAnalyzing a sample of roughly 46,600 women‐years from the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society (1993–2019), we estimate random‐intercept and fixed‐effects models of union dissolution. Explanatory variables include, for each partner, measures of egalitarianism in gender role attitudes and weekly housework hours.ResultsOdds of union dissolution are not associated with men's absolute level of egalitarian attitudes, but they are higher when men's attitudes are less egalitarian than their partner's. Neither the absolute number of men's housework hours, nor their share of total housework, is associated with the odds of dissolution.ConclusionsOur findings are not generally supportive of gender revolution theory. Counterbalancing effects may provide an explanation for the findings, as per the flip side approach.ImplicationsTaking a couple‐level perspective advances understanding of the associations between gender egalitarianism and union dissolution.

The Meaning of ‘Marriage’: A Christian Perspective in a Zambian Context

This article focuses on the institution of marriage. It seeks to clarify the meaning of same-sex union from a Christian point of view and tries to tease out how this may be located within the conception of the institution of marriage. It is an attempt at redressing what seems to be a growing misuse of the term "marriage" in so far as it is applied outside the context of heterosexual union, a situation that, in the authors’ view, if left unchecked, may lead to the loss of the meaning of the term. Against this backdrop have been some contentious maneuvers by some sections of society in Zambia to push for the legalisation of same-sex marriages, which has bred divergent views among Zambians. The rationale behind the study, therefore, was to provide a critical difference between the union of the same sex and that of the opposite sex. Methodologically, the study was a desk review that sought reliance on secondary data to analyse and bring to light what marriage means in line with Christian teaching. It is apparent from the analysis of the paper that the general feeling of the majority Zambians is that the fact that other countries have legalised same-sex unions should not sway Zambia as a nation, as she has her own ground to position her stance on the matter, with the church as her pillar.

Toxic Love: Gender and Genre in Frances Sheridan’s Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph

How can so exemplary a heroine of sensibility as Sidney be so brutally punished in an apparently typical conduct fiction like Frances Sheridan’s Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph (1761)? This essay locates one cause for the novel’s unsatisfying effect in the hostility depicted between the sexes, which undermines the novel’s conduct-fiction moral code. Through close reading informed by queer theory and social history, I argue that all the major characters experience relationships poisoned by conflicting loyalties and interests—in familial bonds, homosocial friendships between pairs of both men and women, and heterosexual affairs. The emotional dysfunctionality of these social relations reflects the eighteenth-century cultural confusion over such issues as the social value of sensibility, the nature of sentimental friendship and its relationship to same-sex relations and to heterosexual unions. The account of these toxic rivalries suggests that this novel offers a satirical critique of conduct fiction because the genre endorses an anti-feminist ideology predicated on gender division.

Dynamism and deliberativeness in the interpretation of law on the example of cases concerning LGBTQ rights

The article illustrates the numerous contexts and multifaceted nature of the right to citizenship, to have a correct civil status record, or to benefit from tax reductions or exemptions on the same basis as other citizens, e.g. those in heterosexual unions. It shows how complicated it has become to adjudicate on matters that, in view of the subject matter, should be relatively clear and predictable. Reflexive interpretation of law makes it possible to take into account its non-eliminable changeability, as well as the fluidity of the meaning of terms and phrases used in legal texts – factors which oblige the interpreter to refer to extra-linguistic contexts of interpretation, i.e. to functional and systemic arguments. The author considers that it is not possible to reach an adequate understanding of the current legal context without analysing the social and cultural context, especially when considering pluralism of values as the modus vivendi of a democratic society.

Ugandan Men Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence: A Cross-Sectional Survey of Nationally Representative Data

Although women typically constitute the largest proportion of the population who experience the deleterious effects of intimate partner violence (IPV), understanding the bidirectional nature of IPV is important for developing nuanced prevention initiatives. This study examines data from the 2016 Ugandan Demographic and Health Survey. Participants were selected from households in all the 15 regions in Uganda using a two stage sampling design. A total of 2858 men who were in a heterosexual union or separated/divorced were included in the analysis. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed with the aim of identifying associations between selected demographic variables and male exposure to all forms of IPV combined, psychological violence, physical violence and sexual violence. The prevalence of lifetime IPV and during the 12 months preceeding the survey respectively was 43.6 and 30.5% in all forms, with 35.9 and 24.8% reporting psychological, 20.2 and 11.9% for physical and 8.2 and 5.7% sexual violence. The key factors associated with all forms of IPV were being afraid of their wife/partner most of the time (OR = 5.10, 95% CI 2.91, 8.96) controlling behaviour of the intimate partner (OR = 3.80, 95% CI 2.84, 5.07), bi-directional violence against the partner (OR = 3.20, 95% CI 2.49, 4.12), alcohol consumption by the intimate partner (OR = 1.85, 95% CI 1.40, 2.45). The factors associated with males who experience IPV appear to be modifiable and may warrant consideration for inclusion in programs supporting both males and females who experience IPV.

The things we do for love: Male Gypsification and heterosexual desire in Una cubana en España/A Cuban Woman in Spain (Bayón Herrera 1951)

This article explores the intersection among masculinity, racialization and nationhood in Una cubana en España/A Cuban Woman in Spain (). I examine the figure of Miguel, a White Spaniard who disguises himself as an Andalusian Gypsy to win the love of the Cuban celebrity Blanquita. Miguel seeks to accentuate ‘Gypsy’ stereotypes to hypermasculinize himself, also contributing to dissolving the very rigid limits of White, western masculinity. Andalusian folkloric behaviour provides Miguel with a hint of Blackness, and his ability to pass as White and non-White functions as a legitimation of ‘the other Spain’. This portrays Spain as a culturally conflicted nation, suggesting an inclination to reconcile not only with the formerly colonized but also with ‘the other’ inside each Spaniard. ‘Gypsification’, in conjunction with the characters’ heterosexual union, prompts manners of cultural coexistence with Cuba, as it reconfigures Spanish national identity within a broader transatlantic context.

"Thank U, Next"? Repartnering and the Household Division of Labor.

Drawing on life course and gender theories, this study tests competing hypotheses about the effect of repartnering on women's and men's levels and shares of housework. Amidst increasing cohabitation rates and union instability, women and men are likely to form and dissolve multiple marital and non-marital unions with different partners over the life course. However, most of our knowledge about the role of past relationships are based on cross-sectional studies comparing first- and higher-order union. This study investigates whether people change their housework arrangements upon repartnering and whether women and men experience similar patterns of change in heterosexual relationships. The analysis draws on 40 years of longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and a sample of 1,897 women and men who were observed in two sequential heterosexual unions. The author used fixed-effects models to estimate change in housework behavior upon repartnering. Overall, the results show stability in housework behavior upon repartnering once controlling for other life course changes that concur with repartnering. Women continued doing the majority of housework upon repartnering. The results suggest that forming a new heterosexual union evokes gender scripts which overall maintains the gendered housework behavior. Although housework is dynamic over the life course, the gender dynamics that shape housework is stable amid union instability.

Gender Inequality in Housework: Persistence and Change by Partnership and Parenthood Status in the Early 2000s

Heterosexual unions and parenthood are key contributors to gender inequality in housework. Over the last two decades, the social meaning of partnership and parenthood has changed. This study investigated whether this change in the narrative of partnership and parenthood status influenced changes in the housework gender gap. Using the American Time Use Survey 2003–2005 and 2013–2015, the findings show that housework gender gap was larger for people in a couple relationship than for singles. For nonparents, the gender gap in housework was no difference between those married and those cohabiting. Gender inequality in housework persisted among married parents but decreased among cohabiting parents, mainly because of the increase in cohabiting fathers’ housework time. These findings suggest a heterosexual union, particularly marriage, reproduces conventional gender roles. Men’s gendered behaviors were not uniform but diverse across partnership and parenthood status.

“In the Spirit of Symphony”

Abstract In the last few years, the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has increased its influence over the legislation of the Russian Federation. The ROC transports the ‘divine’ meanings onto secular legal standards, and the state takes over the substantive message of the relevant canon laws. The Russian leadership admitted the establishment of a symphonic relationship with the ROC between 2009 and 2018 in connection with the pontificate of Patriarch Kirill. The “spirit of symphony” stretches even to the new redaction of the Russian Constitution (2020) that speaks about “the faith in God, transmitted by the ancestors” (Art. 671.2), and defines and protects marriage as a heterosexual union (Art. 72.1ж1). Although the church faces certain opposition to its anti-abortion stance, it has managed to lobby some pro-life reservations in procedural law. Besides, the recent close cooperation with the State Duma promises a further rapprochement between the ROC and the Russian state.

RAZVOJ DJECE U ISTOSPOLNIM OBITELJIMA – ČINJENICE, PREDRASUDE I ULOGA DRUŠTVA

DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN IN SAME-SEX FAMILIES – FACTS, PREJUDICES AND THE ROLE OF SOCIETY Changes in the family structure which have been present in recent decades generated new forms of families, among which are same-sex families. These changes are mainly not accompanied by the same speed of changes in society through a change of the system of values, public perceptions and policies. Many same-sex couples raise children who were born in previous heterosexual relationships, realise parenthood through different reproduction techniques, and in some societies, which are more modern and mature than ours and which are pro-European and western oriented, adoption of children by same-sex couples was already legitimized a long time ago. A series of research studies connected to same-sex families and parenthood was conducted to date. The results of most scientific studies have shown that there are no significant changes between children who grow up in heterosexual unions and those who grow up in same-sex unions related to their mental and physical well-being, social competencies, behavioural adjustment, gender identity and role, sexual orientation, social relations and academic achievement. It seems that family processes, quality of parenthood and quality of the parent-child relationship influence the developmental outcomes far more than the family structure does. The influence of stigmatization seems to be controversial as the results are contradictory. The influence of stigmatization is negatively connected to mental health and quality of life of same-sex couples. In spite of that, their children develop into healthy persons in the homophobic society they grow up in. Nevertheless, society burdened by stereotypes and prejudice represents a certain social risk for same-sex families. Opposing scientific research which shows very few noticeable differences between the children of same-sex and heterosexual couples to social beliefs that are not based on scientific facts is important for the social survival of these different families. Scientific literature should be the only relevant factor in designing policies that position same-sex families within a wider social context. It is precisely due to this that this paper provides an overview of scientific research studies that are focused on the potential influences of same-sex unions on the children’s growing up,with an emphasis on the sexual and psychosocial development of the children. The presented results should form a basis for all discussions about the influence of same-sex parenthood on children and only they are relevant for policy-making based on scientific facts.

União homoafetiva

O ativismo judicial e o processo de judicialização iniciaram-se a partir da inércia do Estado, que deixou de apreciar algumas demandas sociais, deixando de acompanhar os anseios e as modificações que a sociedade apresentava. Assim, o Poder Judiciário começou a abarcar pra si a discussão e resolução de muitos casos polêmicos que emergiam em sociedade, mas que o Poder Legislativo evitava em discutir ou realizar alterações legislativas nessas temáticas. Dentre essas temáticas, têm-se as uniões homoafetivas, que existe há muito tempo em sociedade, mas o Poder Legislativo seguindo uma ótica heteronormativa, esquivasse em se posicionar. Dessa maneira, o Poder Judiciário tomou a frente dessas questões e por meio do julgamento da ADF 132 e da ADI 4277 reconheceu a união homoafetiva como entidade familiar, em analogia a união estável heterossexual, mediante o ativismo judicial e a judicialização. Destarte, o presente artigo visa discutir a atuação do jurisdicionado na atuação de determinadas causas sociais, em especial a união homoafetiva.

Affective trouble: a Jewish/Palestinian heterosexual wedding threatening the Israeli nation-state?

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to analyze the reactions of some mainstream Israeli politicians to a celebrity marriage between Tzahi Halevi, a Jewish Israeli actor, and Lucy Aharish, a Palestinian Israeli TV personality. Drawing upon the notion of stance, we unveil the affective trouble generated by this heterosexual union vis-à-vis the Israeli national project. More specifically, we tease out the kaleidoscopic collage of politicians’ affective (dis)attachments in relation to Halevi, Aharish and a variety of socioculturally relevant categories such as the Israeli nation. This affective patchwork, we argue, is itself the product of a tension that is at the very heart of the Israeli nation-state, that between the policing of Jewishness as the defining principle of the Israeli national imagined community, on the one hand, and the upholding of the democratic imperative to equal treatment and recognition, on the other.

MARRIAGE AND EMPIRE: CONSOLIDATION IN POST-LIBERATION ETHIOPIA (1941–74)

AbstractThis article deals with marriage as mobilized by the Ethiopian Empire as part of its consolidation processes after 1941. It particularly concentrates on post-liberation anxiety and how the Ethiopian Empire envisioned tackling this disquiet by reforming marriage. Within the context of (re)building the empire, policies, laws, and discourses around monogamous marriage instilled normative ideas to produce the imperial subjects — procreative and productive — that a modernizing empire required. Sex was articulated within the confines of a heterosexual union, not only as a legitimate act but also as a responsibility of couples who were accountable for the consolidation of the empire. Sexual relations out of marriage were condemned as a source of degeneracy and the ensuing danger that confronted the empire. New laws were introduced to legislate sex to tackle the unease the empire felt about non-normative sex and associated pleasure(s). What started out as a battle against the Italian legacy continued more forcefully in the 1950s and 1960s with the rise of ‘new problems’ that educated young women and men posed. The article relies on a range of sources such as policy, legal, religious, and travel documents; newspapers; and novels, as well as self-help books produced between the 1940s and 1960s.

Changes in union formation patterns in a context of male marriage-squeeze: an exploratory survey in rural Shaanxi, China

Starting from the postulate that formation of heterosexual unions is necessarily affected by a numerical imbalance between the sexes in the marriage market, this paper uses data from a survey conducted in 2014–2015 in three rural counties of Shaanxi, China, to analyse the mechanisms to cope with this rather particular socio-demographic situation and with the poverty that is endemic in the survey area, in order to achieve marriage by any means. This empirical study based on individual quantitative data analyses the consequences of the male marriage-squeeze from the point of view of married men. The difficulty of getting married is identified and taken into account to analyse three specific adaptation mechanisms: demographic adaptations, changes in social norms regarding mate selection criteria, and economic adaptations. Findings demonstrate that marriage timing and age gap between spouses are levers that enable men to enlarge their pool of potential mates. But monetization of marriage is one of the most immediate consequences of the competition between the men seeking to marry. In sum, the men who reported difficulties getting married did so later than the other men, have greater age-gap with their spouse, and are in a disadvantaged position when negotiating the terms of their marriage. We conclude that the male marriage-squeeze has to be understood not only in relation to how marriage is constructed as a family and social institution, but also as a catalyst for other inequalities, especially in terms of social and economic capital.

PRUNING OF SECTION 377, INDIAN PENAL CODE, 1860 AND CHANGED DYNAMICS OF MORALITY IN INDIAN SOCIETY

Purpose: The research paper has been written in order to analyze the impact of reading down the notorious section of Indian Penal Code, 1860 which being Section 377 which penalized every sexual act other than a heterosexual union even if consensual in the judgment given by the Supreme Court of India in Navjot Singh v. Union of India on the society of India. This paper aims to see its impact on the morality of the Indian community on the known definitions and working of the morality in the social and the legal system.
 Methodology: In this work classical method of research has been followed which being doctrinal research also, a comparative analysis between the legal text of Section 377 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 and the judgments announced by the Supreme court of India has been undertaken with the proportional qualitative analysis done with moral set up of Indian Society.
 Main Findings: The analysis conducted on law and social structure of Indian Society by the researchers point out to the fact that after reading down of Section 377, the social set-up of India is resenting the recognition granted to third sex and gender because it disturbs its moral thread which has knitted the social structure known as of now and introduces a third angle in known concepts of sex and sexuality which till now have been relying on parallel tracks of male and female sex/gender.
 Application: This research piece will aid students in understanding the concept of morality and will demonstrate its effect on the working of the Criminal system of a country. Moreover, it will also give support in understanding the role of biological sex and sexual preferences in shaping law as known today.
 Novelty/Originality: This research is novel in its attempt of wherein morality has been traced in the criminal legal system of the country which is most prominent in issues related to the sex of the human body and its sexuality.

Love in the Time of Aging: Sociological Reflections on Marriage, Gender and Intimacy in India

Drawing from a group of older and middle-aged (50 years above) women and men who have re-partnered (includes both marriage and cohabitation) through the assistance of a marriage bureau based in the city of Ahmedabad (Gujarat, India), we examine the sociological notions of relatedness and the “practices” of family and intimacy. We ask whether this “non-normative” process of becoming kin in the post-reproductive lives of these participants, holds promise for a democratization of the private sphere as noted by Giddens (1992) where the social process of relatedness is privileged over its biological/procreational forms. In the process, we examine how our study participants tend to organize their newly established relationships through contradictory tensions of negotiations, commitment, social obligation and personal autonomy. In-depth interviews conducted in a dyadic format revealed gendered expressions of personhood, intimacy and sociality. For example, men expected their relationship to bring in nostalgic ideals of domesticity, whereas women associated re-partnering with increased social status, kinship support and economic security underscoring the expected social benefits associated with caste-endogamous idealized heterosexual unions. Significantly, caste relations were instrumental in determining partner preferences and relationship formation with family members among older couples. We show that despite being circumscribed by conventional social scripts, women in these relationships use their (post-reproductive) age to an emancipatory advantage by bargaining with patriarchal compulsions of verilocality and lack of say in partner decisions. In a context where cultural norms prescribe a social pathology of asexuality and familial dependence in later life, this new form of relatedness offers an uplifting narrative of self-disclosure and intimacy, although ultimately reproducing social, economic and symbolic hierarchies of gender and generation.

A Foe of Democracy, Gender and Sexual Equality in Macedonia: The Worrisome Role of the Party VMRO-DPMNE

Between 2006 and 2017, the political power in the Republic of Macedonia was predominantly held by the Christian-democratic party VMRO-DPMNE. Its increasing opposition to gender and sexual equality manifested, inter alia, in the imposition of an antidiscrimination law, which did not explicitly recognise sexual orientation as a ground of discrimination, the replacement of the rather liberal abortion law with a restrictive one, and the two attempts to constitutionally define marriage as a heterosexual union. Building upon earlier inquiries into the development of the LGBT movement in Macedonia and the introduction of the new abortion law, I examine here the discourse which the ruling coalitions used to justify the removal of the term ‘sexual orientation’ from the antidiscrimination law, and the need for a constitutional definition of marriage. I explore further how the authorities pushed their conservative agenda by undermining democracy through infringement of the official legislative procedures and suppression of dissent. In closing, I underline the retrograde impact of de-democratisation on the already and the yet to be attained progressive legislation and practices in the realm of gender and sexual equality.

Thai women's experiences of and responses to domestic violence.

PurposeDomestic violence has been linked to many health consequences. It can impact women’s mental, physical, sexual, and reproductive health, and all of these effects can be long lasting. Despite the growing awareness of the deleterious effects of domestic violence in Thailand, there have been few nation-wide studies that have examined the issue and its consequences. In fact, Thailand has not examined intimate partner violence incidence for the past 20 years. This study aimed to investigate the consequences of domestic violence across the country.Subjects and methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in four areas of Thailand: central, southern, northern, and northeastern. One province in each area was selected by simple random sampling techniques. One thousand four hundred and forty-four married or cohabiting females in a heterosexual union, aged 20–59 years, were included in the sample and were interviewed about their experiences of psychological, physical, and sexual violence by their male partners.ResultsOne thousand four hundred and forty-four women completed the interviews. Sixteen percent of respondents encountered domestic violence in its various psychological, physical, or sexual forms. In the majority of cases, all forms of domestic violence were exerted repeatedly. Four-fifths of women who faced domestic violence reported that it had an impact on their physical and mental health as well as employment. This study also found that half of the domestic violence survivors reported their children had witnessed violent situations. These women exercised four coping strategies to deal with their domestic violence: 1) counseling; 2) requesting help from others; 3) fighting back; and 4) running away from home.ConclusionThe findings confirm that domestic violence has implications that extend beyond health and result in the deterioration of the quality of women’s lives. These results underscore that domestic violence is a serious problem that must be addressed in Thai society.

Gay Fathers on the Margins: Race, Class, Marital Status, and Pathway to Parenthood

ObjectiveTo investigate stratification within gay fatherhood communities.BackgroundAs laws and attitudes have become friendlier to queer families in recent decades, gay fathers have experienced increased visibility in and through both media and scholarship. However, this visibility has been distributed unevenly along normative patterns of marital status, race, class, and kinship.MethodParticipant observation of gay fathers groups was conducted in California, Texas, and Utah over a period of 61 months. Using theoretical sampling of group members, 56 gay fathers also participated in semistructured interviews. Themes were identified and refined through a 3‐stage iterative coding process, consistent with a grounded theory approach.ResultsFindings suggest that single gay fathers, gay fathers of color, and gay fathers who had children in heterosexual contexts occupy marginalized statuses within the gay fatherhood community. Gay fathers develop distinct mechanisms of resilience to respond to the challenges associated with their marginalization.ConclusionThe experiences of gay fathers on the margins highlight the negative consequences of gay fatherhood discourses that reproduce family normativity. The resources available through gay parenting groups simultaneously played a role in gay fathers' well‐being, resilience, and marginalization.ImplicationsEfforts to expand opportunities for gay families should consider coalitions with other marginalized family forms. Gay parents who had children in heterosexual unions should be specifically targeted through gay parenting outreach.