Domain Of Men Research Articles

Women’s search for public space and leisure in Agra: cots, courtyards, and riverbank

ABSTRACT Historians have often highlighted the centrality of bazaars and the streets in urban public life in India as a space for politics and mobilisation. Historically, these bazaars and streets have been the domain of men, while spaces created by dominant urban planning logics like sequestered parks and enclosed marketplaces are marked by exclusion across various axes. Where do women then find opportunities for leisure, solidarity, chance encounter, or discursive politics? The paper explores this question through a case study of a low-income riverside settlement in Agra using ethnographic field work conducted in 2019. This included observations, interviews, and group discussions with residents, community leaders, and police officials, and a systematic review of local and national news reports. The paper finds that for women, public spaces like riverbanks, streets, and large parks are characterised by a ‘mahaul’ (translated here as affective environment) that is risky and ‘kharab’ (immoral or corrupt) due to their sticky affective association with harassment, transgression, romance, and the risk of elopements. Instead, women find opportunities for leisure and sociality by coming together on cots in shared courtyards or rooftops within their neighbourhood – these form their ‘enclosed outside’ where they find opportunities for sociality, leisure (which exists simultaneously with work), and discussion. By centring women’s experiences, vocabularies, and everyday relationship with public spaces, and underscoring the register of ‘affect’ in these experiences, this paper makes an important contribution to the growing literature on gendering right to the city and the feminist argument for women’s right to leisure spaces. The paper also centres the importance of local built elements like shared courtyards within a neighbourhood especially for women, with implications for urban planning and design.

Katherine Lucey and Solar Sister: empowering women in sub-Saharan Africa to create clean energy businesses

Research methodology This case study was developed using data from secondary sources. The data was collected from the organization’s website, annual reports, press releases, published reports and documents available on the internet. Case overview/synopsis According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) World Energy Outlook (WEO), 775 million people worldwide would not have access to electricity even by 2022, with the majority of them living in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (Cozzi et al., 2022). In SSA, energy poverty had been a serious issue over the years. According to the IEA, 600 million people lacked access to electricity in 2019, while 900 million people cooked with traditional fuels (Cozzi et al., 2022). A World Bank report from 2018 said many SSA countries had energy access levels of less than 25% (Cozzi et al., 2022). Energy poverty in SSA hampered sustainable development and economic growth. Despite significant efforts to address this poverty, Africa remained the continent with the lowest energy density in the world. Although solar and other energy-saving products were appealing, their adoption rates were modest, and their distribution strategies were not particularly effective. The lack of electricity exacerbated a number of socioeconomic problems, as it increased the demand for and use of wood fuel, which caused serious health problems and environmental harm. While working in Uganda, Katherine Lucey (Lucey) saw that having no electricity had negatively affected women’s health in particular because it was women who were responsible for taking care of the home. These effects were both direct and indirect. The women’s reliance on potentially harmful fuels for cooking, such as firewood and charcoal, resulted in their suffering from respiratory and eye problems, in addition to other health issues. Furthermore, the distribution of energy-saving and renewable energy items was seen as the domain of men, and there was an inherent gender bias in energy decisions. Women were not encouraged to participate in energy decisions, despite the fact that they were the ones managing the home and would gain from doing so. In addition, because there was no light after dusk, people worked less efficiently. Lucey saw the economic and social difficulties that electricity poverty caused for women in rural Africa. She also witnessed how the lives of a few families and organizations changed after they started using solar products. This motivated her to start Solar Sister with the mission of achieving a sustainable, scalable impact model for expanding access to clean energy and creating economic opportunities for women. Solar Sister collaborated with local women and women-centric organizations to leverage the existing network. Women were trained, provided all the necessary support and encouraged to become Solar Sister Entrepreneurs and sell solar products in their communities and earn a commission on each sale. To provide clean energy at their customers’ doorstep, the Solar Sister Entrepreneurs received a “business in a bag” – a start-up kit containing inventory, training and marketing assistance. Solar Sister’s business model empowered the women in SSA by providing them with an entrepreneurship opportunity and financial independence. Also, the use of solar products helped them shift from using hazardous conventional cooking fuels and lead a healthy life. The children in their households were able to study after sunset, and people in the community became more productive with access to clean energy. The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, however, had a serious impact on Solar Sister. It found it challenging to mentor and encourage new business owners due to restrictions on travel and on group gatherings. The Solar Sisters were unable to do business outside the house either. Their source of income, which they relied on to support their families, was therefore impacted. The COVID-19 outbreak also slowed down the progress achieved by the community over the years and made household energy purchasing power worse. Furthermore, the organization was also grappling with other issues like limited access to capital, lack of awareness and infrastructural challenges. Another challenge lay in monitoring and evaluating the organization’s impact on the last mile. In the absence of standardized measurement tools and issues in determining the social impact of Solar Sister, it would be interesting to see what approach Lucey will take to measure the impact of Solar Sister on the society. What measurement tool/s will Lucey implement to gauge the social impact of Solar Sister? Complexity academic level This case is intended for use in PG/Executive-level programs as part of a course on Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability.

The influence of genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease in cognitive decline differs among sex in cognitively unimpaired individuals in the Alzheimer’s continuum

AbstractBackgroundEvidence shows sex differences in cognitive performance in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, studies exploring whether genetic predisposition to AD differs in cognition among sex are scarce. We aimed to evaluate whether the influence of AD genetic liability in cognition differs among sex in cognitively unimpaired (CU) individuals in the AD continuum.MethodWe included 318 CU individuals from the ALFA+ cohort (Table 1). Cognitive change (∼3‐year follow‐up) was measured with a PACC and for individual cognitive domains. Polygenic scores estimating each participant’s genetic predisposition to AD were calculated with (PRS‐AD) and without (PRS‐ADnoAPOE) considering the APOE region (threshold = 5×10‐6). Amyloid positivity (Aβ+) was defined as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aβ42/40<0.0071. Generalized linear models stratified by sex and amyloid status were performed to assess the association between cognitive change and genetic predisposition to AD. Models were corrected by age, years of education, and time between visits. Models were additionally corrected by baseline Jack’s cortical thickness AD signature as a marker of neurodegeneration.ResultIn Aβ+ women (n = 65), a higher genetic predisposition to AD was associated with steeper memory (p PRS_AD = 0.04; pPRS_ADnoAPOE = 0.01) and executive function (p PRS_ADnoAPOE = 0.001) decline after correcting by brain AD signature. In Aβ+ men (n = 44), a higher genetic predisposition to AD was associated with worse follow‐up performance on attention (p PRS_AD = 0.05, pPRS_ADnoAPOE = 0.04), and results did not remain significant after correcting by brain AD signature (Figure 1). In Aβ‐, genetic predisposition to AD was also associated with executive function decline in women (n = 122) (p PRS_AD = 0.16, p PRS_ADnoAPOE = 0.02), while Aβ‐ men (n = 87) showed worse follow‐up performance on visual processing (p PRS_AD = 0.251, pPRS_ADnoAPOE = 0.001). Results remained significant after correcting by brain AD signature (Figure 2).ConclusionOur results showed that genetic predisposition to AD is associated with changes in different cognitive domains in men and women. These findings will contribute to developing precision medicine approaches in AD encompassing sex‐sensitive strategies for prevention.

Elizabeth Boyd's Disappearing Act: Performing Literary Legacy on the Georgian Stage

How do we trace the historical processes that grant some writers visibility and, hence, legacy, while shoving others into the historical closet? This essay offers the case study of Elizabeth Boyd (1727-1745), a novelist, poet, and playwright who has received some attention from scholars interested in women’s contributions to the legacy of William Shakespeare in the second quarter of the eighteenth century. In particular, her unperformed play, Don Sancho: Or, the Students Whim, a Ballad Opera of Two Acts, with Minerva’s Triumph, a Masque (1739) dramatizes a woman writer’s reflections on the politics of legacy at this formative moment in the history of authorship and the British theater. While the play was not performed, key scenes were later plagiarized in popular afterpieces by theater managers and playwrights Henry Giffard and David Garrick. Boyd, along with her inclusive vision of theatrical legacy as the domain of men and women of different classes, disappears in the male playwrights’ fantasies of exclusively masculine, British literary greatness. The story of Boyd’s erasure speaks to the gendered and classed exclusions and elisions in the social and economic processes by which legacy is formed, in this case, in the gendered power relations of eighteenth-century theater and its management.

What is “prison culture”? Developing a theoretical and methodological foundation for understanding cultural schema in prison

AbstractWhat does it mean to say that a prison has a “culture?” Scholars have long emphasized the presence of a “prison code” and, more recently, a “racial code” as salient cultural domains in men's prisons. Yet, even though most people intuitively understand what is meant by “prison culture,” little progress has been made regarding the conceptualization and operationalization of culture as an analytical construct in prison scholarship. The current study makes two primary contributions to this literature. First, drawing on advances in anthropology, cultural sociology, and cognitive science, we incorporate the concept of cultural schema to provide a concrete analytical construct. Second, we test varying conceptualizations of cultural schema as either characterized by consensus or as overlapping relational structures. Using cultural consensus and correlational class analyses among a sample of 266 incarcerated men, we find little evidence of a culture of consensus for either the prison code or the racial code. Furthermore, we show evidence of heterogenous schema among these cultural domains. Our study is relevant to wider disciplinary work on culture as the problem of analytical precision we address is characteristic of much of the work in criminology and criminal justice that evokes culture as an explanatory device.

Relationships between the quality of life and the intensity of pain and functional efficiency in women and men with degenerative changes in the lumbar spine

Introduction. Back pain is a serious medical and social problem. The aim of this study was relationships between the quality of life and the intensity of pain and functional efficiency in women and men with degenerative changes in the lumbar spine. Material and methods. The study involved 53 women and 52 men, who, due to chronic pain in the lumbar spine due to degenerative changes, were qualified for therapy at the Local Government Health Center in Miedziana Gora. The research tool was NRS scale, Oswestry Distability Index ODI and shortened version of the survey WHOQOL-BREF. The collected research results were analysed with the use of Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test and Spearman rank correlation. Results. Statistically significant differences in the values of the ODI questionnaire relating to the category "care" (p = 0.046) were found. In men, statistically significant negative associations between body build and the WHOQOL-BREF survey values concerning the somatic (p = 0.012), psychological (p = 0.007) and social (p = 0.022) domains were found. Statistically significant positive associations between the intensity of pain and functional capacity according to the ODI were found in both sexes (p < 0.001). Statistically significant negative relationships between the NRS value and the psychological domain were noted in women (p = 0.023), and with the somatic (p < 0.001), psychological (p = 0.006), socjal (p = 0.013) and environmental (p < 0.001) domain in men. Wnioski. In terms of functional efficiency, men with back pain caused by degenerative changes are characterized by greater limitations in terms of activities related to care. In men, the increase in BMI is accompanied by a decrease in the quality of life in the somatic, psychological and social domains. In both sexes, the increase in the intensity of back pain affects the deterioration of functional efficiency. In women, the increase in the intensity of pain was associated with a decrease in the quality of life in the psychological domain, and in men in the somatic, psychological, social and environmental domains.

Scoping review of sexual and reproductive healthcare for men in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region: a handful of paradoxes?

BackgroundNo study appraised the knowledge gaps and factors impacting men’s sexual and reproductive health (SRH) in MENA (Middle East and North Africa). The current scoping review undertook this task.MethodsWe searched PubMed and Web of Science (WoS) electronic databases for original articles on men’s SRH published from MENA. Data was extracted from the selected articles and mapped out employing the WHO framework for operationalising SRH. Analyses and data synthesis identified the factors impacting on men’s experiences of and access to SRH.ResultsA total of 98 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. The majority of studies focused on HIV and other sexually transmissible infections (67%); followed by comprehensive education and information (10%); contraception counselling/provision (9%); sexual function and psychosexual counselling (5%); fertility care (8%); and gender-based violence prevention, support/care (1%). There were no studies on antenatal/intrapartum/postnatal care and on safe abortion care (0% for both). Conceptually, there was lack of knowledge of the different domains of men’s SRH, with negative attitudes, and many misconceptions; as well as a deficiency of health system policies, strategies and interventions for SRH.ConclusionMen’s SRH is not sufficiently prioritized. We observed five ‘paradoxes’: strong focus on HIV/AIDS, when MENA has low prevalence of HIV; weak focus on both fertility and sexual dysfunctions, despite their high prevalence in MENA; no publications on men’s involvement in sexual gender-based violence, despite its frequency across MENA; no studies of men’s involvement in antenatal/intrapartum/postnatal care, despite the international literature valuing such involvement; and, many studies identifying lack of SRH knowledge, but no publications on policies and strategies addressing such shortcoming. These ‘mismatches’ suggest the necessity for efforts to enhance the education of the general population and healthcare workers, as well as improvements across MENA health systems, with future research examining their effects on men’s SRH.

Exercise Associated with Cognitive Function in Older Men with Prostate Cancer Undergoing Androgen Deprivation Therapy.

To examine associations between exercise and cognitive function in older men undergoing hormone therapy for prostate cancer. Men ≥ 65years old with prostate cancer, currently undergoing androgen deprivation therapy for ≥ 6months (n = 50), completed the Godin-Shephard Leisure-Time Physical Activity Questionnaire, and standard neuropsychological tests. Pearson's correlations and linear regressions were used to examine associations between exercise and cognitive performance. Exercise was significantly positively correlated with performance on tests of memory, attention, and executive function. Linear regressions showed that when controlling for age and education, exercise remained a significant predictor of attention and executive function performance (p < 0.05), and showed moderate, but statistically non-significant effects on memory performance (p < 0.10). Greater exercise is associated with better functioning in multiple cognitive domains in men with prostate cancer undergoing hormone therapy, providing proof-of-concept evidence that exercise may be a feasible intervention to limit cognitive dysfunction in prostate cancer patients.

The Witch in Flight

The Witch in Flight

Entrepreneurial Opportunities for Women

Over the past decade, there has been a boom within the business environment, with women entrepreneurs evolving in large numbers contributing to the social and economic level development of society. Economic participation and development of organizations indicate that 15% to 35% of entrepreneurs are women. The business being the fulcrum of any economy, it is the responsibility of the business proprietors, be they, men or women, to weigh the effect of their operations on society. Entrepreneurship in management is the process of organizing existing resources for marketable products and services. Women business owners who have adopted and executed entrepreneurial exercises and techniques in their firms can be called women entrepreneurs. Generally, entrepreneurship is considered a domain for men; however, women have pioneered fields like teaching, retail, and health professions for a very long period, and women are known for their problem-solving strategies to deal with problems, issues, multitasking, team building and the successful development of organizations. The story of women entrepreneurs is a societal change that has been happening since the early 21st century. Economic growth has been steady in countries where women have advanced in entrepreneurship, whereas in countries where growth in women's entrepreneurship is not so evident Economic development has been stagnant. Hence, this paper narrates the entrepreneurial opportunities for women in India.

PL04 Presentation Time: 2:45 PM: A Randomized Phase III Trial Comparing Health-Related Quality of Life After Low Dose Rate or High Dose Rate Prostate Brachytherapy Boost Combined with External Beam Pelvic Radiotherapy

<h3>Purpose</h3> This randomized phase III trial compared health related quality of life (HRQOL) in urinary, bowel, and sexual domains in men with intermediate (IR) and high-risk (HR) prostate cancer treated with combined external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) and prostate brachytherapy (BT) using either low dose rate (LDR) or high dose rate (HDR). <h3>Materials and Methods</h3> Eligible men receiving pelvic EBRT (46 Gy/23F) combined with prostate BT were randomized to either an LDR (110 Gy) or HDR (15 Gy) boost. HDRBT preceded EBRT by 1 week while LDRBT followed. Time 0 for QOL evaluations was day 1 of any radiotherapy. The Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC) questionnaire was used to evaluate HRQOL q3 months for the first year, q6 months to 3 years and then annually. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare mean EPIC scores for urinary, bowel and sexual summary domains. <h3>Results</h3> From 01/2014 to 01/2020, 191 men were randomized: 42% IR and 58% HR. Median age was 71 years. T stage was T1c/T2a:34%, T2b:28%, T2c:24% and T3:13%. 57% had Gleason 7, 13% Gleason 8 and 30% Gleason 9. 74% received ADT with at least 3 months neoadjuvant and for a median duration of 12 mo. Median follow-up was 48 mo. HDR patients had higher (better) HRQOL urinary domain scores at 3 mo. (79.0 vs. 69.4; p<.001) and 6 mo. (84.0 vs. 76.9; p<.001), and higher bowel domain scores at 3 mo. (87.0 vs. 82.1; p=.005) and 6 mo. (88.7 vs. 82.8; p=.023). Better bowel domain scores were sustained at 24, 36, and 48 mo. In contrast, HDR patients had worse HRQOL urinary domain scores at 1 mo. (73.6 vs. 80.7; p=.003). There was no statistically significant difference in HRQOL sexual domain scores between the two arms. <h3>Conclusions</h3> The effect of HDRBT on urinary and bowel domains was evident 1 mo. post implant but had recovered at 3 and 6 mo., while LDR patients were still experiencing significant QOL impact of their ongoing LDRBT. Although HDR patients sustained an advantage in long term bowel function compared to LDR, there was no difference in long term urinary QOL between the 2 types of BT after the acute phase subsided. The patient treatment experience of combined EBRT/BT is improved with HDR. Efficacy will be reported at 5 year minimum follow up.

A Randomized Phase III Trial Comparing Health-Related Quality of Life after Low Dose Rate (LDR) or High Dose Rate (HDR) Prostate Brachytherapy Boost Combined with External Beam Pelvic Radiotherapy (EBRT)

<h3>Purpose/Objective(s)</h3> This randomized phase III trial compared health related quality of life (HRQOL) in urinary, bowel, and sexual domains in men with intermediate (IR) and high-risk (HR) prostate cancer treated with combined EBRT and prostate brachytherapy (BT) using either LDR or HDR. <h3>Materials/Methods</h3> Eligible men receiving pelvic EBRT (46 Gy/23F) combined with prostate BT were randomized to either an LDR (110 Gy) or HDR (15 Gy) boost. HDRBT preceded EBRT by 1 week while LDRBT followed. Time 0 for QOL evaluations was day 1 of any radiotherapy. The Expanded Prostate Cancer Composite (EPIC) questionnaire was used to evaluate HRQOL q3 months for the first year, q6 months to 3 years and then annually. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare mean EPIC scores for urinary, bowel and sexual summary domains. <h3>Results</h3> From 01/2014 to 01/2020, 191 men were randomized: 42% IR and 58% HR. Median age was 71 years. T stage was T1c/T2a:34%, T2b:28%, T2c:24% and T3:13%. 57% had Gleason 7, 13% Gleason 8 and 30% Gleason 9. 74% received ADT with at least 3 months neoadjuvant and for a median duration of 12 mo. Median follow-up was 48 mo. HDR patients had higher (better) HRQOL urinary domain scores at 3 mo (79.0 vs. 69.4; p<.001) and 6 mo (84.0 vs. 76.9; p<.001), and higher bowel domain scores at 3 mo (87.0 vs. 82.1; p=.005) and 6 mo (88.7 vs. 82.8; p=.023). Better bowel domain scores were sustained at 24, 36, and 48 mo. In contrast, HDR patients had worse HRQOL urinary domain scores at 1 month (73.6 vs. 80.7; p=.003). There was no statistically significant difference in HRQOL sexual domain scores between the two arms. <h3>Conclusion</h3> The effect of HDRBT on urinary and bowel domains was evident 1 mo post implant but had recovered at 3 and 6 mo, while LDR patients were still experiencing significant QOL impact of their ongoing LDRBT. Although HDR patients sustained an advantage in long term bowel function compared to LDR, there was no difference in long term urinary QOL between the 2 types of BT after the acute phase subsided. The patient treatment experience of combined EBRT/BT is improved with HDR.

Still “the Domain of Men?” Gender Quotas and Women's Inclusion in Local Politics in Italy

Gender quota laws, which require political parties to include women among candidate lists, now exist at the subnational level in 15 European countries. Do they increase the inclusion of women in local legislative processes and facilitate the representation of women's interests? To make progress on these questions, we leverage data from the “most similar” Italian region of Campania, which implemented a quota law in 2010, and Calabria, which had no quota law. Using a mixed‐method approach, we pair quantitative analysis of all legislative bills proposed and passed in both regional councils from 2007 to 2017 with qualitative interviews with regional councillors. We find that Campania's gender quota law increased women's inclusion in the legislative process, but little evidence that this translated into substantive policy gains for women. Our qualitative evidence suggests that arcane legislative processes, male‐dominated leadership roles, and a masculinist culture prevent women's policy interests from being prioritized.

Perception of dignity in older men and women in the early stages of dementia: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundDementia is a serious problem in old age, that impacts an individual’s ability to function and may threaten personal dignity. Given the variable features of the illness and the diversity of life experiences, many factors may contribute to the perception of dignity by men and women with dementia. The purpose of the study was to explore the factors that contribute to dignity and its domains in men and women with dementia.MethodsThis cross-sectional study involved 316 community-dwelling patients with early-stage dementia (aged ≥ 60) (PwD). We assessed the participants’ sociodemographic and social involvement characteristics, health-related variables (pain, depression, physical performance, visual and hearing impairments), attitude to aging, and self-sufficiency in the activities of daily living (ADL). These factors were investigated as independent variables for the perception of dignity and of its domains in men and women.ResultsMultivariate regression analysis showed that PwD experienced minor dignity problems in the early stages of dementia. In both men and women higher rates of depression, negative attitudes to aging, and pain were associated with reductions in the perception of dignity. In men, but not in women visual impairment had a negative effect on overall dignity, and on the associated domains of ‘Loss of Autonomy’ and ‘Loss of Confidence’. In women, lowered self-sufficiency in ADL contributed to reduced self-perception of dignity and in the associated domains of ‘Loss of Purpose of Life’, ‘Loss of Autonomy’, and ‘Loss of Confidence’. Sociodemographic and social involvement characteristics, hearing impairment, and physical performance did not influence the participants’ self-perception of dignity.ConclusionThe results suggested that several common factors (depression, attitudes to aging, and pain) contribute to the perception of dignity in both men and women. Other factors, visual impairments in men, and self-sufficiency in ADL in women, appear to be more gender specific. These differences might relate to their specific gender roles and experiences. The self-perception of dignity in PwD can be helped by supporting the individual, to the extent that their illness allows, in maintaining activities that are important to their gender roles, and that preserve their gender identity.Trial registrationNCT04443621.

Breaking Calabashes: Rediscovering the Potential of Wāhine Kaiwhakairo

Wairaka chanted, ‘Kia Whakatāne au i ahau - Let me act like a man!’ as she picked up the hoe (paddle), saving the Mātaatua waka. It has been written that wāhine (woman) were not permitted to handle the hoe. However, Wairaka gained the courage and determination to save the lives of the Mātaatua waka. ‘Kia whakamataora ahau i ahau anō’ like Wairaka, many wāhine Māori have gained the courage to pick up the whao (chisel) determined to reclaim and reimagine the potential of wāhine carvers. This research explores wāhine kaiwhakairo - the pursuit of knowledge from an archetypal approach called ‘He wāhine wāwāhi tahā – a woman who breaks calabashes.’ I was led to believe that the art of whakairo (carving) is the domain of men. However, further research indicates that some Atua wāhine (female gods) and wāhine Māori either played a significant role in whakairo or carved. Wāhine Māori, who showed creative attributes and talent early, may not have had the opportunity to nurture that talent in whakairo. Colonial power imbalances and belief systems in Māori gender roles and society have disadvantaged some wāhine Māori from acquiring the knowledge of whakairo. There is a critical disparity in literature and low visibility of whakairo artworks by wāhine Māori within contemporary art spaces. The practice-led research seeks to activate discussion and reflection around the perspectives and experiences of wāhine carvers, despite the disparity within literature and gallery spaces. Wāhine carvers have started to deconstruct and critique the colonial lens that disadvantages them by breaking down barriers and claiming space to enhance the potential and increase the visibility of wāhine kaiwhakairo.

The Unintended Side-Effects of a Major Development Strategy: Commercialization of Smallholder Production and Women Empowerment in Uganda

As many African countries promote commercial agricultural production, it is important to understand how this strategy influences the intra-household balance of power. Commercial crops are traditionally considered the domain of men, and women empowerment may suffer. We use a quasi-experimental design to address the relation between commercial production and women’s voice within the household in rural Uganda. We compare empowerment in households in an area targeted by a large program stimulating rice as a non-traditional cash crop with similar households elsewhere using double robust regression methods. We conclude that the commercialisation program had a significant negative effect on women empowerment in production and women’s control over income, while men’s empowerment in those domains increased. We find only weak effects for social empowerment. Based on these results, we recommend that policies and programs to stimulate commercial agricultural production among smallholder include a strong gender component.

Women in Nephrology: The Journey, Barriers, Challenges and the Future

Women in Nephrology: The Journey, Barriers, Challenges and the Future

The Relationship Between COVID-19 Confinement, Psychological Adjustment, and Sexual Functioning, in a Sample of Portuguese Men and Women

Past research has revealed the detrimental effects of social isolation and physical distancing measures in health related outcomes. However, only recently COVID-19 confinement measures provided a context to test whether such detrimental effects exist in the human sexuality domain. This study was aimed at testing the relationship between COVID-19 confinement levels and sexual functioning domains in men and women, while accounting for the mediating role of psychological adjustment during lockdown. Two hundred and forty five men and 417 women completed a web survey on the effects of COVID-19 in sexual health. The reference period includes the first confinement in Portugal (March 19-June 1, 2020). Data were handled under Hays' procedures for simple mediation analysis. Measurement outcomes included self-reported levels of confinement, IIEF and FSFI scores, and psychological adjustment during lockdown. Psychological adjustment during lockdown mediated the relationship between confinement levels and most sexual functioning domains in men but not in women. Also, while confinement levels were not directly related with most sexual functioning domains, psychological adjustment during lockdown did predict lower sexual functioning in both genders. Findings support that human sexual functioning should be framed within a contextual perspective, emphasizing how psychological adjustment and situational life stressors, such as lockdown situations, shape individuals' sexuality. Such perspective should be considered in treatment protocols implemented during current pandemic. Data add to the literature on the effects of lockdown in the sexuality domain. However, the study precludes inference of causality and targets only a little proportion of all the dynamics involved in sexuality during the current historical moment. Psychological adjustment during COVID-19 seems to have a role on human sexual functioning, over the single effects of confinement. Carvalho J, Campos P, Carrito M, etal. The Relationship Between COVID-19 Confinement, Psychological Adjustment, and Sexual Functioning, in a Sample of Portuguese Men and Women. J Sex Med 2021;18:1191-1197.

Special Issue of Studies in Costume &amp; Performance 7.2: “Costume and Fairy Tales”

395 NOTES AND CORRESPONDENCE in unlikely places, as in the early days of a genre once thought to be the domain of men, and in research and teaching both the history of science fiction and the interrelations between feminism and popular culture. The collection reprints “Letter of the Twenty Fourth Century” (1929), “Men with Wings (1929), “Women with Wings” (1930), “The Conquest of Gola” (1931), “The Fall of Mercury” (1935), “The Human Pets of Mars” (1936), and Stone’s speech from Balticon, “The Day of the Pulps” (1974). I could not have completed the collection without the cooperation and support of the author’s surviving family members, particularly her son Donald Silberberg, whose test of me as a researcher required explaining how I had used his mother’s role-reversal title story in teaching College Writing. 80% of the male students had argued that the author was a woman, while an equal percentage of the female students had argued just as persuasively that the author must have been a man. “My mother would have liked that,” he said, and our collaborative relationship began (5). As a Jewish scholar and multiculturalist researching in the field of ethnic literatures of the United States, I became interested in the work of this Jewish American writer, who lived between 1905 and 1991. Her work appeared with no ethnic markings, as did work of other Jewish sf writers, such as Judith Merril. Born a Rubenstein and living her adult married life as a Silberberg, Stone created characters who were non-Jewish and lived completely Gentile lives. Like Stanley G. Weinbaum’s Ham Hammond in “Parasite Planet” and “The Lotus Eaters,” Dr. Daniel Scott in “The Adaptive Ultimate,” and Captain Harrison and Dick Jarvis in “Valley of Dreams,” Stone’s characters were consistently identified by Gentile, non-Jewish names. For example, in “Men with Wings,” Kennedy is the narrating character. Nevertheless, many issues presented and themes discussed had to do with concerns facing Jews at the time, such as breeding the Aryan superior race, and the questioning of the dual loyalty of a race that had a national identity elsewhere but took posts in American government. The latter could have been an imaginary extrapolation from the known (the Gentile fear of employing Jews in the civil service) to the unknown (what would happen if somebody bred a superior race on earth). By the 1920s, Jewish immigration had slowed down enough for a generation to have established roots in America, but it was clear some were still feeling alien, even having engaged in the struggle for Americanization reflected in earlier Jewish-American literature such as Anzia’s Bread Givers (1925). Although Stone’s work on a story-by-story basis has entered the debates concerning gender in the field, perhaps this collection will diversify that dimension into considering the Jewish impact.—Batya Weinbaum, Editor, Femspec, Faculty of English, American Public University Special Issue of Studies in Costume & Performance 7.2: “Costume and Fairy Tales.” Our special issue invites full-research articles (4000–5000 words), visual essays (1000–2500 words with emphasis on visual evidence), research reports (2500–4000 words), analyses of research documents, and ‘in- 396 SCIENCE FICTION STUDIES, VOLUME 48 (2021) conversations’ with artists, designers, or scholars (2000–4000 words), as well as reviews of events and new publications. While the relationship between fashion and the fairy tale has been examined in the fields of fashion studies and fairy-tale criticism, the concept of costume in the fairy tale has not yet been sufficiently explored. We believe that an interdisciplinary, cross-cultural approach to this topic will offer fresh insight into the fields of costume studies, fairy-tale studies, performance studies, and (more broadly) studies of art, narrative, and culture across time, space, and discipline. Costume plays an important part both in traditional fairy tales and in their adaptations in diverse media forms: theatre, ballet, opera, and musicals, and also film, visual art, manga, theme parks, video games, and digital and social media. Clothes worn by characters in fairy tales function according to the internal narrative logic that constitutes and organizes the storyworld, defining and transforming the wearers’ identities and social contexts. The ubiquitous persistence of...

Kwestia kobieca w Polskiej Kronice Filmowej (postulaty badawcze w zarysie)

For 50 years of its work, Polish Film Chronicle has repeatedly focused on women as the hero of its materials. The editions of the Chronicle, showing an over-colored and properly censored picture of reality, acted as a propaganda instrument of the PRL government, presenting the public with images that were to induce them to certain behaviors and adopt certain views. Depending on the political and economic situation of the country and the decisions made by the authorities, the image of women has changed many times over the years. Among the editions of the chronicle, the most common image is a woman as a mother and a worker. Pictures about mothers most often included individual stories of individuals devoted to raising their children, as well as issues of country infrastructure aimed at facilitating the functioning of working mothers. The Chronicle tried to convince women to take up professional work – often difficult professions, commonly considered to be the domain of men, such as a mine foreman, a steel worker, a bricklayer or a railwayman. In addition, the profiles of women – role models, dedicated to work, exceeding the production standards set by them, working for the local society, were presented, aimed at encouraging Polish women who only act as housewives to undertake similar commitments.