Private Sphere Research Articles

Body autonomy: women with disabilities and the quest for a sex life free from violence

The present paper aims to analyze the body autonomy of girls and women with disabilities and its influence on a sexual and reproductive life free from violence. Established in 1994, at the International Conference on Population and Development (or ICPD), the expression of bodily autonomy has entered the discourse of human rights advocates, activists, and experts. Other international texts point in the direction of "protecting and guaranteeing the right of all individuals to physical integrity, autonomy, and reproductive rights, and to provide access to essential services in support of these rights," such as the voluntary Nairobi Declaration (2019), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006), and the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which established, among its goals, the achievement of sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights for all, reaffirming the importance of the theme for the development of a society with gender equality. With bibliographical research and statistical data, authors such as Gesser, Beauvoir, Butler Honneth, and Becker have been used to establish a dialogue about disability and its necessary intersectionalities, to understand the condition of women with disabilities within a patriarchal, sexist, ableist, and racist society that reifies and silences them, reducing their lives to the private sphere, as if they were objects. Thus, we conclude that education for bodily autonomy, through the emancipatory process of girls and women with disabilities is one of the paths to be followed for the eradication of gender violence against this vulnerable group.

Pure or Noble Materials for Jewish Ritual Vessels: Passover Meal and the First Eucharistic Chalice (Holy Grail)

Very little is known about the chalice used by Jesus of Nazareth at the Last Supper. The first Christians used a cup of blessing for the Eucharistic celebration (1Cor 10:16), which insinuates that Jesus used a ritual cup. An exegetical study of the synoptic gospels reveals that this ritual dinner was celebrated in the home of a wealthy disciple of Jesus, who would have lent him the most valuable cup of blessing owned by the family. Hence, it is unlikely that this cup was made of common and cheap materials, such as ceramic or wood. The only mention of this cup in the early centuries is due to St. John Chrysostom, who states (ca. 395 AD) that it was not made of silver. However, its veracity is not reliable due to the lack of earlier comments. In recent decades, archaeological excavations in the Holy Land have revealed that, at the time of Jesus, the use of vessels carved in limestone was common in Jerusalem for ritual practices in the domestic sphere because they were considered unsusceptible to impurity. This fact suggests that the chalice of the Last Supper might have been a valued cup of carved stone, which is consistent with the use of such bowls in the Hellenistic–Roman period among the aristocratic classes.

Understanding the Experiences of COVID-19 Public Health Measures and Well-Being: A Qualitative Study Among Older Adults in Quebec, Canada.

This interpretative descriptive study explores how public health measures implemented during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec, Canada, affected the well-being of older adults. Twenty-six participants aged 60-81 took photographs to depict how COVID-19 public health measures affected their well-being and were invited to discuss their photographs in virtual focus groups. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The impacts of health measures on the well-being of participants were framed according to three overarching themes. First, participants endured an intensification of ageism, feeling diminished and excluded from their social spheres. Second, they faced a burden of loneliness due to the loss of connections with their communities, particularly for those who were single and without children. Third, participants highlighted navigating a degradation of social cohesion. This manifested through tensions and distrust in both the public and private spheres, as well as acts of resistance in response to rules deemed unjust. While public health measures were essential to prevent onward transmission of COVID-19 and mortality, they negatively impacted older adults' self-image, loneliness, and trust in society. This study argues for a rethinking of public health norms specific to older adults to address potential sources of inequality. In particular, a greater emphasis is needed on social connectedness and addressing the unique needs of older adults during pandemics.

Understanding Acharya’s Concept on Norms Localization: A Lesson Learned from Localization of Transnational Norms on Banning Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Gorontalo, Indonesia

This paper is a critical review of Amitav Acharya's concept related to the process of global norm adaptation. Acharya wrote that norm internalization leads to three possible outcomes, i.e., the norms being accepted (norm displacement), adapted and modified (localization), or rejected (resistance rejection). This paper will analyze the localization of transnational norms to the domestic sphere, both the process, and its result. To understand Acharya's concept, the authors use a case study of global norm localization on anti Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Gorontalo, Indonesia. In Gorontalo, the global norm of FGM was initially accepted by the people and was implemented as government policies. However, later on there was rejection by the people which pressured for the modification of the regulation. According to Acharya, this was made possible by the role of key actor of norm adaptation, which are the local agents.This paper tries to answer the question "How is the process of localization of transnational norms in the case study of female genital mutilation in Gorontalo, Indonesia?" which then contributes to the identification of the different factors that facilitate local agents to successfully modify the transnational norms imposed to the local settings.

The mechanism of internal and external efficacy influences residents' pro-environmental behavior through environmental willingness.

The Chinese government's environmental conservation efforts require the active participation of all society. This study investigated how internal and external efficacy influence pro-environmental behavior with environmental willingness as a mediator. This study employed a structural equation model to analyze the data from 1499 survey questionnaires. The analysis revealed that both internal and external efficacy can enhance individuals' pro-environmental behavior in the private and public spheres. External efficacy has a stronger impact on environmental willingness and public sphere environmental behavior, while internal efficacy more significantly influences private sphere environmental behavior. Additionally, environmental willingness only mediates efficacy and public sphere environmental behavior. The innovation of this study is the examination of internal and external efficacy from the perspective of different sources and the comparison of their differential impacts on pro-environmental behavior. Relevant policies should effectively enhance residents' internal and external efficacy to comprehensively improve their level of pro-environmental behavior.

ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ ВИРОБНИЦТВА КВАСОЛІ В КОНТЕКСТІ НІШЕВОЇ ДИВЕРСИФІКАЦІЇ СІЛЬСЬКОГО ГОСПОДАРСТВА ТА НАРОЩУВАННЯ ЙОГО ЕКСПОРТНОГО ПОТЕНЦІАЛУ

The global trends in the production and trade of beans were analyzed, the level and dynamics of export-import operations of Ukraine in this market segment were investigated, the prospects of crop production were substantiated in the context of niche diversification of the domestic agrarian sphere and the expansion of its export potential. It is noted that during the last decade, the volume of world production of beans has remained relatively stable within 29 million tons. The leading countries are India and Brazil, the combined share of which in the world crop harvest in 2022 was 36.2%. A third of the world's bean exports go to Myanmar – the main exporter of legumes to India. The main importers of beans are India and China, these countries supply 32.5% of the world's import of the crop.In the overall structure of foreign trade, the share of Ukrainian beans in 2022 was 1.2%. During 2018-2022, the value of culture exports from Ukraine was characterized by an upward trend. Almost all export (99.9%) and import products (95.4%) are white bean varieties The main buyers of Ukrainian beans were Italy, Pakistan and Poland. In 2022, 53.4% of exports were sent to these countries. On the foreign market, Ukraine mainly buys elite bean seeds. In 2022, 85.6% of its total imports were supplied from Poland. It is noted that in modern conditions, beans are a promising niche crop for the domestic agriculturist, since logistics is less affected by it than grain crops, the demand in foreign markets is high, in addition to economic, the introduction of beans in crop rotation also provides an ecological effect. The export potential of beans is determined by the growth of global demand for processed legume products (chips, hummus, vegetable minced meat, nuggets, burger patties, etc.).

“Grim, metal darlings”

Abby Scribner, “‘Grim, metal darlings’: The Automated Women of Charlotte Brontë’s Shirley” (pp. 257–285) In this essay, I argue that Charlotte Brontë’s industrial novel Shirley details the consequences of the Marxist critique of industrial subjectivity in the feminized domestic and sexual realms. It does so by showing how structures of repetition—familiar from many accounts of mechanized male subjectivity in the mid-Victorian period—shape the subjective forms of three of its female characters: Caroline Helstone, the domestic woman; Miss Mann, the old maid; and Mrs. Pryor, the mother. By focusing on female automatons in a novel putatively about the Luddite riots, Shirley introduces a tension into its own conservative ideal of the domestic sphere as the compensatory counterpart to the world of work. Despite its overt adherence to paternalism as the solution to social unrest, the novel gestures at an understanding of the home as a space that partakes of one of the major structures of capitalist modernity—repetition as dehumanizing, dysfunctional, and exploitative.

Women’s tendency in work involvement: A study of female labour force in Indonesia

Culture is perceived as the most prominent factor which causes inequality in work involvement, especially in the context of gender. In many cultures, “glass ceiling” of gender bias often makes women less productive than their male counterparts because of their domestic duties. As a matter of fact, Indonesian women have proven their potentials and abilities in boosting the national economy. This study focuses on the effect of domestic duties, wages, and education on women’s participation in the workforce. Using logistic regression and SUSENAS 2018 dataset, this research finds that women with higher education and greater number of children do not get involved in the workforce. This situation is inextricably associated with the predominant patriarchal culture in their domestic lives, in which the husbands assume absolute control, and women’s roles are usually limited to domestic sphere. As is the case of the other workers, women are more engaged in their work when they get higher wages. Women who live in urban areas tend to have opportunities to be economically productive.

How do teacher educators from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden teach for active democratic participation?

ABSTRACT This study analyses how “active democratic participation” is conceptualised by sixteen teacher educators from eight institutions of higher education across four Nordic countries and how these conceptualisations are translated into their own teaching. Teacher educators’ strong adherence to a liberal discourse on democratic education may convey the impression that democratic participation is individual and optional and that forming opinions and voting are sufficient measures to uphold the democratic structures of society. This limits active democratic participation to the private sphere – as opposed to collective, manifest political participation – and may shape how student teachers present active democratic education in primary and secondary education.

Das Homeoffice-Modul in der Gefährdungsbeurteilung psychischer Belastung mit dem COPSOQ – Genese und Ergebnisse

The homeoffice module in the risk assessment of mental stress with the COPSOQ: Genesis and results Objective: The shifting of work to the private, domestic sphere was an important health protection measure in the COVID-19 pandemic. It was intended to reduce transmission of the virus by reducing contact. In the case of risk assessment of mental stress based on the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ), it has since become possible to use questions about the homeoffice („COVID-19 module“ until 2022, now „homeoffice module“). This offers an opportunity to link „working from home“ with all scales covered by the COPSOQ. Methods: It is now possible to analyse the data of about 34,000 respondents who have expressed opinions on working from home during or after the pandemic. Firstly, all the items and scales (value range: 0–100) are subjected to descriptive analysis and subgroup comparison. This is followed by analysing the correlations with other COPSOQ scales. Results: Homeoffice equipment, communication with colleagues and supervisors, and overall satisfaction tend to be rated positively. The evaluations of employees with a homeoffice deviate in some areas from those of the other respondents (influence at work: + 8.0 points; separation of work and private life: + 12.7 points). Differences are somewhat smaller in the field of social relationships. The comparison of the current with the desired extent of the homeoffice points towards moderate expansion. Conclusions: No blanket statement can be made as to the extent to which working from home is advantageous or disadvantageous. Apart from the tendency towards higher demands with increased influence, much seems to depend on the specific setting in a company. It is no longer possible to imagine life without the homeoffice and the questions in an add-on module to the COPSOQ can consider this along with other forms of work in the risk assessment and link it with other stresses and strains. Keywords: COPSOQ – risk assessment – psychological strain – work – homeoffice

The Limits of Domestic Spatiality in the Information Age – A Secondary Publication

The limits of spatiality have blurred in the information age; a phenomenon that can be observed through thesocio-spatial implications of Internet use in the domestic sphere. How and why are the use and organization of space-time around the Internet shaping a new domestic spatiality that intertwines the digital space with the production of social space through the practice of habits, presence, and interaction of individuals? What are the repercussions of the superimposition of digital space on human existence? The units of analysis were integrated through the sum of people and middle-class housing in the face of the digitalization process in the city of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. The questionnaire consisted of 35 questions designed from the Likert scale under the thematic order of presence, interaction, and habituality. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. This research contributes to explaining the current period in the history of inhabitable space, dominated by the simultaneous interrelationships between individuals, digital space, and architecture, which result in the detachment and devaluation of physical domestic space, while also highlighting the lack of control and regulation of individuals over the Internet.

Seeing is more than believing: Personal experience increases climate action.

Although global warming is a serious problem that influences numerous people worldwide, individuals are still reluctant to change their behaviours. The present research investigates how local hot temperatures affect climate action in non-Western groups. In Study 1, an analysis of temperature and information acquisition by Shanghai residents in 122 days found that heat increased attention and awareness of climate change. In Study 2 and Study 3, participants who were primed with heat-related perceptions were more likely to take climate action in private and public spheres. In Study 4, we further identified that people who experienced hot temperature events increased their beliefs and efficacy about climate change, which in turn motivated them to take more climate action. Importantly, the mediating effects were significant both in the manipulation of heat and real-world settings. Consistent with our theoretical perspective, seeing is more than believing because personal experience increases climate action by fostering climate change beliefs and efficacy.

Girls’ education and the cultural capital of Pakistan’s urban middle class

This qualitative study employs a Bourdieusian framework to explore how urban middle-class parents in Pakistan support their daughters’ education while transmitting cultural capital. Parents emphasize talim-o-tarbiyat, referring to education and nurturing. I argue that, owing to the availability of educational resources and the recognition of the cultural capital conferred by Western qualifications, middle-class, educated urban parents choose Western education as talim. Additionally, Tarbiyat motivates their aspirations for their daughter’s education with specific cognitive references, notably Ashraaf values. Through boundary work and concerted cultivation, they reproduce cultural capital, influencing career choices and networks. Nevertheless, educated working women, experiencing a transformation of their habitus, foster new cognitive and social structures for themselves and their daughters. The study identifies desirable cultural capital, suggesting future research on exploring the conversion strategies of educated women’s capital by considering diverse sociocultural factors that intersect with gender dynamics within both private and public spheres.

Strategic use of video face filter types: Influence of audience, gender, and culture

Video face filters play an increasingly important role in digitally mediated self-presentation for people around the world. We interviewed young adult video filter users from China, India, South Korea, Spain, and the United States, asking what video filters they use, who they use filters with, and how. Participants demonstrated sensitivity to public versus private spheres when determining what filter type was appropriate for particular audiences. Those audiences included the self-only, in what we call the “dressing room,” extending Goffman’s dramaturgical metaphor for self-presentation. We further identify a tendency for the women and East Asians we interviewed to be more attuned to different kinds of audiences, as well as East-West differences in acceptance of beauty filter enhancement. Implications for video filter research are discussed.

Identifying definite patterns of unmet needs in patients with multiple sclerosis using unsupervised machine learning

IntroductionPeople with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) exhibit a spectrum of needs that extend beyond solely disease-related determinants. Investigating unmet needs from the patient perspective may address daily difficulties and optimize care. Our aim was to identify patterns of unmet needs among PwMS and their determinants.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional multicentre study. Data were collected through an anonymous, self-administered online form. To cluster PwMS according to their main unmet needs, we performed agglomerative hierarchical clustering algorithm. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to visualize cluster distribution. Pairwise comparisons were used to evaluate demographics and clinical distribution among clusters.ResultsOut of 1764 mailed questionnaires, we received 690 responses. Access to primary care was the main contributor to the overall unmet need burden. Four patterns were identified: cluster C1, ‘information-seekers with few unmet needs’; cluster C2, ‘high unmet needs’; cluster C3, ‘socially and assistance-dependent’; cluster C4, ‘self-sufficient with few unmet needs’. PCA identified two main components in determining the patterns: the ‘public sphere’ (access to information and care) and the ‘private sphere’ (need for assistance and social life). Older age, lower education, longer disease duration and higher disability characterized clusters with more unmet needs in the private sphere. However, demographic and clinical factors failed in explaining the four identified patterns.ConclusionOur study identified four unmet need patterns among PwMS, emphasizing the importance of personalized care. While clinical and demographic factors provide some insight, additional variables warrant further investigation to fully understand unmet needs in PwMS.

Marginalization of Women in Marriage: A Study of Shashi Deshpande’s The Dark Holds No Terrors and That Long Silence

Marginalization in society is not confined to limitations of opportunities to grow independently and lack means of endurance. It refers to the creation of an environment in which the individual is made to feel pride even in slavery. Marginalization in the case of women is more pronounced as it is not limited to any caste, creed or religion. It is a universal phenomenon and marriage as an institution is one of the basic foundations on which the marginalization of women is culturally strengthened. Marriages are a pivotal part of every society. By conforming to the institution of marriage, two distinct minds take oaths to stick by each other’s side lifelong. But in reality, the institution of marriage replicates the other side of patriarchal domination which contributes to the peripheral status of women. They are subjected to inevitable suppression, subjugation, and oppression in the environs of the marital frame regardless of the renunciation and forsaking of individuality by the woman for the sake of family. They are the victim of sheer oppression and violence due to their vulnerable status from time immemorial. In this paper, an attempt has been made to bring forth the hardships of marital life and how it assists in the marginalization of women with reference to the works of Shashi Deshpande. Her works of fiction, The Dark Holds No Terrors (1980) and That Long Silence (1988) aptly elucidate the issues of marital discord and disharmonious conjugal relationships which career-oriented women experience in their day-to-day existence. Women helplessly oscillate between traditional codes and modern aspirations, bearing the pangs of dead desires and unexpressed thoughts in public as well as domestic spheres. Characterization of women like Sarita and Jaya delineate the marginalization of women in a poignant and powerful manner.

Empowering youth as vaccine advocates: Harnessing the power of educational videos

This community service program aims to empowering youth to build awareness to the comunity. This community service using service learning methods. The Various efforts have been made by the Government and society to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, starting from maintaining distance, using masks, and washing hands to vaccination programs. Even so, public acceptance of COVID-19 vaccination is not always positive. There are still people who refuse to be vaccinated for various reasons, such as doubts about the effectiveness of vaccines, distrust of vaccines, concerns about side effects, and even religious reasons or the halalness of vaccines. This form of public resistance to vaccines does not only circulate in whispers between residents and other private spheres but also circulates through social media and WhatsApp groups. This community service is carried out by providing training in making educational videos to young people in Benowo District, Surabaya. the selection of teenage participants the main consideration is that teenagers are the most active social media users so with the training in making educational videos, it is hoped that teenagers can become peer educators who provide positive messages to their peers and older or younger people using -creative and innovative ways.

Evaluating Everyday Politics in North Korea

ABSTRACT In North Korea, as elsewhere, there exists a society beyond the state, and an everyday life where government authority meets and mixes with the private sphere. Examining this sphere is crucial for a holistic understanding of North Korean politics, both in the past and the present, and this is the goal of this Special Issue. Our introductory essay reviews the diverse literature on everyday politics in North Korea and assesses patterns within it. Next, it proposes four theoretical considerations in the hope that they may lend common ground to those doing research on everyday politics in North Korea and facilitate more theoretically informed discussion. Researchers can use these areas – socialisation, surveillance, survival, and support – to situate their analyses more theoretically as they assess everyday politics in the DPRK. Each of the contributions to this Special Issue addresses some or all of these areas, which are intended to be a framework to bring the contributions, and by extension the broader topic of everyday politics in North Korea, into a deeper theoretical conversation.

Double Burden (Dual Roles) of Women in Domestic and Public: Perspectives Surah Al-Qasas 23 and Surah Al-Ahzab 33

The term "Double Burden" refers to a situation in which women simultaneously hold two or more roles as wives, mothers, and employees outside the house, alongside their traditional roles within the household. In this framework, a conflict arises between family responsibilities and employment, creating a dilemma faced by many working women. In Islam, there are various perspectives on the roles of women, including whether they should work outside the house or focus more on domestic duties. This article discusses the two roles performed by women, both in the domestic and public spheres. There are two Quranic verses that indicate different point of views: Surah Al-Qasas: 23 demonstrates women's ability to work outside the home, while Surah Al-Ahzab: 33 suggests that women are better off engaging in activities within the home. The result is the domestic and public roles can both function with the commitment between partners and in accordance with their respective abilities to fulfill their responsibilities.

Chinese social value change and its relevant factors: an age-period-cohort effect analysis

Using data from the World Values Survey (1990–2012), this article attempts to describe and analyze the changing trends in public values during social transformations in China. It is found that public attitudes toward authority tend to be increasingly favorable over time, values in the private sphere tend to be more open, while postmaterialist values show a trend of first rising and then falling. The most salient feature of the cohort effect is that the generations born after the reform and opening-up in 1978 identify more closely with the value of respect for authority, while their recognition of postmaterialist values tends to decline. The change in values is related to China's modernization process, global cultural diffusion, and important historical events and is also deeply influenced by the two-way interaction between tradition and modernity.