Real Women Research Articles

“In an ideal world”: A qualitative exploration of shared decision-making and weight stigma in antenatal care

BackgroundShared decision-making supports women’s autonomy in antenatal care, but several barriers to shared decision-making have been identified in practice. Women with high body mass index experience a higher rate of interventions, which could provide more opportunities for shared decision-making in antenatal care. However, weight stigma may exist as a barrier to shared decision-making, limiting access to collaborative care. AimTo explore how shared decision-making is implemented and whether body mass index influences maternity clinicians' use of shared decision-making when providing antenatal care for women. MethodsMaternity clinicians were recruited via purposive sampling from two sites in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia. Semi-structured interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. FindingsTwelve maternity clinicians consented to participate. Three themes and ten sub-themes were identified. The themes were: 1) Whose choice is it anyway? 2) Pregnancy as risky 3) Excess weight as a diseased state. DiscussionMaternity clinicians in this study view pregnancy through a risk management lens that complicates women’s involvement in decision-making, demonstrating inherent beliefs that may further limit options for women with high body mass index. ConclusionShared decision-making is difficult to implement in the current antenatal clinic setting and requires significant structural consideration to become a reality for women. Clinicians may inadvertently limit meaningful opportunities to engage in shared decision-making with women with high body mass index due to preconceived perceptions of risk and stigmatising beliefs about women with high body mass index.

Reality of Women in Indonesian Society: A Feminism Approach

Issues regarding gender in Indonesia are still ongoing, which cannot be denied that the patriarchal system is still very strong. Feminist law is based on feminist sociology, feminist philosophy and feminist history expansion of women's attention later in life. At the end of the 20th century, there were many feminist movements seen as a splinter of the Critical Legal Studies movement, of which there are many in essence provides criticism of the legal logic that has been used, its manipulative nature and legal dependence on politics, economics, the role of law in forming patterns social relations, and the formation of hierarchies by legal provisions is not fundamental. Feminist theories often ignore women's contemporary position, focusing on women historical past or utopian future. Focus on praxis often about creating revolutions, egalitarian reforms, or cultural utopias. Much of sociology is based on what are known as individual relationships with the world as it is and as it is maintained.

Studi Tentang Kepemimpinan Perempuan di Lingkungan Organisasi Badan Eksekutif Mahasiswa Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan Universitas Mulawarman

This research aims to find out women's leadership in the organizational environment of the Student Executive Board of the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Mulawarman University, and understand the strategies of the BEM FKIP UNMUL administrators to increase the role and participation of women's leadership and see the reality of women's leadership in BEM FKIP UNMUL. Basically, the type of research used is descriptive, namely research that attempts to provide an overview of the object being studied with the aim of creating a descriptive or systematic and actual picture of existing facts. The results of this research show that women's leadership in the BEM FKIP UNMUL environment to become a Governor has not been successful, but looking at women leading a field, agency or bureau and small work program, they are very competent.

The Impact of Cosmetic and Beauty Campaigns on Women’s Mentality

The main objective of this research is to explore how modern beauty and cosmetic marketing campaigns and advertisements affect women’s health, emotionally and mentally. In three studies, participants were shown an assortment of ads related to cosmetics and beauty ideals that focus on cosmetics and beauty. Ads were categorized as “positive beauty/real beauty” or “guilt-inducing/pressurized beauty ideals” to show underlying issues that women face after repeatedly coming into contact with advertisements concerning beauty ideals. Studies 1A and 1B were distributed to college-aged, cis-gendered females (i.e. 18–25 years) in the U.S. concerning their evaluation, attitudes, and emotions toward two types of ads and showed that the positive (vs. negative) effect of real beauty ads (vs. guilt-inducing ads) on confidence (vs. feeling of insecurity) is stronger for ads featuring the body compared to the face. In Study 2, we replicated the findings and showed that confidence and the feeling of insecurity mediate individuals’ attitudes toward these ads. Our findings contribute to the understanding of women’s mentality living alongside pressurized beauty ideals and how beauty/cosmetic brands can take back the narrative of what real women look like.

Gender and Democratization of Caribbean Education

In the Commonwealth Caribbean, on average, girls start schooling earlier, attend school more regularly, repeat fewer grades, are less and achieve higher likely to drop out and therefore stay in school longer, standards of educational performance than boys. In the adult population more women are literate than men. Girls are more highly represented in those sections of the secondary and tertiary levels of the education system which enhance the prospects of upward social mobility. In a real sense girls and women constitute the first sex in Caribbean education. The Caribbean is one of the few areas of the world where this is the case. The data to support these assertions are not in question. They are routinely reported and confirmed by the annual education statistical reports of all the countries in the subregion. The issue at hand is their explanation.

TV드라마 속 계약 로맨스 연구

Romance dramas are currently the dominant subgenre of TV dramas. This is proof that despite the limitations and conventions of the genre’s narrative style, it still attracts many viewers and producers. The ratings of recent TV dramas are highly dependent on the first half of the show, and romance dramas depict the process of the male and female protagonists forming a relationship during this crucial first half. Noting that there has been no research on this topic, this study first chose “contract” as the method of relationship formation in romance dramas to date and then examined the aspects of contract romance in these works and how this reflects reality by studying <My Demon> and <The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract>. The following conclusions were drawn as a result. First, the male and female protagonists’ antics in pretending to be a couple brought laughter to the audience through their role-playing and excitement through their pretend marriage and chance encounters. Next, their contracts were based on their own conditions and abilities and were often finalized because they were reciprocal to each other, which was a bitter realization that in real life, men and women have to fulfill many conditions or abilities to meet and get married. Lastly, the parties to the contract are forced to marry due to coercion or persuasion by family members or other adults in the household, representing the conflict between the older generation who insist on marriage and the younger generation who resist or reject it. The romance drama genre has a long history and has been studied extensively, but there is still a lot of room for exploration. This study presented one of the many approaches, and hopefully, there will be various studies in the future.

Real-world single center experience with the wearable cardioverter defibrillator: sex differences in risk stratification for sudden cardiac death

Abstract Background Wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) demonstrated an important role for prevention of sudden cardiac death in patients with advanced heart failure and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Although in randomized trial there are no gender difference in WCD use and defibrillator (ICD) implantation rate, real world data in female patients is lacking. Purposes: We aimed to describe the sex differences in WCD use, the rate of cardiac events detected with WCD and the rate of ICD implantation after WCD use in women in a real-world single center experience. nd reduced left ventricular ejection fraction or prior ventricular tachyarrhythmia. Methods and results According with the current guidelines indications, between August 2017 and June 2023 ninety-six consecutive patients (mean age 66.0±11.1 years) received a WCD at Piacenza Hospitals and were retrospectively included in this analysis. There were no differences in clinical characteristics between female (18 patients, 18,8%) and male: in particular baseline left ventricular ejection fraction (LV EF) were similar between the two groups (29.5±5.2 vs 27.9±7.9, p=0.23) and no differences were found in the rate of ischaemic cardiopathy (66,6% vs 69,2% p=0.51). After 3-months follow up with WCD use, a similar rate of ventricular arrhythmias were found in the two groups (5.5% vs 3.8%, p=0.48) and no ventricular fibrillation was detected. The WCD usage period and median daily wear time were not different between female and male (55.2±50.6 vs 56.2±34.8 days p=0.53, 21.0±6.4 vs 23.1±1.5 hours p=0.48, respectively). However women presented a better LV EF improvement (12.2±9.7 vs 7.2±6.8, p=0.01), with a significant lower ICD implantation rate at the end of WCD use (55.5% vs 43.8%; p< 0.01) Conclusions In this real word analysis women presented a nice compliance using WCD. In spite of a similar burden of ventricular arrhythmic events, women presented a better LV EF improvement with a significant lower ICD implantation rate.

REAL–WORLD SINGLE CENTER EXPERIENCE WITH THE WEARABLE CARDIOVERTER DEFIBRILLATOR: SEX DIFFERENCES IN RISK STRATIFICATION FOR SUDDEN CARDIAC DEATH

Abstract Background Wearable cardioverter defibrillator (WCD) demonstrated an important role for prevention of sudden cardiac death in patients with advanced heart failure and reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Although in randomized trial there are no gender difference in WCD use and defibrillator (ICD) implantation rate, real world data in female patients is lacking. Purposes: We aimed to describe the sex differences in WCD use, the rate of cardiac events detected with WCD and the rate of ICD implantation after WCD use in women in a real–world single center experience with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction or prior ventricular tachyarrhythmia. Methods and Results According with the current guidelines indications, between August 2017 and June 2023 ninety–six consecutive patients (mean age 66.0±11.1 years) received a WCD at Piacenza Hospitals and were retrospectively included in this analysis. There were no differences in clinical characteristics between female (18 patients, 18,8%) and male: in particular baseline left ventricular ejection fraction (LV EF) were similar between the two groups (29.5±5.2 vs 27.9±7.9, p=0.23) and no differences were found in the rate of ischaemic cardiopathy (66,6% vs 69,2% p=0.51). After 3–months follow up with WCD use, a similar rate of ventricular arrhythmias were found in the two groups (5.5% vs 3.8%, p=0.48) and no ventricular fibrillation was detected. The WCD usage period and median daily wear time were not different between female and male (55.2±50.6 vs 56.2±34.8 days p=0.53, 21.0±6.4 vs 23.1±1.5 hours p=0.48, respectively). However women presented a better LV EF improvement (12.2±9.7 vs 7.2±6.8, p=0.01), with a significant lower ICD implantation rate at the end of WCD use (55.5% vs 43.8%; p< 0.01). Conclusions In this real word analysis women presented a nice compliance using WCD. In spite of a similar burden of ventricular arrhythmic events, women presented a better LV EF improvement with a significant lower ICD implantation rate.

Understanding the impact of sustainable agricultural interventions on women's economic and social well-being, empowerment and gender equity.

Abstract Background: The world will need to feed a population of nearly nine billion by 2050 (Godfray, 2010). To do so agricultural systems will have to contend to with risks to soil and water resources and the impacts of climate change, including changing weather patterns, an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and increased pest and disease-related threats. These risks threaten the livelihoods of nearly 475 million smallholder farmers in the global south and pose a significant threat to the world's food and nutritional security (IPCC, 2022). Sustainable agricultural technologies and practices offer an innovative and holistic way of meeting food and nutrition needs of current and future generations while ensuring profitability, and environmental and social sustainability (Güven, 2023). Sustainable agriculture practices and technologies seek to transform and reorient agricultural systems to support food security while preserving natural capital including soil, water, and biodiversity, increase resilience to the impacts of climate change, and promote health, and social and economic equity (Brodt et al., 2011) By systematically integrating goals of sustainability along with economic profitability into the planning and development of agricultural systems, sustainable agriculture technology and practices aims to increase agricultural productivity, mitigate negative environmental impacts of agriculture while furthering social objectives. Women play a critical role in agricultural and food systems and often have higher work and time burdens and are less productive due to limited access to social and economic resources. The 2023 Status of Women in Agrifood Systems report by FAO estimates that if female farmers had the same access to productive resources as men, their productivity could increase by up to 30 per cent, reducing the number of hungry people in the world by 12 to 17 per cent. Recognizing existing gender inequalities and the vulnerability of women in agricultural systems is one of the goals of sustainable agriculture furthering goals of gender equity and women's empowerment. Studies show that sustainable agriculture technologies and practices have the potential to reshape gender dynamics, challenging existing gender norms by providing social and economic agency and empowerment. However, this depends on how particular needs, priorities, and realities of women are recognized and adequately addressed in the design and application of these technologies. Presently, there is limited evidence systematically assessing the appropriateness, accessibility and outcomes of sustainable agricultural technologies and practices for women and girls, as well as their effectiveness in addressing longer-term gender-equity goals. Evidence syntheses in this domain remains focused on gendered approaches within interventions or programs targeting women. We seek to broaden the perspective by focusing on how different sustainable agriculture technologies affect women's well-being, empowerment and gender equity even when women specifically are not targeted.

There are no Such ‘Bad Women’: Reading Text and Politics of ‘Conscious or Intended Pleasure’

Television serials are widely acclaimed as the most entertaining genre in India. Focusing on the characters’ family lives in different settings gave the female audience a more profound and engaging experience. However, watching women in specific roles is not seen as a reflection of everyday reality by the female audience in the Anand Nagar slum in India but rather as un-existing characteristics or traits. However, such characters are actively watched and argumentatively recalled as ‘bad women’. Watching female characters in negative roles triggered the respondents’ emotional imbalance and negative feelings, but the audience reasoned that it was still entertaining to watch. Within the parameters of entertainment and reading text, this article examined the relationship between reading soaps and women’s lives in the slums of Bhopal city in India. Leaning towards qualitative approaches and ethnography, this article looked into text, reception and the politics of pleasure in how women’s audiences intersected with bad women characters and oppositional readings for deriving ‘conscious or intended pleasure’. Thus, this study examined the paradoxical interaction between societal notions of ‘bad women’, conscious pleasure derived from women’s portrayals and the realities of women in slums.

Pamela Anderson and Marilyn Monroe: sex symbols and the naked truth

ABSTRACT Pamela Anderson is one of the latest in a long line of Hollywood sex symbols that reveal a persistent obsession with celebrities as arbiters of sexual standards and knowledge. Specifically, Anderson’s star image is situated in relation to Marilyn Monroe’s eroticised identity of the 1950s. In addition to the obvious surface similarities that exist with Anderson and Monroe (hyperfeminine, platinum blondes, Playboy centrefolds, numerous marriages, sex scandals), they both epitomise the role of sex symbol, and the tension famous women face between a public and private self, objectification and subjectivity. The public’s desire to learn about the real women behind the sex symbols becomes a quest to learn a form of ‘truth’ about sexuality itself.

"Real Women": The Shared Responsibility to Use Gender-affirming Language.

"Real Women": The Shared Responsibility to Use Gender-affirming Language.

Semiotic Violence

Semiotic Violence

The Teen Witch and the Complexity of Care Under Capitalism Through a Case Study of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

The contemporary teen witch figure is conceived of and represented in a way that is interrelated with young adult media culture. Through an examination of the show Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, as well as teen witches in popular culture, contemporary alternative spirituality, and witch hunts in mediaeval Europe, I explore how the extra-ordinary girl figure like Sabrina the witch is culturally and historically symbolic of how care practices become defiant amidst capitalism. I draw connections between the teen witch, the teen girl in contemporary North American society, and ideology within the context of care as resistance to capitalism. Through textual analysis of Sabrina, qualitative research, and a brief discussion of the relevant socio-historical background, I emphasize that the teen witch figure today must be read within the context of capitalism and neoliberalism. Moreover, the multiple methods I use illuminate the various ways the defiant girl’s care can be both valorized and weaponized. I draw upon real and fictional girls to demonstrate that there is a link between the fictitious co-opted witch in contemporary popular media and real women who were labelled witches around the emergence of capitalism. I explore the significance of the show Sabrina, alongside socio-cultural phenomenon of present-day alternative spirituality and the ‘witch’ of feudalism in Europe.

ФИТНЕС ПРОТИВ ТЕЛА – АРМЕЙСКИЕ ПРАКТИКИ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ ЖЕНСКОЙ ТЕЛЕСНОСТИ

modern mass culture is permeated with the theme of female body, the more the beauty industry develops, the more stringent requirements are imposed on the aesthetics of the body. Taking care of the physical appearance has become, along with career and family, one of the main tasks of women who want to be attractive and successful. Various strategies based on constraints and discipline are used to approach the desired ideal. The need for constant control over the body forms the alienation of the Egofrom the physical body, perceived as an unreliable partner and even an enemy. To combat it, strict army-type practices are used, involving working at the limit of physical capabilities, neglecting bodily signals and pain, transferring control into the hands of another in order to achieve the desired goal in the shortest possible time. As a result, there was an increase in anxiety, self-distrust and food addiction, which gradually entered women’s culture as the norm. This gives us the opportunity to consider fitness not as a practice of self-care, but as a practice of self-resolution. In the article, the author puts forward the hypothesis of the occurrence of this contradiction. In her opinion, this phenomenon arose as a result of the lack of well-established models of female physical activity, beauty standards close to the physical appearance of real women and well-established models of social control, which is always stricter towards women than towards men.

Mourning Women, the Voice of God, and the Limits of Lament: Women’s Songs of Lament in Jeremiah

Abstract The book of Jeremiah contains metaphors depicting Israel and Zion as a woman. These include the city as a mourning woman (4:19–21; 10:20). Real mourning women are addressed in Jer 9:17–22, following laments variously attributed to Jeremiah and/or Yahweh (8:18–9:2, 10). Working with the (MT) canonical form and engaging the insights of trauma studies, this article traces linguistic and thematic connections between the two passages before tracing similar connections to Rachel’s lament (Jer 31). The mourning women in Jer 9 serve a societal role by giving voice to lament; this effective power is affirmed by trauma studies. When read alongside the lament by Jeremiah and/or Yahweh, this article notes the women also take up a prophetic role as with Jeremiah they embody and express Yahweh’s own pathos. In ch. 31, the mourning women are metaphorically instantiated in the eponymous mother who also voices Yahweh’s pathos yet remains uncomforted. This study points to the hope that arises from Yahweh’s identification with his people in the pathos expressed by prophet, mourning women, and Rachel. Ultimately, Yahweh’s identification with his people, and his words of hope offer comfort to unrequited lament.

전기소설에 나타난 여성의 문해력(文解力)과 문예

The male and female main characters of the Korean Cheongi novel are depicted as people with excellent ability of classical literature and composing poems, as they reveal their emotions and identity through literature and further form a mental bond with their lovers. However, considering the reality of women in Joseon Dynasty who lacked opportunities to be educated and trained for writing compared to men, these characters can be said to be somewhat unrealistic. In Cheongi novel, female characters and their surrounding environments are elaborately set so that women can have literacy and literary capabilities to secure novel probability. The status of heroins can be largely divided into noble class and middle and lower class. They were daughters of wealthy prestigious families, court ladies or Kisaeng(妓生) and all belonged to a small group of women who could access to literary arts in Joseon Dynasty. The experience and situation of female characters described in the novel also help the reader’s understanding of their literacy and literature. In the late Joseon Dynasty, the narrative role of literary works in Cheongi novel gradually weakens and the status of female characters are confined to middle and lower classes. Literacy and literature of female characters develop in a way that reflects the language environment based on classes, beyond the traditional custom of the genre.

Influence of Artificial Intelligence on Educational Inequalities and Perils Confronting Women in Albania

This paper sheds light on the reality of women following an educational system characterized by a pervasive tendency and the disparities they face in Albania. Despite numerous efforts towards advancement against such phenomena, women in Albania continue to find themselves facing barriers when it comes to accessing education of high quality. The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on gender disparities in education and the difficulties women encounter in Albania is a complicated and diverse topic. Although artificial intelligence (AI) has promise in mitigating certain educational gaps, its implementation and management could potentially exacerbate pre-existing inequalities. Furthermore, the effects of AI on education may overlap with particular issues that women in Albania confront, such as gender stereotypes and restricted access to education.This article will explore the multifaceted nature of these educational inequalities while taking into consideration many factors such as limited access to schools, cultural norms, gender biases in curricula, and societal expectations that create a self-perpetuating system of discriminatory practices. Furthermore, it examines the risks women encounter when pursuing education, including social stigma, harassment, and violence. By understanding the complexities of these concerns, this abstract aims to raise awareness, prompt dialogues, and advocate for changes that ensure an even-handed and safe environment for women to pursue education in Albania.

A virtual simulation-based training program on birthing positions: a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundRestricting parturient women in healthcare facilities from choosing positions that provide the greatest comfort and benefit during labor is a global barrier. Several complex factors, including caregiver preference and medical intervention, shape the limitation. Therefore, a practical need exists to train midwives on the knowledge and skills to change this condition.MethodsThe study used a parallel, single-blind, randomized controlled trial at a provincial maternity and child health hospital in Fujian, China, from June 1 to December 31, 2019. The midwives in a birth suite were selected and randomly enrolled in a one-month simulation-based hybrid training or face-to-face teaching in September 2019. The four-level Kirkpatrick’s model, including reaction, learning, behavior, and results, was used to evaluate training effects before and after the program. Data were analyzed with SPSS 25.0 using Student’s t-test, Spearman’s correlation test, Mann–Whitney U test, Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and chi-square test analysis of variance. The significance level was set at p < 0.05.ResultsForty-two midwives were initially randomized to either the virtual simulation group or the face-to-face group. One midwife was excluded from the analysis due to intervention discontinuation, resulting in a final analysis of 41 midwives (n1 = 21, n2 = 20). Post-intervention, the virtual simulation group exhibited higher satisfaction and learning effects compared to the face-to-face group, while the rate of perineal incision in primiparas was lower (p<0.05). No significant changes or differences were observed in self-rated behavior between the two groups (p>0.05). The virtual simulation group demonstrated an increase in non-supine birth rate (p = 0.030) and a decrease in perineal incision rate among primiparas compared to pre-intervention (p = 0.035). Moreover, knowledge performance was associated with the duration of virtual simulation (r = 0.664, p = 0.001).ConclusionsVirtual simulation is a fascinating innovation that enables midwives to develop birthing positions without practicing on real pregnant women and is one solution to achieve work competency within a shortened training period.

The Blurring and Demonisation of the Image of Women in Reality -- Exploring the Modern Development of Feminism with Jane Eyre as an Example

In today's world, feminist thinking is flourishing, and scholars are increasingly concerned about women's groups, queer groups and other disadvantaged groups, with ideas that are becoming more open and diverse. Along with this change in the world landscape, feminism has gained more momentum, and Jane Eyre, an exemplary feminist masterpiece, has been widely studied by scholars. So this essay focuses on the writings of Jane Eyre, looking at the 'madwoman' Mason in the book, exploring the blurring and demonisation of the role of women, and considering the modern development of feminism. By closely reading the text and combining it with Spivak's theoretical framework of feminism, this paper aims to discover how the discourse on women's groups has been colonised in society and how feminism has been underdeveloped. The result is that reality, like fiction, has a habit of obscuring and demonising the female community and men are induced to obscure and demonise women through discourse, thereby consolidating male-centred hegemony. There is still a long way to go regarding women's liberation, equality and freedom. Women need to make aware of their disadvantages and inequality from the inside out, to understand clearly the methods men use to demonise women, to learn how to counteract these methods and to give women a voice. Women need to be self-respecting and confident and unite the strength of spirit of women and the disadvantaged to fight uncompromisingly against all hegemony and for the human rights to which they are entitled.