Representations Of Gender Relations Research Articles

“Male Gaze” or “Power of Display”? Love, Conjugality and Gender in Bridal-Gown Photography in Contemporary Rural China

Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a Chinese village and at a wedding planning company, this article analyzes the matrimonial norms and practices, as well as the representation of gender relations, in contemporary rural China. I argue that even though for mass consumption the bridal-gown photography still enables young villagers to have an extraordinary experience that promotes expression of their personal desires. By examining the mise en scène of photographed protagonists, I conclude that the gender relations cannot simply be viewed as male domination, but rather as a more complex hierarchical relationship with a possibility of reversal of power and authority positions in family and social life.

Female Victimization: The Issue of Female Infanticide in Children’s Literature and the Indian Society

Children’s literature is one of the chief vehicles contributing to development of gender identity in children. It can be read as an important socio-cultural and socio-political document. This article examines the gender issue of female infanticide and the representation of gender relations in Ranjit Lal’s ‘Crossword Best Children’s Book Award’ winner Faces in the Water. The study focuses on the correlation between the societal gender issue and childhood. The narrative is analysed using an interdisciplinary approach to the aspect of gender issue addressed in the text in relation to Indian society and studies made in social sciences. Also, the prevalence of the serious gender issues in the realistic narratives and the position of children as readers of narratives with serious gender issues is analyzed.

Female agency in the films of Jean Renoir

Although Jean Renoir’s oeuvre has been extensively debated since the emergence of the politique des auteurs in the pages of Cahiers du cinéma, his representation of gender relations has sustained less discussion than his signature formal style. This article posits that Renoir’s films provide a valuable means of identifying how gender, specifically female identity, affects temporal trajectories in cinema. First, it illustrates Gilles Deleuze’s understanding of crystallisation and situates it in relation to current scholarship on gender representation in the director’s work. Second, it conducts a close analysis of the relationship between female identity and crystallisation based on the central female characters of La Règle du jeu (1939) and The Golden Coach (1952). This article ultimately argues that whether these characters belong to an upper-or lower-class stratum, they are subordinated to male power, which plays a determining role in the range of potential futures available to them.

Social Invisibility and Socio Cultural Construction of Gender in Historical Narratives of Chilean High School Students

<p style="text-align:justify">This research seeks to evaluate the degree of inclusion of the gender perspective and the promotion of education in and for equality in the historical narratives of students in Chilean Secondary Education (<em>n</em> = 105). The study focuses on the analysis of the discursive-narrative mechanisms employed by the students and, in particular, of their representations of gender relations. To this end, the place given to men and women in past and present societies is analysed in the narratives generated by the students (n = 780). A mixed methodology is applied, combining quantitative (descriptive and inferential) and qualitative analyses of the manifest content. The results obtained report the persistence of stereotypical, exclusionary and androcentric perspectives, evidenced in hegemonic gender attributions and in the maintenance of the sex/gender system. These data confirm the need to implement specific teacher training programmes aimed at the acquisition of critical competences and the effective inclusion of the gender perspective in history education.</p>

ASSESSMENT OF CHALLENGES AFFECTING GIRL CHILD ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE ON KENYA CERTIFICATE OF PRIMARY EDUCATION AT TURKWEL ZONE, TURKANA, KENYA

Education for the girl child among pastoralist groups still faces a large challenge in public primary schools despite the big enrollment in public primary schools following the launch of Free Primary Education in Kenya more than a decade ago. It has been cited that the academic performance of the girl child in public primary schools in Turkana County is generally low. The study sought to evaluate challenges affecting girl child on academic performance on Kenya Certificate of Primary Education at Turkwel Zone in Turkana. The study objective was: analyzing school physical facilities that influence on girls’ educational performance. The study was guided by Gender Relations Theory. Descriptive study design was used to recognize the objectives. The target population was all eighteen public primary schools inside the area, 268 magnificence eight girls, 270 Members of school BOM and eighty-two teachers. Research tools were questionnaires for head teachers, teachers and interview guides for Members of school BOM. Quantitative data were collected from the respondents had been cleaned and coded consistent with the various variables and prepared for computer evaluation the use of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). This was presented using tables and charts. Piloting was undertaken to check and enhance gadgets validity and reliability. The study established from the respondents comprising 62.3% that physical facilities stimulated the performance of the girl child to a tremendous amount. The study concluded that there was a tremendous relationship amongst school physical facilities and girl child academic overall performance. It was concluded that extra than 50% of girls in public primary schools at Turkwel Zone in Loima Sub-County did not have good enough sanitation centers to make certain that girls do now not leave out school which in turn affects their overall performance. The study concluded that teachers’ mindset closer to girls’ impacts girls’ educational overall performance. It was concluded that girls failed in subjects that teachers had a negative attitude towards them. It was additionally concluded that the constant provision of sanitary towels in primary schools has expanded well-known school attendance and girls’ academic performance. The study recommends that similar studies be carried out with a large population than the only included on this study in other Sub-counties of Turkana. Article visualizations:

Influence of Gender Stereotyping Dynamics on Appointment of Female Teachers as Secondary School Principals in Makueni Sub-county, Makueni County, Kenya

Female teachers play an important role in school management. However, their number in positions of school headship is low. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of gender dynamics on the appointment of female teachers as secondary school principals in Makueni Sub-county, Makueni County, Kenya. The objectives were: to assess the influence of female teachers’ gender roles, self-perception, stereotyping and management training on appointment as secondary school Principals. The study was guided by The Pearson’s Theory of Gender Relations and Feminism Theory. Mixed methodology was applied and thus concurrent triangulation design was adopted. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically along the objectives and presented narrative forms. Quantitative data were analyzed descriptively using frequencies and percentages and inferentially using linear regression analysis with the help of Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS Version 23) and presented using tables. The study established that gender stereotyping is a major hindrance to female teachers’ desire to seek to positions of headship. The study recommends that educational policy-makers to come up with policies that create positions for women to eliminate gender imbalance in education administration. Policy makers to come up with a curriculum that include gender issues for purpose of sensitizing the community on the social/cultural barriers which cause gender imbalance in education administration. The Ministry of Education should come up with a policy where attendance of workshops and seminars is a compulsory requirement for all teachers in order to build skills and knowledge on their careers and give women chances to compete favorably with men.

Categorical Variables Without Categorical Thinking? A Relational Reading of the Sri Lankan Demographic and Health Survey

Connell’s theory of gender relations is among the most influential and comprehensive frameworks for analyzing gender. Its influence across methodological approaches has been uneven, though, and Connell herself has argued that relational theory is incompatible with statistical analyses, which, by relying on categorical dummy variables to indicate the sex or gender respondents, essentialize and fundamentally misrepresent gender. We argue that categorical variables do not require “categorical thinking.” We outline three necessary steps for linking statistical analyses and relational theory: contextualizing statistical rates and means; highlighting within-group variation and the process through which it is produced; and contextualizing the data collection and research process more broadly. To illustrate our approach we critically examine data from the 2006–2007 Sri Lanka Demographic and Health Survey. We show that, far from being incompatible, relational theory is often vital for understanding the meaning of statistical data, as well as for critiquing and evaluating any resulting claims. When interpreted within a relational framework, statistical data can also clarify how gender structures the lives and experiences of people of all genders.

Hegemoniczna męskość i dywidenda patriarchatu. O społecznej teorii płci kulturowej Raewyn Connell

The article gives a brief introduction to the social theory of gender relations created by R. Connell. It discusses mainly the concept of hegemonic masculinity, showing its main features and present form. The article also underlines Connell’s understanding of cultural gender. Moreover, masculinity in different cultures and the sources of modern masculinity patterns are presented.

Influence of Microfinance Trainers’ Characteristics on Women’s Acquisition of Financial Skills

Microfinance institutions have had their fair share of challenges, especially the ability of the women entrepreneurs to manage loans secured from the institutions. Thus, the study intended to examine the effectiveness of microfinance trainers’ characteristics on women’s acquisition of financial skills in Kiambu County, Kenya. The study was guided by Pearson’s Theory of Gender Relations, The Endogenous Growth and Knowledge-Based Theories. It adopted mixed methods approach and thus applied exploratory research design. The target population comprised of 8 Credit Officers, 25 staff members, 1900 women in SHGs, 700 spouses and 100 Key Informants (Training Officers) all totaling to 2733. Using the Central Limit Theorem to obtain a sample of MFIs, that is, 25.0% of 8 MFIs and 295 respondents, that is, 10.9% of 2708, were selected. Purposive sampling was used to select two Credit Officers and 20 key informants (Training Officers). 190 women in SHGs and 83 spouses were selected using simple random sampling. Focus group discussions were used to collect data from women in SHGs and their spouses, interview schedules for women in SHGs, Credit Officers and spouses whereas questionnaires were used to gather information from Training Officers. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically along the study objectives and presented in narrative forms while the quantitative data was analyzed descriptively using frequencies and percentages with the help of Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS 23) and were presented using tables and charts. The study established that microfinance trainers’ characteristics influence women’s acquisition of financial skills. Thus, the study recommends that microfinance trainers’ need to update their skills to match the changing times such as adopting use of ICT and attitude change towards women empowerment. The trainers need to plan for quarterly and semi-annual evaluation of training programmes since they are effective in ascertaining of the efficacy of such programmes.

Influence of Microfinance Training Content on Women’s Acquisition of Financial Skills

Microfinance institutions have had their fair share of challenges, especially the ability of the women entrepreneurs to manage loans secured from the institutions. Thus, the study intended to examine the effectiveness of microfinance training content on women’s acquisition of financial skills in Kiambu County, Kenya. The study was guided by Pearson’s Theory of Gender Relations, The Endogenous Growth and Knowledge-Based Theories. It adopted mixed methods approach and thus applied exploratory research design. The target population comprised of 8 Credit Officers, 25 staff members, 1900 women in SHGs, 700 spouses and 100 Key Informants (Training Officers) all totaling to 2733. Using the Central Limit Theorem to obtain a sample of MFIs, that is, 25.0% of 8 MFIs and 295 respondents, that is, 10.9% of 2708, were selected. Purposive sampling was used to select two Credit Officers and 20 key informants (Training Officers). 190 women in SHGs and 83 spouses were selected using simple random sampling. Focus group discussions were used to collect data from women in SHGs and their spouses, interview schedules for women in SHGs, Credit Officers and spouses whereas questionnaires were used to gather information from Training Officers. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically along the study objectives and presented in narrative forms while the quantitative data was analyzed descriptively using frequencies and percentages with the help of Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS 23) and were presented using tables and charts. The study established that microfinance training content influence women’s acquisition of financial skills. Thus, the study recommends that training materials should be specifically designed to suit the content of training programmes in order to enhance faster understanding of concepts to be learnt.

Ways of Masculinity in Online Dating Profiles: the Cases of Meetic.es and AdoptaUnTio.es

The analysis of masculinity has been a topic of growing interest in recent decades. Its study has incorporated a wide and diverse range of research areas and themes, including the representation of gender relations and identities on the Internet. Specifically, this article concerns the research area related to online dating websites and aims to compare the principal current tendencies related to identity -as provided by research on masculinity- with the way that men present themselves on two Spanish dating websites: Meetic.es and AdoptaUnTio.es. These types of virtual spaces have specific characteristics that facilitate the analysis of the masculine ideal among their users; or at least the characteristics that these men consider attractive to women. This research was carried out through a qualitative analysis supported by Atlas-ti. The principal results highlight the presence of traces of the so called egalitarian masculinity within predominant forms of traditional masculinity, characterized by a minimal process of reflection and introspection on the part of users of these websites.

Spousal Breadwinning Across 30 Years of Marriage and Husbands' Health: A Gendered Life Course Stress Approach.

Wives increasingly outearn their husbands, and gender relations theory suggests this arrangement may undermine men's well-being. We explore how long-term histories of spousal breadwinning may be associated with older men's self-rated mental and physical health, and risk of nine health diagnoses. Using 30 years of couple-level income data from the Health and Retirement Study ( n = 1,095 couples), we use latent class analyses to identify six classes that differ with respect to the timing and level of wife breadwinning. We link these classes to older husbands' later-life health. Classes that transitioned from husband breadwinning to wife breadwinning in early or later adulthood were associated with husbands' poorer overall physical health and risk of cardiometabolic and stress-related diseases. Patterns persist net of sociodemographics, depressive symptoms, health behaviors, and adolescent health. Violating cultural expectations, such as the masculinity ideal of male breadwinning, is associated with older men's poorer health.

Du dix-neuf au nineteen. Une étude comparative des versions québécoise francophone et canadienne anglophone de la série télévisée 19-2

This paper proposes a comparative analysis of the award-winning Quebec police television drama 19-2 (Ici Radio-Canada Télé, 2011–2015) and its English Canadian adaptation (Bravo, 2014–). This case study gives us a rare opportunity to examine the process of TV adaptation in Canada. The English version of 19-2 has obviously been designed to be “faithful,” in many respects, to the original: the story and narrative arcs are quite similar; many characters still bear the name of their French predecessors; the formal features and narrative conventions of the series have mostly been reproduced. However, through the analysis of a few pivotal scenes and narrative arcs, we will argue that these productions, conceived as distinct “performances” of the same story or “format,” differ significantly in terms of gender politics—their narrative construction of televised masculinities, their negotiation of hegemonic and ideal identity models, and their representation of gender relations.

Recognition throught Human Rights

The article tries to develop a non-conventional narration of gender violence through the description of the career that category of recognition has had both in social sciences and transnational feminist debate. In the first recognition made visible and therefore politically prosecuted asymmetries inherent models of socio-cultural representation of gender relations, in the second it redefined the relationship between equality and difference in the broad debate of social justice. The combination of these results shows that violence against women can be otherwise told provided reading misrecognition as severe form of social injustice.

Gender and reinforcing associations between socioeconomic disadvantage and body mass over the life course.

Using the 1957-1993 data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, we explore reciprocal associations between socioeconomic status (SES) and body mass in the 1939 birth cohort of non-Hispanic white men and women. We integrate the fundamental cause theory, the gender relations theory, and the life course perspective to analyze gender differences in (a) the ways that early socioeconomic disadvantage launches bidirectional associations of body mass and SES and (b) the extent to which these mutually reinforcing effects generate socioeconomic disparities in midlife body mass. Using structural equation modeling, we find that socioeconomic disadvantage at age 18 is related to higher body mass index and a greater risk of obesity at age 54, and that this relationship is significantly stronger for women than men. Moreover, women are more adversely affected by two mechanisms underlying the focal association: the obesogenic effect of socioeconomic disadvantage and the SES-impeding effect of obesity. These patterns were also replicated in propensity score-matching models. We conclude that gender and SES act synergistically over the life course to shape reciprocal chains of two disadvantaged statuses: heavier body mass and lower SES.

Gender and leadership positions in recreational hockey clubs

While gendered participation in sport is widely researched, less is known about the culture of women in leadership roles at recreational level sporting clubs. Women are not traditionally associated with leadership roles in sport and the culture of sport is often a space where males are in positions of power. This manuscript explores the experiences of women from two mixed-gendered and one female-only recreational level field hockey clubs in Melbourne, Australia, and examines the gendered leadership (specifically male dominance), at these hockey clubs. The principal aim of this study is to examine (using Connell's theory of gender relations, which focuses on gender imbalances of power) the differences in the level of involvement of women in leadership roles between mixed-gendered and single-gendered hockey clubs, the culture of patriarchal power at play at all three hockey clubs and how such power affected the opportunities for women in leadership roles.

Early-Life Socioeconomic Status and Mortality at Three Life Course Stages

Using the 1957-2011 data from 10,317 participants in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, I examine how socioeconomic status (SES) at age 18 affects all-cause mortality between ages 18 and 72. Integrating fundamental cause theory, gender relations theory, and a life course perspective, I evaluate the cumulative advantage (CA) and age-as-leveler processes as well as gender differences in these processes. Findings indicate that higher early-life SES at age 18 is related to lower mortality over the life course, and the effect of early-life SES is not explained by socioeconomic achievement and health behaviors in adulthood. Consistent with the CA model, early-life SES generates increasing within-cohort inequality with age, and this CA process is stronger for women than men. Results also show that unequal selection by SES obscures the CA process and creates an illusion of the age-as-leveler process. This study calls for a lifelong gendered approach to socioeconomic health disparities.

Job Authority and Breast Cancer.

Using the 1957-2011 data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, I integrate the gender relations theory, a life course perspective, and a biosocial stress perspective to explore the effect of women's job authority in 1975 (at age 36) and 1993 (at age 54) on breast cancer incidence up to 2011. Findings indicate that women with the authority to hire, fire, and influence others' pay had a significantly higher risk of a breast cancer diagnosis over the next 30 years compared to housewives and employed women with no job authority. Because job authority conferred the highest risk of breast cancer for women who also spent more hours dealing with people at work in 1975, I suggest that the assertion of job authority by women in the 1970s involved stressful interpersonal experiences, such as social isolation and negative social interactions, that may have increased the risk of breast cancer via prolonged dysregulation of the glucocorticoid system and exposure of breast tissue to the adverse effects of chronically elevated cortisol. This study contributes to sociology by emphasizing gendered biosocial pathways through which women's occupational experiences become embodied and drive forward physiological repercussions.

What is “New” about Fatherhood?

This article reviews the way that fatherhood is constructed in the public discourse and more broadly in the public sphere in the UK and France by examining (1) the fatherhood regime and its influence on the construction of fatherhood in the two countries; (2) gender attitudes and parenting roles; and (3) popular images of fatherhood, particularly as represented in women’s and men’s magazines in France and in the UK. The authors explore to what extent “new” features of fatherhood in the two countries are reflected in its public representation and how this representation is influenced by national fatherhood regimes and notably social policy. The authors find that “new fatherhood” is finding its way into popular representations of fatherhood in both countries, but that cultural products tend to be conservative in their representations and reinforce existing stereotypes rather than innovative in representations of gender relations.

Calypso Circuits: Trans-Atlantic Popular Culture and the Gendering of Black Nationalism

This paper examines the tradition of misogynistic picong or satire in calypso songs recorded as artists moved from Trinidad to Britain during the period immediately after World War II. I argue that, while these traditions of anti-woman representation began in conflicts around race and class inequalities within Caribbean culture during the Depression, they came to take on an anti-colonial animus when translated to the mother country. Calypso singers' tales of their exploits with hapless wealthy Englishwomen thus functioned not simply to express superiority over other men from the Caribbean, but to challenge the forms of racial subordination that black male migrants encountered in Britain during the 1940s and 1950s. A close reading of popular songs of the era by Lord Kitchener and Lord Beginner unpacks the forms of insecurity implicit in these assertions of mastery over metropolitan femininity. While such songs updated a strong vein of misogyny in calypsos of the 1930s, however, they were not the only representations of gender relations during this period. The article closes with a discussion of emergent traditions of mutuality and black nationalist separatism that would give birth to alternative, less agonistic models of relations between the sexes.