Western Women Research Articles

End of the line: An exploration into the creation and challenges of infertility poetry

Infertility is an aspect of motherhood that is ‘Other’ and is broadly met with silence by the wider western society and its pronatalist culture. The silence surrounding infertility impacts our individual, mutual and cultural understandings of motherhood, as this silence arises from its taboo nature. Speaking up about any aspect of motherhood that is not typical is still treated as taboo, and the experiences of ‘atypical’ mothers, such as those who have experienced infertility, are still side-lined. The taboo nature of infertility, coupled with the grief and absence that define it, all contribute to the silence that surrounds it. This article is in the form of a lyric essay that combines my own poetry about infertility and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) with a broader critical analysis about the challenges of writing about infertility. I intersperse my own infertility poetry with a close textual analysis of infertility poetry composed by contemporary western women poets, such as Kerry Priest, Gerrie Fellows and Julia Copus. This close reading highlights the poetics employed by these writers that recreate, reformulate and reinvent writing about infertility, and motherhood more broadly. Alongside my own poetry, I include a self-reflection that highlights how my poems challenge and resist the conventional approaches to performing maternity. This self-reflection also details how I utilized poetics to both present and represent the silence and absence of infertility’s ‘non-event’, and give it presence and language.

Relationships between Moroccan soldiers and white women in WW II: ambiguous perspectives

The study focuses on Moroccan veterans’ stories about the French military command’s comprehensive interference in romantic relationships between Moroccans and European women in France during the Second World War. It is based on interviews with some Moroccan veterans about European women’s elopement with their alien suitors to Morocco. The Muslim soldiers’ attachment to their Islamic norms in a Western society was quite embarrassing to the French colonial mind. There was an element of ambiguity in the French officers’ objection to the French women and Moroccan men’s marriages, with the aim of establishing stringent demarcations between white females and colonial soldiers. While some French soldiers directly castigated Western women for befriending or marrying Moroccans, other French men were indifferent to the issue of hybrid relationships.

Sexual Consent Perspektif Maqasid Syariah

This article aims to explain the law of sexual consent or sexual consent according to maqasid sharia. Lots of approval and attraction to women, molestation, persecution that causes feelings of oppression and speech. Even in the West there is violence, so that Western women demand the freedom of their body rights. From this sexual agreement, feminism aims to seek justice or benefit for them. In compiling this article, the author uses critical analysis methods to explain the concept of feminism and sexual consent. The results of this study conclude that sexual consent according to Westerners is a solution so that no more treatment is recommended. In fact, Muslims also participate and agree to the concept. This is, which is contrary to maqashid shari'ah or the existence of shari'ah. So that consent and acceptance will only cause harm.

Edge detection and graph neural networks to classify mammograms: A case study with a dataset from Vietnamese patients

Mammograms are breast X-ray images and they are used by doctors, among other purposes, as an effective means of detecting breast cancer. Screening mammography is crucial since it allows doctors to understand better the situation and have suitable intervention. The classification of medical modalities is a prerequisite for development of computer-aided diagnosis tools in healthcare, and various techniques have been proposed to automatically classify from mammography images. Though there have been several tools developed, they have been mostly validated with data collected from Western women. Based on our initial investigations, breast anatomy in Vietnamese women differs from that of Western women, due to denser breast tissue. In this paper, we propose MammoGNN – a practical solution to the classification of mammograms using the synergy between image processing techniques and graph neural networks. First, a well-founded edge detection algorithm was applied to provide input for the recommendation engine. Afterward, we empirically experimented to select suitable graph neural networks to manage the training and prediction. A mammogram dataset was curated from 2,351 Vietnamese women to validate the conceived tool. By several testing instances, MammoGNN obtains a maximum accuracy of 100%, precision and recall of 1.0 on independent and shuffle test sets for both classification of BI-RADS scores and breast density types. The experimental results also demonstrate that our proposed approach obtains an optimal prediction performance on the considered datasets, outperforming different baselines. We anticipate that the proposed approach can be deployed as a non-invasive pre-screening tool to assist doctors in performing their diagnosis activities.

Fashioning female feet at the turn of the twentieth century: US Cinderellas, Chinese alterity or global beauty?

AbstractScholars have only paid limited attention to petite feet as a US fashion and as a cross‐cultural beauty ideal. Framed as a visual metaphor of Chinese alterity, traditionalism and patriarchal oppression, footbinding served as a crucial terrain in which the USA asserted its supremacy through a racialised discourse of difference at the turn of the twentieth century. Through a comparative lens, this article spotlights powerful details about shared ideologies of women's bodies in the USA and China. By tracing how women's feet were discussed in newspaper and magazine coverage of US small foot fashion and foot contests, and locating these narratives in a global context, it uncovers the ways in which the discourse of modernity, ideology of white superiority and imperialism naturalised Western women's foot beauty norm as an aesthetic ideal, which obscured the convergences of feminine beauty standards in different parts of the world. Ironically, this racialised global hierarchy of beauty under the guise of modernity tapped into a traditional form of femininity and upset efforts to reflect on the limits of white women's agency both in a traditional patriarchal culture and in a modernising US society, which ultimately constrained possibilities of local and global transformations.

Assessment of brain natriuretic peptide and copeptin as correlates of blood pressure in chronic hypertensive pregnant women

BackgroundHypertensive disorders of pregnancy including preexisting (or chronic) hypertension are the most common complication encountered during pregnancy that contribute significantly to maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. Brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) and copeptin have been investigated as biomarkers in various hypertensive disorders, but studies of their clinical value in chronic hypertensive pregnant women are sparce. This study aimed to assess the levels of BNP and copeptin in chronic hypertensive pregnant women and investigate their correlation with blood pressure (BP) in chronic hypertensive pregnant women in South Western Nigeria.MethodsOne hundred and sixty consenting pregnant women in their third trimester of pregnancy, grouped into those with chronic hypertension (n = 80) and normotensive (n = 80), were recruited for this cross-sectional study. Age and clinical characteristics were obtained, and blood was aseptically drawn for BNP and copeptin measurement using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Data was analyzed with IBM SPSS ver. 20.0. Data was analyzed using Student t-test, chi-square, and Pearson correlation test as appropriate. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05.ResultsThe mean systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) were significantly higher in pregnant women with chronic hypertension (158.30 ± 3.51 and 105.08 ± 2.47 mmHg, respectively) compared with normotensive pregnant women (100.72 ± 3.02 and 70.29 ± 1.96 mmHg, respectively). The mean levels of BNP and copeptin were higher in pregnant women with chronic hypertension (57.26 ± 3.65 pg/mL and 12.44 ± 1.02 pmol/L, respectively) compared with normotensive pregnant women (49.85 ± 2.44 pg/mL and 10.25 ± 1.50 pmol/L, respectively) though not statistically significant. Correlations observed between SBP and DBP with levels of BNP (r = 0.204, P = 0.200; r = 0.142, P = 0.478) and copeptin (r = − 0.058, P = 0.288; r = 0.045, P = 0.907) were not statistically significant.ConclusionsThere was no association between BP and the levels of BNP and copeptin in pregnant women with chronic hypertension who were already on antihypertensive treatment, with the implication that antihypertensive treatment may modulate BNP and copeptin release despite significantly elevated BP levels.

The Western Revival of Goddess Worship

In a modern society arguably disenchanted with religion, numerous Western women are transfixing their reality by making God in their own image. This compelling phenomenon is known as ‘the Goddess Movement’: a non-centralised religious current of neo-pagan origin that reveres the Divine as feminine. The revival of Goddess worship in a vastly secular age which appears not to favour religious devotion is a peculiar occurrence and leads to the following question: Why are women returning to a previously defunct spiritual practice? Building on the research scholars Paul Reid-Bowen and Janet L. Jacobs conducted on Western Goddess worship, as well as drawing on testimonies of Goddess followers, this article aims to elucidate the appeal the Goddess Movement holds for women. It argues that it represents a notable turn in female spirituality which demonstrates that images of feminine divinity offer women the opportunity to find meaningfulness, empowerment, and sexual or psychological healing.

Different levels of adherence to the Mediterranean diet that do not change the risk of breast cancer in western women

Different levels of adherence to the Mediterranean diet that do not change the risk of breast cancer in western women

Gender, racialisation, and border regimes: reflections on social positions and positioning in research with young people on the move

ABSTRACT This article starts from our experiences as two Western women of Black mixed-race background, undertaking fieldwork among unaccompanied young men on the move in Europe. We add to scholarship on ethnographic accounts of encounters. We do this by reflecting on how our positionality affected the research process along often taken-for-granted social categories and markers of sameness and difference, as they related to our fieldwork and the space created between us and participants. We analyse the ways in which power is infused along multiple intersecting axes such as gender and race, and is imbued with movement in that space, helping people to feel, among other things, safe and unsafe, located and dislocated, and visible and invisible. We find that the social positions and positioning that emerged were tied into vulnerabilities related to gender and age, legal status, dimensions of race, class, and specific histories and imaginaries. We also show how performativity, shifting boundaries, and othering came into play and shaped bordering practices and a sense of belonging.

HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men, transgender women and cisgender male sex workers in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Developing effective targets, policies and services for key populations requires estimations of population sizes and HIV prevalence across countries and regions. We estimated the relative and absolute HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender women and men, and male and transgender sex workers (MSW and TGSW) in sub-Saharan African countries using peer-reviewed literature. We performed a systematic review of peer-reviewed studies assessing HIV prevalence in MSM, transgender women and men, MSW and TGSW in sub-Saharan Africa between 2010 and 2021, following PRISMA guidelines. We searched Embase, Medline Epub, Africa Index Medicus, Africa Journal Online, Web of Science and Google Scholar. We calculated HIV prevalence ratios (PRs) between the study prevalence, and the geospatial-, sex, time and age-matched general population prevalence. We extrapolated results for MSM and transgender women to estimate HIV prevalence and the number living with HIV for each country in sub-Saharan Africa using pooled review results, and regression approximations for countries with no peer-reviewed data. We found 44 articles assessing HIV prevalence in MSM, 10 in transgender women, five in MSW and zero in transgender men and TGSW. Prevalence among MSM and transgender women was significantly higher compared to the general population: PRs of 11.3 [CI: 9.9-12.9] for MSM and 8.1 [CI: 6.9-9.6] for transgender women in Western and Central Africa, and, respectively, 1.9 [CI: 1.7-2.0] and 2.1 [CI: 1.9-2.4] in Eastern and Southern Africa. Prevalence among MSW was significantly higher in both Nigeria (PR: 12.4 [CI: 7.3-21.0]) and Kenya (PR: 8.6 [CI: 4.6-15.6]). Extrapolating our findings for MSM and transgender women resulted in an estimated HIV prevalence of 15% or higher for about 60% of all sub-Saharan African countries for MSM, and for all but two countries for transgender women. HIV prevalence among MSM and transgender women throughout sub-Saharan Africa is alarmingly high. This high prevalence, coupled with the specific risks and vulnerabilities faced by these populations, highlights the urgent need for risk-group-tailored prevention and treatment interventions across the sub-continent. There is a clear gap in knowledge on HIV prevalence among transgender men, MSW and TGSW in sub-Saharan Africa.

Alloimmunization to Rh Antigen (D, C, E, C, E) Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care in South Western Uganda.

Maternal red cell alloimmunization to Rh antigen in pregnant women occurs when the immune system is sensitized by foreign red blood cell surface antigens, in this case fetal red blood cells, inducing an immune response. Various antigens of blood group systems may cause alloimmunization, especially the Rh, Kel, Fy, JK, and MNS systems. This study aimed to determine alloimmunization to the different frequencies of Rh antigen among pregnant women in South Western Uganda. A total of 1369 pregnant women consented and were recruited into a cross-sectional study during their regular antenatal visits during the period August 2020 to July 2021. Samples (4 mL) of anticoagulated and coagulated blood were obtained, and Rh blood grouping including Rh antigen and the indirect antiglobulin test (IAT) was carried out using the agglutination technology of the LISS ID-Card technique in the Ortho Biovue ID-Micro Typing System. Out of 1369 participants recruited to the study, 78 (5.7%) were D-, 1291 were D+, and 134 (9.8%) had alloantibodies. Among those with alloantibodies, 115 (85.8%) were D+ and 19 (14.2%) D-. The percentage alloimmunization according to the Rh antigens was highest in e (9.72%), c (2.48%), C (2.34%) and E (0.94%) antigens. With the ABO system, alloimmunization was highest in blood group B (10.7%), followed by A (10.6%), O (9.2%) and then AB (7.1%). Alloimmunization was more prevalent in D- (24%) than in D+ participants (8.9%). Rhesus antigen e was the most prevalent antigen (99.8%), followed by c. The alloimmunization rate of 9.8% among these participants is high, and appears in both D+ and D- women. The other Rhesus antigens are seen to cause alloimmunization, with antigen e causing the highest prevalence. In conclusion, there is a need to identify antibodies and study the outcome for clinical significance, especially in D+ women, to facilitate proper pregnancy management.

A Brief Look at the Creation of the Relief Society Sesquicentennial Exhibit at the Church Museum

A Brief Look at the Creation of the Relief Society Sesquicentennial Exhibit at the Church Museum

Sociocultural correlates of eating pathology in college women from US and Iran.

ObjectiveThe buffering role of the hijab as a protective factor against eating pathology has been questioned in countries where wearing the hijab is compulsory, such as Iran; and, cross-cultural comparisons of body image in Iranian and Western women are sparse. Consequently, we examined sociocultural correlates of eating pathology in US and Iranian women.MethodCollege women from the US (n = 709) and Iran (n = 331) completed the Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire (EDE-Q) and the Sociocultural Attitude Toward to Appearance Questionnaire-4 (SATAQ-4). Prior to examining main hypotheses, we evaluated whether the scales perform similarly (i.e., establish measurement invariance) by culture.ResultsThe EDE-Q and SATAQ-4 were not invariant by culture indicating that the scales performed differently across groups, so separate analyses were conducted in each sample. Thin-ideal internalization and pressures for thinness were significant positive predictors of eating pathology in both US and Iranian women.ConclusionBoth pressures for thinness and thin-ideal internalization appear to be relevant to eating pathology in women from both cultures. However, there may be important cross-cultural differences in the interpretation or experience of these constructs. Further understanding of this measurement non-invariance and the ways in which Iranian women may be uniquely impacted by Western values of appearance is a critical next step.

Association Between Urban Regeneration and Healthcare-Seeking Behavior of Affected Residents: A Natural Experiment in two Multi-Ethnic Deprived Housing Areas in Denmark.

Area regeneration of deprived neighborhoods is being used to reduce health inequality, socioeconomic deprivation and ethnic segregation. This quasi-experimental study examines if long-term graded exposure to urban regeneration is associated with primary healthcare-seeking behavior among residents. We compared general practitioner (GP) contacts from 2015-2020 in two adjacent, deprived social housing areas, one exposed to area regeneration. Populations were into Western and non-Western males and females aged 15 years and older (N = 3,960). Mean annual GP contact frequency for each group were estimated and a difference-in-difference (DiD) analysis was conducted with adjustments for propensity scores based on baseline characteristics. GP contact frequency increased for all groups across time with a systematically higher level and faster increase in the control groups. In particular, the mean difference between the exposed and control area for Western women increased from -4.67 to -5.76 annual contacts across the period. The mean differences in contact frequency increased for all groups but results of the DiD analyses were insignificant. In conclusion, an increasing gap in GP contact frequency, with the highest levels in the control area, was observed for all comparisons across time. More long-term research is needed to understand how the increasing gaps evolve.

Peace on Our Terms: The Global Battle for Women's Rights after the First World War

Peace on Our Terms: The Global Battle for Women's Rights after the First World War

Women as Boundary Markers between Islam and Secularism in Julia Kristeva's Murder in Byzantium (2004) and Elif Şafak's The Bastard of Istanbul (2006)

ABSTRACT: The Bulgarian-French writer Julia Kristeva's Murder in Byzantium (2004) and Turkish novelist Elif Şafak's The Bastard of Istanbul (2006) show how both secular and veiled women become the ground upon which Turkey and France build their national identities. In Murder , the two narrators—the French journalist, Stephanie Delacour, and the unnamed narrator—associate secularism with modernization and progress, and Islam with backwardness and gender inequality. A financially independent world traveler, Stephanie constructs her identity as a foil to the allegedly subservient headscarved Turkish women and fears that French women's freedom might be endangered by the arrival of Muslim immigrants. Her elevation of her Slavic mother Christine and the Byzantine princess Anna Comnena as secular and rational Western women stands for her dream of a French national identity without Islamic influences. Şafak's novel, on the other hand, portrays Turkish female identity not as singular but complex, as the two sisters—the headscarved Banu and Zeliha wearing a miniskirt—live under the same roof. Şafak also portrays Turkish women's ambivalent position as the markers of modernity and tradition as the matriarch Gülsüm Kazancı criticizes Banu for defying secularism and Zeliha for her seductive clothes. Whereas Kristeva's narrators set French national identity in opposition to Islam and Turkish women, Şafak's novel challenges the flattened conception of Turkish femininity by depicting the hybridity of women's dress codes and religious practices. Both novels portray how secular Turkish and French nationalisms are imagined vis-à-vis female roles.

Prévention nutritionnelle de l’ostéoporose chez l’adulte

A Mediterranean diet appears to be beneficial for bone health. It is recommended for the prevention of osteoporosis, especially since this diet has other health benefits unlike an unbalanced Western diet. Exclusion diets among vegetarians and especially vegans are to be avoided in the prevention of osteoporosis. In vegetarians and especially vegans, vitamin D, calcium supplementation, and sufficient protein intake must be systematically prescribed in order to reduce the excess risk of fracture. The literature globally shows a positive effect of dairy products in terms of impact on bone mineral density and fracture risk. This effect appears more marked for fermented milk products (yogurt, cheese). It is recommended to consume several varied dairy products (2 to 3) daily to prevent osteoporosis. Regarding vitamin D fortified foods, the scientific evidence is not sufficient to affirm an equivalence with vitamin D supplementation in terms of bone health. Certain strains of probiotics can reduce bone loss in a modest way, but the target population, the optimal bacterial strains and the methods of consumption remain insufficiently defined to specifically recommend their use in the prevention of osteoporosis. For Western women, there is insufficient data to recommend a soy food consumption or isoflavone supplements for the prevention of osteoporosis.

This Land Is Herland: Gendered Activism in Oklahoma from the 1870s to the 2010s ed. by Sarah Eppler Janda and Patricia Loughlin

Reviewed by: This Land Is Herland: Gendered Activism in Oklahoma from the 1870s to the 2010sed. by Sarah Eppler Janda and Patricia Loughlin Courtney Kisat This Land Is Herland: Gendered Activism in Oklahoma from the 1870s to the 2010s. Edited by Sarah Eppler Janda and Patricia Loughlin. Women and the American West. ( Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2021. Pp. xiv, 303. Paper, $24.95, ISBN 978-0-8061-6926-2.) Scholars of gender, rural, and western American history will find much to celebrate in This Land Is Herland: Gendered Activism in Oklahoma from the 1870s to the 2010s. The first installment of the Women and the American West series, which is edited by Renée M. Laegreid and published by the University of Oklahoma Press, the volume presents thirteen essays that profile Oklahoma women over time and space. Central to these essays are the notions of belonging and agency: to whom do the rights of a citizen belong, how have they been claimed and refuted, and how does this reshape our understanding of the American West? This scholarship is merely the latest effort at correcting the historiography of the American West, a movement that began in 1982 when the Coalition [End Page 600]for Western Women's History formed to highlight the lack of historical attention on western women's lived experiences and to refute the mainstream, overmasculinized version of the American West. Since then, historians looking to see the past through a more gendered lens have produced valuable scholarship shaped by more inventive ways of imagining the spaces in which women have worked, lived, and died. This Land Is Herlandcontributes much to this vibrant field of western women's history. The anthology's editors, Sarah Eppler Janda and Patricia Loughlin, both of whom are noted historians of gender and the American West, have woven a historical tapestry that artfully represents the activism of Oklahoma women from a variety of socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds between the 1870s and the 2010s. The anthology is organized into three parts and represents the work of a dozen professional historians, adding much to a field that is finally receiving well-deserved attention in mainstream history. Part 1 examines themes of activism, radicalism, and maternalism through the lives of five remarkable women who worked within the bounds of gender norms to help shape their fledgling communities in the postbellum era through statehood in 1907. Part 2 delves into the long civil rights movement in Oklahoma, offering profiles of four courageous women from the 1920s through the 1960s, women who remained determined to improve society even as opposition mounted and consequences loomed large. Part 3 concludes the anthology with four essays covering women who fought for their vision of equality from the 1970s through the 2010s. As the culture wars of the times increased in intensity, the authors explain, so too did each woman's determination to win the day, even in the face of devastating consequences to their liberty and property. By way of critique, the subjectivity of some authors raises questions about potentially overcorrecting the historical record, while other points are weakened by unsubstantiated claims. For example, one author explains that an illustration is "possibly" that of her subject, but as "there are no confirmed" photographs of her, the reader is asked to instead imagine the woman in the photo as representative of the women who occupied that space and time (p. 136). If a specific figure becomes impossible to document through traditional research, where does the historian's due diligence lie, and where does it factor into an imagining of the spaces occupied by people such as those under study in this volume? These questions will continue to provoke scholars who produce scholarship on women's experiences across time and place. The women profiled in This Land Is Herlandremained fluid in tactics, rhetoric, and activism by necessity, because they operated in a world dominated by men. Each utilized the tools of maternalism, social capital, and political persuasion to advance their particular view of a society in Oklahoma. Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote Herlandin 1915, describing a society as a feminist utopia completely free from male presence. As the historians in...

Impact of Floods on Kenyan Women: A Critical Review of Media Coverage, Institutional Response and Opportunities for Gender Responsive Mitigation

Natural disasters pose serious threat to human life and livelihoods. Kenya is perennially exposed to floods, landslides and drought due to effects of climate change. Flooding is particularly rampant in Western Kenya and women are disproportionately affected due the important roles they play in rural economies particularly in agriculture, the informal sector as well as household survival. The media is always at hand to capture the details of the catastrophe with press reports highlighting the specific experiences of individuals, and the prevailing conditions of the affected villages including: destruction of shelter, displacement and loss of livelihoods. Similarly, Government and Non–Governmental agencies move into the affected communities to provide the much-needed support. This study reviews existing institutional literature and media coverage reports to examine the specific flood related vulnerabilities among women in Western Kenya in order to identify existing gaps.Women experience specific difficulties in performing their traditional family roles, and are often unable to meet their personal hygiene and sanitation needs but are largely missing from the decision forums where Disaster Risk Reduction is discussed leading to lack of prioritization of their specific needs. The lessons drawn from this study should inform gender responsive mitigation efforts and resilience capacity building.

NAWAL EL SAADAWI AND GERMAINE GREER: LOST AND QUEST FOR IDENTITY

Every human being has to live within the framework of National identity, the two crusaders Nawal El Saadawi and Germaine Greer also have their respective identity, but their quest for identity is different. Their quest is a quest for women’s identity in their perspective societies.It has long been accepted that feminism was among the first mediums of expression when the civilizing instinct took root in history from Greek age. By extension, it could be argued that feminism offers a privileged view into subjectivities especially when produced in situations where identities are contested and categorized.El Saadawi and Greer the modern feminist writers, who introduced a new idiom in literature, which composed their autobiographies using historical and social problems to tackle contemporary issues of Muslim and western women, and arguably performed a foundational role, can be read as a paradigm of such privileging. Much has been written, and read about the feeling of loss and quest for identity and a consciousness in their autobiographies. It has variously been argued that El Saadawi and Greer's autobiographies perform a self-analysis of identity that helps the reader reach conclusions regarding life and existential experiences that revolve aroundidentity crisis. However, ina bid into bracket their works under these conceptual categoriesof ‘the identity’. A study of this kind, however, demands a study of the tradition of Muslim and western women who live in different respective societies to understand how El Saadawi and Greer was shaped by a peculiar and particular historicity society, even as they sought to distance themselves from it. El Saadawi and Greer’s claim were to be accepted, it implies that El Saadawi and Greer introduced a new utility and routiness to feminism that transformed it from a detached aesthetic experiment to an existential of an identity.