Gender Roles Of Women Research Articles

Gender Role of Women in Fisheries Operations in the Fishing Communities of Doma Dam of Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Gender Role of Women in Fisheries Operations in the Fishing Communities of Doma Dam of Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria

SPECIFICS OF PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY OF WOMEN-RESEARCHERS IN ACADEMIC SCIENCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS

The article deals with the specificity of the research activity of women – scientists, determined by the gender role of women in the framework of the methodological approach – structural functionalism. Proceeding from the necessity of combining conjugal, maternal and professional roles, strategies for the professionalization of a woman-scientist are represented. The influence of marriage and motherhood on the research activity of women is analyzed based on the results of a sociological research conducted in 2017 among women-scientists of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Based on the analysis of the sociological research data, it is concluded that the importance of the family and the scientific career for women-researchers depends on age, academic degree and position. For women-researchers, both traditional family values and values of professional self-realization and economic independence are highly valued. Generally satisfied with family status and combining personal life and professional activity, almost one in five women has trouble in combining research and family life. “Double burden” as a factor that reduces the effectiveness of women’s scientific activity, together with the high importance of the profession and family for a woman is a premise for the “role conflict of a working woman”. Gender stereotypes, which often reflect the real situation in the everyday practices of women, influence the scientific activity of women-researchers.

Maternal Identities and Narratives of Motherhood: A Qualitative Exploration of Women’s Pathways Into and Out of Offending

Existing research in criminology often focuses on changes in offending behaviors over time. Yet, less is known about the role of gender in women’s offending and little consideration is directed toward the integration of gender and parenthood in understanding offending trajectories. This article examines how and when offending and desisting pathways are shaped by motherhood. Interviews were conducted with 37 mothers in New York City with histories of offending behaviors. The data demonstrate how motherhood and maternal identities held more significance in some social circumstances, contributing to offending pathways and presenting a variety of challenges in some women’s desistance pathways.

Recursive Male Out-migration and the Consequences at Source: A Systematic Review with Special Reference to the Left-behind Women

Male out-migration from rural to urban areas has amplified worldwide in the face of economic globalisation. Migration literature for long has engaged with the life of migrants at the destination and their support for the left-behind families in the form of remittances. Explicit scholastic undertaking for the left-behind women and their life experiences has started to receive attention only recently. We take stock of the existing literature to examine this social process and debate it within a women empowerment-disempowerment framework. Following a systematic review of the ‘migration left-behind nexus’ literature, we find a clear trend of transformation in the gender role of women everywhere, especially in the form of ‘feminisation of agriculture’. This process is largely moderated by the nature and amount of remittances received at source. The resultant well-being and empowerment of women is shaped by the socio-cultural context within which migration takes place. Both positive and/or negative outcomes for left-behind women are recorded in the literature, although its choice as a conscious decision and its subsequent permanence in a society is debatable. We expect a deeper engagement of future research that takes up the migration-led women empowerment issue within the context of the general social transformation process.

Growing Down Like a Banana: Solomon Islands Village Women Changing Gender Norms

This article presents Solomon Islands village women’s opinions about gender norms. It explores their perceptions of their ability to be involved in leadership roles and decision-making, and their analysis of how they conceive of their abilities changing. It attempts to unravel the ‘push-pull’ experience for Solomon Islands rural women—a push towards modernity equated with gender equity and development, and the pull of traditional gender roles for women embedded in notions of what it means to be a good Solomon Islander woman. It concludes that women’s empowerment must be viewed as a journey that encompasses women’s strategic and practical interests relating to agency in a variety of locations. This article contributes to understanding some aspects to women’s empowerment and how international NGOs and other development entities may have a role in creating space for women’s self-reflection, public commentary and visibility in secular social space.

Swedish women's perceptions of and conformity to feminine norms.

The relatively high gender equality in the Swedish society is likely to exert an influence on gender role construction. Hence, the present research aimed to investigate Swedish women's perceptions of and conformity to feminine norms. A mixed methods approach with two studies was used. In Study 1, young Swedish women's gender role conformity, as measured by the Conformity to Feminine Norms Inventory 45 (CFNI-45), was compared to the results from previously published studies in Canada, the United States, and Slovakia. Overall, Swedish women displayed less conformity than their foreign counterparts, with the largest difference on the subscale Sexual fidelity. In Study 2, focus group interviews with young Swedish women added a more complex picture of feminine norms in the Swedish society. For instance the results indicated that Swedish women, while living in a society with a strong gender equality discourse, are torn between the perceived need to invest in their appearances and the risk of being viewed as non-equal when doing so. In sum, despite the fact that traditional gender roles are less pronounced in Sweden, gender role conformity is still a pressing issue. Since attending to the potential roles of feminine norms in women's lives previously has been proposed to be useful in counseling and therapeutic work, the present research also offers valuable information for both researchers and practitioners. [Correction added on 5 May 2017, after first online publication in April 2017: An incorrect Abstract was inadvertently captured in the published article and has been corrected in this current version.].

Women's gender roles affect their visual interest in different infant facial expressions

The present study tested whether women's gender roles were associated with interest in infants and examined the influence of infants' facial expressions on women's interest in them. Eye movements were measured in childless female undergraduates through presentations of adult and infant faces with three kinds of expressions. Nulliparous women had general visual preferences toward infant faces. Moreover, neutral infant facial expressions gained most attentional bias than smiling and crying infant faces compared to adult facial expressions. We assumed that gender roles might affect individual differences in women's interest in infants; results showed that masculinity affected women's visual attentional bias toward infants. Further, masculinity had a consistent negative effect on viewing preference toward infants regardless of their expressions. Atypical gender roles thus play an important role in women's differing interests in and caregiving behavior toward infants. We believe a better grasp of gender role effects and infant facial expression influences can improve our understanding of women's interests toward infants.

Exploring the Perceptions of Wits Academic Women About Women Empowerment and the Changing Roles of Women in 21st-Century South Africa

Issues of women’s empowerment and gender inequality have been of paramount importance, particularly in the two decades since the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 1995. At that conference, the campaign for women’s empowerment was initiated to implement laws promoting gender equality. This research explored the perceptions of nine academic women at the University of the Witwatersrand with regard to women’s empowerment and the changing roles of women in a South African context in the 21st century. The research adopted a qualitative research methodology, and purposive sampling was utilized to select the study population. Data were collected in the form of semistructured interviews of approximately 30 to 60 min in duration, and thematic content analysis was applied to analyze the data. The data collected indicated that women in academia face challenges and experiences like other women in the workforce. These challenges and experiences are a result of the patriarchal nature of the workplace environment and the slow transformation at the university. It is also interesting to note that the gender roles of women in academia in their daily activities, married or single, are aggravated by the patriarchal nature of the broader society in which these women live.

The Interaction of Economic Livelihood Strategies and Literacy and Numeracy Practices of Urban Gambian Women with Low Educational Attainments

This paper is based on eight months of ethnographic fieldwork in the periphery of Banjul, the capital of The Gambia. It explores relations between the gender roles of women with modest educational achievement and their uses of literacy and numeracy. The paper applied New Literacy Studies theoretical framework of literacy as a ‘social practice’. Data was collected from 120 women with low and no educational qualifications in the urban Gambia who participated in the three different stages of the study, namely: survey, focus group discussions and individual interviews along with participant observations. The study data was analyzed through the use of both qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques. The survey data was analyzed and presented in the form of descriptive statistics for illuminating the demographic characteristics of the study participants. The analysis of the qualitative data was done through the use of both inductive and deductive coding strategies for identifying common themes and patterns across the different data sources. In this paper, a detailed ethnographic account of four cases of women who participated in the study is provided for illuminating the literacy environment as well as the circumstances subsumed within it that induce or suppress literacy practices among women of limited educational qualifications in The Gambia. The study uncovers instances where women’s uses of literacy and numeracy added greater efficiency in their economic activities and highlight other scenarios where literate women did not rely on those skills in the exercise of their economic activities. Findings confirm New Literacy Studies (NLS) theoretical claim that literacy skills do not automatically create their uses. Rather, literacy uses are a product of their socio-cultural context of their application. From the four cases reported here, this paper substantially illuminates women’s economic livelihood strategies, the contextual barriers they encounter in performing their economic roles and their opportunities and limitations for using and sharpening their written numeracy and literacy skills. Knowledge concerning the interaction of women's economic livelihoods and literacy uses constitutes critical information that could inform adult education and economic policy development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Keywords: Gender and development; Informal economy & Women’s economic livelihoods; Women’s literacy; The Gambia

Гендерна культура в індуїзмі: традиціоналістський та модернізаційний аспекти

Статтю присвячено проблемі співвідношення між традиційними і модернізаційними вимірами в гендерній культурі індуїзму. Автором зроблено висновок про те, що жінки в класичних індуїстських текстах, таким чином, часто сприймаються як істоти нижчого порядку, іноді зведені до рівня шудр, незалежно від їх фактичної кастової приналежності. З іншого боку, образи жінок позиціоновані у вигляді різних богинь, які є, вочевидь, позитивними прототипами дхармічних жінок. Водночас традиційні гендерні ролі індуських жінок у домашньому господарстві в Індії, на думку дослідника, змінилися за останні п’ятдесят-сто років. Західні країни вплинули на ці зміни. Триваюче відновлення соціального статусу жінок призвело до значних змін, які стосувалися широкого спектра проблем: освіти, медико-санітарних заходів, сільських та промислових схем соціального забезпечення, проблем ранніх шлюбів, носіння паранджі, статусу вдів, виборчого права жінок, представництва жінок в органах влади. Соціально-статусне позиціювання жінок істотно поліпшилося завдяки буддизму. Жінки і чоловіки були рівними в етиці, яка була істотно пом’якшеною в аспекті розширення кількості прав жінок. У той час як патріархальне суспільство і патріархально-сексистська гендерна культура брахманізму залишалися незмінними, в буддійському суспільстві жінки набули більше свободи і розглядалися як незалежні, їм було дозволено ставати монахинями та бути релігійно- і соціально-активними особистостями.

SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENDER AND WOMEN'S HEALTH

Current paper aims to investigate role of gender in women’s health and disease. Research theoretical framework is feminist theory overall. Analytical – document methods was used. one of the basic issues in every social system is status of women’s health in the society which is highly influenced by variables out of medical and health system including socioeconomic status, climatic conditions education level, cultural and political situation, etc. in the members of society. The health should be considered at physical, mental and social dimensions. Meanwhile, gender factor plays considerable role in determining health of the society members and influences it. Division of gender and sex concepts has entered recently in social sciences and humanities and provides more realistic perspective for the scholars in this area. Sociologists believe that health and physical and mental diseases are not merely biological or psychological realities, rather simultaneously they have social dimensions and nature. Social factors may paly significant role increasing, preserving and promoting health and they also contribute essentially in prevalence and continuation of the diseases

Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers by N. Harry Rothschild

Rothschild, N. Harry. Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers. New York: Columbia University Press, 2015. Harry N. Rothschild's Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers provides useful sources for readers who are interested in Chinese History, Chinese Philosophy, Women's Studies, or Feminist Studies. With his specialization in Tang history and the study of Women and Gender in China, the author is well qualified to write in the field of Women's Studies during the Tang dynasty. His previous book Wu Zhao, China's Only Female Emperor demonstrates that he is an outstanding expert of the study of Emperor Wu Zhao. In his new book, the author uncovers a sacred connection between Wu Zhao and the culturally revered female ancestors, goddesses, and paragons from different religious traditions. He finds that this sacred connection strongly bolsters Wu Zhao's authority and leadership in the spiritual and political realms. From this book, readers who are interested in the history and development of Chinese thought will see how Wu Zhao broke the barrier of different religions in the Chinese tradition, deftly put Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism together, and created her discourse power and female worship by seeking agency from those female exemplars in various religious traditions. Readers who are interested in Women and Religion can find from this book how Wu Zhao glorified women's creativity, reproductive power, motherhood, leadership, and sovereignty through worshiping her female deities. Wu Zhao's relationship with her female deities, however, is not passive. It is strategic. In a historian's perspective, the author finds that Wu Zhao decided who could be placed in her pantheon and how long the female divinity could stay. The relationship of Wu Zhao and her female deities actually changes at the different stages in her career. Driven by political purposes, Wu Zhao's worship of particular goddesses always serves her needs. For instance, in the early period of her political career, Wu Zhao performed rituals for worshiping the First Sericulturist Leizu for four times. The author not only narrates the process of the ritual vividly, but also interprets Wu Zhao's motivation and purpose of performing the ritual in depth. Because the First Sericulturist Leizu symbolized the womanly vocation of silk weaving, Wu Zhao's worship of the silk goddess right after her tenure as empress helped her establish herself as a women's exemplar that reinforced women's traditional gender roles. …

The Farm Wife Mystery School: Women's use of social media in the contemporary North American urban homestead movement

Within the larger North American food security movement, self-professed ‘urban homesteaders’ have been tearing up their backyard lawns to plant vegetable gardens and install chicken coops in search of greater self-sufficiency and independence from industrial agriculture and the corporate food chain. Participants are most often white, middle-class professionals who have no previous experience in food production or preservation and they turn to the internet and social media for support and instruction. This article considers the online community created by the urban homesteading movement as a so-called community of practice, an educational space where adult learners never meet face-to-face, but where significant informal, self-directed learning is taking place. Women's urban homesteading blogs are examined in the context of social movement learning to determine whether the use of social media as an educational and community-building tool is aiding women in furthering their food security goals. Women's gender roles in this contemporary movement are also considered, and this analysis suggests that using social media may be helping to bridge the traditional isolation expressed by previous generations of women, to reinforce a sense of political purpose to home-based food production, and to potentially create an income source for the family.

Televizyon kanallarındaki gündüz programlarında kadın sağlığı ve toplumsal cinsiyete bakışın değerlendirilmesi

Objective: Daytime programmes in television channels generally target women by considering several topics including health which are points of interests for women. In this study, we studied the contents of the daytime programmes of TV channels to women’s health and gender problems and to determine the transmitted knowledge. Methods: This descriptive study applied qualitative assessment to daytime programmes in TV channels showing during May-June 2013. 11 channels which have daytime programmes about women and health, A total of 22 sessions were included in the study where 18 were health and 4 were general women programmes in 11 channels which have daytime programmes. Results: The most discussed issues are about slimming and healthy nutrition and beauty issues in those programmes. Women’s reproductive health issues (labour, menopause etc.) or their musculoskeletal disorders were rarely discussed. In the discussions, gender roles of women are presented with many hidden messages. In addition, we found that women were treated as consumers with advertising of many items from health care to several materials including shoes sole and cooker pots. Conclusion: These kinds of programmes are functioning to reproduce existing gender roles in Turkey where the gender gap is already deep. The health topics discussed do not overlap with women’s health problems our society’s health problems were densely presented with beauty and esthetic contents. However these programmes could be used both as a tool in women’s health promotion and as an intervention to decrease the gender gap in our society, a gap that is increasing gradually. There is a necessity that relevant institutions of the government should plan and control these issues.

The Italian family, motherhood and Italianness in New Zealand. The case of the Italian community of Wellington

Synopsis Recent studies of the Italian diaspora have examined the role of migrant families in constructing Italian identities. The mother's role is normally that of reproducing and guarding Italian morality. Different scenarios are also possible, with mothers often questioning, resisting or revising the models imported from the homeland. Based on fifty interviews with members of the Italian community of Island Bay, Wellington, the article looks at how the Italian maternal archetype and the extended family have been translated to New Zealand. It focuses on themes which underscore the links between mothering practices and Italianness: food, family, women's work, gender roles, raising sons and daughters, living-at-home children and intergenerational relations. These aspects are examined against ideals, ideologies, practices and policies current in Italy and New Zealand, to assess areas of departure from the Italian models, the influence of the host country and the impact of change on the community's sense of Italianness.

A Cross-Section Study of the Ontogeny of Gender Roles in Women with DSD.

A review of gender role (GR) differentiation from early childhood through adulthood was conducted on males and females in general, as well as on females affected by congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency or complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS). Additionally, retrospective and current, self-rated GR assessments were evaluated from women with CAH (n = 9) or CAIS (n = 12), and unaffected women and men ranging in age from 16 to 59 years. Overall, GR differentiation occurs in early childhood and persists through adulthood. With advanced age, this differentiation may evolve into androgyny or even become undifferentiated for the general population. While more studies of GR exist for girls and women with CAH compared to those affected by CAIS, some developmental patterns can be observed from the limited data that exist. First, girls and women with CAIS report a female GR that persists through adulthood. Second, girls and women with CAH are more likely to report less feminine/ more masculine play in childhood followed by interests in male-typical leisure activities and career choices in adulthood. However, our data indicate that women with CAH report more feminine/ less masculine patterns of GR with age. Self-reported GR for women with CAH was indistinguishable from that of women with CAIS at the time of study participation in adulthood. With the availability of effective medications for treating hormone deficiencies associated with CAH, affected women are expected to live a full lifespan. Thus, our understanding of psychosexual development into older age is warranted.

Development and Validation of a Preliminary Measure of African American Women's Gender Role Beliefs.

Gender role beliefs of African American women differ from those of women in other ethnic/racial groups and a culturally valid measure of their gender role beliefs is needed. Three studies were conducted to develop a preliminary measure. In Study 1, focus groups were conducted with a community and college sample of 44 African American women. Transcripts reviewed resulted in an initial pool of 40 items. These items were reviewed by an expert panel and 18 items were retained. In Study 2, an exploratory factor analysis was computed with data from 94 African American female college students. The 18 items were included along with measures to assess convergent and discriminant validity. Nine items were retained. These nine items comprised two subscales labeled Agency and Caretaking. The scales demonstrated good internal consistency and convergent and discriminant validity. In Study 3, a confirmatory factor analysis was computed with a different sample of 184 African American female college students. The confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable fit for the two-factor structure of Agency and Caretaking.

Try it at home: Avon and gender in Brazil, 1958–1975

This article examines the entry of US-based cosmetics firm Avon into the Brazilian market from 1958 to 1975. Avon's direct-to-home distribution model and family brand strategy gave the company a competitive advantage in the Brazilian cosmetics market. However, Avon's branch managers had to adapt the company's marketing strategy and recruitment practices to accommodate Brazilian standards of feminine respectability and in response to saleswomen who expanded distribution beyond the company's original target markets. Avon's Brazilian branch excluded women from management positions, and the company's marketing materials emphasised conservative gender roles for women. Nonetheless, Avon sales increased many women's economic agency.

Women and New Information Technologies in the Public Broadcasting Domain: Television Commercials

The paper reviews the current thinking about the relationship between women and information technology and gender roles in television commercials, and then explains how the gender roles of women in television commercials reflect feminist theories. Suggestions are provided to address the problems mentioned. It concludes that information technology is a way of advocating for and consolidating masculinity. In addition, it builds female stereotypes and expands the distinction between men and women.

Socio-Cultural Factors of Gender Roles in Women’s Healthcare Utilization in Southwest Nigeria

Socio-cultural factors are threat to women’s health and well-being. A culture reinforces the gender role and life style of husbands and wives. No matter how equipped a health facility is, it is the patronage that makes the difference to good health. People’s socio-cultural background plays vital role in seeking and acceptance of health care. The consequence of these factors on the use of health facility among pregnant women is a major cause of maternal morbidity and mortality and a powerful brake on the road to the achievement of MDGs as well as overall development. Maternal mortality in Nigeria is very high, with an estimated 52,900 Nigerian women dying from pregnancy-related complications out of a global total of 529,000 maternal deaths. It is not encouraging to note that 62 percent of births in Nigeria occur at home and 96 percent of women who received no ANC services delivered at home. Several factors lead to health care facility utilization and among these the less studied is the socio-cultural dimension and hence the focus of the paper. The study was carried out in Ado-Odo/Ota local government area with 260 eligible respondents, selected randomly from the eight wards in the local government. Interview approach was employed with the aid of structured questionnaire to elicit required information from the respondents and data analyzed using SPSS. The main objective of this study is to understand the influence of socio-cultural factors influencing health care utilization among women during pregnancy and child birth. The findings show that husband perception of pregnancy complications, age at marriage, who pays ante-natal bills, family type, treatment place decision are significant towards use of health care services by mothers. Paper provides recommendations for improving the use of maternal health delivery services in the study area and beyond.