Responsibility Of Women Research Articles

Family planning and men's health from nurses' perspective

Objective: This study aims to know nurses' views on men's use of family planning services in the regional health of municipalities in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Methods: It is a qualitative study, carried out from July 2009 to October 2009 through semi-structured interviews with 22 nurses. Results: The results produced the following categories: 'Men and the limiting factors to their access to family planning services', and 'Men and their reasons for accessing family planning services'. The results showed that men seek those services looking for condoms or diagnosis of pathologies, sexual-related or not. Conclusion: The idea of men as being invulnerable or of family planning as being women's responsibility might be associated with men's disengagement from the services, but barriers to healthcare access and the unavailability of some services might be the greatest hindrance.

An assessment of attitudes toward gender inequitable sexual and reproductive health norms in South Sudan: a community-based participatory research approach

BackgroundCommunities in South Sudan have endured decades of conflict. Protracted conflict exacerbated reproductive health disparities and gender inequities. This study, conducted prior to the country’s 2011 independence, aimed to assess attitudes toward gender inequitable norms related to sexual relationships and reproductive health and the effects of sex, age, and education on these attitudes.MethodsApplying a community-based participatory research approach and quota sampling, 680 adult male and female respondents were interviewed in seven sites within South Sudan in 2009–2011. The verbally administered survey assessed attitudes using the Gender Equitable Men scale. Data were stratified by sex, age (≤35 years and >35 years), and education.ResultsOf 680 respondents, 352 were female, 326 were male, and 2 did not indicate their sex. The majority of women (77%) and men (74%) agreed “a man needs other women, even if things with his wife are fine”. Respondents who reported no education (60%) were more likely than those who reported any education (45%) to agree “if a woman is married, she should have sex with her husband whenever he wants to, even if she doesn’t want to” (p = 0.002). The majority of women (74%) and men (73%) agreed “it is a woman’s responsibility to avoid getting pregnant”. Respondents who reported no education (81%) were more likely than those who reported any education (72%) to agree with this statement (p = 0.04). When asked about condom use, the majority of respondents, across both sexes and both age groups, agreed “it would be outrageous for a wife to ask her husband to use a condom” and “women who carry condoms are easy”. There were no statistically significant differences between the two age groups for any of the assessed gender inequitable norms.ConclusionThe study reveals differences in attitudes toward gender inequitable sexual and reproductive health norms among those surveyed in South Sudan when stratified by sex and education. As a new nation seeks to strengthen its health system, these data can inform sexual and reproductive health policies and programming in South Sudan.

The Absent and Silenced Voice in Media Representations of FilipinaVictims of Homicide in Australia

This article explores the absent and silenced voice in Australian newspapersthrough case studies of two Filipino women – Nenita Westhof and MarylouOrton – who were victims of homicide in Australia. It draws on a feministdiscourse analysis of newspaper articles and interviews conducted with theirfamilies and friends. The method used is one way of enabling people to hear thestories of those who do not have a voice in the present. Analysing newspaperrepresentations in light of the interviews provides an entirely different, moreaccurate and just reconstruction of the women's lives. Mediarepresentations of Nenita and Marylou bore little resemblance to their‘lived reality’. In most instances, journalists did notacknowledge that the women were victims of domestic violence. Furthermore,sexist, racist and class-based discourses constructed Nenita and Marylou inaccordance with dominant representations of Filipino women in Australia. Theywere held accountable for their own deaths, while their abusive male partnerswere frequently portrayed as victims of women who abused them. The articleargues that such representations sensationalize the issues, misrepresentviolence as the women's fault and shift responsibility from theperpetrator to the victim. In the process, they silence women'svoices.

More than 13 million: mass mobilisation and gender politics in the Vietnam Women's Union

This article focuses on the Vietnam Women's Union (VWU): one of the oldest and largest machineries for women's issues in the world. This article explores how this mass membership organisation in a socialist state is currently addressing the realities of women's daily lives and gender relations in Vietnam. It considers the extent to which a mass state-led organisation triggers feminist solidarity. Our research, in one of the local branches of the VWU, examined the organisation's membership rates, programmes and activities, and its gender-equality objectives. We found that the VWU fails to challenge traditional gender norms, actually emphasising women's responsibilities in maintaining a ‘happy family’. However, solidarity with the poor is a key concern of the district offices’ agenda and many women do actually benefit practically from their projects. We conclude that the VWU's main weaknesses emerge from its hierarchical structure and a centrally planned gender policy, which avoids addressing critical power issues.

Accounting for Job Quality in Women’s and Men’s Commute Time to Work: An Update to the “Household Responsibility” Thesis

Women often face trade-offs in fulfilling both employment and household responsibilities. One indicator of this is commute time, a compromise between the stresses of longer work journeys and potentially expanded job options. Women spend less time commuting than men and thus may have fewer work opportunities. While prior research finds a link between commute time and women's disproportionate household responsibilities, it does not examine in detail the potential role of job quality. Using employee data from the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce, this study examines how fringe benefits, scheduling flexibility, wages, and full-time hours relate to commute time and mediate relationships between sex, household responsibilities, and commute time. This study finds that for women, orientation toward traditional gender roles is associated with shorter commute times, though access to benefits is related to longer commutes. The association between wages and commute time is similar between women and men, and men’s commute times are not tied to their household roles or attitudes.

Increasing male participation in the uptake of vasectomy services

In India, family planning is considered to be the woman's responsibility and tubal ligation is much more popular compared to vasectomy. For every 98 women who undergo tubal libation, only...

"There Are No Ugly Women, Only Lazy Ones": Taiwanese Women's Social Comparison with Mediated Beauty Images

This qualitative interview study examines women's consumption of beauty media and their social comparison with mediated beauty images in relation to the motives of self-evaluation, self-improvement, and self-enhancement, in a collectivistic Asian society, Taiwan. This study pays special attention to how local media conventions and social norms frame women's relationship s with different types of beauty images. Respondent interviews were conducted with 35 Taiwanese women from various backgrounds. Findings underscore the inspirational role and educational function of media and advertising images in inducing women to accept mediated beauty standards as attainable and empowering. Taiwanese women's consumption of beauty media was primarily motivated by self-improvement goals, which were reinforced by local social beliefs that normalized women's responsibility to beautify themselves, and in turn, legitimized the media's skewed beauty standard as a worthy ambition for women.

Income support for Australian carers since 1983: social justice, social investment and the cloak of gender neutrality

Income support for carers has been available in Australia since the early 1980s. In contrast to most other forms of income support, eligibility for Carer Payment has been progressively expanded in recent years, and increasing numbers of carers are claiming the payment as a result. This article examines the history of income support for carers by reviewing changes in eligibility criteria in the social security legislation and considering how those changes were framed. We argue that reforms to carers' income support have developed within competing frames of social justice and social investment, with an increasing emphasis on a social investment discourse, which prioritises paid work over care. Neither of the dominant frames addresses gender equality, and in practice, income support policy has reinforced familial (women's) responsibility for caring. Given the gendered nature of caring in Australia, gender equality issues must be considered in future policy reforms to ensure that the competing pressures on women to care and to engage in paid work do not lead to greater disadvantage and inequality for women and the people for whom they care.

The focused ethnographic study ‘assessing the behavioral and local market environment for improving the diets of infants and young children 6 to 23 months old’ and its use in three countries

The concept of a focused ethnographic study (FES) emerged as a new methodology to answer specific sets of questions that are required by agencies, policymakers, programme planners or by project implementation teams in order to make decisions about future actions with respect to social, public health or nutrition interventions, and for public-private partnership activities. This paper describes the FES on complementary feeding that was commissioned by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and highlights findings from studies conducted in three very different country contexts (Ghana, South Africa and Afghanistan) burdened by high levels of malnutrition in older infants and young children (IYC). The findings are analysed from the perspective of decision-making for future interventions. In Ghana, a primary finding was that in urban areas the fortified, but not instant cereal, which was being proposed, would not be an appropriate intervention, given the complex balancing of time, costs and health concerns of caregivers. In both urban and rural South Africa, home fortification products such as micronutrient powders and small quantity, lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNS) are potentially feasible interventions, and would require thoughtful behaviour change communication programmes to support their adoption. Among the important results for future decision-making for interventions in Afghanistan are the findings that there is little cultural recognition of the concept of special foods for infants, and that within households food procurement for IYC are in the hands of men, whereas food preparation and feeding are women's responsibilities.

Engaging Men in Family Planning Services Delivery: Experiences Introducing the Standard Days Method® in Four Countries

Family planning is often regarded as the woman's responsibility, but there is growing recognition of the need to involve men in family planning programs. Since 2001, the fertility-awareness-based Standard Days Method® (SDM) has been introduced in more than 30 countries, providing a natural, effective birth control option. SDM requires the cooperation of the male partner, and its introduction created an opportunity to test innovative strategies to engage couples in family planning. Such strategies included couple counselling, outreach activities that encouraged men to participate in family planning and integration of family planning into traditionally male programs. Due to the SDM's intrinsic characteristics as a couple method, SDM providers are sensitized to the importance of exploring other critical sexual and reproductive health topics, including intimate partner violence, HIV, sexuality and partner communication. This paper presents several case studies describing how men were engaged in SDM introduction activities in four countries.

Conceptions of daily life in women living with a man suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

To describe conceptions of daily life in women living with a man suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in different stages. The spouse is often the primary caregiver to someone with COPD, and thus also affected by the consequences of the disease. No previous studies have been found focusing on conceptions of daily life in women living with a man suffering from COPD in different stages. A phenomenographic study was conducted. Data were collected in 2008-2009 through semi-structured interviews with 21 women living with men suffering from COPD in different stages. Four main descriptive categories were found: unchanged life situation where no support was needed; socially restricted life and changed roles; changes in health; and changes in the couple's relationship where support was needed. The categories are described in relation to the woman herself, in relation to the man, and in relation to others. No support was needed from society or health care when the men had mild COPD and the women experienced no change in their daily life. As the disease progressed, the women's responsibilities increased and their role changed from being a spouse to being an informal carer. Social contacts became limited, and they began to feel isolated. The women prioritized their spouse's health and well-being and compromised their own health. They experienced lack of support from health professionals and from the municipality.

Feeding regime and management of local Lao pigs in Central Lao PDR

A survey was carried out in smallholder farming systems in the districts of Borrikun, Khamkeuth, and Pakkading, in central Lao People's Democratic Republic, to assess the feeding regime and health status of local Lao pigs. In total, 216 farmers, 72 in each district, were interviewed using a questionnaire. Feed samples were collected for nutrient analysis and pen soil samples for mineral content determination. Farmers kept sows of native breeds such as Moo Lath, Moo Chid, and Moo Hmong. The number of sows per household was low (1.1 ± 0.1, 1.1 ± 0.1, and 1.2 ± 0.1 in Borrikun, Khamkeuth, and Pakkading, respectively) and pigs were mainly fed with rice bran and fresh cassava roots. Daily protein and mineral (Calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and sodium) allowances were lower than requirements. In all districts, the number of piglets at birth was around seven and pre-weaning piglet mortality was around 20 %. The most common causes of piglet death, before weaning, were diarrhea, runts, and squashed piglets. Most piglets were weaned after 4 months of age, but in the Borrikun and Pakkading districts, 11-16 % of households were weaned at <4 months. In all districts, pig management was mainly women's responsibility (around 90 %) and most farmers spent less than 1 h per day on pig management. A feasible and cheap way to increase nutrient supply to local pigs in central Lao People's Democratic Republic would be to include more fresh plant material (e.g., thick head, taro) and salt in the diet. Information and education on improving pig management should be targeted towards women.

Revisiting “her” infertility: Medicalized embodiment, self-identification and distress

Prior research emphasizes women's distress and responsibility for a couple's infertility because of gendered, pronatalist norms. Yet some studies suggest that being personally diagnosed and/or undergoing treatment differentially shapes reactions. We focused on differences in women's experiences with diagnosis and treatment, conceptualized as the medicalized embodiment of infertility. Using regression analysis, we examined two psychosocial outcomes (self-identification as infertile and fertility-specific distress) in a sample of 496 heterosexual, U.S. women from the National Survey of Fertility Barriers. Medicalized embodiment was salient to women's reactions, but had different relationships to self-identification versus distress. Although women experienced distress regardless of type of diagnosis, they were generally less likely to self-identify as infertile unless personally diagnosed. As such, we cannot assume that all women universally experience infertility. Future research should also address self-identification and distress as separate as opposed to simultaneous psychosocial outcomes.

Work‐family conflict, satisfactions and psychological well‐being among women managers and professionals in Turkey

PurposeAlthough women continue to enter managerial and professional jobs in increasing numbers, they continue to be underrepresented at more senior levels of management. Several factors have been found to account for this, an important one being women's responsibilities for home and family functioning, often resulting in work‐family conflict (WFC). The purpose of this paper is to examine correlates and consequences of WFC among a sample of managerial and professional women working in Istanbul, Turkey.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 143 women, most working in the public sector, using anonymously completed questionnaires. About half were married and about half had children. WFC, both work interfering with family and family interfering with work (time‐, strain‐ and behaviour‐based) were measured by a scale developed and validated by Carlson et al., in a US study.FindingsThe respondents indicated relatively low levels of WFC. Levels of work interfering with family and family interfering with work were significantly and positively correlated. Hierarchical regression analyses, controlling for both personal demographic and work situation characteristics, showed that WFC generally predicted both work and psychological well‐being outcomes, work interfering with family being a consistently stronger predictor of these than was family interfering with work.Research limitations/implicationsData collected at one point in time make it difficult to examine causality. In addition, most respondents worked in the public sector, raising the issue of generalizability to women managers and professionals in the private sector.Practical implicationsPractical implications are offered for individuals, families and workplaces to address work‐family issues.Originality/valueThis is one of the few studies of WFC among women managers and professionals in Turkey.

Escape from blood pond hell: the tales of Mulian and Woman Huang

These translations of The Precious Scroll of the Three Lives of Mulian and Woman Huang Recites the Diamond Sutra are late-nineteenth-century examples of baojuan (literally, precious scrolls), a Chinese folk genre featuring alternating verse and prose that was used by monks to illustrate religious precepts for lay listeners. They represent only two of numerous versions, composed in a variety of genres, of these legends, which were once popular all over China. While the seeds of the Mulian legend, in which a man rescues his mother from hell, can be found in Indian Buddhist texts, the story of Woman Huang, who seeks her own salvation, appears to be indigenous to China. With their graphic portrayals of the underworld; dramatization of Buddhist beliefs about death, salvation, and rebirth; and frank discussion of women's responsibility for sin, these texts provide detailed and powerful descriptions of popular religious beliefs and practices in late imperial China, especially as they relate to women.

How Have Epiphanies Affected Your Life?

How Have Epiphanies Affected Your Life?

Regulating Body Boundaries and Health during the Second World War: Nationalist Discourse, Media Representations and the Experiences of Canadian Women War Workers

This article examines the intersections of gender, wartime nationalist rhetoric and the production of ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ bodies in both the Canadian workplace and the home during the Second World War. Analysing government, industry and media discourses in relation to oral history interviews with thirty-eight women aircraft workers, we discuss women's distinctive role in shaping the health and morale of the social body during wartime, to ensure the maintenance of family, nation and the Allied war effort. While health in wartime was defined in terms of worker productivity for both men and women, anxiety about women's expanded roles heightened the emphasis on moral respectability as a marker of the ‘healthy’ female body. This was further complicated by the wartime emphasis on women's responsibilities to boost morale as part of their role in maintaining health and productivity for both men and women. Through such examples as workplace regulations and domestic advice, we examine the increased monitoring of women's individual and collective bodies and the intensified demands on female war workers as they crossed between the public and private spheres. We use our oral histories to examine women's embodied memories of ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ bodies within a regional context and their responses to government, industry and media discourses.

Book Review Symposium

Book Review Symposium

Mainstream Women's Organisations in Australia: the challenges of national and international co-operation after the Great War

Leila Rupp has observed that after the Great War, the major transnational women's organisations—the International Council of Women and the International Woman Suffrage Alliance—‘encountered difficulty in coming back together’. The psychological and emotional effects of mobilisation for a total war effort among women in the combatant nations were arguably as hard to dismantle as the armies and administrative infrastructure. In Australia, although deep divisions remained among activist women, many remained convinced that maternalism could provide the basis for national and international regeneration. The proliferation of new mass organisations as well as the growth of the older ones in the five years after the armistice is evidence of renewed energy and a willingness to reassess Australian women's international identity and responsibilities. This article is principally concerned with struggles during this period among those mainstream organisations affiliated with the state-based National Councils of Women (NCWs), and through them, with the International Council of Women. Because the NCWs were the means by which most Australian women's organisations were brought to engage with international issues, an understanding of their difficulties and advances can show how isolated and provincial communities of women on the far edge of the ‘Euro-American arena’ developed some appreciation of the efforts being made by their sex to remould the post-war world.

Development and Immigration: Experiences of Non-US Born Black Women

An exploration of inequality at the intersection of race, gender, and nationality offers a means to explore how complex economic and social forces combine to shape women's outcomes in ways that differ from men's. Women's responsibility for care work and other forms of unpaid labor inhibits labor force participation, and in some cases, redounds heavily on children. Those responsibilities, coupled with labor market discrimination against black women, US or foreign born, increases the difficulties single mothers face in providing for families.