tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/women-658/articlesWomen – The Conversation2024-03-27T17:06:46Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2259702024-03-27T17:06:46Z2024-03-27T17:06:46ZTikTok health hacks promising to change the taste and smell of female genitals are more sour than sweet<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583701/original/file-20240322-18-w5sur7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C12%2C8456%2C5633&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/top-view-slim-woman-tanned-skin-1037808799">Cast Of Thousands/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Wake up. Brush teeth. Exfoliate. Drink a glass of pineapple “coochie juice”? </p>
<p>That’s the advice from the latest viral trend on TikTok claiming to help women alter the smell and taste of their vulva and vagina. </p>
<p>A wave of short videos on the social media platform suggest strategies, including consuming large amounts of pineapple and banana, to make vaginas smell and taste sweeter. </p>
<p>One video suggests a home-brewed pineapple concoction taken three times daily for “vagina cleansing” and to make the vulva “smell good” will have benefits such as a “tighter”, “sweeter” vagina. </p>
<p>But what are we to make of these claims? Is “coochie juice” beneficial for women’s intimate health or is this a potentially harmful trend?</p>
<p>The social media videos cite various reasons for consuming pineapple for intimate hygiene. </p>
<p>These include claims that the bromelain and vitamins contained in pineapples, their high natural sugar content and acidity will improve the smell or taste of the vulva. </p>
<p>There is some <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513816301933">evidence</a> that diet can influence body odour, but only as far as male sweat is concerned. There is no evidence that eating large amounts of fruits like pineapple or banana will significantly change the smell or taste of a vulva.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Products claiming to change the taste and smell of the vagina and vulva are usually given short shrift by medical professionals.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Some prominent gynaecologists and <a href="https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/dr-jennifer-gunter/the-vagina-bible/9780349421742/">experts have challenged</a> this fruity hack because part of the natural scent of the vulva is caused by healthy bacteria called lactobacilli. Ultimately, this hack is backed only by anecdotal evidence. </p>
<p>The TikTok health hack landscape is varied. Many videos suggest consuming pineapple as an alternative to known harmful practices, such as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/hsr2.1882">vaginal douching</a>, while other educated professionals create myth-busting content around the topic, such as this <a href="https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGe5Lv5UA/">response video</a>. </p>
<p>However, we should be paying attention to the way information about health and our bodies is spread on social media, as it can lack important information.</p>
<p>The quick and snappy content TikTok pioneers may lack the necessary nuance needed to talk about health and the nature of evidence. </p>
<p>One example, from an influencer who sells a variety of homemade organic enhancement treatments related to women’s insecurities – and who has 225,000 TikTok followers – demonstrates this. In her nine-second video, she dances while holding a pineapple, and urges followers to: “Stop using intimate wash for a clean vagina. Try pineapple juice to clear all fishy smells in your cookie.” </p>
<p>However, in several comments, viewers ask “how”, as the video doesn’t specify if pineapple should be taken orally or applied to the area. This shows the problems that can be created when influencers try to create the short content favoured by the TikTok algorithms and miss important clarifications or evidence to support their claims. </p>
<h2>Why are fruit vagina hacks so popular?</h2>
<p>So why does content like this vulva hack go viral? </p>
<p>In the fast-paced world of social media, content creators are constantly under pressure to <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003175605-53/precarity-discrimination-visibility-zo%C3%AB-glatt">stay visible</a> and keep their <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1461444818815684">content popping up</a> on your feed. This digital rat race, driven by <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2056305119879995">complex algorithms</a> that decide what you see, forces them to keep producing new material. </p>
<p>The catch? </p>
<p>They might find themselves scraping the bottom of the barrel for ideas, jumping onto any passing trend, even if it is questionable.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Kourtney Kardashian’s vaginal health gummies were heavily criticised by medical professionals in 2023 but still went viral on social media.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The quest to stay relevant in an environment where being visible is essential, pushes influencers to create constant content, sometimes at the cost of quality and accuracy. </p>
<p>Across the social media sphere, the line between genuine health advice and misleading information is increasingly blurry. </p>
<p>Content creators claiming to be experts can misrepresent their knowledge, often by blurring the boundaries between science and pseudoscience. </p>
<p>In the case of the pineapple hack, we can see holistic and herbalist influencers using these tactics to boost their own credibility while casting doubt on conventional medicine. </p>
<p>This muddies the waters for the audience, making it difficult to distinguish fact from fiction and potentially breeding long-term scepticism of proven scientific methods in healthcare in their audiences. </p>
<p>Although social media can be a valuable space offering a wealth of benefits, including increased <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14680777.2024.2320684">health awareness</a> and peer support, it’s crucial to remain vigilant about its potential harms. </p>
<p>One such harm can be found at the heart of this particular TikTok trend. By perpetuating stereotyped societal messages that vulvas are unpleasant and have a bad smell, trends like the pineapple hack risk creating paranoia and body image issues for those who have a vagina.</p>
<p>Suggesting that the natural biology of genitals be “hacked” fuels unrealistic expectations of the appearance and smell of vulvas and ignores the diversity and complexity of women’s bodies. </p>
<p>The trend, although seemingly jovial and harmless, reinforces a narrow and harmful view of female anatomy, which could lead to the pursuit of unhealthy practices. </p>
<p>Given the flurry of viral health trends, it’s essential to look at the information we consume on social media with a critical eye, especially when they may affect our health and wellbeing, and understand the importance of evidence in making informed health decisions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225970/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Garwood-Cross does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Can eating lots of pineapple change the smell and taste of the vulva and vagina? An expert examines the latest fruity vaginal health hack.Lisa Garwood-Cross, University Fellow in Digital Health & Society, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2236462024-03-14T03:55:30Z2024-03-14T03:55:30ZWhy is the male body the scientific default when the female body drives the reproductive success of our species?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581526/original/file-20240313-20-9ueone.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C0%2C2038%2C1536&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Eve – Lucas Cranach the Elder (c.1510)</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cranach_Adam_and_Eve_(detail)_3.jpg">Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>American essayist Cat Bohannon loves a bit of pop culture to contextualise her ideas. <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/eve-9781529151244">Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution</a> – her ambitious, funny, intelligent history of female evolution – is threaded with it. </p>
<p>The book opens with a futuristic scene from <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/">Prometheus</a>, the 2012 prequel to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/">Alien</a>. Archaeologist Elizabeth Shaw is in an AI surgery pod, seeking a life-saving caesarean (she has been impregnated with an alien squid) when an affectless voice gives her an error message: “This medpod is calibrated for male patients only.” </p>
<p>Crash-test dummies, heart-attack symptoms, anti-depressant dosages, air-conditioning systems in large office buildings: we are all pretty aware by now that these are “calibrated for male bodies only”. Alien Prometheus is set in 2093; one can only hope the scientific technology of the late 21st-century turns out to have, at least, a “female-registering” option.</p>
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<p><em>Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution – Cat Bohannon (Hutchinson Heinemann)</em> </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581482/original/file-20240313-30-i0czkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581482/original/file-20240313-30-i0czkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581482/original/file-20240313-30-i0czkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=923&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581482/original/file-20240313-30-i0czkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=923&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581482/original/file-20240313-30-i0czkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=923&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581482/original/file-20240313-30-i0czkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1160&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581482/original/file-20240313-30-i0czkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1160&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581482/original/file-20240313-30-i0czkw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1160&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>While women’s hormonal cycles have made us messy in the arena of “clean science” – not good controls, not good at being controlled for – Bohannon reminds us that an understanding of the female body cannot be retrofitted to an understanding of the male body. Women are not just men with extra fleshy bits and confounding hormones. </p>
<p>Bohannon also reminds us those “fleshy bits” have a function beyond providing a curvaceous silhouette. </p>
<p>Female adipose tissue, 600 million years old, stored around our butts and thighs, is necessary to the development of babies’ brains. It is so necessary that girls begin storing it in childhood and when women liposuction it out of their lower bodies it returns in unexpected places: the armpits, for example. Bohannon points out that the possible repercussions of liposuction on the brain health of future offspring has not yet been studied.</p>
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<h2>Reproductive success</h2>
<p>The salient question here is: why is the male body the scientific default when it is the female body that crucially drives the evolution and reproductive success of our species? Eve is both a rectification of this immense blind spot and, in Bohannon’s own words, “a user’s manual for the female mammal”. </p>
<p>Yet how to collapse 200 million years of evolutionary history into 500 pages (let alone 1500 words)? </p>
<p>Bohannon does this by organising her book into a series of “Eves” from whom we inherited our current biological functions, creating an often diverging, often interlocking chronology. There is the Eve of milk, “the real Madonna”; placental Eve, “an HR Giger fever-dream meat factory” (Bohannon has fun with language); Donna, Eve of the uterus; and Pergi, the tree-dwelling Eve of perception. </p>
<p>This structure allows Bohannon to move from microbiology to paleoanthropology, evolutionary biology to gynaecology, anatomy to social history. I learnt much about my own body in her sprawling, illuminating discussions, but also about animal reproductive biology in general — from monotremal cloacas (platypuses and echidnas have them) to squamation hemipenises (snakes and lizards) and “notoriously foldy” anti-rape duck vaginas designed to circumvent corkscrew penises. </p>
<p>It was some small relief to learn the fairly straightforward design of the human penis is testament to a “not-particularly rapey” human evolutionary history. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581824/original/file-20240314-18-pjj64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581824/original/file-20240314-18-pjj64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581824/original/file-20240314-18-pjj64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581824/original/file-20240314-18-pjj64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581824/original/file-20240314-18-pjj64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581824/original/file-20240314-18-pjj64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581824/original/file-20240314-18-pjj64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581824/original/file-20240314-18-pjj64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">‘Notoriously foldy.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Detailed_white_duck.jpg">Image: Roger Heslop, via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Bohannon writes with tender care of her “Eves”. She manages to both penetrate and animate deep time for the reader, a textual equivalent perhaps of Walking with Dinosaurs. She describes the Jurassic insect-eater <a href="https://museum.wales/blog/1895/Meet-Morgie/">Morgie</a> (my favourite), one of the earliest known mammals, skittering over the feet of dinosaurs to get home to her burrow, where she sweats milk through mammary patches to feed her hidden brood. Morgie comes vividly alive in her small precarious existence: “funny, warm, heart-fluttering Eve”, Bohannon writes. </p>
<p>For a female with a uterus, who has twice given birth and twice breastfed, Bohannon’s book demystified many of the mysterious goings-on of my reproductive system. I had no idea, for instance, that lactation was such an intensive co-production between mother and baby. </p>
<p>I knew it enabled a baby’s gut to be colonised with good maternal bacteria, and I knew the basic mechanics of the let-down reflex. But I didn’t know that the composition of the milk itself is informed by a baby’s needs. These needs, codified in a baby’s saliva, are registered by the mother’s body, which then customises its milk accordingly, so it is full of the particular bacteria- or virus-fighting agents required.</p>
<p>This recriprocity is also apparent in the biological wonder that is the placenta. Built out of both endometrial and embryonic tissue, the placenta is “one of the only organs in the animal world made out of two separate organisms”. </p>
<p>Did you know this? I certainly didn’t. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581827/original/file-20240314-30-yukxv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581827/original/file-20240314-30-yukxv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581827/original/file-20240314-30-yukxv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581827/original/file-20240314-30-yukxv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581827/original/file-20240314-30-yukxv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581827/original/file-20240314-30-yukxv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581827/original/file-20240314-30-yukxv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581827/original/file-20240314-30-yukxv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">‘Morgie’ – Morganucodon, one of the earliest known mammals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Morganucodon.jpg">FunkMonk (Michael B.H.), via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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Read more:
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<h2>Life: a user’s manual</h2>
<p>In this sense, Eve really is a user’s manual. At the risk of sounding “miracle of life” about it, Bohannon’s book puts wonder into the commonplace by explaining not only how our reproductive systems work, but how they came to be.</p>
<p>Women’s bodies are not just about babies, of course. Bohannon charts new political territory, tracing her anatomical discoveries through to their social outcomes. Truisms of human and social evolution are turned on their heads and gynaecology gets its rightful place in the story. </p>
<p>Milk again: the population growth that enabled humans to become the ferocious planet-hogs we are today might be down to the humble wet-nurse of ancient civilisations. The prevalence of wet-nursing meant the natural contraceptive properties of breastfeeding were not in play for many women. This meant women had much shorter spaces between pregnancies and had more babies. Wet-nurses, those under-sung footnotes in history, might well have catalysed the growth of modern cities.</p>
<p>Bipedalism? It might just be that we stood up on two feet not so we could better carry spears, but so we had free arms to carry babies while hunting and still cart as much food home with us as possible.</p>
<p>Tool-making? The seminal moment here may not have been a Kubrick-style raising of a femur bone to crunch down on a challenger’s head, or beat an animal to death for dinner (fossil remains show we really didn’t eat a particularly intensive paleo diet). Instead, it might have been a woman, baby on back, chewing a sapling to a neat point to hunt “<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/bushbabies">bush-babies</a>” asleep in tree hollows. </p>
<p>Bohannon makes a good argument that it was women, not men, who most needed tools to hunt. Our biologically stronger male counterparts often needed only the heft of their bodies to bring down an animal. Women were inventors, she says, because, being smaller, being weaker, they had more need.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581555/original/file-20240313-18-z1f8bf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581555/original/file-20240313-18-z1f8bf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581555/original/file-20240313-18-z1f8bf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581555/original/file-20240313-18-z1f8bf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581555/original/file-20240313-18-z1f8bf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581555/original/file-20240313-18-z1f8bf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581555/original/file-20240313-18-z1f8bf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581555/original/file-20240313-18-z1f8bf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Cave painting depicting a woman giving birth, Serra da Capivara national park, Brazil.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Serra_da_Capivara_-_Painting_8.JPG">Vitor 1234, via Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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Read more:
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<h2>Womb triumphalism</h2>
<p>Our most important invention, though – and this is the overarching thesis of Bohannan’s book – is gynaecology. “What got us here,” she writes, “is not tool triumphalism but womb triumphalism.” </p>
<p>Considering how hard it is for the human female body to get pregnant, stay pregnant, deliver a baby (without us or it dying), and then look after it through its protracted childhood, it is a miracle that humans populate – and over-populate — the planet in the way we have come to. Gynaecology, Bohannon writes, </p>
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<p>is absolutely essential for our species’ evolutionary fitness. Without it, it’s doubtful we would have made it this far […] The arrival of midwifery is one of those moments when we can truly say, “Here is when we become human” […] No other mammals on the planet have been observed regularly helping one another give birth.</p>
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<p>With gynaecology comes contraception, reproductive choice and birth-spacing. Knowledge about the properties of herbs and plants, about labour, about delivering a breech or posterior baby, or really <em>any</em> baby (they are all life and death situations) – all of these combine to enable the flourishing of humans, in spite of our large heads, narrow pelvises, complex gestation and birthing trajectories. </p>
<p>“Women had their hands on the actual machinery of evolution,” Bohannon writes. And while she notes that “[m]odern female coalitions are scattered, vulnerable, brittle”, her book celebrates the ancient collaboration between women and the spirit of cooperation over competition that got us here. </p>
<p>Bohannon repositions this as profound in its significance for the human race. A failure to fully apprehend the different workings of male and female bodies and not provide for these differences – or to provide comprehensively for one sex, and neglect the other – doesn’t just mean there will be no caesarean option in a future surgery-pod. </p>
<p>It means limiting human possibility and opportunity. It represents a failure to grasp the whole human story and its potential.</p>
<p>Bohannon ends her book with a practical feminist statement about the importance – and boon to society – of educating women, feeding them properly (not last), and putting financial means in their hands. </p>
<p>Smart humans of the future – who might want to flourish without destroying the means of their flourishing – will require women with adipose fat to feed the brains of their suckling babies, with reproductive choices to plan and space those babies, and with life choices which enable them to contribute their full potential to the world. </p>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223646/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edwina Preston has received funding from Creative Victoria and the Australia Council for the Arts. She works for the Australian Education Union</span></em></p>The story of human evolution is inextricable from the story of gynaecology.Edwina Preston, PhD Candidate, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2220162024-03-12T17:51:11Z2024-03-12T17:51:11ZMenstrual health literacy is alarmingly low – what you don’t know can harm you<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580119/original/file-20240306-27-eeqobz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C17%2C5982%2C3970&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stone-sculpture-female-genitals-covered-hands-1024757548">Len-art/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Given that <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6541669/#:%7E:text=In%20fact%2C%20approximately%2098%25%20of,the%20elephant%20shrew%20%5B6%5D.">98% of mammals</a> do not have periods, do you know why humans do?</p>
<p>When I ask my menstrual health workshop participants – including doctors – there’s usually a lot of shrugging and shaking of heads. If given multiple choice options, most think that periods either “clean the womb” or somehow “help prepare for pregnancy”. </p>
<p>Not only are these beliefs inaccurate, but they also reproduce damaging myths about the inherent impurity and <a href="https://www.perlego.com/knowledge/study-guides/what-is-abjection/">abject status</a> (responses of repulsion and horror to aspects of women’s bodies such as menstruation and childbirth) of the female body. Wombs are not dirty, or toxic. They do not need to be cleaned. <a href="https://www.menstrual-matters.com/top-10-period-myths/">Menstrual fluid</a> is not an excretory product like urine or faeces. </p>
<p>Yes, the blood part can stain clothing, but there is nothing pathological, contaminating, or dangerous about periods. The idea that the womb and vagina are dirty or toxic directly contributes to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK565611/">menstrual stigma</a> and associated discrimination, such as the exclusion of menstruating people from certain <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK565592/">religious</a> places or practices, or the reports of intentional humiliation of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK565595/">female prisoners</a> on their periods.</p>
<p>As part of <a href="https://www.menstrual-matters.com/black-box/">my research</a>, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/experiences-of-menstruation-from-the-global-south-and-north-9780197267578?cc=gb&lang=en&">I reviewed</a> the menstrual cycle content of 16 of the most used biology and physiology textbooks in UK secondary schools, university level natural sciences, medicine, and specialist gynaecology education – and what I found was pretty alarming.</p>
<p>Nobody, it seems, is taught about the function of periods.</p>
<h2>So, why do we have periods?</h2>
<p>The most <a href="https://www.menstrual-matters.com/why-humans-menstruate/">robust evidence based theory</a> we have is described by evolutionary biologist <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3528014/">Deena Emera and colleagues</a>. Periods likely evolved as a kind of preemptive abortion, to protect women from unviable or dangerous pregnancies. </p>
<p>Humans have exceptionally high rates of genetically abnormal eggs, sperm and fertilised eggs, highly invasive placental attachments, and pregnancy and childbirth are risky – even potentially fatal – experiences for human females. As a result, we have <a href="https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article/32/2/346/2713082">low rates of conception</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11023804/">high rates of miscarriage</a>, and extremely high rates of maternal mortality in comparison to other mammals. In fact, despite advances in modern medicine, nearly <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/maternal-mortality">300,000 expectant mothers</a> still die every year, globally.</p>
<p>If there is no pregnancy, as in the case for most menstrual cycles, or an unviable fertilised egg is detected, a period is triggered. </p>
<p>Periods cannot possibly help a pregnancy. Just think about it for a minute. How can the removal of the contents of the womb – including any eggs that may be present – possibly help conception or maintain a pregnancy? My research suggests that this assumption is influenced by sexist beliefs that position the female body, and all women, as <em>for</em> having babies – rather than eligible for equal opportunities in education, paid employment, and leadership. </p>
<p>Take a look at this quote from one of the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/oxford-textbook-of-obstetrics-and-gynaecology-9780198766360?cc=gb&lang=en&">medical textbooks</a> reviewed for <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/experiences-of-menstruation-from-the-global-south-and-north-9780197267578?cc=gb&lang=en&">the study</a>. It explicitly positions the entire menstrual cycle (not just ovulation) as critical for having babies, and childbearing as the sole purpose of the female reproductive body. The fact that humans evolved a means to terminate potentially dangerous unviable pregnancies is not so much omitted, as denied. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The principal functions of this (female reproductive) system are to produce an ovum, enable its fertilisation and implantation, and allow growth and safe expulsion of the foetus into the external world. The menstrual cycle is critical for facilitation of the initial steps of this raison d’être of the female reproductive system.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What else don’t we know?</h2>
<p>Well, where do I begin? Perhaps with the fact that the second phase of the cycle from ovulation to menstruation is a series of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36304016/">highly inflammatory processes</a>. This was only very briefly mentioned in three out of 16 textbooks. </p>
<p>Given that common premenstrual changes reflect the <a href="https://www.verywellhealth.com/signs-of-inflammation-4580526">“cardinal signs”</a> of inflammation – temperature increase, swelling, pain, and blood flow changes – and anti-inflammatory <a href="https://www.menstrual-matters.com/tips-and-tricks/all-changes/">interventions</a>, including diet, lifestyle and medications, <a href="https://www.cochrane.org/CD001751/MENSTR_nonsteroidal-anti-inflammatory-drugs-dysmenorrhoea">alleviate cyclical changes</a>, this is quite the omission. We really ought to be taught from puberty how to reduce period pain and blood loss – this is not difficult science.</p>
<p>In fact, only around half of the textbooks even mentioned blood loss, and only four went on to explain how regular periods typically result in iron deficiency – leading to anaemia in some cases. </p>
<p>Fewer than half of the textbooks mentioned any associated health issues, such as endometriosis, heavy menstrual bleeding, fibroids, polycystic ovarian syndrome, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33347177/">premenstrual syndrome</a>, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or the cyclical exacerbation of asthma, migraine, epilepsy, irritable bowel syndrome, auto-immune disorders, or anxiety and depression. So, even doctors are <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2022/07/22/why-wasnt-it-mandatory-for-doctors-to-be-taught-about-womens-issues-before-now-17052718/">not taught enough</a> about female-prevalent illnesses, which must surely have a negative impact on the health outcomes of their patients.</p>
<h2>Why aren’t we taught this stuff?</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://www.menstrual-matters.com/black-box/">my review</a>, no textbooks mentioned the purpose or embodied – typically painful – experiences of periods, and all effectively reduced the entire menstrual cycle to fluctuating sex hormones. </p>
<p>There is no scientific reason for this. My research shows that the exclusive focus on the female sex hormones in menstrual education is informed by societal influences, such as the myth of the hysterical or hormonal female. </p>
<p>For hundreds of years, women’s experiences of emotional and physical distress were <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK565629/">blamed on the womb</a> – as the essence of femininity – rather than distressing life experiences, pain, or underlying health conditions. There is a <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/ZN-ELxEAACMABO5a">familiar western</a> stereotype of the pathologically emotional <a href="https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/the-controversy-of-female-hysteria#Female-hysteria-in-the-18th-century">“hysterical woman”</a>, who is biologically prone to invent, exaggerate, and imagine things, especially pain or distress. This gender myth is still alive and well, although now we tend to <a href="https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-hormone-myth/">blame the (female sex) hormones</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580533/original/file-20240307-22-57sogj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580533/original/file-20240307-22-57sogj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580533/original/file-20240307-22-57sogj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580533/original/file-20240307-22-57sogj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580533/original/file-20240307-22-57sogj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580533/original/file-20240307-22-57sogj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580533/original/file-20240307-22-57sogj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The doctor’s visit by Frans van Mieris, 1657.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_physician_taking_the_pulse_of_a_female_patient_who_is_touc_Wellcome_V0016033.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As soon as the female sex hormones were <a href="https://academic.oup.com/endo/article/160/3/605/5250672">first identified</a> in the late 1920s, textbooks containing information about menstrual physiology <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780203421529/beyond-natural-body-nelly-oudshoorn">switched</a> from being about its inflammatory processes to hormonal models and explanations. Again, there was no scientific reason for this change in focus, although it reflected <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/09612020000200260">existing societal beliefs</a> about the inherently <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK565629/">irrational behaviour of women</a>. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, menstrual health literacy has not yet recovered from this shift in physiological models.</p>
<h2>So what?</h2>
<p>Once the purpose and inflammatory nature of the menstrual cycle are understood, premenstrual changes are no longer mysterious or difficult to treat. It also becomes much easier to differentiate premenstrual changes from underlying health conditions, since the latter will not be substantially alleviated by anti-inflammatory interventions alone.</p>
<p>Teaching the reductive hormonal model of the menstrual cycle unintentionally provides pseudo-scientific evidence for the damaging hormonal or hysterical female gender myth. This myth contributes <a href="https://theconversation.com/womens-pain-is-often-not-believed-heres-how-to-make-your-voice-heard-when-seeking-help-207866">to disbelief</a> in women’s accounts of painful or distressing symptoms, and even reports of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2020.1770832">abuse and discrimination</a>.</p>
<p>It is time we taught more comprehensive menstrual health literacy to all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222016/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sally King is the founder of Menstrual Matters- the world's first evidence-based info hub on menstrual health and rights <a href="http://www.menstrual-matters.com">www.menstrual-matters.com</a>. Her doctoral research and current research fellowship were funded by the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council). </span></em></p>No one seems to be taught about the function of periods. It’s time to take menstrual literacy seriously.Sally King, Menstrual Matters Founder & Research Associate in Menstrual Physiology, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2252852024-03-11T19:13:13Z2024-03-11T19:13:13ZMother’s little helper: interviews with Australian women show a complex relationship with alcohol<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580616/original/file-20240308-16-prhzxy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5751%2C3768&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/alcoholism-alcohol-addiction-people-concept-drunk-2187785169">Syda Productions/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Men have historically, and still do, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19686518/">drink more than women</a>. But in recent years there has been an uptick in women’s drinking, particularly among women in their late 30s <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dar.13428">through to their 60s</a>. </p>
<p>This is concerning, as <a href="https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/04-01-2023-no-level-of-alcohol-consumption-is-safe-for-our-health">no level of alcohol is considered safe</a> for our health, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0955395922001189?via%3Dihub">women are especially susceptible</a> to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871615016166">alcohol’s long-term health harms</a> (for example, cancer and heart disease). </p>
<p>We’ve also seen the emergence of the “wine mum” <a href="https://theconversation.com/winemom-humour-and-empowerment-or-binge-drinking-and-mental-health-challenges-161338">in popular culture</a> and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/dar.12215">greater social acceptance</a> of women’s drinking.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="TiktokEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSFyYHa68/."}"></div></p>
<p>But women still drink differently to men, and there are some important reasons why – particularly for women who <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103699">juggle both paid work and motherhood</a>.</p>
<p>In 2022, we conducted interviews with 22 Australian working mothers aged 36 to 51, to learn more about their daily lives and the role alcohol played. Most of the women were middle-class professionals. Many were partnered to men, some were single, and all had school-aged children they looked after alongside their jobs.</p>
<p>We’ve <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16066359.2024.2314041">recently published</a> two <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687637.2023.2299392">new papers</a> exploring what we found.</p>
<h2>Modern working mothers</h2>
<p>Now, more than ever, <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-status-families/latest-release">women are entering the workforce</a> and developing careers. At the same time, many also have to meet the demands of having children. While we like to think we’re moving towards a more equal society, women are still expected to do the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13668803.2015.1080664">majority of childcare and domestic duties</a>.</p>
<p>This means many women are having to do “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0955395922001189?via%3Dihub">double shifts</a>” of paid and unpaid labour, increasing the chance they’re stressed, and limiting how much time they have to relax, unwind, and pursue hobbies. This is where alcohol comes in.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/oh-well-wine-oclock-what-midlife-women-told-us-about-drinking-and-why-its-so-hard-to-stop-188882">'Oh well, wine o’clock': what midlife women told us about drinking – and why it's so hard to stop</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Most women we talked to felt <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16066359.2024.2314041">over-committed</a> because of their competing roles. Whether they had partners or not, they were often taking on the “default” caregiver role. This involved tasks such as getting kids ready for school, cooking, cleaning, and organising appointments. </p>
<p>At the same time, their jobs could be mentally or emotionally stressful, such as working in health care or project management.</p>
<p>And it wasn’t uncommon for these two worlds to overlap. For example, some women talked about needing to send emails or make calls from home outside work hours, or feeling there was an expectation for them to take time off work to take kids to appointments. </p>
<p>Many women were fatigued, and they felt a sense of guilt at not being able to commit fully to either role. As Mia, a full-time employed, partnered mother said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You’ll spend your life feeling compromised, doing a half job as a parent, and a half job as a worker.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in the kitchen with two children talking on the phone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580614/original/file-20240308-24-v6huqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580614/original/file-20240308-24-v6huqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580614/original/file-20240308-24-v6huqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580614/original/file-20240308-24-v6huqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580614/original/file-20240308-24-v6huqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580614/original/file-20240308-24-v6huqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580614/original/file-20240308-24-v6huqa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">For many women, work and home life overlaps.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/busy-stressed-mother-talking-on-phone-1584282157">Onjira Leibe/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When participants talked about drinking alcohol, it was something accessible they could do alongside their home duties. For example, a glass of wine while cooking dinner was almost ubiquitous. Drinking helped women manage busy days, and the amount they drunk was not always something they had the capacity to be mindful of. As Caroline, a full-time employed, separated mother explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We don’t sit down and stand around like the boys do drinking, with the beer cans round our feet. We drink a glass of wine while we cook tea […] while we’re sitting doing the kids’ homework or arguing with them about, ‘where’s your sock? Where’s your library book?’ […] it makes it very easy to think ‘I’ve only had one glass of wine’ when you’ve had three or four, because you’re not mindful of what you’re doing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Many of the women we talked to also described feeling under-supported. This included at work, where they felt there wasn’t always enough flexibility to accommodate their parental obligations, and at home, where their partners were not always around to share the workload. </p>
<p>These stresses and pressures meant alcohol became a “prize” or “reward” for getting through the day. And when participants felt particularly stressed or under-supported (which was often), the reward of a drink at the end of the day was all the more important. According to Penelope, a part-time employed, separated mother:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I think that I reach out to drinking at the end of the day because I’m really quite overwhelmed, or quite exhausted mentally and physically from the day.</p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/did-you-look-forward-to-last-nights-bottle-of-wine-a-bit-too-much-ladies-youre-not-alone-109078">Did you look forward to last night's bottle of wine a bit too much? Ladies, you're not alone</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What about the pandemic?</h2>
<p>Things became even more complicated during the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687637.2023.2299392">COVID pandemic</a>. Women suddenly took on “triple shifts” – mothering, working and home-schooling – leaving many feeling even more overwhelmed. As Belle, a partnered mother who worked part time, said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We were all working and trying to home school, and it was just so awful […] so I guess my girlfriends were going through that too, the ones with kids, and they were all definitely drinking a lot more.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman at a kitchen bench drinking a glass of red wine." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580612/original/file-20240308-18-kztkea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/580612/original/file-20240308-18-kztkea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580612/original/file-20240308-18-kztkea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580612/original/file-20240308-18-kztkea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580612/original/file-20240308-18-kztkea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580612/original/file-20240308-18-kztkea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/580612/original/file-20240308-18-kztkea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The chaos of the pandemic left working mothers feeling even more overwhelmed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/portrait-beautiful-lonely-young-woman-drinking-1802268634">Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Alcohol was classified as an “essential service” during lockdowns (bottle shops remained open while many other retail stores closed), and against this backdrop, participants felt it became even more normalised. They talked about seeing media depictions and advertising of alcohol, including online memes that made wine out as a way to cope with the pandemic. Belle said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Everyone would send each other little memes of women just drinking, and it definitely became […] a socially acceptable way of getting through that really shit time.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Hobbies and exercise activities they would previously turn to to relieve stress were often restricted because of the pandemic. As such, alcohol became one of the few things left. Many women we talked to were either drinking more, more often, or felt an increased desire to drink, especially during the height of the pandemic and when they were home-schooling.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/women-are-drinking-more-during-the-pandemic-and-its-probably-got-a-lot-to-do-with-their-mental-health-139295">Women are drinking more during the pandemic, and it's probably got a lot to do with their mental health</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>To understand why and how modern working mothers drink alcohol, it’s also important to consider how the alcohol industry targets women, often framing alcohol as a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16066359.2024.2314041#:%7E:text=This%20study%20investigated%20the%20social,meanings%20around%20reward%20and%20relaxation.">symbol of relief and relaxation</a> among busy working mothers. </p>
<p>But it’s equally important to realise being a modern working mother is tough, especially as traditional gender expectations of women as carers persist. Almost 60 years ago, the Rolling Stones sang about “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Little_Helper">mother’s little helper</a>” in reference to women using substances to manage everyday life. </p>
<p>Until we see changes in the way women are supported at work and home, alcohol may continue being “mother’s little helper” for many working mothers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225285/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maree Patsouras receives funding from an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship and the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cassandra Wright receives salary funding from the Australian Research Council. She also receives funding from the Medical Research Future Fund, Northern Territory Motor Accident Compensation Commission, Music NT and Menzies School of Health Research internal grant scheme.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emmanuel Kuntsche receives funding from La Trobe University, the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth), the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), the Australian Research Council (ARC), and the University of Bayreuth Centre of International Excellence "Alexander von Humboldt". Emmanuel Kuntsche serves as that Secretary of the Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs (APSAD).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabriel Caluzzi receives funding via the Australian Research Council and the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandra Kuntsche receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p>Men and women often drink alcohol differently. This is especially the case for women who juggle both paid work and motherhood.Maree Patsouras, PhD Candidate, Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe UniversityCassandra Wright, Senior Research Fellow in Alcohol and other Drugs, Menzies School of Health ResearchEmmanuel Kuntsche, Director of the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe UniversityGabriel Caluzzi, Research Fellow, Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, La Trobe UniversitySandra Kuntsche, Associate Professor Family Therapy and Systemic Research, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2252302024-03-11T17:18:43Z2024-03-11T17:18:43ZWomen in Formula One: how the sport is trying to redress its longstanding lack of support for female drivers and staff<p>In the high-speed world of Formula One, women’s presence has been increasing at a snail’s pace, both on and off the track. While the sport has seen some remarkable female drivers, managers and engineers over the years, their visibility has often been sporadic and overshadowed by the dominance of men.</p>
<p>As F1 continues to evolve, there is a growing awareness of the need for greater gender equality and visibility within the sport. This is not just a matter of improving fairness, but a <a href="https://theconversation.com/formula-ones-women-problem-is-bad-for-business-53317">missed business opportunity</a>. A larger presence of women in F1, particularly at the wheel, would attract new fans and sponsors, and inspire more women to pursue a motorsport career – in turn offering a broader supply of engineers, executives and drivers.</p>
<p>Historically, women in F1 have faced significant barriers to entry, and then more once they are in the sport. Only <a href="https://racingnews365.com/woman-in-f1">five female racing drivers</a> have entered world championship grands prix – of whom just two qualified and actually raced.</p>
<h2>Too many false starts</h2>
<p>The first woman to compete in an F1 grand prix was Italy’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/observer/osm/story/0,,1720870,00.html">Maria Teresa de Filippis</a>. She participated in five races in 1958 and 1959, qualifying for three. Her best race finish was tenth. Another Italian, Lella Lombardi, took part in 17 grands prix between 1974 and 1976. She remains the only woman to score a world championship point – well, half a point – after finishing sixth in the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix in a rain-shortened race.</p>
<p>In 1976, <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/formula-1/2019/05/18/meet-divina-galica-fearless-british-f1-driver-proved-women-can/">British Olympic ski racer Divina Galica</a> switched sports and tried to secure a spot in the British Grand Prix. This marked the only time more than one female driver (Lombardi and Galica) has participated in qualifying for a grand prix – unfortunately, both failed to make the race grid.</p>
<p>Four years later, South African <a href="https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/database/drivers/desire-wilson/">Desiré Wilson</a> also tried to qualify for the British Grand Prix, and again fell short. But the same year, she achieved another milestone by becoming the only woman to clinch victory in any type of F1 race, triumphing at Brands Hatch in the British Formula One Championship.</p>
<p>The most recent female driver to take part in the F1 world championship was Italy’s <a href="https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/opinions/30-years-after-giovanna-amati-were-no-closer-to-another-female-f1-driver/">Giovanna Amati</a>, who, at the start of the 1992 season, joined the British Brabham team. However, she encountered difficulties in qualifying and was unable to secure a spot in any of the three races she entered, before being replaced by male drivers.</p>
<p>After that, a further two decades would pass before <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing/british-grand-prix-2014-susie-wolff-the-first-woman-to-take-part-in-a-formula-one-race-weekend-in-22-years-9584247.html">Britain’s Susie Wolff</a> became the most recent female driver to participate in F1 during the 2014 season, but only in some practice sessions.</p>
<h2>Investment in female drivers</h2>
<p>Beyond the driver’s seat, women have held <a href="https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/31038834/the-women-power-formula-one-engineers-mechanics-directors-their-role-changing-man-world">various leading roles in F1</a>. Most notably, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/oct/11/sauber-monisha-kaltenborn-f1">Monisha Kaltenborn</a> served as team principal for Swiss team Sauber in 2012 until 2017, and <a href="https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/claire-williams-is-back-at-williams-but-not-the-f1-team/">Claire Williams</a> was deputy team principal of Williams Racing from 2013-2020.</p>
<p>Female engineers and technicians can also play crucial roles in the development and performance of F1 cars. For example, <a href="https://www.redbull.com/gb-en/hannah-schmitz-oracle-red-bull-racing-strategist">Hannah Schmitz</a> is the trailblazing principal strategy engineer of current F1 world champion, Max Verstappen.</p>
<p>The public image of women within the sport has certainly changed over time. The so-called “grid girls” – women tasked with parading on the starting grid during race weekends, purely for promotional purposes – <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/f1/formula-1-f1-grid-girls-banned-get-rid-women-grand-prix-darts-ban-pdc-walk-on-eddie-hearn-a8187161.html">were banned by Liberty Media</a>, the current F1 commercial rights holder, at the start of the 2018 season. Liberty stated that the practice did not resonate with its brand values, and was considered at odds with modern societal norms – particularly as the sport is increasingly targeting family and female audiences.</p>
<p>But despite some remarkable improvements, women remain underrepresented in F1, with few opportunities to showcase their talents on the track or in leadership positions. In 2023, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/josephwolkin/2023/10/04/red-bull-racing-highlights-female-engineers-in-formula-1/?sh=44b4668b24b0">women made up 13%</a> of people working for Mercedes and 6% for Red Bull – two of the sport’s leading teams. Overall that season, F1’s <a href="https://www.formula1.com/content/dam/fom-website/manual/Misc/GenderPay/F1GenderPayGapReport2023.pdf">gender pay gap report</a> found that women represented 31% of the sport’s staff. </p>
<p>Several factors contribute to this gender disparity, including societal stereotypes, lack of access to resources and opportunities, and an inferior number of women studying engineering and related technical subjects. </p>
<p>However, research suggests the absence of successful female drivers <a href="https://www.topgear.com/car-news/motorsport/no-reason-why-women-cant-compete-f1-says-major-study">isn’t due to biological differences</a>. Concerns regarding strength, size and weight differences, while relevant in some sports where men and women compete separately, are less significant in F1, and can even be advantageous. Being smaller and lighter is important for drivers, as it leaves engineers more adjustable ballast to reach the minimum car weight allowed. </p>
<p>More crucial is the need for excellent cognitive abilities to maintain focus during races, something women are not short of. If given proper training, women possess the same potential as men to excel as F1 drivers.</p>
<h2>Societal biases</h2>
<p>The lack of women in the driver seat is shaped <a href="https://sportsgazette.co.uk/the-idea-that-women-cant-be-as-good-as-a-man-at-driving-a-formula-one-car-is-purely-socially-constructed-dr-paolo-aversa-about/">by statistics and societal biases</a>. The path to becoming a professional driver typically begins with karting at a very young age, around four or five, necessitating continuous training and financial backing from sponsors. </p>
<p>However, few families encourage young girls to pursue driving at such an early age, and young girls are also exposed to fewer female racing champions that can inspire them. Consequently, there are significantly fewer girls engaged early enough in professional racing compared with boys, diminishing the likelihood of discovering the next major F1 talent among them.</p>
<p>Several initiatives have been established to address gender inequality within the sport. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2023/jun/25/trailblazing-w-series-has-created-opportunities-for-women-in-motor-sport">W Series</a>, launched in 2019, offered financial support, training and exposure to create a pathway for women to reach F1. But it <a href="https://jalopnik.com/f1-academy-is-thriving-where-w-series-failed-1850962490">went into administration in 2022</a> due to lack of funding, popularity, and the structure to guarantee successful rookies could move up the ladder. </p>
<p>In 2022, the <a href="https://www.f1academy.com/">F1 Academy</a> marked a new effort to increase diversity in the sport. By being directly endorsed and supported by F1, its teams and governing body the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile), the F1 Academy aims to identify and develop talented individuals from underrepresented groups including women through mentoring, training and access to resources, creating a clear and structured pathaway towards major series and F1.</p>
<p>But the prospect of more women racing in F1 still looks some way off. True gender parity in the sport will only be achieved through the sustained effort and commitment of all its stakeholders, including teams, sponsors and governing bodies. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225230/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paolo Aversa does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Only five female racing drivers have ever entered a world championship grand prix – of whom just two qualified and raced.Paolo Aversa, Professor of Strategy, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2206612024-03-07T22:04:15Z2024-03-07T22:04:15ZFrom invisible segregation to the visible heart: what 100 years of kitchens can tell us about domestic labour<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576956/original/file-20240221-24-tzgvp2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1022%2C591&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/PRG+280/1/15/993">State Library of South Australia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Long before COVID shone a spotlight on working from home, the realms of home and work have always been blurred – particularly for women as “housewives”, working mothers and caregivers, and those employed as servants or “home help”.</p>
<p>Historic Australian houses with conserved kitchens and associated service and servant rooms are an evocative source to turn to to experience places of domestic labour. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10331867.2023.2282292?src=exp-la">I recently visited</a> four historic houses in Victoria that are open to the public to get a better understanding of these women who worked from home.</p>
<p>Spanning the mid-19th century to the early 1950s, these houses tell us much about the history of paid and unpaid domestic work, overwhelmingly carried out by women. They vividly show how home work shifts from being totally segregated and seemingly invisible towards becoming the visible heart of the modern house.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dream-homes-of-the-future-still-stuck-in-the-past-21169">Dream homes of the future still stuck in the past</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Como House and Garden</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/places/como-house-and-garden/">Como House</a>, built from the 1840s onwards in the south-east suburbs of Melbourne, is a substantial home and garden, its longest residents being the Armytage family.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579091/original/file-20240301-20-k74ixi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sepia photograph" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579091/original/file-20240301-20-k74ixi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579091/original/file-20240301-20-k74ixi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579091/original/file-20240301-20-k74ixi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579091/original/file-20240301-20-k74ixi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=437&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579091/original/file-20240301-20-k74ixi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579091/original/file-20240301-20-k74ixi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579091/original/file-20240301-20-k74ixi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=549&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Armytage family’s servants at Como House, around 1890.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://archives.library.unimelb.edu.au/nodes/view/213404">University of Melbourne Archives</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The traditional English upstairs and downstairs segregation here occurs all on one level, with a separate outbuilding wing constructed sometime between 1846–1855. </p>
<p>This separation between servant and served spaces ensured the smells and noise of cooking and cleaning could be contained. There were less opportunities for chance interactions between staff and the family. </p>
<p>It certainly wasn’t designed for convenience.</p>
<p>Around the well-scrubbed wooden kitchen table, all sorts of domestic tasks were carried out, including the making of candles, the salting down of vegetables, the boiling up of soap, and the preserving of fruits. Walls were simply whitewashed for hygiene and high windows only modestly aided ventilation from the smoke of the ovens.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579093/original/file-20240301-22-56bf59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sepia photograph, five women and two men." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579093/original/file-20240301-22-56bf59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579093/original/file-20240301-22-56bf59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579093/original/file-20240301-22-56bf59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579093/original/file-20240301-22-56bf59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579093/original/file-20240301-22-56bf59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579093/original/file-20240301-22-56bf59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579093/original/file-20240301-22-56bf59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A group of servants featuring gardeners, cook, laundry woman and maids, taken by Ada Armytage in the Como gardens.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://archives.library.unimelb.edu.au/nodes/view/213405">University of Melbourne Archives</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Historical records of servant labour in Australia are relatively scarce, but we can start to imagine their lives through the domestic technologies and spaces that remain intact. </p>
<p>Change was slow. Rudimentary fire boxes and bread ovens from the early colonial days were gradually replaced with cast iron ranges imported from England in the 19th century, depending on household wealth. The existing Pullinger range at Como dates from 1880. Gas was mistrusted by many house mistresses and cooks but became a necessity in the face of domestic labour shortages. </p>
<p>Como House didn’t have a gas stove until the early 20th century. And although Melbourne was an early adopter of electrification since 1867, electricity was only installed at Como in the 1890s. This was not typical of all households until as late as 1950. Visitors can appreciate the labour-saving innovation of plumbed-in enamelled sinks and brass taps that alleviated the burden of fetching water manually.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579094/original/file-20240301-20-81xqbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A period kitchen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579094/original/file-20240301-20-81xqbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579094/original/file-20240301-20-81xqbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579094/original/file-20240301-20-81xqbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579094/original/file-20240301-20-81xqbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579094/original/file-20240301-20-81xqbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579094/original/file-20240301-20-81xqbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579094/original/file-20240301-20-81xqbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The kitchen at Como House today.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Lewi</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Rippon Lea Estate</h2>
<p>Although the presence of employed home help feels very absent in empty heritage houses today, visitors can get glimpses into the evolving relationships between home labour and domestic technologies, and about the conditions of female servants whose employment <a href="https://www.vgls.vic.gov.au/client/en_AU/vgls/search/results?qu=Como+%28Historic+building+%3A+South+Yarra%2C+Vic.%29&ps=300">declined rapidly</a> in the early 20th century from 150,000 in 1911 to 42,000 in 1947. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ripponleaestate.com.au/">Rippon Lea</a>, also in south-east Melbourne, is one of Australia’s largest and most intact heritage homes, built from the 1860s. Here, domestic work goes back underground with extensive kitchen, pantry and cellar rooms in the basement. It was originally designed by Reed and Barnes for the Sargoods, and then sold to the Nathan family. Louisa Nathan extensively remodelled the kitchens and added a glamorous swimming pool in the 1930s.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576952/original/file-20240221-28-74hpvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sepia photograph" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576952/original/file-20240221-28-74hpvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576952/original/file-20240221-28-74hpvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576952/original/file-20240221-28-74hpvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576952/original/file-20240221-28-74hpvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576952/original/file-20240221-28-74hpvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576952/original/file-20240221-28-74hpvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576952/original/file-20240221-28-74hpvl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rippon Lea House, photographed in 1880.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://viewer.slv.vic.gov.au/?entity=IE463971&mode=browse">State Library Victoria</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The now abandoned original service rooms are overwhelmingly dark: the slate floors and low levels of daylight maintained relatively constant temperatures. Servants were on call 24-hours-a-day until more regulation of working conditions in Australia was <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Putting_Your_House_in_Order.html?id=WsdjNAAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">gradually achieved</a>. </p>
<p>An intricate system of bells and, later, electrical alarms and a hydraulic powered dumbwaiter linked the downstairs with upstairs. They are all symbolic of servants’ lack of agency over their own time and bodies.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579095/original/file-20240301-18-d15hix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A new photograph of a historical kitchen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579095/original/file-20240301-18-d15hix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579095/original/file-20240301-18-d15hix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579095/original/file-20240301-18-d15hix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579095/original/file-20240301-18-d15hix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579095/original/file-20240301-18-d15hix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579095/original/file-20240301-18-d15hix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579095/original/file-20240301-18-d15hix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The basement kitchen space at Rippon Lea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Lewi</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Heights</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/places/the-heights/">The Heights</a> in Geelong was built in 1854 as a prefabricated house of German origin for Charles Ibbotson. The kitchen was renovated in the 1930s into a modern, streamlined pale yellow and chrome “fitted” kitchen. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576953/original/file-20240221-18-cn5cux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black and white photograph" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576953/original/file-20240221-18-cn5cux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576953/original/file-20240221-18-cn5cux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576953/original/file-20240221-18-cn5cux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576953/original/file-20240221-18-cn5cux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576953/original/file-20240221-18-cn5cux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576953/original/file-20240221-18-cn5cux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/576953/original/file-20240221-18-cn5cux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Heights, Geelong, photographed in 1975.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://viewer.slv.vic.gov.au/?entity=IE5738442&mode=browse">John T Collins/State Library of Victoria</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>New electric appliances displayed on benchtops promised efficiency in the face of far less available home help. The kitchen also starts to include more habitable and informal spaces in which to prepare and eat simple meals by a much smaller staff, or wives and mothers. At the Heights there is a sunny eating nook with a large table and ample built-in cupboards.</p>
<p>Here the kitchen has become more central within the main house plan, but remains quite a discrete space with electric service bells still a feature.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579096/original/file-20240301-24-2kh2uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A mid-century kitchen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579096/original/file-20240301-24-2kh2uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579096/original/file-20240301-24-2kh2uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579096/original/file-20240301-24-2kh2uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579096/original/file-20240301-24-2kh2uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579096/original/file-20240301-24-2kh2uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579096/original/file-20240301-24-2kh2uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579096/original/file-20240301-24-2kh2uz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The yellow streamlined kitchen at The Heights.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Lewi</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/great-time-to-try-cleaning-the-house-while-fitting-in-a-workout-135816">Great time to try: cleaning the house (while fitting in a workout)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Boyd House II</h2>
<p>The innovative <a href="https://robinboyd.org.au/about-robin-boyd/walsh-street-history/">Boyd House</a> in South Yarra was designed by the architect Robin Boyd in the 1950s. It captures the huge changes in home design and ways of living post-World War II.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579100/original/file-20240301-18-x8a7i2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The kitchen and living room." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579100/original/file-20240301-18-x8a7i2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579100/original/file-20240301-18-x8a7i2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579100/original/file-20240301-18-x8a7i2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579100/original/file-20240301-18-x8a7i2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579100/original/file-20240301-18-x8a7i2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579100/original/file-20240301-18-x8a7i2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579100/original/file-20240301-18-x8a7i2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The kitchen is at the centre of Boyd House.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Lewi</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Kitchens had now become smaller, more open and central to the main living areas. Housewives took over much, or all, of the burden of housework. The promise of electric appliances well and truly replaced servants – here, hidden away in built-in cupboards.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579097/original/file-20240301-18-pd8yf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A mid-century kitchen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579097/original/file-20240301-18-pd8yf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579097/original/file-20240301-18-pd8yf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579097/original/file-20240301-18-pd8yf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579097/original/file-20240301-18-pd8yf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579097/original/file-20240301-18-pd8yf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579097/original/file-20240301-18-pd8yf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579097/original/file-20240301-18-pd8yf8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At Boyd House appliances are hidden away.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Hannah Lewi</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From a visit to these four houses, the contrasting antecedents of today’s “servantless” kitchens as places of domestic work can be traced. The traditional kitchen remains a discrete room displaying, perhaps, a porcelain “butler” sink, copper pans, white-washed timber and a free-standing stove. </p>
<p>By contrast, the contemporary minimalist kitchen is now located within the main living space, and is designed to conceal the multitude of appliances in an attempt to make domestic labour invisible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220661/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hannah Lewi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>I recently visited four historic houses in Victoria that are open to the public to get a better understanding of women who worked from home.Hannah Lewi, Professor, Architecture, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2245372024-03-07T18:17:30Z2024-03-07T18:17:30ZMedieval women used informal social networks to share health problems and medical advice – just as we do today<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578957/original/file-20240229-28-6ii1vo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C546%2C413&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women spinning and socialising. From Augustine's La Cité de Dieu.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/144727">Museum Meermanno</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the medieval period, medical science was still dominated by the ancient writings of Hippocrates from the fifth century and Galen of Pergamon from the second century. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44448504">Research has shown</a> that women were increasingly being taken seriously as healers and as bearers of wisdom about women’s bodies and health. But despite this, men were preferred while women faced restrictions. </p>
<p>Informal networks developed in response, as a way for women to practise medicine in secret – and pass on their medical wisdom outside the male bastions.</p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/The_Distaff_Gospels.html?id=mDX2_0Qb03EC&redir_esc=y">The Distaff Gospels</a>, first published in France around 1480, is a collection of “gospels” around pregnancy, childbirth and health. It was created during secretive meetings of French women who had gathered with their drop spindles and distaffs to spin flax.</p>
<p>These women, who were mostly from the regions of Flanders and Picardy, agreed to meet over the long nights between Christmas and early February to gather the wisdom of their ancestors and pass it on to the women who came after them. The meetings are believed to have been organised by a local villager who selected six older women, each chairing one night, who would recount their advice on a range of topics such as pregnancy, childbirth and marriage. </p>
<p>A scribe was appointed to record the advice, which had previously only been preserved through the oral story tradition of peasant women. What is most fascinating is that although the text is mediated by a male scribe, The Distaff Gospels presents the often-silent voices of the lower working-class women. One such gospel advises:</p>
<p>Young women should never be given hares’ heads to eat, for fear they might think about it later, once they are married, especially while they are pregnant; in that case, for sure, their children would have split lips.</p>
<h2>‘Deviant women’</h2>
<p>The advice is structured in the way it was shared – stories told to each other while spinning. The women discuss folk wisdom related to their domestic lives, and one of the main sections is about pregnancy and reproductive health. </p>
<p>While researching the history of pregnancy tests for my book, <a href="https://canongate.co.uk/books/3664-m-otherhood-on-the-choices-of-being-a-woman/">(M)otherhood</a>, I came across this advice offered in The Distaff Gospels:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My friends, if you want to know if a woman is pregnant, you must ask her to pee in a basin and then put a latch or a key in it, but it is better to use a latch – leave this latch in the basin with the urine for three or four hours. Then throw the urine away and remove the latch. If you see the impression of the latch on the basin, be sure that the woman is pregnant. If not, she is not pregnant.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://broadviewpress.com/product/the-distaff-gospels/#tab-description">Writing about The Distaff Gospels</a>, historians Kathleen Garay and Madeleine Jeay tell us that these texts were written in a mocking fashion, and the scribe describes the women as idiotic, lascivious and even dangerous. </p>
<p>Many of the women healers presiding over these gatherings were thought to be witches or sexually deviant. Nevertheless, through these informal health networks, these women found a way of vesting control and power over themselves, to claim some semblance of autonomy over their own bodies.</p>
<h2>Women supporting women</h2>
<p>Until the 1400s, <a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/medm/hd_medm.htm">medical texts were mediated by men</a>. While women were largely responsible for childbirth advice within informal networks (as women’s naked bodies and anatomy were frequently obscured from men’s eyes), they did not have access to the medical texts that men did. </p>
<p>The Wellcome Apocalypse manuscript, written in Germany around 1420, includes an image of <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/du9ua6nd/items?canvas=80">two women sharing gynaecological problems</a>. One woman is seated and naked, while the other (who seems much older) is dressed in rich clothes. The seated woman has a sign on her stomach that represents her vulva.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two medieval women" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578353/original/file-20240227-28-3phk7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578353/original/file-20240227-28-3phk7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578353/original/file-20240227-28-3phk7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578353/original/file-20240227-28-3phk7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578353/original/file-20240227-28-3phk7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578353/original/file-20240227-28-3phk7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/578353/original/file-20240227-28-3phk7m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=530&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The image from Wellcome Apocalypse, 1420.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/du9ua6nd/items?canvas=80">Wellcome Collection</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The image is an example of two women discussing intimate worries regarding sexual intercourse, miscarriages, and problems in conceiving. One says: “My husband’s male member, when banging against the smallness and narrowness of my vulva, the cervix, tired out, forced the foetus to slip out before time.” The other responds: “I too have often been distressed because I am unable to carry a conceived child.”</p>
<p>While medieval women did not have the authority or status of trained medical professionals, some, especially in the upper classes, put together recipes for health and wellbeing. One such manuscript is the early 15th-century <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/works/nuckbt25">Dietary of Queen Isabella</a>, a collection of recipes for maintaining health and combating illness.</p>
<p>Women were also supporting each other’s health through the social network of <a href="https://theconversation.com/letters-and-embroidery-allowed-medieval-women-to-express-their-forbidden-emotions-223114">letter writing</a>. In <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/48742766">one such letter from 1455</a>, a woman named Alice Crane writes to her friend Margaret Paston to ask “if the medycyn do you ony good that I send you wrytyng of last”.</p>
<p>As the medical profession became even more institutionalised in the 16th and 17th centuries, women lost much of the respect they’d earned as healers. Many were <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/20688683">believed to hold magical powers</a> and <a href="https://imss.org/2019/12/18/a-note-from-the-collections-midwives-and-healers-in-the-european-witch-trials/">castigated as witches</a>. And the informal networks of women sharing medical information, particularly about pregnancy and childbirth, were disrupted.</p>
<p>Today, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S027795362100650X">women still often rely</a> on sisters, mothers and friends for reliable information and to make decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. Globally, the reliance on social networks is often <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0743016723002358">heightened in rural areas</a>, where illiteracy and lack of access to trained professionals and education can be a barrier. </p>
<p>I see these informal networks, whether operating discreetly in real life or in messaging groups such as Whatsapp, as a form of resistance – a safer, supportive and more egalitarian space than institutionalised medical spaces, where women’s conditions and ailments can be ignored or dismissed. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pragya Agarwal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Distaff Gospels is a collection of advice around pregnancy, childbirth and health. It was shared between French women while spinning flax.Pragya Agarwal, Visiting Professor of Social Inequities and Injustice, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2229822024-03-05T21:56:12Z2024-03-05T21:56:12ZImmigrant women suffer financially for taking maternity leave: 4 ways Canada can improve<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575120/original/file-20240212-18-b6ebmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=70%2C50%2C6639%2C3722&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Immigrant women disproportionately work caring for children, elderly adults and people living with disabilities. At the same time, immigrant care workers earn low incomes and experience precarious employment.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Canada is facing a critical <a href="https://canadiancaregiving.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/CCCE_Giving-Care.pdf">shortage of caregivers</a>, both paid and unpaid. And those who do this vital work face significant pressures that are impacting their lives. In particular, there are high costs to immigrant women for taking time off of paid work to care for their own babies. </p>
<p>Immigrant women <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-0001/2020001/article/00036-eng.htm">disproportionately work caring for children, elderly adults and people living with disabilities</a>. At the same time, immigrant care workers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12851">earn low incomes</a> and experience <a href="https://www.parklandinstitute.ca/more_than_just_a_health_care_aide">precarious employment</a>. The fact that these women experience further economic penalties for taking maternity or parental leave is a pressing social issue.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2023-005">My recent paper</a> in <em>Canadian Public Policy</em> documents for the first time the financial implications immigrant women face for taking time out of the labour market to care for a child. I use Statistics Canada data from the <a href="https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=5057">Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB)</a> and the <a href="https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=4502">2018 General Social Survey (GSS)</a>. </p>
<p>The data revealed a gendered, classed and racialized divide among women caring for their children in Canada today. It’s a divide that is having a negative financial impact on immigrant women doing this work. </p>
<h2>Disparities in who is caring for children</h2>
<p>The data revealed patterns of who is providing unpaid care for children. Women were more than eight times as likely as men to be caring for children or on parental leave.</p>
<p>Immigrants were 1.8 times as likely to report these as their main activities compared with non-immigrants. Racialized populations were 1.5 times more likely than non-racialized populations to be providing this care. </p>
<p>Further, my analysis finds that immigrant women who came to Canada via the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/hire-permanent-foreign/caregiver-program.html">Live-in Caregiver/Caregiver Program (LCP/CP)</a> had a substantively higher probability of having a birth-related career interruption than comparable immigrant women who entered Canada via the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/permanent-residence/non-economic-classes/family-class-process.html">family</a> or <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/permanent-residence/economic-classes.html">economic</a> immigration programs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman using laptop carries a baby." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579264/original/file-20240301-26-kmlxo2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Data suggests that, in the vast majority of cases, income will be lower the year after a birth-related career interruption.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Financial disadvantages for providing essential unpaid care</h2>
<p>I looked at immigrant women who took time out of the labour market to care for their babies and compared their income the year before the career interruption with the year after.</p>
<p>I found that the probability of having income ten per cent lower the year after a birth-related career interruption is highest for women who immigrated through the family class program, followed closely by those in the caregiver program and those who immigrated through the economic class. </p>
<p>The differences were small. Instead, there is a large divide across scenarios rather than entry classes. Notably, all immigrant women have much lower probabilities of having either the same or higher income after a birth-related career interruption.</p>
<p>This suggests that for immigrant women in Canada, in the vast majority of cases, income will be lower the year after a birth-related career interruption than prior. There are financial penalties for caring for their own children. </p>
<h2>What can the federal government do?</h2>
<p>Most important legislation affecting the career earnings trajectories of immigrants operates at the provincial level. For example, policies tied to collective bargaining and unionization, education and training, minimum wage, employment standards and occupational health and safety are set by provincial governments. </p>
<p>These are of critical importance to immigrant women workers, but there is wide variation across Canada.</p>
<p>At the federal level, however, concrete changes to the caregiver program and to Employment Insurance (EI) could help to address the challenges highlighted above. The four changes proposed below would be important steps forward for immigrant women care workers. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman and baby play on a couch" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579263/original/file-20240301-20-3uw0rq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Changes to caregiver programs and to Employment Insurance could help to address the challenges caregivers face.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>First, immigrants who enter Canada via caregiver programs should be eligible to access maternity leave and workers compensation benefits regardless of whether their status in Canada is temporary or permanent. As well, encouraging better education regarding maternity and parental leave entitlements so immigrants know their rights might improve take-up rates. </p>
<p>Second, the government should increase and improve programs to support the labour market integration of immigrants coming to Canada via caregiver programs. This would include assisting with transfer and recognition of foreign credentials which has been widely identified as <a href="https://triec.ca/eliminating-the-barrier-of-credential-recognition-for-immigrant-professionals/">an area in need of support</a>. This would also help immigrant care workers find work that is commensurate with their training and skills, likely with higher pay and better maternity benefits. </p>
<p>Third, further increasing federal funding for paid child-care provision would assist in alleviating the shortage of workers. Improving the quality, accessibility and affordability of paid child care would assist immigrant women in transitioning back to the labour market after having a baby. It would also improve pay for child-care workers, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02568543.2023.2232832">who are disproportionately immigrant and racialized women</a>. </p>
<p>Fourth, governments need to look at reforming EI and other related programs through a gender-based analysis. This could include implementing new or more tax credits for unpaid caregiving, increasing flexibility in the definition of allowable expenses, changes to the child benefits system, increasing short-term programs to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-09-2020-0255">address deskilling</a> from extended time outside of the labour market caring for children, and suggesting regulatory changes to the definition of self-employment for income tax purposes. </p>
<p>These changes would better ensure that career interruptions tied to childbirth and care do not unduly impact or disadvantage immigrant women over their working lives. The minimum we can and should do as a society is ensure that immigrant women who devote their working lives to caring for others are equally cared for themselves when they become mothers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222982/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Naomi Lightman receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Counsel (SSHRC), the Canadian Research Data Centre Network (CRDCN), and Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) Canada.</span></em></p>Research shows a classed and racialized divide among women caring for their children in Canada today. It’s a divide that is having a negative financial impact on immigrant women doing this work.Naomi Lightman, Associate Professor of Sociology, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2246912024-03-05T20:57:58Z2024-03-05T20:57:58ZWomen want to climb the corporate ladder — but not at any price<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578677/original/file-20240115-27-31qawf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women are just as interested in opportunities for advancement as men are. However, they find them less attainable because of their busy schedules.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The consulting firm <a href="https://www.spencerstuart.com/">Spencer Stuart</a> recently published a study <a href="https://www.spencerstuart.com/-/media/2023/december/f500-profiles/fortune-500-csuite-snapshot-profiles-in-functional-leadership.pdf">of top management at Fortune 500 companies</a>, the 500 richest companies in the United States.</p>
<p>The analysis focused specifically on the gender of the people in these positions, their functions and the source of their appointments, whether they came from inside or outside the organization.</p>
<p>Studying the composition of top management, often referred to as the C-Suite, is particularly important since it allows us to see how many women make it to the position of CEO in an organization.</p>
<p>Respectively Dean of the John Molson School of Business, and an expert for several decades on the place of women in the upper echelons of the business world, we will discuss the main findings of the Spencer Stuart study.</p>
<h2>Starting points</h2>
<p>Three conclusions in particular caught our attention:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Men represent 60 per cent of the select group that constitutes top management. Men principally occupy the positions that offer the greatest potential for appointment as CEO, <a href="https://www.spencerstuart.com/-/media/2021/december/lastmile/the-last-mile-to-the-top-future-ceos-who-beat-the-odds.pdf">according to the history of appointments to such positions</a>. These include, for example, Chief Operating Officer, Head of Division and Chief Financial Officer;</p></li>
<li><p>Although women are increasingly present in top management positions (40 per cent), they are still found in the positions of Head of Human Resources, Head of Communications, Head of Diversity and Inclusion and Head of Sustainable Development. In other words, women are in so-called support functions that, while important for organizations, are unfortunately perceived as having little impact on shareholder equity and financial performance;</p></li>
<li><p>Appointments to top management positions that lead to the position of CEO come mainly from within the company. What does this mean? That an intimate knowledge of the organization gained over a long period is valued and that there is generally a promotion process in place to feed the succession pool.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Global overview of the situation</h2>
<p>Our experience over the last few decades allows us to draw similar conclusions about Canada. So we wanted to check whether this situation was similar in other countries.</p>
<p>A report by the International Labour Organization called <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_700953.pdf">“The Business Case for Change”</a> provides an overview of the position of women in the upper echelons of power in 13,000 companies operating on every continent.</p>
<p>As in the United States and Canada, the gender divide between positions that could be called support jobs, and those that contribute directly to an organization’s profitability, appears to be widespread. According to the authors of this study, it is also referred to as a “glass wall,” since it limits the pool of potential female candidates for the position of CEO.</p>
<p>But how can this phenomenon be explained?</p>
<h2>Stereotypes, biases and prejudices</h2>
<p>First of all, gender stereotypes and prejudices come into play from childhood.</p>
<p>They have an impact on the toys children play with, the subjects they study, their lives and their future careers.</p>
<p>Girls — generally speaking — aspire to become doctors, teachers, nurses, psychologists and veterinary surgeons. As for boys, they want to become engineers and <a href="https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/smashing-gender-stereotypes-and-bias-and-through-education">work in IT and mechanical fields</a>.</p>
<h2>Organizational culture</h2>
<p>Secondly, organizational culture is a <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_700953.pdf">mirror of our society and its traditions</a>.</p>
<p>It therefore conveys biases regarding the leadership potential of women compared to men.</p>
<p>According to the International Labour Organization survey cited above, 91 per cent of the women questioned agreed or strongly agreed that women lead as effectively as men. However, only 77 per cent of men agreed with this statement.</p>
<p>Arguably, this leadership bias has an impact on the recruitment, appointment, talent development and “stretch assignment” processes that pave the way for career progression.</p>
<p>There is also reason to believe that these biases are equally present on boards of directors, which are responsible for appointing CEOs and which are still predominantly composed of men.</p>
<h2>Different life goals</h2>
<p>Finally, women and men have different preferences and career goals.</p>
<p>According to a study by Harvard Business School professors Francesca Gino and Alison Wood Brooks entitled <a href="https://hbr.org/2015/09/explaining-gender-differences-at-the-top">“Explaining the Gender Differences at the Top,”</a> women are just as interested in opportunities for advancement as men are. However, they find them less attainable because of their busy schedules. As a result, women have to more seriously take into account the compromises and sacrifices they will have to make to occupy positions of high responsibility and power.</p>
<p>The authors are careful to point out that these results do not mean that women are less ambitious, but that career success means different things to different people. For some, it takes the form of power. For others, it can mean making colleagues happy and helping to make the world a better place in a collaborative and supportive environment.</p>
<p>This research is in line with that of Viviane de Beaufort, a professor at the École supérieure des sciences économiques et commerciales (ESSEC). In a survey of the career aspirations of 295 French women managers, she found that women do want to rise to the highest positions. <a href="https://www.academia.edu/80171918/WP_CERESSEC_CEDE_ESSEC_Viviane_de_Beaufort_2022_avec_le_collectif_WOMEN_BOARD_READY_ESSEC">But not at any price</a>.</p>
<h2>What determines career paths?</h2>
<p>This article therefore raises the following question:</p>
<p>Can we, as women, one day hope to be CEOs or fulfill our professional dreams despite the biases, prejudices, stereotypes and barriers we have to overcome?</p>
<p>Simone de Beauvoir wrote in 1949 in her essay “The Second Sex”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Women determine and differentiate themselves in relation to men, not men in relation to women: they are inessential in relation to what is essential. He is the subject, he is the absolute, she is the other.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This excerpt reminds us that the skills and knowledge required to perform strategic functions have always been defined in terms of the male exercise of power in an environment where the organization’s performance is judged almost exclusively by financial success and growth of shareholder value.</p>
<p>It’s time to think about new career paths and skills that are not defined by gender, but rather, by an organization’s mission and objectives. These goals must take into account <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/07/the-c-suite-skills-that-matter-most">how they contribute to creating a better world</a>, as much as ensuring the financial success of organizations.</p>
<p>Functional skills must be valued as much as softer skills such as emotional intelligence, empathy, a sense of community and boldness.</p>
<p>Breaking down glass walls also means that organizations and their boards have a responsibility to identify and encourage women to take up positions where they can gain experience and develop their leadership skills in front line rather than support roles.</p>
<p>In such a context, women, as much as men, will have a better chance of reaching the highest positions in a company while remaining true to themselves — and doing so on equal terms.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224691/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Women are increasingly present in top management positions, but they end up in so-called support functions, which rarely lead to CEO positions.Louise Champoux-Paillé, Cadre en exercice, John Molson School of Business, Concordia UniversityAnne-Marie Croteau, Dean, John Molson School of Business, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2230482024-02-27T14:07:04Z2024-02-27T14:07:04ZBenefits of using cleaner cooking fuels are blunted in urban areas where outdoor air is polluted: findings from Ghana, Cameroon and Kenya<p>Household air pollution from cooking, heating and lighting with fuels like wood, charcoal and kerosene poses a substantial global health problem. </p>
<p>Globally, <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/20-01-2022-who-publishes-new-global-data-on-the-use-of-clean-and-polluting-fuels-for-cooking-by-fuel-type">2 billion</a> people cook with polluting fuels and are exposed to high levels of household air pollution. The highest proportion live in sub-Saharan Africa, where <a href="https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/new-research-could-help-boost-growth-of-clean-cooking-in-sub-saharan-africa/29340#:%7E:text=Approximately%20900%20million%20people%20cook,health%2Ddamaging%20and%20climate%20pollutants">about 900 million</a> people cook with polluting fuels.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(20)30197-2/fulltext">Studies</a> have shown that use of cleaner cooking fuels, like electricity, ethanol and liquefied petroleum gas, reduces exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a damaging pollutant. But <a href="https://ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12940-021-00756-5">other studies</a> have also shown that the use of cleaner cooking fuels doesn’t necessarily reduce PM2.5 levels in people’s homes.</p>
<p>To understand why, our research looked at three rapidly urbanising communities in Cameroon (Mbalmayo), Ghana (Obuasi) and Kenya (Eldoret). We looked at differences in air pollutant levels across cooking fuel types as well as other environmental factors. We measured levels of PM2.5 as well as carbon monoxide (CO), another damaging air pollutant. </p>
<p>Half of the households that were part of our study were mostly cooking with LPG, which is considered a cleaner cooking fuel. The other half were cooking only with polluting fuels, including wood and charcoal.</p>
<p>Our findings showed that the type of cooking fuel households used did indeed affect levels of pollution inside people’s homes. But we found wide disparities between the three communities. For example, there was hardly any difference in average PM2.5 exposures between LPG and charcoal users in the Ghanaian setting. However, in the Kenyan and Cameroonian communities, women’s average PM2.5 levels were much higher among those cooking with wood, compared with those cooking with LPG. In Eldoret, Kenya, women cooking with charcoal were also exposed to substantially higher levels than those cooking with LPG. </p>
<p>We concluded from our results that this could be explained by the fact that environmental factors were also at play – air pollution levels outside people’s homes. In the Ghanaian area, outdoor air pollution levels were around double the levels in the other two communities. This difference is likely due in part to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1352231099002964?via%3Dihub">increased levels</a> of Saharan dust in Ghana during the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/harmattan">harmattan</a> season. </p>
<p>In addition, most women in the Ghanaian setting usually cooked outdoors on a veranda. This increased their exposure to outdoor air pollution. In contrast, women in Kenya and Cameroon typically cooked indoors.</p>
<p>We also found that women, regardless of the cooking fuel they used, had higher exposure to PM2.5 if they lived closer to a busy road (less than a five minute walk away) and travelled outdoors during the day. This suggested that traffic emissions probably made up a substantial proportion of the air pollution that women were breathing in these urban areas. And emissions generated from cooking might have contributed less to overall PM2.5 exposures. </p>
<p>This may explain why there were minimal differences between PM2.5 exposures among women using LPG and charcoal stoves in the Ghanaian community, despite LPG stoves generally emitting lower levels of PM2.5. It follows that, in some areas with rapid urbanisation, outdoor air pollution is probably lowering the ability of clean cooking fuels to reduce PM2.5 exposures. </p>
<h2>What next</h2>
<p>As cities continue to urbanise and the African population increasingly migrates to cities, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-023-01311-2">evidence</a> points to the fact that localised levels of air pollution from industrial sources, traffic, and trash burning are likely to increase. This means that people will become increasingly exposed to air pollutants outdoors and that reductions in PM2.5 exposure that happens when people switch from polluting fuels to LPG may be lower. </p>
<p>Our findings show that clean cooking fuels can reduce indoor air pollution. However, a focus on reducing indoor pollution by switching cooking fuels may only have a limited effect on people’s exposure to damaging air pollutants. Our findings point to the need for developing strategies for reducing both indoor and outdoor air pollution levels. Lower outdoor PM2.5 concentrations can be achieved through stricter regulations on traffic emissions and limiting or eliminating trash burning in favour of less polluting methods for solid waste disposal.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, efforts to encourage a transition towards clean cooking fuels should remain an important policy priority, particularly in communities that are exposed to lower levels of outdoor PM2.5. The transition to clean cooking fuels can potentially have a greater health benefit in these settings. </p>
<p>A more targeted approach and prioritising certain areas in the drive for access to cleaner cooking fuels makes sense. As the <a href="https://cleancooking.org/">Clean Cooking Alliance</a> has pointed out, there are limited resources and funding to tackle the move towards cleaner cooking fuels. Targeting specific areas for clean cooking transitions may therefore be a useful strategy. </p>
<p>In the meantime, the global health community must devote more resources to providing universal access to clean cooking by 2030 <a href="https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/sustainable-development-goals/why-do-sustainable-development-goals-matter/goal-7">(United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7)</a>].</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223048/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Shupler is also a researcher in the Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems at the University of Liverpool. This research was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) (ref: 17/63/155) using UK aid from
the UK Government to support global health research. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the UK government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Esong Miranda Baame and Theresa Tawiah do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Dust and traffic pollution add to the health hazard posed by some cooking fuels.Matthew Shupler, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Environmental Public Health, Harvard UniversityEsong Miranda Baame, PhD Candidate, Université de DschangTheresa Tawiah, Health Economist ,Department of Environmental Health, Kintampo Health Research CenterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2236082024-02-26T13:09:07Z2024-02-26T13:09:07ZTaiwan election 2024: how presidential candidates left women voters unimpressed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577406/original/file-20240222-15836-azi6l0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C5%2C3889%2C2591&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/supporters-founder-tech-giant-foxconn-terry-2302096449">jamesonwu1972/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Lai Ching-te (also known as William Lai) of the Democratic Progressive Party was elected as the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/13/taiwan-ruling-partys-lai-ching-te-wins-presidential-election">new president of Taiwan</a> in January, beating Hou Yu-ih and Ko Wen-je of the Kuomintang and Taiwan People’s Party respectively. </p>
<p>Lai picked Hsiao Bi-khim to be his running mate. Hsiao, who had been Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the US since 2020, is the second woman to become vice president in Taiwan. </p>
<p>Seeing women on the tickets for major political seats is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0192512120935517?casa_token=pFwzsqGqu7cAAAAA%3AH8HNx-pNysvT4B9yojPw3wxVw3R6y2f2en6AYhLom9eI-6onmaEpMzIjBehJC3_v-4-BS57rgAJR4Q">not unusual</a> for Taiwanese voters. Taiwan’s national legislature has almost attained gender parity, significantly higher than the <a href="https://data.ipu.org/women-averages">global average</a>, and in 2016 it elected a woman as president (Tsai Ing-wen).</p>
<p>Nevertheless, no presidential candidate in the recent election offered concrete plans for how to achieve gender equality in society and, perhaps as a result, did not attract a great deal of support from women. Instead, candidates who chose women as their vice-presidential running mates appeared to do so as a political gesture aimed at attracting support from women, rather than displaying any real intent to advance gender equality in Taiwan.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two Taiwanese politicians (a man and a woman) cheering on a stage in front of a crowd." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577540/original/file-20240223-22-23d6h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577540/original/file-20240223-22-23d6h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577540/original/file-20240223-22-23d6h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577540/original/file-20240223-22-23d6h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577540/original/file-20240223-22-23d6h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577540/original/file-20240223-22-23d6h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577540/original/file-20240223-22-23d6h3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lai Ching-te (William Lai) and his running mate Hsiao Bi-Khim during a campaign rally.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/lai-chingte-william-vice-president-dpp-2396136779">jamesonwu1972/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Misogyny throughout the campaigns</h2>
<p>As Taiwan geared up for the election, all three candidates spoke about the importance of gender diversity. But none of them truly campaigned for gender justice, at least not with any real conviction. </p>
<p>Ko advocated for the legalisation of surrogacy and gender-neutral bathrooms. Hou campaigned for incorporating gender diversity and equality in school curriculum’s and workplaces. Lai offered no nuances as his platform did not differ much from his opponents. </p>
<p>However, the <a href="https://www.38.org.tw/en/en-index">Modern Women’s Foundation</a> and other leading women’s organisations <a href="https://asianews.network/taiwans-female-v-p-picks-reflect-commitment-to-gender-equality-but-challenges-remain/">demanded</a> that attention be paid to gender-based violence, the gender pay gap, state-subsidised care and, among other things, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/politics-and-gender/article/do-government-positions-held-by-women-matter-a-crossnational-examination-of-female-ministers-impacts-on-womens-political-participation/1C587287F90462338F69B9A774096732">women’s ministerial representation</a>. Their efforts were to no avail as none of the candidates offered a concrete solution to any of these problems. </p>
<p>The election also scored high for misogynistic remarks from candidates. Since being elected as the mayor of Taipei ten years ago, Ko has regularly made sexist comments – for example, after a rally in July 2023 where a woman held a sign listing his remarks, his supporters <a href="https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2023/07/26/2003803741">harassed her online</a>. Ko refused to take responsibility for his own statements, saying: “What has that got to do with me?” </p>
<p>Hou also has a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-12/taiwan-presidential-election-what-to-know-about-the-candidates?leadSource=uverify%20wall">history</a> of objectifying women. At a press conference in 2018 where Hou launched a ride-sharing policy, he complimented the woman host’s appearance and age, <a href="https://www.gvm.com.tw/article/107994">saying</a> she had an “unsafe face”. He proceeded by saying that ride sharing would allow men like him to make friends with young women. </p>
<h2>Appealing to women voters</h2>
<p>Needless to say, the main electoral battles in January did not focus on women’s issues. They mainly concentrated on relations with China and on the cost of living. Women make up half of Taiwan’s population, yet their issues were largely ignored.</p>
<p>This lack of appeal was reflected in voting. Based on our own analysis of <a href="http://teds.nccu.edu.tw/teds_plan/">Taiwan’s Election and Democratization Study</a> (which collects data of voting behaviour and changes in democratic values), all three candidates struggled to secure support from women. </p>
<p>Lai, the eventual successor, stood out as the only candidate to receive a positive response from women. But even then, only 40% of <a href="https://www.tpof.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/20231229-TPOF-December-2023-Public-Opinion-Poll-%E2%80%93-English-Excerpt.pdf">women without clear political preferences</a> (characterised here as “median voters”) said they voted for him. </p>
<p>More than half of women voters <a href="http://teds.nccu.edu.tw/teds_plan/">expressed unfavourable views</a> towards Ko and Hou. Ko particularly lagged in women’s support, despite enjoying considerable backing from men.<br>
Further analysis revealed an interplay between gender, education, age and candidate preference. Among college-educated men, 63% favoured Ko, compared with only 49% of college-educated women. And among those aged between 30 and 39 years, men favoured Ko to a significantly greater degree than women.</p>
<p>This gender gap suggests that highly educated women, and those in their 30s, were more critical of Ko than men. The differences in support based on gender, age and education were less pronounced for Hou and Lai. </p>
<p>Hou’s supporters are predominantly older, with no significant differences in gender across various ages or educational levels. On the other hand, Lai attracts slightly more college-educated women than men. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A close-up shot of a Taiwanese man wearing glasses and dressed in a white jacket at a rally." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577543/original/file-20240223-26-fmc9br.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577543/original/file-20240223-26-fmc9br.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577543/original/file-20240223-26-fmc9br.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577543/original/file-20240223-26-fmc9br.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577543/original/file-20240223-26-fmc9br.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577543/original/file-20240223-26-fmc9br.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577543/original/file-20240223-26-fmc9br.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ko Wen-je, the presidential candidate from the Taiwan People’s Party.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/president-candidate-ko-wenje-attended-rally-2410913131">Alex Chan Tsz Yuk/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Selective running mates</h2>
<p>Polling taken <a href="http://my-formosa.com/DOC_201239.htm">before running mates were announced</a> suggested a neck-and-neck competition, with no candidate demonstrating a substantial lead. This tight race underscored the importance of median voters.</p>
<p>Research suggests that, while vice president picks do not usually sway the electorate broadly, they can appeal to particular voter segments. Therefore, Lai and Ko both <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/taiwan-s-female-v-p-picks-reflect-commitment-to-gender-equality-but-challenges-remain">made strategic choices</a> of women to be their vice presidential picks. </p>
<p>But did this strategy pay off? The popularity of both Lai and Ko with women voters saw no improvement. In fact, Ko’s support among women <a href="https://www.tpof.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/TPOF-12%E6%9C%88%E6%B0%91%E8%AA%BF%E5%A0%B1%E5%91%8A.pdf">continued to decline</a> even after introducing his running mate. His challenge in securing women’s support shows that putting a woman on the ticket was not enough to counteract his misogyny and boost women’s support.</p>
<p>Many challenges on gender inequality and injustice await Lai. He campaigned by prioritising other issues such as care for the elderly and the minimum wage. But even these issues cannot be addressed without accounting for gender. </p>
<p>Domestic needs like this can only be resolved by systematically evaluating and incorporating the interests and needs of women.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223608/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Taiwan’s presidential candidates failed to address women’s interests and resonate with women voters.Shan-Jan Sarah Liu, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Gender and Politics, The University of EdinburghLi-Yin Liu, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science, University of DaytonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2219682024-02-22T13:42:36Z2024-02-22T13:42:36ZMothers’ dieting habits and self-talk have profound impact on daughters − 2 psychologists explain how to cultivate healthy behaviors and body image<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576104/original/file-20240216-20-r6kakd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6000%2C3724&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mothers play an outsized role in the formation of their daughters' dietary habits.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/happy-mother-and-daughter-bonding-at-home-royalty-free-image/1429136148?phrase=mothers+and+daughters+in+kitchen&adppopup=true">andresr/E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Weight loss is one of the most common health and appearance-related goals.</p>
<p>Women and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db340.htm">teen girls</a> are <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db313.htm">especially likely to pursue dieting</a> to achieve weight loss goals even though a great deal of research shows that <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-thin-people-dont-understand-about-dieting-86604">dieting doesn’t work over the long term</a>. </p>
<p>We are a <a href="https://www.duck-lab.com/people">developmental psychologist</a> and a <a href="https://psy.uncg.edu/directory/ashleigh-gallagher/">social psychologist</a> who together wrote a forthcoming book, “Beyond Body Positive: A Mother’s Evidence-Based Guide for Helping Girls Build a Healthy Body Image.”</p>
<p>In the book, we address topics such as the effects of maternal dieting behaviors on daughters’ health and well-being. We provide information on how to build a foundation for healthy body image beginning in girlhood. </p>
<h2>Culturally defined body ideals</h2>
<p>Given the strong influence of social media and other cultural influences on body ideals, it’s understandable that so many people pursue diets aimed at weight loss. <a href="https://communityhealth.mayoclinic.org/featured-stories/tiktok-diets">TikTok</a>, YouTube, Instagram and celebrity websites feature slim influencers and “how-tos” for achieving those same results in no time. </p>
<p>For example, women and teens are engaging in rigid and extreme forms of exercise such as 54D, a program to <a href="https://54d.com/">achieve body transformation in 54 days</a>, or the <a href="https://health.clevelandclinic.org/75-hard-challenge-and-rules">75 Hard Challenge</a>, which is to follow five strict rules for 75 days.</p>
<p>For teens, these pursuits are likely fueled by trendy body preoccupations such as the desire for “<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/well/move/tiktok-legging-legs-eating-disorders.html?">legging legs</a>.” </p>
<p>Women and teens have also been been inundated with recent messaging around <a href="https://theconversation.com/drugs-that-melt-away-pounds-still-present-more-questions-than-answers-but-ozempic-wegovy-and-mounjaro-could-be-key-tools-in-reducing-the-obesity-epidemic-205549">quick-fix weight loss drugs</a>, which come with a lot of caveats. </p>
<p>Dieting and weight loss goals are highly individual, and when people are intensely self-focused, it is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2000.19.1.70">possible to lose sight of the bigger picture</a>. Although women might wonder what the harm is in trying the latest diet, science shows that dieting behavior doesn’t just affect the dieter. In particular, for women who are mothers or who have other girls in their lives, these behaviors affect girls’ emerging body image and their health and well-being. </p>
<h2>The profound effect of maternal role models</h2>
<p>Research shows that mothers and maternal figures <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2017.11.001">have a profound influence on their daughters’ body image</a>. </p>
<p>The opportunity to influence girls’ body image comes far earlier than adolescence. In fact, research shows that these influences on body image <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/how-toxic-diet-culture-is-passed-from-moms-to-daughters">begin very early in life</a> – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.acdb.2016.10.006">during the preschool years</a>. </p>
<p>Mothers may feel that they are being discreet about their dieting behavior, but little girls are watching and listening, and they are far more observant of us than many might think. </p>
<p>For example, one study revealed that compared with daughters of nondieting women, 5-year-old girls whose mothers dieted <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-8223(00)00339-4">were aware of the connection between dieting and thinness</a>. </p>
<p>Mothers’ eating behavior does not just affect girls’ ideas about dieting, but also their daughters’ eating behavior. The amount of food that mothers eat <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.04.018">predicts how much their daughters will eat</a>. In addition, daughters whose mothers are dieters are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2018.04.018">more likely to become dieters themselves</a> and are also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2007.03.001">more likely to have a negative body image</a>. </p>
<p>Negative body image is <a href="https://theconversation.com/mounting-research-documents-the-harmful-effects-of-social-media-use-on-mental-health-including-body-image-and-development-of-eating-disorders-206170">not a trivial matter</a>. It affects girls’ and women’s mental and physical well-being in a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105317710815">host of ways</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2011.06.009">can predict the emergence of eating disorders</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577135/original/file-20240221-18-wdo3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Food choice concept of young girl comparing fast food to natural and organic products." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577135/original/file-20240221-18-wdo3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577135/original/file-20240221-18-wdo3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577135/original/file-20240221-18-wdo3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577135/original/file-20240221-18-wdo3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577135/original/file-20240221-18-wdo3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577135/original/file-20240221-18-wdo3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577135/original/file-20240221-18-wdo3e8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s important to avoid labeling foods as good or bad, instead focusing on a balanced diet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rudzhan Nagiev/iStock via Getty Images</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Avoiding ‘fat talk’</h2>
<p>What can moms do, then, to serve their daughters’ and their own health? </p>
<p>They can focus on small steps. And although it is best to begin these efforts early in life – in girlhood – it is never too late to do so. </p>
<p>For example, mothers can consider how they think about and talk about themselves around their daughters. Engaging in “fat talk” may inadvertently send their daughters the message that larger bodies are bad, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2020.07.004">contributing to weight bias</a> and negative self-image. Mothers’ fat talk also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15267431.2021.1908294">predicts later body dissatisfaction in daughters</a>. </p>
<p>And negative self-talk isn’t good for mothers, either; it is associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105318781943">lower motivation and unhealthful eating</a>. Mothers can instead practice and model self-compassion, which involves treating oneself the way <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.03.003">a loving friend might treat you</a>. </p>
<p>In discussions about food and eating behavior, it is important to avoid moralizing certain kinds of food by labeling them as “good” or “bad,” as girls may extend these labels to their personal worth. For example, a young girl may feel that she is being “bad” if she eats dessert, if that is what she has learned from observing the women around her. In contrast, she may feel that she has to eat a salad to be “good.” </p>
<p>Moms and other female role models can make sure that the dinner plate sends a healthy message to their daughters by showing instead that all foods can fit into a balanced diet when the time is right. Intuitive eating, which emphasizes paying attention to hunger and satiety and allows flexibility in eating behavior, is associated with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-020-00852-4">better physical and mental health in adolescence</a>.</p>
<p>Another way that women and especially moms can buffer girls’ body image is by helping their daughters <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2021.12.009">to develop media literacy</a> and to think critically about the nature and purpose of media. For example, moms can discuss the misrepresentation and distortion of bodies, such as the use of filters to enhance physical appearance, on social media. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577137/original/file-20240221-18-yucv2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three young girls sitting close together, each holding a smart phone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577137/original/file-20240221-18-yucv2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577137/original/file-20240221-18-yucv2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577137/original/file-20240221-18-yucv2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577137/original/file-20240221-18-yucv2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577137/original/file-20240221-18-yucv2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577137/original/file-20240221-18-yucv2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577137/original/file-20240221-18-yucv2s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Social media filters can lead to distorted body ideals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/group-of-friends-using-their-phones-royalty-free-image/843840202?phrase=social+media+young+girls&adppopup=true">Flashpop/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Focusing on healthful behaviors</h2>
<p>One way to begin to focus on health behaviors rather than dieting behaviors is to develop respect for the body and to <a href="https://theconversation.com/body-neutrality-what-it-is-and-how-it-can-help-lead-to-more-positive-body-image-191799">consider body neutrality</a>. In other words, prize body function rather than appearance and spend less time thinking about your body’s appearance. Accept that there are times when you may not feel great about your body, and that this is OK. </p>
<p>To feel and look their best, mothers can aim to stick to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-best-diet-for-healthy-sleep-a-nutritional-epidemiologist-explains-what-food-choices-will-help-you-get-more-restful-zs-219955">healthy sleep schedule</a>, manage their stress levels, <a href="https://theconversation.com/fiber-is-your-bodys-natural-guide-to-weight-management-rather-than-cutting-carbs-out-of-your-diet-eat-them-in-their-original-fiber-packaging-instead-205159">eat a varied diet</a> that includes all of the foods that they enjoy, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-runners-high-may-result-from-molecules-called-cannabinoids-the-bodys-own-version-of-thc-and-cbd-170796">move and exercise their bodies regularly</a> as lifelong practices, rather than engaging in quick-fix trends. </p>
<p>Although many of these tips sound familiar, and perhaps even simple, they become effective when we recognize their importance and begin acting on them. Mothers can work toward modeling these behaviors and tailor each of them to their daughter’s developmental level. It’s never too early to start. </p>
<h2>Promoting healthy body image</h2>
<p>Science shows that several personal characteristics are associated with body image concerns among women. </p>
<p>For example, research shows that women who are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2020.02.001">higher in neuroticism</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/2050-2974-1-2">and perfectionism</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.983534">lower in self-compassion</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2013.08.001">lower in self-efficacy</a> are all more likely to struggle with negative body image. </p>
<p>Personality is frequently defined as a person’s characteristic pattern of thoughts, feelings and behaviors. But if they wish, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/per.1945">mothers can change personality characteristics</a> that they feel aren’t serving them well. </p>
<p>For example, perfectionist tendencies – such as setting unrealistic, inflexible goals – can be examined, challenged and replaced with more rational thoughts and behaviors. A woman who believes she must work out every day can practice being more flexible in her thinking. One who thinks of dessert as “cheating” can practice resisting moral judgments about food. </p>
<p>Changing habitual ways of thinking, feeling and behaving certainly takes effort and time, but it is far more likely than diet trends to bring about sustainable, long-term change. And taking the first steps to modify even a few of these habits can positively affect daughters.</p>
<p>In spite of all the noise from media and other cultural influences, mothers can feel empowered knowing that they have a significant influence on their daughters’ feelings about, and treatment of, their bodies. </p>
<p>In this way, mothers’ modeling of healthier attitudes and behaviors is a sound investment – for both their own body image and that of the girls they love.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221968/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Adopting healthy behaviors and thought patterns around food and nutrition takes time and intentional effort. But it will lead to more lasting change and positive outcomes than quick-fix dieting will.Janet J. Boseovski, Professor of Psychology, University of North Carolina – GreensboroAshleigh Gallagher, Senior Lecturer, University of North Carolina – GreensboroLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2232172024-02-13T16:38:00Z2024-02-13T16:38:00ZDonkeys are unsung heroes in Ethiopia’s humanitarian crisis – and they could do even more with better support<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574951/original/file-20240212-28-w82tdy.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C2560%2C1686&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The front cover of the Norwegian Refugee Council's Annual Report on Ethiopia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nrc.no/shorthand/stories/nrc-ethiopia-annual-report-2020/assets/8XbNZwavN5/dsc_6544-web-2560x1707.jpeg">Tinbit Amare Dejene / Norwegian Refugee Council</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Conflict and drought in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia has triggered a humanitarian crisis. The Ethiopian government says <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-68198484">16 million people</a> across the country are facing food shortages, with almost half of those suffering emergency or severe levels of food insecurity. </p>
<p>In response to the crisis, the UK has <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-announces-100-million-of-new-aid-for-over-three-million-vulnerable-people-in-ethiopia-as-humanitarian-crisis-deepens">announced</a> £100 million in overseas development aid for essential healthcare services. More than 3 million Ethiopians, including vulnerable women and children, will receive lifesaving help through the programme.</p>
<p>For <a href="https://www.wfp.org/news/wfp-ramps-deliveries-vital-food-assistance-drought-and-conflict-affected-areas-ethiopia#:%7E:text=The%20Government%20of%20Ethiopia's%20most,insecurity%20and%20need%20emergency%20assistance.">overseas aid</a> to be deployed most effectively (reaching the goal of supporting the lives of women and children), it should be extended to support the care of donkeys. </p>
<p>In Ethiopia, donkeys are unrecognised humanitarian workers who provide vital support through their labour to ensure the survival of people, especially vulnerable women and children. But donkeys in Ethiopia are often overlooked, poorly cared for and overworked because of poverty and a constant reliance on their labour.</p>
<p>The strains of poverty, subsistence work and the effects of conflict are clearly not only experienced by humans. Animals <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-beasts-of-burden-how-to-reward-our-animals-for-their-work-92713">work for and with people</a> living in these circumstances and risk their lives in doing so.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-beasts-of-burden-how-to-reward-our-animals-for-their-work-92713">Beyond beasts of burden: How to reward our animals for their work</a>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A female donkey standing beside her foal in a rural village." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574925/original/file-20240212-26-3m18sb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574925/original/file-20240212-26-3m18sb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574925/original/file-20240212-26-3m18sb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574925/original/file-20240212-26-3m18sb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574925/original/file-20240212-26-3m18sb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574925/original/file-20240212-26-3m18sb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574925/original/file-20240212-26-3m18sb.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A jenny (female donkey) and her foal stand nearby a group of homes in a rural village in central Ethiopia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martha Geiger</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why donkeys matter</h2>
<p>The war formally ended in November 2022. But the Tigray region remains in ruins and 1 million people have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/05/we-must-act-on-ethiopia-food-crisis-says-uk-minister">displaced</a> from northern Ethiopia. Donkeys are key providers of aid to displaced families by enabling access to water, foodstuffs and firewood that people would otherwise not be able to reach on foot. </p>
<p>But many donkeys in Ethiopia die prematurely due to a lack of food and water, and because of the enormous strain their labour places on their bodies. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Endale-Teshome/publication/335201996_Study_on_the_Health_and_Welfare_of_Working_Donkeys_in_Mirab_Abaya_District_Southern_Ethiopia/links/5d565108a6fdccb7dc3fad01/Study-on-the-Health-and-Welfare-of-Working-Donkeys-in-Mirab-Abaya-District-Southern-Ethiopia.pdf">Research</a> from 2016 found that donkeys have a working life of only four to six years in Ethiopia. In contrast, donkeys can have working lives of up to 30 years where welfare standards are higher. </p>
<p>When a donkey dies, their human co-workers are left in need and without support. My <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/soan/aop/article-10.1163-15685306-bja10134/article-10.1163-15685306-bja10134.xml">own research</a>, which was published in July 2023, has shown that women in rural areas of Ethiopia (where <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10503176/#CR22">80% of the country’s population</a> live) are dependent upon and most affected by the loss of a donkey. </p>
<p>Women in central Ethiopia report that an enormous physical burden falls on them to carry livelihood materials on their backs and shoulders for long distances if they don’t have donkeys to work with. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in a rural village walks with her donkeys who are carrying water." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574792/original/file-20240211-28-aomsfo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4265%2C2845&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574792/original/file-20240211-28-aomsfo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574792/original/file-20240211-28-aomsfo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574792/original/file-20240211-28-aomsfo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574792/original/file-20240211-28-aomsfo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574792/original/file-20240211-28-aomsfo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574792/original/file-20240211-28-aomsfo.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman in a rural village in central Ethiopia walks with her donkeys who are carrying water to her family’s homestead.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martha Geiger</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Low status</h2>
<p>My more <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/13607804231213559">recent research</a> has revealed that donkeys, along with their women co-workers, are at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Donkeys are associated with drudgery and women’s work, so a socio-cultural norm holds that the two groups are “the same”. </p>
<p>In fact, there are numerous common Ethiopian proverbs that compare women with donkeys. According to one proverb: “Women are commonly beaten by their husbands, but they are staying with their husbands to raise their children. And donkeys are often beaten by their owners, but they will not run away from their owners.” </p>
<p>Another is that: “The least of animals is the donkey, and the least of human beings is a woman. They are doing as they have been told by men.” This equivalency reinforces the marginalisation and subjugation of both groups, manifesting in domestic violence towards them.</p>
<p>A huge number of Ethiopian women have suffered physical and mental injuries during the war and the crisis that has followed. Health experts <a href="https://gh.bmj.com/content/8/7/e010270">estimate</a> that between 40% and 45% of women have suffered gender-based violence during the conflict. </p>
<p>Other studies <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10362876/">report</a> that more than one-third of women in Ethiopia experience gender-based violence in their lifetime. In reality, these figures are probably even higher owing to under-reporting because of a lack of access to healthcare services and the fear of stigmatisation.</p>
<p>My <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/animal-welfare/article/comparison-of-the-socioeconomic-value-and-welfare-of-working-donkeys-in-rural-and-urban-ethiopia/1220694C5411787FA25CD9B2286461AF">research</a> on the welfare of donkeys in Ethiopia has also recorded instances of donkeys being hit by their human co-workers while working. The majority of donkey owners reported feeling justified in hitting their donkeys if they refuse to move forward or comply with human requests of them. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A rural woman standing next to her donkey in a field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574924/original/file-20240212-29-k252zt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574924/original/file-20240212-29-k252zt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574924/original/file-20240212-29-k252zt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574924/original/file-20240212-29-k252zt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574924/original/file-20240212-29-k252zt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574924/original/file-20240212-29-k252zt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574924/original/file-20240212-29-k252zt.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A rural woman standing with her donkey co-worker as she prepares for the working day ahead.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martha Geiger</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Recognising their work</h2>
<p>In light of my findings, and amid reports of <a href="https://www.refugeesinternational.org/statements-and-news/refugees-international-alarmed-by-humanitarian-crisis-in-tigray-effects-of-conflict-related-sexual-violence/">escalating violence</a> against women in the region, humanitarian programmes aimed at enhancing the status of women and dismantling oppressive systems should also include wellbeing support to their donkeys.</p>
<p>Addressing the needs of both women and donkeys through protection, healthcare and aid can help combat the normalisation of violence against both groups. This will convey the importance of both women and donkeys to Ethiopian society. </p>
<p>By ignoring the humanitarian labour of donkeys and their contribution to human wellbeing, we risk further exploiting and marginalising both donkeys and the millions of women and children who depend upon them for basic subsistence support.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223217/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martha Geiger has received funding from the Donkey Sanctuary UK for her data collection in Ethiopia. </span></em></p>Donkeys provide vital support to women but their lives are often cut short.Martha Geiger, PhD Candidate in Sociology, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2199532024-02-12T13:26:57Z2024-02-12T13:26:57ZFamily caregivers face financial burdens, isolation and limited resources − a social worker explains how to improve quality of life for this growing population<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574183/original/file-20240207-27-pcczxx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C30%2C5061%2C3359&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Family caregivers may be less likely to turn to others when they need their own support. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/african-american-woman-pushing-father-in-wheelchair-royalty-free-image/494327497?phrase=caring+for+the+elderly&adppopup=true">Terry Vine/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Millions of Americans have <a href="https://www.caregiver.org/resource/caregiver-statistics-demographics/">become informal family caregivers</a>: people who provide family members or friends with unpaid assistance in accomplishing daily tasks such as bathing, eating, transportation and managing medications. </p>
<p>Driven in part by a <a href="https://www.aarp.org/home-family/your-home/info-2021/home-and-community-preferences-survey.html">preference for home-based care</a> rather than long-term care options such as assisted living facilities, and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/680265">limited availability and high cost</a> of formal care services, family caregivers play a pivotal role in the safety and well-being of their loved ones.</p>
<p>Approximately 34.2 million people in the United States <a href="https://www.caregiver.org/resource/caregiver-statistics-demographics/">provide unpaid assistance</a> to adults age 50 or above, according to the Family Caregiver Alliance. Among them, about 15.7 million adult family caregivers care for someone with dementia.</p>
<p>I am a licensed clinical social worker and an assistant professor of social work <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AikbrQ4AAAAJ&hl=en">studying disparities in health and health care systems</a>. I focus on underrepresented populations in the field of aging. </p>
<h2>Challenges for family caregivers</h2>
<p>In my research focusing on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnad086">East Asian family caregivers</a> for people with Alzheimer’s and related dementia, I discovered that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648221142600">Chinese American</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2022.2122932">Korean American caregivers</a> often encounter challenging situations. These include discrimination from health care facilities or providers, feelings of loneliness and financial issues. Some of these caregivers even find themselves <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2022.2122932">having to retire early</a> because they struggle to balance both work and caregiving responsibilities. </p>
<p>My findings join a growing body of research showing that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/scs.12463">family caregivers</a> commonly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464818813466">encounter five specific challenges</a>: financial burdens, limited use of home- and community-based services, difficulties accessing resources, a lack of knowledge about existing educational programs, and physical and emotional challenges, such as feelings of helplessness and caregiver burnout. </p>
<p>However, researchers are also finding that family caregivers feel more capable of managing these challenges when they can tap into formal services that offer practical guidance and insights for their situations, as well as assistance with some unique challenges involved with family caregiving.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dskLxMc2MW0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">How to find your way back if you feel that you’ve lost yourself in a caregiving role.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The demographics of informal caregivers</h2>
<p>More than 6 in 10 family caregivers are women. </p>
<p>Society has always expected <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/32.5.607">women to take on caregiving responsibilities</a>. Women also usually earn less money or rely on other family members for financial support. This is because equal pay in the workplace <a href="https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/C455.pdf">has been slow to happen</a>, and women often take on roles like becoming the primary caregiver for their own children as well as their aging relatives, which can drastically affect their earnings. </p>
<p>While nearly half of care recipients live in their own homes, 1 in 3 live <a href="https://www.caregiver.org/resource/caregiver-statistics-demographics/">with their caregivers</a>.</p>
<p>Sometimes termed “resident caregivers,” these individuals are less likely to turn to others outside the family for caregiving support, often because they feel that it’s important to keep caregiving within the family. These caregivers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2021.1935460">are typically older, retired or unemployed</a> and have lower income than caregivers who live separately.</p>
<p>According to a 2020 report from the AARP Public Policy Institute, about 1 in 3 family caregivers <a href="https://www.aarp.org/ppi/info-2020/caregiving-in-the-united-states.html">provide more than 21 hours of care a week</a> to a loved one. </p>
<p><iframe id="4L0re" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/4L0re/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Juggling caregiving with everyday life</h2>
<p>Caregiving often creates financial burdens because it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbv095">makes it harder to hold a full-time or part-time job</a>, or to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbv095">return to work</a> after taking time off, particularly for spouses who are caregivers.</p>
<p>Often, community-based organizations such as nonprofits that serve older adults offer a variety of in-home services and educational programs. These can help family caregivers <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/aging/caregiving/caregiver-brief.html">manage or reduce</a> the physical and emotional strains of their responsibilities. However, these demands also can make it difficult for some caregivers to even learn that these resources exist, or take advantage of them, particularly as the care recipient’s condition progresses. </p>
<p>These challenges <a href="https://doi.org/10.23750/abm.v93iS2.12979">worsened at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic</a>. Many support programs were canceled, and it was hard to access health care, which made things even more stressful and tiring for caregivers. </p>
<p>Research shows that those who are new to family caregiving often take care of their loved ones <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2665/">without any formal support initially</a>. As a result, they may face increased emotional burdens. And caregivers age 70 and above face particular challenges, since they may be navigating their own health issues at the same time. These individuals are less likely to receive informal support, which can lead to social isolation and burnout.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572934/original/file-20240201-23-2arn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C10%2C6699%2C4456&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Mature woman places a cardigan on an elderly adult." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572934/original/file-20240201-23-2arn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=10%2C10%2C6699%2C4456&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572934/original/file-20240201-23-2arn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572934/original/file-20240201-23-2arn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572934/original/file-20240201-23-2arn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572934/original/file-20240201-23-2arn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572934/original/file-20240201-23-2arn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/572934/original/file-20240201-23-2arn8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Caregivers age 70 and above may be navigating their own health challenges with little support.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mature-woman-caring-for-her-elderly-mother-royalty-free-image/1390975112?phrase=family+caregivers&adppopup=true">Alistair Berg/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Support for family caregivers</h2>
<p>There are numerous programs and services available for family caregivers and their loved ones, whether they reside at home or in a residential facility. These resources include government health and disability programs, legal assistance and disease-specific organizations, some of which are <a href="https://www.caregiver.org/connecting-caregivers/services-by-state/">specific to certain states</a>.</p>
<p>In addition, research has found that providing appropriate <a href="https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1532-5415.2001.49090.x">education and training</a> to people in the early stages of caregiving enables them to better balance their own health and well-being with successfully fulfilling their responsibilities. Many community-based organizations, such as local nonprofits focused on aging, as well as government programs or senior centers, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.14259">may offer case management services</a> for older adults, which can be beneficial for learning about existing resources and services. </p>
<p>For family caregivers of people with dementia, formal support services are particularly crucial to their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-98232016019.150117">ability to cope and navigate the challenges</a> they face.</p>
<h2>The role of Medicaid</h2>
<p>Formal support may also be helpful in finding affordable home-based and community resources that can help compensate for a lack of informal support. These include <a href="https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/home-health-services">home health services</a> funded by Medicare and <a href="https://www.medicaid.gov/medicaid/home-community-based-services/home-community-based-services-authorities/home-community-based-services-1915c/index.html">Medicaid-funded providers</a> of medical and nonmedical services, including transportation.</p>
<p>Medicaid, which targets low-income Americans, seniors, people with disabilities and a few select other groups, has certain income requirements. Determine the eligibility requirements first to find out whether your loved one qualifies for Medicaid.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.thescanfoundation.org/sites/default/files/the-need-to-include-family-caregiver-assessment-medicaid-hcbs-waiver-programs-report-aarp-ppi-ltc.pdf">services and support covered by Medicaid may vary</a> <a href="https://www.payingforseniorcare.com/medicaid-waivers/home-care">based on a number of factors</a>, such as timing of care, the specific needs of caregivers and their loved ones, the care plan in place for the loved one and the location or state in which the caregiver and their loved one reside. </p>
<p>Each state also has its own Medicaid program with unique rules, regulations and eligibility criteria. This can result in variations in the types of services covered, the extent of coverage and the specific requirements for <a href="https://www.medicaidplanningassistance.org/getting-paid-as-caregiver/">accessing Medicaid-funded support</a>.</p>
<p>If so, <a href="https://www.medicaid.gov/about-us/contact-us/index.html">contact your state’s Medicaid office</a> to get more information about self-directed services and whether you can become a paid family caregiver.</p>
<h2>Medicare might help</h2>
<p>Medicare may <a href="https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/home-health-services">help pay for certain home health services</a> if an older adult needs skilled services part time and is considered homebound.</p>
<p>This assistance can alleviate some of the caregiving responsibilities and financial burdens on the family caregiver, allowing them to focus on providing care and support to their loved ones without worrying about the cost of essential medical services. </p>
<p>Peer-to-peer support is also crucial. Family caregivers who join support groups tend to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2016.1231169">manage their stress more effectively</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2019.00122">experience an overall better</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.1990.tb03544.x">quality of life</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219953/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathy Lee has received funding from the Alzheimer's Association - New to the Field (AARG-NTF-20-678171). </span></em></p>Family caregivers who have stronger support networks and positive communication with loved ones tend to be more resilient.Kathy L. Lee, Assistant Professor of Gerontological Social Work, University of Texas at ArlingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2213732024-02-07T12:32:53Z2024-02-07T12:32:53ZSome women enjoy anal sex – it shouldn’t be a guilty pleasure<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/572879/original/file-20240201-17-o5ikwl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C0%2C2049%2C1671&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Shaming women for enjoying anal sex is damaging to their health, wellbeing and sexual autonomy</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/woman-lying-on-bed-with-arms-raised-portrait-elevated-view-news-photo/82144239?adppopup=true">Archive Photos / Stringer</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What first comes to mind when you think of anal sex? Do you think of pain, fear, coercion? Do you think that anal sex is obscene, hardcore, adventurous, taboo, and perhaps dirtier than other forms of sex? Do you think of sex between gay men? Or do you think of pleasure, romance, love, connection, intimacy, trust and joy? </p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13691058.2022.2037020">Research suggests</a> that it is common to associate anal sex with stigma, shame, and suspicion, <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o2323">with negative perceptions</a> dominating understanding of anal sex behaviour. </p>
<p>Where anal sex is depicted as occurring between men and women, both <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o1975">medical research</a> and popular culture tend to see <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10778012211045716">men as the penetrators</a>, <a href="https://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/a5489/rise-in-anal-sex-statistics/">women as the receivers</a>, anal sex as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/11/rise-in-popularity-of-anal-sex-has-led-to-health-problems-for-women">riskier sexual activity</a>, and as <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2017/07/18/teenage-girls-pressured-into-painful-and-coercive-anal-sex-because-of-porn-6788524/">having a coercive element</a>. </p>
<p>For example, in the <a href="https://www.etonline.com/tv/160691_sex_and_the_city_creator_darren_star_up_the_butt_scene">US series Sex and the City</a>, one of the lead characters Charlotte York was disturbed and distressed because her male partner wanted to have anal sex. “I don’t want to be the up-the-butt girl, because I mean … Men don’t marry up-the-butt girl. Whoever heard of Mrs. Up-The-Butt?” she laments to her friends.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VdUy8LRL4sg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Charlotte is troubled by her boyfriend’s request for anal sex in the first series of Sex and the City (Series 1, episode 4, 1998)</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And of course, there’s the infamous Fleabag scene which depicts Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character acquiescing to anal sex with “Arsehole Guy”, while stating to camera:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>After some pretty standard bouncing, you realise, he’s edging towards your arsehole, but you’re drunk, and he did make the effort to come all the way here, so you let him. He’s thrilled.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As well as the episode of US comedy series <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/video/watch/the-new-yorker-festival-mindy-kaling-on-the-sexual-nature-of-the-mindy-project">The Mindy Project</a> dedicated to <a href="https://www.glamour.com/story/the-mindy-project-explores-acc">“accidental” anal sex</a>.</p>
<p>These depictions both <a href="https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/3553942-Fleabag-Im-disappointed">shock viewers</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12147-020-09250-7">put men’s pleasure</a> and desire above women’s. Women are rarely viewed as the active instigators or penetrators of anal sex, especially between female same-sex partners, and are almost never seen as <a href="https://www.vogue.com/article/is-anal-sex-no-longer-taboo-breathless-karley-sciortino">anal enthusiasts</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bSVdebRTkJY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Acclaimed TV series Fleabag opened with a scene about anal sex (Series 1, episode 1, 2016)</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our research team conducted a series of focus groups with 20 participants aged between 19 and 56 years of age. They included sexual health practitioners and those with a vested interest in sexual health, such as youth workers, and young people. The purpose of the study was to explore perceptions of anal sex, exploring questions such as: What is anal sex? Who is involved and for what reasons? </p>
<p>In our focus groups, anal sex was immediately assumed to be a male sexual preference before women’s pleasure was considered. <a href="https://journalofpositivesexuality.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/10.51681.1.912_Perceptions-of-Young-Women-Who-Engage-in-Anal-Sex_Pickles-Hirst-Froggatt-Kenny.pdf">Participants</a> expressed that women who desire anal sex are culturally perceived as adventurous, sexually experimental, or “out there” in some way.</p>
<p>Imagine meeting a woman who is open about how much she enjoys pegging her boyfriend (where she’s the giver rather than the receiver) every other night. Would she be seen as edgy? Wild? Kinky? Would she experience bias on the basis of her sexual preferences? Would she be judged? </p>
<p>Our research strongly suggests that she would. Perhaps these negative attitudes are unsurprising – after all, even <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o2323">some doctors are reluctant</a> to discuss anal sex with women, <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o1975">causing a potential risk to health</a>. </p>
<h2>Anal sex is commonplace – despite the stigma</h2>
<p><a href="https://journalofpositivesexuality.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/10.51681.1.912_Perceptions-of-Young-Women-Who-Engage-in-Anal-Sex_Pickles-Hirst-Froggatt-Kenny.pdf">Our research</a> highlights the concerns of some sexual health practitioners that women may be <a href="https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/2292/63866/Carvalho%20Pinto%20Faustino-2022-thesis.pdf?sequence=4">influenced by their male partner</a> to engage in anal sex or may make decisions to participate in anal sex without being fully informed. These concerns then raise questions about whether women are consenting to their own sexual desires and behaviour or men’s. </p>
<p>Most of our participants thought that <a href="https://www.bmj.com/company/newsroom/doctors-reluctance-to-discuss-anal-sex-is-letting-down-young-women/">anal sex was a neglected area</a> of relationships and sex education. And definitely <a href="https://www.glamour.com/story/anal-sex-guilt">not taught as something pleasurable</a>.</p>
<p>It is difficult to estimate how many people generally, and women specifically, are engaging in anal sex. Many people are not comfortable speaking openly about their sex lives due to geographic, contextual and intersectional factors such as race, religion, gender and sexuality. </p>
<p>There is also no clear consensus over what constitutes anal sex, whether it’s rimming, pegging, fingering, penile-anal intercourse, anal massage, or other activities. But <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1743609515341801?via%3Dihub">some estimates</a> show that just over <a href="https://journals.lww.com/stdjournal/fulltext/2023/11000/changes_in_oral_and_anal_sex_with_opposite_sex.3.aspx">one-third of US women</a> have had heterosexual penile-anal sex. </p>
<p>Other scholars have argued that more adults and adolescents are engaging in anal sex <a href="https://journals.lww.com/stdjournal/Fulltext/2018/12000/Anal_Sex_Is_More_Common_Than_Having_a_Twitter.2.aspx">than have an account with X</a> (formerly Twitter). </p>
<p>Contrary to immediate negative biases of – and concerns over – anal sex, these estimates suggest that it is a <a href="https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2015/08/93122/anal-sex-statistics">relatively common practice for women</a> to engage in anal sex as part of their wider sexual repertoire. </p>
<p>How then, given the immediate negative biases and potentially overzealous concerns over male-led coercion of women and young girls, should anal sex be discussed appropriately?</p>
<h2>Foregrounding women’s safety and pleasure</h2>
<p>A focus on women’s sexual pleasure is strikingly lacking from conversations in sex and relationships education, and within sexual health clinical practice. In our research <a href="https://journalofpositivesexuality.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/10.51681.1.912_Perceptions-of-Young-Women-Who-Engage-in-Anal-Sex_Pickles-Hirst-Froggatt-Kenny.pdf">we argue</a> that anal sex must be included in sexual health education as part of a wider repertoire of sexual pleasure. </p>
<p>What should be concerning is not engagement with anal sex per se – <a href="https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/anal-sex-safety">women are having anal</a> whether we want to acknowledge it or not – but the <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/4/8/e004996.short">lack of education around anal sex</a> that, if included in relationships and sex education, could increase the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14681810802433929">sexual literacy of women and young girls</a>. </p>
<p>We are not encouraging anyone to engage in anal sex if they do not wish to, but our research does emphasise that if young women are to have anal sex, they are entitled to the self-knowledge that will allow this to occur safely, consensually, pleasurably and positively. </p>
<p>Our research has highlighted implicit assumptions that must be challenged and destigmatised These involve what anal sex actually is, who the primary instigator is, and whether women are active participants who want to engage in anal sex for their own pleasure. </p>
<p>Providing knowledge on anal sex that centres women’s pleasure allows for a higher degree of choice to engage in sexual practices that feel right for all women involved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221373/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The stigma around anal sex is damaging for women – and diminishes their sexual autonomyJames Pickles, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, School of Humanities and Social Science, University of BrightonChloe Froggatt, Associate Lecturer in Sociology and Public Health, Sheffield Hallam UniversityJulia Hirst, Professor of Sexualities & Sexual Health, Sheffield Hallam UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2218192024-02-06T15:56:29Z2024-02-06T15:56:29ZTurkey earthquakes one year on: the devastation has exposed deep societal scars and women are bearing the brunt<p>In the early hours of February 6 2023, the south-eastern region of Turkey was rocked by a series of powerful earthquakes. One year on, large parts of Hatay, the worst-affected province, remain in ruins. In a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6jxgqvi4xY">vlog</a> from Hatay on January 24, journalist Cüneyt Özdemir remarked: “The city is like a construction site mostly under rubble.” </p>
<p>The <a href="https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000jllz/executive">first earthquake</a>, measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale, struck near the border with Syria, killing at least 1,500 people as they slept. This was followed by a <a href="https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000jlqa/executive">7.5-magnitude quake</a> nine hours later, located around 59 miles (95km) to the south-west. Hatay, already in ruins, was shaken again by a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/20/turkey-new-6-point-4-magnitude-earthquake-hatay">6.4-magnitude tremor</a> two weeks later.</p>
<p>The disaster resulted in the <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/turkiye/devastating-earthquakes-southern-turkiye-and-northern-syria-december-15th-2023-situation-report-30-entr">deaths</a> of more than 50,000 people while injuring a further 107,000. A total of 9 million people have been affected, including 1.7 million refugees who had fled the civil war in Syria. </p>
<p>One year on, the region’s economy and society remain shaken. The devastation has exposed deep societal scars, and the task of rebuilding is still immense.</p>
<h2>Economic ramifications</h2>
<p>The affected areas represented <a href="https://www.tobb.org.tr/Sayfalar/Eng/Detay.php?rid=29752&lst=MansetListesi">13.3%</a> of Turkey’s total employment before the earthquakes. The quakes rendered around 220,000 workplaces <a href="https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---europe/---ro-geneva/---ilo-ankara/documents/publication/wcms_873893.pdf">unusable</a>, leading to a 16% reduction in working hours. Particularly hard-hit provinces such as Hatay, Kahramanmaraş and Malatya lost <a href="https://www.tobb.org.tr/BilgiErisimMudurlugu/Sayfalar/sanayi-kapasite-raporu-istatistikleri.php">more than 10%</a> of their combined industrial capacity.</p>
<p>A year on, unemployment remains a dire problem in these areas. Over 230,000 people in the region applied for <a href="https://media.iskur.gov.tr/79379/12-aralik-2023-aylik-istatistik-tablolari.xlsx">unemployment benefits</a> throughout 2023, but less than 40% of these applications met the necessary criteria. </p>
<p>The Turkish government has recently launched a <a href="https://www.ekonomim.com/ekonomi/gunluk-850-lira-odenecek-deprem-bolgesinde-istihdama-donus-programi-baslatildi-haberi-725793">programme</a> to help people return to employment in the region. But <a href="https://www.evrensel.net/haber/508685/deprem-bolgesinde-istihdama-donus-programi-patronlara-bedava-depremzede-isci">labour unions</a> view this as a way of providing cheap labour to employers, and have asked the government to focus more on satisfying the urgent needs of workers, such as housing.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of people standing in front of crumbled buildings with a cloud of smoke overhead." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573731/original/file-20240206-24-ex9dv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/573731/original/file-20240206-24-ex9dv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573731/original/file-20240206-24-ex9dv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573731/original/file-20240206-24-ex9dv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573731/original/file-20240206-24-ex9dv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573731/original/file-20240206-24-ex9dv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/573731/original/file-20240206-24-ex9dv1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hatay was devastated by last February’s earthquakes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hatay-iskenderun-turkey-february-7th-2023-2260847503">Doga Ayberk Demir/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fractured society</h2>
<p>The earthquakes shattered not only the region’s economy but the very fabric of society. More than 850,000 buildings collapsed in the initial quakes and the thousands of aftershocks that followed. This exposed <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/64568826">inadequacies</a> in construction practices and a widespread lack of compliance with building regulations. </p>
<p>The government <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkey-issues-earthquake-rebuilding-rules-after-millions-left-homeless-2023-02-24/">pledged</a> to rebuild 650,000 homes within a year – but progress has been slow. A mere <a href="https://www.barrons.com/news/fear-uncertainty-and-grief-year-after-turkey-s-quake-3bd85540">15%</a> of these new homes have been built, and hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced. Today, more than <a href="https://sheltercluster.org/turkiye-earthquake-2023/documents/20240118-shelter-sector-turkiye-earthquake">670,000 people</a> are still living in small, temporary, metal container homes.</p>
<p>The earthquakes also had a profound impact on education in the region. Damage to schools and other educational facilities disrupted the in-class teaching of around <a href="https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/3091756">7 million</a> students. </p>
<p>On January 2 2024, Turkey’s minister of education, Yusuf Tekin, <a href="https://basinmus.meb.gov.tr/www/bakan-tekin-haberturk-canli-yayininda-egitim-gundemini-degerlendirdi/icerik/105">admitted</a> that only a quarter of the educational facilities that were destroyed by the quakes have been rebuilt. During the most recent school term (mid-September to mid-January), students were taught mostly in <a href="https://www.egitimis.org.tr/guncel/sendika-haberleri/2023-2024-egitim-ogretim-yili-1-yariyil-degerlendirmesi-4360/">sites under construction</a>.</p>
<h2>Roadmap for recovery</h2>
<p>Turkey’s government claims to be focusing on <a href="https://time.com/6255896/turkey-rebuild-earthquake-climate-resilience/">“building back better”</a>. Its stated aim is to construct cities and communities that are more resilient to any such shocks in the future. This is commendable (provided it does in fact happen), but it’s crucial that efforts to recover go beyond mere reconstruction. </p>
<p>The government’s response to the disaster has, for example, largely <a href="https://www.mei.edu/publications/building-back-better-gender-mind-centering-turkeys-women-and-girls-earthquake-recovery#:%7E:text=Recommendations%20for%20building%20back%20better&text=More%20must%20be%20done%20to,rights%2Dbased%20disaster%20management%20framework.">failed</a> women and girls. Following the quakes, women and girls have <a href="https://eca.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2023-04/UN%20Women%20Brief%20on%20Earthquake%20in%20Turkiye%20Gendered%20impacts%20and%20response.pdf">faced</a> heightened care and domestic work responsibilities, health challenges (particularly related to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10084526/">pregnancy</a>), and an increased susceptibility to violence.</p>
<p>On top of this, they grapple with enduring poverty. A <a href="https://ekmekvegul.net/gundem/deprem-bolgesinde-kadinlarin-ucreti-asgarinin-altinda">recent report</a> which surveyed 60 women in the affected region revealed that most are earning what is called a “women’s daily wage”. This wage has emerged in the region in the aftermath of the quakes and falls below the national minimum wage, further worsening <a href="https://turkiye.unfpa.org/en/gender-equality#:%7E:text=Labor%20force%20participation%20rate%20of,the%20rest%20of%20the%20world">existing gender inequality</a> in the country.</p>
<p>According to the same report, wages below the minimum wage have become the norm for women in the region – including those women in white-collar jobs.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-turkey-women-are-feeling-the-worst-aftershocks-of-the-earthquake-disaster-this-disparity-may-lead-to-dwindling-trust-in-government-200801">In Turkey, women are feeling the worst aftershocks of the earthquake disaster – this disparity may lead to dwindling trust in government</a>
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<p>While the Turkish government’s response to last February’s earthquakes has been widely criticised, it still enjoyed <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/26/turkey-quake-zone-voters-backing-erdogan-in-runoff">strong support</a> in the national election in the summer of 2023. Turkey’s current government, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and its alliance came out on top in ten of the 11 earthquake-affected provinces.</p>
<p>Turkey is now gearing up for local elections this spring. The <a href="https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/elections/turkiyes-ak-party-eyes-another-victory-in-municipal-elections">current political rhetoric</a> is dominated by a focus on replacing old buildings not resistant to major disasters with new ones. But it is clear the affected regions need solutions that include all members of society – which will only be possible with the help of the national government.</p>
<p>Yet, in a <a href="https://www.dw.com/tr/erdo%C4%9Fandan-hataya-yerel-se%C3%A7im-mesaj%C4%B1/a-68167503">speech</a> on February 3 2024, Erdoğan hinted there would be a sustained absence of assistance in the disaster-stricken areas if central government and local administration “do not join hands and are not in solidarity”. However, the nature of this alignment – whether the president meant cooperation or political ideology – remains unclear.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221819/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ufuk Gunes Bebek does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It has been one year since Turkey’s deadly earthquakes – the road ahead remains daunting.Ufuk Gunes Bebek, Assistant Professor in Economics, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2222312024-02-01T17:20:55Z2024-02-01T17:20:55ZIrish referendum: how the Catholic church shaped Ireland’s constitution to define the status of women<p>It has been 87 years since feminist and activist Hanna Sheehy-Skeffington <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09612029700200154">declared</a> that the new 1937 Irish constitution was based on a “fascist model, in which women would be relegated to permanent inferiority”. </p>
<p>Several clauses were labelled “sinister and retrogressive” by women’s groups who feared gender bias embedded within the constitution would restrict Irish women to their domestic roles as wives and mothers.</p>
<p>Since the constitution entered into force, it has been amended 32 times. The ban on abortion, for example, was overturned in 2018 – a move that the current Irish Taoiseach (prime minister), <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-44265492">Leo Varadkar</a>, described as the latest step in a “quiet revolution” towards modernity.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/according-to-irelands-constitution-a-womans-duties-are-in-the-home-but-a-referendum-could-be-about-to-change-its-sexist-wording-222477">According to Ireland’s constitution, a woman's duties are in the home – but a referendum could be about to change its sexist wording</a>
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<p>On March 8 2024 (also International Women’s Day), the Irish electorate will vote once again to amend the constitution and formally change the status of women in Ireland. This time the choice is to either retain Article 41.2 – the “woman in the home” clause – or to replace it with Article 42B that acknowledges the wider concept of family care. </p>
<p>According to Article 42B, the state “recognises that the provision of care, by members of a family to one another by reason of the bonds that exist among them, gives to society a support without which the common good cannot be achieved, and shall strive to support such provison”.</p>
<p>The fact that it has taken 87 years for this to happen would have astounded the women who raised the alarm about Article 41.2 in 1937. Their overarching concern was that the text used reflected a prescriptive presumption that the primary function of women in Irish society was that of wife and mother. </p>
<p>Article 41.2 states that: “by her life within the home, woman gives to the state a support without which the common good cannot be achieved”. It also asserts that mothers “shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home”.</p>
<p>What women’s groups quickly recognised in 1937 was the inherent danger of assigning women a specific “social function” that was different from men. This perceived difference had already been used to limit the choices of women prior to 1937. The <a href="https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/0219/1116230-ireland-women-juries/">1927 Juries Act</a>, for example, made women exempt from automatic consideration for jury service. </p>
<p>Article 41.2 therefore had the potential to further restrict women’s lives, especially with regards to the right to engage in paid work outside the home. But where did the phrasing for Article 41.2 come from? And what ideology underpinned the assertion that the “natural” role for women was that of wife and mother? </p>
<h2>The ‘natural’ social function of Irish women</h2>
<p>The answer is simple. The text of Article 41.2 comes directly, nearly word for word, from Catholic doctrine. </p>
<p>Pope Leo XIII set out the “natural” duty of women in <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html">Rerum Novarum</a>, a pastoral letter issued in 1891. It stated: “woman is by her nature fitted for home work and it is this which is best adapted to preserve her modesty and promote the good upbringing of children and the wellbeing of the family.” </p>
<p>In 1931, another papal letter, <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/pius-xi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-xi_enc_19310515_quadragesimo-anno.html">Quadregesimo Anno</a>, was published by Pope Pius XI. The pope proclaimed that: “Mothers, concentrating on household duties, should work primarily in the home or in its immediate vicinity.”</p>
<p>Six years later, in 1937, Taoiseach Éamon de Valera oversaw the drafting of the new Irish constitution. The influence of his Catholic advisors is self-evident. </p>
<p>In the archives of the Archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid, a document reflecting on the position of women in the constitution stated that: “it is an unreality to imagine that the position of an electoral vote abolishes for either men or women…diversity of social function. Nothing will change in law and fact of nature that woman’s natural sphere is in the home.” </p>
<p>Another pope, Benedict XV, was cited in the same document giving the opinion that no “new state of things, nor course of events can ever snatch woman, if she realises her mission, from that sphere which is natural to her – the family”.</p>
<h2>Finish the ’quiet revolution’</h2>
<p>We shouldn’t be surprised that the vernacular of Catholic social teaching, with its pronouncements on the “natural” and prescribed social function of women as wives and mothers, became entrenched in the Irish constitution. The influence of the Catholic church was omnipresent in Irish homes, schools, the media and every aspect of public life throughout the 1920s and 1930s. </p>
<p>Its power was evident in the passing of legislation outlawing divorce, access to birth control and abortion. It infiltrated all aspects of social and cultural life, banning dances or censoring Hollywood films and literature deemed to be a moral danger.</p>
<p>What we should be surprised about is that Article 41.2 is still in the Irish constitution. Today, Ireland is a secular nation. Its citizens now have access to divorce, birth control, legal abortion and equal marriage rights. </p>
<p>Ireland is also a nation slowly, and painfully, coming to terms with the trauma inflicted by the abuses of the Catholic church in schools, mother and baby homes and Magdalene laundries. And yet it still has Article 41.2. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-woman-in-the-wall-bbc-drama-about-irelands-magdalene-laundries-is-essential-viewing-212061">The Woman in the Wall: BBC drama about Ireland's Magdalene Laundries is essential viewing</a>
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<p>If Ireland is to fully shake off the shackles of its Catholic past and achieve its ambition to be a modern and progressive nation, then Article 41.2 must be consigned to the annals of history on March 8 2024.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222231/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caitriona Beaumont receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
She is a Visiting Full Professor at University College Dublin, Ireland (2023-2025).</span></em></p>Ireland is to vote on modernising its conservative Catholic constitution in March.Caitriona Beaumont, Professor of Social History, London South Bank UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2216842024-01-28T13:55:15Z2024-01-28T13:55:15ZThe contraceptive pill also affects the brain and the regulation of emotions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570657/original/file-20231221-19-oxth15.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C0%2C988%2C667&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Like natural hormones, known as endogenous hormones, the artificial hormones contained in the pill, known as exogenous hormones, can have effects on the brain.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Oral contraceptives, also known as birth control pills, are <a href="https://doi.org/10.18356/1bd58a10-en">used by more than 150 million women worldwide</a>. Approximately one-third of teenagers in <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/82-003-x/2015010/article/14222-eng.pdf">North America</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.2387">Europe</a> use them, making them the most prescribed drug for teenagers.</p>
<p>It is well known that oral contraceptives have the power to alter a woman’s menstrual cycle. What’s less well known is that they can also have an effect on the brain, particularly in the regions that are important for regulating emotions.</p>
<p>As a doctoral student and professor of psychology at UQAM, we were interested in the impact of oral contraceptives on the brain regions involved in emotional processes. We published our <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2023.1228504">results in the scientific journal Frontiers in Endocrinology</a>.</p>
<h2>How does the pill work?</h2>
<p>There are several methods of hormonal contraception, but the most common type in North America is the contraceptive pill, more specifically, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yfrne.2022.101040">combined oral contraceptives</a> (COCs). These are made up of two artificial hormones that simulate one of the types of estrogen (generally ethinyl estradiol) and progesterone.</p>
<p>Like natural hormones, known as endogenous hormones, the artificial hormones contained in the pill, known as exogenous hormones, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yfrne.2022.101040">have an effect on the brain</a>. They bind to receptors in different areas and signal the brain to reduce the production of endogenous sex hormones. It is this phenomenon that leads to the cessation of menstrual cycles, preventing ovulation.</p>
<p>In other words, while using COCs, users’ bodies and brains are not exposed to the fluctuations in sex hormones typically seen in women with a natural cycle.</p>
<h2>The pill’s effects on the brain: neuroscience to the rescue!</h2>
<p>When they start taking COCs, teenage girls and women are informed of their different side effects, mainly physical (nausea, headaches, weight changes, breast tenderness). However, the fact that sex hormones affect the brain, particularly in areas important for regulating emotions, is not generally discussed.</p>
<p>Studies have associated the use of COCs with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.02.019">poorer ability to regulate emotions</a> and a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.2387">higher risk of developing psychopathologies</a>.</p>
<p>In addition, women are more likely than men to suffer from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2011.03.006">anxiety and chronic stress disorders</a>. Given the widespread use of COCs, it is important to gain a better understanding of their effects on the anatomy of the brain regions that are responsible for emotional regulation.</p>
<p>We therefore conducted a study to examine the effects of COCs on the anatomy of brain regions involved in emotional processes. We were interested in the effects associated with their current use, but also in the possibility of lasting effects, i.e. whether COCs could affect brain anatomy even after women stopped taking them.</p>
<p>To do this, we recruited four profiles of healthy individuals: women currently using COCs, women who had used COCs in the past, women who had never used any method of hormonal contraception, and men.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567191/original/file-20231221-24-r2t5pd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="magnetic resonance imaging" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567191/original/file-20231221-24-r2t5pd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/567191/original/file-20231221-24-r2t5pd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567191/original/file-20231221-24-r2t5pd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567191/original/file-20231221-24-r2t5pd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567191/original/file-20231221-24-r2t5pd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567191/original/file-20231221-24-r2t5pd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/567191/original/file-20231221-24-r2t5pd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used to analyze the morphology of certain regions of the brain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Using brain imaging, we found that only women currently using COCs had a slightly thinner ventromedial prefrontal cortex than men. This part of the brain is known to be essential for regulating emotions such as fear. The scientific literature shows that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0502441102">the thicker this region is, the better the emotional regulation will be</a>.</p>
<p>COCs could therefore alter emotional regulation in women. Although we have not directly tested the link between brain morphology and mental health, our team is currently investigating other aspects of the brain and mental health, which will allow us to better understand our anatomical findings.</p>
<h2>An effect associated with the dose, but that doesn’t last</h2>
<p>We tried to better understand what could explain the effect using COCs on this region of the brain. We discovered that it was associated with the dose of ethinyl estradiol. In fact, among COC users, only those using a low-dose COC (10-25 micrograms) – not a higher dose (30-35 micrograms) – were associated with a thinner ventromedial prefrontal cortex.</p>
<p>It may seem surprising that a lower dose was associated with a cerebral effect…</p>
<p>Given that all COCs reduce concentrations of endogenous sex hormones, we propose that estrogen receptors in this brain region may be insufficiently activated when low levels of endogenous estrogen are combined with a low intake of exogenous estrogen (ethinyl estradiol).</p>
<p>Conversely, higher doses of ethinyl estradiol could help to achieve adequate binding to estrogen receptors in the prefrontal cortex, simulating moderate to high activity similar to that of women with a natural menstrual cycle.</p>
<p>It is important to note that this lower grey matter thickness was specific to current COC use: women who had used COCs in the past showed no thinning compared to men. Our study therefore supports the reversibility of the impact of COCs on cerebral anatomy, in particular on the thickness of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex.</p>
<p>In other words, the use of COCs could affect brain anatomy, but in a reversible way.</p>
<h2>And now?</h2>
<p>Although our research has no direct clinical orientation, it is helping to advance our understanding of the anatomical effects associated with the use of COCs.</p>
<p>We are not calling for women to stop using their COCs: adopting such discourse would be both too hasty and alarming.</p>
<p>It’s also important to remember that the effects reported in our study appear to be reversible.</p>
<p>Our aim is to promote basic and clinical research, but also to increase scientific interest in women’s health, an area that is still understudied.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221684/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexandra Brouillard is a student member of the Research Centre of the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal. She holds a doctoral scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marie-France Marin is a regular researcher at the Centre de recherche de l'Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, a professor in the Department of Psychology at the Université du Québec à Montréal and an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Addictology at the Université de Montréal. She was supported by a salary grant from the Fonds de recherche du Québec - Santé (2018-2022) and currently holds a Canada Research Chair in Hormonal Modulation of Cognitive and Emotional Functions (2022-2027). The project discussed in the article is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and has received support from pilot project funds from the Research Centre of the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal and the Quebec Bioimaging Network.</span></em></p>Oral contraceptives modify the menstrual cycle. What’s less well known is that they also reach the brain, particularly the regions important for regulating emotions.Alexandra Brouillard, Doctorante en psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Marie-France Marin, Professor, Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2193572024-01-22T21:21:50Z2024-01-22T21:21:50ZThree trailblazing women in media who’ve been forgotten – until now<p>Men have had their empires. Everyone else has had the hushed, forgotten, erased or overlooked stories of the scientists, witches, explorers, artists, writers and scholars who didn’t fit the mould. </p>
<p>In the field of media studies, there are researchers, academics, journalists and public intellectuals who, often due to their gender, race or politics, have been ignored and marginalised in favour of recognising the “founding fathers” of the field.</p>
<p>Finally, these ghosts are making their way back into academic books, articles, teaching materials and popular culture. Our <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9781913380748/the-ghost-reader/#:%7E:text=The%20Ghost%20Reader%3A%20Recovering%20Women's,cultural%20studies%2C%20and%20communication%20studies.">new book</a>, co-edited with Carol Stabile, reclaims the original ideas, essays and scholarship of 19 women and provides an introduction by experts in the field, along with samples of their work. From that 19, here are three we think are particularly worth knowing about. </p>
<h2>Film theory</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/filmhistory.27.1.135">Mae D. Huettig</a> from Los Angeles was the first economist to explain how the US film industry functioned as a vertically integrated factory that was less about dreams and glamour and more about vulgar capitalism. <a href="https://www.pennpress.org/9781512812381/economic-control-of-the-motion-picture-industry/">Her book</a>, Economic Control of the Motion Picture Industry: A Study in Industrial Organization (1944), revealed how Hollywood movie studios produced films cheaply and used their own network of cinemas to screen them. </p>
<p>Huettig argued that Hollywood studios, just like automobile or coal factories, used the same economic model as any industry – dominate the competition and corner the market. Her work ultimately became a part of the 1948 federal case, the <a href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/334/131/">Paramount Decree</a>. This landmark case addressed the practice of film studios owning cinemas and controlling their film distribution. The decree ended the vertically integrated Hollywood studio system. Production studios could no longer own the cinemas that screened their films, and cinemas were no longer beholden to one studio only. </p>
<p>After a few semesters teaching at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and working at a think tank, Huettig became an activist. Following the <a href="https://crdl.usg.edu/events/watts_riots">1965 Watts rebellion</a>, a civil rights uprising in Los Angeles, she trained minority youths on how to use film to monitor police misconduct. She also campaigned against school racial segregation, police abuse and corruption.</p>
<h2>The importance of images</h2>
<p><a href="https://archives.nypl.org/mss/6197">Romana Javitz</a> from New York was the first librarian to develop an organised, browsable collection of pictures that anyone with a library card could check out from the <a href="https://www.nypl.org">New York Public Library</a> (NYPL). </p>
<p>As the NYPL superintendent of the picture collection between 1928 and 1968, Javitz and her staff collected as many items as they could by cutting out images from old books and magazines. These included photos, paintings, ads, pop art and images of everyday people, places and things. </p>
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<img alt="A statue of a lion outside the grand entrance to the New York Public Library" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569264/original/file-20240115-29-mjbj2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569264/original/file-20240115-29-mjbj2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569264/original/file-20240115-29-mjbj2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569264/original/file-20240115-29-mjbj2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569264/original/file-20240115-29-mjbj2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569264/original/file-20240115-29-mjbj2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569264/original/file-20240115-29-mjbj2m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Romana Javitz worked at the New York Public Library between 1928 and 1968.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/new-york-city-public-library-entrance-345087263">Ryan DeBerardinis</a></span>
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<p>Essentially, Javitz foresaw the image-based browsing that search engines provide today. She also anticipated their commercial control but believed that images are an important public resource. In speeches, pamphlets and grant applications, Javitz acted by <a href="https://www.nypl.org/about/divisions/wallach-division/picture-collection/romana-javitz">urging</a> libraries to steward image collections. </p>
<h2>The media and civil rights</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.aaihs.org/surveillance-state-power-and-the-activism-of-shirley-graham-du-bois/">Shirley Graham DuBois</a> from Indiana was an activist, award-winning novelist, editor, and the first black female dramatist. In 1931, she produced the first black <a href="https://ofa.fas.harvard.edu/blog/finding-tom-tom">opera</a>, Tom-Tom: An Epic of Music and the Negro. Graham was committed to using literacy and popular media as tools to free people from race and sex discrimination, whether Black, white, or Native American. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="An old sepia photo of a woman facing the right hand side of the image and looking upwards." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569266/original/file-20240115-23-mz1qdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569266/original/file-20240115-23-mz1qdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=815&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569266/original/file-20240115-23-mz1qdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=815&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569266/original/file-20240115-23-mz1qdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=815&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569266/original/file-20240115-23-mz1qdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1024&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569266/original/file-20240115-23-mz1qdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1024&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569266/original/file-20240115-23-mz1qdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1024&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shirley Graham DuBois played an instrumental role in civil rights activism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/079_vanv.html">Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten Collection</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During the second world war, Graham worked on military bases giving courses on journalism and photography for black soldiers, helping them to produce their own literary magazines. She was founded the <a href="https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/freedomways-1961-1985/">journal</a>, Freedomways: A Quarterly Review of the Negro Freedom Movement in 1961. It provided a rare forum for discussing discrimination from the early years of the civil rights movement forward. </p>
<p>In 1961, Graham’s background in theatre and education caught the attention of the Ghanaian president, Kwame Nkrumah. He asked her to develop the nation’s first public noncommercial, indigenous television network to promote literacy countrywide. Graham and Nkrumah were forced to leave Ghana after a military coup in 1966, before the network was completed.</p>
<h2>Digging deeper</h2>
<p>The contributions of these women, and the 16 others featured in our book, range broadly from film economics, advertising and library science, to progressive anti-racist journalism, theatre, audience researchers, and more. They show us that there has always been the possibility for progressive, inclusive, intersectional, anti-capitalist, anti-racist and gender-equal thought and action.</p>
<p>Our goal is not to create a “new” canon of media studies. Instead, the goal is for academics and lecturers to use our book in their classes to track their own tradition taking different, more inclusive, and radical routes that could provide fresh insight into the world.</p>
<p>In fact, alongside media and communication scholars such as <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09612025.2021.1944345#:%7E:text=This%20silenced%20avenue%20of%20enquiry,and%20editing%20of%20broadcast%20sound.">Carolyn Birdsall and Elinor Carmi</a>, the book questions the need for a canon altogether.</p>
<p>Other researchers and students need to get their hands dirty, too. They need to dig in archives, read original works and examine dismissed ideas that go against the grain. It is likely that researchers in any field will find important women (and their ideas) hidden as typists, transcribers, or editorial, lab, field, or research assistants. Sometimes they may be left out altogether; all that may be left is their name on a grant application. Finding them takes time and effort. But the results are worth it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219357/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Elena Hristova is Lecture in Film and Media at Bangor University, Wales. As part of the research for this book she received funding from the Rockefeller Archive Center, Sleepy Hollow, and the Department of Communication Studies, University of Minnesota.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aimee-Marie Dorsten, Ph.D. works for Point Park University and is a member of the Union for Democratic Communication. </span></em></p>Mae D Huettig, Romana Javitz and Shirley Graham DuBois were instrumental in their respective media fields but very few of us will be aware of their individual contributions.Elena D. Hristova, Lecturer in Film and Media, Bangor UniversityAimee-Marie Dorsten, Associate Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, Point Park UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2181612024-01-16T16:15:39Z2024-01-16T16:15:39ZDomestic violence: criminalising coercive control in France could bring more justice to victims<p>Over the last decade in many European countries, legislators, magistrates, government ministers, law enforcement agencies, lawyers and service providers have recognised that prevailing approaches to domestic violence were failing and have adopted the new model of “coercive control” to reframe domestic violence as a crime against rights and resources rather than as an assault.</p>
<h2>Criminalising coercive control</h2>
<p>In 2021, the <a href="https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre#%7B%22itemid%22:%5B%22001-213869%22%5D%7D">European Court of Human Rights</a> instructed authorities to “promptly” revise the legal definition of domestic violence so that it covers “manifestations of controlling and coercive behaviour”.</p>
<p>Drawing on interviews with several hundred French professionals, victims, service providers and academics, the <a href="https://medias.vie-publique.fr/data_storage_s3/rapport/pdf/289498.pdf">Chandler-Vérien French parliamentary mission on domestic violence</a> tasked by Prime Minister Borne with improving the judicial treatment of domestic violence stressed the urgency of translating coercive control into law and called on coercive control to be at the core of future information campaigns and professional training.</p>
<p>The French Ministers for Equality between Women and Men <a href="https://twitter.com/BCouillard33/status/1705252762450079761">Bérangère Couillard</a> and <a href="https://www.librairie-des-femmes.fr/livre/9782234096677-la-fin-de-l-impunite-pour-une-revolution-judiciaire-et-juridique-en-matiere-de-violences-faites-aux-femmes-isabelle-rome/">Isabelle Rome</a>, an experienced magistrate, have stated their will to move forward with this approach to domestic violence. In a groundbreaking criminal hearing at the Poitiers Court of Appeal held in November 2023, First President <a href="https://www.librairiedalloz.fr/livre/9782369450900-elle-l-a-bien-cherche-la-justice-et-la-lutte-contre-les-violences-faites-aux-femmes-gwenola-joly-coz/">Gwenola Joly-Coz</a> and Attorney General <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ec-eric-corbaux-78a3a8a6_le-13-d%C3%A9cembre-jai-eu-le-plaisir-d%C3%AAtre-activity-7140963261486714882-apXl/?originalSubdomain=fr">Eric Corbaux</a> used the framework of coercive control in all the domestic violence cases. The court’s decisions are expected in January 2024.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ujk27hrL1JY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Isabelle Lonvis-Rome, former Minister Delegate for Equality between Women and Men, wants the concept of ‘coercive control’, which covers predatory behaviour deployed by a man to subjugate his spouse, to be better taken into account by the justice system (Public Sénat).</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We believe that enacting a coercive control offence in France would be a significant advance in the equality agenda. Criminalising such behaviour would help protect <a href="https://arretonslesviolences.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2020-11/Lettre%20n%C2%B016%20-%20Les%20violences%20au%20sein%20du%20couple%20et%20les%20violences%20sexuelles%20en%202019.pdf">213,000 women</a>, <a href="https://www.ihemi.fr/sites/default/files/publications/files/2019-12/flash_21_violences_au_sein_du_couple_.pdf">82% of whom are mothers</a>, and their <a href="https://www.haut-conseil-egalite.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/hce_-_tableau_de_bord_d_indicateurs_-_politique_de_lutte_contre_les_violences_conjugales.pdf">398,310 children, who are also victims of domestic violence</a>, and so prevent the deaths of hundreds of partners, ex-partners and children every year.</p>
<h2>Coercive control: a “liberty crime”</h2>
<p>Coercive control has been referred to as a <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/coercive-control-9780195384048">“liberty crime”</a> because of the experience of entrapment it produces, analogous to being held hostage. The rights infringed upon include autonomy, dignity and self-determination, even more so when victims have a disability. Unless the perpetrators’ range of actions are framed as a single malevolent course of conduct and stopped, this pattern of abuse and exploitation may continue for years, undetected.</p>
<p>The French and international situation described by one of us in the 2023 book <a href="https://www.dunod.com/sciences-humaines-et-sociales/controle-coercitif-au-coeur-violence-conjugale"><em>Coercive Control: At the Heart of Domestic Violence</em></a> (<em>Le Contrôle coercitif au cœur de la violence conjugale</em>) reflects three bodies of evidence : </p>
<ul>
<li><p>current domestic-violence laws have failed to hold perpetrators accountable and to protect victims, mainly women and children; </p></li>
<li><p>the lack of social control and legal sanctions encourages aggravation and recidivism, creating a revolving door in French courts and prisons; </p></li>
<li><p>victims confront situations that more closely resemble captivity than an assault.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>A system of impunity</h2>
<p>The French state’s High Council for Equality has found that the conviction rate for perpetrators of domestic violence amounted to a <a href="https://www.haut-conseil-egalite.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/hce_-_indicateurs_violences_conjugales_-_2019-2.pdf">“true system of impunity”</a>. The gap between the current criminalisation of domestic violence and its reality as <a href="https://www.ciivise.fr/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Avis-meres-en-lutte.pdf">experienced by victims</a> can <a href="https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/181119/justice-la-perte-de-confiance">erode trust in the justice system</a>.</p>
<p>The conviction rate of perpetrators and the number of domestic homicides in France reflect the perpetrators’ lack of accountability. In 2022, <a href="https://mobile.interieur.gouv.fr/Publications/Securite-interieure/Etude-nationale-sur-les-morts-violentes-au-sein-du-couple-pour-l-annee-2022">118 women, 29 men and 12 children were killed</a>. In 2021, <a href="https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/actualites/actualites-du-ministere/etude-nationale-sur-morts-violentes-au-sein-du-couple-2021">121 feminicides</a> were officially recorded, a situation that is even more alarming if we add the <a href="https://arretonslesviolences.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/2022-11/Lettre%20n%C2%B018%20-%20Les%20violences%20au%20sein%20du%20couple%20et%20les%20violences%20sexuelles%20en%202021.pdf">684 women who attempted suicide or committed suicide</a> as a result of “domestic harassment”. This failure, which takes place despite the <a href="https://www.ccomptes.fr/fr/publications/la-politique-degalite-entre-les-femmes-et-les-hommes-menee-par-letat">efforts made</a>, highlights the link between the ineffectiveness of the current understanding and criminalisation of domestic violence and its focus on acts that are poor markers of its most dangerous forms.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andreea-Gruev-Vintila/publication/360756577_Violences_au_sein_du_couple_pour_une_consecration_penale_du_controle_coercitif/links/6289e95c6e41e5002d3a6107/Violences-au-sein-du-couple-pour-une-consecration-penale-du-controle-coercitif.pdf">situation in France</a> is not unique. In 2016, when the Home Secretary discovered that England was spending more on policing domestic violence than on National Defense, but that neither domestic homicides nor reports of partner violence to police had declined, she called for an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-create-new-domestic-abuse-offence">entirely new approach</a> and adopted “coercive control” to replace all 14 definitions of domestic violence in use by health and social services in Britain. Similarly, in 2018 the Scottish parliament unanimously adopted <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2018/5/contents/enacted">Domestic Abuse Act</a>, a crime built around elements of coercive control that carried a maximum 14-year prison sentence, the same as murder.</p>
<h2>Surveillance, isolation, intimidation, control, personalised credible threats</h2>
<p>Since one of us published <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/coercive-control-9780195384048"><em>Coercive Control: How Men Entrap Women in Personal Life</em></a> in 2007, in 2007, more than 1,000 monographs and countless survivor testimonials support the view that coercive control should be the primary focus of state intervention in abuse cases, not domestic violence, including the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators, protection, support and empowerment services for victims and protections for children.</p>
<p>The book presents evidence that 75% of the domestic violence incidents that currently lead to arrest are repeated assaults committed by a small proportion of offenders in the context of complimentary abusive behaviours, including sexual assaults, stalking, and other attempts to intimidate victims, and tactics to isolate and control them by taking their money, depriving them of resources and regulating their lives as well as those of their children.</p>
<p>In most cases, violence and/or sexual abuse is accompanied by intimidation, isolation, control tactics, and personalised credible threats. These begin in the house and can extend to every activity, including work, and involve children, other family members and unrelated others, including professionals, as spies, informants or co-victims.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569518/original/file-20240116-27-nw69v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569518/original/file-20240116-27-nw69v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569518/original/file-20240116-27-nw69v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569518/original/file-20240116-27-nw69v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569518/original/file-20240116-27-nw69v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569518/original/file-20240116-27-nw69v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569518/original/file-20240116-27-nw69v7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The coercive control of women by men is the most important cause and context of violence against children and child homicide outside war zones.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">iStock</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Because perpetrators aim to monopolise all the resources and privileges available in a relationship or family space, their adult partner is usually their primary target. But any person who is seen as obstructing this monopoly is likely to be targeted as a secondary victim, including children, grandparents, siblings, friends, neighbours, coworkers, as well as law and social services professionals. <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2018/5/contents/enacted">Scotland’s inclusion of “child abuse”</a> as one element of the crime of coercive control highlights how easy it is for police, courts and child protection professionals to miss the frequency with children of all ages are “weaponised”, enlisted as confederates or made into “adjoined victims” by perpetrators who want to use them to hurt or control their mothers.</p>
<p>The effects of these tactics on the adult victims and their <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1162908823000373">children</a> range from paralysing fear, psychological dependence, <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/coercive-control-in-childrens-and-mothers-lives-9780190922214">child and mother sabotage</a>, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/376515993_'Swim_swim_and_die_at_the_beach'_family_court_and_perpetrator_induced_trauma_CPIT_experiences_of_mothers_in_Brazil">court and perpetrator-induced trauma</a>, and impoverishment to “the death from a thousand cuts”, suicidality and fatality.</p>
<h2>What about the children?</h2>
<p>Coercive control of women by men is the most important cause of <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-coercive-control-of-children-9780197587096">violence against children and child homicide outside war zones</a>. This often occurs after a separation, in the context of legal proceedings relating to the child’s custody and parental rights or during visiting rights. The aggressor can feel that the only way to punish his partner is to <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/coercive-control-in-childrens-and-mothers-lives-9780190922214">sabotage her relationship with the children</a> or injure or kill them, as we tragically experienced in France this year with <a href="https://www.leparisien.fr/hauts-de-seine-92/courbevoie-92400/infanticide-dans-les-hauts-de-seine-une-petite-fille-de-3-ans-succombe-a-ses-blessures-12-05-2023-UDIZS7ZYLBCS7JN2V5MVUN4JEE.php">the homicide of little Chloé, aged 5, by her father</a> whose mother had filed for divorce and against whom she had obtained a protection order.</p>
<p>The child is an <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/09646639221089252">adjoined victim</a> in these cases, where the risk can only be deciphered in terms of the coercive control over the mother. The importance of extending protection to children in a law on coercive control was highlighted by a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366393524_Contribution_au_Rapport_UNSRVAW_violence_a_l%27egard_des_femmes_et_des_enfants_dans_les_affaires_concernant_la_residence_des_enfants_les_droits_de_visite_l%27autorite_parentale_-_France">French contribution</a> to a <a href="https://undocs.org/Home/Mobile">UN report</a> on violence against women and girls, judges’ request to <a href="https://www.dalloz-actualite.fr/node/comment-mieux-lutter-contre-feminicides-libres-propos-sur-controle-coercitif">include coercive control in French family law</a>, and recent <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/fran%C3%A7oise-fericelli-13b273147_violences-intrafamiliales-et-protection-des-activity-7097855544564047872-RIo3/">family law jurisprudence</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218161/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Les auteurs ne travaillent pas, ne conseillent pas, ne possèdent pas de parts, ne reçoivent pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'ont déclaré aucune autre affiliation que leur organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>The concept of “coercive control” reframes domestic violence as an attack on human rights and resources rather than an assault.Evan Stark, Professeur émérite, sociologue, Rutgers UniversityAndreea Gruev-Vintila, Maîtresse de conférences HDR en psychologie sociale, Université Paris Nanterre – Université Paris LumièresLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2196632023-12-14T13:19:15Z2023-12-14T13:19:15ZWe think we have found a cause of pregnancy sickness, and it may lead to a treatment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565507/original/file-20231213-19-swroox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=48%2C0%2C5351%2C3540&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pregnancy sickness is believed to affect 7 in 10 women. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-suffering-morning-sickness-bathroom-home-1041217495">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sickness in pregnancy, or hyperemesis gravidarum, is common and is thought to <a href="https://journals.lww.com/obgynsurvey/abstract/2013/09001/the_impact_of_nausea_and_vomiting_of_pregnancy_on.1.aspx">affect</a> seven out of ten women at some time in their pregnancy. But, until recently, very little has been known about why it happens. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06921-9">New research</a> by our team has identified sensitivity to a hormone made in abundance by the developing pregnancy, GDF15, as a contributor to the risk of pregnancy sickness.</p>
<p>This condition can affect pregnant women’s quality of life, even in so-called mild cases. Between 1% and 3% of women <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31515515/">suffer</a> from a severe form of pregnancy sickness when nausea and vomiting are so severe that they lose weight or become dehydrated, or both. In one study, this condition was the most common reason that women were admitted to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12100809/">hospital</a> in the first three months of pregnancy. </p>
<p>It has been <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ppe.12416">associated</a> with worse pregnancy outcomes and its effect lasts beyond the end of pregnancy with some women <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21635201/">reporting</a> psychological distress and being reluctant to <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28241811/">conceive again</a>. </p>
<p>The fact that it develops in early pregnancy and invariably resolves when pregnancy ends strongly suggests that the cause of the sickness comes from the developing pregnancy. But the detail on how and why it happens has remained elusive. This dearth of understanding makes the development of treatments difficult and arguably contributes to the considerable <a href="https://www.pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk/documents/research%20papers/stigma-of-hg.pdf">stigma</a> associated with this condition. </p>
<h2>GDF15</h2>
<p>GDF15 is a hormone that suppresses food intake in mice by acting, probably exclusively, on a small group of cells at the base of the brain which are also known to induce nausea and vomiting. As such, GDF15 has been under investigation as an <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36754014/">obesity therapy</a>. </p>
<p>Early trials confirm it suppresses appetite in people, but it also causes <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36630958/">nausea and vomiting</a>. It has long been known that it is abundant in human placenta and is present at very high concentrations in the blood of healthy pregnant women. These factors make it a plausible cause, but a detailed understanding of if GDF15 affects the severity of sickness in pregnancy has been lacking. </p>
<p>We used a variety of methods to study how GDF15 increases the risk of pregnancy sickness. We measured GDF15 in the blood of pregnant women attending hospital due to sickness and those attending hospital for other reasons. </p>
<p>We found that women with pregnancy sickness did indeed have higher levels of GDF15. While this was in keeping with GDF15 contributing to the condition, levels of GDF15 in each group overlapped substantially. This suggests that factors other than the absolute amount of GDF15 coming from the developing pregnancy might determine the risk of sickness.</p>
<p>Natural variation in DNA of future mothers contributes to risk of pregnancy sickness. Previous <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29563502/">studies</a> have identified changes in DNA near GDF15 as the biggest determinants of risk of pregnancy sickness. In particular, one rare genetic mutation (present in around one in 1,500 people) that affects the make-up of the GDF15 protein in the blood, has a large <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35218128/">effect</a> on that risk. </p>
<p>To understand the potential impact of this genetic variant on GDF15 levels in the bloodstream, we studied its effects on the protein in lab-grown cells. We discovered that this mutated GDF15 molecule gets stuck inside cells. What’s more, it actually stuck to and trapped “normal” GDF15 – this creates a double hit that hinders the transport of GDF15 out of cells. Healthy people with this mutation have markedly lower levels of GDF15 in their blood, which is consistent with these findings.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A pregnant woman sits on the edge of a bed clutching her bump." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565574/original/file-20231213-21-z851cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565574/original/file-20231213-21-z851cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565574/original/file-20231213-21-z851cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565574/original/file-20231213-21-z851cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565574/original/file-20231213-21-z851cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565574/original/file-20231213-21-z851cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565574/original/file-20231213-21-z851cx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Between 1% and 3% of women suffer from a severe form of pregnancy sickness.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pregnant-woman-sitting-on-bed-holding-310309151">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We discovered that DNA changes near GDF15, which are prevalent in about 15 to 30% of people, lower the levels of the hormone. These changes increase the risk of pregnancy sickness by small amounts. Conversely, women with the blood disorder <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/thalassaemia/">thalassaemia</a>, who have very high levels of GDF15 throughout life, actually reported much less nausea and vomiting in pregnancy.</p>
<h2>A roadmap to treatment</h2>
<p>The conclusion of these studies is clear –- predisposition to higher levels of GDF15 when not pregnant reduces the risk of pregnancy sickness. At first glance, this is rather perplexing because how can having higher levels of a hormone that makes you sick protect against pregnancy sickness? </p>
<p>In fact, several hormone systems exhibit a phenomenon resembling memory, where the sensitivity to a hormone is influenced by previous exposure to that hormone. This seemed like the most plausible explanation for our results. Supporting this theory, mice with persistently high levels of GDF15 in their bloodstream were relatively unresponsive to an acute surge in GDF15 levels. </p>
<p>Our findings suggest that lower levels of GDF15 before pregnancy result in women being hypersensitive to the large amounts of GDF15 being released from the developing pregnancy. This poses two obvious approaches to treatment of this condition –- desensitising women to GDF15 by increasing its levels before pregnancy or blocking its action during pregnancy. </p>
<p>The challenge now is to develop and test strategies to achieve these aims that are safe and acceptable to women at risk from this debilitating condition.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219663/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sam Lockhart is supported by a Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD Fellowship (225479/Z/22). SL is a named creator of a pending patent application relating to therapy for hyperemesis gravidarum filed by Cambridge Enterprise Limited (GB application No. 2304716.0; Inventor: Professor Stephen O’Rahilly.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen O'Rahilly has undertaken remunerated consultancy work for Pfizer, Third Rock Ventures, AstraZeneca, NorthSea Therapeutics and Courage Therapeutics. Part of the work in this paper is the subject of a pending patent application relating to therapy for hyperemesis gravidarum filed by Cambridge Enterprise Limited (GB application No. 2304716.0; Inventor: Professor Stephen O’Rahilly). SL and NR are named creators on this patent.</span></em></p>New research has uncovered the hormone that triggers morning sickness, offering hope for millions of women.Sam Lockhart, Wellcome Trust Clinical PhD Fellow, Institute of Metabolic Science and Medical Research Council Metabolic Diseases Unit, University of CambridgeStephen O'Rahilly, Professor and Co-Director of the Institute of Metabolic Science and Director of the Medical Research Council Metabolic Diseases Unit, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2187112023-12-13T19:04:24Z2023-12-13T19:04:24ZFrom sexual liberation to fashionable heels, new research shows how women are changing North Korea<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565055/original/file-20231212-15-fz337w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=131%2C15%2C1793%2C1131&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lesley Parker</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Kang* was 20 years old when she left her official job as a potato researcher in North Korea. She wanted to join the women who had taken up illicit market activities, first to survive the “<a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/how-did-the-north-korean-famine-happen">Arduous March</a>” (as the famine years of the mid-1990s were known), then to build better lives for themselves and their families outside the tight controls of the government.</p>
<p>Kang began trading goods like rice, metals and petroleum to generate an income well beyond what she could have expected from state-sanctioned employment. Eventually, before reaching South Korea in 2013, her most lucrative business was a brokerage service for young women who wished to work in factories in China.</p>
<p>Kang was one of the women who took part in the research for our new book, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/North-Koreas-Women-led-Grassroots-Capitalism/Dalton-Jung/p/book/9780367536961">North Korea’s Women-led Grassroots Capitalism</a>. As she told us,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>What was most rewarding about the work was the money. I could pay for my younger sister’s university tuition, as well as my stepchildren’s. I could even buy [Workers’] Party membership for my husband, eventually making him a party secretary. I felt myself maturing through businesses. </p>
<p>It was as if we were like party officials providing for their children. I could make all that possible with the money I earned.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The emergence of grassroots capitalism in North Korea, through women like Kang, provides a cautionary tale for patriarchal societies everywhere: underestimate women at your peril. </p>
<p>Ironically, we found in our research that by seeking to exclude women from the public sphere and formal economy, North Korea’s government has actually spurred them to become entrepreneurs, with cascading effects on society.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565046/original/file-20231212-15-sehe17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565046/original/file-20231212-15-sehe17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565046/original/file-20231212-15-sehe17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565046/original/file-20231212-15-sehe17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565046/original/file-20231212-15-sehe17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565046/original/file-20231212-15-sehe17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565046/original/file-20231212-15-sehe17.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Little shops have sprung up around Pyongyang, mostly run by women, selling food and other small items.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lesley Parker</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>How did this happen? North Korean authorities continue to oppress the public with a terror and surveillance culture aimed at containing the spread of capitalism. But it is men who have been their main focus – not women. </p>
<p>North Korea’s women, underestimated and operating in the shadows, have become increasingly adept at circumventing official monitoring and controls to create the space to drive significant economic and social change. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565053/original/file-20231212-27-ao9lb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565053/original/file-20231212-27-ao9lb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565053/original/file-20231212-27-ao9lb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565053/original/file-20231212-27-ao9lb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565053/original/file-20231212-27-ao9lb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565053/original/file-20231212-27-ao9lb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565053/original/file-20231212-27-ao9lb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman in a skirt above the knee, high-heeled shoes and carrying a designer-style handbag.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lesley Parker</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our book explores the complex ways in which North Korean women have exercised their agency through everyday life. Our research was based on 52 interviews with North Korean female defectors, NGOs and several field trips to North Korea and northeast China. Far from stereotypical brainwashed automatons or helpless victims needing protection, we found that North Korea’s women are strong, resilient and creative. </p>
<p>Through acts of covert resistance, they have been driving change in family relationships, women’s sexuality and reproductive issues, and women’s cultural identities. </p>
<h2>5 ways women are changing North Korea</h2>
<p><strong>1) Women are driving grassroots capitalism</strong></p>
<p>Women have become active players in the <a href="https://beyondparallel.csis.org/markets-private-economy-capitalism-north-korea/">emerging informal economy</a> centred on local markets, which pre-COVID <a href="https://www.nkeconwatch.com/category/statistics/">accounted</a> for roughly 80% of household income and more than 60% of people’s food and basic needs. </p>
<p>In short, North Koreans depend on women’s labour, both in the household and the marketplace, to survive. </p>
<p>In most North Korean families, women have become the main breadwinners. This has created more opportunities for women – and challenges for those who seek to control them, including the state. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565044/original/file-20231212-17-1s7r7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565044/original/file-20231212-17-1s7r7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565044/original/file-20231212-17-1s7r7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565044/original/file-20231212-17-1s7r7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565044/original/file-20231212-17-1s7r7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565044/original/file-20231212-17-1s7r7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565044/original/file-20231212-17-1s7r7z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman transports goods using a hand-pulled cart in the countryside in the south.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lesley Parker</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>2) Gender roles are shifting</strong></p>
<p>Women have been driving changes that are destabilising two fundamental pillars of North Korea: socialism and deep-rooted patriarchy. </p>
<p>Women’s involvement in market activities has given them access to scarce resources, including money, and a level of public visibility and social interaction previously reserved for men. </p>
<p>Economic independence and a greater say in domestic decision-making have strained long-established family dynamics and challenged broader social norms. As Seol* explains:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As the rations waned, women took more initiative and went out and worked outside the home. It was the men who stayed home. We began to expect that men should cook
and do domestic work. I think women and men reversed roles.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565051/original/file-20231212-15-v3ur4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565051/original/file-20231212-15-v3ur4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565051/original/file-20231212-15-v3ur4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565051/original/file-20231212-15-v3ur4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565051/original/file-20231212-15-v3ur4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565051/original/file-20231212-15-v3ur4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565051/original/file-20231212-15-v3ur4y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A schoolboy stops for an ice-cream from a street vendor in Pyongyang. Changing family dynamics, with women earning more than men, is causing tension in families.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lesley Parker</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>3) A sexual revolution is underway</strong></p>
<p>The way women experience and approach sexuality, relationships and marriage has become far more complex. This includes delaying marriage and more divorces. Non-traditional relationships are also flourishing, such as premarital and extramarital couplings (which have led to growing numbers of single mothers) and older women married to younger men. A young woman named Bae* told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As I make a lot of money, I have high standards for a husband. While busy with money-making, I don’t have time to think about marriage or get married. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Meanwhile, younger party-affiliated, city dwellers are adopting more liberal attitudes to dating and sex and more romantic views of relationships. As Joo* said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Many young people are dating in public right now. After watching South Korean dramas, young ladies call their boyfriend ‘oppa’ (or ‘brother’) like South Koreans. The young couples are going around with their arms around each other’s shoulders.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Some women have also been strategically engineering relationships with Chinese men as a means of settlement in China, to ensure their safety. </p>
<p><strong>4) It’s all about the heels</strong></p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565048/original/file-20231212-21-71opww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565048/original/file-20231212-21-71opww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565048/original/file-20231212-21-71opww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565048/original/file-20231212-21-71opww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=899&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565048/original/file-20231212-21-71opww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565048/original/file-20231212-21-71opww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565048/original/file-20231212-21-71opww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Women in Pyongyang now wear higher heels and more colourful clothes that in previous years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lesley Parker</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While appearing to conform to patriarchal versions of femininity, women are actually constructing a new version of the ideal, hyper-feminine, North Korean woman. This is typically a means to access material goods and social rewards. </p>
<p>Through fashion choices and conspicuous consumption, these women are playing a key role in how status is now determined in North Korea. For example, high heels are de rigeur. Bae said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Women are obsessed with high heels. Probably because we girls are short. Whether women live in the countryside or in the mountains, we prefer these shoes, even on unpaved roads.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Like their South Korean counterparts, the younger generation has become more interested in slender bodies and long straight hair. More women have undertaken not only double eyelid surgery, but also dimple surgery or nose surgery. Another woman, Gho, told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We young people are just like South Koreans. We watch South Korean TV dramas in secret and wear pants like South Koreans do [laughter], and we dye our hair yellow like South Koreans do.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Through these actions, women are challenging narrowly conceived, domestic ideals of wives and mothers and creating new sets of social expectations and constructions of femininity. </p>
<p>The way Paik* describes her decision to dye her hair and wear earrings is an example of how women are also emulating the country’s fashionable first lady <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ri_Sol-ju">Ri Sol-ju</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Officials used to inspect everybody wearing earrings. But then Ri Sol-ju appeared wearing earrings and now the authorities can’t do much about it. People started becoming rebellious. In North Korea, dyeing hair is not allowed. […] These days, a lot of people dye their hair. </p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>5) New propaganda versions of the ideal woman</strong> </p>
<p>The state has responded to this social change by shifting the way it presents the “ideal” woman in its propaganda. </p>
<p>For example, it is now promoting women who embody an attractive and dynamic blend of old and new, of loyalty and modernity - including the leader’s sister, wife and now daughter. For example, Ri regularly appears in Prada, Christian Dior and Chanel, or in looks inspired by these designers.</p>
<p>By doing this, the regime is seeking to co-opt social trends to maintain its legitimacy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565043/original/file-20231212-15-u1vhzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565043/original/file-20231212-15-u1vhzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=265&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565043/original/file-20231212-15-u1vhzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=265&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565043/original/file-20231212-15-u1vhzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=265&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565043/original/file-20231212-15-u1vhzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565043/original/file-20231212-15-u1vhzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565043/original/file-20231212-15-u1vhzr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pyongyang trendsetters love logo-emblazoned goods.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lesley Parker</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>(*For security reasons, we use pseudonyms for the North Korean women who took part in this research.)</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218711/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bronwen Dalton receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kyungja Jung receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Academy of Korean Studies. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lesley Parker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Through acts of covert resistance, women have been driving change in family relationships, women’s sexuality and reproductive issues, and women’s cultural identities.Bronwen Dalton, Professor, Head of Department of Management, UTS Business School, University of Technology SydneyKyungja Jung, Associate Professor, University of Technology SydneyLesley Parker, Adjunct Fellow, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2164882023-11-30T12:20:37Z2023-11-30T12:20:37ZGhana’s shea industry is not taking care of the women behind its growth<p>Ghana’s shea industry has a rich history. Shea – <em>nkuto</em>, <em>karite</em>, <em>galam</em> in some west African languages – is deeply embedded in the culture and tradition of the country’s northern regions. It is often considered a woman’s crop – women pick the fruit and extract its “butter” – and has acquired the name “woman’s gold” because rural women earn income from its sale. </p>
<p>The crop is not just locally important, though. Shea butter, derived from the nuts of the shea tree, has become a global commodity. It is used widely as an ingredient in the confectionery, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/shea-butter-market">report</a> by Future Markets Insights values the global shea butter market at US$2.75 billion. It’s expected to reach US$5.58 billion in 2033. In Ghana, shea is one of the <a href="https://www.gepaghana.org/export-statistic/non-traditional-export-statistics-2022/">top</a> export commodities. According to the Ghana Export Promotion Authority, the export of shea butter was <a href="https://www.gepaghana.org/export-statistic/non-traditional-export-statistics-2022/">estimated</a> to be worth US$92.6 million (38,792 tonnes) in 2022 and kernels US$20 million (36,162 tonnes) in 2021. </p>
<p>In spite of shea’s global prominence, primary actors in this sector aren’t reaping the benefits from these exports. Rural women, who are the primary producers, are also the <a href="https://sun.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma998897791203436&context=L&vid=27US_INST:27US_V1&lang=en&search_scope=Combined&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,shea%20butter&offset=0">lowest earners</a> in the shea value chain, with an annual income of about US$234 per capita.</p>
<p>The reasons behind this were the subject of my <a href="https://sun.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma998897791203436&context=L&vid=27US_INST:27US_V1&lang=en&search_scope=Combined&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,shea%20butter&offset=0">PhD dissertation</a>. I discovered that the shea environment was poorly regulated and “empowerment” policies had actually enabled poverty. </p>
<h2>Importance of shea</h2>
<p>Economically, shea has gained international prominence stemming from its properties and value. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Specifications-of-whole-and-processed-shea-butters_tbl1_272022836">Stearin</a>, a creamy fat, is used industrially as a cocoa butter equivalent in chocolate production and confectionery. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Specifications-of-whole-and-processed-shea-butters_tbl1_272022836">Olein</a> is used to make cosmetics.</p>
<p>Socially, activities in the shea industry confer on women a level of respect and power that they do not possess in other economic sectors. It’s also an area where women pass on indigenous knowledge from one generation to another by observing and participating in shea activities.</p>
<p>Shea trees also <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/12/12/1740">provide</a> carbon sinks and storage, improve soil fertility and promote better yields in agroforestry systems. </p>
<p>The shea industry is potentially a vehicle for economic development, environmental sustainability, gender empowerment and social progress.</p>
<h2>Shea policies</h2>
<p>These benefits are not all being realised, however.</p>
<p>Structural adjustment reforms were implemented in Ghana in the late 1980s and early 1990s to address economic woes. The shea export policy devised within that framework has been <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-modern-african-studies/article/abs/market-reforms-and-the-state-the-case-of-shea-in-ghana/E0584FCC3B95AF6A2026A14F7840C4F8">identified</a> as a watershed moment for the problems inherent in the industry. The state’s involvement in the economy was reduced, and this created the conditions for continued gender inequality and exploitation. The plight of women in the shea industry was not helped, either, by long-held gender norms and cultural underpinnings in northern Ghana.</p>
<p>Successive governments and institutions over the years have sought to revamp the industry through regulatory policies and interventions. A chapter of my <a href="https://sun.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma998897791203436&context=L&vid=27US_INST:27US_V1&lang=en&search_scope=Combined&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,shea%20butter&offset=0">PhD thesis</a> conducted in 2017 analysing the yearly budget statements from 2002 to 2017 noted the government’s knowledge of the persistent challenges of rural women. </p>
<p>These challenges relate to quality control and standardisation. Others are the lack of fair-trade practices, limited access to direct markets and resources, and challenges in land tenure and resource management. </p>
<p>Liberalising the shea market was expected to promote economic growth through reducing trade barriers and encouraging foreign investment. However, a downside was the breakdown of social contracts, leading to a “gold rush” mentality that prevails when there are no structures and regulations.</p>
<p>The 2008 <a href="http://gis4agricgh.net/POLICIES/GHANA'S%20TREE%20CROPS%20POLICY.pdf">Tree Crops Policy</a> was supposed to support agricultural growth, rural development and food security. A <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/business/COCOBOD-opens-Shea-office-amale-676131">Shea Unit</a> under the <a href="https://cocobod.gh/">Ghana Cocoa Board</a> was formed in 2011 to develop strategy for the sector. This unit was expected to become a Shea Development Board, responsible for introducing effective production, post-production and marketing initiatives. But it remains under the cocoa board. </p>
<p>The shea industry over time has been a niche where middlemen and women buy shea from rural women at low prices. Price negotiations are done on behalf of rural women on a mostly informal contractual basis. A chapter of my <a href="https://sun.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=alma998897791203436&context=L&vid=27US_INST:27US_V1&lang=en&search_scope=Combined&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,shea%20butter&offset=0">PhD thesis</a> analysing the cost structure and assigning a value to the unpaid labour of rural women reported the profit margin of a shea nut picker as Gh₵ 8.82 (66 US cents) while a middleman earned Gh₵ 49.5 (US$4) on a 100kg bag of shea nuts. Similarly, a shea butter extractor earned Gh₵ 1.92 (8 cents) while a middleman earned Gh₵ 63.42 (US$6) on a 25kg box of shea butter.</p>
<p>This is aptly captured in an interview:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are always here and we see people troop in for them (shea butter). Because
we don’t understand the English language they always request for Madam. She
directs us to sell to them at a certain amount. We don’t know the buyers. They
are those bringing them, we will just be sitting, and they will tell you that they are to buy shea, there is a buyer in, we will not even see the person. She is going to negotiate with the buyer till they finish buying.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Shea business model</h2>
<p>Even with the best of intentions, desired policy objectives can’t always be reached. It’s necessary to analyse why.</p>
<p>Empowering rural women shea actors to make choices and to transform those choices to desired outcomes must start by recognising them as knowledge producers and involve them as knowledge contributors in policies. Ghana needs to bring all the players in the shea industry together to develop a business model. Primary producers, middlemen, sourcing companies and government should collaborate. </p>
<p>Drawing from <a href="https://www.scirp.org/%28S%28351jmbntvnsjt1aadkposzje%29%29/reference/referencespapers.aspx?referenceid=2591801">lessons</a> on the marketing of cocoa in Ghana, this model should focus on:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>regulation of ceiling and floor prices of shea nuts and butter</p></li>
<li><p>promoting community-based rural producer groups</p></li>
<li><p>capacity building</p></li>
<li><p>quality improvement</p></li>
<li><p>preserving the shea landscape. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>There is also a need for a government instituted shea body to enforce a regulatory framework on the licensing and registration of activities and the promotion of partnerships between actors in the shea supply chain. It’s very important for the various stakeholders to keep working together to minimise undesirable effects of proposed interventions.</p>
<p>Shea is indeed golden. But there are real people living with the impact of weak institutional structures and policy frameworks. The most affected are rural women.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216488/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abiba Yayah was previously funded by the Trans-disciplinary Training for Resource Efficiency and Climate Change Adaptation in Africa II INTRA-ACP (TRECCAFRICA II). She is currently being funded for a Postdoctoral Fellowship by The Mark Grosjean Post-doctoral Fellow in Political Science at the University of Calgary.</span></em></p>Shea is a key economic crop for poor women in the northern parts of Ghana.Abiba Yayah, Postdoctoral Associate, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2130502023-11-29T13:40:27Z2023-11-29T13:40:27ZThere’s a financial literacy gender gap − and older women are eager for education that meets their needs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557150/original/file-20231101-21-xv252p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C9%2C6211%2C4128&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Knowledge is power − especially where money is concerned.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/senior-woman-using-calculator-while-going-through-royalty-free-image/1672859584">Rockaa/E+/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every day, families across the U.S. have to make difficult decisions about budgeting, spending, insurance, investments, savings, retirement and on and on. When faced with these choices, financial literacy – that is, knowing how to make informed decisions about money – is key.</p>
<p>Yet, Americans in general <a href="https://gflec.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/TIAA-Institute_GFLEC_P-Fin-Index-Finacial-literacy-and-wellbeing-in-a-five-generation-America_TI_Yakoboski_October-2021.pdf">aren’t very financially literate</a>. And recent research suggests <a href="https://helpageusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Report-V3-updated.pdf">women are less financially literate than men</a>, regardless of their schooling, income or marital status.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://cesr.usc.edu/people/staff/lilarabi">social scientist</a> who studies aging and the social safety net, I recently took part in a large analysis of older women’s financial literacy. My team and I found that men’s financial literacy scores were 25% higher than women’s on average, even though the two groups showed no difference in math skills or overall cognitive ability. </p>
<p>Black and Hispanic women saw an even greater financial literacy gender gap, with scores that were, on average, 40% to 45% lower than those of white, non-Hispanic men.</p>
<h2>Why financial literacy matters later in life</h2>
<p>This gap is a big problem, especially as women approach older age. Because they tend to live longer – almost <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.6041">six years</a> more than men, according to the latest figures – and <a href="https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w24429/w24429.pdf">leave the workforce earlier</a>, women face longer retirements. </p>
<p>And when they reach retirement age, women often have <a href="https://www.gao.gov/blog/growing-disparities-retirement-account-savings">inadequate savings</a>, in part because they face more <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1232354">family-related career interruptions</a> and are concentrated in <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/09/art3full.pdf">lower-paying jobs</a>.</p>
<p>Consider that in 2020, women who worked full time earned a median of <a href="https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens-earnings/2020/home.htm">US$891 a week</a>, versus men’s $1,082. Their career interruptions, lower earnings and earlier retirements mean that female Social Security recipients get <a href="https://www.ssa.gov/news/press/factsheets/women-alt.pdf">only 80%</a> of the benefits that men do.</p>
<p>Financial education can’t erase the effects of decades of structural inequality, of course. But the evidence shows that it can <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2753510">make a difference</a> by helping women make more informed decisions for their future.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/swXHv0khiWY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A brief introduction to financial literacy concepts from New York University.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Demand for financial education is high</h2>
<p>Only 16% of women ages 40 to 65 have ever received any financial education, according to <a href="https://helpageusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Report-V3-updated.pdf">a survey of women my colleagues and I fielded in 2022</a>. Among African American, Native American and Asian American women, this figure falls to 8% to 10%.</p>
<p>Our survey also showed that behaviors that can help with financial security are patchy among respondents. Close to 30% never put money into an emergency fund or savings account, nearly 40% never put money into an investment or retirement account, and 60% have never talked to a financial professional. Tellingly, only 20% said they felt relaxed about their financial future.</p>
<p>But not all is doom and gloom: More than 70% of women in our survey said they were interested in receiving financial education. Demand was especially high among Hispanic/Latina (93%), Black (85%) and Asian American (80%) women.</p>
<p>Our survey respondents said they wanted to learn about long-term planning and other issues specific to their life stage, not just general money management principles. They also said they would prefer flexible programs that make it easy for busy people to participate, as well as those delivered by trusted agents in their communities, such as schools or community centers.</p>
<p>Right now, there aren’t many financial literacy programs specifically designed to address the needs of older women. But this research gives us a blueprint for future programs. Employers, financial service providers, community groups and national organizations all have an important role to play in empowering older women with the financial literacy skills they want and need.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213050/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lila Rabinovich has received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Michigan Retirement and Disability Research Center, and other foundations and agencies.</span></em></p>Only a small fraction of women have received any financial education at all.Lila Rabinovich, Social scientist, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2183552023-11-24T03:40:25Z2023-11-24T03:40:25Z7 charts on family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia<p>With so much data released about family, domestic and sexual violence, it can be difficult to see how it all fits together. </p>
<p>The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) has attempted to do this with a <a href="https://aihw.gov.au/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence">new website</a> that tells the story of violence using numbers, looking at how often it happens, to whom and when. </p>
<p>Here are seven charts that show the prevalence of various forms of interpersonal violence, across life.</p>
<h2>1. Sexual violence risk varies (in ways you might not expect)</h2>
<p>One in five women and one in 16 men have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.</p>
<p>The likelihood of experiencing sexual violence differs by age as well as gender.</p>
<p><iframe id="2wLeq" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/2wLeq/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>This chart uses data about recorded crimes. Of course, we know many sexual crimes in childhood and adulthood are never discovered or reported. For each age group, and for both females and males, the recorded crime rate for sexual victimisation has steadily risen from 2010 to 2022. But the rate for girls and boys is substantially higher than for women and men.</p>
<h2>2. What kinds of harm come to the attention of child protection services?</h2>
<p>In cases reported to a statutory child protection service, a “substantiation” is the conclusion, following an investigation, that there was reasonable cause to believe that a child had been, was being, or was likely to be, abused, neglected or otherwise harmed. For both boys and girls, more than half of these cases are about harm from emotional abuse. This refers to parental behaviour, repeated over time, that conveys to a child that they are worthless, unloved or unwanted.</p>
<p><iframe id="zuhJi" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/zuhJi/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Witnessing family and domestic violence is not monitored separately as a type of harm in any <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/resources/policy-and-practice-papers/what-child-abuse-and-neglect">state or territory child protection statistics</a>. Therefore it is not one of the primary harm types recorded in the data shown in this graph. Yet in <a href="https://www.acms.au">our study</a>, my colleagues and I found it was the most frequently experienced form of maltreatment in childhood – 39.6% of adults were exposed to domestic violence as children. </p>
<h2>3. Lifetime exposure to violence</h2>
<p>One in three men experienced violence from a stranger, but for women, they were much more likely to experience violence from those they knew.</p>
<p><iframe id="j4lw5" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/j4lw5/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>One in six women (and one in 13 men) have experienced domestic violence in the form of economic abuse by a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15. </p>
<h2>4. Time is of the essence</h2>
<p>Not only does the risk of experiencing violence change across life, but temporal factors also play a role. Towards the end of the year, when there are festivities and more opportunities for alcohol misuse, the risks are greater.</p>
<p><iframe id="ynq2C" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/ynq2C/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>5. Men’s (and boys’) violence towards women and girls</h2>
<p>Perpetrators of violence are more likely to be known to the victim than be a stranger. Some forms of violence, particularly sexual violence, are more likely to be experienced by girls and women. Boys and men are more likely to use violence, again particularly for sexual violence.</p>
<p>One in six women (and one in 18 men) have experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or previous cohabiting partner since the age of 15. </p>
<p><iframe id="DipvY" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/DipvY/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>One of the types of violence is also emotional. One in four women (and one in seven men) have experienced emotional abuse by <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence/understanding-fdsv/who-uses-violence">a current or previous cohabiting</a> partner since the age of 15.</p>
<h2>6. Sexual harassment: who does it and who is subjected to it?</h2>
<p>Women are much more likely to be subjected to sexualised behaviours – by men – that are unwanted or make them feel uncomfortable. Overall, rates appear to have declined since 2005, when almost one in five women experienced harassment.</p>
<p><iframe id="8pPnI" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8pPnI/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>7. Sexual victimisation rates have changed over time</h2>
<p>Crime data on sexual victimisation (sexual assaults recorded by police) from 2010 to 2022 suggests things have not been improving. Although there is variability between states, the biggest difference can be seen between women and men (women are at substantially higher risk of sexual victimisation).</p>
<p><iframe id="N0l0g" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/N0l0g/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>What’s missing?</h2>
<p>Often, people are exposed to multiple kinds of violence. In <a href="https://www.acms.au">our study</a>, we found almost 40% of the population had experienced more than one type of child abuse or neglect – including exposure to family or domestic violence as a child.</p>
<p>We also found this “multi-type maltreatment” was one of the <a href="https://www.acms.au/resources/the-prevalence-and-impact-of-child-maltreatment-in-australia-findings-from-the-australian-child-maltreatment-study-2023-brief-report/">strongest predictors</a> of experiencing mental illness and engaging in behaviours that put health at risk, like cannabis dependence in adulthood.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/major-study-reveals-two-thirds-of-people-who-suffer-childhood-maltreatment-suffer-more-than-one-kind-202033">Major study reveals two-thirds of people who suffer childhood maltreatment suffer more than one kind</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>However, many of the sources of data the AIHW uses only look at one form of violence. So it is much harder to tell the story of how it relates to the impacts that might be observed. </p>
<p>We also can’t see data on children’s exposure to physical punishment in the home, despite Australia’s failure to meet its responsibility under the <a href="https://docstore.ohchr.org/SelfServices/FilesHandler.ashx?enc=6QkG1d%2FPPRiCAqhKb7yhsk5X2w65LgiRF%2FS3dwPS4NWFNCtCrUn3lRntjFl1P2gZpa035aKkorCHAPJx8bIZmDed5owOGcbWFeosUSgDTFKNqA7hBC3KiwAm8SBo665E">UN Convention on the Rights of the Child</a> to protect them from this form of violence.</p>
<p>The data curated on this new website can be used to identify where more services might be required to address the needs of victims of different kinds of violence, at different stages across life. It can also help drive a genuine strategy for <a href="https://www.napcan.org.au/national-summit-to-prevent-child-maltreatment/">prevention</a>. The strategy should look at the risk factors for each type of interpersonal violence, and those that are common across different types of violence. <a href="https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.51868">Such risks include</a> parental mental illness, substance misuse, poverty and divorce.</p>
<p>And then we must invest in <a href="https://rdcu.be/cEvhu">evidence-based strategies</a> to alleviate the risk of growing up with, and being exposed in adulthood to family, domestic, and sexual violence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/218355/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daryl Higgins receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, and a range of government departments and non-government child/family welfare agencies.</span></em></p>Key findings on victims and perpetrators of interpersonal violence have been brought together in a new website that seeks to combine over 30 sources of data across Australia.Daryl Higgins, Professor & Director, Institute of Child Protection Studies, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.