In the Shadow of Doubt: Expertise, Knowledge, and Systematization in Rabbinic Purity Laws

AJS Review ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-118
Author(s):  
Ayelet Hoffmann Libson

AbstractThis article revisits rabbinic laws of menstrual impurity by comparing them to the parallel laws of male impurity. The prevailing scholarly paradigm has examined menstrual purity laws through the lens of cultural criticism and gender analysis, demonstrating that the sages molded the legal discourse of this field to construct their own authority vis-à-vis the women they describe. By contrast, this article argues that a comparison of menstrual impurity laws with the laws of male impurities discloses substantial parallels that have not been sufficiently explored. This comparison demonstrates that the rabbis developed similar legal categories for both men and women, revealing more about their systematic legal thinking than about their gender economy. Tracing the development of both male and female impurities through rabbinic sources thus has the potential to uncover not only the gendered constructions engaged by the rabbis, but also fundamental rabbinic ideas about the body, legal knowledge, and rabbinic expertise.

2008 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deirdre Ruane

In 1997 the Internet was seen by many as a tool for radical reinterpretation of physicality and gender. Cybertheorists predicted we would leave our bodies behind and interact online as disembodied minds, and that the technology would reshape the way we saw ourselves. However, physicality has proved to be an inextricable part of all our interactions. Changing Internet technology has allowed Net users to find a myriad ways to perform and express their gender online. In this paper I consider attitudes to gender on the Net in 1997, when the main concerns were the imbalance between men and women online and whether it was possible or desirable to bring the body into online interactions. In much of the discourse surrounding gender online, a simple binary was assumed to exist. I go on to consider the extent to which those attitudes have changed today. Through my own experience of setting up a women’s community on Livejournal, and my observations of a men’s community set up in response, I conclude that though traditional attitudes to gender have largely translated to the Net and the binary is still the default view, some shifts have occurred. For example, between 1997 and today there seems to have been a fundamental change in perceptions of women’s attitudes to adversarial debate, and an increase in awareness of genders beyond the binary. In addition, experience and preliminary investigation lead me toward a hypothesis that today’s female-identified Net users are engaged in more conscious and active exploration and performance of their gender online than male-identified users are.


Author(s):  
Oluwatoyin Bukola Chete

Aims: This paper reviews the body of evidence on gender and agriculture and gender and enterprise (including farm enterprise) development in developing countries. Results: The resurgence of interest on the influence of gender and its subsequent mainstreaming into social and economic programmes and in particular, agricultural policy and practice, is largely a development of the 1990s and beyond. The extant body of literature on gender and agriculture is dominated by the liberal feminist construction that women are the disadvantaged group regarding resources such as time, assets (particularly land and credit) and household burden,Agricultural development would be facilitated if both men and women have equal access to resources for use in agricultural work. Conclusion: There is no unique pathway for bringing this about nor are there singular notions of success. Indeed, gender issues should be integrated into the agricultural enterprise from the beginning on the back of broad-based needs assessment schemes. Recommendation: The range of gender issues requiring intervention should include progressive identification and systematic dismantling of socio-cultural, ideological, institutional and legal barriers to equal participation of men and women in agricultural enterprise, orientating and skilling extension workers on gender issues and developing women and men cadre in extension services to cater to the specific needs of each gender and creating equal opportunities in education, employment and politics taking account of the realities of both gender.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 1121-1135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas W. Bakken ◽  
Christy A. Visher

Men and women exiting the correctional system represent a population at high risk for mental health problems, and the body of research on the mental health needs of former prisoners is growing. These mental health problems pose challenges for individuals at every stage of the criminal justice process, from arrest to incarceration to reentry and reintegration. This article examines the mental health status and gender differences among a sample of 352 men and women leaving confinement and the role that mental health problems played in shaping their reentry outcomes using data collected between 2002 and 2005. In the year after leaving prison, men and women with mental health problems reported worse health indicators and less satisfactory social factors, such as employment, housing, and family support. The article concludes with a discussion of recommendations for improved policy and practice for assisting former prisoners with mental health problems during reintegration.


2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 35-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Richardson ◽  
Shawn M. Flower

While both male and female ex-offenders face many of the same difficulties while finding employment, some barriers are unique to either males or females, or are more problematic for one gender. The purpose of this article is to review gender differences in barriers to employment for ex-offenders with disabilities. There is little research on disabilities and offending populations – what exists explores the prevalence of mental health, substance abuse, and intellectual or developmental disabilities (James & Glaze, 2006; National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 2010). Further, the body of research that examines barriers to employment specifically for ex-offenders with disabilities is extremely limited. Consequently, this review will explicitly reference ex-offenders with disabilities where possible, but generalizations about this justice-involved population are required. The authors hypothesize that many of the existing gender-neutral and gender-specific barriers to employment are exacerbated by the presence of a disability or disabilities. Disadvantages for ex-offenders are compounded in a fashion that makes finding a job a daunting task.


1981 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-70
Author(s):  
Richard Goulden

It is readily apparent that many Melanesian societies maintain a distance between men and women. Some ethnographers working in Melanesia have posited reasons for this dichotomy, for example, fear of contamination from menstrual blood, or the importance of male solidarity in social organization. These theories do not adequately explain gender concepts and the range of social interaction between the sexes. By focussing on the belief surrounding male homosexual behaviour in initiation ritual, this paper attempts to demonstrate that gender concepts in Melanesia, like attitudes towards homosexuality, cannot be explained in terms of Western categorizations of male and female, or in terms of Western concepts of sexuality. A comparison of the correlation between homosexuality and gender beliefs among North Americans and among Melanesians indicates that the apparent separation of the sexes in Melanesia is not due to the inherent distinctness of male versus female, as reflected in the Western dichotomies that colour such ethnographic descriptions of gender. It is suggested that in Melanesian societies men must be differentiated from women, and that mutable gender categories must be maintained by social sanctions that delineate the sexes during the reproductive years.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-148
Author(s):  
Setyo Atmiasih

AbstrakPenelitian ini bertujuan mengidentifikasi pelaksanaan pendidikan responsif gender di Program Studi Pendidikan Teknik Elektronika Fakultas Teknik Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode pendekatan deskriptif kualitatif. Teknik yang digunakan dalam analisis data adalah kondensasi dan analisis gender, penyajian data, dan penarikan kesimpulan. Analisis gender digunakan untuk pembahasan tentang aktivitas, manfaat, akses, manfaat dan dampak pendidikan responsif gender. Uji keabsahan data menggunakan triangulasi sumber dan triangulasi teknik. Hasil penelitian  menunjukkan bahwa : secara formal aktivitas pendidikan baik secara fasilitas, perlakuan pendidik, pelayanan administrasi, dan pembagain kelompok kerja telah responsif gender, tetapi secara individu masih terjadi bias gender karena adanya stereotipe terhadap laki-laki dan perempuan. Manfaat bagi para mahasiswa perempuan, mereka merasa percaya diri dapat mengerjakan tugas kuliah dan praktik yang selama ini dianggap bagian laki-laki. Perempuan dan laki-laki memiliki akses yang sama dalam kegiatan perkuliahan. Namun dalam struktur kemahasiswaan, seperti dalam kepemimpinan ketua kelas masih selalu dipercayakan kepada laki-laki, sedangkan perempuan menjadi bendahara dan sekretaris dalam hal ini masih terlihat ada bias gender. Adanya bias gender dalam pendidikan menyebabkan turunnya minat mahasiswa, sehingga berdampak terhadap hasil belajar mahasiswa dan interaksi yang kurang harmonis antara laki-laki dan perempuan. Kata Kunci : Pendidikan Responsif Gender, Perempuan, KesetaraanAbstractThis study aims to identify the implementation of gender responsive education in the Electronic Engineering Education Study Program, Faculty of Engineering, Yogyakarta State University. This research uses a descriptive qualitative approach. Techniques used in data analysis are condensation and gender analysis, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. Gender analysis is used for discussion of activities, benefits, access, benefits and impacts of gender responsive education. Test the validity of the data using source triangulation and technique triangulation.The results of his research: formally educational activities both in terms of facilities, educator treatment, administrative services, and the division of work groups have been gender responsive, but individually gender bias still occurs because of the stereotypes of men and women. Benefits for female students, they feel confident that they can work on college assignments and practices that so far have been considered male. Women and men have equal access to lecture activities. But in the student structure, such as in the leadership of the class leader is always entrusted to men, while women become treasurers and secretaries in this case there still seems to be a gender bias. The existence of gender bias in education causes a decrease in student interest, thus impacting student learning outcomes and interactions that are less harmonious between men and women. Keywords: Gender Responsive Education, Women, Equality


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wu ◽  
Li ◽  
Ma

The geographical location and check-in frequency of social platform users indicate their personal preferences and intentions for space. On the basis of social media data and gender differences, this study analyzes Weibo users’ preferences and the reasons behind these preferences for the waterfronts of the 21 major lakes within Wuhan’s Third Ring Road, in accordance with users’ check-in behaviors. According to the distribution characteristics of the waterfronts’ points of interest, this study explores the preferences of male and female users for waterfronts and reveals, through the check-in behaviors of Weibo users, the gender differences in the preference and willingness of these users to choose urban waterfronts. Results show that men and women check in significantly more frequently on weekends than on weekdays. Women are more likely than men to check in at waterfronts. Significant differences in time and space exist between male and female users’ preferences for different lakes.


2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liz Schwaiger

In this paper I examine the relationship between the body in midlife and subjectivity in contemporary western cultures, drawing on both social constructionist and psychoanalytic perspectives. Referring to recent theoretical accounts, I take the position that how we are aged by culture begins in midlife, and that this period is therefore critical in understanding how the body-subject in western consumer cultures is aged and gendered through culturally normative discourses and practices. I also address the gendering of ageing bodies, and argue that, like the feminine, ageing has been marked by ambiguity and lack. This ambiguity has presented a problem for dualistic age theories, in that it has been difficult to theorize the ageing body productively since the binary language used to theorize it already devalues old age. I contend that our tacit understanding of both male and female ageing bodies is as discursively constituted as ’feminine’, based on cultural perceptions of loss of bodily control and the ambiguity of ageing bodies that become increasingly recalcitrant in the ’correct’ performance of cultural age and gender norms. Finally, I inquire whether alternative, non-dualistic perspectives might be developed that redress this problem, and disrupt the alignment of ageing with negative associations such as lack and loss, perspectives that, rather than associating gendered ageing with decline, loss or lack, associate it with the goal of living an abundant life into deep old age.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 32
Author(s):  
Osnat Akirav

Immigrants who came to Europe in recent decades (work immigrants and/or refugees) grapple with intersectional identities, such as religion, nationality and gender, yet current political research addresses these issues only in part. To address these omissions, I conducted a content analysis of all parliamentary questions Muslim representatives raised in their parliamentary activities in three Western countries. I also investigated whether the representatives' invisibility pertains only to their descriptive representation or whether it affects their substantive representation by analyzing five research hypotheses for differences in the content of the parliamentary questions. I found that male and female Muslim representatives ask parliamentary questions about Muslim men and women. In addition, I developed an Intersectional Representation Index to measure and demonstrate the complexities Muslim representatives face in Western countries. The index shows that such representatives have several identities, some of which have become invisible, as previous studies indicated.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1344-1348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Filipas ◽  
Emiliano Nerli Ballati ◽  
Matteo Bonato ◽  
Antonio La Torre ◽  
Maria Francesca Piacentini

Purpose: To analyze the pacing profiles of the world’s top 800-m annual performances between 2010 and 2016, comparing men’s and women’s strategies. Methods: A total of 142 performances were characterized for overall race times and 0-to-200-m, 200-to-400-m, 400-to-600-m, and 600-to-800-m split times using available footage from YouTube. Only the best annual performance for each athlete was considered. Overall race and split speed were calculated so that each lap speed could be expressed as a percentage of the mean race speed. Results: The mean speed of the men’s 800-m was 7.73 (0.06) m·s−1, with the 0-to-200-m split faster than the others. After the first split, the speed decreased significantly during the 3 subsequent splits (P < .001). The mean speed of the women’s 800-m was 6.77 (0.05) m·s−1, with a significative variation in speed during the race (P < .001). The first split was faster than the others (P < .001). During the rest of the race, speed was almost constant, and no difference was observed between the other splits. Comparison between men and women revealed that there was an interaction between split and gender (P < .001), showing a different pacing behavior in 800-m competitions. Conclusions: The world’s best 800-m performances revealed an important difference in the pacing profile between men and women. Tactics could play a greater role in this difference, but physiological and behavioral characteristics are likely also important.


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