Individualized Relationship Practices and Union Dissolution: Differences Between Marriage and Cohabitation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Hiekel ◽  
Michael Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Data ◽  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
Married Women ◽  
Emotional Disclosure ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Couple Relationships ◽  
Union Dissolution ◽  
Relationship Instability ◽  
Union Stability

Abstract Emotional disclosure, self-determination and egalitarianism are considered central benefits of individualized relationships. Yet, the body of research linking relationship practices and union stability is sparse. We study the extent to which relationship practices in the spheres of intimacy, autonomy, and democracy affect the risk of union dissolution, comparing marriage and cohabitation. Using longitudinal data from nine waves of the German Pairfam survey, we predict union dissolution of n = 3,650 cohabiting and married women and men. Cohabiters report higher levels of individualized relationship practices compared to the married. Intimacy is the key dimension predicting union stability. Individuals thus exhibit relatively low resilience towards decline in emotional gratification in their couple relationships. Autonomy and democracy are not empirically relevant to predict union stability beyond the extent to which they were connected to levels of intimacy. Differences between cohabitation and marriage were marginal with spouses’ benefits from higher levels of intimacy for union stability being larger compared to cohabiting individuals. Our study contributes to the analytical clarification of the consequences of the changing meaning of intimate relationships in individualized societies, and ultimately, to cultural explanations for increased relationship instability.

Can the “internal couple” be our faithful lifelong partner?

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-142
Author(s):  
Molly Ludlam
Keyword(s):  
Gender Identity ◽  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
Family Dynamics ◽  
Online Dating ◽  
Societal Change ◽  
Couple Relationships ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Internal Object ◽  
Lifelong Partner ◽  
And Gender

For over fifty years the concept of the “internal couple”, as a composite internal object co-constructed in intimate relationships, has been fundamental to a psycho-analytic understanding of couple relationships and their contribution to family dynamics. Considerable societal change, however, necessitates review of how effectively and ethically the concept meets practitioners’ and couples’ current needs. Does the concept of an internal couple help psychotherapists to describe and consider all contemporary adult couples, whether same-sex or heterosexual, monogamous, or polyamorous? How does it accommodate online dating, relating via avatars, and use of pornography? Is it sufficiently inclusive of those experimenting in terms of sexual and gender identity, or in partnerships that challenge family arrangement norms? Can it usefully support thinking about families in which parents choose to parent alone, or are absent at their children’s conception thanks to surrogacy, adoption, and IVF? These and other questions prompt re-examination of this central concept’s nature and value.

scholarly journals Death as an Aesthetic Experiment

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 88-104
Author(s):  
Leander Scholz ◽  
◽  
Anatoly Lipov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Medical Procedure ◽  
The Road ◽  
Western Art ◽  
Art Scene ◽  
Operating Theatres ◽  
Contemporary Artist ◽  
Funeral Homes ◽  
Ethical Requirement

The more intensely a person thinks about the final nature of life, the more he is bound to a moment in life that is limited in time. Death is a very personal and intimate process, which in most cases is not «beautiful». The reality of death in clinics, intensive care units and operating theatres is, by its human nature, cruel. The body at the «end of the road» is captured by funeral homes. Thus, death today is identical to a long path of suffering. The article is dedicated to the author's reflection on a project by the German artist Gregor Schneider, which caused sensation and fierce reaction in Western art circles and beyond the art scene, creating him a reputation as «the most terrible contemporary artist» who has violated «existing» restrictions that cannot be exceeded if we do not want to question our civilization. The artist's vision is to allow a terminally ill person to die as part of an art project that represents a confrontation with death and that can remove the horror of death. As part of the project, the dying person defines everything in advance. Instead of a mass medical procedure of the same type, death, modeled on the artist's skill, Schneider argues, will create humane places for death and contribute to the creation of a space where people can die with dignity, creating personal protection and ensuring the ethical requirement of free will and self-determination.

scholarly journals Early Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Relationship Satisfaction and Attributions

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 1479-1487
Author(s):  
Hannah C. Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Satisfaction ◽  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
Early Experience ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Couple Relationships ◽  
Change Over Time ◽  
Responsibility Attributions ◽  
Relationship Outcomes ◽  
Early Effects ◽  
Over Time

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected intimate relationships? The existing literature is mixed on the effect of major external stressors on couple relationships, and little is known about the early experience of crises. The current study used 654 individuals involved in a relationship who provided data immediately before the onset of the pandemic (December, 2019) and twice during the early stages of the pandemic (March and April, 2020). Results indicate that relationship satisfaction and causal attributions did not change over time, but responsibility attributions decreased on average. Changes in relationship outcomes were not moderated by demographic characteristics or negative repercussions of the pandemic. There were small moderation effects of relationship coping and conflict during the pandemic, revealing that satisfaction increased and maladaptive attributions decreased in couples with more positive functioning, and satisfaction decreased and maladaptive attributions increased in couples with lower functioning.

scholarly journals Gender, gestation and ectogenesis: self-determination for pregnant people ahead of artificial wombs

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 787-788
Author(s):  
Claire Horn
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Sex And Gender ◽  
Biological Approach ◽  
Political Perspective ◽  
Ways Of Thinking ◽  
And Gender

AbstractIn this short response, I agree with Cavaliere’s recent invitation to consider ectogenesis, the process of gestation occurring outside the body, as a political perspective and provocation to building a world in which reproductive and care labour are more justly distributed. But I argue that much of the literature Cavaliere addresses in which scholars argue that artificial wombs may produce greater gender equality has the limitation of taking a fixed, binary and biological approach to sex and gender. I argue that in taking steps toward the possibility of more just practices of caregiving and family making, we must look first not to artificial womb technologies but to addressing the ways that contemporary legal and social practices that enforce essentialising, binary ways of thinking about reproductive bodies inhibit this goal.

scholarly journals Variation in body mass index and their determinants among married women in Uttar Pradesh

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Sonam Maheshwari ◽  
Brijesh Singh ◽  
Omprakash Singh ◽  
Puneet Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Body Mass Index ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Nutrition Transition ◽  
Uttar Pradesh ◽  
Married Women ◽  
The Body ◽  
Nutrition Status ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Nutrition Research

<p>The body mass index of married women is a high quality sign of a country’s health status as well as economic condition. Nutrition    research in India has previously focused on the serious problem of under nutrition related to nutrient deficit and high rates of infection. BMI provide an indicator for supporting to wipe out many preventable diseases. Alteration in nutritional status plays an important role in the course of a person’s health. Hence, BMI can be used as an indicator for nutrition status, and association with some diseases can be expected. This study observes the emerging nutrition transition among 7559 married and currently non –pregnant women aged between 15-49 years and also the differential impact of some demographic, socioeconomic, environmental and health-related factors on the body mass index living in Uttar Pradesh, India. The third wave of National Family Health Survey (2005-06) data provides nationally representative data on women’s weight and height. Average BMI is 21.11 kg/m2, and a turn down tendency in BMI was found during the last about 20 years.  Body mass index increased with increasing age, education level of the woman, standard of living index. Lower BMI was especially pronounced among women who were living in rural areas, Hindus, employed women and women who are anemic.</p>

Karakalpak Family Ritualism: The Bes Kiyim Custom in the Transformation of Traditional Culture

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 124-133
Author(s):  
Z. I. Kurbanova
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Married Women ◽  
The Body ◽  
Status Change ◽  
Patchy Distribution ◽  
Cultural Changes ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Traditional Family ◽  
The Republic

This study describes the bridal and funerary rite of exchanging clothes (Bes Kiyim – ‘Five Costumes’) in the context of the traditions and innovations in the Karakalpak culture. On the basis of fi eld data collected in 2014–2019 and earlier in places with a continuous or patchy distribution of the Karakalpak population (Chimbaysky, Karauzyaksky, Kegeyliysky, Nukussky, Khodzheyliysky, and the Takhiatashsky districts of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Republic of Uzbekistan) and of earlier sources, changes in ritualism are analyzed. Bridal rites include exchanges of gifts, such as items of clothing. The comparison of sources shows that the Bes Kiyim rite originated in the mid-20th century in the context of socio-cultural changes. It has remained rather stable up to the present time, being an integral part of Karakalpak bridal ritualism. This indicates its importance in the normative culture of that ethnic group. In one district of Karakalpakstan, the term Bes Kiyim was transferred from the bridal to the funerary rituals. The origin of the rite relates to the transformation of the Iyis custom—the distribution of the deceased person’s clothing among those participating in the ablution of the body. In the late 20th century, specially purchased items of clothing began to be used for that purpose. Apparently, the fi ve items distributed among those participating in the rite symbolize the deceased person’s transition to the ancestors’ world. By the same token, the bride’s fi ve outfi ts allude to her passage to the category of married women and the beginning of her marital life. Therefore, the ritual innovations of the Karakalpaks, caused by socio-cultural and economic changes, mirror the logic and content of traditional family festivals whose complex symbolism relates to status change.

scholarly journals Sexual Stimulants: Prevalence and Associated Factors Amongst Married Women in Sokoto Metropolis, Sokoto State, Nigeria

2021 ◽  
pp. 24-33
Author(s):  
U. M. Ango ◽  
M. O. Oche ◽  
M. M. Bello ◽  
E. U. Yunusa ◽  
M. T. Umar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Education ◽  
Lower Abdominal Pain ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Married Women ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sexual Pleasure ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Period 2 ◽  
Multistage Sampling

Aim: This study was aimed at assessing the prevalence and factors associated with the use of sexual stimulants (aphrodisiacs) among married women in Sokoto metropolis, Sokoto state, Nigeria. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 215 married women in Sokoto metropolis selected by multistage sampling technique. A set of pre-tested, semi-structured interviewer- administered questionnaire was used to collect data on the research variables. Data were analyzed using IBM® SPSS version 20 statistical package. Results: A total of 215 married women were interviewed, out of which 209 were aware of sexual stimulants. Of the 209 respondents who were aware of sexual stimulants, majority 183 (85.0%) reported using one form of sexual stimulants or the other and up to 135 (73.8%) of those who used sexual stimulants were from monogamous setting, their main source of information concerning sexual stimulants was from family relatives 101 (55.2%). A large proportion of the respondents 127 (69.4%) used it to satisfy their spouses while majority (84.3%) of them reported increased sexual pleasure/satisfaction by them and their husbands. Complications developed by the respondents while using sexual stimulants include: vaginal itching 8(30.8%), vaginal discharge 5(19.2%), dryness of the vagina and irregular menstrual period 2 (7.7%) each, vaginal bruises, lower abdominal pain and painful intercourse 3 (11.5%) each. Conclusion: The study revealed a high prevalence of use of sexual stimulants among the respondents, with the substances being obtained from various sources and used for different reasons. A sizeable number of them opined that they used the substances to enhance their sexual satisfaction and that of their husbands. Since the pharmacological compositions of these substances have not been ascertained, there is need for community education on the health risks associated with the use of sexual stimulants as some of them may have adverse effects on the organs of the body.

scholarly journals Women in Literature (Fadila Faruq)

2018 ◽  
Vol 212 (1) ◽  
pp. 241-266
Author(s):  
Dr. Suhad S. Sahib
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Intimate Relationships ◽  
The Body ◽  
Arab Women ◽  
Central Authority ◽  
Women In Literature ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Intimate Relations ◽  
And Control

After the finishing of the research, we found the following results: The writer has sought to search for what they were through the heroines were often open text voice of equality, and take the heroines of women's rejecting voices the marginalization and persecution and to advocate openness to the world, it owes a world governed by traditions and superstitions. Touched on topics of interest to women crossing of the suffering of Arab women that hurt of sexual oppression, spinsterhood, and the violence of the man, her novel represent a cry against feminist ideas of traditional and stereotypical suffered by mothers in the stillness and silence. Taken from the body axis of subjects and penetrated the depth of the social relations and psychological generated through it, but most of her novels are breaking taboos has boldly as high in the description of intimate relations. - The masculine power is considered as the strategic entrance to the persecution of feminist is the central authority and control over the oppressed in society and especially the Algerian society, especially as this was the authority is the authority of the Father. Did not denounce the authority of the Father, but long-pen authority of the husband and brother. Masculine authority is in the eyes of the writer is the authority racist dictatorship, they are calling for the lost harmony between the female and masculine power, they are rejecting the personality of the woman in Haramlik or Psychological tension which is necessary characters and suffering from spiritual unity in spite of the presence of the man, the husband. Then enter into a world of utopia to achieve what cannot be achieved on the ground. At the level of the language we note that it choose the language appropriate to the contents of that address Sometimes it tends to discipline and sometimes tend to slang, but it did not disturb the nerve, especially with male photographed moments of intimate relationships.

scholarly journals The Abolition of Sex/Gender Registration in the Age of Gender Self-Determination: An Interdisciplinary, Queer, Feminist and Human Rights Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter Cannoot ◽  
Mattias Decoster
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Gender Identity ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
The Body ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Gender Assignment ◽  
Cultural System ◽  
The Law ◽  
Proportionality Test

<p><br />It is commonly accepted that gender matters (whether cisgender, transgender/trans*, gender non-binary, genderfluid, gender queer, agender, or other) and many are raising awareness about the fact that gender always seems to matter. That gender matters, and always matters, does not necessarily mean, however, that gender needs to be authenticated or endorsed by the state.</p><p>In fact, based on a feminist and queer reading of human rights, this interdisciplinary article asserts that state-sponsored sex/gender assignment through the practice of sex/gender registration must halt. It argues that mandatory (binary) sex/gender registration disproportionately infringes the emerging right to gender identity autonomy and the right to the legal recognition thereof. Most often, our Western heterosexual cultural system of gender, which posits the existence of two oppositional and complementary gender identities, anchored in so-called natural and binary sex, goes hand in hand with material and discursive forms of violence and entails various forms of unequal power dynamics. Hegemonic in nature, the heterosexual cultural system of gender pervasively regulates many (if not every) aspects of all bodies’ lives and being, including by legal means. The law upholds and certifies that specific gender regime, inter alia, by assigning a sex to individuals at birth (through the registration of a claimed evident, objective, natural element to be found on or in the body by inspection). Policies of mandatory (binary) sex/gender registration therefore constitute the cornerstone of the legalisation of the heterosexual cultural system of gender, which produces not only the conventional feminine and masculine gender identity (i.e. women and men) but also sex (i.e. females and males).</p><p>This article suggests that, as long as the law refuses to go beyond the compulsory male/female (or even male/female/other) framework, it will be complicit in upholding the undesired consequences of the heterosexual cultural system of gender, which affect all persons of whatever gender or physical features. Therefore, undoing remaining forms of global gender injustice, as well as respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights relating to gender identity, requires the abolishment of sex/gender registration instead of expanding the available gender markers. Indeed, this article finds that current state practices do not pursue a legitimate aim, and even if they do, mandatory sex/gender registration does not pass the proportionality test that is required in the assessment of restrictions of fundamental rights. A human rights analysis of official sex/gender in the age of gender self-determination finds mandatory sex/gender registration to be a disproportionate measure and recommends that states change their current practices. Doing so would be beneficial to cisgender and trans* individuals alike.</p>

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