The Prevalence of Bacterial Vaginosis in the United States, 2001???2004; Associations With Symptoms, Sexual Behaviors, and Reproductive Health

In the midst of extreme and dualistic religio-political debates regarding women’s sexual wellness and abortion, one begins to wonder what a new theo-ethical approach might look like which rejects overly-simplistic, harmful understandings of such crucial issues. What might it look like to truly centre women’s full human experiences, loving each other in a way that addresses harm and meets tangible needs? This article examines the complex inequitable structural and institutional realities of sexual wellness and abortion through an intersectional theo-ethical lens. The article then proceeds to suggest a new socio-religio-political ‘Pro-Love’ philosophy, undergirded by foundational theological understandings of justice-oriented love, and situated within the broad fields of Feminist, Liberation, Process, and Queer Theologies, within the Christian tradition. The suggested approach requires systematically addressing root issues affecting the lack of equitable access to sexual wellness and the racist/sexist/classist structures forcing women into under-resourced and unsafe environments, leading to high demand for abortion services.

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Gangs, Drug Use, and Drug Selling in the United States

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.013.443 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Bill Sanders

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Drug Use ◽

Sexual Behaviors ◽

The United States ◽

Gang Membership ◽

Drug Misuse ◽

Gang Members ◽

Crystal Methamphetamine ◽

Polysubstance Use ◽

Drug Selling

Gangs and drugs are two major criminological issues that come together in the United States. On the one hand, gang members use more drugs than non-gang youth, so much so that gang membership itself is an indicator that an individual will have a significant drug use profile. Compared with non-gang youth, gang members also begin to use drugs at earlier ages, use a greater variety of drugs, use them with greater frequency, and participate in other risk behaviors (e.g., violence, unsafe sexual behaviors) while intoxicated. Alcohol and marijuana feature prominently within the drug use repertoires of gang members, and the latter is considered normalized within gang cultures. Gang members also use other “hard” drugs, such as crystal methamphetamine, crack cocaine, and heroin, despite the fact that the use of such drugs is stigmatized among them. Gang membership is also characterized by polysubstance use—the simultaneous or sequential use of a variety of drugs, as well as nonmedical prescription drug misuse. As a result, gang members are at great risk of many negative social and health consequences related to drug use. On the other hand, gang members sell drugs. A wealth of academic data contradicts the legal and public perceptions about this relationship. First, a commonly held view is that gangs control a majority of the sales of illegal drugs within any one area. However, this clashes with research specifically on gangs, which reveals that few members within any one gang sell drugs and that few gangs are specifically focused on selling drugs. Another area where academic research conflicts with widely held perceptions is the idea that drug selling is a lucrative endeavor for gang members. While the public and law enforcement agencies may believe gang members are making significant amounts of money selling drugs, research indicates that the majority of gang members who do sell drugs do not appear to earn significantly more money than they could earn working the same number of hours at a job paying minimum wage. Such findings further argue that such amounts hardly seem worth the risk given the large numbers of gang members killed or imprisoned in relation to selling drugs.

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HIV RISK PERCEPTION AND SEXUAL BEHAVIORS IN A SAMPLE OF LESBIANS AND BISEXUAL WOMEN ACROSS THE UNITED STATES: DIRECTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH AND INNOVATIVE EDUCATION EFFORTS

ICERI2017 Proceedings ◽

10.21125/iceri.2017.1840 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Robin Jacobs ◽

Elliot Sklar ◽

Michael Kane

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Risk Perception ◽

Hiv Risk ◽

Sexual Behaviors ◽

The United States ◽

Future Research ◽

Bisexual Women ◽

Hiv Risk Perception ◽

And Bisexual ◽

Innovative Education

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LGBTQ Issues and US Foreign Relations

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of American History ◽

10.1093/acrefore/9780199329175.013.380 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Phil Tiemeyer

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Foreign Policy ◽

19Th Century ◽

Sexual Behaviors ◽

Foreign Relations ◽

Gender Diversity ◽

The United States ◽

Late 19Th Century ◽

And Gender ◽

The Impact

The impact of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) issues on U.S. foreign relations is an understudied area, and only a handful of historians have addressed these issues in articles and books. Encounters with unexpected and condemnable (to European eyes) sexual behaviors and gender comportment arose from the first European forays into North America. As such, subduing heterodox sexual and gender expression has always been part of the colonizing endeavor in the so-called New World, tied in with the mission of civilizing and Christianizing the indigenous peoples that was so central to the forging of the United States and pressing its territorial expansion across the continent. These same impulses accompanied the further U.S. accumulation of territory across the Pacific and the Caribbean in the late 19th century, and they persisted even longer and further afield in its citizens’ missionary endeavors across the globe. During the 20th century, as the state’s foreign policy apparatus grew in size and scope, so too did the notions of homosexuality and transgender identity solidify as widely recognizable identity categories in the United States. Thus, it is during the 20th and 21st centuries, with ever greater intensity as the decades progressed, that one finds important influences of homosexuality and gender diversity on U.S. foreign policy: in immigration policies dating back to the late 19th century, in the Lavender Scare that plagued the State Department during the Truman and Eisenhower presidencies, in more contemporary battles between religious conservatives and queer rights activists that have at times been exported to other countries, and in the increasing intersections of LGBTQ rights issues and the War on Terror that has been waged primarily in the Middle East since September 11, 2001.

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“Effective Disembodiment:” Female Patienthood and Reproductive Health in Elisa Albert’s After Birth and Pamela Erens’s Eleven Hours

Contemporary Women s Writing ◽

10.1093/cww/vpz005 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 34-52

Author(s):

Haleigh R Williams

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Reproductive Health ◽

Female Patient ◽

Clinical Setting ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

The United States ◽

Pregnancy And Childbirth ◽

Fictional Narratives ◽

The Status ◽

Shed Light

Abstract Historically, female patienthood has been defined by an expectation of passivity and the concession of bodily autonomy. After Birth by Elisa Albert (2015) and Eleven Hours by Pamela Erens (2016) shed light on the status of the modern female patient through the lens of her treatment throughout the process of childbirth in a clinical setting. The increasing medicalization of pregnancy and childbirth in the United States has added a compelling layer to the existing tension between women and the institution of medicine. Positioning these texts in conversation with the treatment of women at the hands of healthcare workers allows us to contextualize the fictional narratives, which themselves offer a dialectal framework to facilitate our understanding of female patienthood.

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A qualitative study of factors influencing male participation in fertility research

Reproductive Health ◽

10.1186/s12978-020-01046-y ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Alyssa F. Harlow ◽

Amy Zheng ◽

John Nordberg ◽

Elizabeth E. Hatch ◽

Sam Ransbotham ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Focus Group ◽

Reproductive Health ◽

Qualitative Study ◽

The United States ◽

Male Partners ◽

Men And Women ◽

Male Participation ◽

Depth Interviews ◽

Male Factors

Abstract Background Although fertility is a couple-based outcome, fertility studies typically include far fewer males than females. We know little about which factors facilitate or inhibit male participation in fertility research. In this study we aimed to explore factors that influence male participation in fertility research among North American couples trying to conceive. Methods We conducted a qualitative research study of male participation in Pregnancy Study Online (PRESTO), a prospective preconception cohort of couples actively trying to conceive in Canada and the United States. Between January–August 2019, we carried out 14 online one-on-one in-depth interviews and one online focus group of males and females with varying levels of participation. The in-depth interviews included females who enrolled in PRESTO but declined to invite their male partners to participate (n = 4), males who enrolled in PRESTO (n = 6), and males who declined to participate in PRESTO (n = 4). The focus group included 10 males who enrolled in PRESTO. We analyzed the transcriptions using inductive content analysis. Results Male and female participants perceived that fertility is a women’s health issue and is a difficult topic for men to discuss. Men expressed fears of infertility tied to masculinity. However, men were motivated to participate in fertility research to support their partners, provide data that could help others, and to learn more about their own reproductive health. Conclusions Male participation in fertility studies will improve our understanding of male factors contributing to fertility and reproductive health issues. Results indicate a need for more education and health communication on male fertility to normalize male participation in fertility and reproductive health research. Plain English Summary Men are much less likely than women to participate in research on fertility and pregnancy. However, it is important for men to participate in fertility research so that we gain a better understanding of male factors that impact fertility and pregnancy outcomes. In this qualitative study, we interviewed men and women from Canada and the United States who were trying to become pregnant to understand why men choose to participate in fertility research, why men choose not to participate in fertility research, and why women choose not to invite their male partners to participate in fertility research. We found that both men and women believe fertility is a woman’s health issue. Men find it difficult to talk about pregnancy and fertility and have fears of infertility tied to masculinity. However, men are motivated to participate in fertility research to support their partners, to help others, and to learn more about their own reproductive health.

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