Disciplining women in Hong Kong: The discourse of ‘Kong girl’ in the media and daily life

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy K. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Young Females ◽  
The Media ◽  
Status Of Women

In the recent decades, ‘Kong girls’ has become a vogue term in the media as well as in daily conversations among youths in Hong Kong. The term, which is more of a negative slang form than a neutral short term of ‘Hong Kong girls’, egregiously refers to young women who supposedly embody Hong Kong values that are dominated by materialism. Thus, it would be interesting from a gendered perspective to tease out the ideological implications of the term: why does it refer universally to young females (all girls in Hong Kong) rather than those with/under specific conditions (such as those with princess syndrome or materialist mindsets)? This article examines the features of ‘Kong girls’ in a mass-media context and compares them with the findings of focus group discussions with local young informants. Although the media helped shape the images of Kong girls and form the stereotypes of the terminology in the society, the content analysis results show inconsistency and tensions with focus group findings. The Kong girl discourse in the media and daily life manifests anxieties and perplexity of young men in Hong Kong, who are facing the crisis of masculinity catalysed by the emerging status of women.

Striving against the ‘Nafs’

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-120
Author(s):  
Mulki Mohamed Al-Sharmani
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Islamic Tradition

I analyze how Somalis in Helsinki re-interpret religious norms on marriage in light of: 1) the challenges of socioeconomic hardships and marginalization in Finland; and 2) ethical principles in Islamic tradition that underlie religious rulings such as striving against the selfishness of the ‘nafs’ (self) and seeking spiritual advancement. I examine how norms on spousal roles and rights are contested and reinterpreted. I highlight how young women, in particular, foreground the ‘ethical' in their religious understandings of marriage norms. I explore if Veit Bader’s1 concept of ‘internal religious governance’ can analytically explain these processes. I draw on data from individual interviews and focus group discussions with women and men; and interviews with mosque imams and a clan elder.

scholarly journals Perception of vulnerability in young females’ experiences of oral sex: Findings from the focus group discussions

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1418643
Author(s):  
Elena Sovetkina ◽  
Marjorie Weiss ◽  
Bas Verplanken ◽  
Justin Hackett
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Oral Sex ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Young Females

Young Women's and Men's Different Worlds of Alcohol, Fear, and Violence in Focus Group Discussions with 18-Year-Olds in Stockholm

2006 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Abrahamson
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Young Men ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Other ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Street Violence

The purpose of the paper is to investigate how young women and men in focus group discussions reason about alcohol, street violence, fear of assault by a stranger, and to compare the different kinds of threats that young women and men present of what might happen when they are out at night and on their way home. The interviews are analysed from the point of view of the accounts the young people give for their feelings and behaviors. The young women's accounts are dominated by their answers to an implicit question of blame for how they ensure their security and which measures they have taken. What the young women are afraid of is rarely formulated explicitly. It is implicit and goes without much saying. On the other hand the accounts the young men are giving for their actions consist of answers to the implicit question of blame for violence they have been involved in and also of blame for fear of violence. The young men's picture of threat is concrete and consists of other young men of the same age. By their accounts they show that fear of violence is something that has to be given an explanation. The young men use intoxication both as an excuse for the violence they are using and as an explanation to why violence occurs.

scholarly journals Is fatigue a cue to obtain iron supplements in Odisha, India? A mixed methods investigation

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. e037471
Author(s):  
Hagere Yilma ◽  
Erica Sedlander ◽  
Rajiv N Rimal ◽  
Soumik Pattnaik
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Reproductive Age ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Card Sorting ◽  
Women Of Reproductive Age ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Perceptual Mapping

ObjectivesThis study aims to understand if fatigue, the main symptom of anaemia, is a health concern that cues women and their referent groups to obtain iron folic acid supplements.DesignThis is a mixed methods study that consisted of a cross-sectional perceptual mapping and card sorting activity along with 16 focus group discussions with women of reproductive age, mothers-in-law and men. Participants of the perceptual mapping and card sorting activity were asked to compare images of anaemia-related items and concepts. Participants in the focus group discussions were asked about their daily life, aspirations and concerns among women and perceptions of anaemia and iron supplementation in the community. The quantitative data were analysed through multidimensional scaling and analyses of variance in SPSS. The qualitative data were analysed through applied thematic analysis using NVivo.SettingBhubaneswar, Odisha, India.ParticipantsWomen of reproductive age (n=30), mothers-in-law (n=30) and married men (n=30) were randomly selected to participate in the perceptual mapping and card sorting exercise. A separate sample of each group was randomly selected for the focus group discussions (n=148).Primary and secondary outcome measuresWe collected perceptions of dissimilarity between anaemia-related items, including fatigue and medical items; the extent to which these items were perceived as important to health or likable; and qualitative information about gender norms.ResultsCognitive maps and card sorting revealed that fatigue was conceptualised distinctly from items related to medical treatment and that perceptions around fatigue’s importance to health were low. Women from the focus groups reported that fatigue is a regular part of their daily life.ConclusionOur results indicate that fatigue is currently not an adequate cue to seek treatment, perhaps due to the normalisation of fatigue as a part of women’s daily life.

scholarly journals The problematics of gender and power in Lumban traditional hand embroidery

Plaridel ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-201
Author(s):  
Kristine Kalaw-Adalla
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Intimate Connection ◽  
The Past ◽  
Gender And Power ◽  
Experiences Of Women

Embroidery provides meaningful discoveries through interactions and relations connected in the lived experiences of women hand embroiderers. A woman’s performance of her embroidery skills indicates the intimate connection of her womanhood, her daily life, and the kind of labor and effort she places upon it. Interviews, focus group discussions, and creative workshop reveal that social conditions from the past to the present, allow her to continuously construct her identity and negotiate her role in society. Embroidery has offered the women in this study an opportunity to create not only their identity as individuals but also as a community, and has helped them develop their capacities beyond realizing their womanhood. The presence of the problematics of gender and power is evident through the obvious contradictions of the empowered under disempowering conditions thus rendering their power and empowerment, symbolic.

Love in the time of ‘settling’: Forbidden knowledge and modern singles advice

2017 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian M. Groves ◽  
Annie Hau-nung Chan
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Feminist Criticism ◽  
Romantic Partners ◽  
Single Women ◽  
Television Show ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Popular Television

While there has been much feminist criticism over recent discourses that stigmatize single women, little is known about how women actually consume and respond to the advice prescribed in this discourse. This article addresses this shortcoming by looking at a controversy that emerged in Hong Kong over a popular television show that dispensed dating advice to single women. Based on focus group discussions about the show with 39 unwed women, we examine how women negotiate sexist modern dating advice in relation to their normative views about courtship. Using analogies drawn from the sociology of science, we argue that modern dating advice is constructed by our informants as forbidden knowledge, that is, knowledge that is considered too sensitive, dangerous or taboo to produce. By rendering the laws of attraction mysterious or unknowable, our informants continue to search for romantic partners, while bracketing the sexism that they encounter. The implications for agency and choice in this positioning are discussed.

scholarly journals Through the Lens of Chronic Kidney Disease: A Qualitative Study of the Experiences of Young Women Living With CKD

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 205435812094547
Author(s):  
Heather Beanlands ◽  
Elizabeth McCay ◽  
Sheryll Pahati ◽  
Michelle A. Hladunewich
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Kidney Disease ◽  
Kidney Disease ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions

Background: Young women may be particularly vulnerable to the negative psychosocial consequences of living with chronic kidney disease (CKD). To date, little is known about how women themselves experience and manage their illness. Objectives: This study explored the experiences of young women living with CKD. Design: Qualitative descriptive study. Setting: Nephrology program in an urban setting in Ontario, Canada. Participants: Women with category G1-3 glomerular-based CKD between 18 and 40 years of age. Methods: Focus group discussions guided by semi-structured interview questions. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze interview transcripts. Results: Eleven women participated in 3 separate focus group discussions. Participants described living life through the lens of CKD, which was the central theme unifying their experiences of encountering CKD, re-encountering CKD, and getting on with life. Life decisions significant to women like pursuing a career or motherhood were often colored by CKD, particularly by illness-related challenges, such as unsatisfactory health care support and the physical implications of chronic illness. The women used a variety of strategies including seeking information and relying on supportive people to mitigate these challenges. Although these strategies sometimes enabled them to balance the demands of illness with other life priorities, the lack of resources directed toward their unique needs as young women with CKD often caused them difficulties in managing their illness. Limitations: Participants were from one nephrology program in an urban setting and were well educated overall. Their experiences may not be reflective of young women in other settings or from diverse backgrounds. Conclusions: The women’s emotional well-being and life choices were considerably influenced by CKD. Although the women were often able to manage challenges associated with CKD, they acknowledged the need to seek additional professional resources to complement their own self-identified strategies. As the women sought out these supports, they identified gaps in resources specific to women with CKD. This article summarizes recommendations from their perspective. Trial Registration: Not applicable as this was a qualitative study.

scholarly journals Dangerous or political? Kenyan youth negotiating political agency in the age of ‘new terrorism’

2021 ◽  
pp. 175063522110284
Author(s):  
Miraji Hassan Mohamed
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Political Agency ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Violent Extremism ◽  
The Media ◽  
New Terrorism

This article examines how the online Kenyan press constructs ‘radicalization’ and how youth challenge these constructions. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) through NVivo, the author analyzed two corpora, one of news texts and the second composed of transcripts from two focus group discussions conducted with youth in Mombasa. The analysis shows the media persistently depoliticize youth by constructing them as a dangerous ‘Other’. In contrast, youth challenge this image by claiming political agency through (re)defining their identities using language and material practices. The construction of actors in discourses of radicalization highlights a specific understanding of radicalism and violence, and impacts framing of the Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism (P/CVE) agenda. The author concludes by showing the implications of the different constructions of youth identities and how youth legitimately enact agency within these bounds. This article raises crucial questions on the practices of meaning-making by individuals and media actors.

scholarly journals Role of media and the media hypes in the aftermath of mass casualty incidents a qualitative thematic content analysis

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehjabeen Musharraf ◽  
Ambreen Aslam ◽  
Lubna Baig
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Mass Casualty ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Thematic Content Analysis ◽  
Thematic Content ◽  
The Media ◽  
Depth Interviews

Objectives: To explore the role of media during mass casualty events and its impact on the people. Method: The qualitative thematic content analysis was conducted at Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi, from 2028 to 2020 and comprised semi-structured in-depth interviews and focus group discussions involving participants from the health sector and policymakers at the provincial level. Besides, frontline workers such as the ambulance drivers and the first-aid-givers were also included. Data was subjected to conventional content analysis to generate themes. Results: There were 5 in-depth interviews and 4 focus group discussions in the study. Qualitative analysis revealed that the media has a great deal to do in times of a disaster. The media is the strongest weapon and largely impacts people's mind and behaviour, but it has been playing with their emotions and creating unrest among them. Conclusion: There is a need for the policymakers to set guidelines and define the role of the media in times of a disaster. Key Words: Mass casualty, Media, Catastrophe.

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