10. Here Comes Spiderman, the Arachnophobian: Halloween and Constructions of Gender

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Nemec
Keyword(s):  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Visual Representation ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Gender Stereotyping ◽  
Media Culture ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Social Constructions ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Fantasy World

Holidays are celebrations, symbolism, and cultural traditions combined. Halloween allows for individuals, for one night a year, to transform themselves and enter a fantasy world (Kugelmass, 1994). However, upon further critical examination, this rhetoric of Halloween as a harmless, imaginative, and liberating experience undermines the critical reflection of the negative impact of many of the Halloween traditions. The Halloween ritual perpetuates social constructions of gender, which reflects society’s gender inequality and heteronormativity. During Halloween celebration, exaggerated gender stereotyping is acceptable and is thus reinforcing these norms without critical examination. Themes, paraphernalia, rituals, and costumes, under labels such as ‘Halloween’, ‘tradition’, or ‘holiday’ are symbolic and hold much power. This research seeks to deconstruct these meanings in order to argue the effects they have on the reproduction of gender norms and stereotypes as well as heteronormativity. Halloween has a lot to do with visual representation. Often, this visual representation during Halloween celebration “…reproduces and reiterates more conventional messages about gender (Nelson, 2000). In the process of ‘celebration’, these messages about gender are given the opportunity to manifest themselves. Rarely do those partaking in these rituals critically examine the broader implications to gender stereotyping and inequality as well as heteronormativity and homophobia. Areas of study that will be discussed in the process of arguing these statements include gender (norms, roles, stereotypes, deviance, and sexuality), media, culture, consumerism, fashion, celebrations, and rituals.

MEDIA SOCIALIZATION OF PERSONALITY IN THE CONTEXT OF INMUTATION IN THE MASS MEDIA

2021 ◽  
pp. 104-109
Author(s):  
Chernysh O.O.
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Effective Interaction ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Media Culture ◽  
Active Growth ◽  
Media Space ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Individual

The urgency of the researched problem is connected with the growing role of mass media in modern conditions leads to change of values and transformation of identity of the person. The active growth of the role of the media, their influence on the formation and development of personality leads to the concept of “media socialization” and immutation in the media. The aim of the study is to outline the possibilities of the process of media socialization in the context of immutation in the media. The methods of our research are: analysis of pedagogical, psychological, literature, synthesis, comparison, generalization. The article analyzes the views of domestic and foreign scientists on the problem of immutation in the media and the transformation of the information space. In the context of the mass nature of the immutation of society, the concept of “media socialization” becomes relevant, which is the basis for reducing the negative impact of the media on the individual.The author identifies the lack of a thorough study of the concept of “media socialization” in modern scientific thought. Thus, media socialization is associated with the transformation of traditional means of socialization, and is to assimilate and reproduce the social experience of mankind with the help of new media.The article analyzes the essence of the concepts “media space”, “mass media” and “immutation”. The influence of mass media on the formation and development of the modern personality is described in detail.The study concluded that it is necessary to form a media culture of the individual, to establish safe and effective interaction of young people with the modern media system, the formation of media awareness, media literacy and media competence in accordance with age and individual characteristics for successful media socialization. The role of state bodies in solving the problem of media socialization of the individual was also determined. It is determined that the process of formation of media culture in youth should take place at the level of traditional institutions of socialization of the individual.The author sees the prospect of further research in a detailed analysis and study of the potential of educational institutions as an institution and a means of counteracting the mass nature of the immutation of society.Key words: immutation, media socialization, mass media, media space, information.

A New Kind of Monster, Cowboy, and Crusader?

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-63
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Al-Jbouri ◽  
Shauna Pomerantz
Keyword(s):  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Male Characters ◽  
New Man ◽  
Gender Neutrality

Representations of boys and men in Disney films often escape notice due to presumed gender neutrality. Considering this omission, we explore masculinities in films from Disney’s lucrative subsidiary Pixar to determine how masculinities are represented and have and/or have not disrupted dominant gender norms as constructed for young boys’ viewership. Using Raewyn Connell’s theory of gender hegemony and related critiques, we suggest that while Pixar films strive to provide their male characters with a feminist spin, they also continue to reify hegemonic masculinities through sharp contrasts to femininities and by privileging heterosexuality. Using a feminist textual analysis that includes the Toy Story franchise, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Coco, we suggest that Pixar films, while offering audiences a “new man,” continue to reinforce hegemonic masculinities in subtle ways that require critical examination to move from presumed gender neutrality to an understanding of continued, though shifting, gender hegemony.

scholarly journals Gender Inequalities Among Adults and Children: Exposure to Migration and the Evolution of Social Norms in Albania

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia Mangiavacchi ◽  
Luca Piccoli
Keyword(s):  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Equal Treatment ◽  
Gender Attitudes ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Children Exposure ◽  
Consumption Model ◽  
Intrahousehold Distribution

AbstractThis paper studies the distribution of resources within Albanian families in 2012 using a collective consumption model with two alternative specifications: the first enables the estimation of the intrahousehold distribution of resources among male adults, female adults and children; the second extends the analysis to girls and boys. In line with previous evidence on gender inequality in Albania, the results show that the female share of resources is substantially lower with respect to the male share, and that sons receive a larger share of resources than daughters. Considering that Albania experienced massive migration and return of young men in the 20 years before the survey, we further analyze the potential migration-induced transfer of gender norms. We find that the time spent abroad by the husband of the main couple has little influence on woman’s relative position within the households, however it does seem to favor a more equal treatment between daughters and sons. This result suggests that gender norms are more persistent in adult couples, however gender attitudes towards offspring are more elastic to social change.

scholarly journals Reaching Men: Addressing the Blind Spot in the HIV Response

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (SP1) ◽  
pp. e57-e70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Pascoe ◽  
Dean Peacock ◽  
Lara Stemple
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Blind Spot ◽  
International Policy ◽  
Hiv Services ◽  
Immunodeficiency Virus ◽  
Delivery Strategies ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Related Mortality

Globally, men are less likely than women to access human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing, treatment, and care, and consequently experience disproportionate HIV-related mortality. To address men's underutilization of HIV services, efforts are needed on two fronts: challenging the regressive gender norms that discourage men from seeking health services, and developing improved health system policies, programs, and service delivery strategies to ensure better provision of HIV services to men. It has long been understood that harmful gender norms make women vulnerable to HIV, and this understanding should expand to include the way these norms also put men at risk. This paper presents the data concerning men and HIV, explores the impact of gender norms, examines national and international policy developments, and chronicles the evolution of men’s place in the HIV response. It does so in part by tracing the efforts of Sonke Gender Justice, a South African NGO working across Africa, as it promotes the engagement of men in the fight against the dual epidemics of gender inequality and HIV.

Disparity between Boys and Girls

2016 ◽  
pp. 157-174
Author(s):  
Afsana Islam
Keyword(s):  
Research Methods ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
Gender Stereotyping ◽  
Influential Factor ◽  
Dhaka City ◽  
Quantitative Research Methods ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Masculinity And Femininity

Gender inequality is the most eminent issue that happens to women in many ways. Perceiving gender inequality and discriminatory treatment towards women has inspired and derived to do this study. The objectives of this study were to examine the interrelation between and among gender inequality, gender stereotyping, perception - support of parents and teachers for girls' sports in the secondary level academic institutions in Dhaka city, Bangladesh. Both qualitative and quantitative research methods have been implied in conducting this study. Findings are such that the socio-bio- cultural constrains influence the facilities, perceptions and participation of girls in sports. Education so as Sports is powerful agents of socialization and plays influential roles in the construction of masculinity and femininity also an influential factor of empowerment.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Sarah Sobieraj
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Behavior ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Women Of Color ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Substantive Issue ◽  
Women's Voice ◽  
The Way

Women who participate in public discussions about social and political issues are often confronted with a barrage of vicious digital attacks. The abuse is a form of patterned resistance to women’s voice and visibility, as evinced by the way gender is weaponized as the central grounds for condemnation. Attacks are riddled with gendered epithets and stereotypes, and they perseverate on women’s physical appearance and presumed sexual behavior; also, the generic nature of the abuse features nearly interchangeable misogyny rather than taking substantive issue with any particular woman. Women who challenge social hierarchies face the most intense pushback, particularly those speaking in or about male-dominated fields, those perceived as feminist or otherwise noncompliant to gender norms, and those with multiple marginalized identities (e.g., women of color, LBTQ women, etc.). This often-unrecognized form of gender inequality constrains women’s use of digital public spaces, much in the way the pervasive threat of sexual intimidation and violence constrains women’s use of physical public spaces.

Financial Inclusion and Gender Inequality Reduction: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 67 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 367-372
Author(s):  
Sylvester Ohiomu ◽  
Evelyn Nwamaka Ogbeide-Osaretin
Keyword(s):  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Financial Services ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Estimation Method ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact

Reduced inequality and gender equality are parts of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) towards global development, but the financial sector appears daunted in respect of financial inclusion for these noble goals. Concerns are more on gender inequality in the area of full utilisation of financial and human resources. Hence, this study investigated the impact of financial inclusion on gender inequality in sub-Saharan Africa. The study employed the generalised method of moments (GMM) estimation method on panel data on some countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The result of the study revealed that financial inclusion substantially reduced gender inequality. Financial inclusion access was found to drive down gender inequality more than usage. Female educational levels were found to have a substantial but negative impact on gender inequality. This study recommends that there is a need for an increase in commercial bank branches to increase accessibility to financial services. The government should increase its expenditure, and this should be channelled towards financial development and higher levels of education for females to improve financial literacy.

Human Nature in International Relations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Jacobi
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Human Nature ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Political Anthropology ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Starting Point

“Human nature” is not a notion that has originated from theories of world politics. On the contrary, it represents one of the oldest points of reference in various cultural traditions of thought. An aspect, however, that makes the current status of the human in international relations (IR) interesting is the fact that since the 1980s, the discipline has undergone a rigorous and critical examination of its core terminologies. Above all, this effort has led scholars to become aware of the concurrent appropriations of their terms: once as scientific concepts and once as ontological facts. However, while various aspects of the human have always found their way into the theorization of world politics, so far the actual impact of the equally diverse “models of man” on the latter has hardly been subjected to systematic consideration. Observing “human nature” not only as a “naturally given fact” but also as an observational concept connects IR with the broader literatures on how the (political) world may be interpreted and analyzed. The proposition to begin a reappraisal of “human nature’s” framing effects on the basis of the distinction of anthropological and post-anthropological approaches (Human Beings in International Relations. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2015) calls upon IR scholars to appreciate what happens when they study world politics through a lens that either places the human at the center of its observations or one that opts to decenter it to different extents. A reflection on the distinction of an international political anthropology and an international political post-anthropology as a starting point for theory building then not only draws attention to what is included and excluded in regard to the human when studying world politics. It moreover exposes how different views on the (post)human come to shape different theoretical architectures. What is more, it also reveals that such foundations do not run parallel to the classical IR heuristic of distinct paradigms. A closer look at their post-human foundations then shows how much these schools of thought, once conceived as highly coherent, have now been differentiated internally. The said absence of a systematic debate on the status of the human in the IR theories also poses a challenge to this article. Not only is the human still rarely reflected upon as a theoretical core concept; at the same time, parallel debates exist that are guided less by theoretical frameworks but rather by the problems that arise from specific ideas about the post-human. In this sense, this article also pursues a dual strategy: on the one hand, the listing either of obvious or subtle uses of post-human views by various theoretical traditions, and on the other hand, the identification of specific core problems that have formed in the wake of specific angles on the post-human. Since inquiries into the post-human also include an intersection of IR theories with other scientific literatures, the article also features text references that will help readers find their way into the state of the art of those important adjacent debates.

The tradeoffs of using female suicide bombers

2020 ◽  
pp. 073889422094850
Author(s):  
Michael J. Soules
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Curvilinear Relationship ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
Suicide Bombers ◽  
Female Suicide ◽  
Security Personnel ◽  
Suicide Attacks ◽  
Using Data

Why are there so few female suicide bombers despite their tactical effectiveness? To explain the rarity of this phenomenon, I examine the tradeoffs that armed groups face when using female suicide bombers. While rigid gender norms make female bombers more effective because security personnel are less suspicious of them, gender inequality also drives down the demand for female suicide bombers. I posit that the tradeoffs of using female bombers induce a curvilinear relationship between women’s status and the prevalence of female suicide bombers. Specifically, I argue that female bombers will be more common in countries with middling levels of gender equality than in highly equal or unequal societies. Using data on over 5,500 suicide attacks, from 1974 to 2016, I find support for this hypothesis.

scholarly journals Problematizing the Postfeminist Gaze: A Critical Exploration of Young Women’s Readings of Gendered Power Relations in Advertising

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 546-562
Author(s):  
Alexandra Serra Rome ◽  
Stephanie O’Donohoe ◽  
Susan Dunnett
Keyword(s):  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Lived Experiences ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Media Culture ◽  
The Past ◽  
Critical Exploration ◽  
Gendered Power ◽  
Women As Readers ◽  
Blind Spots

This article explores young women’s engagements with gendered power relations embedded in advertising. Drawing on four case studies, we demonstrate how their readings of gendered ads are informed by postfeminist discourse, which, for all its contradictions, presents gender inequality as a thing of the past. Specifically, we illustrate and theorize the problematic workings of a postfeminist gaze directed at both models in ads and young women as readers of ads, with judgements shaped by postfeminist ideals and blind spots concerning intersections of gender, class, and race. We contribute to macromarketing scholarship by (1) illustrating how, in the context of gendered ads and young American women, gendered power relations and a postfeminist sensibility are both produced by and productive of gendered readers; and (2) highlighting the insidious nature and limitations of this sensibility informing young women’s lived experiences, engagements with media culture, and position in society.

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