The State of Sexual Health in the US South: Opportunities and Challenges

I utilize my situated position as anthropologist, academician, and citizen to argue not only that we should “think” California, but also that we should “rethink” our state—both its condition and its social cartography. To be clear, I see all my research and endeavors—my research on the US/Mexico border; my time among the markets and entrepreneurs I have worked and lived with; my focus on those places in which I was raised: Lemon Grove, Logan Heights; the family network and my community ethnographic work—as personal. I am in this academic game and the telling of our story because it is personal. When Lemon Grove was segregated, it was about my family; when Logan Heights was split by the construction of Interstate 5 and threatened by police surveillance, it was about our community; when the border was sanctioned and militarized it again was about the communities of which I am a part. A rethinking California is rooted in the experience of living California, of knowing and feeling the condition and the struggles we are experiencing and the crises we have gone through. We need to rethink California, especially the current failure of the state. This too is ultimately personal, because it affects each and every one of us, especially those historically unrepresented folks who have endured over the decades.

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Reinforcing and contesting neoliberal citizenship: Legal advocates and the asylum interview at the US–Mexico border

Journal of Refugee Studies ◽

10.1093/jrs/feaa066 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sara Riva ◽

Erin Routon

Keyword(s):

Humanitarian Aid ◽

The State ◽

Ethnographic Research ◽

Legal Representation ◽

The Us ◽

Mexico Border ◽

Us Mexico Border

Abstract This article explores the mechanisms in which, through the US family detention asylum process, neoliberal ideas of citizenship are reinforced and contested. Through ethnographic research, and using a Foucauldian lens, we take a closer look at the neoliberal processes involved within so-called family detention. Specifically, we focus on legal advocates who are helping detained women prepare for their legal interviews. This paper argues that humanitarian aid work becomes knowable through attention to microlevel details and forms of practice—on the ground and at the margins. This affords a recognition of not only areas of functional solidarity or symbiosis with the state, but also those less visible forms of contestation. We claim that while legal advocates play a role within the neoliberal regimes at work inside these centres, they also contest this system in various critical ways, ensuring both access to legal representation for all detainees and their eventual release.

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Sex in Late Life: Assessing Adults’ Expectations and the Role of Healthcare Professionals

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igaa057.1003 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 313-313

Author(s):

Jill Naar ◽

Raven Weaver ◽

Shelbie Turner

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Sexual Health ◽

Health Behaviors ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

Late Life ◽

Sexual History ◽

Growth Curve Models ◽

The Us ◽

Sexual Health Behaviors ◽

The Life Course

Abstract Sexual activity contributes to quality of life throughout the lifespan. However, stigma about sex in late life influences older adults’ perceptions and healthcare professionals’ perceptions of older adults’ sexual health/behaviors. Using a multi-methods approach, we examined attitudes and knowledge about sexual health/behaviors in late life. Using longitudinal data from the Midlife in the US Study (Wave 1-3; N=7049), we ran age-based growth curve models to analyze changes in levels of optimism about sex in their future. We also piloted a survey with healthcare professionals assessing attitudes, knowledge, and awareness of policy about sexual health/behaviors among older adults. Adults’ expectations became less optimistic with increased age (β = -0.1, SE = 0.003, p < .0001). Men were more optimistic than women at age 20 (p = 0.016), but men’s optimism decreased over the life course at a faster rate than did women’s (p < .0001), so that from ages 40-93, men were less optimistic than women. Among healthcare professionals (N=21), the majority indicated never or rarely asking their clients about sexual history or health/behaviors; however, they indicated some knowledge about issues relevant to older adults (e.g., safe-sex practices, sexual dysfunction). Few indicated awareness about policies related to sexual behavior among residents (i.e., issues of consent, STIs). Among adults, there is a need to address declining optimism for expectations about sex in late life. Health professionals are well-situated to raise awareness and normalize discussions about sexual health, thus countering negative stigma and contributing to increasing optimism for expectations to remain sexually active.

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The Social Aspects of Sexual Health: A Twitter-Based Analysis of Valentine’s Day Perception

Sexes ◽

10.3390/sexes2010004 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 50-59

Author(s):

Andrea Sansone ◽

Angelo Cignarelli ◽

Daniele Mollaioli ◽

Giacomo Ciocca ◽

Erika Limoncin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Sexual Behavior ◽

Sexual Health ◽

Ad Hoc ◽

Healthcare Research ◽

Social Aspects ◽

The Social ◽

The Us ◽

Valentine's Day ◽

The Uk

Sentiment analysis (SA) is a technique aimed at extracting opinions and sentiments through the analysis of text, often used in healthcare research to understand patients’ needs and interests. Data from social networks, such as Twitter, can provide useful insights on sexual behavior. We aimed to assess the perception of Valentine’s Day by performing SA on tweets we collected between 28 January and 13 February 2019. Analysis was done using ad hoc software. A total of 883,615 unique tweets containing the word “valentine” in their text were collected. Geo-localization was available for 48,918 tweets; most the tweets came from the US (36,889, 75.41%), the UK (2605, 5.33%) and Canada (1661, 3.4%). The number of tweets increased approaching February 14. “Love” was the most recurring word, appearing in 111,981 tweets, followed by “gift” (55,136), “special” (34,518) and “happy” (33,913). Overall, 7318 tweets mentioned “sex”: among these tweets, the most recurring words were “sexy” (2317 tweets), “love” (1394) and “gift” (679); words pertaining to intimacy and sexual activity, such as “lingerie”, “porn”, and “date” were less common. In conclusion, tweets about Valentine’s Day mostly focus on the emotions, or on the material aspect of the celebration, and the sexual aspect of Valentine’s Day is rarely mentioned.

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