Gender and Sexuality in Physical Education and Health Curricula in Japan

This comparative study of gender messages in Japanese textbooks reveals a pattern of underlying sex discrimination as well as efforts at reform. There is a “hidden curriculum”—the presence of powerful, hegemonic messages that reinforce dominant social structural values of a gender binary—shaping the learning environment and sustaining structural inequalities. An effort to address the hidden curriculum of gender and sexuality biases in Japanese textbooks was published in 2020 through the National Elementary School Health textbooks and curriculum. This study analyzes existing gender messages permeating the explicit and hidden curriculum and reform efforts, employing mixed methods of content analysis and ethnographic observations.

U.S. Women’s Sport Consumption and Self-Identified Fandom: An Exploration of Social Structural and Sociocultural Antecedents

In this study, using data from the National Sports and Society Survey (N = 2853), we examine U.S. women’s reports of their sport consumption and self-identified sport fandom. Multiple regression analyses are used to assess associations between social structural and sociocultural antecedents of consumption and women’s frequencies of watching and following sport, frequencies of attending live sport events, and the amount of money that they spend to watch and follow sport. We then investigate the relationships between women’s sport consumption behaviors and their fandom. We find that women are common consumers of sport and their consumption is positively associated with their socioeconomic statuses, number of children, social relationships, sport participation experiences, and sport-related identities. We also find evidence that women’s sport consumption behaviors are only modestly associated with their levels of fandom. We conclude with reflections on what these results mean for better understanding and supporting women’s sport consumption and fandom.

U.S. Women's Sport Consumption and Self-Identified Fandom: An Exploration of Social Structural and Sociocultural Antecedents

In this study, using data from the National Sports and Society Survey (N = 2853), we examine U.S. women’s reports of their sport consumption and self-identified sport fandom. Multiple regression analyses are used to assess associations between social structural and sociocultural antecedents of consumption and women’s frequencies of watching and following sport, frequencies of attending live sport events, and the amount of money that they spend to watch and follow sport. We then investigate the relationships between women’s sport consumption behaviors and their fandom. We find that women are common consumers of sport and their consumption is positively associated with their socioeconomic statuses, number of children, social relationships, sport participation experiences, and sport-related identities. We also find evidence that women’s sport consumption behaviors are only modestly associated with their levels of fandom. We conclude with reflections on what these results mean for better understanding and supporting women’s sport consumption and fandom.

“I may be essential but someone has to look after my kids”: women physicians and COVID-19

Objectives This paper analyzes results from focus groups held with women physicians in British Columbia which explored questions around how gender norms and roles influenced their experiences during COVID-19. Methods Four virtual focus groups were organized between July and September 2020. Participants (n = 27) were voluntarily recruited. Data were analyzed using applied thematic analysis. Results In addition to the COVID-19-related changes experienced across the profession, women physicians faced distinct challenges related to an increase in unpaid care responsibilities, and often felt excluded from, and occasionally dismissed by, leadership. Women leaders often felt their contributions were unrecognized and undervalued. Participants drew strength from other women leaders, peer networks, and professional support, but these strategies were limited by unpaid care and emotional labour demands, which were identified as increasing risk of burnout. Discussion Even though women physicians hold a degree of relative privilege, unpaid care work and gender norms contribute to distinct secondary effects of COVID-19. Women physicians link these to pre-pandemic assumptions (within families and communities) that women would absorb care deficits at their own cost. Health system leadership continues to reflect a masculine normative experience wherein the personal and professional are separated, and which devalues the emotional labour often associated with feminine leadership. The strategies participants employed to address negative impacts, while demonstrating resourcefulness and peer support, reflect individualistic responses to social-structural challenges. There is a need for greater recognition of women’s contributions at home and work, increased representation in decision-making, and practical supports such as childcare and counselling.

Institutional Effects on Early Palliative Care among Mexican-Heritage Elders

This paper addresses Mexican-heritage older people’s experiences with early palliative care (EPC). EPC is the early provision of medical, social and spiritual reports to relieve suffering. Empirically, Mexican-heritage older people are known to have less access to EPC and, when they access it, to receive care of lower quality. However, little work has explored how Mexican-heritage older people think about and access such care. The paper addresses this gap. Methods are longitudinal: 36 Mexican-heritage people ranging in age from 55 to 90 years completed longitudinal semi-structured qualitative interviews, for a total of 69 interviews. Results explore how respondents’ participation in social institutions may mediate the effects of larger social structural constraints on their health and access to care.

COVID-19 Cases Among Facility-Staff by Neighbourhood of Residence and Social and Structural Determinants: An Observational Study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Disproportionate risks of COVID-19 in congregate settings including long-term care homes, retirement homes, and shelters both affect and are affected by SARS-CoV-2 infections among facility-staff. In cities across Canada, there has been a consistent trend of geographic clustering of COVID-19 cases. However, there remain limited data on how COVID-19 among facility-staff reflect urban neighbourhood disparities, particularly stratified by the social and structural determinants of community-level transmission. OBJECTIVE To compare the concentration of cumulative cases by geography and social/structural determinants across three mutually exclusive subgroups in the Greater Toronto Area (population 7.1 million): community, facility-staff, and healthcare workers (HCW) in other settings. METHODS We conducted a retrospective, observational study using surveillance data on laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases (January 23 to December 13, 2020; prior to vaccination roll-out). We derived neighbourhood-level social/structural determinants from census data, and generated Lorenz curves and Gini coefficients to visualize and quantify inequalities in cases. RESULTS The hardest-hit neighbourhoods (comprising 20% of the population) accounted for 53.4% of community cases, 48.6% of facility-staff cases, and 42.3% of other HCW cases. Compared with other HCW, cases in facility-staff more closely reflected the distribution of community cases. Cases in facility-staff reflected greater social and structural inequalities (larger Gini coefficients) than other HCW across all determinants. Facility-staff cases were also more likely than community cases to be concentrated in lower income neighbourhoods (Gini 0.24[0.15-0.38] vs 0.14[0.08-0.21] with lower household density (Gini 0.23[0.17-0.29] vs 0.17[0.12-0.22]) and with a greater proportion working in other essential services (Gini 0.29 [0.21-0.40], 0.22[0.17-0.28]). CONCLUSIONS COVID-19 cases among facility-staff largely reflects neighbourhood-level heterogeneity and disparities; even more so than cases in other HCW. Findings signal the importance of interventions prioritized and tailored to home geographies of facility-staff in addition to workplace measures, including prioritization and reach of vaccination at home (neighbourhood-level) and at work.