Marginalized Communities are Underrepresented as Creative Contributors

We investigate the socially inferred gender and racial/ethnic identities of influential creative artists in four domains. Women make up 51% of the U.S. population but are underrepresented in contemporary art (28%), fashion (45%), box office film (27%), and popular music (17%). Marginalized racial/ethnic groups make up 39% of the U.S. population yet comprise approximately half that figure in contemporary art (22%), fashion (22%), and film (19%). Black musical artists have higher representation (48%), though higher representation does not equate with equity and inclusion. As for intersectional identity, white men are overrepresented in all four domains by factors ranging from 1.4 to 2 as compared to the U.S. population, and most other gender-racial/ethnic groups are further minoritized. Our study is the first comprehensive, comparative, empirical look at intersectional identity across creative fields. The exclusion of marginalized individuals, including those who are women, American Indian / Alaska Native, Asian, Black, Latinx, and Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander, is severe. The lack of self-expressed demographic data is a challenge, as is the erasure of certain identity groups from the American Community Survey, including agender, gender noncomforming, nonbinary, and transgender individuals. These are challenges that, if addressed, would enhance our collective understanding of diversity in creative fields. Efforts taken by executives, influencers, and other power brokers to make creative fields more diverse, equitable, and inclusive would amplify the many well-documented benefits of art to individuals and to society.

Who Is Who in the Teaching of Sex Education? A Lesson Learned from the 'Safuu' Oromo Tradition of East Africa

The 2020 National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) data show that there are a total of 130,930 k-12 public schools in the United States of America (U.S.A), serving approximately 48.1 million students. The demographic breakdown of the student population includes 22 million (45.7%) Whites; 13. Million (32 %) Hispanic; 17.2 million (14%) African American; 2.6 million (5.4%) Asian, 2.2 million (4.6%) students two or more races; and 0.4 million (0.8%) American Indian/ Alaska Native students. Adding sex education to the public school curriculum was primarily to make elementary and secondary school students aware of sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy. Although comprehensive sexuality education has been operational in all 50 states for decades, the program's quality and comprehensiveness vary considerably from state to state due to a series of obstacles. The author of this article proposes an alternative or at least supplemental approach to the current comprehensive sex education.

Sharp Increases in Drug Overdose Deaths Among High-School-Age Adolescents During the US COVID-19 Epidemic and Illicit Fentanyl Crisis

Although overdose deaths in the US have increased exponentially for the past four decades, these shifts have historically affected adults, while pediatric overdose rates remained stable. However, this may be changing, given that the illicit drug supply has become increasingly hazardous in recent years, as illicitly-manufactured-fentanyls (IMFs) and other synthetic opioid and benzodiazepine analogues are increasingly sold as heroin and counterfeit prescription pills. We calculated drug overdose deaths per 100,000 population by 5-year age groups for the 2010-2021 period. For high-school-aged adolescents (age 14-18), we stratified rates by race/ethnicity, census region, associated substance, and ICD-10 cause-of-death intent categories. Adolescent overdose mortality saw a sharp increase between 2019 and 2020, from 2.35 per 100,000 to 4.58 per 100,000, representing a 94.3% increase, the largest percent increase of any 5-year age group. American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) adolescents, Latinx adolescents, and adolescents in the West census region were disproportionately affected, overdose death rates 2.15, 1.31, and 1.68 times the national average in 2021, respectively. Trends were driven by fatalities involving IMFs, which nearly tripled from 2019 to 2020, and represented 76.6% of adolescent overdose deaths in 2021. Sharp increases in adolescent drug overdose deaths, despite flat or declining drug use rates, and no increase in deaths from alcohol or most drugs, reinforce that rising fatalities are likely driven by an increasingly toxic, IMF-contaminated drug supply. Rising racial disparities in overdose require a prevention approach that ameliorates deep-seated social and economic inequalities as well as poor access to mental and physical healthcare and social services for AIAN and Latinx adolescents. Our results should also be understood in the context of rising rates of adolescent mental illness during the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings highlight the urgent need for accurate, harm-reduction-oriented education for early adolescents about the risks of an evolving drug supply, as well as greater access to naloxone and services that check drugs for the presence of IMFs.

Severe Maternal Morbidity among Women in the U. S. Military, 2003–2015

Objective This study aimed to assess trends and correlates of severe maternal morbidity at delivery among active duty women in the U.S. military, all of whom are guaranteed health care and full employment. Study Design Linked military personnel and medical encounter data from the Department of Defense Birth and Infant Health Research program were used to identify a cohort of delivery hospitalizations among active duty military women from January 2003 through August 2015. Cases of severe maternal morbidity were identified by applying 21- and 20-condition algorithms (with and without blood transfusion) developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rates (per 10,000 delivery hospitalizations) were reported overall and by specific condition. Multivariable Poisson regression models estimated associations with demographic, clinical, and military characteristics. Results Overall, 187,063 hospitalizations for live births were included for analyses. The overall 21- and 20-condition severe maternal morbidity rates were 111.7 (n = 2089) and 37.4 (n = 699) per 10,000 delivery hospitalizations, respectively. The 21-condition rate increased by 184% from 2003 to 2015; the 20-condition rate increased by 40%. Compared with non-Hispanic White women, the adjusted 21-condition rate of severe maternal morbidity was higher for Hispanic (adjusted rate ratio [aRR] = 1.28, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.13–1.46), non-Hispanic Black (aRR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.21–1.49), Asian/Pacific Islander (aRR = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.13–1.61), and American Indian/Alaska Native (aRR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.06–1.82) women. Rates also varied by age, clinical factors, and deployment history. Conclusion Active duty U.S. military women experienced an increase in severe maternal morbidity from 2003 to 2015 that followed national trends, despite protective factors such as stable employment and universal health care. Similar to other populations, military women of color were at higher risk for severe maternal morbidity relative to non-Hispanic White military women. Continued surveillance and further investigation into maternal health outcomes are critical for identifying areas of improvement in the Military Health System. Key Points