Dancing in a culture of disordered eating: A feminist poststructural analysis of body and body image among young girls in the world of dance

Eating disorders among adolescent girls are a public health concern. Adolescent girls that participate in aesthetic sport, such as dance, are of particular concern as they experience the highest rates of clinical eating disorders. The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of young girls in the world of competitive dance and examine how these experiences shape their relationship with the body; feminist poststructural discourse analysis was employed to critically explore this relationship. Interviews were conducted across Canada with twelve young girls in competitive dance (14–18 years of age) to better understand how the dominant discourses in the world of competitive dance constitute the beliefs, values and practices about body and body image. Environment, parents, coaches, and peers emerged as the largest influencers in shaping the young dancers’ relationship with their body. These influencers were found to generate and perpetuate body image discourses that reinforce the ideal dancer’s body and negative body image.

Child bride, a story that never ends: A look at experiences of Iranian women

Child marriage is one of the issues that deprive many young girls of their basic rights and lives. The present study aimed to explore Iranian child brides’ experiences of the consequences of early marriage. The participants were women living in Tehran who had married at the age of 14–18 years. The analysis of the participants’ experiences revealed four main themes, including ‘underlying causes of early marriages’, ‘concerns and negative feelings’, ‘exposure to violence’, and ‘consequences of early marriages’. Awareness of these challenges can provide useful insights to be used by social workers and policymakers to further support these women.

Feminism and the Politics of Resilience: Essays on Gender, Media and the End of Welfare

Encouraging women to work has revealed the relationships between neoliberalism and gender. Neoliberalism, which is based on high performance, has also reflected this feature on the female body. Women, who are constantly asked to be hardworking both at home and at work, have also been exposed to the emphasis on having a fit body seen in women's magazines. This emphasis on success is more for the middle class. While this situation created a competitive environment with women in the lower classes, it negatively affected the psychology of young girls. Therefore, the relationship between neoliberalism and feminism leads to new discussions on the issue of gender equality.

Comparing Advanced with Basic Telerehabilitation Technologies for Patients with Rett Syndrome—A Pilot Study on Behavioral Parameters

The aim of this study is to compare the performances of patients with Rett syndrome that were undergoing advanced telerehabilitation (ATR) and patients that were undergoing basic telerehabilitation (BTR). It was hypothesized that patients that were undergoing ATR training would have better improvement in nearly all the motor and cognitive scale scoring activities that were administered, thus showing reduced disability. A total of 20 young girls and women with a diagnosis of RTT, ranging from age 4 to 31 years old (Median: 12.50; IQR: 9.50–17.25) underwent a pre-test, treatment post-test 1, treatment, and post-test 2 procedure. The treatment consisted of either ATR or BTR, lasting 10 weeks with three sessions a week of about an hour. The results showed that the group with advanced telerehabilitation improved their performance better than the control group only in some neuropsychological measurements. The results are discussed in the light of critical factors of telerehabilitation.

Informing Young Girls about the Risk of HPV Infection in Developing Cervical Cancer and Preventing

This study aims to provide detailed information about HPV as a widespread sexually transmitted infection, which is considered one of the most important factors in the occurrence of cervical cancer in young girls,emphasizing the connection between infection.Participants were 126 randomly choosed young girls at the master's level student at Sport University of Tirana.Date were collected using a questionnaire investigating risk factors as well as knowledge on this sexually transmitted infection of HPV where through a descriptive and informative letter which was distributed to all girls participating in this study.From this study it was observed that a significant number of them were aware of the virus and ways of transmission 81 girls (64.28%),of which 22 girls (17.46%) had in hearing that it was a sexually transmitted virus, 11 girls (8.73%) had read that this virus could cause cervical cancer, 9 (7.14%) of whom had heard of an HPV-related vaccine,while 3 of them (2.39) refused to complete this questionnaire.From the data collected in this study it was noticed that information and awareness campaigns should be carried out immediately for this age group as the most at risk in relation to sexually transmitted infections and in particular HPV,enabling in this form the ability to care more specifically for their health thus preventing very dangerous pathologies such as cervical cancer.However for this aspiration to be realized,in practice requires a greater understanding on the part of these young girls of the natural history of early HPV infection and its role in creating cervical epithelial abnormalities.

The Portrayal of Hegemony and Patriarchy in Louise O’ Neill’s Only Ever Yours

This study analyzes patriarchal hegemony portrayed in a dystopian world where young girls are hegemonized to fulfill patriarchal interests written by Louise O’ Neill, Only Ever Yours. As a counter to utopian writing, dystopian literature emerged as a subgenre of speculative fiction. The objectives of this study are to elucidate the kinds of patriarchal structures and media operated in portraying patriarchal hegemony in the novel. This study employs Antonio Gramsci’s hegemony theory along with the concept of patriarchy by Sylvia Walby. This study is literary criticism as the researcher interprets and analyzes the literary work. It employs a sociological approach for the analysis and Sylvia Walby’s six structures of patriarchy theory along with Gramsci’s theory. The data are taken from the words, phrases, and sentences in Only Ever Yours published in 2015. The researcher took the data by identifying, classifying and analyzing the data by elucidating the data with the theories. The result of this study shows that there are three patriarchal structures portrayed in the novel which are patriarchal mode of production, patriarchal state, and patriarchal culture. On the other hand, patriarchal hegemony is portrayed through the medium of television.

Does Digital Literacy Empower Adolescent Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review

Background: The vast majority (90%) of the world's adolescents aged 10–19 live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs); and in those resource-limited settings, girls face distinct challenges across multiple health, social, and economic domains. Gender equality and girls' empowerment are key goals in their own right and are central to all other development goals. Digital literacy is a great enabler for the empowerment of young girls. This systematic review aims to assess the range and nature of digital literacy interventions implemented to empower adolescent girls in LMICs and identify evidence about adolescent girls' access and use of digital technologies in LMICs.Methods: We conducted a systematic review of studies following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) standards for systematic reviews. Two reviewers selected studies, conducted quality assessments, and extracted data by using standard forms. The collected data include the design of the study, type of digital literacy intervention, target audience, intervention received, intervention reach, data analysis, and study outcomes. The review is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020216756).Results: Thirty-five studies met the eligibility for inclusion and of those, 11 were experimental studies (randomized controlled trial = 6; quasi-experimental = 2; before-after with no control = 3), 11 were cross-sectional/descriptive studies, seven studies used a mixed-method approach, and six were qualitative studies on digital literacy interventions to empower young girls in LMICs. The majority of digital literacy interventions were designed and implemented to improve sexual and reproductive health rights and decision-making of adolescent girls in LMICs (n = 33). Only three papers reported the use of digital media for health-related information and decision making, while only one reported on educational and social empowerment.Discussion: Our findings suggest that digital literacy interventions such as mobile phones, mobile health tools, media exposure, access to the internet, internet-based educational strategies, social media exposure are effective to empower adolescent girls to access health services and information and also enhance the access to educational resources. However, we found inconclusive evidence on the effectiveness of digital literacy to enhance girls' access to financial services and economic empowerment. More rigorous studies with long-term follow-ups to assess the effectiveness of such interventions to empower adolescent girls in LMICs are urgently needed.

The image of Russia in the consciousness of Russian youth: peculiarities of the value-semantic code of cultural representations

The study involved 98 representatives of Moscow youth; 116 of Perm youth and 104 of Tyumen youth. A total 318 respondents, 44% young men and 56% young girls, aged 18 to 25. The 49 bipolar psychosemantic scale of the study describes the image of the country in terms of its strength and authority in the international arena, activity in transformations and various aspects of assessment. Respondents evaluated the images of “Russia-country”, “Future Russia”, “USA”, “China”. The categorical structures of young people's social representations about the country's image, identified in all three regions, have three substantively comparable factors: 1) “Welfare, progressiveness of the country”, 2) “Level of social distance”, 3) “Civilizational attribution”. The value-semantic component in the structure of young people's ideas fixes the cultural codes of Russian civilization: “beauty”, “generosity”, “mercy”, “kindness”, “spirituality”, “morality”.