Ancient Beliefs and Traditional Singing of Ukrainians: Gender Differentiation

Gender differentiation in the Ukrainian song tradition is most consistently manifested in the ritual system, and partly – in the epic tradition and lyrical song tradition. The primary attention in the article is paid to the ritual sphere, first of all to the calendar cycle. The paper highlights in detail the traditional distribution of functions between men and women in pre-Christian rituals, during which, according to ancient ideas and beliefs, there was some contact between «that» (sacred) and «this» («profane») worlds. Males, or more precisely, boys who were members of the so-called «parubotchi gromady» (young men communities) took an active part in the rites only once a year – at the beginning of the calendar-time cycle that is, in winter (in ancient times this happened in the spring) during the rituals of the yards circumambulation. The main purpose of these actions was to wish good for each family from the dead ancestors for the coming year (verbal magic), and in return, the ancestors received gifts – sacrificial food from representatives of the living world to appease them for the next year. Women, as representatives of «this» world, maintained contact with otherworldly forces throughout the entire agrarian period from sowing to harvest, as well as in ceremonies associated with the birth of a child, a wedding, or escorting the deceased to the afterlife. In times of crisis in the development of nature and human life, they turned to their deceased ancestors for help. The magical instrument of this connection was the voice, which filled the ritual texts with specific ritual timbre-intonation. The gender distribution in other genres of Ukrainian traditional song is somewhat different. Thus, if in the epic songs the prerogative belongs to men, then the lyric song system is characterized by the joint and almost equal participation of men and women. However, it should be noted that the performers of social songs were predominantly men, and women sang family lyric songs. But the most common was a mixed lineup of singing groups. Even more this property is inherent in the late layer of lyrical song performance. The author also draws attention to the age aspect of the performance of ritual and non-ritual songs in the Ukrainian tradition

AGE-RELATED ASPECTS AND GENDER DIFFERENTIATION OF PRIMARY DISABILITY DUE TO THYROID CANCER IN THE ADULTS POPULATION OF MOSCOW

Представлены результаты анализа первичной инвалидности вследствие рака щитовидной железы у взрослого населения Москвы в период 2015-2019 гг. Выявлено увеличение численности впервые признанных инвалидами (ВПИ) вследствие данной патологии. В структуре первичной инвалидности по возрасту преобладали инвалиды пожилого возраста. Превалирующим гендерным контингентом ВПИ были женщины. Установлено, что в контингенте ВПИ преобладающее число инвалидов имели умеренную (II) степень выраженности нарушений основных функций организма. В то же время, выявлена гендерная дифференциация по тяжести стойких нарушений функций организма у инвалидов. В контингенте мужчин ВПИ удельный вес лиц с выраженной (III) и значительно выраженной (IV) степенью нарушения функции системы крови и иммунной системы и с выраженной степенью нарушения функции эндокринной системы и метаболизма был выше по сравнению с контингентом женщин ВПИ. Определено, что основными видами ограничений жизнедеятельности были ограничение способности к самообслуживанию, к трудовой деятельности, к передвижению и общению (преобладала I степень ограничений жизнедеятельности, p<0,05). Рак щитовидной железы в связи с быстрыми темпами роста заболеваемости и инвалидности является важной задачей охраны здоровья населения. Изучение показателей инвалидности у населения необходимо для разработки рациональных мер медико-социальной реабилитации больных, страдающих раком щитовидной железы, и для осуществления медико-социальной профилактики инвалидности. The results of the analysis of primary disability due to thyroid cancer of the adult population of Moscow in the period 2015-2019 are presented. An increase in the number of peaple newly recognized as disabled (PNRD) due to this pathology was revealed. In the age structure of primary disability elderly people was dominated. The predominant gender contingent of the PNRD were women. It was found that the predominant number of PNRD had a moderate impairment (II degree) of the basic functions of the body. At the same time, gender differentiation in the severity of persistent impairment of the body functions among disabled was revealed. In the contingent of disabled men the proportion of persons with severe (III degree) and complete (IV degree) impairment of the function of the blood system and the immune system and with a severe impairment of the function of the endocrine system and metabolism was higher compared to the contingent of disabled women. It was determined that the main types of capacity limitations were self-care, work, moving and communicate limitations (the first degree of difficulties in life areas prevailed (p<0,05). Thyroid cancer, due to the rapid growth of morbidity and disability, is an important public health concern. The study of disability indicators of the population is necessary for the development of rational measures of medical and social rehabilitation of patients suffering from thyroid cancer, and for the implementation of medical and social prevention of disability.

Emotional intelligence, indirect self-destructiveness and gender

Emotional intelligence may beneficially affect human life and psychological and social functioning, whereas indirect self-destructiveness exerts a rather adverse impact thereon. The aim of this study was to synthesise the results of research on possible relationships between emotional intelligence and indirect self-destructiveness, emotional intelligence dimensions and indirect self-destructiveness categories, as well as the gender differentiation of relationships between particular dimensions of emotional intelligence and the categories of indirect self-destructiveness. A population of 260 individuals (130 females and 130 males) aged 20–30 years (mean age of 24.5 years) was assessed using INTE, i.e. the Polish version of the Assessing Emotions Scale (AES) and the Polish version of Chronic Self-Destructiveness Scale (CS-DS). The level of emotional intelligence differentiated the intensity of indirect self-destructiveness and vice versa. Emotional intelligence and its factors showed many significant, mainly negative, correlations with indirect self-destructiveness and its categories. Relationships between particular dimensions of emotional intelligence and categories of self-destructiveness differed between women and men. One of the crucial differences was the association between the ability to recognise emotions and transgression. In general, low emotional intelligence can be said to correlate with poor psychological and social functioning, which in turn is associated with indirect self-destructiveness and its categories. It seems advisable to utilise emotional intelligence in the prophylactic and therapeutic work with those suffering from various types of disorders, especially the indirect self-destructiveness syndrome. Knowledge on the differentiation of the said relationships may help properly target prophylactic and therapeutic interventions, adjusting them to a given gender.

Transcriptome-based analysis of the hormone regulation mechanism of gender differentiation in Juglans mandshurica Maxim

Juglans mandshurica Maxim is a hermaphroditic plant belonging to the genus Juglans in the family Juglandaceae. The pollination period of female flowers is different from the loose powder period of male flowers on the same tree. In several trees, female flowers bloom first, whereas in others, male flowers bloom first. In this study, male and female flower buds of J. mandshurica at the physiological differentiation stage were used. Illumina-based transcriptome sequencing was performed, and the quality of the sequencing results was evaluated and analyzed. A total of 138,138 unigenes with an average length of 788 bp were obtained. There were 8,116 differentially expressed genes (DEGs); 2,840 genes were upregulated, and 5,276 genes were downregulated. The DEGs were classified by Gene Ontology and analyzed by Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes. The signal transduction factors involved in phytohormone synthesis were selected. The results displayed that ARF and SAUR were expressed differently in the auxin signaling pathway. Additionally, DELLA protein (a negative regulator of gibberellin), the cytokinin synthesis pathway, and A-ARR were downregulated. On April 2nd, the contents of IAA, GA, CTK, ETH and SA in male and female flower buds of two types of J. mandshurica were opposite, and there were obvious genes regulating gender differentiation. Overall, we found that the sex differentiation of J. mandshurica was related to various hormone signal transduction pathways, and hormone signal transduction plays a leading role in regulation.

Afrikaner nationalism and the light side of the colonial/modern gender system: understanding white patriarchy as colonial race technology

There is a growing body of feminist scholarship and literature exploring the ways in which Western patriarchal technologies of gender differentiation and sexual violence structure the racial categorisation and dehumanisation that define South Africa’s history of slavery, colonialism and apartheid. In this article, I consider the gendered history of white Afrikaner nationalism in the context of these insights. Using the decolonial feminist lens of María Lugones, I interpret the historical and contemporary patriarchal subjugation of the white Afrikaner woman as a site of the production and maintenance of colonial racial categories and hierarchies. Gaining a better understanding of how gender operated as a colonial mode of organisation in the process of forging the ethno-racialised white identity of the Afrikaner in the early nineteenth century in opposition to the black indigenous majority population helps to explain how the continued patriarchal subjugation of white Afrikaner women by Afrikaner men in postcolonial/postapartheid South Africa works to reassert and maintain colonial racial categories and inequalities that continue to plague the country.

Introduction

Introduces the outlines of Zaynab Fawwaz’s biography and published oeuvre, in the context of the nineteenth-century Arab/ic Nahda, or knowledge movement, and the centrality of questions of gender to that series of initiatives. Considers her distinct approach to questions of gender and society by setting out a feminist analytic that distinguishes ameliorative gender activism from critique of gender as a system of hierarchical social relations based on sex-gender differentiation and instituting and maintaining patriarchal and masculinist authority over females and the young. Suggests how debates on gender in 1890s Egypt were entangled with debates across the world, and how Arabophone intellectuals used certain keywords and conceptual categories to join debate, and describes communities of discourse, or senses of audience, that animated Fawwaz. Attention to audience and terminology, and to the rhetorical uses of affect, are aspects of a methodology of deep listening which requires close attention to not only Fawwaz’s writings, but those with which they were in dialogue.

The Gender-Equality Paradox and Optimal Distinctiveness: More Gender-Equal Societies Have More Gendered Names

Findings in several domains have documented a gender-equality paradox, where greater social and economic gender equality predicts increased gender differentiation. Many of these findings have used subjective rating scales and thus have been dismissed as artifactual due to different reference groups in more versus less gender-equal societies. Although recent research has documented the gender-equality paradox using an objective criterion—pursuit of degrees in STEM—the robustness of this finding has also been challenged. The current investigation offers evidence for the gender-equality paradox using an objective marker of gender differentiation: baby names. We find given names are more phonetically gendered in more gender-equal societies, with female names being more likely unvoiced (a softer sound) and male names being more likely voiced (a harder sound). We offer a theoretical explanation based on optimal distinctiveness theory to explain why increasing gender equality might motivate a preference for greater gender differentiation.

Campus Decarbonization: Students’ Perceptions for Reducing Meat Consumption in a Portuguese University

This study is focused on perceptions regarding meat consumption, targeting university students. This is a timely topic in a context of climate change (CC), sustainability in agri-food systems and in universities. Recently, some universities adopted food-related CC mitigation measures, by removing some types of meat from their canteens. This research intended to find trends, at a Portuguese university, on consumption habits and on willingness to reduce meat. The methodology follows a quantitative and descriptive approach. The universe is the students’ community from the University of Aveiro, with a random sample of 876 valid questionnaires. Although results show that meat is a substantial part of students’ diet, most of them are willing to reduce this product, and mainly for environmental reasons. Undergraduate students have higher level of awareness in this matter, namely from Natural Sciences. Female students are more receptive to diet changes. Further studies and educational actions on Diet-CC should be promoted in all levels of Academy, especially in PhD, Social Sciences and with gender differentiation. Such results may support an effectively participatory discussion to better decide on decarbonization of the Campus through the diet.

Gender features of digitalization on the Russian labor market

Digitalization changes the nature of work and the demands for competences of a modern employee, but the speed and volume of digitalization differ by type of economic activity. In the context of existing gender differentiation on the labor market, differences in the degree of digitalization lead to the fact that male and female types of employment change differently. The aim of the article is to determine the degree and features of digitalization of "women's" and "men's" spheres of employment and draw conclusions on the prospective impact of these differences on gender inequality. Data analysis concerning current gender differentiation on the labor market, the scale of occupational digitalization and the use of information technologies for various purposes allows us to conclude that both "male" and "female" professions are highly digitalized, but the nature of the changes is different. Data on the gender distribution in the areas of employment and the degree of digitalization of these areas allow us to distinguish 3 categories of women's participation in digital economy: 1. Household use of digital technologies; 2. Digital technologies use while performing labor functions; 3. Creation of digital technologies and direct participation in digitalization. The areas of women's primary employment (health care, information and communication, finance, education) are currently the leaders in employing digital technologies, so computer technologies penetrate more intensively into the professional activities of women than in "male" professions (for example, construction). However, in software development and digital technology management, women are less represented, acting as users of technologies created mainly by men. Since creation is primary related to usage, digitalization enhances gender inequality determining the innovative role for men and the user role for women, which should be taken into account while implementing policies aimed at overcoming inequality.