In Bed with an Egyptian Princess: Herodotus on Theft, Pyramids and Conquest

Following in the footsteps of Homer, both in the Iliad and in the Odyssey, Herodotus of Halicarnassus gives women a very conspicuous presence in the only work attributed to him, known as the Histories. Usually, the women who appear in his work are directly related to prominent male characters. In this respect, daughterhood is one of the most distinct roles played by women in Herodotus’ Histories. Twelve of the women actively involved in the narrative written by the author of Halicarnassus are identified as daughters of kings, tyrants or other noblemen, both of Greek and barbarian origin. Among the available examples, in this paper we focus on three Egyptian princesses, daughters of the pharaohs Rhampsinitus, Cheops and Amasis —in reality, Apries—, because they constitute precious instances for exploring the tensions arising in parent-child relationships in the Herodotean work. We aim at determining whether these princesses are individually fulfilled as characters, despite being sexually dominated daughters by their fathers, either biological other putative. To this end, we conduct an in-depth analysis of the three passages in which they appear (Hdt. 2.121ε; 2.126; 3.1), taking into account why and under what circumstances they are sexually controlled, how they interact with their fathers and other male characters and what consequences the sexual control they are subjected to has on them. Results show that the three Egyptian princesses achieve their own fulfilment as a wife, builder and avenger, respectively. We conclude that Herodotus confers on them visibility, dignity and their own non-transferable personality.

“Kids these days pretend to be grownups” (dekkaedaet): sexual control and negotiation among young Thai female students

Background Young Thai women are growing up amidst conflicting influences of globalization and traditional Thai culture. They experience confusion about which aspects of their sexuality they can express and must hide. This study examined forms of sexual control and sexual negotiation among young Thai women in secondary and vocational schools. Methods Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were conducted among 13-to 18-year-old female students attending secondary and vocational schools in six regions of Thailand. Additional semi-structured interviews were conducted with instructors of sex education, school administrators, and parents of students. NVIVO 10 was used to manage, code and assist with data analysis. Results Socio-cultural control on young women’s sexualities was found from members of their families, schools, communities, and other students. Young women expressing their sexualities openly through verbal expressions, clothing, and behaviors were deemed negatively and stigmatized as dekkaedaet or “kids pretending to be grownups” as it is believed that they are too young and too immature to be responsible for their own decisions on their bodies and sexuality. This dominant discourse subsequently stigmatize and embarrass sexually active women. However, some young women try to negotiate and create options, by utilizing strategies that ensure secrecy. Conclusion Comprehensive sexuality education is needed and should be based on the respect for human dignity and sexual and reproductive rights.

Transforming Community: Women’s Rape Narratives and Gower’s Confessio Amantis

Despite its reputation as socially and politically conservative, John Gower’s fourteenth-century Confessio Amantis highlights sexual violence against women as a central cultural injustice and presents women’s rape narratives as a potentially powerful force for social and political change. This essay focuses on three of Gower’s tales in which women tell their own rape narratives with dramatic and lasting consequences: Mundus and Paulina, Tarquin and Lucrece, and Tereus and Philomena. In all three instances, these women’s narratives of suffering are socially transformative precisely because they threaten the masculine chivalric ideal. For Gower, rape is a direct result of the cultural belief that aristocratic men can and should force the less powerful to submit to their desires for total political and sexual control. Far from trivializing rape or fetishizing women’s suffering, Gower repeatedly argues that rapes are violent acts against entire communities and that women’s rape narratives have the potential to transform and reform those very communities.

Satisfaction with Singlehood in Never-Married Singles: The Role of Gender and Culture

Aim: The aim of this study was to reveal the role of gender and culture (German vs Polish) in Satisfaction With Singlehood (SWS). Background: Due to the number of singles increasing over the past decades, the assessment of the extent to which such people are satisfied with their singlehood and establishment of specific variables enabling satisfaction with life in singlehood to be predicted seem valid. An additional factor was gender and culture, as feminine and masculine roles are defined mainly by familial and matrimonial life and diverse cultural context. Methods: Study 1 encompassed 512 never married childless singles above 30 years old, Study 2: 196 Polish never-married singles, and Study 3: 265 German never-married singles (pairfam data). Research methods were: Satisfaction with singlehood, Multidimensional Sexuality Questionnaire (MSQ), Inventory of Gender Assessment (IPP), Multidimensional Self-Esteem Inventory (MSEI), UCLA III Loneliness Scale, Romantic Beliefs Scale (RBS), Interpersonal Competences Questionnaire (ICQ), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). German sample was retrieved from The German Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics – pairfam. Results: Study 1 revealed significant medium effects of gender and country, with women and German sample reporting a higher SWS. Study 2 showed different prediction models for Polish sample. SWS was explained by satisfaction with life, romantic belief, loneliness, and competence in women. The predictors in Polish men were: initiating relationships and internal sexual control. Study 3 revealed willingness to have a partner as the only predictor in German women, and in German men: satisfaction with life, loneliness and mating confidence. Conclusion: Satisfaction With Singlehood (SWS) was higher in women than men, regardless of culture. German single never-married women were the most satisfied group. Traditional masculine role predicted higher SWS in single men. Satisfaction with singlehood proved to be separate from satisfaction with life.

ESTUDIO DE UNIVERSITARIOS QUE SUFREN VIOLENCIA EN LA RELACIÓN DE PAREJA

This article addresses the issue of gender violence in Mexican men. From a doctoral research project that studied the violence experienced today by young university students (men) who are violated by women in their relationship. The study was carried out with a male student population of students attending classes in the school system, working with a universe of 3364 students corresponding to the enrollment in the system, applying a statistical formula of Taro Yamane (1998) to obtain the representative sample that yielded a total n = 345 students with a confidence level of Z = 99% and a sampling error of 0.52%. The instrument used was a questionnaire on violence in relationships provided by Dr. Fernando Chapado de la Calle, professor at the University of Malaga in collaboration with the Association of Shared Custody of Malaga, Spain. This instrument consists of six categories that measure the violence exerted by women towards men, with 10 items home category evaluated. The results show that university men who have a relationship as a couple suffer violence from their different manifestations, physical, economic, sexual, control, psychological and emotional on the part of women, and they are the gender that suffers in silence from being unable to manifest openly, because of the shame of historically belonging to the male figure, which represents in society the strongest and most insensitive stereotype.

The RNAi vecter construction and verification of the functions in sexual control of Cervus elaphus Zfx gene

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Patterns and Dynamics of Sexual Violence among Married Adolescents in Zimbabwe

Getting married in adolescence is common in most parts of Africa. It has in many cases salient direct links with sexual violence among adolescents. Sexual violence and the vulnerabilities of adolescents have been reported in literature. However, the patterns and dynamics of sexual violence among married adolescents are not known or have not been fully studied. The purpose of this study was to explore the patterns and dynamics of sexual violence among married adolescents. A qualitative approach using in-depth interviews was used in the study. A total of 15 married adolescents were recruited through purposive snowball sampling in one rural district of Zimbabwe. Braun and Clarke’s six-step thematic analysis framework was used for data analysis. Three major themes emerged, namely sexual control, rape, and forced marriage. Each theme had three sub-themes. The study confirms what has already been reported in the literature that marriage at a young age has a correlation with sexual violence. There is therefore a need to strengthen family education on the effects of early marriages.

The RNAi vecter construction and verification of the functions in sexual control of Cervus elaphus Zfx gene

Background: Zinc finger protein X-linked (Zfx) was regarded to be a sex determination factor, and plays a critical role in spermatogenesis. RNAi is an effective method of silencing Zfx/Zfy mRNA expression. However, there has been little research on the use of RNAi technology to control the sex of the offspring of Cervus elaphus. The objective of this study was first to explore an efficient method to alter the Cervus elaphus offspring sex-ratio by silencing the genes Zfx during spermatogenesis.Results: Three recombinant expression vectors pLL3.7/A, pLL3.7/B and pLL3.7/C were constructed to interrupt the Zfx gene. The results showed that the expression of Zfx mRNA was significantly silenced by pLL3.7/A (P < 0.01), compared with the control group. The group injected with pLL3.7/A produced 94 Cervus elaphus, including 68 males and 26 females. The male rates (72.34%) were significantly higher than the control groups (P < 0.01).Conclusions: Our experiment suggest that the Zfx gene plays a significant role in the process of X-sperm formation. Zfx siRNA may be a useful approach to control offspring sex in Cervus elaphus.