Ghanaian Settlers in Orimedu: Oju Ota, Gender, and Christianity in a Coastal Fishing Community

Orimedu was a relatively small coastal community in Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos State before the area was connected to other parts of state through access roads and electricity in the late 1980s. This article traces the relationship of Orimedu, a predominantly traditionalist and Muslim community, with migrant and Christian fishermen from Ghana and from Togo over the past century or so. It explains that the Ghanaians were welcome despite their Christian identity because they simply adapted to the local religious landscape when they arrived and joined into the worship of Oju Ota, a local deity of fishermen. However, over the past three decades, the Ghanaians have established a Christian community which has been largely accepted. The establishment of Christianity was linked to struggles over the gendered economy of the town. When it was found that the Ghanaians spent most of their profit in Ghana rather than locally, the people of Orimedu insisted that according to the covenant of Oju Ota, the fishermen should no longer sell their fish as this was traditionally regarded as a female occupation. This helped the indigenous Orimedu community to share in the profit made by the Ghanaians. However, by the 1980s and 1990s, when it became obvious that this arrangement made the local women very wealthy, the Ghanaians sought to recapture some of the profit by inviting their own wives to Orimedu to act as fish sellers and traders. This led to a more permanent presence of the Ghanaians in Orimedu, and eventually to the establishment – and acceptance – of Christian churches in the locality.

Women only? an Exploration of the Place of Men within Nursing

<p><b>This dissertation came out of my wondering why there are still so few men going into nursing especially when one considers that the history of nursing reveals men have been a part of nursing for a long time. In New Zealand it is only since the mid seventies that men have been able to gain the exact same nursing qualifications as their women colleagues.</b></p> <p>Men in nursing are still seen as unusual in that they work in a predominantly female occupation and have had their masculinity questioned by the myth that all men in nursing must be gay. There is also the notion that caring is a difficult task for men and is seen by society as a uniquely feminine ability. Both issues are related to dominant notions of masculinity. In addition to this there is currently a crisis in terms of a nursing shortage and it has been suggested that one way to resolve this crisis is to encourage more men into nursing. Thus this exploration as to why there are so few men in nursing is timely.</p> <p>Men who choose nursing as a career risk challenging the traditional roles of their gender stereotype. A comprehensive search of the literature from different disciplines reveals deeper issues than just the commonly held assumption that nursing is not masculine. Exploring the issues of gender with a particular focus on masculinity has uncovered the concept of hegemonic masculinity. This describes how gender is practiced in a way that legitimises patriarchy, reinforcing the dominant position of men overiwomen as well as over other groups of men. It is these patriarchal attitudes that have seen men marginalised within nursing. On the one hand men in nursing could be seen as challenging the current dominant masculine ideal. However, on the other hand men in nursing may not challenge this hegemonic masculinity; instead often supporting the status quo in an effort to maintain their own masculinity.</p> <p>The implication for nursing, if it is to increase the numbers of men in the profession, is to challenge this notion of hegemonic masculinity. This needs to be done appropriately by critically examining this concept rather than by merely replacing one hegemony with another. A greater awareness of how hegemonic masculinity and notions of gender have historically affected, and continue to affect the development of nursing is important. However, issues of gender and masculinity have often been overlooked in nursing education. It is now time for nursing education to include a critical exploration of gender issues and how it relates to men as part of undergraduate nursing education for both men and women students.</p>

Women only? an Exploration of the Place of Men within Nursing

<p><b>This dissertation came out of my wondering why there are still so few men going into nursing especially when one considers that the history of nursing reveals men have been a part of nursing for a long time. In New Zealand it is only since the mid seventies that men have been able to gain the exact same nursing qualifications as their women colleagues.</b></p> <p>Men in nursing are still seen as unusual in that they work in a predominantly female occupation and have had their masculinity questioned by the myth that all men in nursing must be gay. There is also the notion that caring is a difficult task for men and is seen by society as a uniquely feminine ability. Both issues are related to dominant notions of masculinity. In addition to this there is currently a crisis in terms of a nursing shortage and it has been suggested that one way to resolve this crisis is to encourage more men into nursing. Thus this exploration as to why there are so few men in nursing is timely.</p> <p>Men who choose nursing as a career risk challenging the traditional roles of their gender stereotype. A comprehensive search of the literature from different disciplines reveals deeper issues than just the commonly held assumption that nursing is not masculine. Exploring the issues of gender with a particular focus on masculinity has uncovered the concept of hegemonic masculinity. This describes how gender is practiced in a way that legitimises patriarchy, reinforcing the dominant position of men overiwomen as well as over other groups of men. It is these patriarchal attitudes that have seen men marginalised within nursing. On the one hand men in nursing could be seen as challenging the current dominant masculine ideal. However, on the other hand men in nursing may not challenge this hegemonic masculinity; instead often supporting the status quo in an effort to maintain their own masculinity.</p> <p>The implication for nursing, if it is to increase the numbers of men in the profession, is to challenge this notion of hegemonic masculinity. This needs to be done appropriately by critically examining this concept rather than by merely replacing one hegemony with another. A greater awareness of how hegemonic masculinity and notions of gender have historically affected, and continue to affect the development of nursing is important. However, issues of gender and masculinity have often been overlooked in nursing education. It is now time for nursing education to include a critical exploration of gender issues and how it relates to men as part of undergraduate nursing education for both men and women students.</p>

Legends of Lace: Commerce and Ideology in Narratives of Women’s Domestic Craft Production

Although a relatively recent invention (c. 1500), many legends have accumulated around the origins of lace, more than have been recorded for other crafts. Almost every region involved in pillow or needle lace had its own origin story: I will concentrate on those circulating in Italy, Catalonia, France, Belgium, and England. Lacemaking was a poorly paid, dispersed and overwhelmingly female occupation, but none the less it had a strong craft tradition, including the celebration of particular saints’ feastdays. The legends drew on elements of this work culture, and especially the strong connections to royal courts and the Catholic Church, but they did not originate among lacemakers themselves. Rather they were authored by persons – lace merchants and other patrons – who in the nineteenth century took on the task of defending homemade lace in its drawn-out conflict with machine-made alternatives. Legends first circulated in print, in lace histories, newspapers and magazines, before transferring to other media such as the stage, historical pageants, even the visual arts. More recently they have continued to propagate on the web. While not originally oral narratives, they behave much like legends in oral storytelling environments: they are usually unsourced; they accumulate and shed motifs; they adapt to new circumstances and audiences. They were told with the intention of creating a special status for handmade lace, and to mobilize protectors and consumers.

Creative Reproductions: Diana Mantuana and Printmaking at Court

Maria Maurer examines the career of Diana Mantuana (c. 1547–1612), the first female printmaker to sign her work and one of the few female artists mentioned by Vasari in the second edition of his Lives (1568). Recognizing that printmaking was an unusual female occupation due to its technique and wide circulation, Maurer argues that Diana entered into visual dialogue with Mantuan and papal court artists to promote her work. Focusing on two prints made after the work of Giulio Romano, Maurer reveals that, through her work in a reproductive medium, the artist commented upon the ability of women and printmaking to both copy and generate, engaging broader discourses regarding imitation and invention to market herself as a rare commodity.

South African Male Foundation Phase Teachers Distancing from Homosexuality

Men teaching in the foundation phase (Grade R-3) in the province of Mpumalanga, in South Africa, distance themselves from homosexuality, femininity, and care. These men do so in a context where homophobia is prevalent and masculinities are toxic. Mpumalanga is a neglected site for research on men, masculinities, and sexuality. It is a site in which men’s work is defined largely as manual labor, such as working in the mines. A career such as teaching children in the foundation phase is perceived as a female occupation. These men are in a space that was previously deemed to be for women and therefore are positioned in a less dominant position, a position that is less desired by South African men. The male teachers do not want to be seen as gay and soft, so they distance themselves from such work as changing diapers, feeding, and providing emotional support, that would associate them with care and femininity. They articulate homophobic language when they distance themselves. While their work is perceived to place them in a subordinate role, they also undermine women and other subordinated masculinities. Developing and encouraging new forms of masculinities carries a potential to transform men and the society, particularly in the context like South Africa where violence, homophobia, absent fathers, and toxic masculinities are still prevalent.

In the Pursuit of an Identity: Analysing the Case of Male Health Care Providers

Being a female-concentrated job, nursing has forgotten the place of men within the profession despite their contribution since time immemorial. The heightened efforts of Florence Nightingale to transform nursing into a respectable female occupation denied men the opportunity to enter this domain. Despite their growing representation, they are still a minority in nursing in countries across the globe. When the occupational roles do not conform to the gender-appropriate roles prescribed by the society, the ‘male’ nurses’ prestige and self-esteem are at risk since others recognize them neither as true nurses nor as real men. Drawing majorly from secondary sources and data gathered from an anthropological study of in-home care providers in the South Indian state of Kerala, this paper on the predicament of men in nursing throws light on the ‘spoiled identity’ they carry; the work stress, gender stereotyping, stigma and discrimination they encounter by always being suspected and their very identity and sexual orientation questioned. A note on the strategies employed by them to overcome the problems is also within the purview of this paper.

Gold Embroidery Style Features of the Mishar Tatars of the Ulyanovsk Region

The article reveals the origins and style features of the gold embroidery of the Mishar Tatars of the Ulyanovsk Region. Though surrounded by a population that is not uniform in ethnic composition, including the Chuvash, Mordovian, Mari, Udmurt and Russian peoples, the Mishars have preserved the aesthetic preferences of their ancestors. For centuries, the bib — an element of the national costume — has maintained the visually expressed originality of its decorative design conditioned by the traditions characteristic of this local group. The gold embroidery was a hereditary female occupation; its technique, as well as unique ornamental elements, were imparted from mother to daughter. Samples of needlework by masters of the past indicate the uniqueness of the patterned finish as well as the main trends of its development. The design techniques include large floral elements arranged in a certain compositional order. Its artistic structure uses the principle of symmetry as a reflection of the balance and stability of the universe. The repetition of images symbolizes the cyclical nature of being and reproduction processes. The style features of the Ulyanovsk Mishars’ gold embroidery include the homotypic impregnated technique and the relief of finishing elements. The interpretation of the key character-symbol in the center, which combines solar and floral forms, is diverse. The stylistic features of the Mishars’ gold embroidery reflect the system of the spiritual values common to the Tatars that were feeding the artistic forms of decorative art, originally sourced by the Bulgarian urban culture of the Golden Horde period, and then the Kazan Khanate. For many centuries, the best samples were selected and polished in the course of time. The style-forming elements of the national costume components’ gold decoration were steadily reproduced. The tradition of their application allows us to assume that the ancestors of the modern Mishar Tatars living in the rural part of the Ulyanovsk Region were of urban origin.

‘Busy, Without Thimbles, at the Needlework’: Men’s Sewing and Masculinity on the Victorian Goldfields, 1851–1861

Australia’s gold-rush history has long been dominated by narratives of male adventure: of landscapes where men lived side by side, mateship took on increasing importance in the pursuit of gold, masculine behaviours and manners were emphasized and domesticity was shunned. In the early years of the rich discoveries of gold, men often travelled alone to the colony of Victoria in their search for wealth. This article examines a situation this unique environment created: where men unaccompanied by women – although women, too, were present on the diggings – were required to adopt practices perceived as feminine. It focuses in on needlework to explore the tensions that emerged given sewing was a defining female occupation during the nineteenth century, inhabiting a central place in the female experience. As this article highlights, sewing became an essential practice for men on the Victorian goldfields in order to keep themselves clothed, warm and dry. I consider how men approached their sewing tasks given needlework’s inextricable link with women, and the various strategies they used to frame their sewing in letters, diaries and memoirs – sometimes for close friends and family alone, and other times for wider dissemination. Drawing on sociological frameworks on constructions of gender, masculinity and manliness, I then consider how a shifting engagement with domestic practices may have strengthened rather than challenged identity on the goldfields.

Mercado de trabajo, género y especialización oleícola: Mallorca a mediados del siglo XVII

Recently, an intense historiographical debate has developed concerning female participation in rural labour markets and its impact on the gender wage gap before 1800. The underlying hypothesis is that increased participation of women in the labour market should lead to a reduction in the wage gap and a parallel improvement in their life conditions. However, research results to date are inconclusive. This article aims to address some of these issues, using the island of Mallorca during the seventeenth century as a case study. Female par ticipation in the labour market was more intense there than in other Mediterranean and Atlantic regions. In addition, the seasonality of labour demand on the island provoked more instances of collusion than complementarity with regard to agrarian tasks, in contrast with what happened in Atlantic regions. Finally, we also explain why higher rates of female occupation did not necessarily imply a significant reduction of the gender wage gap.