Feminism and the Complexities of Gender and Health

Abstract

Feminist research and activism have made a distinctive contribution to social studies of health and have also had a significant impact on public health policy. Gender is widely recognised as a key driver in the social determination of health and is a well-established category of analysis in fields such as the sociology of health. As a response to Broom, this article focuses on two ways in which feminist social science has complicated the understandings of gender and health which underlie much health policy and research. The first is the framework of intersectionality, which emphasises the interactions between different aspects of social identity and reveals the limitations of a singular or primary focus on gender in analysing experiences of health and ill-health. The second is the critical analysis of health as a regulatory ideal, prompted by the rise of the ‘new public health’ and its emphasis on individual responsibility for risk reduction. Together these critical insights reveal some of the tensions embedded in feminist goals such as improving women's well-being.     

‘Forgotten Female Soldiers in an Unknown Army’: German women working behind the lines, 1914–1918

Some 50,000 German women served behind the lines during the First World War, as nurses, war auxiliaries and in the civilian administrations of Belgium and Russian Poland. After the war only nurses had a place in the collective memory while the women who served in the women's war auxiliary service and those who worked within the occupied territories were forgotten. Although women's war auxiliaries were held in disrepute by some contemporaries, an exploration of the service reveals not only the high regard in which the majority of women and their work were held by their employers but also the class and generational prejudices of the upper- and upper-middle-class women running the service and the tensions in their relationships with the German women working within the civilian administrations, who displayed organisational flair and strong collegiality.     

Darning,Doylies and Dancing: the work of the Leeds Association of Girls' Clubs (1904–1913)

The Leeds Association of Girls' Clubs (LAGC) was set up by a group of women, including Hilda Hargrove, Dr Lucy Buckley and Mary and Margaret Harvey, to promote collaboration between the city's girls' clubs. The organisation epitomised women working in partnership whilst reflecting their differing philanthropic and political interests. However LAGC's collaborative approach resulted in liberal consensus which downplayed the significance of girls' working conditions. Throughout the decade LAGC's focus was its annual competitions. These featured utilitarian and decorative handicrafts (darning and doylies) enshrining both frugality and aspiration, alongside dance and drill which channelled girls' vigour. Nevertheless, LAGC's resilience resulted in an organisation which is still in existence.     

Accuracy and Reproducibility of Bullet Trajectories in FARO Zone 3D

With three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning technology and software packages, the practice of documenting and measuring bullet trajectories has benefited from greater accuracy and reproducibility. This study investigated the accuracy and reproducibility of the bullet trajectory tools in the software package, FARO Zone 3D (FZ3D). Twelve participants were provided laser scanner data for 21 bullet trajectories on drywall panels with impact angles between 25° and 90°. When the impact plane was manually aligned by the operator, 75% of the absolute errors were within 0.91° and 0.98° for the azimuth and vertical angles, respectively. The vertical angle improved to 0.47° when impact plane alignment was taken with respect to gravity (no operator influence). Thus, manual alignment is shown to be subject to greater error than alignment with gravity. However, this study shows that the accuracy and reproducibility of the FZ3D bullet trajectory tools to be comparable with previous research studies.     

Observations and 3D Analysis of Controlled Cast-Off Stains

Cast-off stains are common patterns found at crime scenes involving blood shedding events. However, the analysis and interpretation of cast-off patterns remains an area lacking tools for crime scene investigators. Analyzing cast-off patterns may allow investigators to interpret the area from where an object may have been swung and thus determine the approximate location of a suspect or victim. This study looked at the position and distribution of cast-off patterns and area of origin as a starting point for the development of a method to analyze cast-off patterns. Through a series of tests using a controlled cast-off rig (n = 10), it was observed that a Path Volume Envelope (PVE) may be identified where the swinging path is contained in a volume along with an area of exclusion. The calculated center, linear position of the PVE was found to have an average error of just over 3.2 cm when compared to the known object swing path position. The maximum deviation of the PVE to the known swing path was found to be 5.0 cm with a standard deviation of 1.4 cm. Additional studies are required to investigate the effects of partial cast-off stains, wielded object velocity, direction of swing, distance from the projected surface, and other factors. The observations and analysis from this study were seen to be predictable and repeatable and may provide a possible new method for investigators to interpret cast-off stains.     

‘ah famous citie’: women,writing, and early modern London

This article explores aspects of the textual relationship between women and early modern London by examining three verbal ‘snapshots’ of the city in works either written by women or focusing on women in their urban environment. The first text, Isabella Whitney's ‘Wyll and Testament’ (1573), addresses London from a rural perspective, treating the city as a fickle male to whom she wants to hand back all his treasures. The poem constructs a vivid and ironic social topography, giving a glimpse of the roles of men and women in the Tudor city. The second text is by Mary Carleton, the roguish Restoration figure who defended her apparently ‘counterfeit’ life in the prose of The Case of Madam Mary Carleton (1663). Carleton's London is a place of unwanted seduction and sexual intimidation, highlighting a gendered moral geography even while the memoir itself titillates the reader with the account of her bizarre experiences. Finally, in a coda to the discussions of Whitney and Carleton, early eighteenth-century London is viewed through Jonathan Swift's satirical mock-pastorals of squalid urban life, in which female identity, like the city itself, is a site of violence, disgust and deception. Together, these textual representations of women and early modern London indicate the complex interactions of gender, literature and the early modern city. The analysis of the texts also suggests the significance of the ironic voice as a quintessentially urban literary mode, the prevalence of the idea of woman as a commodified topographical site, and the function of metaphors of courtship or marriage as indicators of the paradoxical attractions of the city.     

WATER RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Both the federal and state governments have strong constitutional daims and political resources with which to influence the allocation of water resources. Until the 1970s. federal agencies were able to dominate kr setting goals and objectives. However, when the federal government attempted to implement a national water policy in the 1970s, effective opposition was mounted by the states. Both the states and the federal government now exert decisive influence in water policy.     

Representational roles and representative/constituency agreement: The democratic national party convention of 1976

Representational Role Theory is applied to presidential nominating conventions. Delegates to the 1976 Democratic convention are compared to the voters who selected their slates in 10 key presidential preference primaries. Because of party rule restrictions on delegates' behavior, representational roles are not pertinent to what is typically the most important decision of the convention, the first ballet vote for the party's presidential nominee. However, role orientations appear to be useful in understanding two other sets of decisions: (1) the creation of the party platform and (2) voting for the party's presidential nominee in the event that the nomination requires more than one ballot. Other than the first ballot, the Delegate role is not very popular among convention delegates.     

Extra information about treatment is too much for the patient with psychosis

BackgroundCase law across jurisdictions requires ever more complete disclosure of material facts when obtaining consent to treatment.AimsTo determine whether giving extra information impairs the mental capacity to make decisions about treatment.MethodThe MacCAT-T, MacCAT-FP, PANSS and GAF were administered to 88 detained forensic patients with psychosis. Two positive and two negative facts were given about each of two anti-psychotic drugs, and no treatment (twelve items). A choice was elicited. The criterion for incompetence was inability to express a choice. Two extra positive and two extra negative facts about each of the three options were given (twelve extra items) and a choice was again elicited, while repeating the MacCAT-T.ResultsGiving extra information led to a decline in the total score on the MacCAT-T. Twenty one were initially unable to make a choice (24%). After additional information, 33 were incapable (37.5%, Chi-squared p < 0.001). Those initially incapable had the lowest scores on all measures of functional capacity and GAF, with highest scores for symptoms. Those able to choose a treatment option had the highest levels of function and least symptoms. Those who became incapable had intermediate scores.ConclusionsGiving extra information made an extra 15% unable to choose. Clinical judgement must be exercised concerning the amount of information disclosed. Deciding what is material to the individual is arbitrary when so few items of information can be processed. Greater use of guardianship and independent second opinions is recommended.