The Sense of a Life: Re-assessing Simone de Beauvoir

Violently differing views on Simone de Beauvoir clash—how not? Our own obsessional reading of and about her is all the more enhanced by her look and manner(s) of dressing, and her affairs, but, above all, by her towering intelligence and pioneering spirit. This piece tries to deal with as many aspects of her being and seeming and appearance to others, as critics and as readers, as behoves such a vital spirit.     

One woman's reflections on theruskin conference, ‘celebrating the Women's liberation movement thirty years on’, Ruskin College,Oxford, 18 March 2000

This report offers an account of the Ruskin Conference, ‘Celebrating the Women's Liberation Movement Thirty Years On’, which was held at Ruskin College, Oxford, United Kingdom on 18 March 2000. It was attended by about 150 women, the majority being young women – although some twenty older women who had attended the first Ruskin WLM Conference in 1970 were also present     

Gender in an Age of Austerity

In the UK, the Coalition Government has launched policies that have been presented as necessary to ensure continued economic viability. This article challenges the thinking behind these policies and considers the particular impact that the policies have on women as well as suggesting that feminism has to respond to the long-term structural implications of capitalism.     

Finding postcolonial figures: rediscovering Elvira Banotti and her role in the Italian feminist movement

In the late 1960s, many western countries witnessed rising social movements that challenged traditional ideas of gender and race. Italy presents a particular case where divided post-war politics, rapid economic growth and strong Catholic tradition created conditions in which intersecting phenomena of feminism and migration challenged conventional order. Elvira Banotti, a feminist writer from Italy’s former colonies, offers one striking example of this new configuration hiding certain women’s narratives from the public debate. Although historians have already looked at the history of Italian feminisms through a transnational lens, a postcolonial perspective is lacking from these discussions. This article seeks to offer a new perspective, employing a postcolonial lens and a focus on Banotti’s narratives to assess how both voices of women engaged in public debate and of women less heard, particularly of migrants, could provide a new postcolonial view of Italian feminisms.     

Women voters and the rhetoric of patriotism in the British general election of 1918 ⊃1⊃

The analysis of the public political rhetoric of the British general election of 1918 can offer important indications of the construction of gender roles in the immediate post-war context. The partial enfranchisement of women presented a challenge for all political parties, which needed to secure the votes of nearly 8.5 million women voters. The article explores the electoral rhetoric of 1918 in two constituencies in Plymouth, and argues that a gendered language of patriotism was employed particularly successfully by the Coalition Conservatives in opposition to potentially fracturing languages of class and gender. No attempt was made to develop a new feminine politics around consumer and food supply issues; rather, Women's experience of the War was constructed in terms of their relationships to men, and women voters were urged to cast their votes largely as proxies for their absent husbands, brothers or sons     

Do Anti-Bullying Laws Reduce In-School Victimization,Fear-based Absenteeism,and Suicidality for Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,and Questioning Youth?

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth are at heightened risk for bullying and other forms of in-school victimization. Anti-bullying laws are a potential policy mechanism for addressing this issue, yet there has been little investigation of the impact of such policies for this population using generalizable samples or quasi-experimental designs. The current study explores whether the presence of state anti-bullying laws predicts lower likelihood of bullying victimization, fear-based absenteeism, in-school threats or injury with a weapon, and suicidality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning high school students in the United States. Based on Youth Risk Behavior Survey data across 22 states from 2005–2015, coupled with data about the presence of general and enumerated anti-bullying laws that include sexual orientation as a protected class, this study analyzes this topic using a quasi-experimental design (linear difference-in-difference models). The results indicate that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning youth (particularly boys aged 15 or younger) experienced less bullying victimization in states with general or enumerated anti-bullying laws. There was modest evidence of a reduction in fear-based absenteeism among boys in states with such laws. However, there was little evidence of a relationship between such policies and in-school threats or injuries or suicidality. Further, lesbian, bisexual, and questioning girls’ likelihood of victimization, absenteeism, or suicidality was generally not related to the presence of anti-bullying laws. The results suggest that general and enumerated anti-bullying laws may help reduce bullying victimization for gay, bisexual, and questioning boys.     

Characteristics and Co-occurrence of Adolescent Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and Suicidal Behaviours in Pediatric Emergency Crisis Services

During the potentially tumultuous adolescent period, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) and suicide attempts are relatively common, particularly amongst youth who present to mental health services. These phenomena frequently co-occur but their relationship is unclear. This study evaluated clinical data from 468 youth between the ages of 12 and 17 years (63.5% female) to determine the incidence of NSSI 24 h prior to presentation at emergency crisis services, evaluated the overlap between NSSI and suicide attempt, and examined the characteristics of different types of self-harm. Half of the adolescents presenting to emergency crisis services had self-harmed within the previous 24 h, with most of these (91%) classified as NSSI only. The percentage of youth with a suicide attempt was 5% and the co-occurrence of these two behaviours was 4%. Group differences in depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation and impulsivity were identified, with the co-occurring NSSI and suicide attempt group presenting with the highest level of psychopathology. This study underscores the necessity of assessing suicidal ideation and NSSI in all youth presenting to mental health services.     

Correlates of Externalizing Behavior Symptoms Among Youth Within Two Impoverished, Urban Communities

The current study examines whether risk factors associated with child externalizing behavior symptoms differ between two similar low-income urban communities, using baseline parent data of 154 African American youth (ages 9-15) participating in the Collaborative HIV-Prevention and Adolescent Mental Health Project (CHAMP) family program. Separate multiple regression analyses of each city sample indicated that greater child externalizing symptoms were associated with increasing parenting hassles for New York families (n = 46), but greater parent mental health symptoms for participants in Chicago (n = 108). Understanding such distinctions between communities is an important first step towards tailoring services to unique community needs.