Studies on Women's Sexuality in China since 1980: A Critical Review

Over the last 20 years, women's sexuality has become one of the most written about and intensely debated subjects in sexology, sociology, and women's studies in mainland China. From these studies, one can trace the development of academic discourse on women's sexuality through three distinct phases: from a predominantly medical discourse, to the use of survey methods to investigate women's real experiences, and finally to a phase in which Western theories have become increasingly influential. Each phase features a distinct stereotype of woman. The implications of this review for sexual research in China will also be discussed.     

Reconceptualizing cultural narratives of mature women's sexuality in the Viagra era

To date, women's accounts of sexuality and sexual changes in mid-later life have been neglected by both feminists and gerontologists. In addition, women's responses to male partners' use of sexuopharmaceuticals such as Viagra (as a “solution" for erectile changes affecting older men) have received little attention. This paper reports on a New Zealand-based research which involved in-depth interview with 27 women, in mid-later life, who were partners of men that used Viagra. We analyse the accounts of 15 women who discussed changes/‘improvements' in their sexuality over the life course and with their partners' use of Viagra. Central to the accounts we present is an articulation of an active and desirous female sexuality in mid-later life. These narratives, we suggest, not only challenge the culture stereotype of mid-later life sexual decline for women, but also open up new spaces for feminist theorizing of heterosexuality and changing experiences of heterosexuality across the course.     

Growth hormone in anti-aging medicine: a critical review

Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) signaling modulation has been associated with increased lifespan in model organisms, while high levels of circulating interleukin-6 (IL-6) are a marker of disability and mortality. In the prospective, population-based “Treviso Longeva”? TRELONG Study from Italy (n?=?668, age range 70–105.5 years at baseline, followed for seven years) we investigated the effects of survival on the IGF-1 receptor (IGF-1R) gene polymorphism rs2229765, the IL-6 gene promoter polymorphism rs1800795, and plasma concentrations of IGF-1 and IL-6, alone or in combination. We found a sex-dependent effect for the IGF-1R rs2229765 polymorphism, as male carriers of the homozygous A/A genotype survived longer, while the IL-6 rs1800795 genotype did not influence overall or sex-specific longevity. Higher IL-6 levels were more detrimental for survival among males than females, while IGF-1 had no dose–response effect. These findings sustain the hypothesis that sex-specific longevity relies on detectable differences in genetic and biochemical parameters between males and females.     

Understanding home: a critical review of the literature

In recent years there has been a proliferation of writing on the meaning of home within the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, psychology, human geography, history, architecture and philosophy. Although many researchers now understand home as a multidimensional concept and acknowledge the presence of and need for multidisciplinary research in the field, there has been little sustained reflection and critique of the multidisciplinary field of home research and the diverse, even contradictory meanings of this term. This paper brings together and examines the dominant and recurring ideas about home represented in the relevant theoretical and empirical literature. It raises the question whether or not home is (a) place(s), (a) space(s), feeling(s), practices, and/or an active state of state of being in the world? Home is variously described in the literature as conflated with or related to house, family, haven, self, gender, and journeying. Many authors also consider notions of being‐at‐home, creating or making home and the ideal home. In an effort to facilitate interdisciplinary conversations about the meaning and experience of home each of these themes are briefly considered in this critical literature review.     

The indirect estimation of migration: a critical review

Indirect estimation techniques for measuring emigration were first proposed by members of the IUSSP Working Group for the Study of International Migration, as a complement to methods based on more traditional types of data such as place of birth, place and duration of residence, and date of arrival. 2 approaches were suggested: 1, based on obtaining information from mothers on the place of residence of their children, was proposed by Somoza; the other, which requires all respondents to furnish information about the place of residence of their brothers and sisters, was developed by Hill. The aim of both methods is to obtain an estimate of the total number, and distribution by age and sex, of persons born in 1 country, but residing in another. The residence of children method has now been tried in at least 10 different censuses and surveys, mainly in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the analysis of these data allows assessment of the methods' strengths and weaknesses with some confidence. The residence of sibling technique has not been used as widely, so that, in spite of its theoretical attractions, its performance in the field cannot be evaluated to the same extent. This article seeks to summarize the methodology and to examine some recent theoretical developments. In particular, an assessment is presented of biases in the estimates of emigration obtained by the indirect methods. 3 main sources of error have been identified: reporting errors arising during fieldwork, estimation errors arising in the course of analysis through the use of biased inputs, and errors due to the use of age distributions of relatives derived from model stable populations.     

Globalizations and the Transformation of Environmental Activism: Turkey since the 1980s

Social scientists have developed two main arguments regarding the impacts of globalization on environmental activism and politics. Environmental activism is thought to be associated with instances of local resistance to transnational corporations, and also with a diffusion of environmentalist ideas, practices, and regulations from global core to periphery. Alternatively, this paper argues that by eroding states' sovereignty and supporting ethnic and religious minority groups within and across nations, globalization processes have fused environmental politics with ethnic and religious identity politics worldwide. The environmentalist discourses and activities of Islamist intellectuals and Alevis (a large religious minority) in Turkey since the 1980s illustrate the limited applicability of center–periphery models of globalization, and the complexity of globalizations' impacts on environmental activism and politics.     

Long-term marriages: A critical review

Research guidelines are proposed for the study of long-term marriages based on a critical review of existing studies. Current problems in the collection and analysis of the data include the lack of agreement about the minimum length of a long-term relationship, the failure to make couple comparisons, or to follow samples longitudinally. In addition, the response rate is uniformly low and the variables studied are not consistent. Future research should gather data about couples, not just individuals, and should utilize standardized measures. It is important to begin to build a comprehensive and comparable data base of long-term marital relationships.     

International women's magazines in China: Global and local perspectives

Unlike other global media products that are imported from overseas, international women's magazines in China are published via licensing agreements or joint ventures with local companies. These ownership patterns allow local editions of international women's magazines to negotiate the tensions and contradictions between the global players and local publishers. Given the influence of cultural and commercial forces in different economic environments, international women's magazines provide a challenging platform for exploring the interaction between global and local forces. Through a theoretical framework of hybridity theory and in-depth interviews with editorial personnel from the magazine industry, this study explores the global and local forces that have contributed to the production process of international women's magazines in China. The findings reveal that these magazines are a result of a multi-level convergence of local realities and global influences. Although there are factors of control and dependence in many areas such as the publishing ideas, editorial policies, the training of personnel, and the quality of production, both Western-style and Japanese-style women's magazines tend to appropriate and rework global cultures to satisfy local readers' needs, albeit in different ways. As a result, local and transnational influences are inextricably interwoven in the production process of international women's magazines in China. The study provides an extensive understanding of the global processes, the consumers, and the cultural forces that are shaping the media, particularly magazines in China.     

Towards a critical geography of American Studies

Abstract

Our argument in this article is based on the premise that 'geography' refers not simply to location within a spatial frame but also to geographical knowledge as it is variously produced, taken for granted, contested, and negotiated. As taken-for-granted geographical knowledge is central to the discipline of American Studies not only in the framing of its subject matter but also in the spatialization of its disciplinary practices, we propose the development of a critical geography of American Studies. We argue that geographies of subject and practice are actively produced by Americanists not only in academic argument but also in the discourse of practical disciplinary texts. Performing close critical readings of two such routine texts in order to bring to attention some of the ways in which they produce at times contradictory geographies, we end with a call for wider recognition of the contingent nature of the contested geographies of international American Studies.     

Social reactions to child sexual abuse disclosures: a critical review

Recent studies have examined disclosure of child sexual abuse to determine the correlates and consequences of telling others about this form of victimization. The present article reviews the current empirical literature on disclosure and reactions to adult survivors to assess what is known about the process of disclosure and whether telling others is therapeutic and leads to positive outcomes. Most studies assessing social reactions in detail have concerned adult survivors retrospectively reporting on their disclosures of child sexual abuse. Few empirical studies have been conducted in this area but research suggests that few victims tell anyone about child sexual abuse as children, and that the type of reactions to disclosure vary according to when disclosure occurs (childhood or adulthood), the extent and nature of the disclosure, and the person to whom one discloses. Clear evidence shows that negative social reactions are harmful to survivors' well-being, but better assessment of specific reactions and their effects are needed in theoretically-based studies to evaluate how these responses affect survivors' recovery in the context of other variables. Suggestions for future research on social reactions of others to adult survivors disclosing child sexual abuse are presented.     

Disability, Ethnicity and Childhood: a critical review of research

Whilst there is an increasing body of literature on the perspectives of carers of disabled children, there is little research giving the disabled child's perspective from either majority or minority populations. Indeed, the voices of black and Asian children in disability research have been almost silent. This literature review collates and analyses existing knowledge about the perceptions held by disabled and non-disabled children, and young people from black and Asian families concerning issues of disability and impairment. The Disability Movement has long proclaimed its belief in the full participation and self-representation of all disabled people. However, despite this laudable objective, the Disability Movement in Britain has mirrored society in general and for the most part been led by white, middle-class, heterosexual, articulate males. This review discusses the simultaneous oppression faced by black and Asian disabled children, and concludes that their experience is unique and different from that of white disabled children. Accordingly, it emphasises the need for further research about the subjective experience of black and Asian disabled children in order to meet their particular needs.     

Transnational cultural flows: An analysis of women's magazines in China

This study examines the expansion process of women's magazines in China, particularly over the past few decades. From 1921 to 1976 only a few women's magazines were available in China and all were owned and published by the government. However, since the late 1980s, there has been a proliferation of women's magazines – both local and international. Today, Chinese language versions of Western women's magazines, such as Elle, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, and Harper's Bazaar, and Japanese magazines like Rayli can be found on the magazine racks of any major city in China. The introduction and competition from international magazines has changed the look and content of local women's magazines. This preliminary study uses historical analysis and political economy to examine the growth of women's magazines in China and to discuss how the changing face of women's media represents a shift in gender ideology in China.     

Retrieving the religion in racialization: A critical review

Scholars across disciplines have argued that race and religion are co‐constituted in part because of their historical relationship. The concept of racialization, particularly as it is housed in racial formation theory, is the way that most empirical research in sociology has approached analysis of this co‐constitution. Such analysis however is often at the expense of empirically accounting for the historical relationship between race and religion. In this article, I argue for stronger empirical consideration of this historical relationship in research on racialization. I discuss what is at stake in deeper empirical analysis and what scholars gain by using religion as a starting point to understand racialization today.     

Lost in data translation: A critical review of datasets on refugees

Quantitative data are the backbone of the international refugee regime. Academic researchers and international organizations have been drawing attention to the problems of refugee data that obscure refugee vulnerabilities. Despite these efforts, the limitations of quantitative refugee data, particularly with regard to gendered aspects of refugee vulnerabilities, have often been overlooked. This article aims to address this issue by examining the major limitations of quantitative refugee data. It focuses on the question of “What are the major limitations of quantitative refugee data regarding gendered aspects of refugee vulnerabilities?” By conducting a systematic review of 67 datasets from international organizations, nation-states, and independent data collectors, it argues that there are five fundamental problems with the data: (1) lack of disaggregation, (2) lack of cross-tabulation and inability to harmonize datasets, (3) inconsistent periodization frequency, (4) lack of sex and gender diversity measurement, and (5) survivor bias. This article highlights the importance of critically analysing the data that informs theories and decisions regarding refugee vulnerabilities.     

Identity reproducers beyond the grassroots: The middle class in the Manchu revival since the 1980s

A diagnosis of the ethnic empowerment fuelled by the Chinese Manchu middle-class elite provides a useful tool for examining the overall Manchu identity revival movement in the 1980s. The strategy of the Manchu middle-class elite has three parts: re-crafting ethnic identity by strengthening networks and cultural differences, pursuing ethnic economic development, and politically legitimating the group existence. This article explores several important questions concerning the strategy. Why is the ethnic middle class keen to provide vigorous leadership in the ethnic identity reconstruction movement? How do the people of this class invest their bitter grievances with new meaning and empower themselves in the process of bargaining and group confrontation with the State? How can they make their ethnic identity more likely to be ‘institutionalised’ into the ethnic mosaic of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the Open and Reform era?