Hashtags and hip-hop: exploring the online performances of hip-hop identified youth using Instagram

Despite hip-hop’s popularity, little attention has been paid to its effects on youth gender performances on social media. This study has analyzed how youth who identify with three popular hip-hop songs interpreted the songs’ messages and performed their gender on the social media application Instagram (IG). Posts (N=450) from IG users were examined using modified consensual qualitative research procedures. Ten categories emerged that illustrate the range of gender performances which youth engaged in, each of which occurred within one of four domains: (a) mixed messages (self-love and visibility; relationships); (b) reified messages (party life; provocations; conspicuous consumption); (c) challenged messages (growth; making new meaning; teamwork); and (d) neutral messages (humor; other). The findings from this study illustrate the influential role of hip-hop music on youth gender performance in a natural context (IG). IG posts often mirrored, and in turn contributed to, the narrow range of acceptable gender performances in hip-hop, suggesting the need for youth media literacy skill development.     

Salience,Valence, Context,and Integration: Conceptualizing the Needs of Sexually and Gender Diverse Youth in P–12 Schools

A framework for conceptualizing the needs of lesbian, gay male, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and other sexually and gender diverse youth is essential for guiding service delivery throughout educational settings. Review and synthesis of the literature reveals that integrating assessment of the salience, valence, and context of issues related to sexual and gender diversity facilitates affirmative practice at the individual student, group, and school-wide levels. The authors describe the components of the salience, valence, context, and integration (SVCI) model with emphasis on practical application. The theoretical and empirical support for each component of the model is also discussed.     

Intersectionality in the Lives of LGBTQ Youth: Identifying as LGBTQ and Finding Community in Small Cities and Rural Towns

This article presents an analysis of the views of younger bisexual and lesbian women and transgender youth living in a western Canadian small city on their sexual and gender identities. Data were collected through focus groups and interviews and analyzed thematically through an intersectional lens. The purposive sample was composed of 13 youth who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) and whose average age was 19.8 years. The analytical themes of (1) living in a small town, (2) identifying and being identified, and (3) talking intersectionality indicate that the sexual identities and gender identities and expressions of LGBTQ youth change across time and context and are impacted by often overlooked factors including faith, Indigenous ancestry, disability, and class. Further, the size and character of the community significantly impacts LGBTQ youth identity development and expression. This research demonstrates the uniqueness of individual youth’s experiences—opposing notions of milestone events as singularly important in queer youth identity development.     

Positive Youth Development,Life Satisfaction and Problem Behaviour Among Chinese Adolescents in Hong Kong: A Replication

The purpose of this replication study was to examine the relationships among life satisfaction, positive youth development and problem behaviour. The respondents were 7,151 Chinese Secondary 2 (Grade 8) students (3,707 boys and 3,014 girls) recruited from 44 schools in Hong Kong. Validated assessment tools measuring positive youth development, life satisfaction and problem behaviour were used. As predicted, positive youth development was positively correlated with life satisfaction, and positive youth development and life satisfaction were negatively correlated with adolescent problem behaviour. Based on a series of structural equation models, the present findings replicated the previous findings that adolescents with a higher level of positive youth development were more satisfied with life and had lesser problem behaviour, with higher level of life satisfaction and lower level of problem behaviour mutually influencing each other. These replicated findings provide a further advance in the literature on positive youth development, particularly in the Chinese context. Implications for future research and intervention were discussed.     

Schooling the public on boys: the ongoing salience in media representations of the “crisis” in boys’ education

This paper explores the salience of the “crisis” in boys’ education as it is articulated in Australian print media. We will consider the ways in which this crisis is expressed through a gendered language which simultaneously represents boys as “forgotten” by teaching practices thought to be prioritising girls’ learning, and as an equity (disadvantaged) grouping who require specialised teaching methods different from those currently offered within the Australian school system. Further, we will examine the extent to which feminist-inspired reforms in education are either implicitly or explicitly referenced as an explanation for boys’ apparently poor education attainment, and relatedly consider the work of “experts” supporting claims of a pro-feminine bias that adversely affects boys’ learning outcomes, particularly those experts offering neurological or psychological/cognitive findings which assert a biological basis for gender difference. In this context, we argue that rather than advancing gender equity in schools, popular public discourse, as presented in Australian print media, reinforces and perpetuates notions of gender difference and masculine entitlement.     

“No Pumps Allowed”: The “Problem” With Gender Expression and the Morehouse College “Appropriate Attire Policy”

ABSTRACT

Within higher education literature, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have been lauded for their exceptional ability to provide African American students with culturally engaging academic and social environments. While the aforementioned may be true, much of this literature has presented HBCU students and these institutions as monolithic entities, with little regard to the ways social identities (e.g., gender, gender identity, sexual identities) shape students’ undergraduate experiences. This investigation uses critical discourse analysis to explore the media’s coverage and reactions to the Morehouse College appropriate attire policy in order to examine how their campus stakeholders problematized gender expression within this HBCU context. Implications for this research provides insights into how HBCU communities can both recognize and respond to the needs of their diverse queer student populations. This study concludes with highlighting new advancements being made on HBCU campuses that illustrate how they are making their campuses more inclusive of queer students.     

Assessing the Psychometric Properties of Both a Global and a Domain-Specific Perceived Quality of Life Measure When Used with Youth Who Have Chronic Conditions

The purpose of this paper was to assess the psychometric properties of the Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (SLSS) and the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS) when used with youth who have chronic conditions. Baseline data from a longitudinal study examining predictors of changes in perceived quality of life (PQOL) for youth with chronic conditions were used. SLSS and BMSLSS data were collected on over 400 youth aged 11–17 using youth self-report and parent proxy-report versions. Internal consistency, convergent validity, and factor structure were examined for both versions. Extent of agreement and magnitude of differences between youth and parent report were evaluated. Finally, gender, age, and condition group differences in youth report scores were examined for the SLSS and BMSLSS. Strong internal consistency was demonstrated for the youth and parent reports of both measures. As with normative samples, a single factor structure was found for youth and parent reports of the BMSLSS. However, both youth and parent reports of the SLSS had a two-factor structure: one consisting of five positively worded items, and the other, two negatively worded items. Youth reported their PQOL to be significantly higher than did their parents. Significant differences in PQOL scores for the youth report were not found by age, gender, or conditions. Findings show that, from a psychometric standpoint, the BMSLSS (both youth and parent report) is a promising measure of PQOL for use in population-based research with youth who have chronic conditions. The SLSS may need to be revised to exclude negative items when used with this population of youth.     

The life course of gay and lesbian youth: an immodest proposal for the study of lives

The authors raise questions about several fundamental assumptions and methods regarding study of the development of gay and lesbian youth. Primary among these are the validity of reliance on respondents' recollections regarding their childhood and adolescent experiences; inferences about developmental processes and outcomes made on the basis of cross-sectional samples; the time-specific, cohort-bound nature of many previous constructs and findings; and the persistent search for continuities between childhood gender behavior and adult sexual orientation. In consequence, the emerging body of theory is largely a developmental psychology of the remembered past. Strategies are suggested for longitudinal, prospective research on homosexual adolescents, shifting attention from child-based, "causal" models to those of adolescent and adult-centered perspectives. Aimed at understanding life changes and the developmental processes and course of negotiating them, longitudinal methods will more accurately reflect current experiences of gay and lesbian youth coming of age in a unique historical context. Findings from studies of the life course have direct implications for modification of current developmental theories, particularly those that can inform gay and lesbian-sensitive clinical services for all age groups.     

A critique of neoliberalism with fierceness: queer youth of color creating dialogues of resistance

As a form of deregulated capitalism that has run amok, commodifying all that is in its path, and as a cultural means of commodifying Black and brown bodies, neoliberalism has taken a serious toll on the lives of working-class queer youth of color. Although it has hijacked spaces of cultural representation and material production, neoliberal capitalism is far from transparent. Through resistance, activism and performance queer youth of color have now started to shape a critique of oppressive structures, neoliberal policies, and pedagogical practices that are critical of their intersecting identities. This article examines neoliberalism's impact on education, focusing on educational policy and how these policies have affected queer youth of color in the urban centers of our major cities. This article also considers the contributions made by educators writing from the perspective of critical pedagogy in addressing the plight of queer youth of color in U.S. schools while employing the example of the dance group, Innovation, as way of addressing the havoc of neoliberalism in the lives of queer youth of color through performance and activism. This group has not only transformed notions of gender, race, class and sexuality that challenge major tenants of neoliberalism, but has also served as potent sites for the development of a critical pedagogy for working-class queer youth of color. Through sites of resistance rooted in progressive struggle, queer youth of color must be enabled by critical transformative intellectuals committed to encouraging youth to critically evaluate and challenge ideologies while displaying an allegiance to egalitarianism.     

Advocacy Communication and Social Identity: An Exploration of Social Media Outreach

Increasingly, advocacy organizations employ social networking sites as inexpensive and often effective ways to disseminate outreach messages. For groups working to reach lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth, social media provide key platforms for connecting with target audiences. Although these young people increasingly utilize social media, little is known about how digital advocacy campaigns influence their sexual identity formation. This article applies concepts of social identity to examine how LGBTQ youth understand advocacy campaigns, how they perceive LGBTQ as a social category presented in campaigns, and what values they assign to LGBTQ group membership.     

Still Trapped in the U.S. Media’s Closet: Representations of Gender-Variant,Pre-Adolescent Children

Many studies have examined representations of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the U.S. media. Yet they have centered on portrayals of adults or teenagers. This investigation considered a potential LGBT population that has been neglected in media research, namely gender-variant, preadolescent children. Surveying the U.S. media at large but with an emphasis on television, the article reveals that gender-creative youth are nearly invisible. When depictions of gender-variant kids do appear, they often focus on either children who express extreme gender dysphoria or in some way signify the “tragic queer” motif (or both). The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Perceived Sibling Relationships of Sexual Minority Youth

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships of sexual minority youth and their siblings. The participants were 56 lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender individuals ranging in age from 18 to 24 years, who reported information about a total of 107 siblings. Respondents completed a demographic data questionnaire as well as adapted versions of the Sibling Closeness Scale (SCS) and the Sibling Approval of Sexual Behavior Scale (SASBS) to describe their relationship with each of their siblings. Analyses examined birth order and gender in relation to outness to siblings as well as sibling closeness and approval. Results provide information about disclosure of LGBT status to siblings, elements of closeness and acceptance in sibling relationships of sexual minority youth, and the significance of gender and birth order in these sibling relationships.     

Marketing,media, and misogyny: interactive advertising critique in a Huffington Post forum

This paper examines 3,144 comments in a March 2012 Huffington Post forum about an online Belvedere vodka advertisement that was widely interpreted to depict sexualized violence. The study applies critical textual analysis, relating discourse to context to illuminate recurring themes and clues to the strategies and resources influencing how comments were constructed. Four major recurring themes emerge from within a wide range of topics: (1) speculations on advertising strategy; (2) contested perceptions of sexual assault; (3) links between gender politics and party politics; and (4) media literacy lessons. Cutting across themes is an apparent awareness of context, including the site’s reward system, its predominantly left-leaning politics, and the potential consequences of participant commentary being exploited by Belvedere to increase brand recognition. Comments often invoke personal or professional authority by articulating qualifications presumed relevant to the advertisement’s deconstruction. The study suggests that forum participants can be understood as members of productive communities, who construct responses structured by shared contextual constraints and/or relevant common experience. The study also suggests that online forum participation offers mixed prospects for lay critics of media misogyny in that their commentary vies for attention alongside missives calculated to be provocative.     

Thoughts on the nature of identity: how disorders of sex development inform clinical research about gender identity disorders

Disorders of sex development (DSD), like gender dysphoria, are conditions with major effects on child sexuality and identity, as well as sexual orientation. Each may in some cases lead to change of gender from that assigned neonatally. These similarities-and the conditions' differences-provide a context for reviewing the articles in this issue about clinical approaches to children with gender dysphoria, in relation to assessment, intervention, and ethics.     

Human Capital Composition and Economic Growth

This paper examines the dimensionality and factorial invariance of the Chinese Positive Youth Development Scale (CPYDS) using multigroup confirmatory factor analyses (MCFA). Secondary 1 students (N = 5,649) responded to the CPYDS in the context of a positive youth development program. Results showed that there are 15 basic dimensions of the CPYDS which are subsumed under four higher-order factors (i.e., cognitive-behavioral competencies, prosocial attributes, positive identity and general positive youth development qualities). Evidence of factorial invariance in terms of configuration, first-order factor loadings, second-order factor loadings, intercepts of measured variable, and intercepts of first-order latent factor, was found. The findings suggest that the CPYDS has stable dimensions that can be used to assess positive youth development in Chinese adolescents.     

欧洲生育支持政策效果的评估及启示——基于模糊集定性比较的分析

采用组态比较方法中的模糊集定性比较分析,系统性检验了2000—2018年29个欧洲典型国家社会情境和现行生育支持政策的条件组合与生育率变化的关系,试图为我国借鉴欧洲国家生育支持政策提供新的研究思路。通过欧洲各国三类生育支持政策(育儿津贴、生育假期和儿童照料设施供给)与三类社会情境的条件(经济发展水平、性别平等及家庭重视文化)进行必要条件检验,得到五类影响生育率的组态方案。通过将不同社会情境下各国生育支持政策的实施效果与我国国情的比较和讨论,本研究提出,我国生育支持政策的出台要充分考虑地区差异:对于性别较为平等的经济发达地区,大力发展儿童照料设施和有针对性的育儿津贴可以稳定生育率;对于性别平等较差的西部欠发达地区,育儿津贴更能提高生育率;在性别差距较大、重视后代的经济发达地区,较慷慨的生育假期和提供儿童照料设施双管齐下会有助于提升生育水平。     

Acting on the Body of the Audience

This paper studies the particularly restrictive context of patriarchal culture against the backdrop of the political dictatorship in Portugal in the middle of the twentieth century, in terms of its moral hegemony and the rigid boundaries that it imposed on gender roles. It is within this context that media reception was forced to find a space for interaction with everyday life. Based on biographic interviews with women born in the first decades of the Estado Novo dictatorship (1933–1974), some modes of receiving radio and television are discussed, along with the extent to which they constituted an adaptation of the then “new media” to deeply internalised censorship regimes of female and male behaviours and relationships between the genders. Further to the institutional censorship that strictly filtered content in the media in accordance with the regime’s official ideology, there was also, on the reception side, a system of stipulated, conditioned, and supervised practices that were marked by social and symbolic censorship producing what we call “gender-based censorship.” The analysis provides a new way of understanding the contexts inherited in the formation of our current identities, in terms of potential for women’s emancipation.     

Wellbeing Among Indonesian Labour Migrants to Malaysia: Implications of the 2011 Memorandum of Understanding

A spate of media attention has focused on the harsh conditions endured by Indonesian labour migrants in Malaysia. In June 2009, human rights abuses led to a ban by Indonesia on recruitment of Indonesians for domestic service in Malaysia. This ban was overturned on May 30th 2011, with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two nations on migrant employment conditions. Against this backdrop, this paper reports on the findings of a survey administering the Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI) among a sample of Indonesian labour migrants. The aims of the study were: (a) to determine the degree to which Indonesian labour migrants to Malaysia are satisfied with their lives; (b) to contribute the first psychometric data for the PWI for this migrant group; (c) to compare results to existing studies for other labour migrants in Asia; (d) to examine whether the PWI responses fall within the narrow range predicted by the ‘Theory of Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis’; and (e) to determine the contributions of sets of perceived macroeconomic conditions, perceived institutional factors and perceived social conditions to the prediction of wellbeing over and above the contribution of demographics. Results indicated a high level of personal wellbeing and the PWI demonstrated good psychometric properties. In particular, the sample reported very high satisfaction with religiosity. The PWI full score narrowly exceeded the normative range for non-Western countries and was within the narrow band predicted by the ‘Theory of Subjective Wellbeing Homeostasis’. Sets of perceived macroeconomic conditions, institutional factors and social conditions added incrementally to the prediction of wellbeing over and above demographics, suggesting that current attempts inherent in the MoU to stem abuse and improve conditions for Indonesian labour migrants might have benefits to subjective wellbeing in this migration context in the future.     

Emerging population issues among adolescents and youth

The authors "examine the emerging population issues of adolescents and youth [in Sri Lanka]. The demographic pressures have resulted in the expansion of the numbers in this age category which in turn has caused problems of employment creation. The educational expansion has brought about changes in the age at marriage and life styles, which in turn has created the need for greater attention on reproductive health issues among adolescents and youth."