Battered women who were "being killed and survived it": straight talk from survivors

Findings from police reports and interviews with women who have survived an attempted domestic homicide revealed patterns in their experiences and sources of distress. The build-up in the year prior to the near-lethal attack involved tension from ongoing contact with an angry, controlling batterer. Most typically the perpetrator was an alcoholic or drug addict, a gun owner, and, if his victim had left him, her stalker. In the majority of cases, the victim had either left or announced that she was leaving the relationship. While he had often threatened her life and she feared him, she typically did not think him capable of killing her. She described the attack as shocking and terrifying, and she felt certain she was going to die. In the immediate aftermath, she received some support, but as time went by, she felt isolated and alone. Ultimately, the women became convinced that they must rely on their "inner strength" to get on with their lives.     

The effect of war on marriage,divorce and birth rates

The impact of war on marriage, divorce, and birth rates in the United States from 1933 to 1986 is explored. The author concludes that "the involvement of the nation in military activities was accompanied by a decrease in marriage and birth rates but not by any change in divorce rates. Mobilization of the armed forces and demobilization had no discernible impact on divorce, marriage or birth rates."     

Young women who underwent induced abortion

Premarital sex is becoming increasingly more common in China. As a result, there is a greater need for pregnancy termination, often in very young women. This paper presents case vignettes of 4 Chinese women who were forced, by a variety of circumstances, to undergo induced abortion. C, a 23-year-old shop assistant, was planning marriage and had obtained housing when she discovered she was pregnant. However, her shop manager, whose sexual advances she had spurned, refused to give her a letter of reccommendation for a marriage certificate. M came from the countryside to Shanghai, hoping that through her work as a maid, she would be able to amass modern possessions such as a television and stereo. When this proved impossible on her wage of 40 yuan/month, she engaged in prostitution for 10 yuan/night and did not even know the name of the man who impregnated her. W, a 13-year-old aspiring actress, found that having sexual relations with the director of her theater troupe was the only way to get a leading role. She won the role, but was unable to perform due to her pregnancy. B, a college woman, planned to marry when she learned she was pregnant but broke off the relationship when she discovered the extent of her financee's possessiveness. She became engaged to another man, but he rejected her when she revealed that she was not a virgin. These vignettes demonstrate the extent to which modernization has placed Chinese women in complex psychological situations as they struggle to liberate themselves from traditionalism.     

The politics of "disregarding": addressing Zainichi issues within the lesbian community in Japan

This article discusses the difference in positionality between Japanese lesbians and Zainichi (literally, "resident in Japan") Korean lesbians. The author first presents a narrative written by a Zainichi Korean lesbian, in which she expresses her anger toward Japanese lesbians. Setting her narrative as a starting point, the author retraces the controversial incident that occurred during the second Asian Lesbian Network (ALN) conference that was held in Japan in 1992. Through a re-reading of a series of narratives with regard to the second conference, the author demonstrates how the unequal power relations between Japanese lesbians and Zainichi Korean lesbians operate in what she calls the politics of "disregarding," where Zainichi Korean lesbians are continuously omitted from the consciousness of Japanese lesbians. doi:10.1300/ J155v10n03_05.     

Gender relations,development practice and "culture"

Most development practitioners have the following preconceived notions about gender and culture: 1) that gender relations are equated with the most intimate aspects of society; 2) that culture and tradition are immutable; 3) that there is no independent resistance to subordination within the culture; and 4) that religion is culture. These notions interfere with work on developing equitable gender relations and complicate efforts to allocate resources in ways that redress the imbalance of power between men and women. The validity of these notions can be tested by analyzing an experience the author had in 1984 when she published a book on women and development in India. On a publicity tour in Liverpool, England, she addressed an audience composed largely of men from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. This audience attacked her book and defended an idealized version of the position of women in the culture of South Asia. They accused the author of being a traitor to her own culture and of being Westernized. A Pakistani woman member of the audience, however, thanked the author for her presentation and reported that she was working with Asian women facing domestic violence. The men understood the cultural identity of South Asia as being composed of identical families dedicated to mutual interest, love, and cooperation. However, this family unit requires the subsuming of women's interests. This myth of the family ignores real life experiences of women who suffer abuse and ignores the fact that the notion of "family" is constantly undergoing change. Development practitioners should use culture as a way of opening up intractable areas of gender relations rather than regarding it as a dead-end which prevents work towards equitable gender relations. A new definition of "cultural sensitivity" would be to acknowledge that contests surround the significance attached by a society to different aspects of social constraints and that these contests often represent challenges to hierarchical social relations.     

Toward an assessment of the social role of rural midwives and its implication for the family planning program: an Iranian case study

An axiom of family planning programming is the importance of culturally-appropriate communicators and motivators. Traditional midwives seem ideal for this task but few studies have been done to verify this assumption by analyzing the midwife's social role as perceived by the community. 325 married women and 81 unmarried girls from a "model village" near Shiraz were interviewed by female undergraduates. 82.5% of the women are of childbearing age; 66% married before 14 years; 33% use contraception, mostly the pill, but most want large families because they expect high child mortality rates. Most of the older women are able to assist in childbirth but none, except the village's one recognized midwife, who is considered to have divine backing, will do so except in an emergency. The midwife's activities cause her to be held in low esteem by the community because 1) she has contact with a woman's sexual parts and this fact is public; 2) she has contact with vaginal excretia which are, in Islam, polluting; and 3) she is paid for her services, which labels her as a woman "without shame". The midwife is, however, widely used since women and their husbands fear the trip to the hospital and treatment by a male doctor much more than a midwife-supervised birth. The midwife in the study village had been there only 2 years and feels that she is not fully trusted. She is not consulted on birth control at all, because women expect the pill to be dispensed by doctors and consider other methods as a matter strictly between husband and wife. The midwife's role seems to complement that of the government health authorities rather than compete. The midwife's low status and circumscribed sphere of activity, the weak respect in which her advice is held and the pattern of having only 1 recognized midwife in a village at a time make the midwife a poor agent for family planning services. Her effectiveness as an agent of social change could be improved by training her in hygienic practices of childbirth and by redefining her role-relationship with the community. Studies should be done to identify the areas where traditional birth attendants are the best family planning communicators and those where that role is best left to others.     

Developing programs for older adults in a faith community

I have worked in all areas of nursing, from staff and head nurse positions to faculty and administrative positions, but my work as a parish nurse, particularly with our community of older adults, is one of the most challenging and rewarding areas of nursing practice I have ever experienced. Recently, one of our independent older adult parishioners, Marge, suddenly had a marked decrease in her ability to function, which was precipitated by two trips to the hospital and surgery. She went from living independently to living in a skilled care unit, no longer able to walk or perform activities of daily living without assistance. I had known Marge for only 2 years. When she became ill, I visited her weekly during the last 4 months of her life, as she had no family in the area. During my visit one evening as I helped Marge get ready for bed, she left me with a very poignant memory. After sharing some hair-raising stories about her care at this facility, she said, "Georgine, you're my best friend. You're the only one I can tell these things to and I know you understand."     

The gendered division of labor and family outcomes in germany

The literature on the predictors of the division of household labor continues to expand, but the effect of this division on family outcomes has not been explored. Using the German SocioEconomic Panel (N= 628), I analyze the effect of men's participation in housework and child care on the likelihood of second birth and divorce. Fathers' greater relative child‐care time increases couples' odds of second birth, attenuating the negative effect of mothers' employment. Husbands' relative housework time is insignificant in predicting second birth or divorce among couples with at least one child, but increases the likelihood of divorce among childless couples. This is evidence that the division of domestic labor affects family outcomes, but effects differ depending on the outcome and presence of children.     

Family migration and the economic status of women in Malaysia

"The impact of family migration on women's economic position in a developing country setting is an area that has received relatively little research attention. Incorporating a lifetime perspective, this study makes use of the retrospective migration histories of husbands and wives from the second round of the Malaysian Family Life Survey to estimate how joint migration with the husband affects women's socioeconomic achievement. The findings show that family migration depresses the chances of working, but it does not significantly reduce socioeconomic attainment of those who do work. However, when a woman migrates with her husband she does forgo the substantial advantage she could have derived had she moved alone."     

Challenging cultural constraints: a personal testimony

DISHA is one of the oldest Oxfam project partners in Uttar Pradesh, India. DISHA works with rural women and rope-makers; it encourages village-level women's organizations to fight against obstacles to women's empowerment and to institute income-producing activities; and it provides legal, educational, and health care services. In this article, a Muslim woman tells the story of her involvement with DISHA and how that involvement gave her the courage to reject the restrictions of purdah and of the wearing of the bourkha. This woman was married at age 13. She suffered ill treatment at the house of her in-laws and returned to her father's home with her 3 daughters. Her husband eventually joined her at her father's house. She was approached by a coordinator of DISHA and asked to apply for a job. She was offered the job, which she accepted. When she started going into the villages, she felt that the restrictive dress of the bourkha interfered with her ability to work. With the permission of her father and her husband, she set aside the bourkha. She had to endure criticism and censure for this action, but eventually people have been won over to her position as they have seen the positive results of her work on behalf of society. After having 5 daughters, she finally had a son. Now she is determined that her daughters will never wear the bourkha, even if they must remain single as a result of this resolve. She feels that DISHA has given her the power to overcome oppression in her own life, in the life of her family, and in society.     

陈薇:除了胜利,別无选择!

她带领科研团队研制的新冠病毒疫苗,成为国内首个进入临床获得专利权的新冠疫苗。在研发疫苗的关键时刻,她说:“除了胜利,别无选择!”她荣获了“人民英雄”国家荣誉称号。面对荣誉,她说:“这是军人的使命!”她是中国工程院院士、军事科学院军事医学研究院生物工程研究所所长、研究员陈薇。回顾她-路走来的经历,或许可以用三个关键词来概括,那就是“选择、坚持、使命”。     

Getting away on a sabbatical

When the time came for me to leave on a sabbatical to do research in Mississippi, I had to leave my 32-year-old daughter, who suffers short-term memory loss due to a cancerous brain tumor she had when she was 15. Leaving became a traumatic moment for me as she had just received notice that she could move into an apartment. She had been on a waiting list for a place for over a year. In some ways, I believed that the timing for my sabbatical could not have been worse for our family. Still, my other four children, my husband, and I moved her as we wanted her to have this opportunity for semi-independent living as soon as possible. Two weeks prior to my departure, I began writing a narrative capturing my emotions, detailing how difficult my getting off was for me.     

The impact of unemployment on marriage and divorce

"The present study was designed to explore whether unemployment has a deleterious impact on family life, resulting in lower rates of marriage and births and higher rates of divorce. Time series data were available for twelve nations for the 35 year period of 1950 to 1985, and the present paper reports analyses of these data sets." The results indicate that unemployment is associated with lower marriage and birth rates and higher divorce rates.     

Divorce and a Return to School

A return to school is discussed as both a possible contributing factor to marital separation or divorce as well as an outcome. Resuming work or education may produce role conflict within a marital relationship. A return to school may also follow a divorce in cases where a woman needs to obtain training necessary to support herself or her family. The special problems and counseling needs of the divorced reentering student are also delineated. Implications for society and education include the institutionalization of "maintenance" funds for reeducation and the removal of the many obstacles to part-time study faced by the divorced returning adult.     

An Exploratory Analysis of the Construct of Leavers versus Left as It Relates to Levinger's Social Exchange Theory of Attractions,Barriers, and Alternative Attractions

This study analyzed the construct of "leavers" versus "left" as it relates to Levinger's factors of attractions, barriers, and alternative attractions. Individuals who perceive themselves as the "leaver" were more positive in their attitudes toward divorce than the "left." Females were also more positive in their attitude toward divorce than were males. Although "leavers" and "left" did not differ in attractions to the marriage or in the number of barriers to divorce, leavers were willing to identify a greater number of attractive alternatives to the marriage. Furthermore, individuals having a more positive attitude toward divorce were more likely to identify fewer attractions to the marriage and a greater number of attractive alternatives to the marriage. There was no relationship between an individual's attitude toward divorce and the number of barriers he/she was willing to identify. Of the variables studied, "attractive alternatives" to the marriage was consistently identified as most significant.     

The Effect of War on Marriage,Divorce and Birth Rates

In the USA from 1933 to 1986, the involvement of the nation in military activities was accompanied by a decrease in mar- riage and birth rates but not by any change in divorce rates. Mobi- lization of the armed forces and demobilization had no discernible impact on divorce, marriage or birth rates.     

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY THERAPISTS WORKING WITH FAMILY VIOLENCE: STRAINED BEDFELLOWS OR COMPATIBLE PARTNERS?: A COMMENTARY ON AVIS,KAUFMAN, AND BOGRAD

Thelma is frustrated. She wants to go away for the weekend but approaching her husband with the idea seems impossible. Feeling annoyed, irritated, and trapped by her inability to discuss her plans, she yells at him instead. Responding in a tone that is both controlling and parental, he admonishes, "Didn't I tell you not to yell at me." As if she had forgotten about her feelings and her needs, she meekly replies, "I'm sorry, I didn't want you to be late." For those not familiar with the movie Thelma and Louise , Thelma does eventually summon up enough courage (with the support of her friend Louise) to leave, escaping from her chauvinistic and abusive husband on an exciting albeit brief adventure.     

Marrying a Man with “Baggage”

Abstract

Cultural views of previously married men include the assumption that they bring ex-wives and children as “baggage” into subsequent marriages. Analysis of 274 questionnaires of second wives revealed that such baggage was significantly associated with reporting less marital happiness, thinking about divorce, and wishing that they had not married their current husband. Implications for women contemplating marriage to a previously married man include acknowledging the vulnerability of second marriages to marital instability, questioning if living together ensures subsequent marital success, delaying the marriage until issues settle out, and considering moving into a new home or apartment with the new spouse rather than having him move into her home.     

HETEROGENOUS COUPLES IN HETEROSEXUAL MARRIAGES: GAY MEN AND STRAIGHT WOMEN*

This article, which is based on in-depth interviews of gay men who had been married, focuses on the nature of the spousal relationship and the almost inevitable marital disruption. It describes the conditions which bring about the man's disclosure of his homosexuality, the means of disclosure he uses, the wife's response, and the interactional effects the disclosure and response have on the marriage relationship. Most of the marriages ended in divorce. Regardless of whether the wife was accepting or rejecting of her husband as a homosexual, she appeared to be an enabler of his transition to a homosexual lifestyle. Implications for counseling are discussed.     

汤杏芬:有梦想,谁都了不起

今年51岁的宿管阿姨汤希,是杭州电子科技大学校园里的红人.同学们亲切地称她“汤阿姨”。此前,她因为6年创作了6部共200万字的小说,被媒体争相报道,还被邀请加入浙江网络作协。前不久她又被邀请走上大学讲台,为同学们讲解沟通和写作技巧。