The Outsider’s Edge: Geography,Gender, and Sexuality in the Local Color Movement

Outsider status, especially multiple social marginalities, usually constitutes a burden. Certain combinations can be advantageous for cultural producers, however, especially when geographic marginality is part of the mix. The Local Color movement demonstrates the outsider’s edge. In mid-nineteenth century in America, print technology, reduced postal rates, and mass literacy led to the golden age of magazines. Their readers sought stories about the regional cultures that were disappearing in an industrializing nation. Local Color—fiction about places outside the northeast cultural heartland—met this demand. Local Color authors shared outsider identities – geography, gender, and sexuality—that characterized and shaped the movement. Comparison with authors in the adjacent genres of Bestselling, Sentimental, and The Atlantic Monthly fiction reveals that multiple outsiderness (1) was not typical for authors of the period, and (2) advantaged women from the geographic periphery, especially those with unconventional sexual careers.     

The Last Bastion of Sexual and Gender Prejudice? Sexualities,Race, Gender,Religiosity, and Spirituality in the Examination of Prejudice Toward Sexual and Gender Minorities

Prior research has reported that many Americans hold prejudicial attitudes toward sexual and gender minorities. Most of this research analyzed attitudes toward target categories in isolation and not in relation to attitudes toward heterosexuals. In addition, most previous research has not examined attitudes of members of sexual and gender minority categories toward other categories. While some research has examined the influence of religiosity on attitudes toward sexual and gender minorities, none of these studies has examined religiosity while also examining the influence of spirituality. In this article we drew on insights from queer theory to examine attitudes toward heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals, as well as individuals who practice polygamy, among college students. Three samples gathered over a four-year period (2009, 2011, 2013) at a private, nonsectarian, midsized urban university in the Southeastern United States were used. We found that heterosexuals had the most positive rating, followed in order of rating by gay/lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals, and then those who practice polygamy. Regression analyses revealed gender and race were significant predictors of attitudes toward various sexual and gender categories. Holding a literalistic view of the Bible and self-identifying as more religious were related to more negative views toward sexual minorities, while self-identifying as more spiritual was related to more positive views.     

Gender,Race, and Perceived Environmental Risk: The “White Male” Effect in Cancer Alley,LA

Research on risk perceptions are replete with race- and gender-specific hypotheses attempting to account for attitudinal variation. However, race and gender differences may mask more notable patterns across subgroups, patterns that lie at the intersection of race and gender. Recent national studies suggest that being a White male leads to lower risk perceptions and greater willingness to accept risks. This article extends this research by examining the “White male” effect in a chronically polluted context, an area where industrial pollution is palpable and well-documented. Data are drawn from a survey of a population living in “Cancer Alley,” a stretch of the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. We find that women more than men and Blacks more than Whites perceive environmental risks as serious. Further, evidence suggests that these differences are mostly due to the relatively extreme perceptions of risk accepting White males and risk adverse Black females. After controlling for select variables in hierarchical multiple regression analyses, being a White male or Black female still has a statistically significant impact on risk perceptions.     

Accounts of False Memory Syndrome: Parents, “Retractors,” and the Role of Institutions in Account Making

There have been two traditions of research under the concept of accounts. One tradition, the social interactionist, has focused on the interactional use of accounts by individuals to neutralize negative evaluations of questionable acts or their consequences and restore social equilibrium. The second tradition, the social psychological, has focused on the autobiographical and explanatory use of accounts to create and organize meaning for troubling or stressful life events. In both traditions, scholars have been almost exclusively concerned with the individual-level functions of accounts. Analyzing the institutional origins of false memory syndrome and the retractor account episodes in which it is used, I argue for the expansion of accounts research to include the role of institutions and collective actors in the production of new account frameworks. Further, I argue that the conceptualizations of accounts in the two traditions of research can be effectively combined in a way that is sociologically stronger than either alone.     

“The Sociologist as Voyeur”: Social Theory and Sexuality Research, 1910–1978

Sociology has a long history of social theory and ethnographic research in the area of sexuality. Although it has been largely overlooked, this body of work prefigures later advances by social constructionists and queer theorists. This article reviews some of the early theoretical and empirical contributions to the sociology of sexuality, organized into five broad themes: the denaturalization of sexuality and its origins; the historicization of sexuality; the analytic shift from deviants to deviance/margins to center; the destabilization of sexual categories and identities and emphasis on the fluid and diverse meanings of sexual acts; and the theorization of sexuality and gender as performance. This article suggests that sexual stigma may contribute to the marginalization of sexuality studies in sociology.     

Abolition,Economic Transition,Gender and Slavery: The Expansion of Women's Slaveholding in Ghana, 1807–18741

The British withdrawal from the Atlantic Slave Trade fostered the expansion, rather than retrenchment of slavery within Africa. It also spurred a shift in the pre-nineteenth-century gendered pattern of slaveholding. This paper examines the extent to which radical economic changes altered the gendered structure of slaveholding in post-abolition Ghana. It argues that the British prohibition liberalised slaveholding conditions and resulted in a reconceptualisation of the value of slaves which breached the tradition of restricted female proprietorship of slaves, and also led to increased women's earning capacity, slave acquisition and use, as well as the scale of their holdings.     

Educating the “Variant,” Educating the Public: Gender and the Rhetoric of Legitimation in The Ladder Magazine for Lesbians

This article explores the rhetorical strategies used within The Ladder magazine to legitimate its producers, and by extension all lesbians, as participants in the public dialogue regarding the problem of homosexuality. The Ladder was the first lesbian-produced, nationally distributed magazine in the United States, publishing continuously from 1956 through 1972. Unlike early publications by male homophile groups, the producers of The Ladder had two delegitimating statuses to overcome in order to establish legitimacy–their stigmatized sexuality and their delegitimated gender. This article examines the ways that gender expectations experienced by women during the magazine's early years of publication shaped and constrained the discursive practices within The Ladder in its quest for legitimation. Three rhetorical strategies are analyzed: normalization (constructing the lesbian as heterosexual woman), status elevation (the lesbian as man), and emphatic individualism (the lesbian as idealized citizen).     

The Steps of Sexuality—A Developmental,Emotion-Focused,Child-Centered Model of Sexual Development and Sexuality Education from Birth to Adulthood

Abstract

Objective: To review research on emotional, cognitive, and behavioral levels of sexual development in children and adolescents, and, based on that, to propose a model of sexual development from infancy to early adulthood, the Steps of Sexuality. Methods: Literature review. Results: We present a model of sexual development from infancy to early adulthood, the Steps of Sexuality. Conclusion: We posit that to promote “a state of physical, emotional, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality,” sexuality education needs to focus on emotional needs and positive dimensions/aspects of sexuality.     

The Farming Question: Intergenerational Linkages,Gender and Youth Aspirations in Rural Zambia☆

With agriculture considered key to generating jobs for Africa's growing population, several studies have explored youth aspirations toward farming. While many factors explaining aspirations have been well studied, little is known about the actors' shaping aspirations. We developed a novel framework that focuses on the factors and actors shaping the formation and actual aspirations of rural youth and applied a unique “whole-family” approach based on mixed-methods data collection from adolescents (boys and girls) and corresponding adults. We applied this approach in rural Zambia, collecting data from 348 adolescents and adults in 87 households. The study finds that parents strongly shape youth aspirations—they are much more influential than siblings, peers, church, and media. Male youth are more likely to envision farming (full or part-time) than female youth. The male preference for farming reflects their parent's aspirations and is reinforced by the patriarchal system of land inheritance. Parents' farm characteristics, such as degree of mechanization, are also associated with aspirations. We recommend a “whole-family” approach, which acknowledges the influential role of parents, for policies and programs for rural youth and a stronger focus on gender aspects.     

The Impact of Corruption and Poverty on NGO–Business Collaboration in Mexico

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - We examine the likelihood of collaboration between NGOs and business in persistent intense social contexts. Using social...     

Can Migration Foster Development in Mexico? The Case of Poverty and Inequality

The impact of migration on development can be analysed from a number of perspectives. This article focuses on poverty and inequality. It assesses the relative contribution of migrants to Mexico′s economy through remittances, compared to other Latin American countries; analyses the distributional impact of remittances (with an emphasis on the poor), and compares this impact to the counterfactual impact of migrants’ stay‐at‐home income. It explains the processes leading to scant economic success rates among poor international migrants. Finally, it describes the nature and impact of current Mexican migrant‐oriented policies, and recommends a shift in focus, to lessen emigration, increase the income of migrants, promote returns, and bolster the economic impact of returning migrants.     

Understanding the Link: “Homosexuality,” Gender Identity,and the DSM

This article reviews the historical and present notions of identity, in relation to sexual orientation and gender identity within counseling. It also discusses the link between the historical pathologizing of homosexuality and gender identity, as well as summarizes the implications of the diagnosis of gender dysphoria (GD) as outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (5th ed.; DSM-5). The ethics of maintaining GD in the DSM-5 and future diagnostic manuals is discussed. Finally, a brief explanation of the role of the counselor in working with transgender individuals is given.     

“Who Are You?”: The Making of Korean “Illegal Entrants” in Occupied Japan 1945–1952

Recent progress in the study of migration history in Japan has cast new light on the influx of Koreans to Japan just after the end of the Second World War in August 1945. Both the Japanese Government and the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers called this migration illegal entry or smuggling, and tried to suppress it., One important question remains to be solved about this migration; namely; how was it prohibited? Before the Immigration Control Act (1951) was enshrined, and at a time when Koreans in Japan still held Japanese citizenship, how were the authorities able to regard Korean migration to Japan illegal? How did this migration became a political and social problem? Focusing on the legislation process and performance of the law, this article attempts to answer these questions. Politics, legislation, and social interaction all contributed to making the ethnic and legal category of Korean in postwar Japan.     

Culture, Family Structure, and Psyche in Hindu India: The “Fit” and the “Inconsistencies”

While Kakar rightly describes important psychological tendencies among upper-caste Hindu men, contradictory tendencies among these men might be a source of change. The dominant psychological orientation among Hindu women differs from the male orientation, which Kakar describes, causing tensions in Indian society that may be a second source of change. While Kakar is right to note that family structure and psychological orientation tend to reproduce each other, cultural ideals and material interests also play an important role in reproducing distinctive Indian patterns of life.     

“Soft Power” and the Negotiation of Legitimacy: Collective Meaning Making in a Teacher Team

This article interrogates the “soft power” of teacher teamwork by probing the ways in which authority conditions the appropriation of institutional motives through collective meaning making. The study analyzes the interaction of a teacher-leader and a science teacher team across two settings of professional development organized to promote curricular reform in their U.S. secondary school. The premise of the analysis draws on frameworks from cultural-historical theories, sociological perspectives, and social semiotics to view authority as the outcome of relations of power and control. The analysis reveals how the negotiation of legitimacy in interaction functions to open up or close down possibilities for acquiring motives appropriate to subject matter, teaching, and student learning in teachers' professional practice. The article makes a novel contribution to post-Vygotskian theoretical development in its presentation of authority as an attribute of the dialectical relationship of person and society in the production of institutionalized objects.     

The Role of Intimate Relationship Status,Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Doing Fieldwork among Sexual–Racial Minority Refugees: An Intersectional Methodology*

Feminist researchers from a range of disciplines have called for consolidation of intersectionality as a methodology. In this article, I contribute to the literature on intracategorical intersectional methodology by drawing on my experiences of conducting fieldwork with 19 gay male Iranian refugees in Canada. Also, by merging the research on intersectionality, sexuality, and refugee studies, I take intersectionality beyond its traditional application on the lives of women of color. I particularly focus on relations between intimate relationship status and insider status, sexuality and internal gatekeepers, and ethnicity and obtaining signed consent forms. Assuming that ethnographers, albeit marginally, participate in or become part of their participant group during fieldwork, I demonstrated the utility of intracategorical intersectional methodology for a systematic examination of power dynamics and the interactions between participants’ and researchers’ markers of identity. I argue that intracategorical intersectionality challenges static definitions of insiderness in qualitative research and provides researchers with nuanced and non-hegemonic analyses of research process.