"Economic growth," population,and the environment

Thought and policies on population and the environment are damaged by the concept of "economic growth," which implies that the pattern of economic change of the United States is a Nature-programmed course that will automatically elevate all nations and take care of problems of population and the environment. This doctrine is essentially a myth, which is popular because of its flattering promises. The required cause-and-effect analysis of the policies required to limit population and preserve the environment cannot prevail and save the future until the influence of wishful myths such as that of "economic growth" is radically reduced.     

Getting out in the "real world": young men, queer and theories of gay community

A recent opinion piece published in the Sydney Morning Herald expresses a widely held perception that, among young same-sex attracted men in Australia, "queer" has well and truly supplanted "gay" as the language and lens through which self and practice is generated. In this article, I discuss findings from a qualitative research project that studied notions of community among young gay men, and argue that this assumption should not be taken for granted. The article explores participants' understandings of the concept of "gay community," arguing that the young men studied share a common definition of community: one based on a conventional liberal model which prioritizes sameness and the cooperation of individuals to achieve common goals. This is of particular importance in that problems around "fitting in" with these understandings are also raised. In examining the potential place for queer alternatives to these formulations, however, the article finds that queer attracts little support among participants, raising questions about the bind young men may find themselves in if they prioritize sameness as fundamental to community, yet feel themselves to be excluded from community by their own or others' perceived difference.     

The beauty and the beast: reflections about the socio-historical and subcultural context of drag queens and "Tunten" in Berlin

In this article, I focus on two different faces found in Berlin's gay subculture: the Tunten and the drag queens. Both are commonly seen as "male homosexual transvestites," although many such individuals today prefer to identify themselves somewhere within a diverse transgender spectrum rather than as transvestites. Tunten and drag queens differ in their gender performativity, their self-image and their chosen role models as well as in the niches in which they have been able to establish themselves in German mainstream society. Based on ethnographic data, I argue against the widespread reductionist view that the differences between Tunten and drag queens lie primarily in style, behavior, talent and success. Nor can these differences be easily explained away as a result of subculture globalization. Instead, I show that there is a simultaneous coexistence of both a subculturally established, "traditional" local transgender culture and a more recently adopted and partly imported, new local transgender culture. The coexistence of these two urban transgender cultures also indicates the paradigm shift in German gay and youth cultures of the last decades. Thus, I will emphasize the importance of the socio-historical and subcultural processes in studying transgender cultures in Western societies.     

Musings on male sex work: a "virtual" discussion

Contributors and editors were asked to respond to a series of questions concerning male sex work in order to stimulate an informal "conversation." Some of the topics explored include: why people seek the services of prostitutes; is the term "sex work" favorable to "prostitution": is it right to pay for sex; and is exploitation a necessary part of the sex worker/client interchange'? Contributors' responses were compiled and listed in the order they were received. Common elements of their responses are summarized and the advantages of this informal approach are articulated.     

A new evaluation of United States census data on the extreme aged

Population and mortality data for the extreme aged have generally been considered subject to a large degree of error, particularly for nonwhites. In this study, estimates of the United States population 85 years of age and over in 1960 are devised through a procedure known as the "method of extinct generations," which permits the reconstruction of "extinct" population cohorts from a series of annual death statistics. Estimates of the total population by single year of age and of sex-color groups by five-year age groups are compared with the 1960 census. With some exceptions, the data for whites show remarkable correspondence; the tally for nonwhites developed from death records falls considerably short of the census count, indicating a greater overstatement of age in the latter source.     

"Asian" men on the scene: challenges to "gay communities"

This article examines common assumptions behind the notion of "gay community," contrasting these views with the experiences of homosexual men originating from Southeast Asia on the commercial gay scene in Melbourne, Australia. The narratives here reveal fragmented social networks involving various social groups, categories of people and an "In/Out" culture where informants were culturally marginal. Fitting into the scene culture involves processes of assimilation, and loss of connection even with supportive ethnic networks. While all men who look for a place to belong on the scene generally feel pressure to assimilate to a predominantly white middle-class gay culture, Southeast Asian men generally had more cultural distance to cover. Men who are not well assimilated face exclusion, invisibility and discrimination. Differences and discrimination within Southeast Asian based networks also contributed towards fragmented relations. This article raises questions about dominant gay cultural forms, assumptions of gay solidarity, and how ethnic minority men make sense of and negotiate their sexual and social experiences.     

"This area has been declared a prostitution free zone": discursive formations of space, the state, and trans "sex worker" bodies

The mayorally instituted and police-enforced Prostitution Free Zones in Washington, DC, serve as a tool of nation-state disciplinarity, wherein many transgender women of color, viewed as ideologically suspect, are profiled as "sex workers," facing police harassment and arrest. This article explores here how this process is not merely about sex work but rather about discourses that are evoked in the displacement of the always-already displaced-racial, sexed, and gendered "others" through interviews with activists and trans community members, as well as District of Columbia government publications.     

再论“四二一”结构:定义与研究方法

"四二一"结构是中国低生育率背景下家庭结构与代际关系的一种特殊表达,既反映了20世纪70年代以来计划生育政策广泛推行对中国家庭的深刻影响,又揭示了中国现阶段婚姻家庭乃至未来人口发展的特点与趋势。目前这一领域的研究虽然已经取得一系列的进展,但在概念界定与使用的方法上仍缺乏共识,导致研究结论的分歧和研究拓展的迟滞。在中国社会剧烈变动的形势下,"四二一"结构是研究中国的计划生育政策、独生子女问题,以及家庭结构与代际关系变动的一个良好的载体和切入点。     

Controlling earth's resources: Markets or socialism?

The important message contained in Garrett Hardin's seminalScience article, "The Tragedy of the Commons," is that in making resource-use decisions individuals see their own narrow interests best and, if not constrained by institutions such as governmental rule or market incentives, will tend to follow those narrow interests. Individuals do not automatically seek to use resources in the long-run best interests of society. This fact of life leads to abuse of resources to which access is not controlled.In this paper, the same insight is applied to the two types of control mechanism cited by Hardin: socialist management and private ownership. Much has been written in the economics literature, especially since "Tragedy" was published, which bears on any comparative analysis of the two systems. Some of these insights are reported here.     

Recent Immigration and Studies of Ethnic Assimilation

Studies of ethnic assimilation are frequently based upon status comparisons between the foreign born and their "children," the second generation. The assumption that recent immigration has been negligible and that the foreign born represent a closed population is implicit in that procedure. However, analysis of official statistics indicates that immigrants who arrived since World War II now comprise a substantial share of the foreign-born population, while the foreign born who arrived before quota restrictions are rapidly being depleted by mortality. Recent immigrants, as intended by quota legislation, are of much higher socioeconomic status than immigrants who arrived before World War 1. Hence, characteristics of both recent immigrants and earlier arrivals are confounded in data for the foreign-born population. Existing data do not permit rigorous assessment of this confusion or adequate control for it. This paper suggests that tabulations of the foreign born by "year of arrival" would improve the sociological utility of data for ethnic groups.     

Using Sexton to read Freud: the pre-oedipal phase and the etiology of lesbianism in Sexton's "Rapunzel"

In her poem "Rapunzel," Anne Sexton maps out a model of lesbian etiology that at once parodies the model proposed by Freud and significantly amends it. Freud's famous model for female development, as he articulates it first in "Some Psychological Consequences of the Anatomical Distinction Between the Sexes," and later in "Female Sexuality," may be profitably compared to the model implied by Sexton's poem. The female pre-Oedipal phase is crucially at stake in such a comparison, as Sexton's account suggests that the pleasures of the pre-Oedipal mother-daughter dyad are dangerously strong for the girl child, and seem to be the force that compels the majority of girls into the rechanneling of libidinal desire from the mother to the father. Sexton's poem emphasizes the continuous pressures exerted by the pre-Oedipal phase upon the psyche of the developing girl. Sexton's emphasis on the pre-Oedipal phase, and her depiction of heterosexual love, in "Rapunzel" and elsewhere, as regressive, suggests that the "normal" heterosexual female, who seeks a father figure in order to save herself from re-absorption into the primal mother-daughter dyad, is actually acting out an infantile fantasy of the devouring mother. The morbid irony of Sexton's "Rapunzel" stems from its depiction of a young woman who flees the boundary-less world of the pre-Oedipal state, only to resurrect the infantile fantasy of the devouring mother in the arms of a father substitute.     

Changes in labeling homosexuality in health sciences literature: a preliminary investigation

The purpose of this paper is to describe the image of gay men and lesbian women in health sciences literature since the demedicalization of homosexuality by American psychiatry in 1973. The process of medicalization and demedicalization of any behavior labeled as deviant in American society has received scant attention until recently. In addition, labeling theory has for the most part ignored the labelers and the process by which powerful groups, in this instance American medicine and other health professions, influence the labeling process. Since the American Psychiatric Association's decision to demedicalize homosexuality from an illness to a "suboptimal condition," over 700 articles have been published in the health care literature about various aspects of homosexuality, including a continued debate about the health or illness classification of homosexuality. Literature reviewed for this investigation was limited to letters, policy statements, and editorials or articles written between 1974 and 1983 which were germane to the classification issue.     

Perceptions of parenthood and childlessness: A comparison of mothers and voluntarily childless wives

Fifty mothers and 50 voluntarily childless wives selected from an adjective checklist the personality traits most typical of parents and intentionally childless persons. Both groups of women described parents as "concerned." "loving." "hard-working," "conventional." and "patient," while voluntarily childless wives were more likely to choose the traits "conventional" and "restricted." Voluntarily childless persons were described by a strikingly different set of attributes. They were perceived as "nonconforming," "self-fulfilled" "materialistic," "intelligent," and "individualistic." Voluntarily childless wives in describing the childless chose more often than mothers traits like "intelligent," "individualistic," "practical," and "well-adjusted." and cited less often than mothers the attributes "materialistic" and "ambitious." On the other hand, analysis of the positive and negative comments made about childless persons revealed that the intentionally childless were regarded as selfish, unusual persons, more likely to be pitied than applauded for their alternative social reality.     

Retired women and volunteering: the good, the bad, and the unrecognized

In this article, we examine varied attitudes and practices toward volunteering in later life, as shared by a group of 40 retired women. We categorize women based on their engagement in retirement and label the categories according to societal expectations as follows: traditional volunteers as "good," nonvolunteers as "bad," and caregiving volunteers as "unrecognized." Using critical gerontology and a feminist framework, we juxtapose the lived experiences of retired women with a prevailing discourse on successful aging and civic engagement. We advocate for societal recognition of caregiving as a valuable form of volunteering, as well as the need to respect multiple ways in which older women experience and find meaning in later life.     

用人口学理论探析“三农”问题

党的十六大提出“统筹城乡经济社会发展,”使三农问题上升到了战略的高度。“三农”问题是一个经济发展和社会进步问题,是构建社会主义和谐社会及全面建设小康社会的核心。“三农”问题的形成原因是多方面的,有体制、制度的因素,而根本原因在于中国庞大的农村人口。要解决“三农”问题,需要关注农村人口的问题,需要体制创新、需要结构调整、需要政府支持。     

The use of the 1982 China Census data]

Compared with the 1953 and 1964 census, the census in 1982 included more items, and computer technology was used extensively in the analysis of the census data. Census results were used to provide guidance for population control and socio-economic development programs. 3 large scale conference were held on the census, and papers presented at the first conference were published in both English and Chinese. Numerous books and papers were published based on the analysis of the census data. These include "China: Population and Geography," "Population and Employment in China in the Year 2000," and a series of 32 volumes entitled "China's Population." In addition, 3 major projects were undertaken: 1) the compilation of "the Population Atlas of China," 2) development of "Regional Model Life Tables in China", and 3) the development of computer software entitled "Demographic Analysis System." The results of the projects are satisfactory, and the outcome of the first 2 projects will be published both in China and overseas. Even though there has been great improvement in the utilization of data in the 1982 census from the 2 previous censuses, something are still, left to be desired. For the fourth census in 1990, it is important to consider the analysis and utilization of data in the planning stage. More detailed data should be published. Training workshops should be undertaken, enabling more people to use computers for data analysis. International collaborations should be further developed, as needed.     

浅论“丁克”家庭形成原因及其社会影响

作为一种新型的家庭形式,“丁克”家庭的出现极大地冲击了中国传统的生育观,并对当今社会产生了深远地影响。由此,“丁克”家庭也引起了学者们的关注。本文在对国内近几年相关研究论文进行梳理的基础上,进一步对“丁克”家庭产生的原因及其社会影响进行了分析。     

“Better safe than sorry”—Reasons for consulting care due to decreased fetal movements

Background

Experience of reduced fetal movements is a common reason for consulting health care in late pregnancy. There is an association between reduced fetal movements and stillbirth.

劳动力市场“去管制化”与“知识失业”

文章从劳动力市场"去管制化"出发,提出对中国"知识失业"现象的解释。理论模型发现,随着劳动力流动和工资"去管制化",受教育人口不断增加,与之伴随的则是"知识失业"的出现和增加。但当劳动力市场进一步"去管制化",知识失业率在增加到一定程度后开始下降。因此,"知识失业"是劳动力市场"去管制化"的结果,"知识失业"的出现在一定程度上是暂时的、阶段性的,继续推进劳动力市场改革,"知识失业"现象就会减少甚至消弭。微观数据实证分析证实,劳动力流动"去管制化"和工资"去管制化"都是2002年样本劳动力市场出现"知识失业"的原因,2009年样本劳动力流动"去管制化"仍是"知识失业"出现的重要原因,但工资"去管制化"效应不再显著。     

The business of demographics

The emergence of "demographics" in the past 15 years is a vital tool for American business research and planning. Tracing demographic trends became important for businesses when traditional consumer markets splintered with the enormous changes since the 1960s in US population growth, age structure, geographic distribution, income, education, living arrangements, and life-styles. The mass of reliable, small-area demographic data needed for market estimates and projections became available with the electronic census--public release of Census Bureau census and survey data on computer tape, beginning with the 1970 census. Census Bureau tapes as well as printed reports and microfiche are now widely accessible at low cost through summary tape processing centers designated by the bureau and its 12 regional offices and State Data Center Program. Data accessibility, plummeting computer costs, and businessess' unfamiliarity with demographics spawned the private data industry. By 1984, 70 private companies were offering demographic services to business clients--customized information repackaged from public data or drawn from proprietary data bases created from such data. Critics protest the for-profit use of public data by companies able to afford expensive mainframe computer technology. Business people defend their rights to public data as taxpaying ceitzens, but they must ensure that the data are indeed used for the public good. They must also question the quality of demographic data generated by private companies. Business' demographic expertise will improve when business schools offer training in demography, as few now do, though 40 of 88 graduate-level demographic programs now include business-oriented courses. Lower cost, easier access to business demographics is growing as more census data become available on microcomputer diskettes and through on-line linkages with large data bases--from private data companies and the Census Bureau itself. A directory of private and public demographic resources is appended, including forecasting, consulting and research services available.