The sexual in Chinese sociology: homosexuality studies in contemporary China

Through a meta‐literature review, this paper examines the changing contours of Chinese sociology of homosexuality in contemporary China. It unfolds the different theoretical orientations and methodologies that construct the modern male homosexual subject under major socio‐economic and political changes. Chinese sociology of homosexuality started in the reform era and has been dominated by Western knowledge production and the political ideology of the communist party‐state. Fused with the bio‐medical model and the state's modernization project in the 1980s–1990s, the sociological study adopted a functionalist and positivistic approach with survey‐based methodology in the main which focused on the etiology of homosexuality. A new transnational knowledge production of sociology of homosexuality has formed since the 2000s which has shifted towards a constructivist/ post‐structuralist approach and reflexive qualitative methodology. The new sociological study examines the rise of male (as well as female) homosexual identity in China, questions the hetero/homosexual binary and discusses how an individual makes sense of homosexual identity to form same‐sex intimate relationships. By tracing the epistemology of homosexuality in contemporary China, this paper rethinks the dominance of the Western construction and the role of the state in shaping the knowledge of homosexuality and proposes alternative spaces for theorizing Chinese sexual identities, desires and practices.     

Impact of metabolic syndrome and its components on kidney stone in aging Taiwanese males

Objectives: Metabolic syndrome (MtS) and kidney stone are two common aging diseases with male dominant. This is the first study regarding the potential impact of MtS and its components on kidney stone in aging Chinese population.

Methods: A total of 694 males with a mean age of 55.6 years were enrolled. The definition of MtS was according to the modified criteria developed by the Bureau of Health Promotion in Taiwan. Subjects were classified as having a disease of kidney stones according to diagnosis by a physician with available medical records or evidence from ultrasonography judged by an investigator of urologist.

Results: Using age-adjusted multivariate logistic regression analysis, our results showed that subjects with kidney stone had significantly higher prevalence of MtS (p?=?0.04, OR?=?1.74, 95% CI: 1.0 1–3.00). The presence of MtS had significant correlation with kidney stone (p?=?0.01, OR?=?1.83, 95% CI: 1.1 4–2.93), which were associated with the increment of MtS components (p?p?Conclusions: In aging Taiwanese males, the presence of MtS and its components are strongly associated with kidney stone. Abnormal BP is the most significant risk component of MtS for kidney stone.     

Are urge incontinence and aging risk factors of erectile dysfunction in patients with male lower urinary tract symptoms?

Introduction: Several studies have indicated that erectile dysfunction (ED) patients also suffer from lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). We investigated a group of men with LUTS and assessed their sexual function with the aim of being able to predict ED risk factors and introduce ED treatments earlier for this patient group.

Methods: International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), Overactive Bladder Symptoms Score (OABSS) and Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) score were obtained from 236 men with LUTS at their first out-patients visit. Clinical parameters such as body mass index, prostate volume, residual urine volume and prostate specific antigen were also evaluated. The relationship between the SHIM score and other clinical data was analyzed.

Results: According to the SHIM score, ED in men with LUTS was severe 15%, moderate 19%, moderate to mild 28%, mild 17%, normal 7% and data was incomplete in 14%. Based on the results of a multivariate analysis, aging (p?p?=?0.024) were significantly correlated to severe and moderate ED. Furthermore, among OAB symptoms score items, urge urinary incontinence was a risk factor for severe and moderate ED (p?=?0.005).

Conclusion: Aging and OAB (notably urinary urge incontinence) are risk factors for severe and moderate ED in men with LUTS.     

‘Being called sisters’: Masculinities and black male nurses in South Africa

This study contributes to an understanding of the geographies of masculinities, by demonstrating how black South African male nurses negotiate hegemonic masculinity through citing masculine gendered acts. The research draws on qualitative data gathered from interviews with 15 black male nurses aged between 26 and 50 years who have worked in the paediatric, trauma, orthopaedic, oncology and midwifery fields for a period of not less than two years. It is argued that the colonially imposed hierarchies of race, gender and occupation merge with culturally specific pre‐existing African masculinities, and that this informed how the black male nurses experienced their gender identity in the occupation. The study demonstrates how, because of their career choice, the gender identities of the male nurses were positioned as marginalized and subordinate to the modes of a hegemonic masculinity, a gender identity only available to them momentarily. In this context, it was found that the modes of gender performativity in which the nurses negotiated and subverted their subordinate and marginal status was with the complicity of patients and other healthcare workers. This upheld the more generally assumed hegemony of masculinity in the hospital workplace. The study traces these experiences to the discourses of black masculinities during South Africa's pre‐colonial, colonial and apartheid eras and in the present day. In doing so, this study contributes to an understanding of the geographies of masculinities by demonstrating the locally specific modes of masculine performativity through which black male nurses negotiate their gender in South Africa.     

Homosexuality,Religion, and the Family: The Effects of Religion on Americans’ Appraisals of the Parenting Abilities of Same-Sex Couples

Although a growing body of research focuses on Americans’ attitudes toward same-sex couples as parents, very few include measures of religion, and those that do fail to capture its multidimensional nature. Furthermore, many past studies relied on convenience samples of college students, or samples gathered outside the United States. Multivariate analyses of the 2012 General Social Survey—a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States—reveal that a slim majority of Americans still do not believe same-sex couples can parent as well as male-female couples, and the religious beliefs, behaviors, and affiliations of Americans are significantly and at times differentially associated with appraisals of same-sex couples’ parenting abilities. It appears that although religion is generally associated with more negative appraisals of the parenting abilities of same-sex couples, it is not uniformly so. Americans’ immediate religious and cultural context can shape their appraisals of homosexuality in diverse ways.     

“Unnatural Fornication” Cases Under State-Socialism: A Hungarian–Slovenian Comparative Social-Historical Approach

This comparative social-historical study examines different versions of state-socialist body politics manifested in Hungary and Slovenia mainly during the 1950s by using archive material of “unnatural fornication” court cases. By analyzing the available Hungarian “természet elleni fajtalanság” and Slovenian “nenaravno ob?evanje” court cases, we can shed light on how the defendants were treated by the police and the judiciary. On the basis of these archive data that have never been examined before from these angles, we can construct an at least partial picture of the practices and consequences of state surveillance of same-sex-attracted men during state-socialism. The article explores the functioning of state-socialist social control mechanisms directed at nonnormative sexualities that had long-lasting consequences on the social representation of homosexuality in both countries.     

Predicting Attitudes Toward Lesbian and Gay Parent Families Among Portuguese Students from Helping Professions

The authors' goal was to characterize predictors of attitudes toward lesbian and gay parent families (LGPF), held by students enrolled in psychology, social work, medicine, nursing, elementary, and preschool education programs in Portugal. The authors examined the predictive value of students' (n = 600) sociodemographic characteristics when assessing their attitudes toward LGPF. Participant's gender, interpersonal contact with lesbians and gay men, gender role attitudes had indirect effects on attitudes toward LGPF, through attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. Understanding characteristics associated with attitudes toward LGPF may inform decisions in terms of the education and training of helping professionals.     

《无字》:男神镜像的创生与颠覆

《无字》饱含了张洁的生命和感情,是其思想与艺术积累的一次总爆发。《无字》对于张洁创作的意义,在很大程度上呈现为对其创作中的男神镜像的建构和解构。张洁创作中的男主人公由"男神"到魔鬼的蜕变是她内在矛盾冲突的多向呈现,这多向呈现可作为研究张洁思想性格变化的依据,她的思想性格的矛盾冲突又形成她文学创作的种种新面貌。     

身体的隐喻——对张爱玲小说的一种解读

文学文本中女性的身体成为建构其主体意识的重要组成部分,其身体、欲望的觉醒具有反抗男权、颠覆既有的性别秩序的意义。张爱玲的小说具有独特、鲜明的女性视角,小说中的女性身体叙事,从另一个角度揭示了文本所具有的对男权文化的反抗和颠覆性质。     

《简爱》中的疯女人——另类的复仇者形象

经典的具有女性独立反抗意识的文本《简·爱》,主人公简爱形象被认为是一个要求平等独立的新型女性。而作品中的疯女人这一角色常常被忽略视为简的陪衬物,甚至被视为"贵族社会的一种象征"。而疯女人伯莎是一个进行复仇的大胆的抗争女子;同时伯莎是男权社会中另一个被压抑的简爱,是简爱的内心世界或者说是她性格的另一个侧面。