Beautiful stereotypes: the relationship between physical attractiveness and mixed race identity

The idea that mixed race individuals are physically attractive is a commonly accepted stereotype. Past research in which whites (Australians and British) and Asians (Japanese) were asked to rate the attractiveness of a racially heterogeneous group of faces has shown that mixed race phenotype was judged the most attractive. In this study, I examine whether there is empirical evidence for this Biracial Beauty Stereotype in the United States. Using the data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, I examine self and interview ratings of respondents' physical attractiveness and, in an extension of the previous literature, conduct multinomial logistic regressions to ascertain whether level of attractiveness is associated with different racial identification choices for mixed race individuals. My results indicate that there is in fact a belief in mixed race individuals' superior beauty in America; but, with regard to identity, beauty is not associated with identity for all mixed race groups.     

“What Kind of People Do You Think We Are?”: The Scenography of Gypsy Performances of Difference

In Parakalamos (a village in NW Greece) Gypsyness, historically constituted as a “disheveled otherness,” claims a space of encounter with people and actions that are “other,” but also arise from within, ossified, but also ephemeral and fleeting. By exploring the way Gypsies in Parakalamos discussed and experienced processes of identification, I shift the issue of Gypsy otherness away from the well-ordered schema of neatly divided communities usually found within Gypsy ethnography, and I am concerned with the scenography of Gypsy difference: drawing upon a more general discussion on stereotypes, identity, and difference, I explore the situatedness, instability and partial character of Gypsy performances of difference, which nonetheless cannot lie outside the topography of marginality in and through which Parakalamos Gypsies have emerged as particular historical subjects.     

Nomads and mobile places: disentangling place,space and mobility

Though there is a danger that ‘place’ may become subsumed or ignored in research as attention now shifts to questions of ‘mobility,’ discussion of place has burgeoned throughout academia. Many texts declare that place is important, or proclaim the power of place. While place has been shown to be a fundamental part of human existence, what does this then mean for those who are characterized as not being interested in places? Examining nomadic Gypsies and Travelers in Britain, who are often constructed as placeless, highlights that this is not simply a representational concern, but has a tangible empirical affect, impinging on their everyday practices as well as influencing policies and laws that actively deny them their right to place. By exploring various definitions of place and how this impacts the understanding of mobilities, I demonstrate that the meaning ascribed to nomads is dependent upon a spatialized definition of place which is underpinned by the space-place binary. It is this aspect of the discourse that allows for nomads to be constructed as out-of-place wherever they are, and by recognizing this we can avoid framing placelessness as a natural characteristic of nomadism. Reconceptualizing place allows for more nuanced understandings of nomadism, as our identities are constructed in relation to both place and mobility, not just one or the other.     

两晋后妃地理分布研究

分析《晋书·后妃传》所涉两晋32位后妃,可见司马氏皇帝的婚姻对象在家族发展的不同阶段各有不同。在地方门户阶段,婚姻对象主要是河内知名之世家;融入曹魏核心阶段,主要是曹魏政权的支柱性家族和重臣之女;巩固核心阶段,主要是司马氏政权的核心家族和重臣之女;维持核心阶段,皇帝的婚姻对象为中原地区稍次一等门阀的女子。这些后妃的籍贯或郡望主要分布在以洛阳为中心的司、豫、徐、兖四州,兼及外围之并、雍、青、扬各州。这一分布特点与当时的政治、文化、士族地位升降以及司马氏政权的权力分配有着十分紧密的联系。     

Environmental affects: NASCAR,place and white American cultural citizenship

Attempts to grapple with the complicated tangle of race and memory are more prominent than ever in the public discourse of the United States. In 2006, public intellectual Henry Louis Gates sought to popularize the search for roots and meaning with his project African American Lives, and in 2007 the black and white descendants of the landmark Plessy v. Ferguson case met in New Orleans to discuss the past and present significance of their ancestors’ lives. As the crafting of identities around increasingly fluid notions of ‘race’ proceeds apace, the activities of family historians provide a useful entrée into struggles over race, identity, and collective memory in the United States. The research reported here illustrates how the shared history of the multi-racial descendants of eighteenth and nineteenth century St Domingue/Haiti in Louisiana is encountered in racially distinct ways. Participant observation is used to examine how race is dealt with in the activities of two groups: 1) a mainly European American genealogical society, called the St Domingue Special Interest Group; and 2) the LA Creole cultural and genealogy group, made up primarily of Louisiana creoles of color. Preliminary findings indicate that while the process of engaging in family history research provides an opening for some participants to better understand others across racial and ethnic divides, this kind of cross-racial dialogue was limited by the organization of family history activities into racially distinct social networks. As the popularity of genealogy increases, the findings here point to the need to recognize the public significance of these private histories.     

公布失信被执行人名单制度的社会效应

公布失信被执行人名单制度是在构建中国特色社会信用体系的宏观背景下,针对民事"执行难"问题,在多年实践探索和顶层设计互动的基础上出台的。该项制度的制定和实施必将在操作、司法、道德、制度等层面带来正面的社会效应。这些效应受到该制度在法院系统内的实施效果、法院系统内外的联动水平、信用体系的完善程度、诚信文化的建设成效等因素的影响。实现社会效应的扩张需从确保制度实现、构建诉讼征信系统、助推社会信用体系、加强信用文化培育四个层面着力。     

Why Do They Leave? Factors Associated With Job Termination Among Personal Assistant Workers in Home Care

Recruiting and retaining an adequate number of personal support workers in home care is both challenging and essential to allowing elders to age in place. A mixed-method, longitudinal study examined turnover in a sample of 261 personal support workers in Maine; 70 workers (26.8%) left their employment in the first year of the study. Logistic regression analysis indicated that younger age and lack of health insurance were significant predictors of turnover. Analysis of telephone interviews revealed three overarching themes related to termination: job not worthwhile, personal reasons, and burnout. Implications of study findings for gerontological social workers are outlined.     

Life values,family support and psychosocial adaptation among older people in Taiwan: an institutional and community comparison

The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychosocial adaptation among elderly persons in institutional and community settings, and to explore factors influencing their adaptation. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 165 residents of four institutions (two assisted-living facilities and two nursing homes) and 209 community-dwelling elders served by a primary care centre, all located in middle Taiwan. A structured interview questionnaire was used to collect data. Results: community-dwelling elderly had significantly higher adaptation scores than those in institutional settings. Factors related to adaptation differed between institutional and community settings, with more variables influencing adaptation in the community than in the institution. Physical functional status was the major influence on adaptation of the elderly in institutions. Dietary support from family was negatively associated with adaptation in this group. Influencing factors for community-dwelling elders were more complicated, including perceived family emotional and economic support, personal life values and physical functional status. Implications: greater support from government, including economic resources and assistance in community care are needed to achieve the policy goal of ‘aging in place’. Further investigation of the influence of family interaction on elders' adaptation is needed.     

钢琴组曲《山乡多娇》的艺术特征和演奏技法探析

钢琴组曲《山乡多娇》是黄砚如教授原创的音乐作品。该作是典型的标题音乐,每个乐章都充满想象力,具有生动的音乐形象。曲作者将当年上山下乡体验生活的真情实感融入音乐当中,使得整部作品充满浓郁的生活气息;作品使用钢琴音响模仿古筝、笙、牛铃等民族乐器,洋溢着我国传统的民间情趣,别具一格。演奏这部钢琴组曲,既要对作品进行认真的分析研究,又要解决各种技术难点,更要置身于乐曲之中,用心去体会曲作者当年的生活感受,发挥自己的想象力,才能充分表现出乐曲的意境。     

Voice,place and genre in popular song performance1

Earlier sociolinguistic studies have conceptualised popular song as a field of phonological variation where singers do or do not maintain features of their national or regional accents in singing. The present paper explores a wider agenda for the sociolinguistics of popular song, theorised as a diverse field of performance organised according to genre. Following initiatives in the sociology of popular music (particularly Simon Frith's research), voice is interpreted as the repertoire of meaning‐making options available to performers. Voice subsumes dialect indexicality, but also the management of singer identity and singer‐audience relations through the performance of lyrics, rhythmic and bodily modalities. Place is understood as the specific socio‐cultural contexts that are explicitly or implicitly voiced, including contexts of performance and reception. By performing within or against generically structured stylistic norms, performers construct and disseminate different vernacular values and identities. Live tracks from three different, broadly‐defined genres are considered in detail – classic rock and roll (Chuck Berry's Maybellene), folk/country (James Taylor's Copperline), and punk rock (the Sex Pistols’Johnny B. Goode).