Men and Anti-Sexism

Correspondence to Dr Neil Thompson, 1, Worcester Road, Bangor on Dee, Wrexham, Clwyd, LL13 0JB. Summary This paper explores the negative impact of sexism on both womenand men and considers what active part men can play in challengingand undermining sexism. The costs of living and working in apatriarchal society are outlined, and related to the differingexperiences of women and men. It is argued that, although womenclearly bear the brunt of sexism, gender stereotyping is notwithout significant costs for men. This leads us into an exploration of possible anti-sexist strategiesthat men can promote and implement as part of the developmentof anti-discriminatory and anti-oppressive practice. The aimis not for men to ‘colonize’ or take over the struggleto achieve emancipation from oppressive gender norms. Rather,it is for men to play a part in the collective struggle to removethe inhumanity of patriarchal social relations. The paper is grounded within a professional value base premissedon a commitment to combating discrimination and oppression,and within a theory base informed by existentialist philosophy(Thompson, 1992a).     

Not Such an 'Ordinary' Relationship: the role of women support staff in relation to men with learning disabilities who have difficult sexual behaviour

This paper brings together some preliminary data on the management of men with learning disabilities who have unacceptable/abusive sexual behaviour patterns with a small pilot study which specifically explores the roles of women support workers in relation to difficult sexual behaviour. A specific focus on the behaviour of men with learning disabilities is justified because of consistent evidence that it is men, rather than women, service users who challenge services in this way. The studies explore with staff the boundaries of what is considered acceptable sexual behaviour and how breaches of these are responded to within services. One issue which we have chosen to highlight is the frequent exposure of women staff to the men's sexual behaviour, sometimes precipitated by the unusual relationship that exists between the two parties, and exacerbated by the lack of clear management guidance within the gendered hierarchies found in service agencies.     

A Comparison of Methods of Increasing Parental Consent Rates in Social Research

Previous research on children requiring written parental consenthas indicated that this requirement reduces samples to halfthe size they might otherwise be and results in overrepresentationof whites and underrepresentation of blacks. Within the courseof a four-year study, four methods were utilized to increaseparental consent rates, particularly for black students. Allmethods increased consent rates. Providing an incentive to theparents increased consent rates significantly more for the whitestudents than for the black students, while communication withthe children and incentives to the children resulted in consentrates which were more similar for the two racial groups. Communicationwith the parents was the most effective method for both blackand white children, but was also the most time consuming.     

The Allocation of Male and Female Occupational Prestige in an Ontario Urban Area: A Quarter‐Century Replication*

Une étude de 1975 portant sur L'évaluation du prestige des titres de profession spécifiés comme détenus par un homme ou une femme a été répétée en 2000. Les deux enquêtes ont été conduites à Kitchener‐Waterloo en Ontario. Alors que les données de 1975 accordaient un avantage de cinq points en moyenne aux hommes sur les femmes, ce fossé des sexes a disparu en 2000. Dans les postes où le travail est plus axé sur les personnes, les femmes se voient maintenant accorder un plus haut prestige que les hommes. L'article fait référence à la manière dont ces changements sociaux sont liés au cours du dernier quart de siècle à une convergence dans L'identification sexuelle des professions. Les sources de variation dans les évaluations de L'échantillonnage de 2000 sont analysées et considérées comme minimes quoique les répondants ayant un plus haut degré d'éducation classent toutes les professions légèrement à la baisse. A 1975 study on the evaluation of the prestige of occupational titles specified as held by a man or a woman was replicated in 2000. Both surveys were collected in Kitchener‐Waterloo, Ontario. While the 1975 data revealed an average five‐point advantage to men over women, this gender gap had disappeared by the year 2000. In more people‐oriented work, women are now accorded higher prestige than men. The paper refers to how these social changes are linked with convergence over the quarter century in the sex typing of occupations. Sources of variation in ratings within the 2000 sample are examined and found to be minimal, although more highly educated respondents grade all occupations slightly on the low side.     

A PARADOX IN THE THEORY OF SECOND BEST

This paper first develops a political model rationalizing conventional second-best constraints on the controllability of certain sectors despite the perfect governmental information assumptions underlying conventional second-best policy intervention. It then shows that such intervention implies a logical paradox (i. e. an inconsistency with the underlying political model) that can be removed only by making sufficient additional sectors uncontrollable that classical optimality conditions apply to the remaining, controllable sectors. Classical, piecemeal policy criteria therefore hold even under the extreme informational perfections underlying conventional second-best theory. A brief application of the general model helps us understand and evaluate recent U. S. energy policy.     

AIDS TESTING: AN ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF EVOLVING PUBLIC POLICY

Should laissez faire prevail as to the private-market supply of the AIDS antibody test? Applying a recent theorem from the economics of property rights, this paper determines that the answer is negative, and shows that the optimal policy regarding the AIDS antibody test differs according to whether individuals are at low risk or high risk. Next, using the same economic theory, this paper finds that rules guaranteeing strict confidentiality of the AIDS test result are unjustified. They also are unjustified on traditional legal grounds.