Feminist and Gender Media Studies: A Critical Overview

This paper offers a general overview of past, current, and developing issues and debates in the growing field of gender and feminist media studies. Its main aim is to provide for those who are new to the field, as well as advanced students and researchers, a broad sense of what is now significant and important area of academic research. It engages with the differences and similarities between gender and feminist media studies, gendered communication systems, gendered news production, feminist methodologies and methods in communication research (textual, audience, and production based), the media's role in constructing gender, and gendered and feminist research by specific media form including advertising, magazines, film, television, news, radio, and the Internet and new media. The outline of research presented is not exhaustive; however, it attempts to trace certain significant developments in the field historically, conceptually, methodologically politically and trans‐nationally.     

Comparison of Modes of Administration and Response Options in the Assessment of Subjective Health Using the First Question of SF-36

To compare two modes of administration (self-administered; by interviewer) and two response options format (using words; images of “facial-expressions”) of the first question of SF-36 (Q1SF-36), and to test its validity. We included 825 participants (20–90 years). Q1SF-36, using words or images, was included in a global questionnaire interview and at the end participants filled the SF-36. The agreement was tested by weighted kappa coefficients (WKappa). Classification Trees were used in the calibration of Q1SF-36 responses, with the physical (PDSF36) and mental dimensions of SF-36. Polyserial correlation coefficients and areas under the ROC curves (AUC) were used for validation. After categorization, using PDSF36 classification trees, the WKappa were 0.770 (self-administered vs. interviewer), 0.569 (self-administered vs. facial-expressions) and 0.566 (interviewer vs. facial-expressions). The WKappa between the PDSF36 and the modes (self-administered, interviewer and facial-expressions) were 0.784, 0.713 and 0.579 and the corresponding polyserial correlation coefficients were 0.784, 0.713 and 0.579. A good discriminatory power was found comparing the modes with the PDSF36 (AUC = 0.907, 0.923 and 0.827), but not with mental dimension (AUC = 0.538, 0.501 and 0.629). The Q1SF-36, by self-administration or interviewer, may be a valid alternative for assessment of subjective physical health, but not mental health.     

Job satisfaction in the marine and estuarine fisheries of Guinea-Bissau

This paper examines aspects of job satisfaction among small-scale fishers in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. The willingness of fishers to change métier or occupation is a central aspect of study, and gains relevance from the global degradation of marine environments. The author concludes that small-scale fishers are generally satisfied with the extent to which their and needs of self-realization and social life are met. They also express satisfaction with the state of the natural environment. However, fishers are less pleased with the fulfillment of basic needs and with the performance of fisheries managers.     

The complexities of cultural support planning for Indigenous children in and leaving out‐of‐home care: the views of service providers in Victoria,Australia

Indigenous children and young people are over‐represented at all stages of the Australian child protection system. Policy and legislative initiatives exist in the state of Victoria, Australia aiming to support the connection between Indigenous children and young people in state care and their culture and community. This exploratory research involved focus group consultations with seven child and family welfare agencies to investigate the impacts, barriers, benefits and limitations of cultural support planning for Indigenous young people in, and leaving care in, Victoria. Findings indicated that cultural planning was of value when it could be completed. However, various shortcomings of current systems were identified including limited resourcing of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to generate plans and provide direct and secondary consultation services to implement plans, difficulty gathering information for plans and some Indigenous young people expressing disinterest in connecting to their culture and community. Complexities in the relationships between the Indigenous and non‐Indigenous agencies that aimed to support Indigenous young people in care were also acknowledged. Participants identified a number of strategies to improve outcomes, such as facilitating better relationships between agencies, promoting opportunities for ongoing cultural training for staff in mainstream agencies and improving the resourcing of Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to deliver planning and to support cultural connections.     

Accessibility of European museums to visitors with visual impairments

People who have visual impairments exceed 250 million persons worldwide and represent an important cohort of museum visitors. However, they experience many constraints to participation in daily life. Few studies analyse the accessibility of museums to visitors with visual impairments, and many are confined to a single museum and to a small set of strategies for improving accessibility. This article aims to identify a broad set of strategies to increase the accessibility of museums to visitors with visual impairments and analyse the accessibility of museums in four European cities. Conclusions and implications for policy-makers and museum managers, designed to promote the creation of inclusive museums, are presented.     

Compulsory income management: Combatting or compounding the underlying causes of homelessness?

Compulsory Income Management (CIM) is a form of conditional welfare that involves the mandatory quarantining of a portion of welfare recipients’ social security payments. Quarantined funds are accessible via a government-issued debit card, with restrictions surrounding where and on what funds can be spent. Official justifications of CIM have framed these policies as attempts to combat substance abuse and gambling problems, and to thus secure better outcomes for welfare recipients and their families. Central to this narrative has been the argument that welfare quarantining will ensure more money is spent on ‘essentials’, including accommodation. No existing studies, however, have specifically interrogated the impacts of CIM on housing security. This article responds to this gap in the literature by reviewing existing research concerning CIM's impacts and locating this research within broader debates regarding the causes of homelessness and the efficacy of individualised policy interventions. In doing so, it highlights CIM's potential to exacerbate housing insecurity not only through technical issues such as rental transfer failures, but also by contributing to underlying stressors such as economic disadvantage; relationship difficulties, poor health and addiction; and social stigma. The article concludes that – far from addressing the structural causes of homelessness – CIM has enflamed them.     

Internal and External Factors Underlying Variations in Adolescents’ Daily Optimal Experiences

This study investigated how the internal psychological states (i.e., challenge–skill perception, positive and negative affect, and effortless attention) and contextual features (i.e., activity and company) of momentary experiences relate to optimal experience in adolescents’ lives. Data were collected from 245 Portuguese adolescents (14–19 years old, 63% female) by using the experience sampling method. Multilevel modeling revealed that challenge–skill and positive affect were positively associated with optimal experience, while negative affect was negatively associated with optimal experience. Effortless attention mediated the associations between internal states and optimal experience, while activity and company only moderated some of these associations. These findings will inform practitioners about the factors that should be addressed in interventions with adolescents to promote optimal experiences in their lives.     

Circulating pictures: photography and exhibition in the Portuguese Pavilion at Expo 58

This article examines the interplay between photography and universal exhibitions, two modern phenomena which, in different ways, have allowed for the world to be seen and reconfigured in unprecedented ways. It considers world exhibitions not just as sites of movement but also as systems that crucially rely on the circulation of photographic images. Focusing on a specific, and so far unexamined, case study – the Pavilion of Portugal at Brussels Expo 58 –, this work combines historical reconstruction and critical analysis to demonstrate how photography and exhibitions are mutually affected and transformed by the contexts in which they are made available. Particular attention is paid to the way humanism has been photographically integrated into the national discourse, and to the role invisibility plays in both exhibition and propaganda processes. Moreover, it is argued that despite the profusion and impressive scale of the photomurals in the pavilion, photography occupied a significantly subordinate role in the broad exhibition programme. Investigating how photographs functioned at different levels and purposes, before, during and after the exhibition, this article excavates several discourses, networks, and photo-textual interactions, to evidence how the history of photography and the history of exhibitions are often inseparable from one another.     

Moral pride only under the positive gaze of others? Effects of praise and criticism on moral pride and guilt / ¿Orgullo moral solo bajo la mirada positiva de los otros? Los efectos del elogio y la crítica sobre el orgullo moral y la culpa

Abstract

This study analysed the influence of praise and criticism on moral pride (the pride we feel when we believe we have done something morally good) and guilt. Ninety-two adolescents (age: M = 15.17, SD = 0.43; 44.6% girls, 55.4% boys) completed a questionnaire which outlined 10 scenarios based on combinations of three variables: the moral nature of the action (positive/negative); praise, criticism or the absence of either; and the source (parents/peers). Participants were asked to indicate the intensity with which they would feel pride and guilt (seven-point scale). Praise of positive actions increased pride. Interestingly, criticism of positive actions reduced pride and increased guilt, while praise of negative actions reduced guilt and increased pride. No differences were found between the pride felt after a criticized positive action and that felt after a praised negative action. A parallel effect was not, however, observed for guilt. These results reveal the strong, sometimes pernicious, influence of praise and criticism on guilt and pride and, even more, the need for praise by others in the experience of moral pride.