Além da diferença: a mulher no Cinema da Retomada

This paper analyses the female participation in the Brazilian Film Revival of the 1990s beyond differences of sex, race, class, age and ethnicity. Its main contention is that the most decisive contribution brought about by the rise of women in recent Brazilian cinema has been the spread of team work and shared authorship, as opposed to a mere aspiration to the auteur pantheon, as determined by a notoriously male-oriented tradition.

Sex/gender differences and autism: setting the scene for future research

Objective The relationship between sex/gender differences and autism has attracted a variety of research ranging from clinical, neurobiological to etiological, stimulated by the male bias in autism prevalence. Findings are complex and do not always relate to each other in a straightforward manner. Distinct but interlinked questions on the relationship between sex/gender differences and autism remain under addressed. To better understand the implications from existing research and to help design future studies, we propose a four-level conceptual framework to clarify the embedded themes. Method We searched PubMed for publications before September 2014 using search terms “‘sex OR gender OR females’ AND autism.” 1,906 citations were screened for relevance, along with publications identified via additional literature reviews, resulting in 329 reports that were reviewed. Results Level 1 “Nosological and diagnostic challenges” concerns the question “How should autism be defined and diagnosed in males and females?” Level 2 “Sex/gender-independent and sex/gender-dependent characteristics” addresses the question “What are the similarities and differences between males and females with autism?” Level 3 “General models of etiology: liability and threshold” asks the question “How is the liability for developing autism linked to sex/gender?” Level 4 “Specific etiological-developmental mechanisms” focuses on the question “What etiological-developmental mechanisms of autism are implicated by sex/gender and/or sexual/gender differentiation?” Conclusions Using this conceptual framework, findings can be more clearly summarized, and the implications of the links between findings from different levels can become clearer. Based on this four-level framework, we suggest future research directions, methodology, and specific topics in sex/gender differences and autism.

The sexual constitution of political authority: the 'trials' of same sex desire

The Sexual Constitution of Political Authority argues that there are good reasons to suppose that our understandings of state power quiver with erotic undercurrents. Through a series of case studies where a statesman's same sex desire was put on trial (either literally or metaphorically) as a problem for the good exercise of public powers, the book shows the resilience and adaptability of cultural beliefs in the incompatibility between public office and male same-sex desire.

Sex differences in the programming effects of prenatal stress on psychopathology and stress responses: an evolutionary perspective

There is strong evidence from animal studies that prenatal stress has different effects on male and female offspring. In general, although not always, prenatal stress increases anxiety, depression and stress responses, both hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal and cardiovascular, in female offspring rather than in male. Males are more likely to show learning and memory deficits. There have been few studies so far in humans which differentiate effects of prenatal stress on male and female psychopathology. Some studies support the animal models, but the evidence is inconsistent. The mediating mechanisms for any sex specific effects are little understood, but there is evidence that placental function can differ depending on the sex of the fetus. We suggest that there may be an evolutionary reason for any sex differences in the long term effects of prenatal stress. In a stressful environment it may be adaptive for females, who are more likely to stay in one place and look after children, to be more vigilant, alert to danger and thus show more stress responsiveness. This can give rise to a more anxious or depressed phenotype. With males it may be more adaptive to go out and explore new environments, compete with other males, and be more aggressive. For this it may help to be less responsive to external stressors. More research is needed into sex differences in the effects of prenatal stress in humans, to test these ideas.

Dancing, skating and sex: action and text in the digital age

This paper explores the relationship between discourse and action in practices involved in making and consuming texts. Texts are produced through the process of ‘entextualization’ in which strips of action and discourse are extracted from their original contexts and recontextualized into other situations. Different technologies for turning actions into texts affect the kinds of social actions and social identities that are made possible both at moments of entextualization and at future moments of recontextualization. In particular, I focus on how digital technologies affect the practices and participation structures around entextualization. Digital photography and video have had a profound effect on social practices and relationships around the making of texts. Specifically, they have made processes of entextualization more immediate, more contingent and more communal. Implications of these features of digital text making are discussed in light of previous work on literacy and orality.

Distinct behavioral phenotypes in male mice lacking the thyroid hormone receptor alpha1 or beta isoforms

Thyroid hormones influence both neuronal development and anxiety via the thyroid hormone receptors (TRs). The TRs are encoded by two different genes, TRalpha and TRbeta. The loss of TRalpha1 is implicated in increased anxiety in males, possibly via a hippocampal increase in GABAergic activity. We compared both social behaviors and two underlying and related non-social behaviors, state anxiety and responses to acoustic and tactile startle in the gonadally intact TRalpha1 knockout (alpha1KO) and TRbeta (betaKO) male mice to their wild-type counterparts. For the first time, we show an opposing effect of the two TR isoforms, TRalpha1 and TRbeta, in the regulation of state anxiety, with alpha1 knockout animals (alpha1KO) showing higher levels of anxiety and betaKO males showing less anxiety compared to respective wild-type mice. At odds with the increased anxiety in non-social environments, alpha1KO males also show lower levels of responsiveness to acoustic and tactile startle stimuli. Consistent with the data that T4 is inhibitory to lordosis in female mice, we show subtly increased sex behavior in alpha1KO male mice. These behaviors support the idea that TRalpha1 could be inhibitory to ERalpha driven transcription that ultimately impacts ERalpha driven behaviors such as lordosis. The behavioral phenotypes point to novel roles for the TRs, particularly in non-social behaviors such as state anxiety and startle.