Uncover the Concealed Link: Gender & Ethnicity-Divided Local Knowledge on the Agro-Ecosystem of a Forest Margin

This research is a study about knowledge interface that aims to analyse knowledge discontinuities, the dynamic and emergent characters of struggles and interactions within gender system and ethnicity differences. The cacao boom phenomenon in Central Sulawesi is the main context for a changing of social relations of production, especially when the mode of production has shifted or is still underway from subsistence to petty commodity production. This agrarian change is not only about a change of relationship and practice, but, as my previous research has shown, also about the shift of knowledge domination, because knowledge construes social practice in a dialectical process. Agroecological knowledge is accumulated through interaction, practice and experience. At the same time the knowledge gained from new practices and experiences changes mode of interaction, so such processes provide the arena where an interface of knowledge is manifested. In the process of agro-ecological knowledge interface, gender and ethnic group interactions materialise in the decision-making of production and resource allocation at the household and community level. At this point, power/knowledge is interplayed to gain authority in decision-making. When authority dominates, power encounters resistance, whereas the dominant power and its resistance are aimed to ensure socio-economic security. Eventually, the process of struggle can be identified through the pattern of resource utilisation as a realisation of production decision-making. Such processes are varied from one community to another, and therefore, it shows uniqueness and commonalities, especially when it is placed in a context of shifting mode of production. The focus is placed on actors: men and women in their institutional and cultural setting, including the role of development agents. The inquiry is informed by 4 major questions: 1) How do women and men acquire, disseminate, and utilise their agro ecological knowledge, specifically in rice farming as a subsistence commodity, as well as in cacao farming as a petty commodity? How and why do such mechanisms construct different knowledge domains between two genders? How does the knowledge mechanism apply in different ethnics? What are the implications for gender and ethnicity based relation of production? ; 2) Using the concept of valued knowledge in a shifting mode of production context: is there any knowledge that dominates others? How does the process of domination occur and why? Is there any form of struggle, strategies, negotiation, and compromise over this domination? How do these processes take place at a household as well as community level? How does it relate to production decision-making? ; 3) Putting the previous questions in two communities with a different point of arrival on a path of agricultural commercialisation, how do the processes of struggle vary? What are the bases of the commonalities and peculiarities in both communities?; 4) How the decisions of production affect rice field - cacao plantation - forest utilisation in the two villages? How does that triangle of resource use reflect the constellation of local knowledge in those two communities? What is the implication of this knowledge constellation for the cacao-rice-forest agroecosystem in the forest margin area? Employing a qualitative approach as the main method of inquiry, indepth and dialogic interviews, participant observer role, and document review are used to gather information. A small survey and children’s writing competition are supplementary to this data collection method. The later two methods are aimed to give wider information on household decision making and perception toward the forest. It was found that local knowledge, particularly knowledge pertaining to rice-forest-cacao agroecology is divided according to gender and ethnicity. This constellation places a process of decision-making as ‘the arena of interface’ between feminine and masculine knowledge, as well as between dominant and less dominant ethnic groups. Transition from subsistence to a commercial mode of production is a context that frames a process where knowledge about cacao commodity is valued higher than rice. Market mechanism, as an external power, defines valued knowledge. Valued knowledge defines the dominant knowledge holder, and decision. Therefore, cacao cultivation becomes a dominant practice. Its existence sacrifices the presence of rice field and the forest. Knowledge about rice production and forest ecosystem exist, but is less valued. So it is unable to challenge the domination of cacao. Various forms of struggles - within gender an ethnicity context - to resist cacao domination are an expression of unequal knowledge possession. Knowledge inequality implies to unequal access to withdraw benefit from market valued crop. When unequal knowledge fails to construct a negotiated field or struggles fail to reveal ‘marginal’ decision, e.g. intensification instead of cacao expansion to the forest, interface only produces divergence. Gender and ethnicity divided knowledge is unabridged, since negotiation is unable to produce new knowledge that accommodates both interests. Rice is loaded by ecological interest to conserve the forest, while cacao is driven by economic interest to increase welfare status. The implication of this unmediated dominant knowledge of cacao production is the construction of access; access to the forest, mainly to withdraw its economic benefit by eliminating its ecological benefit. Then, access to cacao as the social relationship of production to acquire cacao knowledge; lastly, access to defend sustainable benefit from cacao by expansion. ‘Socio-economic Security’ is defined by Access. The convergence of rice and cacao knowledge, however, should be made possible across gender and ethnicity, not only for the sake of forest conservation as the insurance of ecological security, but also for community’s socio-economic security. The convergence might be found in a range of alternative ways to conduct cacao sustainable production, from agroforestry system to intensification.

Gender and Space in Tehran

Abstract: This dissertation generally concentrates on the relationships between “gender” and “space” in the present time of urban life in capital city of Tehran. “Gender” as a changing social construct, differentiated within societies and through time, studied this time by investigation on “gender attitude” or “gender identity” means attitudes towards “gender” issues regarding Tehran residences. “Space” as a concept integrated from physical and social constituents investigated through focus on “spatial attitude” means attitudes towards using “living spaces” including private space of “house”, semi private semi public space of neighborhood and finally public spaces of the city. “Activities and practices” in space concentrated instead of “physical” space; this perspective to “space” discussed as the most justified implication of “space” in this debate regarding current situations in city of Tehran. Under a systematic approach, the interactions and interconnections between “gender” and “space” as two constituent variables of social organization investigated by focus on the different associations presented between different “gender identities” and their different “spatial identities”; in fact, “spatial identity” manifests “gender identity” and in opposite direction, “spatial identity” influences to construction of “gender identity”. The hypotheses of case study in Tehran defined as followed: • “Gender identity” is reflected on “spatial identity”. Various “gender identities” in Tehran present different perspectives of “space” or they identify “space” by different values. • As “gender identity” internalizes patriarchal oppression, it internalizes associated “spatial” oppression too. • Within the same social class, different “gender identities” related to men and women, present interconnected qualities, compared with “gender identities” related to men or women of different social classes. This situation could be found in the “spatial” perspectives of different groups of men and women too. • Following the upper hypotheses, “spatial” oppression differs among social classes of Tehran living in different parts of this city. This research undertook a qualitative study in Tehran by interviewing with different parents of both young daughter and son regarding their attitudes towards gender issues from one side and activities and behaviors of their children in different spaces from the other side. Results of case study indicated the parallel changes of parents’ attitudes towards “gender” and “spatial” issues; it means strong connection between “gender” and “space”. It revealed association of “equal” spatial attitudes with “open, neutral” gender attitudes, and also the association of “biased, unequal” spatial identities with “conservative patriarchal” gender identities. It was cleared too that this variable concept – gender space - changes by “sex”; mothers comparing fathers presented more equitable notions towards “gender spatial” issues. It changes too by “social class” and “educational level”, that means “gender spatial” identity getting more open equitable among more educated people of middle and upper classes. “Breadwinning status in the family” also presents its effect on the changes of “gender spatial” identity so participant breadwinners in the family expressed relatively more equitable notions comparing householders and housekeepers. And finally, “gender spatial” identity changes through “place” in the city and regarding South – North line of the city. The illustration of changes of “gender spatial” identity from “open” to “conservative” among society indicated not only vertical variation across social classes, furthermore the horizontal changing among each social class. These results also confirmed hypotheses while made precision on the third one regarding variable of sex. More investigations pointed to some inclusive spatial attitudes throughout society penetrated to different groups of “gender identities”, to “opens” as to “conservatives”, also to groups between them, by two opposite features; first kind, conservative biased spatial practices in favor of patriarchal gender relations and the second, progressive neutral actions in favor of equal gender relations. While the major reason for the inclusive conservative practices was referred to the social insecurity for women, the second neutral ones associated to more formal & safer spaces of the city. In conclusion, while both trends are associated deeply with the important issues of “sex” & “body” in patriarchal thoughts, still strong, they are the consequences of the transitional period of social change in macro level, and the challenges involved regarding interactions between social orders, between old system of patriarchy, the traditional biased “gender spatial” relations and the new one of equal relations. The case study drew an inhomogeneous illustration regarding gender spatial aspects of life in Tehran, the opposite groups of “open” and “conservative”, and the large group of “semi open semi conservative” between them. In macro perspective it presents contradicted social groups according their general life styles; they are the manifestations of challenging trends towards tradition and modernity in Iranian society. This illustration while presents unstable social situations, necessitates probing solutions for social integration; exploring the directions could make heterogeneous social groups close in the way they think and the form they live in spaces. Democratic approaches like participatory development planning might be helpful for the city in its way to more solidarity and sustainability regarding its social spatial – gender as well – development, in macro levels of social spatial planning and in micro levels of physical planning, in private space of house and in public spaces of the city.

Academic stress in master’s students and its modulatory variables: a between-groups design

The present investigation tries to establish the descriptive profile of the academic stress of the students of the masters in education and to identify which sociodemographic and situational variables play a modulator role. This investigation is based on the Person-Surroundings Research Program and the systemical cognitive model of academic stress. The study can be characterized as transectional, correlational and non experimental. The collection of the information was made through the SISCO inventory of Academic Stress which was applied to 152 students. The main results suggest that 95% of the master students report having felt academic stress a few times but with medium-high intensity. Variables gender, civil state, attending masters and institutional support of the attending masters act as modulators in academic stress.

The effect of talker age and gender on speech perception of pediatric cochlear implant users

Most clinically-employed speech materials for testing hearing impaired individuals are recordings made by adult male talkers. The author examined the possible effect of talker age and gender on the speech perception of children through the use of 1) two speech perception tests, each with four talker types (adult males, adult females, 10-12 year olds, 5-7 year olds), and 2) two groups of pediatric listeners: normal-hearing (NH) and cochlear implant users (CI).

The influence of age and gender on food choice: a focus group exploration

With 25% of the UK population predicted to be obese by 2010, the costs to individuals and society are set to rise. Due to the extra economic and social pressures obesity causes, there is an increasing need to understand what motivates and prevents consumers from eating a healthy diet so as to be able to tailor policy interventions to specific groups in society. In so doing, it is important to explore potential variations in attitudes, motivation and behaviour as a function of age and gender. Both demographic factors are easily distinguished within society and a future intervention study which targets either, or both, of these would likely be both feasible and cost-effective for policy makers. As part of a preliminary study, six focus groups (total n = 43) were conducted at the University of Reading in November 2006, with groups segmented on the basis of age and gender. In order to gather more sensitive information, participants were also asked to fill out a short anonymous questionnaire before each focus group began, relating to healthy eating, alcohol consumption and body dissatisfaction. Making use of thematic content analysis, results suggested that most participants were aware of the type of foods that contribute to a healthy diet and the importance of achieving a healthy balance within a diet. However, they believed that healthy eating messages were often conflicting, and were uncertain about where to find information on the topic. Participants believed that the family has an important role in educating children about eating habits. Despite these similarities, there were a number of key differences among the groups in terms of their reasons for making food choices. Older participants (60+ years old) were more likely to make food choices based on health considerations. Participants between the ages of 18–30 were less concerned with this link, and instead focused on issues of food preparation and knowledge, prices and time. Younger female participants said they had more energy when they ate healthier diets; however, very often their food choices related to concern with their appearance. Older female participants also expressed this concern within the questionnaire, rather than in the group discussions. Overall, these results suggest that consumer motivations for healthy eating are diverse and that this must be considered by government, retailers and food producers.

Coping, depressive feelings and gender differences in late life widowhood

The study investigated the relationship between depressive feelings and coping amongst older widowed men and women. Participants were interviewed about their affective experiences of widowhood and completed two depression questionnaire assessments, the Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression Scale ( SAD) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale ( HADS). Participants were assessed as either coping or not coping. The results showed that both measures were effective at differentiating those who coped (Copers) from those who did not (Non-Copers) in the sample as a whole. Amongst the widows the HADS significantly differentiated the two groups. Amongst men, neither measure significantly distinguished Copers from Non-Copers. However, an examination of the interviews suggested that widowers reported depressive feelings significantly more often than widows. The results suggest that depressive feelings are associated with non-coping in older widowed people. There is also evidence to suggest that widows and widowers respond differentially to assessment measures.

Unconscious effects of grammatical gender during object categorisation

Does language modulate perception and categorisation of everyday objects? Here, we approach this question from the perspective of grammatical gender in bilinguals. We tested Spanish–English bilinguals and control native speakers of English in a semantic categorisation task on triplets of pictures in an all-in-English context while measuring event-related brain potentials (ERPs). Participants were asked to press a button when the third picture of a triplet belonged to the same semantic category as the first two, and another button when it belonged to a different category. Unbeknownst to them, in half of the trials, the gender of the third picture name in Spanish had the same gender as that of the first two, and the opposite gender in the other half. We found no priming in behavioural results of either semantic relatedness or gender consistency. In contrast, ERPs revealed not only the expected semantic priming effect in both groups, but also a negative modulation by gender inconsistency in Spanish–English bilinguals, exclusively. These results provide evidence for spontaneous and unconscious access to grammatical gender in participants functioning in a context requiring no access to such information, thereby providing support for linguistic relativity effects in the grammatical domain.

Caries, gender and socio-economic change in the Xavante Indians from Central Brazil

Background: The oral health conditions of indigenous peoples in Amazonia are closely associated with ecological and dietary changes related to interaction with non-Indians. Aim: The study investigated the incidence of caries in an indigenous community from Central Brazil focusing on gender differences. Subjects and methods: The research was conducted among the Xavante Indians and was based on longitudinal data collected in two surveys (1999 and 2004). The study included 128 individuals, 63 (49.2%) males and 65 (50.8%) females, divided in four age brackets (6-12, 13-19, 20-34, 35-60 years of age). The DMFT (decayed, missing and filled teeth) index and incidences (difference between 1999 and 2004) were calculated for each individual. The proportion of incidence was also calculated. Differences in caries risk between gender and age brackets were compared by parametric and non-parametric tests. Results: There were statistically significant differences in relation to caries incidence between age brackets and gender. The greatest incidence was observed in the 20-34 age bracket, which presented 3.30 new decayed teeth, twice the risk of the 6-12 age bracket (p0.01), chosen as reference. While females in most age groups did not show higher risk for caries when compared to males, there was a 4.04-fold risk in the 20-34 age bracket (p0.01). Conclusion: It is concluded that factors related to the social functions of each sex (gender issues) and differential access to information, health services, and education may help to understand the differences observed in the incidence of caries.

Txtng as a replacement for standard written English : an attitude survey based on Age and Gender

Text messaging is a new form of writing, brought about by technological development in the last couple of decades. Mobile phone usage has increased rapidly worldwide and texting is now part of many people's everyday communcation. A large number of users send or receive texts which include some abbreviations and shortenings, commonly referred to as textspeak. This novel linguistic phenomenon is perceived by some with indifference and by others with aggravation. The following study examines attitudes towards this linguistic change from a gender and age perspective. The comparison between two groups show that the most conservative and least positive to change are young women. The analysis and discussion around this focuses on power, prestige and patterns.

Linking human and ecosystem health: the benefits of community involvement in conservation groups

This study explored the health, well-being, and social capital benefits gained by community members who are involved in the management of land for conservation in six rural communities across Victoria. A total of 102 people participated in the study (64 males; 38 females) comprising 51 members of a community-based land management group and 51 controls matched by age and gender. Mixed methods were employed, including the use of an adapted version of Buckner’s (1988) Community Cohesion Scale. The results indicate that involvement in the management of land for conservation may contribute to both the health and well-being of members, and to the social capital of the local community. The members of the land management groups rated their general health higher, reported visiting the doctor less often, felt safer in the local community, and utilized the skills that they have acquired in their lifetime more frequently than the control participants. Male members reported the highest level of general health, and the greatest satisfaction with daily activities. Members also reported a greater sense of belonging to the local community and a greater willingness to work toward improving their community than their control counterparts. Of equal importance is evidence that involvement in voluntary conservation work constitutes a means of building social capital in rural communities which may help reduce some of the negative aspects of rural life.

Gender, age, and educational-attainment differences in Australian adults' participation in vigorous sporting and fitness activities

Background: Participation in regular vigorous physical activity could confer health benefits additional to those derived from moderate-intensity physical activities that are currently the focus of public health strategies.
Methods: Sociodemographic differences in reported participation in vigorous sporting and fitness activities over the past 2 weeks were examined using cross-sectional data from an Australian urban population sample.
Results: Participation at least once in any form of vigorous physical activity and regular participation (six or more sessions) both decreased across successive age groups and from high to low levels of education. The most frequently reported types of vigorous physical activity were cycling (13.3%), jogging (10.1%), swimming (8.4%) for men; and, swimming (8.9%), cycling (8.8%) and aerobics (8.6%) for women.
Conclusion: Rates of regular participation in vigorous activities were low. Interventions might focus on ways to encourage younger adults to engage more regularly in these activities and to maintain participation through the lifespan.

Relationship between body image and social and sexual functioning: gender and development trends

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between body image and social and sexual functioning. The respondents were 426 men and women from metropolitan and rural Victoria, who ranged in age from 18 to 86 years (mean age = 42.26). Respondents completed measures of attractiveness, body satisfaction, body image importance, body image behaviours, appearance comparison, social physique anxiety, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and social and sexual functioning. Regression analyses were used to detelmine the prediction of social and sexual functioning by body image variables for men and women of different age groups, beyond the effects of psychological adjustment. The results demonstrated that while there were moderate correlations between body image and sociallsexual functioning variables, many of these relationships were best explained by the shared variance of self-esteem. There were some exceptions, particularly among middle-aged men, which are discussed.

Schooling, normalisation, and gendered bodies : adolescent boys' and girls' experiences of gender and schooling

Dominant discourses construct boys and girls as two homogenous groups in need of particular, and uniform, kinds of interventions (Martino, Mills, & Lingard, 2005, Mills, Martino, & Lingard, 2004; Jones & Myhill, 2004). The boys and girls themselves, however, tell a much more complex story and challenge us to consider very different implications for addressing gender conformity and, more broadly, diversity in schools. In this chapter, the voices of students are used as text to explicate, first, how issues of gender, sexuality, social class, ethnicity and the body are implicated and interweave in girls’ and boys’ social experiences of schooling; and second, what the implications of this interweaving might be for addressing diversity in schools (Connell, 1995; 2002; Martino, 1999, 2000; Pallotta-Chiarolli, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2005). This work draws on and elaborates further our previous published research that investigates issues of gender and schooling. It locates such research within the broader international context of studies conducted into issues of gender and schooling that document student perspectives and voice (Fine & Weiss, 2003; Ferguson, 2001; Renold, 2003; Mac an Ghaill, 1994; Lees, 1993; Ornstein, 1995; Thorne, 1993; Mills, 2001; Hey, 1997; Willis,1977; Walker, 1988). The use of student voice as text is considered within that broader context and highlights the significance of gender regimes and power relations in students’ lives at school (Martino & Pallotta-Chiarolli, 2005; 2003; 2002; 2001; Pallotta-Chiarolli, 1998). We illustrate the extent to which the risky business of ‘fitting in’ involves negotiations around normative and transgressive masculinities and femininities and how such practices intersect with sexuality, race/culture, class, and geographical location (see James, 2003; Kumashiro, 2002).

The measurement of socio-economic status: investigation of gender-and age-specific indicators in Australia: national health survey 1995

Objective: To investigate thecorrelations between age- and gender-specificmeasures of socio-economic status versus healthstatus as measured by the SF-36.

Design: Population based study.

Participants: 38187 people aged between18 to 79 years who participated in the NationalHealth Survey in 1995.

Results: Factor analysis producedconsistent results that were interpreted interms of five conceptually meaningful domains(employment, housing, migration, family unitand education). The relative rank of thefactors differs between groups and in somecases factor composition requires items to beadded or deleted from the conceptual domains.

Conclusions: Age- and gender-specific SESscores based on these factors had strongerassociations with the physical and mentalcomponents of SF-36 than either an area basedindex or scores derived from males aged 40–44years. Overall the results supported thehypothesis that SES measures composed of socialand demographic items exhibit important age-and gender-specific differences which arerelevant for health.