scholarly journals Beyond Asexualization: Narratives of Sexual Objectification of Persons with Albinism in Nigeria

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adediran Daniel Ikuomola

Often overemphasised, in most sexuality studies, is that persons with disability, especially women, face experiences of asexualization rather than sexualisation. Similarly overemphasised is the faulty monolithic assumption that economic deprivation is the causal factor in the objectification of persons with disability. This has unintentionally created an expectation that objectifying environments are the inevitable and immutable default to economic distress. This is often not the case within the socio-cultural space of persons with albinism (PWA) in Southern Nigeria, where their presence is obvious. As a departure, this study examined the sexual objectification of PWA in Nigeria. It was discovered that at some points in the life course of PWA, most especially among the women with the development and aging of their body, objectification added to mental health risks such as withdrawal syndrome, isolation and indolence. The study concludes that cultural attitudes not only creates and threatens PWA sexed and gendered body confidence in relationships but also for them to be labelled and misconstrued as sexually inactive.

1997 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara L. Fredrickson ◽  
Tomi-Ann Roberts

This article offers objectification theory as a framework for understanding the experiential consequences of being female in a culture that sexually objectifies the female body. Objectification theory posits that girls and women are typically acculturated to internalize an observer's perspective as a primary view of their physical selves. This perspective on self can lead to habitual body monitoring, which, in turn, can increase women's opportunities for shame and anxiety, reduce opportunities for peak motivational states, and diminish awareness of internal bodily states. Accumulations of such experiences may help account for an array of mental health risks that disproportionately affect women: unipolar depression, sexual dysfunction, and eating disorders. Objectification theory also illuminates why changes in these mental health risks appear to occur in step with life-course changes in the female body.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 461-461
Author(s):  
Laura Upenieks

Abstract Of all the various forms of adversity experienced during childhood, childhood maltreatment (emotional and physical abuse) is shown to have the largest impacts on mental health and well-being. Yet we still have a limited understanding of why some victims of early maltreatment suffer immense mental health consequences later on in the life course, while others are able to cushion the blow of these early insults. Using two waves of data from the National Survey of Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS), this study considers change in religiosity as a buffer across three dimensions for victims of childhood abuse: religious importance, attendance, and the specific act of seeking comfort through religion. Results suggest that increases in religious comfort during adulthood are positively associated with adult mental health for victims of abuse, while decreases in religious comfort over time were associated with worse mental health. Changes in religious attendance and religious importance were not significant associated with mental health for victims of abuse. Taken together, my results show that the stress-moderating effects of religion for victims of childhood maltreatment are contingent on the stability or increases or decreases in religiosity over the life course, which has been overlooked in previous work.


Author(s):  
Patricia Nayna Schwerdtle ◽  
Kate Baernighausen ◽  
Sayeda Karim ◽  
Tauheed Syed Raihan ◽  
Samiya Selim ◽  
...  

Background: Climate change influences patterns of human mobility and health outcomes. While much of the climate change and migration discourse is invested in quantitative predictions and debates about whether migration is adaptive or maladaptive, less attention has been paid to the voices of the people moving in the context of climate change with a focus on their health and wellbeing. This qualitative research aims to amplify the voices of migrants themselves to add nuance to dominant migration narratives and to shed light on the real-life challenges migrants face in meeting their health needs in the context of climate change. Methods: We conducted 58 semi-structured in-depth interviews with migrants purposefully selected for having moved from rural Bhola, southern Bangladesh to an urban slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis under the philosophical underpinnings of phenomenology. Coding was conducted using NVivo Pro 12. Findings: We identified two overarching themes in the thematic analysis: Firstly, we identified the theme “A risk exchange: Exchanging climate change and health risks at origin and destination”. Rather than describing a “net positive” or “net negative” outcome in terms of migration in the context of climate change, migrants described an exchange of hazards, exposures, and vulnerabilities at origin with those at destination, which challenged their capacity to adapt. This theme included several sub-themes—income and employment factors, changing food environment, shelter and water sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) conditions, and social capital. The second overarching theme was “A changing health and healthcare environment”. This theme also included several sub-themes—changing physical and mental health status and a changing healthcare environment encompassing quality of care and barriers to accessing healthcare. Migrants described physical and mental health concerns and connected these experiences with their new environment. These two overarching themes were prevalent across the dataset, although each participant experienced and expressed them uniquely. Conclusion: Migrants who move in the context of climate change face a range of diverse health risks at the origin, en route, and at the destination. Migrating individuals, households, and communities undertake a risk exchange when they decide to move, which has diverse positive and negative consequences for their health and wellbeing. Along with changing health determinants is a changing healthcare environment where migrants face different choices, barriers, and quality of care. A more migrant-centric perspective as described in this paper could strengthen migration, climate, and health governance. Policymakers, urban planners, city corporations, and health practitioners should integrate the risk exchange into practice and policies.


Author(s):  
Alessandro Vittori ◽  
Giuliano Marchetti ◽  
Roberto Pedone ◽  
Elisa Francia ◽  
Ilaria Mascilini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Ruining Sun ◽  
Jason N. Houle

In this paper, we contribute to a growing literature on debt and mental health and ask whether patterns of unsecured debt accumulation and repayment over two decades are associated with depressive symptoms at age 50. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979 Cohort and group trajectory models, we have three key findings. First, we find substantial heterogeneity in debt trajectories across the life course. Second, respondents who report consistently high debt levels across the life course or who cycle in and out of high debt report significantly more depressive symptoms than respondents who hold consistently low levels of debt. These findings hold for both absolute and relative (debt-to-income) debt. Third, we find that the association between debt and depressive symptoms is strongest among respondents with less than a college degree, but we find less evidence for heterogeneity by race in this cohort.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra M Brandes ◽  
Kathleen Wade Reardon ◽  
Jennifer L Tackett

The study of personality development has seen significant advances in the last two decades. For many years, youth and adult individual differences were studied from separate theoretical standpoints. However, more recent research has indicated that teenagers display personality traits in many of the same ways as adults. These personality traits are moderately stable throughout the life course, but there are important developmental shifts in their expression, structure, and maturation, especially in adolescence. This has resulted in an effort to study youth personality “in its own right” (Tackett, Kushner, De Fruyt, & Mervielde, 2013). Early personality associations with important lifelong outcomes including academic achievement, mental health, and interpersonal relationships further underscore the importance of studying traits in youth. Here we discuss current consensus and controversy on adolescent personality and highlight foundational research on the topic.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 378-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kandauda A. S. Wickrama ◽  
Catherine Walker O’Neal ◽  
Tae Kyoung Lee

2019 ◽  
pp. 125-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary W. Brunette ◽  
Jeffrey B. Nemhauser

Injury & Trauma Erin M. Parker, Erin K. Sauber-Schatz, David A. Sleet, Michael F. Ballesteros Mental Health Thomas H. Valk Safety & Security Overseas Uzma Javed Mosquitoes, Ticks & Other Arthropods John-Paul Mutebi, John E. Gimnig Sun Exposure Karolyn A. Wanat, Scott A. Norton Extremes of Temperature...


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