Women Living with Men who Use Viagra

ABSTRACT

Since the launch of Viagra, there have been few studies on the perspective of the female partner. Through a multiple case study approach drawing from phenomenology and the constant comparative method of analysis, this qualitative exploratory study examines the stories of four women living with a spouse who is currently taking Viagra. Findings highlight the need for a more holistic approach to treating erectile dysfunction that supports both partners within the couple relationship. It is also suggested that greater attention should be given to the relationship and to the sexual needs of women.     

Women who farm: A preliminary portrait

Nearly 500,000 women are engaged in farm work. Although the majority are unpaid family workers, in recent years greater proportions are in salaried and managerial positions. In-depth interviews with farming women in Baca County, Colorado, however, suggest that wage classification has negligible predictive value in explaining a woman's attitude toward farm work. Satisfaction with doing men's work depends on early socialization experiences and the degree to which a woman adopts the traditional female value system. The relevance of a masculinity—femininity dimension to distinguish women with career versus homemaking proclivities is demonstrated.An earlier version of this article was presented at the New Horizons for Women in Work and the Professions Panel of the Sociologists for Women in Society sessions at the Hotel Roosevelt in New York City, August 28, 1976.     

Women who kill their husbands: mariticides in contemporary Ghana

Homicide by wives against husbands is a largely unexplored subject in lethal violence research. The paucity of information on the phenomenon is particularly acute in the non-Western world where scholarly research is virtually nonexistent. The specific goal for this article, then, was to provide additional insights into the issue by investigating wife-to-husband killings that occurred in Ghana, a non-Western society, during 1990-2005. In line with the scant, extant literature, the results of the analysis demonstrate that victims were invariably slain at home. The motive for the crime was to punish a womanizing husband, a husband who had taken another wife, or one who was contemplating wedding another wife in this polygynous society. In other instances, the homicidal intent was to physically eliminate a husband to facilitate an amorous relationship between the assailant and her new lover. In several cases, husband-slayers killed a latent or predisposing victim (e.g. sleeping or ill) via burning, slashing with a machete or food poisoning. The implications of the findings are discussed.     

Women who do and women who don't,join the women's movement: Issues for conflict and collaboration

The women's movement as a social movement with intentions to create social change has had a cyclical history of appearance and disappearance. At its periods of reemergence, “backlash” reactions also occur. This paper deals with the women's movement in this context. Using a social movement analysis, it considers the possibility of success in creating social change, given that powerful groups of women oppose it. There is a renewed interest in antifeminism since the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment. Questions that arise: (1) Why do some women become feminists and others antifeminist? (2) What are the characteristics of social movements and the backlash that would explain these differences and lead to possible reconciliation? The material that forms the empirical basis of this paper is drawn from 24 feminists and antifeminists in five countries who wrote according to a structured outline about their relationship to the women's movement. Contributors differed in background, age, race, sexual preference, and life-style. Through their stories the issues that both separate and unite women emerge—issues such as abortion, men, motherhood, and the family. Surprising similarities emerge between those supposedly on different “sides” of the fence, and it becomes evident that no clear dividing line does exist, but rather a complex interweaving of the issues, experiences, and difficulties of being “woman.”     

Young Women who Have Experienced Unwanted Pregnancy: A Multiple Case Study

Qualitative approaches were used to understand the experience of pregnancy in a group of young Xhosa women (N =10, M age = 19.70, SD = 3.20). Data is provided on their retrospective accounts of factors which contributed towards unwanted pregnancy. Thematic content analysis revealed a range of influences on pregnancy including: background, parenting and restrictions; stigma towards contraception; carelessness and ignorance; power and pressure from the partner; and shifting responsibility.     

Perceptions of Thriving by Women who have Experienced Abuse or Status-Related Oppression

This study used the term "thriving," grounded theory design, and focus group interviews to investigate women's health. Purposeful sampling yielded women who had experienced abuse in adult interpersonal relationships and status-related oppression ( N =21). Four focus groups identified factors that define and contribute to thriving, began the analysis, and later confirmed the output. Results indicated thriving exceeds previous exploration of the absence of problems to denote vigorous, even superlative health. A model emerged about the defining and contributing properties of thriving as a specific type of energy characterized by complex interconnections between and cycles of activity, rest, and stasis. Three factors defined the structure and process of thriving: (a) individual perceptions, motives, and resources, (b) the nature of the relationship a woman has with her adversity, and (c) properties of the environment vis-à-vis interpersonal relationships. Implications for assessment, prevention, and intervention strategies, as well as future research directions are explored.     

Women who tell and men who ask: Perceptions of men and women departing from gender stereotypes during initial interaction

An experiment was conducted to determine if behavior that deviated from gender stereotypes during initial interaction produced less positive perceptions of a target than did behavior conforming to stereotype. Thirty-seven males and 38 females (targets) were randomly assigned to conditions where they either enacted a behavior stereotypical to their gender or engaged in a behavior departing from the stereotype during initial interaction with a randomly assigned different-gender stranger (perceiver). All of the participants were raised in the United States. The majority of participants were Caucasian, approximately 30% of the participants were Hispanic. The participants were predominantly middle class. The gender stereotypical condition required the female target to ask questions and the male target to talk about himself during the interaction. A second condition required male and female targets to do the reverse (female tell and male ask). Following the interaction perceivers completed measures of positive affect and social attractiveness. The results indicated that perceptions of targets engaging in behavior opposite of gender stereotypes depend on the perceiver's level of gender-schematicity. The level of gender schematicity indicates a person's tendency to depend on traditional gender stereotypes. While schematics tended to feel less positively or no differently during interactions with gender opposite versus gender norm targets, they tended to evaluate the gender opposite target as more or no differently socially attractive than gender norm targets. Results also suggest that men may have more latitude to engage in gender opposite behaviors than do women.     

Women who excel on a spatial task: proposed genetic and environmental factors

A "bent twig" model which incorporates Annett's genetic handedness theory with an environmental component predicted characteristics of college women likely to excel on a mental rotation task. Those likely to have the necessary combination of genetic potential and prior experiences are right-handed women with non-right-handed relatives who rate themselves high in spatial experiences. This subgroup significantly outperformed all other groups of right-handed women on the Vandenberg Mental Rotation Test. This study provides support for the view that family handedness and spatial experiences are important factors influencing mental rotation ability in women.     

Abused Women in South Africa who Kill their Intimate Male Partners: A Psychological Exploration

The aim of this study was to explore psychological risk factors that may precipitate the murder of a partner by an abused woman. In this article, the authors use multiple case studies and interviews with three women incarcerated for the murder of their partners. Four themes relating to intimate partner violence emerged from the interviews: 1) post-traumatic stress disorder, 2) coercive control, 3) substance abuse and 4) interrelational conflict. The study indicates psychological factors that may precipitate the murder of an intimate partner that should be taken into account when counselling abused women.     

Women who perpetrate intimate partner violence: A review of the literature with recommendations for treatment

The purpose of this article is to review the literature on women as perpetrators of violence in their intimate relationships (i.e., domestically violent women) and summarize the scant literature on intervention programs for these women. Particular attention is paid to the cultural influences that shape our conceptualization of “domestic violence” and the fact that empirical research suggests that domestic violence has been falsely framed as exclusively male initiated violence. The article concludes with a discussion of the similarities and differences between male and female domestic violence offenders and identifies areas where treatment for female offenders might be improved.     

Irrational beliefs that can lead to academic failure for African American middle school students who are academically at-risk

This article describes how rational emotive behavior therapy and other cognitive-behavioral therapies can be used to improve the achievement of academically at-risk African American students at the middle-school level. Definitions of at-risk and a review of relevant literature are provided. This article offers an outline of several main irrational beliefs that can lead to academic failure for African American students at the middle-school level. This author suggested that escalating preferences for justice, acceptance within the African American community, and acceptance by European Americans are at the core for causing academic failure for many of these students. The author describes empirical data which show that once these students learn a realistic philosophy of life—to be more rational, tolerant, nonutopian, and nondemanding—the students improve in their academic self-concept and achievement.     

Women to Women

No abstract available for this article.     

Women Helping Women

This article presents a working model of a feminist and non-sexist peer counseling service operating in a university setting.     

The Self-Concept as a Side Bet: How Stripping Enhances the Self-Views of Men who Dance for Women

Because stripping is considered a form of “dirty work,” it has the capacity to negatively influence exotic dancers’ self-definitions. While some researchers have looked at the ways in which stripping impacts the self-concepts of women who dance for men and men who dance for men, there have been very few studies of the self-views of men who dance for women. Using qualitative methods, I examine how stripping shapes the self-concepts of male strippers. Overall, I found that the positive effect on dancers’ self-definitions was an important side bet that kept them committed to the occupation.     

The Prevalence of Coping Behaviour,Posttraumatic Growth and Psychological Well-Being in Women who Experienced Childhood Sexual Abuse

This study investigated the prevalence of coping behaviour, posttraumatic growth and psychological well-being in adult South African women (n=60, mean age=32, ethnicity=70% European, 28% African and 2% Asian descent). Specifically, the study considered the prevalence of constructive coping, posttraumatic growth and psychological well-being with a history of childhood sexual abuse. All participants self-reported being sexually abused before the age of 18 years. They completed measures of coping, posttraumatic growth, and psychological well-being, in a cross-sectional survey design. Results showed moderate to high correlations among scales indicating conceptual coherence as indicators of constructive coping, posttraumatic growth and psychological wellness. About 58% of participants manifested constructive coping, 60% manifested posttraumatic growth, and 42% manifested psychological well-being. These women survivors of childhood sexual abuse had higher levels of posttraumatic growth than reported in previous studies.     

When death thoughts lead to death fears: Mortality salience increases death anxiety for individuals who lack meaning in life

Research derived from terror management theory demonstrates that subtle reminders of mortality increase strivings for meaning. It is argued that such strivings reflect efforts to prevent the anxiety that death reminders may otherwise cause. However, no research has directly tested the assertions that subtle mortality primes increase death anxiety and perceptions of meaning in life moderate this effect. The current study examined these predictions. Meaning in life was measured, death cognition primed, and death anxiety assessed. A mortality prime increased death anxiety, but only for individuals who lack perceptions of meaning in life. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed.