12. Gender and crime

This chapter discusses the extensive consideration given to the different roles played by men and women in the commission of crime. Feminist writers first highlighted the fact that most criminologists, in assuming that crime is a male phenomenon, had largely ignored female crime. If it was discussed at all, the focus was on the biological given of sex, rather than the social construction of gender. A number of writers have also started to consider the part that different assumptions of male gender roles—‘masculinities’—play in the commission of crime. Different explanations have been offered for the earlier neglect of women’s crime. One reason may be that official criminal statistics have routinely shown that women are convicted of crimes to a far lesser extent than men.

Exploration of Masculinity in Sanjeev Upreti's Hansa

Can a man be rigid, strong and decisive all the time? How do people know about their normative gender roles? Who formulates the rules about love, sex, marriage, and men and women relations? These are some of the issues raised in Sanjeev Upreti's latest novel Hansa [Duck] (2019). The novel artistically and sensitively traces the limits of patriarchal gender roles and suggests that masculinity is contextual and undergoes a continuous process of change. The major male characters of the novel, despite their inclination towards heterosexuality, and despite their effort to perform traditional masculinity, fail. Though they have embraced hegemonic masculinity as an ideal form of masculinity, and try to practice it, they are weak and vulnerable. This article explores why these characters fail to perform their gender roles as par their expectations. To analyze male gender roles and masculinity in the novel, theories of masculinity are drawn basically from Raewyn Connell and Judith Butler‟s social constructivist approach to gender studies. Analyzing the novel through the lens of masculinity helps the reader understand the constraints of hegemonic masculinity and provides insight to alternative ways of understanding male gender roles and masculinity. The article has found that the male characters of the novel suffer because they stick to the traditional masculinity and fail to adapt to their changed roles.

Analysis of Gender Bias in Two Arabic Language Textbooks - Grade 1

The purpose of this study is to examine the presence/absence of gender bias in the first-grade Arabic language school textbooks used at public schools in the Sultanate of Oman. Content analysis is used to analyze the following four categories: gender illustrations, gender roles, gender firstness, gender nouns, and gender names. In general, the study results have shown that gender bias against females is still ingrained in the first-grade Arabic language textbooks. The results have indicated that first-grade school textbook did not exhibit a balanced representation of gender in terms of gender illustrations, gender roles, gender firstness, and gender nouns. In addition, male gender roles were traditional and varied whereas female gender roles were traditional. The only category that exhibited a balanced gender representation of males and females was gender nouns. In the light of these results, some recommendations have been made.

Peer support of fathers on Reddit: quantifying the stressors, behaviors, and drivers

This paper aimed to delineate the behavioral patterns of fathers in seeking and providing peer support on the popular social media site Reddit using a sample of 2,393 users. First, fathers’ support-seeking posts were characterized, finding that fathers self-disclosed a range of individual, familial, and societal stressors, including topics sensitive to traditional male gender roles. Second, peers’ comments were differentiated by support type, with differences observed in the behaviors, emotions, and language that peers use when providing advice, confirmation and encouragement. Third, the relationship between types of fatherhood stressors and their associated peer comments was mapped. While fathers seeking support for individual stressors received fewer comments, the support provided utilized more action-oriented language. Finally, a statistical model was developed to examine the factors that drive peer support on the fatherhood forums, which are observed to influence the quality of peers’ comments and peers’ commenting behaviors. Combined, the findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the peer support environment for fathers on social media like Reddit, strengthening the research literature that is limited to qualitative evidence to date. The results have important implications for formal support services targeting fathers, both online and offline.

Violence Against Kuwaiti Women

The gendered patterns of violence against women are largely precipitated by dominant male gender roles that define masculinity. The purpose of this study was to understand women’s encounter in abusive domestic relationships. Specifically, the research goal was to assess the extent, types, and severity of interpersonal violence (IPV) by intimate partners against married and divorced women in Kuwait. In addition, the research attempts to correlate the extent, types, and severity of IPV by intimate partners with characteristics of the study participants. The study was based on quantitative methodology. Results indicated that cultural, religious, and demographic factor values were among the highest causes of violence against women. The IPV against women in Kuwait City is reported by 71% for women who are physically abused, 81% for women who are sexually abused, 89% for women who are psychologically abused, 75% for women based on cultural and religious factors, and 65% for women battering. Clinical implications are provided to guide practitioners in identifying couples at risk and to formulate prevention and intervention strategies.

PORTRAYALS OF POST-INDEPENDENT MALAY MEN IN MALAYSIAN NARRATIVES

This paper emerged from a personal set of observations on the evolving male gender roles, currently drawing attention in Malaysia. As such, the study adds to the budding literature on Malay men and their gender roles and that of Malaysian literature in English. This comparative study is within its initial exploration on literary portrayals of Malay men’s experiences, as part of performing their gender roles, specifically from Lee Kok Liang’s ‘Ronggeng Ronggeng’ and Che Husna Azhari’s ‘Pak De Samad’s Cinema’. We argue that Malay men’s gender roles as protective entities has not undergone a tremendous change. Since the experiences of these men are narrated by a third person, understanding these men through the use of Chilesiz’s phenomenological model enables us to answer a focused phenomenon – the men’s experience as saviours in order to provide a priori that matches the societal, collective impression, perception and expectation of these men’s gender roles. Situated in an early postindependent Malaysian context, these men are moulded into a courageous lot. Instead of fleeing for safety, readers are implored upon with gutsy men whose sense of survivability are fuelled by untamed courage upon seeing threat (either to themselves or people of affection) while juggling with societal expectations as part of forming their gender identity. Instead of using the conventional phenomenological reading onto these men, these men are viewed to show a possession of quality judgement while performing their role as saviours.Keywords: Consciousness, gender roles, intentionality, Malay men; Malaysia, literatureCite as: Ismail, H.H & Barani, F. (2018). Portrayals of post-independent Malay men inMalaysian narratives. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 3(2),162-175.http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol3iss2pp162-175

Muscle Dysmorphia

Muscle dysmorphia is a recently identified, complex, and largely unknown psychiatric disorder. Individuals with muscle dysmorphia typically report preoccupation with thoughts of attaining greater muscularity; conceal their bodies in public; have poor levels of insight into their preoccupation; report extreme functional impairment due to their preoccupation; have elevated rates of comorbid eating, mood, anxiety, and body dysmorphic disorders; use steroids; exercise compulsively; are strong adherents to traditional male gender roles; and report an elevated history of suicide attempts. Treatments for eating disorders and body dysmorphic disorder may be effective for muscle dysmorphia, and case report evidence has shown family-based therapy to be effective for adolescent muscle dysmorphia. Additional treatment strategies include dismantling ego-syntonic beliefs and toxic beliefs surrounding masculinity. Comorbid steroid use and/or dependence complicates treatment and may require incorporating an endocrinologist into the treatment team.

How Gender-Role Salience Influences Attitude Strength and Persuasive Message Processing

We conducted three studies to examine the relationship between gender and persuasion. We tested the notion that making gender roles salient affects the strength of individuals’ attitudes and the way they respond to persuasive information. In Studies 1 and 2, we found that priming women with the female gender role reduced the strength of their attitudes (Study 1, N = 50) and increased their susceptibility to persuasion through a low-thought process (Study 2, N = 98). In Study 3, we manipulated the salience of both the female and male gender roles among men and women and assessed persuasion to a counter-attitudinal message ( N = 185). We found that the female and male primes affected men and women similarly, with the female prime causing participants to process messages superficially and the male prime leading to thoughtful message processing. These findings help to explain women’s slightly greater persuadability in meta-analyses and provide evidence of harms that stereotypes about women can cause. Moving forward, we urge researchers to be wary of gender salience in the research context, especially when conducting persuasion research.

12. Gender and crime

This chapter discusses the extensive consideration given to the different roles played by men and women in the commission of crime. Feminist writers first highlighted the fact that most criminologists, in assuming that crime is a male phenomenon, had largely ignored female crime. If it was discussed at all, the focus was on the biological given of sex rather than the social construction of gender. A number of writers have also started to consider the part that different assumptions of male gender roles-‘masculinities’-play in the commission of crime. Different explanations have been offered for the earlier neglect of women’s crime. One reason may be that official criminal statistics have routinely shown that women are convicted of crimes to a far lesser extent than men.