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The study is informed by work from the 1990s which looked at emotional aspects of couple relationships and how this interacts with gendered power (Duncombe and Marsden, 1993, 1995; Benjamin, 1998). The context of couple relationships provides the backdrop to explore experiences of men and women navigating their emotional lives through a period of social change in which men are becoming more emotionally open. I examine to what extent emotional participation is moving towards being more equal, and whether this has an impact on gender relations within couple relationships, including consideration of how love can exist within unequal divisions of labour. The central analytical concepts of gender, power and emotion will be explored in order to look at whether there has been a change in practices of emotional participation in couple relationships. This thesis is a mixed-methods study exploring understandings of emotional participation within couple relationships. It is based on an online survey of 1,080 people, telephone interviews with 44 survey participants and 31 face-to-face interviews with participants living in Scotland. I explore the issues of communication, emotional skill and emotional capital through the narratives of men and women who are single and in relationships, predominantly heterosexual but not exclusively. This research design was used to test findings from previous research to enable an understanding of how gender shapes cultural constructions of emotional habitus within intimate relationships. I extend Burkitt’s concept of ‘emotional habitus’ (2014) to argue that ‘gendered emotional habitus’ (plural) are pervasive and enable the reproduction of heterosexuality within couple relationships. These habitus provide little room to negotiate alternative ways of doing gender, yet there are signs of a ‘clash of ideals of masculine emotion’ due to an increase in the value of emotional skills and the commonsensical discourse that it’s ‘good to talk’, found in the therapeutic discourse (Brownlie, 2014). I argue these signs of social change have led to a shift away from relationships in which women crave emotional fulfilment but do not receive it, to relationships in which men too want emotional closeness with their partner. The change in gendered ways of valuing emotion have impacted on how men and women perceive and manage their couple relationships, which is explored in depth through the concept of emotional participation.

This study aimed to explore perceptions and experiences concerning sexuality, contraceptives, unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion among young people in Kisumu, Kenya. The design of the study was inductive with a qualitative approach using personal in-depth interviews. Eight participants (four female and four male) were asked to describe their perceptions and experience concerning sexuality, contraceptives, unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortion. The result showed that culture and norms, misconceptions and gender based power in sexuality are factors that impact Sexual Reproductive Health among young people in Kisumu today. Unwanted pregnancy was described as a shame, a burden and a destroyed life which lead to many unsafely induced abortions. The findings indicate that youth interventions are important, such as engaging young men in unwanted pregnancy and thus unsafe abortions and to empower young women.

In 1997, Governor Paul Patton of Kentucky asked the state Cabinet of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection to develop administrative regulations for industrial hog farms in the state. The regulatory process has been contentious. From 1997 through 1998, the Cabinet held five public hearings to elicit comments on the proposed regulations. This study is designed to answer two questions. First, how, within parameters of participation established by the Kentucky Cabinet of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, have participants in the debate deployed notions of risk to privilege certain gendered and sexualized farming identities, farming practices, and notions of rurality? Second, how will the spatial arrangements proposed by participants alter social relationships? A theoretical framework that draws from Foucaults work on governmentality and power/knowledge, feminist theories and Latours actor network theory was developed for this analysis which combines discourse analysis with participant observation. The study examines texts produced by the Cabinet and three groups: the Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and Community Farm Alliance. Texts include transcripts of hearing comments, published histories, newspapers and web sites produced by three studied, law suits related to the debate, and newspaper coverage of the debate. Participant observation was conducted at public hearings and meetings of the Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and Community Farm Alliance. Results from this project suggest that gender and sexualization play very important roles in establishing hierarchies between organized groups and government agencies. Results also indicate that the constructions of farmers, farming and rurality produced by hierarchical relationships are largely dependent on distinct spatial arrangements which have very real effects on human-human, human-environment and human-animal relationships.

This thesis examines the ways in which female bodies are central to the production and reproduction of gendered social inequality, and the formation of feminine identities in the fitness gym. Ethnographic methods were utilised to investigate the patterns and relations of power that underpinned the production and reproduction of feminine body ideals and feminine identities and habituses in a fitness gym in the South-East of England. The potential usefulness of harnessing feminist and figurational concepts for understanding gendered bodies in the context of sport and exercise is also explored. Some of the theoretical and methodological links between feminist and figurational perspectives are explored in this thesis. A feminist-figurational approach is presented as a useful way of understanding the complexities of female body image and feminine identification in the fitness gym. Central in this regard has been an examination of the unequal relationships between, and within, groups of people in exercise and fitness settings. The task of producing a relatively high degree of adequate knowledge about gendered bodies in the fitness gym has also involved consideration of several concepts related to Elias's (1978,1987) theory of involvement and detachment including: the personal pronoun model, the use of developmental thinking, the interplay between theory and evidence and the adequacy of evidence. Feminist and figurational ideas about gender, power and identities have been of use in making sense of the relationships between workingout, female bodies and femininities. Elias's conceptualisations of power, establishedoutsider relations and identification have been particularly helpful. Evidence from participant observations and interviewing revealed that several mechanisms serve to reinforce, challenge and negotiate a variety of images of the female body-beautiful in the fitness gym. These include: the insecurity and emotion that surround the acquisition and maintenance of an ideal physique, the monopolisation of corporeal power, the construction of group charisma and group disgrace, the formation of gossip networks, and the corporeal logic of the 'exercise body-beautiful complex'. The findings also reveal that female bodies are central to the formation of feminine identities and habituses. Feminine identities are founded on both different and shared characteristics of the female body-beautiful. Some female exercisers also share some characteristics with other women, specifically in the context of the fitness gym. Linked to a desire for a high status body Image, there is a tendency for white, western, middle-class, heterosexual, able-bodied women, who go to the gym, to share a preference for cosmetic fitness activities, and an emotional tie to aspirations for a slender, muscularly toned physique. The exercise histories of the women in this study indicated that the inculcation of feminine conduct and bodily preference happens over time, and in relation to a range of corporeal experiences including: physical education, sport, exercise, dance, dieting and adolescence.

<p>Syftet med föreliggande studie var att beskriva hur tanzaniska kvinnor upplever möjligheten att skydda sig mot HIV/AIDS. Intervjuer genomfördes med 16 HIV-positiva kvinnor som analyserades med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Två kategorier framkom som påverkade de tanzaniska kvinnornas upplevda möjlighet att skydda sig mot HIV/AIDS: social utsatthet samt existentiell utsatthet. Dessa utgör tillsammans det övergripande temat: kvinnans underkastelse i en kultur präglad av manliga värderingar. Studien visade att kvinnans möjlighet att skydda sig mot HIV/AIDS begränsades av mannens utomäktenskapliga relationer och önskan att bilda familj samt kvinnans underordnade ställning. Även bristande äganderätt och att tvingas prostituera sig hade negativ inverkan på möjligheten att undvika att smittas. En konklusion av studien var att kvinnans sexuella beteende och risker för att smittas med HIV/AIDS formas i ett samhälle där normer och värderingar styr den ojämlika makten mellan könen. Dessa normer och värderingar tvingar kvinnan till underkastelse och försvårar möjligheten att bestämma över sin egen sexualitet. Framtida preventioner ska därför inte bara rikta sig till kvinnan då kvinnans sårbarhet att smittas med HIV/AIDS i stor utsträckning styrs av manligt beteende. Av intresse hade därför varit att studera mannens attityder till kvinnan, sitt eget riskbeteende och sårbarheten att smittas med HIV/AIDS.</p>

Background. The study explored associations between factors derived from the application of the Theory of Gender and Power (TGP) as they relate to HIV-risk behaviour among Middle Eastern/Arab-Canadians. This area deserves increased attention, as the proportion of HIV incident cases among Canadian women—due to heterosexual transmission—is increasing. Methods. A web-based survey was administered to Middle Eastern/Arab-Canadians who were aged 18-35 years, of Middle Eastern and/or Arab descent, living in Canada, heterosexual, and in a relationship. Multivariate regression analyses were used to assess factors associated with condom-use risk and lifetime number of sexual partners. Analyses were stratified by gender. Results. The study sample consisted of 157 participants, with more female participants (65.38%), and a mean age of 22.71 years. Females were more likely to have an older partner and more likely to be virgins, compared to males. Only a third (27.45%) of sexually active participants in this sample reported using condoms every time they have sex and participants reported a mean of 4.31 lifetime sexual partners. Factors associated with both condom-use risk and lifetime number of sexual partners varied greatly between genders. Among females, having low self efficacy towards practicing safer sex was predictive of condom-use risk. Among males, not being worried about getting HIV was predictive of condom-use risk. Thinking they knew how to use condoms was predictive of having more sexual partners among females, while being low acculturated from Middle Eastern culture was predictive of more partners among males. Conclusions. Factors associated with HIV risk varied greatly between genders among this sample and may contribute to power imbalances within relationships. The application of the TGP to this sample was moderately successful in predicting number of sexual partners among females and condom-use risk among males. However, it was not as successful in predicting condom-use risk among females and number of sexual partners among males. Many factors associated with HIV risk have been identified in this study, and should be used to create interventions designed to increase equality within Middle Eastern/Arab-Canadian relationships. However, many issues are discussed that still need to be addressed in future research.

Background. The study explored associations between factors derived from the application of the Theory of Gender and Power (TGP) as they relate to HIV-risk behaviour among Middle Eastern/Arab-Canadians. This area deserves increased attention, as the proportion of HIV incident cases among Canadian women—due to heterosexual transmission—is increasing. Methods. A web-based survey was administered to Middle Eastern/Arab-Canadians who were aged 18-35 years, of Middle Eastern and/or Arab descent, living in Canada, heterosexual, and in a relationship. Multivariate regression analyses were used to assess factors associated with condom-use risk and lifetime number of sexual partners. Analyses were stratified by gender. Results. The study sample consisted of 157 participants, with more female participants (65.38%), and a mean age of 22.71 years. Females were more likely to have an older partner and more likely to be virgins, compared to males. Only a third (27.45%) of sexually active participants in this sample reported using condoms every time they have sex and participants reported a mean of 4.31 lifetime sexual partners. Factors associated with both condom-use risk and lifetime number of sexual partners varied greatly between genders. Among females, having low self efficacy towards practicing safer sex was predictive of condom-use risk. Among males, not being worried about getting HIV was predictive of condom-use risk. Thinking they knew how to use condoms was predictive of having more sexual partners among females, while being low acculturated from Middle Eastern culture was predictive of more partners among males. Conclusions. Factors associated with HIV risk varied greatly between genders among this sample and may contribute to power imbalances within relationships. The application of the TGP to this sample was moderately successful in predicting number of sexual partners among females and condom-use risk among males. However, it was not as successful in predicting condom-use risk among females and number of sexual partners among males. Many factors associated with HIV risk have been identified in this study, and should be used to create interventions designed to increase equality within Middle Eastern/Arab-Canadian relationships. However, many issues are discussed that still need to be addressed in future research.