Sexual Desire,Piety, and Law in a Javanese Pesantren: Interpreting Varieties of Secret Divorce and Polygamy

Very little anthropological research has explored the polygamous worlds of women in Indonesia's traditional Islamic boarding schools known as pesantren. These traditional schools are patriarchal institutions that teach women to be ideal Muslims according to male-defined notions of shari'ah-based piety that construct polygamy as normative. This article challenges dominant discourses on polygamy, which are mostly concerned with public protest and feminist agendas that seek to have the practice banned, and instead reveals an agentive side of women in polygamous marriages. It examines the experiences of a group of pesantren women whose actions transgress state and Islamic laws on marriage and divorce in their endorsement of polygamous union and nikah batin (Sufi spiritual marriage). It builds on feminist arguments that recognise female agency in polygamy by considering the legal ambiguity surrounding secret and informal divorce and polygamous practices initiated by women restricted from obtaining legal divorces for socio-cultural reasons. In doing so, it further considers some aspects of a notion of a woman-centric polygamy that includes polyandry, which women create based on their understanding that Islam acknowledges women's sexual rights in marriage.     

The (extra)ordinary ethics of being HIV‐positive in rural Papua New Guinea

HIV/AIDS continues to be intimately entwined with the moral domain, and thus a positive diagnosis can cast doubt on a person's moral status. I draw on recent literature in the anthropology of ethics and morality, as well as feminist moral philosophy, to analyse the post‐diagnosis practices of HIV‐positive women in Papua New Guinea as they attempt to recuperate their moral personhood and make their ethical commitments visible to others. I argue that they carve out a repertoire of (extra)ordinary ethics from the ‘ordinary’ domain and that their practices tend towards a deontological ethics, rather than a virtue ethics, orientation.     

Re-embodying Sand Drawing and Re-evaluating the Status of the Camp: The Practice and Iconography of Women's Public Sand Drawing in Balgo,W.A.

The documentation of Aboriginal women's sand-drawing practice in Central Australia has to date been based largely on Munn's research amongst the Warlpiri at Yuendumu. Data from Kutjungka women from the Balgo area of Western Australia show that there are marked geographic differences in the styles of public sand drawing used by women from the two areas, as well as differences in gender coding between the two systems. The account of Balgo women's public sand drawing presented here uses methodologies grounded in recent developments in phenomenology, practice theory and embodiment theory, to examine layers of meaning encoded in this everyday practice. It suggests that women's public sand drawing in this area is linked to Kutjungka thought about the Dreaming, through webs of thought about the significance of penetrating the surface of the land, in some ways foreshadowing aspects of the women's ceremonial practices. This account suggests that the relationship between male and female ‘graphic’ systems may be more accurately described as dialogical than dichotomous.     

Women in medicine: practice patterns and attitudes.

Increasing numbers of women are entering medicine in Canada. In 1959 women accounted for 6% of the medical school graduates, but by 1989 they accounted for 44%. Although there has been little systematic investigation of the impact of this increase on Canada''s health care system, there are grounds for believing that female physicians bring with them distinctive values and interests, which may be reflected in the way they conduct their professional practices. We used data from a recent national survey of 2398 Canadian physicians to examine differences between women and men in their practices and their attitudes toward health care issues. Significant differences were found in the organization and management of the practices. Women preferred group over solo practice and were overrepresented in community health centres, health service organizations and centres locaux de services communautaires in Quebec. One-third of the women, as compared with half of the men, were in specialties. Even after adjusting for differences in workloads the incomes of the women were significantly lower than those of the men. Only minor differences were observed in the assessment of the health care system and alternative modes of organizing health care services. We believe that the differences were due to the double workload of women as professionals and family caregivers and the powerful socialization effects of medical education. As women overcome their minority status in the medical profession, differences between the sexes may become more apparent. Thus, the extent and effects of the progressive increase in the number of women in Canadian medicine should be assessed on an ongoing basis.     

Economic crisis and national attitudes: experimental evidence from Spain

We argue that existing approaches to development, including the women in development [WID] and gender and development [GAD] perspectives, fall short in their treatment of culture, and that a new paradigm, which we term 'Women, Culture and Development' [WCD], represents a way forward. Linking the fields of feminist studies, cultural studies and critical development studies, a WCD framework highlights culture as lived experiences and structures of feeling, attends to the relationship between production and reproduction in women's lives, and centres women's agency and struggles. A multi-ethnic and multiracial feminist approach to development studies, and an explicit engagement with culture can shift economistic and overly structural analyses to highlight the experiences, identities, practices and representations of Third World women. We illustrate the potential of a WCD paradigm with discussions of the environment and sexuality, and conclude with a sketch of the future visions and political possibilities of this approach.     

Prevalence of symptoms of Raynaud's phenomenon in general practice.

OBJECTIVE--To investigate the prevalence of Raynaud''s phenomenon in the populations of five general practices. DESIGN--Two populations studied. A questionnaire was given to all new patients attending five general practices over four weeks, and the same questionnaire was sent by post to a random sample of adults from two of the practices. SETTING--General practices in inner London, Merseyside, and Cheshire. SUBJECTS--1532 Patients who completed questionnaires (1119 who attended the surgeries (response rate unknown) and 413 respondents to the postal survey (response rate 69%)). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Response to questionnaire on symptoms of Raynaud''s phenomenon: patients were regarded as having the disease if they had episodes of blanching of the fingers that were precipitated by cold and accompanied by sensory symptoms (pins and needles or numbness). Subsequent interview and clinical appraisal of patients with the disease according to their responses to the questionnaire. RESULTS--The prevalence of Raynaud''s phenomenon was 11% (26/231) and 19% (34/182) respectively in men and women who completed the postal questionnaire and 16% (56/357) and 21% (157/762) respectively in those who completed the questionnaire when attending their general practice. Thus the overall rates were slightly higher in women, but there was no effect of age even after adjustment of the rates for practice and method of survey. CONCLUSION--The prevalence of Raynaud''s phenomenon is high compared with the low number of patients who seek treatment for the disease.     

The evolution of cultural adaptations: Fijian food taboos protect against dangerous marine toxins

The application of evolutionary theory to understanding the origins of our species'' capacities for social learning has generated key insights into cultural evolution. By focusing on how our psychology has evolved to adaptively extract beliefs and practices by observing others, theorists have hypothesized how social learning can, over generations, give rise to culturally evolved adaptations. While much field research documents the subtle ways in which culturally transmitted beliefs and practices adapt people to their local environments, and much experimental work reveals the predicted patterns of social learning, little research connects real-world adaptive cultural traits to the patterns of transmission predicted by these theories. Addressing this gap, we show how food taboos for pregnant and lactating women in Fiji selectively target the most toxic marine species, effectively reducing a woman''s chances of fish poisoning by 30 per cent during pregnancy and 60 per cent during breastfeeding. We further analyse how these taboos are transmitted, showing support for cultural evolutionary models that combine familial transmission with selective learning from locally prestigious individuals. In addition, we explore how particular aspects of human cognitive processes increase the frequency of some non-adaptive taboos. This case demonstrates how evolutionary theory can be deployed to explain both adaptive and non-adaptive behavioural patterns.     

Comparison of parents' expectations and importance ratings for specific aspects of childbirth.

We examined parents'' expectations of many aspects of the birth experience and compared them with the importance they attached to these aspects. Expectation was defined as a respondent''s rating that a given practice would be reality, and importance was defined as a respondent''s rating of the personal importance of a practice were all options possible. Subjects in the last 6 to 8 weeks of pregnancy were asked by their obstetricians to complete a questionnaire; 231 mothers and 227 fathers responded, for a response rate of 95%. In each of six subcategories parents'' importance ratings significantly exceeded their expectation ratings. Certain items were rated as relatively less important postnatally than prenatally and by multigravid women than by primigravid women. Parents'' perceptions of available options reflect consistent discrepancy with what they wish were possible. However, increased efforts to inform parents of existing options and to provide the rationale for specific practices may reduce the discrepancy between importance and expectations. This would in turn heighten the likelihood of a psychologically positive birth experience for parents.     

Physicians' Own Health—Some Advice for the Advisors

Information about physicians'' health and health practices is sparse and scattered. With a few exceptions, however—notably suicide and substance abuse—it appears that physicians'' health and health-promotion activities are at least similar to those of the general public. In some areas, such as smoking cessation, physicians have far outstripped the general public. As physicians gain more insight into their own health and health habits, advice to patients can be realistic and effective. Indeed, several personal health activities, including immunization, have direct, salutary impacts on patient care. Physicians should analyze and change their own health practices as indicated and pay special attention to “high yield” health habits, such as seat-belt use.     

Magico‐spiritual power,female sexuality and ritual sex in Muslim Java: Unveiling the kesekten of magical women

This article argues that in practice, concepts of magico‐spiritual power (Javanese: kesekten; Indonesian: kesaktian) are linked with sexuality, particularly female sexuality, in some segments of contemporary Central and East Javanese Muslim society. Few scholars have turned attention to the interconnectedness of these seemingly contradictory topics. Feminist studies tend to focus on the ways in which women locate themselves within and critique Sharia‐based discursive and social orders, without considering the roles that magico‐spiritual power and associated practices play in these Islamic systems or in Islam in a more general sense. Similarly, male scholarship that considers the cultural relevance of Islam and magic rarely refers to gendered and sexual dimensions as praxis from a feminist perspective. By drawing on examples of ‘magical women’ including the Javanese spirit queen of the southern ocean Gusti Kanjeng Ratu Kidul, the historical Hindu figure Ken Dedes, and contemporary ritual sex practices at a Muslim saint's grave, we show how women, female spiritual beings and female sexuality, and sexuality in general, can be considered sources of magico‐spiritual power in Muslim Java. Our arguments conclude that in Javanese Islam, transgression of Sharia sexual norms can be both a sign and a source of magico‐spiritual power.     

Cultural Variations on Gender: Latin American Marianismo/Machismo in Australia

This paper concerns cultural and social ideas and practices on gender differences among Latin American immigrants in Australia. It explores the ways in which immigrants' notions of gender relations expressed as marianismo/machismo generated in their societies of origin, influence the social gender relationships among the settlers in Australia. The argument is that marianismo/machismo are ideological constructs which reinforce woman's oppression and at the same time help to perpetuate social relations of inequality between men and women.     

Cyborg stem cells in public: deconstructing and taking responsibility for categorizations

“Cyborg” entities do not easily fit into pre-existing categories and can therefore be useful in deconstructing these categories and showing their contingency and political power. In this paper, some cyborg stem cells are examined. They were discussed in Australian public debates as well as during interviews with scientists. Multiple ways of making sense of them are possible, but one became dominant, was inscribed in Australian parliamentary documents and may now seem to be a simple reflection of nature. By showing other possible categorizations and highlighting the contingency and ambiguity of concepts such as “embryo,” or “fetus,” the established definition of these cells is contested. In particular, the way it can displace conversations about women's bodies and the use in research of material from terminations is highlighted. Alternative stem cell categorizations are put forward; these are not “innocent” either, but may offer fruitful ways of talking about this area of techno-science in public.     

Women's Access and Provider Practices for the Case Management of Malaria during Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background

WHO recommends prompt diagnosis and quinine plus clindamycin for treatment of uncomplicated malaria in the first trimester and artemisinin-based combination therapies in subsequent trimesters. We undertook a systematic review of women''s access to and healthcare provider adherence to WHO case management policy for malaria in pregnant women.

Methods and Findings

We searched the Malaria in Pregnancy Library, the Global Health Database, and the International Network for the Rational Use of Drugs Bibliography from 1 January 2006 to 3 April 2014, without language restriction. Data were appraised for quality and content. Frequencies of women''s and healthcare providers'' practices were explored using narrative synthesis and random effect meta-analysis. Barriers to women''s access and providers'' adherence to policy were explored by content analysis using NVivo. Determinants of women''s access and providers'' case management practices were extracted and compared across studies. We did not perform a meta-ethnography. Thirty-seven studies were included, conducted in Africa (30), Asia (4), Yemen (1), and Brazil (2). One- to three-quarters of women reported malaria episodes during pregnancy, of whom treatment was sought by >85%. Barriers to access among women included poor knowledge of drug safety, prohibitive costs, and self-treatment practices, used by 5%–40% of women. Determinants of women''s treatment-seeking behaviour were education and previous experience of miscarriage and antenatal care. Healthcare provider reliance on clinical diagnosis and poor adherence to treatment policy, especially in first versus other trimesters (28%, 95% CI 14%–47%, versus 72%, 95% CI 39%–91%, p = 0.02), was consistently reported. Prescribing practices were driven by concerns over side effects and drug safety, patient preference, drug availability, and cost. Determinants of provider practices were access to training and facility type (public versus private). Findings were limited by the availability, quality, scope, and methodological inconsistencies of the included studies.

Conclusions

A systematic assessment of the extent of substandard case management practices of malaria in pregnancy is required, as well as quality improvement interventions that reach all providers administering antimalarial drugs in the community. Pregnant women need access to information on which anti-malarial drugs are safe to use at different stages of pregnancy. Please see later in the article for the Editors'' Summary     

Slipping Through Sky Holes: Yurok Body Imagery in Northern California

Yurok perceptions of the body as the inscribed surface of social and environmental change are explored in this paper. To the violence and brutality of Spaniards, fur traders, gold miners, American soldiers, and Indian policies of the US government since the eighteenth century, Yurok women attribute the high incidence of degenerative diseases, drug abuse and criminality in northern California. This piece contemplates the lives of eight generations of sixteen Yurok extended families, mapping intergenerational shifts in Yurok social relations and political practices. It considers the mutation of knowledge in the constitution of the natural and social sciences and the effects of this knowledge when implemented in Yurok country. Here, Foucault's genealogical method values what anthropology and biomedicine, for example, tend to disregard in the analysis of descent: the correlation between body and history. This historico-critical investigation shows how certain events mark their power and engrave memories on individuals' bodies. It is within a hybrid set of cross-cultural and interdisciplinary practices that a more fruitful understanding of Yurok body imagery can be fashioned.     

Serum screening for Down's syndrome: some women's experiences.

OBJECTIVES--To describe the experiences of a small group of women who had positive results after serum screening for Down''s syndrome. DESIGN--Semistructured telephone interviews and correspondence with women after a positive screening result (four women) negative amniocentesis results (eight), or termination of a pregnancy with a confirmed abnormality (eight). SUBJECTS--20 women who contacted Support After Termination For Abnormality about their experiences of serum screening for Down''s syndrome. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Women''s knowledge and understanding of the test; staff misconceptions; communication of results; how women coped with the diagnostic process; attitudes to the test and to termination of abnormal fetuses. RESULTS--All women were made anxious by their positive screening test, no matter how they were told. The women''s experiences suggested that medical staff were unclear about the implications of screening tests and how to interpret risk. Even after receipt of negative amniocentesis results some women remained anxious. Staff did not always recognise women''s concerns while awaiting amniocentesis results. CONCLUSIONS--The way in which serum screening is being implemented does not always meet the needs of women with positive results. Some of the problems were not specific to screening for Down''s syndrome. When screening tests are introduced policies should be adopted to ensure appropriate support for participants.     

Good‐for‐nothing haya names: Powers of recollection in northwest Tanzania

This article explores names and naming practices in Haya communities of Northwest Tanzania. Certain Haya names evoke past experiences and circumstances that surround the birth of a child, as well as the social reputation of the child's parents, I argue that this act of recollection embedded in such names can best be understood as an effort to displace past reputations, and overcome the disparaging views of one's consociates. From this perspective, Haya names can be understood as modes of remembering designed to both recall and undermine past memories; as well as forms of social agency through which people actively attempt to engage in and transform their social conditions.     

Imagining the Western Husband: Thai Women's Desires for Matrimony,Status and Beauty

This article examines a group of Thai women's perceptions of western Caucasian men as ideal marriage partners and its impact on their sexual practices and relationship decisions. Based on conversations with women living in a ‘slum’ community in Bangkok, I argue that women who do not fit local ideals of light skin color, economic success and urban origins face obstacles among potential Thai suitors. Some of these women strategically prefer western suitors to local men. Through their relationship choices, these women upset local hierarchies of desire as they attempt to subvert skin color-bias and pose challenges to Thai marital traditions. At the same time, their relationship pursuits conform to gender expectations of the male breadwinner and female caretaker and may unintentionally reproduce skin color and status hierarchies. Although Thai women's sexual relationships with western men are not a new phenomena, they underscore the transnational nature of sexual desire and contemporary social change.     

Association between mortality among women and socioeconomic factors in general practices in Edinburgh: an application of small area statistics.

Women aged 45-64 in 78 general practices in the city of Edinburgh were followed up for five to seven years and all cause mortality noted. Standardised mortality ratios were calculated for the individual practices. Postcodes were available for a 20% sample of these women and were used to retrieve relevant measures of social class and deprivation from the 1981 census for the smallest division, the enumeration district. Weighted averages gave socioeconomic variables at the level of the general practice. High positive correlations were found between standardised mortality ratios and the socioeconomic variables, with the highest being for percentage overcrowding. This study established that the relation between deprivation and excess mortality can be shown in general practices in one large city and gave a direct relation for women without reference to their husbands'' occupations, thus obviating problems of assigning social class. The data also partially refute the "social drift" hypothesis as an explanation of the association between mortality and social class.     

The Network of Antigen-Antibody Reactions in Adult Women with Breast Cancer or Benign Breast Pathology or without Breast Pathology

The Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody response to different protein antigens of the mammary ductal carcinoma by adult women affected by Breast Cancer (BC) distinguishes at least 103 proteins that differ in their molecular weights (MW). The IgG producing cell clones (nodes) coexist with each other in each individual organism and share energy resources among themselves, as well as factors that control the level of expression and Specificity of their IgG antibodies. So, it can be proposed that among them there is a Network of interconnections (links) unveiled by the antigens, which specifically react with the IgG antibodies produced by the clones. This Network possibly regulates IgG antibodies'' activity and effectiveness. We describe the Network of nodes and links that exists between the different antigens and their respective IgG producing cell clones against the extracted protein antigens from the cells of the T47D Cell-Line, in 50 women with BC, 50 women with Benign Breast Pathology (BBP) and 50 women without breast pathology (H). We have found that women with BBP have the highest number of Links, followed by the H group and, lastly, the women with BC, a finding which suggests that cancer interferes with the Connectivity between the IgG producing cell clones and blocks the expression of 322 links in women with BBP and 32 links in women with H. It is also plausible that the largest number of links in the women with BBP indicates the Network’s state of arousal that provides protection against BC. On the other hand, there were many missing links in the BC group of women; the clone which lost more links in the BC group was the hub 24, which point to some of the antigens of T47D as potentially useful as vaccines, as the immune system of women with BBP is well aware of them.