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Objective: Various sources of evidence suggest that men and women differ in their experience of sexual pleasure. Such gender differences have been attributed to men's higher innate sex drive, supported by evolutionary psychology perspectives and gender differences in reproductive strategies. Method: This paper presents biopsychosocial evidence for gender similarities in the capacity to experience pleasure, and for substantial gender differences in opportunities for sexual pleasure. Results: We conclude that sexual activity, in most cultures, is less pleasurable and associated with greater cost for heterosexual women than for heterosexual men, even though they do not differ in the capacity for sexual pleasure. Conclusion: Since gender differences in experienced sexual pleasure are not a biological given, a more critical discourse of sexual pleasure might create awareness of current inequalities, help lift restrictions for women's opportunities for pleasure, and could reduce gender differences in the cost of sex. That would truly serve sexual justice around the globe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of development-induced resettlement disproportionately affect women, as they frequently face more difficulties than men to cope with disruption and changes. Women's situation might further deteriorate if there is no mechanism for affected households to enjoy meaningful participation and consultation in the resettlement process. This paper is the result of policy analysis, project implementation experience, and findings of a cross-sectional survey of 876 affected households in Vietnam. We examine women's participation in resettlement processes in large infrastructure projects in Vietnam. The survey findings revealed the limited participation of women in the resettlement processes from all perspectives (meeting attendance, resettlement implementation, and making decisions) at community and household levels. Gender-stereotyped prejudice from community members and the gender-ascribed household division of labour were key factors inhibiting women's meaningful participation. The paper also discusses the implications of the findings for impact assessment practice. We call for a shift in how resettlement is prepared and implemented towards a more comprehensive and gender-informed approach, with a view to making affected people genuine beneficiaries of resettlement programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The higher religiosity of women in the Western Christian societies is one of the best documented findings in the religious scholarship. In spite of the recent vibrancy of secular movements in North America, the higher religiosity of women appears persistent. As a result, the gender ratio is greatly skewed in the secular groups in favour of males. For instance, for every atheist female in North America, there are at least three males. Using the Canadian General Social Surveys of 1985–2014, this paper examines how the gender religiosity gap has evolved among the Canadian-born. Throughout the period, Canadian-born women are found less likely to be unaffiliated and show a greater frequency of religious attendance. The religious attendance gap is found to be closing. The unaffiliation gap, on the other hand, seems to have widened in the 21st century. Limiting the analyses to the gainfully employed respondents only reduces the religious attendance gap. For the high earners, the attendance gap effectively disappears, while a large unaffiliation gap persists into the 2010s. This pattern is best explained by the recent literature asserting that men and women are differentially socially sanctioned for the adoption of a secularized identity. The alleged sexism of the new secular movements is also noted as a potential explanation. The examination of the recent Canadian data on perceived religious and gender discrimination produces evidence congruent with both of these potential explanations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The literature shows how gender mandates contribute to differences in exposure and vulnerability to certain health risk factors. This paper presents the results of a study developed in the south of Spain, where research aimed at understanding men from a gender perspective is still limited. Objective: The aim of this paper is to explore the lay perceptions and meanings ascribed to the idea of masculinity, identifying ways in which gender displays are related to health. Design: The study is based on a mixed-methods data collection strategy typical of qualitative research. We performed a qualitative content analysis focused on manifest and latent content. Results: Our analysis showed that the relationship between masculinity and health was mainly defined with regard to behavioural explanations with an evident performative meaning. With regard to issues such as driving, the use of recreational drugs, aggressive behaviour, sexuality, and body image, important connections were established between manhood acts and health outcomes. Different ways of understanding and performing the male identity also emerged from the results. The findings revealed the implications of these aspects in the processes of change in the identity codes of men and women. Conclusions: The study provides insights into how the category 'man' is highly dependent on collective practices and performative acts. Consideration of how males perform manhood acts might be required in guidance on the development of programmes and policies aimed at addressing gender inequalities in health in a particular local context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the special issue on gender in impact assessment and management. We discuss the absence of gender-responsive approaches in conventional impact assessment practice and management, and associated implications for meaningfully addressing gender relations and the rights of women and LGBTQI+ people. We also introduce the special issue, which sheds light on gaps in impact assessment but also demonstrates that practical approaches exist to further embed gender-responsive approaches. Collectively, a central argument emanating from the contributions is that gender-neutral approaches to impact assessment and management can perpetuate or even create new forms of gender discrimination. This runs counter to the expectations set by international human rights law and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which rest on the central principles of non-discrimination, substantive gender equality, and 'leaving no one behind'. Four themes for more gender-responsive impact assessment and management are highlighted: (1) gender-responsive context analysis; (2) gender-responsive engagement and increased participation of women and LGBTQI+ people; (3) adaptation of tools, methods, and skills for enhanced gender responsiveness; and (4) embedding gender-responsive approaches from the project level to the governance sphere. Without presuming transferability across contexts, the contributions show that such strategies are necessary and possible in diverse global settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Women experience poorer health than men despite their longer life expectancy, due to a higher prevalence of non-fatal chronic illnesses. This paper aims to explore whether the unequal gender distribution of roles and resources can account for inequalities in general self-rated health (SRH) by gender, across social classes, in a Southern European population. Methods: Cross-sectional study of residents in Catalonia aged 25-64, using data from the 2006 population living conditions survey (n=5,817). Poisson regression models were used to calculate the fair/poor SRH prevalence ratio (PR) by gender and to estimate the contribution of variables assessing several dimensions of living conditions as the reduction in the PR after their inclusion in the model. Analyses were stratified by social class (non-manual and manual). Results: SRH was poorer for women among both non-manual (PR 1.39, 95% CI 1.09-1.76) and manual social classes (PR 1.36, 95% CI 1.20-1.56). Adjustment for individual income alone eliminated the association between sex and SRH, especially among manual classes (PR 1.01, 95% CI 0.85-1.19; among non-manual 1.19, 0.92-1.54). The association was also reduced when adjusting by employment conditions among manual classes, and household material and economic situation, time in household chores and residential environment among non-manual classes. Discussion: Gender inequalities in individual income appear to contribute largely to women's poorer health. Individual income may indicate the availability of economic resources, but also the history of access to the labour market and potentially the degree of independence and power within the household. Policies to facilitate women's labour market participation, to close the gender pay gap, or to raise non-contributory pensions may be helpful to improve women's health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the Peruvian Amazon, historical events of colonization and political marginalization intersect with identities of ethnicity, class and geography in the construction of gender and health inequities. Gender-based inequalities can manifest in poor health outcomes via discriminatory practices, healthcare system imbalances, inequities in health research, and differential exposures and vulnerabilities to diseases. Structural violence is a comprehensive framework to explain the mechanisms by which social forces such as poverty, racism and gender inequity become embodied as individual experiences and health outcomes, and thus may be a useful tool in structuring an intersectional analysis of gender and health inequities in Amazonian Peru. Objective: The aim of this paper is to explore the intersection of gender inequities with other social inequalities in the production of health and disease in Peru’s Amazon using a structural violence approach. Design: Exploratory qualitative research was performed in two Loreto settings – urban Iquitos and the rural Lower Napo River region – between March and November 2015. This included participant observation with prolonged stays in the community, 46 semi-structured individual interviews and three group discussions. Thematic analysis was performed to identify emerging themes related to gender inequalities in health and healthcare and how these intersect with layered social disadvantages in the reproduction of health and illness. We employed a structural violence approach to construct an intersectional analysis of gender and health inequities in Amazonian Peru. Results: Our findings were arranged into five interrelated domains within a gender, structural violence and health model: gender as a symbolic institution, systemic gender-based violence, interpersonal violence, the social determinants of health, and other health outcomes. Each domain represents one aspect of the complex associations between gender, gender inequity and health. Through this model, we were able to explore: gender, health and intersectionality; structural violence; and to highlight particular local gender and health dynamics. Intersecting influences of poverty, ethnicity, geography and gender served as significant barriers to healthcare in both rural and urban settings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

According to the functionalist approach, institutions exist for a reason. They appear spontaneously or are carefully designed in order to address particular problems. The very same institution may bring various effects in different social settings or when nested within distinct institutional structures. Similarly, historical paths of development may influence institutions in such a way that even though they address similar problems, their content is not alike which ultimately produces divergent results. Thus the question appears, to what extent a particular institution is an outcome of rational design, and/or an outcome of sociocultural heritage conflicting with it. Our intention is to illustrate the above concerns with a case study, which compares two efforts to reform an institutional structure resulting in diverse outcomes. In the article we address the issue of women and men within pension systems. We argue that these systems are institutional structures, which creation was influenced by both sociocultural heritage and rational design aimed at achieving specific results. This is especially apparent when focusing on gender related issues and the struggle to overcome differences between women and men with regard to old age income. We observe that these efforts are sometimes contraposed by sociocultural factors which downplay economic rationality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In the British Civil Service, male workers were perceived more ‘valuable’ by managers owing to their supposed higher productivity and skills. This restricted women’s access to higher grade employment, and placed them on lower and different scales to their male colleagues. Yet women worked alongside men, both in the pre-war, wartime and interwar periods. Through examining the personnel practices of Britain’s largest Civil Service department – the Post Office – this article highlights the vital importance of this institution, and its women workers, to the nation’s war and reconstruction efforts. The inextricable connection between the Post Office and its main funder – the Treasury – brought tensions concerning the provision of labour, together with the short-term and long-term position of women in the department. When the First World War got underway, women’s vital contribution to the department’s efforts became apparent. Thus, when victory was in sight, Post Office managers made women a central component to their post-war plan, although initially it did not include a commitment to address the ubiquitous inequalities affecting male and female opportunity in the department. Yet the Post Office’s commitment to explicitly include women in its post-war plan, primarily owing to the shortage of suitably qualified men, placed it at the cutting edge in renegotiating with the government the position of women in the post-war labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Traditional forms of masculinity strongly influence men's and women's wellbeing. Objective: This study has two aims: (i) to explore notions of various forms of masculinities in young Nicaraguan men participating in programs addressing sexual health, reproductive health, and/or gender equality and (ii) to find out how these young men perceive their involvement in actions aimed at reducing violence against women (VAW). Design: A qualitative grounded theory study. Data were collected through six focus groups and two in-depth interviews with altogether 62 young men. Results: Our analysis showed that the informants experienced a process of change, labeled 'Expanding your mind', in which we identified four interrelated subcategories: The apprentice, The responsible/respectful man, The proactive peer educator, and 'The feminist man'. The process showed how an increased awareness of gender inequities facilitated the emergence of values (respect and responsibility) and behavior (thoughtful action) that contributed to increase the informant's critical thinking and agency at individual, social, and political levels. The process was influenced by individual and external factors. Conclusions: Multiple progressive masculinities can emerge from programs challenging patriarchy in this Latin American setting. The masculinities identified in this study show a range of attitudes and behaviors; however, all lean toward more equitable gender relations. The results suggest that learning about sexual and reproductive health does not directly imply developing more gender-equitable attitudes and behaviors or a greater willingness to prevent VAW. It is paramount that interventions to challenge machismo in this setting continue and are expanded to reach more young men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]