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This study delves into the social and cultural challenges Muslim women face in the TV series Mata A Yau, which airs on Arewa 24, a Hausa-language channel catering to Hausa-speaking audiences in Northern Nigeria. The show premiered in August 2023, sparking debates about the media’s portrayal of contemporary Muslim women and their identity. The study employed sociocultural theory, mixed methods of interviews, and focus group discussions to analyse the program and uncover the root causes of these cultural and social disputes. The findings reveal that Islamic popular culture often intersects with religious and cultural practices, leading to debates about women’s identity, particularly within the context of media and Islamic popular culture. The study uncovers society’s unfounded biases and unjustified insults and condemnation against a particular gender as a result of hasty judgments or responding to contentious or religious issues without fully understanding the topic. The conflicts experienced by Muslim women within the series provide a valuable opportunity to delve into the complexities of contemporary Muslim women’s identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2016 Netflix series Stranger Things is a calculated homage to the 1980s; in addition to its period setting and the inclusion of star Winona Ryder, it further incorporates tropes and references from popular 1980s' films including Stand By Me, E.T., and The Goonies. But the series does not only draw from stories about young boys coming of age in America; it also calls back to Stephen King's Carrie and other science fiction and paranormal images marked by the fear of female sexuality. Stranger Things' slimy passages, alien umbilical cords, "demogorgon" vaginas dentata, and liminally gendered and sexualized characters all speak to long-standing fears about the monstrous feminine, and further invoke the monstrous queer. Stranger Things is a contemporary take not only on 1980s' cinema but on classical feminine body horror, and this analysis interrogates the series's positioning as a feminist text. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time-travel television dramas have recently gained tremendous popularity worldwide. Defying stereotypes of romance TV dramas as women’s genres, time-travel romance TV drama genres seem to have attracted young men and women of different walks of life. Informed by positioning theory and Bakhtin’s heteroglossic dialogism, this study investigates a group of bilingual Mainland Chinese, heterosexual postgraduate students’ consumption of a Chinese time-travel TV drama, Scarlet Heart. It is found that well-educated Mainland Chinese women and men are still confronted with dilemmas of gender role boundaries and pressure to subscribe to traditional gender values. However, the time-travel TV drama has enabled the interviewees to negotiate new gender relations when they assign different positions to the female protagonist and themselves in the discussion. It is therefore proposed that time-travel TV dramas can be appropriated as dialogic resources for ideological becoming and critical literacy activities for facilitating construction of alternative subject positions and identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review essay discusses three scholarly books that analyze the portrayal of complex and disruptive women in television. The books aim to correct the focus on male antiheroes in "prestige" or "quality" television and provide detailed analyses of series featuring difficult female characters. The first book, "Difficult Women on Television Drama" by Isabel Pinedo, examines international TV series that challenge traditional expectations of femininity. Pinedo argues that female creative control is crucial for the development of feminist-themed programming. The second book, "Woman Up" by Julia Havas, focuses on four US programs that disrupt postfeminist representation and foreground gender politics. Havas explores how these shows innovate television aesthetics and comment on the gendered politics of the industry. Overall, these books offer unique insights into the portrayal of women in contemporary television and highlight the importance of diverse perspectives and experiences. [Extracted from the article]

The (under)representation of women in the news has received much attention in scholarly research. Using a population dataset of news broadcasts in Belgium, this article describes how gender equality has changed over time (2003–2021) and investigates which factors explain the presence (or absence) of women as speaking actors in the news. The findings reveal a structural underrepresentation of women in the news, but a slow increase in their presence over time. Overall, women are more equally represented in softer news topics or in non-elite roles. Remarkable is that women journalists tend to interview more female sources than their male counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tendency of late marriage and the increasing single population in Chinese society have galvanized a considerable amount of anxiety in recent years. Part of such anxiety has been manifested through the constant media representations of "shengnü" or "leftover women" since 2010. Referring to women in their late twenties or over thirties while still not getting married, the term "leftover women" indicates a continuous patriarchal policing of single women circulated in mass media. This study, by comparing two popular Chinese television series— We Get Married (2013) and Nothing but Thirty (2020), discusses the altering constructions of unmarried women on Chinese television against the backdrop of China's post-socialist gender politics. The comparison provides a useful vantage point to examine the emerging gendered structures and new cultural imperatives under specific historical contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research looks at women-centred Chinese competition-style programmes that are adapted from foreign TV formats and synthesise transnational televisual elements, idol cultures and gendered aesthetics. With particular attention to imaginaries of women with nonnormative gender and sexual identities, I expound how and why representations of female gender and sexuality on Chinese TV are fashioned by the intersected discourses on China's TV and cultural globalisations and digitisation, the party-state's manipulations and regulations of feminism, androgyny and homoeroticism, and the entertainment industry's capitalisation of queer women's stardom and fandom. My analysis reveals that the emergence, survival and endurance of queer women on Chinese TV has coincided with China's appropriations of both global formats and twenty-first-century idol girl group cultures. Through examining some key moments in popular idol group-cultivating shows produced in 2020 and 2021, I capture a multilevel, ambivalent queer convergence that transforms these televisual stages into queer-charging venues through which queer imaginaries of womanhood have actively incorporated local situations and transcultural televisual, gender and sexual knowledge to bypass, compromise with – and even partly connive with – the government's ideological and moral controls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay, we extend conversations around motherhood depictions in popular culture to women inmates on television. Specifically, we explore intersections of incarceration, motherhood, trauma, and power on Foxtel's Wentworth (2013–2021) through the character of Bea Smith. We investigate her journey to Top Dog status—analyzing how these intersections propel her to that highest authority position in prison, while also unpacking why they contribute to her losing that coveted position. We argue that Bea's trauma morphs her into what D'Amore calls a "vigilante feminist," who uses violence to protect herself and others. However, Wentworth shows the complicated nature of how trauma operates with motherhood as it intersects with incarceration and power in that Bea's journey is not a straight one. Instead, Bea shifts away from the role of vigilante feminist at times, opting in favor of using violence for pure revenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 2010s, American television witnessed a growing attention to and presence of women, both in TV representation and in TV creation and production. As part of that development, the self‐representation of women who are both the creators and the stars of their shows — such as Lena Dunham (creator and star of Girls; HBO, 2012 – 17), Tig Notaro (creator and star of One Mississippi, Amazon, 2015 – 17), Issa Rae (creator and star of Insecure, HBO, 2016 – 21), Pamela Adlon (creator and star of Better Things, FX, 2016 – 22), and Frankie Shaw (creator and star of Smilf, Showtime, 2017 – 19) — has been on the rise. This article examines these five dramedies in which women both exert authorial voices in telling their own stories and bring to bear performative embodiment in starring in these autobiographical texts. The textual multilayeredness of these author‐performers' autobiographical dramedies, the article shows, reveals the ways in which authorship and performance operate in the realm of women's televisual representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In "Televising Chineseness: Gender, Nation, and Subjectivity," Geng Song explores the role of Chinese TV drama series in shaping gender norms and promoting patriotism. Through textual analysis and focus groups, the author examines how audiences of different backgrounds perceive these television series. The book discusses various themes, including the portrayal of Japanese characters, foreigners, toxic masculinity, and the rise of "Little Fresh Meat" characters. It also examines the representation of female characters, who are expected to embody both traditional and modern femininity. The study sheds light on the ways in which the Chinese government uses television as a tool for cultural dissemination and propaganda. [Extracted from the article]

Clair Huxtable was the iconic mother, wife, and lawyer on The Cosby Show, an American television sitcom that premiered in September 1984. She appeared to be the perfect lawyer—partner in a law firm, prepared for every case, triumphant in every case, and never stepping over, or anywhere near, the boundary line of legal ethics—all while mothering children ranging in age from 5 to 20 years and supporting her equally successful obstetrician/gynecologist husband. In all her perfection, Clair presumably inspired young women to become lawyers during the middle 1980s through the early 1990s, and beyond. Clair Huxtable was a tough act to follow. The Black women lawyers who came after her on scripted television brought more realism to what it really means to be Black, woman, and a lawyer. These characters have helped direct the professional identities of their real counterparts in the decades since Clair entered our living rooms. This article explores the images of Black woman lawyer characters on scripted television since 1984 and how those images compare or contrast with Clair Huxtable and real-life Black women lawyers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Woman boss series and woman boss posts on social media that portray women in stereotypically male professions have attracted scholarly attention. The positive effects of this content on adolescents over time are unclear. This study helped fill this gap by examining the within-person reciprocal relations between exposure to woman boss series and posts and adolescents' beliefs about the male vs. female division of professional tasks according to traditional gender stereotypes (which was labeled as professional sexism). We examined the mediating role of the perceived utility of such content and the moderating roles of hypergender identity and knowing women in counter-stereotypical professions offline. A total of 1,286 late adolescents (Mage = 18.33, SD = 0.64) participated in a three-wave longitudinal study with a four-month time interval. The findings indicated positive but inconsistent within-person associations between professional sexism and the perceived utility of woman boss series. The results supported the moderating role of knowing women in atypical professions; that is, the perceived utility of woman boss posts on social media in Wave 2 related to professional sexism in Wave 3. The direction of the association changed when considering the extent to which adolescents knew women in atypical professions. Implications for how parents, teachers, and academic school counselors may talk with adolescents about women who are portrayed in atypical occupations in TV series and on social media are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, titled "EP21.21: How successful is our department in predicting hydatidiform moles on transvaginal ultrasound?", discusses a study conducted in a London teaching hospital to determine the detection rate of hydatidiform moles (HM) on transvaginal ultrasound scan (TVS). The study included 52 patients, with 23 cases of confirmed HM on histology. The detection rate for complete molar pregnancy was 86%, while the detection rate for partial molar pregnancy was 25%. The study concludes that the detection rates for complete molar pregnancy were comparable to other London teaching hospitals, but the lower detection rate for partial molar pregnancy highlights the difficulty in diagnosing it via ultrasound. [Extracted from the article]

This article, titled "OC21.02: Endometrial assessment on ultrasound: why transvaginal scan alone is not good enough?" discusses the effectiveness of a multimodal (MM) sonographic approach compared to transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) alone in assessing endometrial thickness (ET) in women with abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB). The study found that TVS alone resulted in suboptimal ET assessment in 37% of cases, with the most common reasons being adenomyosis, suboptimal angle, and submucosal fibroids. The MM approach was more likely to achieve optimal ET assessment and resulted in significantly lower ET measurements. This could potentially reduce the need for invasive interventions such as hysteroscopy or endometrial biopsy. [Extracted from the article]

Objective: To investigate the feasibility of identifying and measuring the normal sacral plexus (SP) on gynecological transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) examination. Methods: This was a prospective observational study conducted at a single tertiary gynecological referral center, including consecutive women undergoing TVS for various indications between November 2021 and January 2022. A standardized assessment of the pelvic organs was performed and the presence of any congenital or acquired uterine pathology or ovarian abnormality was recorded. Visualization of the right and left SP was attempted in all cases. The success rate and the time needed to identify the SP were recorded and measurements of the SP were made. Results: A total of 326 patients were included in the study. In all women, the SP was identified successfully on at least one side. SP were visualized bilaterally in 317 (97.2% (95% CI, 94.4–98.5%)) women. Only the right SP was seen in 3/326 (0.9% (95% CI, 0.2–2.7%)) and only the left in 6/326 (1.8% (95% CI, 0.6–4.0%)) (P = 0.5048). There was no significant difference in the median time required to visualize the right vs left SP (9.0 (interquartile range (IQR), 8.0–10.0) s vs 9.0 (IQR, 8.0–10.0) s; P = 0.0770). The median transverse diameter of the right SP was 15.0 (IQR, 14.2–15.6) mm and that of the left SP was 14.9 (IQR, 14.4–15.6) mm. Conclusions: We describe a novel method which allows for the consistent and rapid identification of the SP on TVS. Integrating assessment of the SP into routine pelvic TVS may be helpful particularly for women suffering from deep endometriosis. © 2023 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The evidence in the literature regarding the relationship between Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) infection and cervical neoplasia is conflicting. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the magnitude of the risk of cervical neoplasia associated with TV infection. Methods: A meta-analysis of observational studies, which provided raw data on the association of TV infection with cervical neoplasia, was performed. For this aim, we searched scientific databases (PubMed/Medline, Scopus, the Web of Sciences, and Embase) from inception to March 15, 2023. A random-effects model was applied by Stata 17.0 to calculate the pooled and adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), including subgroup, sensitivity, and cumulative analyses to explore sources of heterogeneity. Results: Of the 2584 records initially identified, 35 eligible studies contributed data for 67,856 women with cervical neoplasia, and 933,697 healthy controls from 14 countries were included. The pooled (2.15; 1.61–2.87; I2 = 87.7%) and adjusted (2.17; 1.82–2.60; I2 = 31.27%) ORs indicated a significant positive association between TV infection and the development of cervical neoplasia. There was no significant change in pooled and adjusted ORs by applying sensitivity and cumulative analyses, indicating the robustness of our findings. The pooled OR was significant in most sub-group analyses. There was no publication bias in the included studies. Conclusion: Our findings indicated that women with a TV infection are at significantly greater risk of cervical neoplasia. Future research, particularly longitudinal and experimental studies, should be done to better understand the various aspects of this association. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Ultrasonography of the pelvic floor, either by the trans-perineal or the endo-vaginal/introital approach, has been effectively utilized in the diagnostic workup of urinary incontinence. Anterior and posterior urethral angles, funneling of bladder neck, urethral hypermobility and bladder base position can be evaluated using pelvic floor ultrasonograph. Objective To assess the impact of variability of ultrasound technique (transvaginal ultrasound; TVS, and transperineal; TPUS) on the measurement of the resting urethral angles in a sample of continent Iraqi women. Methods This study included 100 healthy continent adult females, The numerical values of the urethral angles were obtained by both TVS and TPUS techniques in a sample of women attending Ultrasound Unit in Al-Imamein Al-kadhimein Medical City during 2017. The α angle mean of studied women measured by TVS was 91.92 while that measured by TPUS was 78.67 with highly significant difference between both techniques (p<0.001). Conversely, the ẞ angle mean of studied women measured by TVS was 102.25 while that measured by TPUS was 112.08 with highly significant difference between both techniques (p<0.001). As a result, the α angle was higher among continent women by TVS and ẞ angle was higher among continent women by TPUS. Although no significant difference, the average α angle increased with increased age of continent women while average ß angel was decreased with increased age of continent women. The average α angle of continent women was significantly increased among obese multiparous women at age group <40 years age (p=0.007). The average B angle of continent women was significantly increased among obese multiparous women at age group <40 years age (p<0.001). Conclusion The ultrasound approach whether TVS or TPUS have an essential impact on the measured numerical value of different urethral angles, and the women age, parity and body habitus individually and in combination affect the measurement of the urethral angles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how the central female characters of the television series Killing Eve gain power by accessing and enacting forms of violent "otherness". By rejecting traditional conceptions of femininity, including passivity, maternal nurturing or caregiving, and empathy, Villanelle, Eve, and Carolyn weaponise the cultural narratives used to relegate women to the margins. Their subversions are frequently located in bodily terms, relating to appetite, fashion, sex, and behavioural quirks, but are also intellectual and metaphorical, explicitly addressing gendered anxieties about women, authority, and performance. Indeed, the series turns on the possibilities of transformation, realised via the physical styling of self, for example, as well as the play upon literary and poetic devices such as adaptation and the villanelle. In focussing on various notions of metamorphosis, we contend that Killing Eve offers an ambiguous vision of empowerment, arguing that while it resists the reduction of women to docile bodies forced into compliance, it also equates female power with abnormality, disorder, and abjection. In its mobilisation, subversion and parody of elements of the monstrous feminine, Killing Eve is only partly successful in empowering its female characters but, nonetheless, makes a significant contribution to a culture in which sophisticated feminist tropes are increasingly prevalent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advertisements act as a powerful medium for showcasing the role of women in society. The present study explores how women are portrayed in Indian television advertisements and how their portrayal varies according to the product categories. Content analysis of 268 commercials aired during the five popular Indian television shows has been undertaken to understand the role portrayal of women. The study highlights that women are primarily portrayed in a decorative and family role and rarely depicted as freewheelers and professionals in the products related to body beautification and household. However, the study notes a significant rise in situations where women are mostly portrayed as independent decision makers. This paper continues the conversation and adds to the existing literature about the role portrayal of women in media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research utilizes aspects of narrative and ideological criticism to analyze complex mystery television and representations of women. Using the first season of Big Little Lies, the authors argue that the disruption of narrative conventions creates a productive liminality in which the viewer takes on the role of detective. This positioning of the viewer-as-detective encourages viewers to attempt to solve the mystery but also to interrogate their perceptions of the main female characters depicted, ultimately helping to question rather than reinforce stereotypical representations of women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pioneer of women in advertising and television media, Paula Green (1927–2015) is arguably best remembered for her copy for the Avis "We Try Harder" campaign that revolutionized Madison Avenue in the 1960s. While Green certainly flourished at Doyle Dane Bernbach, by the end of the decade, she had reached the highest position available to her at the agency. It was at this point she decided to establish her own firm, Green Dolmatch. As its president, creative director, and co-owner, Green was no longer beholden to the corporate mainstream. Consequently, as this article will argue, over the course of the 1970s, she selected projects that showcased women's concerns, deploying high-profile radio, television, and print campaigns to convey personal and political cause-driven social messages. Ultimately, Green's feminist media campaigns became watersheds in the industry, helping to transform public attitudes towards women's issues and the way the American media handles activist causes today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Black Women and the Changing Television Landscape" by Lisa M. Anderson is a book that examines the portrayal of Black women on television throughout history. Anderson, an associate professor of women and gender studies, builds on her previous work to explore the complex and evolving representations of Black women in media. Using a semiotic approach and drawing on the work of Black feminist scholars, Anderson analyzes specific television shows and personalities from the 1950s to the present. The book goes beyond simplistic judgments and aims to understand the historical and cultural contexts in which these representations exist, as well as the agency of Black women in shaping them. It is a valuable resource for scholars in cultural, media, and television studies. [Extracted from the article]

The roles of the concepts of "bride" and "groom" of marriage, which make up the basic building block and enable society to exist, are changing day by day through popular culture and media in a globalizing and digitalizing world. The media, which is communicated with the mass media, realizes this with images and symbols and directs the meaning, duties and perception of these two concepts. Television, which is the most important of these tools, has become an indispensable part of our daily life since its invention and is still classified as a tool that still maintains its importance in the changing, developing and innovative media field. This tool changes the perception of the "bride" in the society in the direction of "skilled bride, competent bride", and imposes the opinion that social status will be achieved by owning expensive luxury products by emphasizing the external appearance, through "daytime TV women's programs". These programs, in which the practices of conspicuous consumption, which are a part of popular culture, are exhibited, target female audiences of domestic women, who spend most of their time at home, and by creating program contents that have been planned before, they have also affected the way of application of traditional customs and traditions. Bride candidates competing in the "Gelin Evi (Bridal House)" program, which was broadcast between 2015 and 2019 and decided to continue broadcasting again in 2022, created a competitive environment among them, also creating a competitive environment for their homes, their own bridal dowry, clothing, jewelry, food items and arrangements, wedding, and miscellaneous items. It is a program that selects the most assertive bride by scoring the ceremonies and the bridal belongings mentioned in the previous sentence within the scope of the competition. From this point of view, the aim of this study was to reveal the map of this program on the society within the framework of conspicuous consumption policies, and in-depth structured interviews were conducted with 20 women who were the audience of the program. At this point, it has been understood that the program on 20 women included in the research has changed the perception of the bride and created individuals who argue that the bride, who has flashy and exaggerated luxury consumption products, is one step ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study published in the journal "Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology" evaluated the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) in reducing pain and anxiety during transvaginal sonography (TVS) for endometriosis. The study involved 55 women who were randomly assigned to either VR-assisted or conventional TVS. The results showed that the proportion of women who took analgesics before the examination was significantly lower in the VR-assisted group. Additionally, the VR group experienced greater improvements in pain and anxiety scores. The study suggests that VR could be a beneficial tool for managing pain and anxiety during TVS for endometriosis, but larger studies are needed to establish its standard use. [Extracted from the article]

This article, published in the journal "Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology," evaluates the accuracy of transvaginal sonography (TVS) supplemented by transabdominal sonography (TAS) in diagnosing deep endometriosis and adhesions. The study analyzed data from 203 women who underwent TVS/TAS and surgery for deep endometriosis. The results showed a concordance rate ranging from 76% to 100% between preoperative ultrasound findings and surgical findings. The study concludes that TVS/TAS based on the #Enzian classification can accurately diagnose the location and extent of endometriosis, supporting prediction of surgical complexity and disease monitoring. [Extracted from the article]

In Pakistan, Television (TV) morning shows attained a lot of popularity among urban women over time due to the presentation of women centric content. This study has attempted to analyze the content of TV morning shows and assessed its linkage with women's empowerment (WE) by considering a case of Lahore – a metropolitan city of Pakistan. The study relied on qualitative information from 66 episodes of selected five leading morning shows and survey data of 260 urban women viewers of TV morning shows. Content analysis of morning shows revealed that around 38–77 % episodes (varying across TV morning shows) presented the content on WE, and 44–60 % episodes invited women celebrities to portray their success journey to influence the learning behaviour of women viewers. Surveyed women perceived that the learnings from TV morning shows, particularly from the success stories of celebrities, have been effective for influencing different aspects of their empowerment such as their mobility and participation in social networking, their awareness on financial matters, choice of career and participation in household level decision making. Econometric analysis also validated the positive relationship between TV morning shows and women empowerment. Based on findings, it can be concluded that TV morning shows mainly have positive influence on women's learning behaviour and informally sensitize them on different aspects of their empowerment. Based on findings, the study highlights that well-planned TV morning shows may trigger a change in the behaviour of the public on a larger scale to achieve national objectives on women's empowerment and gender equality. • TV morning shows present a significant content on women's empowerment in Pakistan. • These TV shows mainly have a positive influence on women's learning behaviour. • Women mainly learnt about their mobility, participation in social networking and financial matters. • It is concluded that TV shows can be used as a tool to empower urban women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study engages in feminist media scholarship, analyzing post-millennial Chinese reality shows that center on motherhood against the social backdrop of the termination of the one-child policy and an aging population. These popular shows, exemplified by Supermom, claim to garner respect and social attention for all mothers and potential mothers by spotlighting celebrity mothers' unpaid sacrifices and hard work in performing their maternal duties. Through the lens of critical discourse analysis, this paper focuses on Supermom's selection of celebrity mothers; the construction of a female voice via confessional-style interviews, motion graphics, voice-overs, and monologues, as well as the male presence established through interviews with the subjects' husbands and disembodied male voice-overs. This study argues that Supermom fuels the cultural perception of mandatory motherhood in China by promoting and portraying childbearing and childrearing as the means of fulfillment for women. These motherhood-themed reality shows offer a window through which we can glimpse the various ways television is complicit in defining women's socially acceptable life choices and shaping post-socialist concepts of motherhood and the female reproductive body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Republic of the Philippines has been trying since the 1960s to reduce high fertility rates to promote economic growth and eradicate poverty. This study employs propensity score matching to estimate the effect of TV/radio, TV, and radio family planning (FP) messages on the probability of women's current and intended future use of modern contraception. I found that women exposed to TV/radio FP messages are 3 percentage points (p.p.) [95% CI:.008,.055] more likely to use modern contraception than women who were not exposed to these messages. Likewise, watching FP messages on TV increases the probability of using modern contraception by around 4 p.p. [95% CI:.011,.066]. FP messages on radio have no effect on modern contraceptive use, however. Sub-analyses reveal that exposure to TV/radio media FP messages has no effect on modern contraceptive use among women with lower educational attainment, or among women with lower levels of wealth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first seasons of two female-centric television series—The Handmaid's Tale (Hulu, 2017) and Big Little Lies (HBO, 2017)—mutually tackled the masculinization of quality TV discourse, winning major categories during the awards season. Both originals centralize women's solidarity against the existing social hierarchy and are manifest in post-network television's renewed interest in (post)feminism. This study argues that U.S. quality feminist television paradoxically simplifies the exclusion and alienation of minority women through the ongoing centralization of white female protagonists in gendered solidarity, as well as through racial dichotomization within the gender category. It also points out that the lack of intersectional sensibility in the televisual representation of women's solidarity reveals the complexity and multiplicity of gender inequalities in U.S. television industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commentators are reported to describe male and female players in different ways across a range of sports. The present study examines televised commentary on men's and women's games in the Australian Football League during the inaugural season of the women's professional competition. A two-phase thematic analysis was applied to television commentary on 10 men's and 10 women's Australian Rules football games. Semantic thematic analysis of the broad descriptive categories used by commentators for men's and women's matches indicated greater similarity than had been reported for televised commentary of other sports like tennis, in line with recent reports of progress towards greater gender equality in sports media reporting. Although technical descriptors were used slightly more frequently in describing men's play, there were no major differences in frequency for a number of other descriptive categories (mental, physical, personal or tactical) that have previously been observed as discriminating commentary on men's and women's sport. More in-depth, discursive thematic analysis did indicate some specific patterns of difference: terms, features and details used in commentary resulted in a greater focus on women's athletic weaknesses, and negative aspects of their skills and mentality. Identification of subtle linguistic features that minimise the athleticism and accomplishments of female players suggests that continued examination of media reporting on women's increasing involvement in traditional male sports can contribute important insights for promoting gender equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Who gets The Real in realism? Taking as case studies three women-centered cable TV shows, this essay aims to renegotiate the terms of realism along feminist lines. In their focus on the ordinary and domestic, on proximate bodies and intimate conversations, Broad City , Insecure , and Girls echo the quotidian concerns of the nineteenth-century realist novel. Beyond this, in their signature use of the bathroom, they echo late Victorian efforts to push past the accepted limits of the "real" to explore matters conventionally hidden and beneath consideration. Abbi Jacobson, Ilana Glazer, Issa Rae, and Lena Dunham turn for reality effects to the "ugly" and typically unseen aspects of women's daily lives: objects from tampons to toilets, shameful bodily functions, imperfect and vulnerable bodies, confused and embarrassing feelings. While all three shows exemplify a women-centered bathroom realism (in contrast to male-centered works for which violence is the key to a grittier realism), their particular strategies are differentiated by race. Jacobson, Glazer, and Dunham give us white women sprawled on toilets and tubs, trashing the ideal of proper ladyness. Rae's bathroom fixture of choice is a mirror, a device she uses to explore the neglected terrain of Black female interiority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the television show "Nashville," which fictitiously centers on the country music industry in Nashville, Tennessee. The authors examine contradictory feminisms within the show, explore the show's combination of melodrama and music, and discuss the portrayal of women's empowerment.

Objective: To compare the preoperative detection of endometriosis using transvaginal sonography (TVS) supplemented by transabdominal sonography (TAS) with surgical assessment of disease, using the #Enzian classification for endometriosis.Methods: This was a prospective multicenter diagnostic accuracy study of women undergoing TVS/TAS and radical surgery for deep endometriosis (DE) at different tertiary referral centers. The localization and grade of severity of the endometriotic lesions and adhesions were described according to the criteria of the #Enzian classification, both at preoperative ultrasound examination and during surgery. According to the #Enzian classification, the small pelvis is divided into three compartments for DE: A (rectovaginal septum and vagina); B (uterosacral and cardinal ligaments, parametrium and pelvic sidewalls); and C (rectum). In addition, further locations (F) are classified as adenomyosis (FA), urinary bladder involvement (FB) and ureteric involvement with signs of obstruction (FU). Other intestinal locations (FI) and other extragenital locations (FO) are also included. Ovarian endometriosis and adhesions at the level of the tubo-ovarian unit are listed as O and T, respectively. The #Enzian grade of severity (Grade 1-3) was determined for #Enzian compartments O, T, A, B and C based on the size of the lesion or the severity of the adhesions. Concordance between preoperative assessment using TVS/TAS and evaluation at surgery was assessed. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and accuracy of TVS/TAS in the detection of endometriotic lesions/adhesions in the different #Enzian compartments were calculated.Results: In total, 745 women were included in the analysis. Preoperative TVS/TAS and surgical findings showed a concordance rate ranging between 86% and 99% for the presence or absence of endometriotic lesions/adhesions, depending on the evaluated #Enzian compartment. The concordance rate between TVS and surgery ranged between 71% and 92% for different severity grades, in #Enzian compartments O, T, A, B and C. Determining the presence or absence of adhesions at the level of the tubo-ovarian unit and classifying them accurately as Grade 1, 2 or 3 on TVS was more difficult than determining the presence and severity of endometriotic lesions in #Enzian compartments O, A, B and C. The sensitivity of TVS/TAS for the detection of endometriotic lesions ranged from 50% (#Enzian compartment FI) to 95% (#Enzian compartment A), specificity from 86% (#Enzian compartment Tleft ) to 99% (#Enzian compartment FI) and 100% (#Enzian compartments FB, FU and FO), positive predictive value from 90% (#Enzian compartment Tright ) to 100% (#Enzian compartment FO), negative predictive value from 74% (#Enzian compartment Bleft ) to 99% (#Enzian compartments FB and FU) and accuracy from 88% (#Enzian compartment Bright ) to 99% (#Enzian compartment FB).Conclusions: The localization and severity of endometriotic lesions/adhesions, as described and classified according to the #Enzian classification, can be diagnosed accurately and non-invasively using TVS/TAS. The #Enzian classification provides a uniform classification system for describing endometriotic lesions, which can be used both at TVS/TAS and during surgical evaluation. © 2021 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses Acker's concept of inequality regimes to analyze qualitative research findings on work-life balance and gender equality for women in British television production. Female survey respondents, focus group participants, and interviewees spoke of their subjective experience of gendered work practices which disadvantage women as women. These findings build on existing research showing gender disadvantage in the industry, leading to loss of human capital and a narrowing of the range of creative experience. They also show that growing numbers of women are seeking alternative modes of production, at a time of increased awareness of inequality. Such alternatives suggest that change is possible, although it is strongly constrained by organizational logics and subject to continued resistance, in line with Acker's framework of analysis. Visibility of inequalities is the key to supporting change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to promote reflections on the presence of black women in Brazilian television journalism. From a conceptual research and theoretical survey on historical issues, structural racism, double prejudice, barriers faced in education and in the job market, as well as the existing stereotypes in television and journalistic means, the study seeks to understand how visibility is given. of black professionals in this context, as well as bringing cases of national and international prominence in which there were discriminatory manifestations of race and gender, highlighting the need for greater participation in the struggle for changes in the scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incarcerated women represent about 8% of the Brazilian prison population and even though it is considered low, this is the group in which the incarceration rate rises the most. Using the concept "images of control" by Collins (2019), which problematises the use of meanings attributed to black women in the maintenance of racist structures, including those linked to the penal apparatus, we aimed to identify how incarcerated women in Brazil are represented from TV Globo's audiovisual productions. In the mapping carried out, we found 63 results in which it was possible to observe the formation of three typified representations, which can function as images of control in the television discourse about this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's consumer society, human body has become a commodity and, therefore, a project that needs working on accordingly. As a result of this transformation, body presentation in media contents have often involved ideal thin bodies that are impossible to achieve even after maximum efforts and workouts. Advertisements, which are an indispensable component of consumer society just like other media contents, also play a significant role in shaping the reality in the minds of individuals about ideal body size. Under the light of this information, the study aims to explore how female body is presented in television advertisements in Turkey. To achieve this purpose, the ads broadcast on national television channels during prime time (20.00 - 22.59) between the programs with high ratings were analyzed through quantitative content analysis method. Accordingly, the sampling of the study was 1.828 female characters who acted in 2.908 spot television advertisements recorded between January 4th and February 2nd, 2021. The results revealed that more than half of the women that play a role in these advertisements have "thin" body, which does not reflect the overall demographic reality of the society. In other words, the presentations of female body in television ads are often distorted. The variables such as type of product, the social role played by female character, marital status, age, and level of nudity have been found to be the determining factors in these body presentations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on the 2018 Writers Guild of Great Britain report 'Gender Inequality and Screenwriters', and original interviews with female screenwriters, to assess how the experience of genre plays out in the UK television industry. The report focuses on the experience of women, as a single category, but we aim to reveal a more intersectional understanding of their experiences. Our aim is to better understand the ways in which women are, according to the report, consistently 'pigeonholed by genre and are unable to move from continuing drama or children's programming to prime-time drama, comedy or light-entertainment'. Considering the cultural value of genre in relation to screenwriting labour and career progression, we analyse how genre shapes career trajectory, arguing that social mobility for female screenwriters is inherently different and unequal to that of their male counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]