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Gender inequality in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) is well documented internationally. The Athena SWAN (AS) Charter was launched in the UK in 2005 to provide an impetus for positive cultural and structural changes to advance gender equality in UK universities. The Australian pilot of the AS Charter began in 2015 and is overseen by the Australian Academy of Sciences. Despite extensive engagement with AS over the last 15 years in the UK and more recently in Australia, qualitative research on the awards application process and its impact on AS Self-Assessment Team (SAT) members is limited. To fill this knowledge gap, we undertook a qualitative interview study examining how gender and gender equity are operationalised and understood by SAT members in the first year of an AS pilot at a regional Australian university. Findings indicate key gender differences in SAT members' motivations for AS participation which, we argue, potentially translates into unequal gendered workload distributions on the SAT. Although AS is positioned as a key mechanism for addressing inequality in STEMM broadly, this study suggests that the initiative's impacts in Australia risk being undermined by its unintentional reproduction of gender inequality in the academic workforce.

There is a well-documented absence of inclusive school-based sex and relationships education (SRE) for Australian lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. Moreover, relatively few studies specifically examine how bisexual and queer-identifying young Australian women experience SRE. This qualitative study addresses the gap and contributes new perspectives by examining bisexual and queer young women's experiences of school-based SRE in the state of Tasmania through the lens of sexual citizenship. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 15 Tasmanian bisexual and queer young women, we argue that biomedical, risk-based and heteronormative approaches to SRE reduce young women's sexual health literacy. By framing SRE around the concept of 'sexual citizenship', this article provides important guidance on how SRE can more effectively provide bisexual and queer young women with the skills they need to be effective, engaged sexual citizens.

It is now well‐established that science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) institutions globally should invest in building diverse and inclusive workforces. However, women of color remain underrepresented in STEMM in Australia and their organizational experiences are under‐researched. To address this gap, we used a qualitative approach to explore the complex intersections of race/ethnicity and gender that may contribute to women's underrepresentation in Australian STEMM. Primary data encompassed interviews with 30 self‐identified women of color working in academia, industry, and government STEMM organizations. We drew on intersectionality theory to explore participants' experiences of their working environments and grounded theory in our analysis. This article focuses on an understudied area related to the maintenance of white male power in STEMM and everyday experiences of "in/visibility"—the paradoxical space of invisibility and hypervisibility that women of color occupy within STEMM fields. For example, various features of women of color's identities, such as physical appearance, cultural background, accent, and name, led to participants feeling "different" and hypervisible in STEMM workplaces in Australia, in which the stereotype of a white male scientist predominates. Women also felt hypervisible as race/gender tokens when they were expected to do the diversity work of the institution. In contrast, participants felt invisible when they were professionally and socially excluded from networking events, such as after‐work drinks. Women of color's experiences of having to work much harder than white colleagues to gain recognition of their organizational value also contributed to feelings of invisibility. The study findings provide deep insight into Australian STEMM cultures by foregrounding how in/visibility shows up in the experiences of women of color. This study builds on our understanding of women's STEMM careers as inextricably linked to intersectional features of social identity and white masculine power dynamics in organizations and society more broadly. We conclude by advocating for a more nuanced understanding of "women in STEMM" in Australia (e.g., via more sophisticated data collection and analysis) to ensure that national policies and initiatives benefit all women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antarctic research remains an enterprise in which people with certain backgrounds and identities have distinct career advantages over others. In this paper, we focus on barriers to women's participation and success in Antarctic research. Drawing on feminist social science literature on gender inequality in science, we identify two foundational, interrelated factors that have hampered progress across global Antarctic research. We propose that these barriers can be effectively addressed through intersectional approaches to change. We synthesize a broad range of multidisciplinary research on intersectionality in scientific workplaces and apply this literature to the unique institutional, historical and geographical contexts of Antarctic research. We argue that an intersectional lens improves understanding of persistent gender inequalities in Antarctic research, and we offer examples of how intersectionality can be practically applied within Antarctic institutions and communities. By embracing intersectional approaches to change, the Antarctic research community has the opportunity to lead in the advancement of equitable global scientific cultures and to fully realize Antarctica's potential as a place for peaceful, scientific collaboration by and for all humanity - not just a privileged few. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on qualitative interviews with female expeditioners in the Australian Antarctic Program, this article examines the additional labour involved in managing menstruation during remote Antarctic fieldwork. Unlike expeditioners working on a research station, fieldworkers rarely have consistent access to private toileting facilities or dedicated times/spaces to deal with their bodily excretions. However, being able to easily access toileting facilities can significantly impact how people who menstruate experience fieldwork. This is an overlooked but crucial corporeal challenge of working in Antarctica. Findings reveal that in male-dominated spaces, expeditioners must go to great lengths to make their menstruation invisible. A primary way that women do this is through menstrual suppression technologies. When these are not available or not preferred, women negotiate trying to keep their menstruation and gynaecological health issues hidden but often do so in field settings where there is little infrastructure or support. I argue that the lack of infrastructure to support menstrual health in the field is a form of sexism that maintains women's lower status in polar field environments. To conclude, I provide practical guidance for National Antarctic Programs to support people who menstruate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic and pandemic-related measures have impacted the lives and work-related activities of Antarctic researchers. To explore these impacts, we designed, piloted and disseminated an online survey in English, Russian, Spanish and Chinese in late 2020 and early 2021. The survey explored how the pandemic affected the productivity of Antarctic researchers, their career prospects and their mental wellbeing. Findings exposed patterns of inequities. For instance, of the 406 unique responses to the survey, women appeared to have been affected more adversely than men, especially in relation to mental health, and early-career researchers were disadvantaged more than their mid- or late-career colleagues. Overall, a third of the research participants reported at least one major negative impact from the pandemic on their mental health. Approximately half of the participants also mentioned that the COVID-19 pandemic had some positive effects, especially in terms of the advantages that working from home brought and opportunities to attend events, network or benefit from training workshops online. We conclude with a series of recommendations for science administrators and policymakers to mitigate the most serious adverse impacts of the pandemic on Antarctic research communities, with implications for other contexts where scientific activities are conducted under extreme circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on qualitative interview data, this article explores past and current Australian Antarctic Program expeditioners' perceptions of the personal qualities of expeditioners alongside their views of Antarctic station culture and expeditioner recruitment procedures. The findings reveal study participants shared similar views about expeditioner personal qualities. However, the findings also suggest that the current demographic similarity of expeditioners (e.g. the overrepresentation of white men) is perhaps much more important for assessing organizational fit than the Program might be selecting for. Participants described the ways in which interpersonal interactions and the social environment can deeply affect an expeditioner's experience of the station culture. Women in this study pointed to the connection between the overrepresentation of men in the expeditioner population and a potential male bias in station culture. These results extend the existing literature on person-culture fit in Antarctica. To conclude, I provide recommendations for diversifying the expeditioner applicant pool in Antarctica that can also be applied to the selection of other workforces in isolated, confined and extreme work environments, including space missions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With Antarctic expeditioners popularly portrayed in the media during the pandemic as both heroic stalwarts better equipped than any other people to deal with the rigours of isolation and, paradoxically, the only people untouched by the virus, it was all too easy to ignore the actual experiences of those working in the continent. Drawing on the experiences of expeditioners in the Australian Antarctic Program from 2019–21, this article provides a counter to popular media perspective by exploring how COVID-19 protocols–including quarantine and social distancing–affected expeditioners' individual well-being and their experiences of the social environment. We argue that Antarctic life during COVID-19 has not been as detached from the rest of the world nor as heroic as the popular media has suggested, but nonetheless provides important insights for survival in isolated, confined, and extreme environments (ICE) and non-ICE environments at a time of pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tendency of the public and medical institutions to perceive fetuses as human is a problematic development because it has the potential to privilege fetuses over women. There is no [...]

Rosalind Pollack Petchesky, Global Prescriptions: Gendering Health and Human Rights, Zed Books, 2003 Rosalind Pollack Petchesky highlights the indivisibility of health, human rights and economic justice in her most recent [...]

The article reports that Australia's housing policy measures implemented to support homeownership achieved the desired goal of providing short-term stimulus to the residential building sector and supporting the broader economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a range of anticipated and unforeseen consequences have occurred due to concentrated demand-side subsidies, low-interest rates, and flexible lending conditions.

In this paper, I conduct a feminist multimodal critical discourse analysis (FMCDA) of the Lorna Jane (LJ) retail website (www.lornajane.com.au), an Australian fitness fashion company, to examine the discursive strategies used by the company to authorize a particular notion of "active living" for women. Specifically, I shall examine how the semiotic choices on the LJ website signify key discourses and themes related to health and fitness and how they are used to place the responsibility for fitness and health onto individual women. In particular, I focus on the discourses inscribed through the technologies, styles, fabrics, colors, cuts, and sizing of LJ clothing items. I am also interested in the underlying choices, assumptions, and biases of these constructions and the power relationships underpinning them. I conclude that "empowerment" for women on the LJ website is imagined in a limited, individualistic way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2021, surfing and skateboarding are scheduled to join mountain-biking as Olympic sports for the first time, a classification that comes with requirements related to sex/gender equity. Yet, these sports, and action sports generally, continue to be male dominated as questions of performance and risk are framed around boys, men, and masculinities. This qualitative study explored the facilitators of 27 Australian girls' participation in surfing, mountain biking and skateboarding. This article focuses on the value of paternal co-participation, which was notable in interviews with girls who surf or mountain bike. In particular, we examine the complexity of the role and influence of fathers in girls' participation. Reflecting their position in action sports, men often shape how girls access these sports and develop their skills. This points to the importance of men and fathers in facilitating girls' participation in action sports, and possibly broader physical activity behaviours. However, we argue that merely facilitating their daughters' participation without addressing the experiences of women without male 'patrons' in action sports reinscribes male dominance rather than improving gender equity. This study contributes to established work that aims to inform policies and strategies to encourage greater participation of girls and women in action sports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health disparities and care needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI+) patients are becoming well known. However, healthcare practitioners (HCPs) and medical students across the Global North report limited understanding of this population and express concern about their capacity to meet the needs of LGBTI + patients. To address these gaps in literature and practice, this study draws on qualitative interviews with 12 clinicians and five health professional students exploring their understandings and approaches to LGBTI + inclusive practice in Tasmania, Australia. Through a reflexive thematic analysis, we identified that both practicing clinicians and students did not believe that their training adequately prepared them to treat LGBTI + patients. Other key barriers included reduced awareness of LGBTI + community needs due to the lack of exposure to LGBTI + patients and unfamiliarity with appropriate referral pathways in the regional Tasmanian context. Conversely, factors enabling provision of LGBTI + inclusive care included prior experience working with LGBTI + patients and establishing a network of supportive colleagues and local services. Participants who identified as LGBTI + themselves saw their personal experiences as a strength in supporting LGBTI + patients. While awareness of LGBTI + inclusive health practice is increasing, Tasmanian practitioners report insufficient training and practical difficulties with referral as key challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Defiant Birth: Women Who Resist Medical Eugenics Melinda Tankard Reist, Spinifex Press, 2006 Leisa Whitaker asks, 'Did society think we were better off dead'? Like her four children, Leisa was [...]

This article examines men's involvement in an institutional gender equity award scheme and how their self-concept as allies develops over time. It draws specifically on a subset of qualitative data from the four men participating in a study involving in-depth interviews with university staff involved in the self-assessment team of one Australian institution's Science in Australia Gender Equality (SAGE) Athena SWAN pilot. Data related to the men's experiences is the article's focus. Key themes from the data include: 1) men's motivations for engagement; 2) men's self-understandings as 'champions for change' 3) the barriers/risks associated with male championship; and 4) men's evolving perceptions and critiques of the male champions model. Findings show that men demonstrated personal growth and increased awareness through their participation in the pilot. Yet, their frustration with how equity and diversity was managed in their organisational context highlights pitfalls in the concept of a male 'champion'. This article provides timely guidance for institutions seeking to engage allies in gender equity initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender inequality in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) is well documented internationally. The Athena SWAN (AS) Charter was launched in the UK in 2005 to provide an impetus for positive cultural and structural changes to advance gender equality in UK universities. The Australian pilot of the AS Charter began in 2015 and is overseen by the Australian Academy of Sciences. Despite extensive engagement with AS over the last 15 years in the UK and more recently in Australia, qualitative research on the awards application process and its impact on AS Self-Assessment Team (SAT) members is limited. To fill this knowledge gap, we undertook a qualitative interview study examining how gender and gender equity are operationalised and understood by SAT members in the first year of an AS pilot at a regional Australian university. Findings indicate key gender differences in SAT members' motivations for AS participation which, we argue, potentially translates into unequal gendered workload distributions on the SAT. Although AS is positioned as a key mechanism for addressing inequality in STEMM broadly, this study suggests that the initiative's impacts in Australia risk being undermined by its unintentional reproduction of gender inequality in the academic workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: During pregnancy, a woman will attribute increased abdominal sensations to fetal movement. Surprisingly, many women report that they feel kick sensations long after the pregnancy; however, this experience has never been reported in the scientific literature. Materials and Methods: We used a qualitative approach to survey n = 197 women who had previously been pregnant. We calculated the number of women who had experienced phantom kicks after their first pregnancy, and explored subjective experiences of kick-like sensations in the post-partum period. Results: In this study, we show that almost 40% of women in our sample experienced phantom fetal kicks after their first pregnancy, up to 28 years (average 6.4 years) post-partum. Women described the phantom sensations as "convincing," "real kicks," or "flutters." Twenty-seven percent of women described the experience as nostalgic or comforting, and 25.7% reported felt confused or upset by the experience. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that phantom kicks in the postpartum period are a widely experienced sensation, which may have implications for a woman's postpartum mental health. The mechanism behind the phantom kick phenomenon is unknown, but may be related to changes in the somatosensory homunculus or proprioception during pregnancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how gender interacts with race, ethnicity, and/or culture to structure the microaggressions experienced by visibly and culturally diverse women in Australian science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medical (STEMM) organisations. Our aim is to disrupt the normative erasure of race from the workplace diversity context by focusing on these women’s experiences. We conducted 30 semi-structured interviews with women in academia, industry, and government who self-identify as women of colour or as culturally diverse. We use an intersectional lens to show that the challenges experienced by visibly and culturally diverse women cannot simply be subsumed under gender. Rather, race and gender intersect to create overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination and disadvantage. These issues are largely unintelligible in STEMM fields as science is positioned as gender- and race-neutral. Consequently, despite their devastating impact, racial microaggressions may be invisible to members of the dominant racial group—those most likely to be the peers and managers of visibly and culturally diverse women. White managers and peers can act as allies to women of colour in STEMM by respecting and amplifying their concerns. Learning to recognise and confront racial microaggressions can help make science workplaces more inclusive of all scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID‐19 is dramatically reconfiguring paid work and care. Emerging evidence in the global media suggests that academic women with caring responsibilities are being disproportionately impacted. This article fills a key knowledge gap by examining how Australian universities are supporting academics to manage remote work and caring during the COVID‐19 pandemic. We conducted a desktop analysis of public information about remote working and care from 41 Australian universities and compared them to the world's top ten ranked universities. Findings suggest that during the pandemic, the Australian higher education sector positions decisions about caring leave and participation in the paid labour force as 'private' matters in which employees (mainly women) design their own 'solutions' when compared with international institutional counterparts. We argue that COVID‐19 provides another context in which universities have evaded their responsibility to ensure women's full participation in the labour force. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antarctica is a remote, historically masculine place. It is also a workplace, and the human interactions there are connected to power structures and gendered expectations. Today, more than half early career polar researchers are women. However, women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) are also more likely than men to experience sexual harassment during fieldwork making questions of safety, power, and harassment pertinent. Gender equity initiatives coupled with #MeToo have provided new platforms for reporting sexual harassment and challenging problematic research cultures which position science as meritocratic and gender-neutral. Yet, the impact of #MeToo in Antarctic science is uneven. Following revelations of his harassment of female graduate students in the international media, the termination of Professor David Marchant is widely cited as evidence that #MeToo is positively affecting Antarctic science. We argue it is problematic to focus on individual cases at the expense of the wider culture. We examine the complex historical (e.g. gendered interactions with the Antarctic landscape), cultural (e.g. identity politics), and relational (e.g. gendered power dynamics) tensions underpinning recent #MeToo revelations in Antarctic science with a view to providing more nuanced approaches to structural change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research shows that queer youth increasingly reject traditional sexual labels in favour of more fluid identifications. Despite well-rehearsed debates around queer identity politics under neoliberalism, there is a dearth of research examining how queerness is understood and expressed in rural Australia. To address this knowledge gap, this article examines bisexual and queer young women's understandings of sexual labels in Tasmania, Australia. Drawing on Jose Esteban Muñoz's disidentifications, we argue that while neoliberalism and homonormativity do influence rural queer women's identity politics, their lived experiences present specific challenges that draw attention to the urban-centricity of homonormativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased awareness of the health disparities faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people has driven the need for LGBTIQ-inclusive medical practices internationally. However, despite bisexual, pansexual and queer women's increased sexual health risks and reduced engagement with health services, there is little qualitative research examining their healthcare experiences. In addition, healthcare practitioners continue to report lack of awareness and competence in inclusive practice, particularly regarding these groups. To address these gaps in the literature and practice, this study draws on 21 qualitative interviews with women and general practitioners, comparing and contrasting their understandings and experiences of inclusive sexual and reproductive healthcare. Findings reveal that women value practitioners who take a non-judgemental approach, use inclusive language and are knowledgeable or willing to self-educate about LGBTIQ issues. Practitioners describe prioritising visual indicators of inclusivity, using inclusive language and embracing professional development. However, women and doctors both identify knowledge gaps among healthcare providers and the need for additional training opportunities to support effective inclusive practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine how young bisexual women in rural Tasmania experience routine sexual health care in general practice settings. Design: Semi‐structured interviews with bisexual women were used for this study. Self‐selected and purposive sampling were used to recruit women in 2015. Participants were recruited via community social media pages and a not‐for‐profit organisation supporting same‐sex attracted rural youth. Data were analysed thematically. Setting: Regional and rural areas in the north and south of Tasmania, Australia. Participants: Fifteen bisexual women, 18‐26 years of age, with experience seeking sexual health care in Tasmania. Main outcome measure(s): Semi‐structured interviews explored women's experiences of inclusive sexual health care. Results: Four key themes emerged from the thematic analysis: (a) issues of health care accessibility in rural Tasmania; (b) the importance of visual signs of inclusivity in rural clinics; (c) practitioner attitudes; and (d) use of inclusive, gender‐neutral language. Conclusions: Rural bisexual women prefer practitioners who make meaningful efforts to be inclusive and take a non‐judgmental approach to sexual health care. Additional resources are needed to support rural communities and their health care providers to prioritise inclusive health practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women are under-represented in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) fields worldwide, particularly in leadership positions. We explore this phenomenon by examining the leadership experiences of 25 women who were actively seeking to enhance their leadership capacities in STEMM fields from five countries in the Global North. We argue that women in this study seemed to be caught in an 'ideological dilemma' between recognizing sexism and gender bias in their organizational contexts and seeing their organizations as gender neutral. We argue that a post-feminist climate and a neoliberal ethic of meritocracy in science render inequality difficult to articulate and address. Considering this dilemma through the lens of 'cruel optimism', we suggest that women are problematically bound to a fantasy of success in STEMM in which leadership is attainable through arduous effort. Abbreviation: STEMM; Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a well-documented absence of inclusive school-based sex and relationships education (SRE) for Australian lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. Moreover, relatively few studies specifically examine how bisexual and queer-identifying young Australian women experience SRE. This qualitative study addresses the gap and contributes new perspectives by examining bisexual and queer young women's experiences of school-based SRE in the state of Tasmania through the lens of sexual citizenship. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 15 Tasmanian bisexual and queer young women, we argue that biomedical, risk-based and heteronormative approaches to SRE reduce young women's sexual health literacy. By framing SRE around the concept of 'sexual citizenship', this article provides important guidance on how SRE can more effectively provide bisexual and queer young women with the skills they need to be effective, engaged sexual citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antarctica is often associated with images of masculine figures battling against the blizzard. The pervasiveness of heroic white masculine leadership and exploration in Antarctica and, more broadly, in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine (STEMM) research cultures, has meant women have had lesser access to Antarctic research and fieldwork opportunities, with a marked increase since the 1980s. This article presents findings from an exploratory online survey examining how 95 women experienced research and remote Antarctic fieldwork with the Australian Antarctic Program. Although women are entering polar science in greater numbers, a key theme of the qualitative findings of this survey is that gendered barriers to participation in research and fieldwork persist. We discuss five key gendered barriers including: 1) Physical barriers, 2) Caring responsibilities/unpaid work, 3) Cultural sexism/gender bias, 4) Lack of opportunities/recognition, and 5) Unwanted male attention/sexual harassment. We argue that the lack of attention paid to gender and sexuality in polar fieldwork contributes to the invisibility and exclusion of women and other marginalized identities broadly. To conclude, we point to the importance of targeted inclusivity, diversity and equity initiatives through Antarctic research globally and specifically by National Antarctic Programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: " parkrun" is a free and increasingly popular weekly 5-km walk/run international community event, representing a novel setting for physical activity (PA) promotion. However, little is known about who participates or why. This study aimed to identify sociodemographic, health, behavioral, individual, social, and environmental factors associated with higher levels of participation.Design: Cross-sectional.Setting: Tasmania, Australia; June 2016.Participants: Three hundred seventy two adult parkrun participants.Measures: Online survey measuring sociodemographic, health, individual, social and environmental factors, parkrun participation, and PA.Analysis: Descriptive statistics, zero-truncated Poisson regression models.Results: Respondents (n = 371) were more commonly women (58%), aged 35 to 53 years (54%), and occasional or nonwalkers/runners (53%) at registration. A total of 44% had overweight/obesity. Half had non-adult children, most spoke English at home, and 7% reported PA-limiting illness/injury/disability. Average run/walk time was 30.2 ± 7.4 minutes. Compared to regular walkers/runners at registration, nonwalkers/runners were less commonly partnered, more commonly had overweight/obesity, less physically active, and had poorer self-rated health. Multivariate analyses revealed relative parkrun participation was inversely associated with education level and positively associated with interstate parkrun participation, perceived social benefits, self-efficacy for parkrun, and intentions to participate.Conclusion: parkrun attracts nonwalkers/runners and population groups hard to engage in physical activity. Individual- and social-level factors were associated with higher relative parkrun participation. parkrun's scalability, accessibility, and wide appeal confers a research imperative to investigate its potential for public health gain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I use a feminist autobiographical approach to present my 'tattoo narrative' as a gendered, embodied account in which I map out key moments in my life over two decades through the images inscribed on my skin. Specifically, I examine how my bodily modifications have magnified the social responses to my body as a woman. For example, as a teenager, I acquired a naval piercing and trendy 'feminine', discretely located tattoos to satisfy a heterosexual male gaze. In contrast, as a woman in my late thirties, my tattoos satisfy a different purpose. They are larger, bolder, and more 'masculine' in line with the evolution of my feminist politics. However, as an academic, the social responses to my tattoos are more complex. In class defined social spaces such as the university where I work, my tattoos cause trouble because they challenge gendered and classed norms for femininity. I conclude by calling for women to engage in autobiographical writing about bodily modification as a critical feminist political act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CrossFit (CF) is one of the fastest growing exercise regimens in the world. However, sociologists have been relatively slow in examining the place of CF coaches in contemporary CF fitness culture. CF coaches are key figures in the production, promotion and consumption of CF fitness services. Therefore, coaches are a sociologically compelling group to examine. Drawing on interviews with male CF coaches in Tasmania, Australia, this paper argues that the way that CF coaches become qualified, interact with clients and understand ‘health’ and ‘fitness’ is shaped by the confluence of masculinity and neoliberalism. As CF grows in Australia alongside other fitness regimens, these findings pose a unique set of concerns for the Australian fitness industry, especially in relation to the ways that CF coaches translate the meaning and practice of ‘health’ and ‘fitness’ to their athletes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological advancements have created new methods for conducting research. In this article, we explore the benefits and challenges of using participant-produced video diaries as a research method in a remote environment. Participant-produced video diaries provide rich ethnographic data of lived experiences. Moreover, video diaries allow data collection without researchers needing to be physically present, which facilitates research in remote locations. Therefore, we chose video diaries as one method of data collection for our study of a leadership programme for women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine conducted in Antarctica. However, the remote location of this study raised methodological challenges beyond the routine issues associated with video diaries. In this article, we critically reflect on these challenges, highlighting implications for using participant-produced video diaries in other remote settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I discuss a group of photographs that feature a place intrinsically related with Australian women’s photographic memories of pregnancy - the beach. Building on feminist interdisciplinary studies of family photography, I argue that family photographs of pregnancy contribute to alternative ways of knowing and interpreting the Australian beach landscape and the entangled social relations and interactions within these spaces. Data are drawn from a set of 34 pregnancy photographs that were taken at the beach in [Tasmania] between 1945 and 2013 and collected as part of a larger, ongoing mixed methods research project involving the analysis of 236 Australian family photographs of pregnancy. In this paper, I conduct a visual discourse analysis of three categories of beach pregnancy images including (1) the family holiday photograph, (2) the bikini photograph and (3) the ‘natural’ pregnant body/landscape photograph to enable a more precise account of how personal and cultural memories of the Australian beach intersect. In the concluding discussion, I suggest that the beach is a critical site for deepening sociological and feminist understandings of the production and expression of pregnant identities and Australian national identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fathers play a significant role in shaping family life. Yet Australian men's transitions to fatherhood have been neglected in research and in antenatal support/education programs. Drawing on contemporary theories of masculinity, this article explores how a cohort of 25 first-time fathers in Tasmania, Australia, experienced 2 different father-only antenatal support/education groups. In particular, I was interested in how men negotiate masculinity and "involved fatherhood" in the context of these groups. I argue that the settings in which Tasmanian men are invited to prepare for fatherhood can be experienced in contradictory ways (e.g., pubs vs. hospitals or community centers). Strategies to better support men in the transition to fatherhood are offered in the concluding discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: To examine how first‐time fathers in rural Tasmania experienced father‐only antenatal support/education groups. Design: Semistructured interviews with expectant fathers were used for this study. Purposive sampling was used to recruit fathers in 2014. Participants were recruited face‐to‐face via email through a government health service and not‐for‐profit organisation that runs a state‐wide fatherhood program. Several participants were recruited through a company that holds antenatal education classes for men in a pub. Data were analysed thematically. Setting: Three rural Tasmanian areas (South, Central Coast and Northern Midlands) Participants: Twenty‐five men from three rural areas of Tasmania, ≥18 years, about to become first‐time father with partner at least 20 weeks pregnant. Main outcome measure(s): Semistructured interviews explored men's experiences of father‐only antenatal education groups. Results: Four themes emerged from the thematic analysis: (i) motivations for attending antenatal groups; (ii) the effect of the group setting on men's experiences; (iii) masculine stereotypes in antenatal groups; and (iv) strategies to support fathers. Data show men wanted to join the groups and learn about being an involved father. They often felt uncomfortable sharing experiences in discussion‐based groups. They tended to prefer information‐based groups which were not premised on sharing emotions. Men offered strategies to improve father‐only antenatal education groups. Conclusion: Tasmanian antenatal education/support programs need improvement. Providing men with multiple opportunities to connect with other fathers is critical to improving support. Groups can be improved by accounting for multiple and complex constructions of masculinity, increasing the number of sessions offered and altering the structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian public health promotion positions safe sex as a biomedical, heteronormative concept. Consequently, there is a dearth of scholarly research examining queer young women’s sexual health. To fill this knowledge gap, this article considers how Australian bisexual and queer young women understand ‘safe sex’ and conceptualise ‘good’ sexual citizenship. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 15 participants in Tasmania, findings reveal that although queer women understand heterosexual safe sex, there is little awareness of safer sexual practices with female partners. We argue that gendered sexual scripts shape perceptions of sexual health risk whereby queer women adopt multiple situation-dependent approaches to safer sex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely acknowledged that women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) fields are underrepresented in leadership globally. However, little is known about how leadership styles of women in STEMM relate to this underrepresentation. This article discusses findings from a survey examining how 61 women in STEMM define leadership and describe their own leadership styles. Using content analysis and drawing on Full Range Leadership Model factors, findings suggest that women define leadership and describe their own leadership styles using transformational factors. However, there was no consistency in how participants defined ideal leadership or how they defined their own leadership styles. This finding unsettles ideas of distinctly gendered leadership styles. We argue that expectations that leadership will be performed in distinctly gendered styles may be contributing to the underrepresentation of women in leadership roles in STEMM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim To discuss corporeal support of the brain-dead pregnant woman and to critically examine important aspects of this complex situation that remain as yet unexplored. Background When brain death of the woman occurs during pregnancy, the fetus may be kept inside the corporeally supported body for prolonged periods to enable continued fetal growth and development. This has been increasingly reported in medical literature since 1982 and has received considerable media attention in the past few years. Implications for midwives and nurses Sophisticated advances in medical technologies have altered the boundaries of conception and birth, life and death, Western biomedical and cultural conceptions of women and their bodies, fetal personhood, fetal rights and fetal patienthood, profoundly influencing maternal behaviors, medical decisions and the treatment of pregnant women. This is especially so in the rare, but fraught instance of brain death of the pregnant woman, where nurses and midwives working in High Dependency Care units undertake the daily care of the corporeally supported body that holds a living fetus within it. This discussion enables critical and ethical conversation around the complexities of developing appropriate discourse concerning the woman who suffers brain death during pregnancy and considers the complexities for nurses and midwives caring for the Woman/body/fetus in this context. The potential impact on the fetus of growing and developing inside a ‘dead’ body is examined, and the absence in the literature of long-term follow up of infants gestated thus is questioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents how I fought for a place as a boxer in a regional Tasmanian boxing gym over a 30 month period. This work builds on existing ethnographic accounts that argue that, for women, becoming a boxer is more than just a matter of developing a fit body and physical skill - it is a continual project of negotiating gendered identity. Using an analytic autoethnographic methodology and drawing on contemporary theories of masculinity, I share my individual experiences as a boxer and, in turn, reveal the complexities of bodywork and gendered identity within Tasmanian amateur boxing culture. My closing discussion analyses the way in which performances of masculinity were precarious, fragmented and anxious. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photovoice and photo-elicitation are two common methods of participant photography used in health research. Although participatory photography has many benefits, this critical reflection provides fellow researchers with insights into the methodological and ethical challenges faced when using such methods. In this article, we critically reflect on two studies that used participatory photography in different cultural contexts. The first study used photo-elicitation to investigate mothers’ experiences of infant settling in central Vietnam. The second study used photovoice to explore pregnant embodiment in Australia. Following a discussion of the literature and a detailed overview of the two studies, we examine the methodological challenges in using participant photography before, during and after each study. This is followed by a discussion of ethical concerns that arose in relation to the burden of participation, confidentiality, consent, and the photographing of families and children. To conclude, we highlight implications for using participatory photography in other settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rise of 'globesity', fat activism and Fat Studies have become political players in countering negative stereotypes and the devaluation of fat bodies. Both groups are diverse, yet share a common goal to celebrate and/or accept fatness, and challenge practices and discourses that reinforce 'normal' bodies (such as diets, 'fat talk' and medicalisation). In this article, we reflect on our engagement with a Fat Studies conference, and critically interrogate the assumptions that underlie this particular space. It is not surprising that fat activists and Fat Studies scholars bring different ideologies to the table, yet the differences between them have not been adequately scrutinised or theorised. Drawing upon Linda Alcoff's feminist philosophy, we examine how identity politics and intersectional perspectives are both used in fat activism, yet have the effect of creating unresolved tensions between singular and multiple embodied identities. We argue that an identity politics approach (exemplified through embodied visibility and declarations of 'thin privilege') has the potential to create boundaries for policing and exclusion, and is thus at odds with the much broader axes identified by intersectorial approaches. Rather than dismiss the power of identity politics, we argue for a careful reframing of the relationship between identity politics and intersectionality in fat activism and Fat Studies. We suggest that unexamined contradictions that arise from this mismatch may be counterproductive to the important subversive aims of the movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lena Dunham's cable television seriesGirlsis a candid and comical look at the lives of four young women living in Brooklyn, New York. Following in the footsteps of the earlier post-feminist, woman-centred television series,Sex and the City (SATC), Girlsexplores numerous feminist themes centring on an exploration of what it is like to be a young white woman in contemporary US society. Yet what kind of post-feminist narrative is being constructed inGirls? How is post-feminism deployed in the show? In a comparative analysis ofGirls(Seasons 1–2) andSATC(Seasons 1–6), we argue that although both shows certainly exemplify post-feminist culture, they are inflected differently in relation to the representation of sexualities, reproductive “choice,” and feminine embodiment. Compared toSATC, we argue thatGirlsrepresents a novel approach to representing young US women's lives on television, re-articulating and re-mobilising existing conceptualisations of post-feminism. To conclude, we propose that the term “post? feminism” may be used to describe Dunham's version of post-feminism for a millennial generation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]