The clarity of light : self-representation through art making : a personal response to the social justice work of WAI the Women's Art Initiative Collective : an exegesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Creative Arts, Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand

Listed in 2018 Dean's List of Exceptional ThesesThrough the medium of art a very different way of thinking about, representing, and responding to women who have experienced violence has been constructed. The Women's Art Initiative (WAI) collective approach to art making within an insider community offers a powerful, authentic, self-directed alternative to more commonly applied art therapy approaches. It challenges many deeply entrenched deficit and pathologising stereotypes which are used to represent women who are considered too broken or unsafe to speak for themselves. This research shares the WAI way of thinking and an applied approach that are anchored in years of reflective practice, many conversations, and a rich diversity of membership. It clearly reveals the profound, socially engaged, and unique responses women can construct when they are respected, heard, and offered autonomy within an insider directed art making setting. The WAI Spirographic model of practice, a personal body of stained glass art work, and the collaborative fabric works developed demonstrate a personal response to the research findings. Sharing such precious and privileged knowledge within the space of a research environment may hold dangerous potential for misunderstanding and further exposure of those who have already suffered the overwhelmingly negative responses that others often make to them. It is, however, the best chance that we have, as those who know violence intimately, to create change, and to have our perspectives and knowledge recognised and legitimated

Mothers construct fathers: Destabilized patriarchy in La Leche League

This paper examines changing masculine ideals from the point of view of women homemakers through a case study of La Leche League, a maternalist organization dedicated to breastfeeding and mother primacy. We suggest two reasons for studying the League: first, an emerging literature suggests that changing norms are seeping into many such seemingly conservative groups, and second, the League continues to be highly successful among white, middle-class, married women. The paper looks at two aspects of masculinity, examining changes in the League through fieldwork, interviews, and content analysis, and finds that new norms of increased father involvement and decreased rights over women's bodies have both influenced League philosophy. We conclude that while in some respects a measure of the decline of men's patriarchal privileges, the League's changes also may contribute to a “restabilization” of male dominance in a modified, partial form.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/43548/1/11133_2004_Article_BF00990071.pd

Families and their social worlds

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The Impact of Expanded Health System Reform on Governmental Contributions and Individual Copayments in the New Chinese Rural Cooperative Medical System

In 2002, the Chinese central government created a new rural cooperative medical system (NCMS), ensuring that both central and local governments partner with rural residents to reduce their copayments, thus making healthcare more affordable. Yet, significant gaps in health status and healthcare utilization persisted between urban and rural communities. Therefore, in 2009, healthcare reform was expanded, with (i) increased government financing and (ii) sharply reduced individual copayments for outpatient and inpatient care. Analyzing data from China\u27s Ministry of Health, the Rural Cooperative Information Network, and Statistical Yearbooks, our findings suggest that healthcare reform has reached its preliminary objectives—government financing has grown significantly in most rural provinces, especially those in poorer western and central China, and copayments in most rural provinces have been reduced. Significant intraprovincial inequality of support remains. The central government contributes more money for poor provinces than for rich ones; however, NCMS schemes operate at the county level, which vary significantly in their level of economic development and per capital gross domestic products (GDP) within a province. Data reveal that the compensation ratios for both outpatient and inpatient care are not adjusted to compensate for a rural county\u27s level of economic development or per capita GDP. Consequently, a greater financial burden for healthcare persists among persons in the poorest rural regions. A recommendation for next step in healthcare reform is to pool resources at prefectural/municipal level and also adjust central government contributions according to the GDP level at prefectural/municipal level

Health Insurance Disparities in Traditional and Contingent/Alternative Employment

Relative to whites, Hispanics and blacks are less likely to have employer health insurance coverage. We examine whether ethnicity or race affects employment in traditional jobs or in contingent and alternative work arrangements, and whether ethnicity or race affects insurance offer, eligibility, and/or enrollment, conditional on employment sector. Health insurance disparities relative to whites are more pronounced for Hispanics, primarily due to disparities in employment by firms that offer coverage. Eliminating racial/ethnic disparities in offers, eligibility, and takeup would increase insurance coverage rates of Hispanics in traditional jobs and of both Hispanics and blacks in contingent and alternative jobs. Copyright Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. 2005uninsured, disparities, nontraditional employment, contingent workers, alternative work arrangements,

Comparing offers and take-ups of employee health insurance across, race, gender, and decade

How often do U.S. employees receive health insurance offers from employers? When offered, how often do they take up their employer-based health insurance? This article uses the 1992 and 2002 waves of the National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW) to investigate changes in access to (offers) and employees electing to accept, take, or purchase their employers’ health insurance plans (take-ups) among wage and salaried workers. Although much research has studied employee health benefits, little has examined the intersection of gender and race regarding both offers and take-ups of such benefits. Logistic regression results indicate that offers and take-ups of personal health benefits declined from 1992 to 2002, net of salient controls. Further analyses demonstrate that these declines did not affect all workers identically. Offers declined somewhat for both women and men among whites and African Americans, but declined more among Hispanic women and men. Among other ethnoracial groups, offers declined the most among men, but increased among comparable women. Take-ups declined among white men and Hispanic workers. However, white and African American women\u27s take-ups did not change and among African American men take-ups increased. We discuss the need to examine gender and race simultaneously and urge researchers to more closely examine changes in health benefit offers and take-up