Retelling racialized violence, remaking white innocence: the politics of interlocking oppressions in transgender day of remembrance

Transgender Day of Remembrance has become a significant political event among those resisting violence against gender-variant persons. Commemorated in more than 250 locations worldwide, this day honors individuals who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. However, by focusing on transphobia as the definitive cause of violence, this ritual potentially obscures the ways in which hierarchies of race, class, and sexuality constitute such acts. Taking the Transgender Day of Remembrance/Remembering Our Dead project as a case study for considering the politics of memorialization, as well as tracing the narrative history of the Fred F. C. Martinez murder case in Colorado, the author argues that deracialized accounts of violence produce seemingly innocent White witnesses who can consume these spectacles of domination without confronting their own complicity in such acts. The author suggests that remembrance practices require critical rethinking if we are to confront violence in more effective ways. Description from publisher's site: http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/srsp.2008.5.1.2

Predictors of anemia in preschool children: Biomarkers Reflecting Inflammation and Nutritional Determinants of Anemia (BRINDA) project.

Background: A lack of information on the etiology of anemia has hampered the design and monitoring of anemia-control efforts.Objective: We aimed to evaluate predictors of anemia in preschool children (PSC) (age range: 6-59 mo) by country and infection-burden category.Design: Cross-sectional data from 16 surveys (n = 29,293) from the Biomarkers Reflecting Inflammation and Nutritional Determinants of Anemia (BRINDA) project were analyzed separately and pooled by category of infection burden. We assessed relations between anemia (hemoglobin concentration <110 g/L) and severe anemia (hemoglobin concentration <70 g/L) and individual-level (age, anthropometric measures, micronutrient deficiencies, malaria, and inflammation) and household-level predictors; we also examined the proportion of anemia with concomitant iron deficiency (defined as an inflammation-adjusted ferritin concentration <12 μg/L). Countries were grouped into 4 categories on the basis of risk and burden of infectious disease, and a pooled multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted for each group.Results: Iron deficiency, malaria, breastfeeding, stunting, underweight, inflammation, low socioeconomic status, and poor sanitation were each associated with anemia in >50% of surveys. Associations between breastfeeding and anemia were attenuated by controlling for child age, which was negatively associated with anemia. The most consistent predictors of severe anemia were malaria, poor sanitation, and underweight. In multivariable pooled models, child age, iron deficiency, and stunting independently predicted anemia and severe anemia. Inflammation was generally associated with anemia in the high- and very high-infection groups but not in the low- and medium-infection groups. In PSC with anemia, 50%, 30%, 55%, and 58% of children had concomitant iron deficiency in low-, medium-, high-, and very high-infection categories, respectively.Conclusions: Although causal inference is limited by cross-sectional survey data, results suggest anemia-control programs should address both iron deficiency and infections. The relative importance of factors that are associated with anemia varies by setting, and thus, country-specific data are needed to guide programs

National, regional, and global estimates of anaemia by severity in women and children for 2000-19: a pooled analysis of population-representative data

BACKGROUND: Anaemia causes health and economic harms. The prevalence of anaemia in women aged 15-49 years, by pregnancy status, is indicator 2.2.3 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the aim of halving the anaemia prevalence in women of reproductive age by 2030 is an extension of the 2025 global nutrition targets endorsed by the World Health Assembly (WHA). We aimed to estimate the prevalence of anaemia by severity for children aged 6-59 months, non-pregnant women aged 15-49 years, and pregnant women aged 15-49 years in 197 countries and territories and globally for the period 2000-19. METHODS: For this pooled analysis of population-representative data, we collated 489 data sources on haemoglobin distribution in children and women from 133 countries, including 4·5 million haemoglobin measurements. Our data sources comprised health examination, nutrition, and household surveys, accessed as anonymised individual records or as summary statistics such as mean haemoglobin and anaemia prevalence. We used a Bayesian hierarchical mixture model to estimate haemoglobin distributions in each population and country-year. This model allowed for coherent estimation of mean haemoglobin and prevalence of anaemia by severity. FINDINGS: Globally, in 2019, 40% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 36-44) of children aged 6-59 months were anaemic, compared to 48% (45-51) in 2000. Globally, the prevalence of anaemia in non-pregnant women aged 15-49 years changed little between 2000 and 2019, from 31% (95% UI 28-34) to 30% (27-33), while in pregnant women aged 15-49 years it decreased from 41% (39-43) to 36% (34-39). In 2019, the prevalence of anaemia in children aged 6-59 months exceeded 70% in 11 countries and exceeded 50% in all women aged 15-49 years in ten countries. Globally in all populations and in most countries and regions, the prevalence of mild anaemia changed little, while moderate and severe anaemia declined in most populations and geographical locations, indicating a shift towards mild anaemia. INTERPRETATION: Globally, regionally, and in nearly all countries, progress on anaemia in women aged 15-49 years is insufficient to meet the WHA global nutrition target to halve anaemia prevalence by 2030, and the prevalence of anaemia in children also remains high. A better understanding of the context-specific causes of anaemia and quality implementation of effective multisectoral actions to address these causes are needed. FUNDING: USAID, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Unknowable bodies, unthinkable sexualities: lesbian and transgender legal invisibility in the Toronto women's bathhouse raid

Although litigation involving sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination claims has generated considerable public attention in recent years, lesbian and transgender bodies and sexualities still remain largely invisible in Anglo-American courts. While such invisibility is generally attributed to social norms that fail to recognize lesbian and transgender experiences, the capacity to 'not see' or 'not know' queer bodies and sexualities also involves wilful acts of ignorance. Drawing from R. v Hornick (2002) a Canadian case involving the police raid of a women's bathhouse, this article explores how lesbian and transgender bodies and sexualities are actively rendered invisible via legal knowledge practices, norms and rationalities. It argues that limited knowledge and limited thinking not only regulate the borders of visibility and belonging, but play an active part in shaping identities, governing conduct and producing subjectivity

Adjusting ferritin concentrations for inflammation: Biomarkers Reflecting Inflammation and Nutritional Determinants of Anemia (BRINDA) project

Background: The accurate estimation of iron deficiency is important in planning and implementing interventions. Ferritin is recommended as the primary measure of iron status, but interpretability is challenging in settings with infection and inflammation

Intraindividual double burden of overweight or obesity and micronutrient deficiencies or anemia among women of reproductive age in 17 population-based surveys

Background: Rising prevalence of overweight/obesity (OWOB) alongside persistent micronutrient deficiencies suggests many women face concomitant OWOB and undernutrition. Objectives: We aimed to 1) describe the prevalence of the double burden of malnutrition (DBM) among nonpregnant women of reproductive age, defined as intraindividual OWOB and either ≥1 micronutrient deficiency [micronutrient deficiency index (MDI) \u3e 0; DBM-MDI] or anemia (DBM-anemia); 2) test whether the components of the DBM were independent; and 3) identify factors associated with DBM-MDI and DBM-anemia. Methods: With data from 17 national surveys spanning low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries from the Biomarkers Reflecting Inflammation and Nutritional Determinants of Anemia project (n = 419 to n = 9029), we tested independence of over- and undernutrition using the Rao–Scott chi-square test and examined predictors of the DBM and its components using logistic regression for each survey. Results: Median DBM-MDI was 21.9% (range: 1.6%–39.2%); median DBM-anemia was 8.6% (range: 1.0%–18.6%). OWOB and micronutrient deficiencies or anemia were independent in most surveys. Where associations existed, OWOB was negatively associated with micronutrient deficiencies and anemia in LMICs. In 1 high-income country, OWOB women were more likely to experience micronutrient deficiencies and anemia. Age was consistently positively associated with OWOB and the DBM, whereas the associations with other sociodemographic characteristics varied. Higher socioeconomic status tended to be positively associated with OWOB and the DBM in LMICs, whereas in higher-income countries the association was reversed. Conclusions: The independence of OWOB and micronutrient deficiencies or anemia within individuals suggests that these forms of over- and undernutrition may have unique etiologies. Decision-makers should still consider the prevalence, consequences, and etiology of the individual components of the DBM as programs move towards double-duty interventions aimed at addressing OWOB and undernutrition simultaneously

Authenticity, validation and sexualisation on Grindr: an analysis of trans women’s accounts

The socio-historic sexualisation of transgender identities is reported to have disaffirming consequences for the broad trans community, and for trans women in particular. Given trans people’s increasing use of socio-sexual ‘hook-up’ apps, this paper looks at trans women’s talk of self/other identifications in relation to their regular use of Grindr. Eight semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with London-based women who identified as trans* in some way. A Foucauldian-informed discourse analysis highlights intersecting frames of trans authenticity, validation and sexualisation. Within these frames, trans women can be variously positioned in gendered and sexualised ways. Specifically, a discourse of trans authenticity is seen to involve the marking out of an identificatory truth that is situated in culturally acceptable and hence de-sexualised womanhood, while a competing discourse of trans validation involves an ambiguity and eroticism that can serve to reimagine this truth. Trans subjectivities can thus consist of a desire for authentic (gendered and non-sexualised) selfhood, on the one hand, and self-affirming ambiguity and sexualisation on the other. That trans women can construct ambivalent relationships with trans-sexualisation discourse highlights the limitation of anti-sexualisation advocacy and implications for supporting trans sexualities are considered

Iron deficiency was not the major cause of anemia in rural women of reproductive age in Sidama zone, southern Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study

Background Anemia, which has many etiologies, is a moderate/severe public health problem in young children and women of reproductive age in many developing countries. The aim of this study was to investigate prevalence of iron deficiency, anemia, and iron deficiency anemia using multiple biomarkers and to evaluate their association with food insecurity and food consumption patterns in non-pregnant women from a rural area of southern Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in 202 rural women of reproductive age in southern Ethiopia. Anthropometrics and socio-demographic data were collected. A venipuncture blood sample was analyzed for hemoglobin (Hb) and for biomarkers of iron status. Biomarkers were skewed and were log transformed before analysis. Mean, median, Pearson\u27s correlations and ordinary least-squares regressions were calculated. Results Median (IQR) Hb was 138 (127, 151) g/L. Based on an altitude-adjusted (1708 m) cutoff of 125 g/L for Hb, 21.3% were anemic. Plasma ferritin was \u3c15 μg/L in 18.6% of the women. Only one woman had α-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) \u3e1.0 g/L; four women (2%) had \u3e 5 mg/L of C-reactive protein (CRP). Of the 43 women who were anemic, 23.3% (10 women) had depleted iron stores based on plasma ferritin. Three of these had elevated soluble transferring receptors (sTfR). Hemoglobin (Hb) concentration was negatively correlated with sTfR (r = -0.24, p = 0.001), and positively correlated with ferritin (r = 0.17, p = 0.018), plasma iron (r = 0.15, p = 0.046), transferrin saturation (TfS) (r = 0.15, p = 0.04) and body iron (r = 0.14, p = 0.05). Overall prevalence of iron deficiency anemia was only 5%. Conclusion Iron deficiency anemia was not prevalent in the study population, despite the fact that anemia would be classified as a moderate public health problem

Post-identity politics and the social weightlessness of radical gender theory

This paper analysis current forms of post-identity politics within contemporary gender theory, notably the works of Rosi Braidotti, Elizabeth Grosz and Bobby Noble. Although these thinkers offer some important insights, I argue that their theories ultimately suffer from what Lois McNay has labelled ‘social weightlessness’. This is because their models of subjectivity and agency are severed from the everyday realities of social subjects. I indicate two ways that this social weightlessness is manifested in radical gender theories which offer a post-identity politics: (1) they underappreciate the social and political importance to many people of establishing stable, coherent identities; (ii) they are unable to offer a satisfactory account of agency. I suggest that these issues result, at least partly, from the anti-recognition stance adopted by these theorists. By incorporating an adequate model of recognition back into their theories, I claim, will equip their accounts with a properly-grounded model of the subject, which is responsive to the inequalities and oppressions that infuse the particular concrete contexts in which we experience and live out our identities

Effects of long-term weekly iron and folic acid supplementation on lower genital tract infection - a double blind, randomised controlled trial in Burkina Faso

BACKGROUND: Provision of routine iron supplements to prevent anaemia could increase the risk for lower genital tract infections as virulence of some pathogens depends on iron availability. This trial in Burkina Faso assessed whether weekly periconceptional iron supplementation increased the risk of lower genital tract infection in young non-pregnant and pregnant women. METHODS: Genital tract infections were assessed within a double blind, controlled, non-inferiority trial of malaria risk among nulliparous women, randomised to receive either iron and folic acid or folic acid alone, weekly, under direct observation for 18 months. Women conceiving during this period entered the pregnancy cohort. End assessment (FIN) for women remaining non-pregnant was at 18 months. For the pregnancy cohort, end assessment was at the first scheduled antenatal visit (ANC1). Infection markers included Nugent scores for abnormal flora and bacterial vaginosis (BV), T. vaginalis PCR, vaginal microbiota, reported signs and symptoms, and antibiotic and anti-fungal prescriptions. Iron biomarkers were assessed at baseline, FIN and ANC1. Analysis compared outcomes by intention to treat and in iron replete/deficient categories. RESULTS: A total of 1954 women (mean 16.8 years) were followed and 478 (24.5%) became pregnant. Median supplement adherence was 79% (IQR 59-90%). Baseline BV prevalence was 12.3%. At FIN and ANC1 prevalence was 12.8% and 7.0%, respectively (P < 0.011). T. vaginalis prevalence was 4.9% at FIN and 12.9% at ANC1 (P < 0.001). BV and T. vaginalis prevalence and microbiota profiles did not differ at trial end-points. Iron-supplemented non-pregnant women received more antibiotic treatments for non-genital infections (P = 0.014; mainly gastrointestinal infections (P = 0.005), anti-fungal treatments for genital infections (P = 0.014) and analgesics (P = 0.008). Weekly iron did not significantly reduce iron deficiency prevalence. At baseline, iron-deficient women were more likely to have normal vaginal flora (P = 0.016). CONCLUSIONS: Periconceptional weekly iron supplementation of young women did not increase the risk of lower genital tract infections but did increase general morbidity in the non-pregnant cohort. Unabsorbed gut iron due to malaria could induce enteric infections, accounting for the increased administration of antibiotics and antifungals in the iron-supplemented arm. This finding reinforces concerns about routine iron supplementation in highly malarious areas