The destabilising effect of feminist, queer-inclusion and therapeutic counter-discourse: A feminist poststructuralist account of change in men's friendships

Critically engaging with prevailing theories of change in masculinities, this article offers a feminist poststructuralist account of Australian men's increasingly intimate same-gender friendships. Per Beasley, feminist poststructuralists treat social change as a consequence of contestation between discourses. In line with this, I contend that the increasing influence of feminist, queer-inclusion and therapeutic counter-discourses in recent decades has destabilised (but not overridden) masculinist discourse in the context of men's friendships, offering men an alternative subject position that allows care, expressiveness and intimacy. Here, I define each of these counter-discourses, demonstrate how they challenge the discursive components of masculinism and use snippets of data from an intergenerational study of Australian men's friendships to illustrate how this shapes men's homosocial practices. Ultimately, I argue that by applying a feminist poststructuralist lens, scholars can examine how men navigate new and contentious discursive terrain, and better account for the complexity of social change in masculinities

Creating the Dance and Dancing Creatively: Exploring the Liminal Space of Choreography for Emergence

In this paper, three dance scholars explore the tensions and bliss inherent in curriculum delivery through dance integration. It meets the call for a curriculum attuned to provoking encounters (Pinar & Grumet, 2015) through philosophical narration that interweaves experiences as dancers, dance educators, dance scholars and dance integrators. Personal vignettes unveil the sense-making of creative artists tasked with the duty to “deliver” curriculum, and as arts integration specialists tasked with the duty to share knowledge, with teachers, for designing learning through dance. The authors liken the inherent tensions to those of a tight rope walker balancing between forces pulled in opposite directions. They share their own encounters of pedagogical balance and counterbalance, of choreography and emergence, and of leading and following, as each relates to learning design. They also explore the duality of meeting curricular ends and unfolding endless possibilities (Aoki, 2005; Roth, 2014). Together, the authors find that their collective experience leads to three charges for curricular reform: 1) embed dance integration in teacher preparation; 2) infuse dance integration in K-12 curriculum; and 3) provide time for pedagogical experimentation through dance-based inquiry

One Small Step for Man: Change and Continuity in Perceptions and Enactments of Homosocial Intimacy among Young Australian Men

While recent scholarship has documented a growth of same-sex, nonsexual kissing among young men in Western societies, this may reflect a weakening, rather than complete transformation, of hegemonic gender structures. Critically engaging with current theorizing of “inclusive masculinities,” this article reports the findings from a study of young Australian men’s views on what constitutes acceptable forms of homosocial intimacy and how they attach meaning to these behaviors. Using qualitative data from focus groups with twenty-two men from five different subcultural peer groups and eight follow-up individual interviews, we illustrate that exaggerated intimate behaviors are not considered authentic displays of affection, and therefore do not meaningfully challenge gendered power structures. Rather, they have been adopted into the repertoire of ways men can perform masculinity. However, this hybridity is neither a means of reconfiguring male power, nor evidence of entirely inclusive masculinities, but instead constitutes an initial step toward inclusivity.</jats:p

Performance Factors in Associative Learning: Assessment of the Sometimes Competing Retrieval Model

Previous simulations revealed that the sometimes competing retrieval model (SOCR; Stout & Miller, 2007), which assumes local error reduction, can explain many cue interaction phenomena that elude traditional associative theories based on total error reduction. Here we applied SOCR to a new set of Pavlovian phenomena. Simulations used a single set of fixed parameters to simulate each basic effect (e.g., blocking) and, for specific experiments using different procedures, used fitted parameters discovered through hillclimbing. In Simulation 1, SOCR was successfully applied to basic acquisition, including the ‘overtraining effect,’ which is context dependent. In Simulation 2, we applied SOCR to basic extinction and renewal. SOCR anticipated these effects with both fixed parameters and best fitting parameters, although the renewal effects were weaker than those observed in some experiments. In Simulation 3a, feature negative training was simulated, including the often observed transition from second-order conditioning to conditioned inhibition. In Simulation 3b, SOCR predicted the observation that conditioned inhibition after feature-negative and differential conditioning depends on intertrial interval. In Simulation 3c, SOCR successfully predicted failure of conditioned inhibition to extinguish with presentations of the inhibitor alone under most circumstances. In Simulation 4, cue competition, including blocking (4a), recovery from relative validity (4b), and unblocking (4c), were simulated. In Simulation 5, SOCR correctly predicted that inhibitors gain more behavioral control than excitors when they are trained in compound. Simulation 6 demonstrated that SOCR explains the slower acquisition observed following CS-weak shock pairings

Women\u27s preferences for selective estrogen reuptake modulators: an investigation using the time trade off technique

PurposeSelective Estrogen Receptor Modulators (SERMs) reduce the risk of breast cancer for women at increased risk by 38%. However, uptake is extremely low and the reasons for this are not completely understood. The aims of this study were to utilize time trade-off methods to determine the degree of risk reduction required to make taking SERMs worthwhile to women, and the factors associated with requiring greater risk reduction to take SERMs. MethodsWomen at increased risk of breast cancer (N&thinsp;=&thinsp;107) were recruited from two familial cancer clinics in Australia. Participants completed a questionnaire either online or in pen and paper format. Hierarchical multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze the data. ResultsOverall, there was considerable heterogeneity in the degree of risk reduction required to make taking SERMs worthwhile. Women with higher perceived breast cancer risk and those with stronger intentions to undergo (or who had undergone) an oophorectomy required a smaller degree of risk reduction to consider taking SERMs worthwhile. ConclusionWomen at increased familial risk appear motivated to consider SERMs for prevention. A tailored approach to communicating about medical prevention is essential. Health professionals could usefully highlight the absolute (rather than relative) probability of side effects and take into account an individual&rsquo;s perceived (rather than objective) risk of breast cancer