Beyond Prejudice as Simple Antipathy: Hostile and Benevolent Sexism Across Cultures

The authors argue that complementary hostile and benevolent componen:s of sexism exist ac ro.ss cultures. Male dominance creates hostile sexism (HS). but men's dependence on women fosters benevolent sexism (BS)-subjectively positive attitudes that put women on a pedestal but reinforce their subordination. Research with 15,000 men and women in 19 nations showed that (a) HS and BS are coherenl constructs th at correlate positively across nations, but (b) HS predicts the ascription of negative and BS the ascription of positive traits to women, (c) relative to men, women are more likely to reject HS than BS. especially when overall levels of sexism in a culture are high, and (d) national averages on BS and HS predict gender inequal ity across nations. These results challenge prevailing notions of prejudice as an antipathy in that BS (an affectionate, patronizing ideology) reflects inequality and is a cross-culturally pervasive complement to HS

An appraisal of vent house vacuum delivery

A retrospective analysis of Ventouse deliveries over a 10 year period at St. Charles Borromeo Hospital, Onitsha, Nigeria is presented. Between January 1991 and December 2000, 15802 deliveries were conducted, 572 were Ventouse deliveries, giving a Ventouse rate of 3.6%. The age range of the patients was 17-44 years, with a mean age of 28.2+ 5.5 years. The commonest indication for Ventouse delivery was prolonged second stage of labour 34.9% (195), followed by cephalopelvic disproportion in 10.6% (59), while the least indication was brow presentation in second stage of labour 1.3% (7). The maternal morbidity was mainly vaginal tear/laceration that occurred in 2.2% (12) of the patients. The success rate of Ventouse delivery was 91.6% (511). The corrected perinatal death rate was 9/1000 deliveries. Ventouse has a high success rate in prolonged second stage of labour, in first stage of labour and in fetal mal-positions. With the decline in the use of obstetric forceps and its teaching in most health institutions, ventouse becomes the instrument of first choice when assisted vaginal delivery is considered. Nigerian Journal of surgical sciences Vol. 16 (2) 2006: pp. 72-7

Male Responsibility in Reproductive Health in Nigeria: An Eclectic Methodological Approach

An eclectic methodological approach to the study of men within the framework of reproductive health and related issues was experimented in this study. Literary discourse has focused on the study of male involvement in reproduction from the narrow perspective of what more men need to do to increase women\'s acceptance of contraception and utilization of relevant services. But few studies employed a diffuse approach to providing answers to the seemingly intractable issue of maleness as it impacts the whole gamut of reproductive health issues and human development. The present research derived from a growing recognition of situating male behavior within the socio-cultural context using ethnomethodology as an invaluable method of analyzing maleness from the evolutionary construct. Analysis of literary criticism and evaluation of discourse relevant to the evolutionary pattern of gender construction, manhood, masculinity, sexuality, family and social relationship were adopted using anthropological and sociological methods. The advantage of this process is the use of eclectic and iterative approaches of articulating the evolutionary trend of manhood and gender, their implications for sexuality culminating in family and other stable relationships. The potential benefits and limitations of the research design are discussed. The study proposes the use of more diffuse approaches in the study of male involvement in reproduction and human development. African Journal for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Vol.7(2) 2004: 167-19