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Removing the Binary: An Exploration on the Impact Language has on Our Gender Perception
No full textLanguage, as a reflection of societal values and beliefs, wields the power to shape perceptions of gender, often perpetuating a binary understanding through grammatical gender systems. The influence of the generic masculine and masculine norm within languages with dense grammatical gender reinforces this binary, marginalizing communities and centralizing power within the masculine form. Despite these challenges, endeavours towards gender neutrality within grammatical gender languages offer hope, particularly in their potential to benefit marginalized groups like the LGBTQ+ community. However, while recent advancements demonstrate potential for gender neutrality within language, the possibility of achieving a genuine ‘gender-free’ language remains a question, especially within grammatical gender languages and beyond. In order to begin answering this question, one needs to understand the concept of ‘gendered language’ and how it has impacted our perception of gender throughout history. It is also necessary to analyse how recent linguistic adjustments impact the LGBTQ+ community and the changes in attitudes towards non-binary spaces. By comparing attitudes towards gender in grammatical gender and genderless languages, we gain insight into the intricate relationship between language and societal norms. To do that one needs to look at the contemporary languages such as English, Spanish and Swedish, which are undergoing gender-neutral adaptations within the core lexicon and grammar. In addition to indigenous languages that have historically included a form of gender neutral language. In essence, this examination of language and gender dynamics offers the conclusion that it is possible to remove gender from language, yet cannot change the impact that gendered language has already had on society’s perception of gender
Legislating Virginity: The Law and Ethics of Hymenoplasty and Virginity Testing
No full textAccording to Merriam Webster, the definition of a ‘virgin’ is someone who has never participated in sexual intercourse. This definition revolves around heterosexual relationships and the assumption that the intercourse will involve a person with a penis and another with a vagina. However, what one considers sexual intercourse can vary from person to person (for example, whether oral sex is included) and the definition incurs greater difficulty when linked to anatomy, specifically the hymen. The hymen is a thin membrane of skin near the opening of the vagina, which consists of leftover fragments of tissue formed during foetal development, found only in female mammals. The presence of the hymen still holds significant importance in most religions as it is believed to determine a woman’s ‘purity’ and ability to marry, an essential factor for their position within their community, due to the commodification of female virginity. Consequently, women often face violence when they are accused of not being a virgin, or are found to have a hymen which is not intact. Due to the gender binary being imposed by the concept of virginity, this essay assumes that most people with hymens identify as women, whilst still acknowledging that trans*, non-binary and intersex people can also share this anatomical feature.
This essay will discuss the cultural practices that encourage virginity testing and hymenoplasty, followed by an analysis of potential harm-reduction solutions with reference to the historical and religious background which places virginity as a gendered concept. Whether the measures put in place by the Health and Care Act 2022 are sufficient in preventing the violence against women which stems from practices surrounding virginity will be discussed in the context of the practical realities of virginity testing. This idea will be explored within the framework of the UK’s legal system with reference to other European jurisdictions for context
Girlcore: the Right Way to be Female? Examining the Effect of Choice Feminism on What it Means to be a \u27Woman\u27 through the Language and Trends of Tiktok
No full textSince the beginning of the 2010s and the advent of what many call the fourth wave of feminism, “choice feminism” has accounted for an increasingly large segment of people who call themselves “feminists”. This movement can widely be observed through commentary on femininity on social media such as TikTok and women choose to use the platform. Since the rise of TikTok in 2020 many different trends and debates have appeared in relation to what it means to be a “girl” or “woman”, and these instances can be observed and analysed to ask a larger question of what being female and identifying as such means in the modern era and years to come. In a world more and more defined by our online presence and the use of social media, there is a landscape in which there is increasing desire to market oneself. In using micro-labels, micro-labels here referring to the hyper-specific aesthetic or identity related categories that have risen in popularity over the last couple years on social media (Sojit Pejcha, 2023), we transform ourselves from human beings to concepts. This process seems to be specifically taken up by women who exercise their “choice” to objectify themselves in a radical new way; something that I argue is much more comfortable than having to deal with the true acceptance of the human experience and what it means to be a woman
La talla bipolar en la base regional de recursos líticos: Estudio comparativo entre los núcleos de las costas Atlánticas Pampeana y de Patagonia Centro-Septentrional (Argentina)
No full textSeveral authors argue that bipolar technology is an expeditious and versatile strategy, efficient for the reduction of small nodules. However, few studies analyze the use of bipolar reduction in relation to the lithic environmental supply. At the Pampean and Patagonian maritime coast, the technique has been widely recorded and seems to be conspicuous in indigenous populations that occupied coastal areas. With the aim of assessing and comparing the application of bipolar reduction 196 nuclei recovered from sites of diverse chronologies in the Pampean and northcentral Patagonian coasts were analyzed. The use of the bipolar technique was observed in relation to the lithic environmental structure, the size of nodules and their raw material. The results revealed high frequencies of bipolar nuclei at the Pampean coast (87%) and moderate frequencies at the northcentral Patagonian coast (39%). It was determined that the variables that influenced the application of bipolar techniques the most were the small size of the nodules and their rounded shape, generally thick, and without flat surfaces. As for raw material quality, the technique was applied on good to medium quality rocks at the Pampean coast, while in the northcentral coast it was exclusively applied on pebbles and cobbles of superior qualities (very good to excellent). The differences observed are most likely linked with technological choices made by different coastal populations to make the best use of widely available local rocks.La técnica bipolar es una de las primeras técnicas de talla lítica en la historia de la humanidad. Ha sido registrado en sitios arqueológicos de diferentes partes del mundo y de diferentes épocas. Distintas posturas se dieron en relación con las probables causas por las cuales los grupos humanos del pasado lo emplearon, atribuyendo su aplicación a características físicas y naturales de los recursos líticos y a factores sociales relacionados con preferencias estilísticas y tradiciones culturales. Este trabajo presenta los resultados del análisis comparativo de 196 núcleos líticos recuperados en 14 sitios arqueológicos de distinta cronología y sectores de la costa pampeana (entre el Cabo Corrientes y la desembocadura del río Quequén Salado) y la costa centro norte de Patagónica (entre Arroyo Verde y Bahía Cracker). El objetivo de este estudio es evaluar la aplicación de la talla bipolar en ambas áreas y explorar tendencias espaciales y temporales en el uso de esta técnica en otros sectores de la costa atlántica continental desde la provincia de Buenos Aires hasta la provincia de Santa Cruz. Se evaluó el uso de la técnica bipolar en relación con la estructura ambiental lítica, el tamaño de los nódulos y la materia prima. Los núcleos proporcionan información sobre las primeras etapas de la explotación de materias primas líticas para la elaboración de los instrumentos, es decir, la selección inicial y la reducción de los nódulos. La metodología de estudios consistió en muestreos sistemáticos de rocas y el análisis tecnológico de los núcleos. Para el análisis de los núcleos bipolares se registró el tipo de materia prima, el grado de modificación del nódulo original, la longitud, el ancho y el grosor máximos, y la proporción de corteza en cada artefacto. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron altas frecuencias de núcleos bipolares en la costa pampeana (87%) y frecuencias moderadas en la costa norte patagónica central (39%). Se determinó que las variables que más influyeron en la aplicación de la técnica bipolar fueron el pequeño tamaño de los nódulos y su forma redondeada, generalmente espesa y sin superficies planas. En cuanto a la calidad de la materia prima, la técnica se aplicó en rocas de buena a mediana calidad en la costa pampeana, mientras que en la costa norte central se aplicó exclusivamente en rodados de cualidades superiores (muy buenas a excelentes). Se determinó que el registro de la talla bipolar es variable entre los diferentes sectores a lo largo de la costa pampena y patagónica. En el litoral marítimo de la provincia de Buenos Aires la talla bipolar se aplicó en rodados pequeños de basalto mientras que en el sector de la costa norte de Patagonia central se usó en guijarros de basalto y sílice. En el sector costero de Santa Cruz la talla bipolar se aplicó en guijarros de muy alta a excelente calidad, algunos no locales (como la obsidiana) y en otros de disponibilidad local pero limitada (como xilópalos y rocas oscuras de grano fino). Las diferencias observadas probablemente estén vinculadas con elecciones tecnológicas realizados por diferentes grupos de cazadores-recolectores para un mejor aprovechamiento de las rocas locales ampliamente disponibles
Carnitine palmitoyltransferases in GtoPdb v.2024.4
Get PDFThe CPT1 enzymes convert long chain (greater than ∼C12) acyl-CoA molecules to acylcarnitine derivatives to facilitate their transport from the cytosol into the mitochondrial matrix via the carnitine/acylcarnitine carrier (CACT; SLC25A20). The acylcarnitines are converted back to acyl-CoA by CPT2 to support the fatty acid oxidation (FAO) cycle in the mitochondria. CPT1s are allosterically inhibited by malonyl-CoA
The Traditional Sources of Four Burns Songs: ‘The Posie’, ‘Craigie-burn Wood’, ‘Ae Day a braw wooer’ and ‘A waukrife Minnie’
Get PDFRobert Burns devoted much effort to the collection of tunes which he expected to be published in James Johnson’s Scots Musical Museum and George Thomson’s Select Collection. The tunes were often accompanied by the words of songs and Burns related to these sources in different ways. This article studies in detail his relationship to four songs and demonstrates how the partial information that he gives explicitly can be developed to give an impression of these source songs as wholes, so increasing our knowledge of traditional Scottish song in the eighteenth century. The study also throws light on Burns’s method of composition when he was using a traditional base
“To see oursels as others see us!”
No full textIn April 2025 there will, I hope, be celebrations across Scotland and beyond to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Alexander report, the Challenge of Change and five decades of community education practice. I shall certainly be raising a glass to a man and a publication that put Scottish community education on the map, not just of Scotland, but internationally. This article traces some of the international influence of the Scottish approach that emerged since the report was published, and in particular of its association with the wider field of community development. I have too often felt that Scots at home, not least policy makers, have not recognised the influence Scottish practice and scholarship has had internationally. In my view, it has been and remains, huge. I hope this article will remind readers of that. And if it reaches the eyes of Scottish policy makers and funders, that they enhance investment in this vitally important work as part of any strategy to support communities to address the challenges of change
Anticipating Immunity: Vaccine-induced Immunity and Vaccine Safety in the Finnish News Coverage of COVID-19 Vaccines
No full textIn this article I draw on the concept of anticipation to examine Finnish news discourse on the development, licensing and administration of COVID-19 vaccines. I explore the interplay of anticipation of vaccine-induced immunity and vaccine safety concerns, and trace how ideas of protection and risk were invoked in relation to specific vaccine technologies as well as different accounts of biomedical pasts, including cases of narcolepsy associated with one of the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccines. I demonstrate that anticipation around vaccine development during a public health emergency operates through a series of small shifts and twists that magnify affects around novel vaccines in news media discourse. I argue that even a slight shift in the biomedical knowledge about immunity or in the historical framing of specific vaccine technologies may significantly reshape vaccine-induced immunity as an object of anticipation