bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Plastome comparative genomics in maples resolves the infrageneric backbone relationships
Authors: Areces-Berazain Fabiola , Wang Yixi , Hinsinger Damien D. , Strijk Joeri S.
Published: July 2020

Maples (Acer) are among the most diverse and ecologically important tree genera of the north-temperate forests. They include species highly valued as ornamentals and as a source of timber and sugar products. Previous phylogenetic studies employing plastid markers have not provided sufficient resolution, particularly at deeper nodes, leaving the backbone of the maple plastid tree essentially unresolved. We provide the plastid genome sequences of 16 species of maples spanning the sectional diversity of the genus and explore the utility of these sequences as a source of information for genetic and phylogenetic studies in this group. We analyzed the distribution of different types of repeated sequences and the pattern of codon usage, and identified variable regions across the plastome. Maximum likelihood and Bayesian analyses using two partitioning strategies were performed with these and previously published sequences. The plastomes ranged in size from 155,212 to 157,023 bp and had structure and gene content except for Acer palmatum (sect. Palmata), which had longer inverted repeats and an additional copy of the rps19 gene. Two genes, rps2 and rpl22, were found to be truncated at different positions and might be non-functional in several species. Most dispersed repeats, SSRs, and overall variation were detected in the non-coding sequences of the LSC and SSC regions. Fifteen loci, most of which have not been used before in the genus, were identified as the most variable and potentially useful as molecular markers for barcoding and genetic studies. Both ML and Bayesian analyses produced similar results irrespective of the partitioning strategy used. The plastome-based tree largely supported the topology inferred in previous studies using cp markers while providing resolution to the backbone relationships but was highly incongruous with a recently published nuclear tree presenting an opportunity for further research to investigate the causes of discordance, and particularly the role of hybridization in the diversification of the genus. Plastome sequences are valuable tools to resolve deep-level relationships within Acer. The variable loci and SSRs identified in this study will facilitate the development of markers for ecological and evolutionary studies in the genus. This study underscores the potential of plastid genome sequences to improve our understanding of the evolution of maples.
Maladies and Remedies in Using Information and Communication Technology Tools for Agricultural Information in Karnataka
Authors: Manjuprakash . , Philip H. , Sriram N.
Published: July 2020

The research was conducted to identify the maladies faced by the farming community in Koppal district of Karnataka state and to get the remedies for the problems by the respondents. The exploratory study was carried out in Koppal district of Karnataka state. Total of 120 respondents were investigated using pre tested interview schedule and the sample was selected using multistage random sampling. Four taluk as were considered for the study. Ex post facto design of research was followed.  The statistical tools such as frequency, percentage and further garret ranking were used to rank the maladies and remedies based on the interaction with the respondents. Lack of adequate skills in using ICT tools (89.20%), high cost of ICT tools (45.80%) and Fear of using modern gadgets or internet (25.0%) were the most severe technical, economic and socio-physical constraints experienced by the respondents. More training programme on how to use ICT (87.50%), opening of computer information centres at every village (68.33%) and provision of market information and website in reach of farmers (62.50%) were the suggested solutions to the identified constraints to the use of ICT in descending order. Unlocking the constraints to the ICT via the identified way out will enhance the livelihood of the respondents via adequate use of information.
Assessment of Rural Households’ Food Insecurity in Ekiti State, Nigeria
Authors: Toluwase S. O. W. , Ajiboye A. , Adekunmi A. O. , Osundare F. O. , Oluwatusin F. M. , Akinwumi A. A.
Published: July 2020

Attaining food security is one of the targets of the Sustainable Development Goals. Despite the various efforts made by governments, food insecurity continues to be a major developmental problem across the globe. Research shows that food production in Nigeria is increasing at a rate of less than 2.0% while the population growth rate is estimated to be increasing at 2.5% per annum. Therefore, this study was carried out to assess rural households’ food insecurity in Ekiti state, Nigeria. Descriptive statistics, Per-capita Food Consumption Expenditure, Probit Regression Analysis, Likert Rating Scale, and Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) were used to achieve the objectives. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 240 respondents used for the study. Results show that the respondents were in their active working age with an average age of about 46 years and marital status, educational qualification, primary occupation, access to credit, and age were significant drivers of food insecurity in the study area. Also, 68.33% of the respondents were food insecure while only 31.67% of the respondents were food secure. Seven out of ten generated perception statements developed were rated ‘agreed’ while the remaining three statements were rated disagreed. The results of HFIAS show that 31.7% of the respondents were least food insecure and 48.2% were moderately food insecure while the remaining 20.1% were most food insecure. Recommendations were made based on the findings of the research work that governmental and non-governmental organizations should make credit facilities available to the people in the study area in other to augment income inconsistency and policy measures that will enhance increase scale of production should be encouraged.
Growth and Survival of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) Isolated from Tuna Loins Produced in Côte D’ivoire
Authors: Sika Andrée Emmanuelle , Ouattara Lacinan , Yoro Dezay Thierry , Nevry Rose Koffi- , Djé Koffi Marcellin
Published: July 2020

Aims: The aim of this study was to study the growth of pathogenic strains of Escherichia coli (ETEC) in Tuna loins.

Study Design: Bacteriological study.

Place and Duration of Study: Laboratory of Microbiology of the Central Laboratory of Food hygiene and Agro-business (LCHAI), Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire between September 2014 and December 2014.

Methodology: Three strains of E. coli (enterotoxigenic strain of E. coli (ETEC), possessing both "elt" and "est" virulence genes resistant to amoxicillin from Tuna loins; E. coli reference strain (ATCC 25992); strain of E. coli (KO 13) from water with the virulence gene "elt") were inoculated in brain heart infusion broth (BHI) and in tuna loins for 120 hours. pH and bacterial loads of E. coli were measured to 0; 3; 6; 12; 24; 48; 72; 96 and 120 hours respectively.

Results: The results showed that the three strains of E. coli used in this work survived in liquid medium (BHI) and in Tuna loins even after 5 days (120 hours). The growth curves of these three strains evolved in the same way in liquid medium and in Tuna loins. However, the growth rate of strains of E. coli inoculated in liquid media (BHI) was higher than that of strains inoculated in Tuna loins.

Conclusion: Pathogenic strains of E. coli isolated from Tuna loins are a hazard to be considered in the microbiological risk assessment of the consumption of these Tuna products.
A New Common Fixed-Point Theorem for Two Pairs of Mappings in Parametric Metric Space
Authors: Bakhru Anil , Ughade Manoj , Gupta Richa
Published: July 2020

Our aim of this paper is to prove a new general common fixed point theorem for two pair of mappings under a different set of conditions using the idea of weakly compatible mappings satisfying a general class of contractions defined by an implicit relation in the frame work of parametric metric space, which unify, extend and generalize most of the existing relevant common fixed point theorems from the literature. Some related results and illustrative an example to highlight the realized improvements is also furnished.
Application of an educational technology in sepsis protocol in obstetrics units
Authors: Pantoja Laise Cristina Medeiros , Rêgo Héllen Cristhina Lobato Jardim , Lima Vera Lúcia de Azevedo
Published: July 2020

Objetivo: avaliar o impacto da sensibilização no setor e adesão ao protocolo de sepse em unidade de tocoginecologia. Método: Trata-se de uma pesquisa-ação no período de janeiro a março/2016, com 63 profissionais que trabalham em unidade de tocoginecologia de um hospital de alta complexidade. Resultados: 51% dos profissionais receberam o treinamento sobre o protocolo de sepse e após, 50% dos pacientes que tinham critérios de SIRS foram incluídos no protocolo de sepse, sendo que o desfecho de 03 destas, foi alta hospitalar e 02 foram transferidas para UTI devido sepse grave. O tempo médio de administração do antibiótico foi 50 minutos, da solicitação do hemograma foi 46,25 minutos e do resultado do lactato foi acima de 30 minutos. Conclusão: Ainda há necessidade de melhoria em relação à adesão pela equipe de Enfermagem para implantação de medidas de combate à sepse.
Translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the mixed methods appraisal tool to the brazilian context
Authors: Souto Rafaella Queiroga , Lima Karina Sotero de Araújo , Pluye Pierre , Hong Quan Nha , Barbosa Kimberly , Araújo Gleicy Karine Nascimento de
Published: July 2020

Objective: Transculturally translate and adapt the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool to the Brazilian reality. Methods: The methodology followed the 10 steps determined by the transcultural translation and adaptation process conducted by one of the Working Groups of the Special Interest Group on Quality of Life and the Cultural Translation and Adaptation Group. Results: o The test with the instrument was carried out from the development of two systematic systematic reviews. The translated version obtained a strong / substantial Kappa coefficient (k = 0.67), and was titled "Method of evaluating the quality of researches with mixed methods - Version 2011". The produced version presents structural and semantic components compatible with those of the original version, allowing good understanding and brings clarity in its content. Conclusion: the translated and adapted instrument can be an important tool for scientific production in Brazil, optimizing the production of systematic reviews in the different areas of knowledge.
The Prevalence of Female Rape Fantasy Blogs on the Tumblr Sexblogosphere
Authors: Tembo Kwasu David
Published: July 2020

There are numerous sex blogs on Tumblr. The scope and presentation of sexuality on said platform ranges from sex blogs that act as publicly or semipublicly accessible repositories of sexual fantasies, intersectional discursive spaces whereon cross‐sectional debates and forums concerning numerous aspects of sex and sexuality occur, informative spaces providing information, data, and personal testimonials concerning various aspects of the praxes of sexuality and sex, to the ostensibly pornographic. Within this ostensibly variegated digital milieu of sexual representation, the controversial topic of rape fantasies is recurrent, particularly within the remit of Tumblr's numerous BDSM, D/d, DD/lg blogs and communities. Referring to definitions of rape fantasies, their clinical interpretations, and the relationship between rape fantasies and the internet, this entry discusses both rape fantasies themselves as well as how these sexualities and their representation circulate online.
Rape Porn, Cultural Harm, and the Law
Authors: Vera‐Gray Fiona
Published: July 2020

“Rape pornography” describes pornographic content that explicitly depicts real or simulated acts of rape. Though debates about the regulation of pornography are far from resolved, in the United Kingdom rape pornography is classed as a form of extreme pornography and subject to legislation criminalizing its consumption. Introduced in 2015, the legal change followed widespread public support for a campaign led by a coalition of antiviolence against women organizations and feminist legal academics. Unlike the extreme pornography legislation itself, under which the “rape porn” amendment sits, this campaign argued against the concept of obscenity. Instead it oriented around the concept of “cultural harm.” The basis of such an argument is not one of moral objection, rather it raises important questions about competing rights and media representations: in particular how we balance freedom of speech and sexual practice, with the cultural implications of eroticizing violence against women and girls. In making visible the conflict that can exist between regulation, harm, equality, and freedom, the UK approach to rape pornography provides a useful, practical, overview of several of the key concepts that lie beneath the notoriously polarized porn debates.
Social Networks, Gender, and Political Participation
Authors: Sampugnaro Rossana
Published: July 2020

The mechanisms of involvement in political life, other conditions being equal, still vary with respect to gender. Social networks in real life (friends, family, coworkers, and acquaintances in political and social organizations) condition political participation and are very important to explain the engagement and the empowerment of women through their inclusion in the public sphere. Analysis of personal networks allows us to understand the different mechanisms contributing to the involvement of men or women and to observe the success or failure of these mechanisms in encouraging political discussion and participation. It may permit us to detect the causes of gender segregation with respect to participation. This separation emerges from analysis of the different patterns of relational dynamics with respect to the context. Similar considerations also invest the structure of relations in a digital environment, especially in a political dimension, which can be seen as an extension of relations and interest in the offline world.
Visual Representations and the Feminist Challenge
Authors: Toms Katie
Published: July 2020

This entry analyzes visual representation in a complex cultural landscape, juxtaposing a resurgence in feminist activism in the mid‐ to late 2000s with an intensification of online misogyny. It considers the internet as at once a key enabler of feminist activism and a disabler of progress toward equality for women, where a popular feminist zeitgeist is mirrored by a popular misogynist zeitgeist. It examines the significance of campaign groups such as Object and No More Page 3 and their impact on seismic shifts in UK media such as the move to a covered‐up Page 3 (The Sun) and the end of lads' mags. This entry draws on examples of feminist resurgence, such as the backlash against the “Beach Body Ready” posters and hashtag feminism, such as #MeToo. It examines key case studies of women who have been targeted by misogynistic online abuse, such as the campaigner Caroline Criado‐Perez, MP Diane Abbott, and Professor Mary Beard and considers coordinated campaigns of “male supremacy hate” such as #GamerGate and the “toxic technocultures” of men's rights activist (MRA) groups gathering on the “manosphere,” via discussion sites such as Reddit, 4chan, and 8chan. This entry scopes the current mediascape and assesses this deeply contradictory environment for women, seeking to understand this power struggle as part of the ongoing project to silence women who take up public space.
Vloggers
Authors: Berryman Rachel
Published: July 2020

This entry offers an introduction to vloggers, a label for individuals who film, edit, and upload personal videos (known as vlogs or video blogs) to the internet, most commonly to the video‐sharing platform YouTube. Through the self‐directed production of videos that foreground their daily lives, thoughts, and emotions, vloggers lay claims to representing the authentic, intimate, and “real” lives of ordinary people. In so doing, they offer rich contributions to our understanding of dominant cultural ideologies, including (though not limited to) gender. Adopting a historical lens, this entry considers the aesthetic evolution of vlogging as practice, the ongoing appeal of ordinariness, and the growing entrepreneurial spirit of vloggers within an increasingly commercialized (social) media landscape. With reference to YouTube's successful efforts to monetize user‐generated content, this entry draws attention to the ways in which vloggers reflect and contribute to normative performances of gender, and how gender can be seen to influence the dynamics of contemporary vlog production, reception, and success.
The
Yaoi
/Boys' Love/
Danmei
Audience
Authors: Madill Anna
Published: July 2020

Yaoi
, boys' love (BL), and
danmei
are all popular culture designations for male–male romance and erotica largely by and for women. This entry provides a brief outline and history of the development of
yaoi
and BL in Japan; slash fiction,
yaoi
, and BL in the West; and
danmei
in China. Fanbase demographics are provided for Japan, China, and the anglophone West. Research provides evidence that the fanbase is, indeed, predominantly female and, as often assumed, heterosexual but that the engaged anglophone demographic has a much “queerer” set of gender and sexual identities that appears to be the case in Japan and China. Challenges for
yaoi
/BL/
danmei
culture include legal remedies for copyright infringement and increasing attempts to regulate sexually explicit material on the internet. While male–male romance and erotica by and for women may be interpreted as having feminist and progressive potential, this is not necessarily the stated motivation for engagement by fans. Even so, importantly,
danmei
culture is credited with helping to raise public awareness of same‐sex relationships in China.
Zine Culture
Authors: Chidgey Red
Published: July 2020

This entry introduces girl‐made, feminist, queer, and antiracist zine cultures. It explores the characteristics of these self‐published texts, alongside their connection to third‐wave feminism and riot grrrl. It outlines three main approaches to conceptualizing disparate zines: as a site of identity construction; as a form of resistance; and as a lifestyle practice connected to a do‐it‐yourself (DIY) participatory ethos. Zines are part of a gift economy and an embodied community of readers and writers that persists even within the digital turn. While conventionally understood as an alternative to mainstream media, popular, and professional culture, this entry suggests the intersections between zine cultures and institutions, such as museums, universities, journalism, prisons, and archives.
The Teenage Bedroom as Cultural Space
Authors: Lincoln Sian
Published: July 2020

This entry provides an introduction to the concept of teenage girls' “bedroom culture.” It considers the historical context from which the concept emerged and explains why bedroom culture has primarily been considered as a culture in which girls engage. The entry then goes on to consider how bedroom culture has been explored in more recent years, particularly in the context of young people's highly mediated and global worlds. In this respect, bedroom culture can be understood as existing beyond the four walls of a bedroom and engaged in by teenage boys as well as girls. Finally, this entry considers bedroom culture from different angles, for example, how young people use their bedrooms as a space of cultural politics, identity, and activism.
Sexism and Misogyny
Authors: Savigny Heather
Published: July 2020

Sexism is the expression of a biological assumption of male superiority and female inferiority. In essence sexism is discrimination that is based in assumptions about biological sex which give rise to the belief that men are superior to women. Misogyny can be argued to be a more entrenched and violent expression of sexism. Both are enmeshed within, and a necessary condition of, patriarchy. This entry briefly explores the ways in which feminist media studies, theorizing, and activism have exposed and challenged mediated cultural representations of women, and in so doing, opened up space to challenge the norms which govern social norms and expectations of women and women's role within society.
Intersectionality in Sports Journalism
Authors: Dorer Johanna , Gouma Assimina , Marschik Matthias
Published: July 2020

Journalism was for a long time considered a man's business. But while this has changed significantly in the last few decades, the sports department, whether in a newspaper, on the radio, or on TV, remains one of the last male bastions, still characterized by a system of hegemonic masculinity. The few quantitative surveys that are available on sports departments show that only about one in ten sports journalists is a woman. If other criteria such as race and ethnicity and sexual orientation are taken into account in addition to gender, then one quickly reaches the perceptual limit: sports departments are still male, White, and heterosexual. This is expressed in the macho culture of sports departments, in male‐coded journalistic routines, and in the treatment of non‐White, homosexual, or intersex athletes. The few qualitative studies that have been published on intersectionality on sports departments to date paint a complex, contradictory, and ambivalent picture. Male, White, heterosexual journalists lack self‐reflection and an awareness of the unequal treatment of women or people of other races. Citing workplace professionalism, they reject measures to promote equal treatment in the sports department. They also believe that female or Black sports reporters enjoy extra advantages. With regard to reporting about homosexual athletes, sports reporters have a
don't ask don't tell culture
. In this way, male and female sports journalists uphold gender dualism and heteronormativity through a latent homophobia in sports reporting. A change in the entire sports‐media complex is therefore not supported by sports journalism.
Camp TV
Authors: Malinowska Ania
Published: July 2020

This entry analyzes the uses of camp in popular television, explaining the nature and working of camp aesthetics inside and outside of the televisual context. It presents a brief history of camp's transition to popular representation against the development of camp's cultural and theoretical meanings. The entry delineates the development of camp narrative/aesthetic techniques in cinema and star performances to further explore the manifestations of camp in television with respect to music videos and other forms of popular entertainment shows.
Disability, Gender, and Desire
Authors: Montgomerie Margaret
Published: July 2020

Disability is seen as impacting on gender and desire. This entry discusses the work of leading disability researchers who focus on the ways in which the discourses of normalcy and compulsory able‐bodiedness function to make people with disabilities seem different and distinct from their peers. Starting from a consideration of what is meant by disability we will then move on to investigate normalcy, media stereotypes of people with disabilities, feminist disability studies, disability, femininity and masculinity, and “crip” theory.
Domestic Labor in Popular
A
merican
TV
Shows
Authors: Harrison Mia
Published: July 2020

This entry examines the historical gender divide in the performance of domestic duties in popular American TV shows, particularly in traditional sitcoms. Housework in popular media is overwhelmingly performed by mothers, as particular kinds of work (e.g., cooking, cleaning, raising children) are coded as feminine. Yet social progression, along with changes to the labor market and economy, have meant that domestic responsibilities have shifted over the past century. Furthermore, the increase in representation of queer families and homodomesticity has challenged heteronormative constructions of the family unit, and meant that content creators must reconsider the relationship between masculinity and domesticity. Paradoxically, however, some have noted that apparently subversive representations of heteronormative families, femininity/masculinity, and domesticity actually work to reinforce hegemonic family structures. Thus, this entry tracks how representations of the gender divide in domestic labor have changed over time, and how such a divide has been subverted and reinforced by evolving understandings of the “typical” family.
Gender Representation on
T
urkish
TV
Authors: İnceoğlu İrem
Published: July 2020

Television is the most popular media in Turkey and it plays a crucial role in representation and reproduction of gender roles in society. There are a few research documents focusing on gender representation on Turkish television. The Turkish Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) owns great authority on deciding what is appropriate and moral for society and what is a danger and risk for national and moral values, hence, on‐screen representation of gender, sexuality, and sexual identity is of concern to this institution, which in return is leading to self‐censorship for channel management and producers of various TV programs. Studies show that there is a stereotypical gender representation on TV that traps women into sexualized bodies or desexualized mothers. Moreover, there is almost no visibility of independent women and LGBTI characters in TV dramas.
Gay Male Characters on TV
Authors: Stone Tyler
Published: July 2020

This entry examines the history of gay male characters on television from the 1950s to the present. While early gay characters were implicit and defined by stereotypes, explicit and nuanced representations emerged throughout the 1970s. In the 1990s, gay characters became increasingly ingrained into the television landscape with explicitly gay‐themed content emerging in the new millennium. This entry divides scholarship on this development into three broad perspectives: representation, industry, and activism. While each perspective centers on depictions of gay men, they offer different critical vantage points. The first perspective generally offers a textual analysis of gay characters; industry scholarship emphasizes the key role that macro‐level marketing practices play in shaping representation; and activism scholarship addresses the link between gay activism and gay visibility on television.
The Girl Child in Popular Culture
Authors: Lemish Dafna
Published: July 2020

The accumulated literature on the representations of the girl‐child in popular media has presented a systematic picture across cultural contexts, media forms and genres, audience age, as well as over time. Painted in broad brush strokes, it suggests that girls are relegated to the traditional gender stereotypes and inequalities that are so pervasive across the board. The discourse of
girl power
has been restricted mostly to the glorification of consumerism and the sexualization of girls, with an emphasis that puts pressure on girls to be perfect in all aspects of their lives. Romance and beautification continue to be presented as the main path to happiness and self‐fulfillment. At the same time, there is a trend toward change, evident in the media images of strong, smart, and adventurous girls who are breaking stereotypes and pursuing their aspirations. Diversifying these role models by race, religion, class, ability, and gender identity remains a central challenge.
Japanese Women in Popular Media
Authors: Koma Kyoko
Published: July 2020

This entry explores the changes of the image of Japanese women in popular media, from its initial representation during the first period of Japonism in the second half of the 19th century in France, until the modern day. Specific focus is given to Japanese media and some Western media. In particular, this entry discusses women's magazines, as it is argued that women's culture in the 1980s was mainly constructed through women's magazines. Women's magazines have continued to reflect/construct women's desires/identities, even in the contemporary digital media age. In Western popular media, the two Japonism movements around the beginning of the 20th and 21st centuries in France reductively represented Japanese women as being cute/kawaii, submissive, and sensual. Hollywood films have followed these representations. In Japanese popular media, the termkawaii(cute in Japanese) has continued to be used by Japanese women's magazines to construct diverse images of Japanese women. These images have changed the meaning of the term, even if the female main characters of Japanese TV dramas could be considered diverse according to their social context.
Masculinities andAmericanTV
Authors: Albrecht Michael Mario
Published: July 2020

Representations of masculinity on television have changed considerably since television became ubiquitous in the American home in the 1950s. These representations have fluctuated between traditional versions of masculinity and newer iterations informed by the second wave of feminism and the women's movement of the 1960s and 1970s. In the 21st century, myriad versions of masculinity circulate on television, reflecting the cultural changes and ostensible crises that have transpired since the 1950s. In order to account for the multiplicity of masculinities, television studies and masculinity studies have emerged as growing fields in the 21st century. These fields provide lenses for thinking about masculinity and television and theoretical frameworks for challenging versions of masculinity that work to perpetuate patriarchal values.
TVRepresentations of Mothers
Authors: Feasey Rebecca D.
Published: July 2020

This entry provides an introduction to the topic of motherhood and the media, taking notions of the “good” mother and the ideology of intensive mothering in the pronatalist period as its starting point, looking to the ways in which romanticized images of selfless and serene maternal figures are exploited and debunked in the contemporary entertainment marketplace in general, and the television sitcom in particular.
Transparent and Queer Politics
Authors: Parsemain Ava Laure
Published: July 2020

Broadcast on the streaming platform Amazon since 2014,
Transparent
centers on the life of the trans woman Maura Pfefferman as she transitions from male to female. One of the most trans‐ and queer‐inclusive television programs to date, it has been praised for promoting trans visibility and for offering positive and realistic depictions of queerness. Drawing on historical facts and on the expertise of trans consultants,
Transparent
aims to educate viewers by depicting the experiences of trans and genderqueer individuals as accurately as possible. As studies have shown, it challenges heteronormativity and explores the meaning of gender in an innovative manner, often in relation to age, ethnicity, and religion. In addition, the program seeks to empower women by crafting a “female gaze.” However, scholars and critics also highlight the series' limitations. Indeed, the Pfeffermans' privileged background, the casting of a White, heterosexual, cisgender man as the lead trans character, and the persistence of the “wrong body” narrative remain problematic.
Gender and Political Cartoons
Authors: Reist Wilissa , Trimble Linda
Published: July 2020

This entry introduces a powerful, yet understudied, form of gendered mediation: the political cartoon. Editorial cartoons are important instruments of political persuasion because of their prevalence on the editorial pages of both print and online newspapers, their reliance on gender norms and stereotypes as visual metaphors, and their capacity to express biting critiques at a glance. The extant literature shows how these texts symbolically annihilate women by omitting them from the picture altogether, or by minimizing their actions. When they do draw women, cartoonists situate them in the domestic realm or as bystanders to public life, reinforcing gender stereotypes and the public man/private woman binary. Tropes of exaggerated femininity and hegemonic masculinity seem to be the stock‐in‐trade of editorial cartoonists. Patriarchal norms and power relations are replicated in political cartoons, thereby questioning women's capacity for political leadership and trivializing their ambitions. Yet there is insufficient research, especially in the contemporary moment and in countries beyond the United States, to determine whether the increased presence of women as political activists and leaders has prompted changes in cartoonists' portrayals.
Marketing Women Political Leaders
Authors: Massuchin Michele Goulart , Marques Francisco Paulo Jamil , Mitozo Isabele
Published: July 2020

From the theory that in various democracies women struggle to achieve positions of leadership, it is fundamental to examine the marketing strategies for creating identities and offering visibility to female representatives, like the discursive tools used to show their power and capacity to lead. Thus, gender has an important role in considering the concepts of “permanent campaign,” “personalization,” and “populism.” There are positive and negative effects that political marketing can bring to the process of framing female representatives who already have to deal with disadvantage because of their gender to achieve higher political positions.
Newsroom Cultures
Authors: Geertsema‐Sligh Margaretha
Published: July 2020

Newsroom cultures around the world are dominated by a masculine culture. This is not only because men make up the majority of news workers, but also because of established news values and news routines. Men entered newsrooms long before women did, and women are still considered to be outsiders in what has been described as a “blokey,” “macho,” or “locker room” culture. Women are often expected to cover less important soft news stories, while men cover hard news. Men dominate at the top levels of newsroom hierarchies, with women facing the glass ceiling and unequal pay. Long working hours are a deterrent for female journalists, who often are also responsible for taking care of family members and children. Women face physical and online harassment, as well as sexual harassment, and are often judged on their youthfulness and appearance. Future studies should focus more on intersectionality as well as the experiences of nonbinary people.
Political Spouses
Authors: Harmer Emily
Published: July 2020

Political spouses have increasingly become the subject of public and academic interest alike. Scholarship in this area is still thin on the ground, and that which does exist tends to focus on political spouses from the Western world, who are mainly White and female. The vast majority of academic work focuses on the spouses of party and political leaders and is mostly preoccupied with the role of the US first lady. Research about political spouses in other countries is much scarcer and tends to analyze specific spouses at a given political moment, rather than providing a systematic overview of their role in political coverage. Many high profile spouses have received negative coverage because they have been deemed too political and interfering in affairs outside their public role. Recent scholarship looks at the ways in which political spouses have been mobilized in election campaigns. The increased presence of women leaders on the world stage requires more examination of the potential role that male partners might take on.
Researching Women's Television History
Authors: McCabe Janet , Liarou Eleni , Agger Gunhild , Akass Kim , Buonanno Milly , Chung Elaine , Delveroudi Eliza‐Anna , Esan Oluyinka , Horsley‐Heather Emma , Jackson Vanessa , Jedličková Jana , Kirsch Griseldis , Leman Joy , Mello Cecília , Mithani Forum , Stolyar Julia , Sawhney Rashmi , Turnbull Sue
Published: July 2020

This entry offers an overview of women working in television, historical patterns and contemporary trends, and a review of the different approaches to researching that landscape. Framed by the experience of a range of different countries (United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, Denmark, East Asia, France, Greece, India, Italy, Nigeria, and the United States), the entry looks at national patterns of employment and trends in labor.
Intersectionality in Sports Reporting
Authors: Dorer Johanna , Marschik Matthias
Published: July 2020

Sports coverage remains dominated by the binary system of gender dualism, which is characterized by a clear delineation based on the assumption that sports reflect corporeality: masculinity is always associated with strength, endurance, power and performance, and femininity with attractiveness. An intersectional perspective that incorporates race, ethnicity, class, gender, homosexuality, inter‐ and transsexuality, as well as nation, continues to be an exception in sports reporting. For this purpose, we surveyed 40 empirical studies, which were mainly conducted as individual case studies.

As a result, it can be said that male and female athletes who were not recognizable as White and heterosexual were for a long time represented in the sports media in a mostly negative and discriminatory way or were not even discussed. Only in exceptional cases was there positive reporting. The condition was that the athletes had achieved extraordinary victories while perfectly embodying the typical gender ideal—muscular male athletes or attractive female athletes—and that there was a strategic, mostly national interest, such as when an attractive Black female athlete was able to win three gold medals for the United States during the Cold War.

Since about the 1990s, there has been a gradual change in the media representation of athletes. Today, sports coverage of Black and homosexual male and female athletes is, on the surface, often positive. But on closer analysis, discrimination has only become more complicated. The emphasis is still on their presentation as the other, which does not conform to the social norm. If several difference categories overlap, such as male, gay and mixed race, there is still no positive coverage. The change therefore has not kept pace with actual sports practice, where even greater acceptance beyond traditional gender roles is already evident.
G
illard,
J
ulia
Authors: Williams Blair
Published: July 2020

Julia Gillard rose to the prime ministerial role in 2010 by challenging then‐sitting Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. As a result of the way that she ascended to the position, she experienced widespread media criticism that was unprecedented in its gendered and sexist tone. Such gendered and often negative coverage continued through the remainder of her term. Considering her relatively short three‐year tenure, there is ample literature written about Gillard's time as Australia's first woman prime minister, focusing in particular on the amount of sexism and vilification she endured from her opponents, the media, and the public. Key themes in this literature include the reportage of her prime ministerial ascension, the 2010 Federal Election, and her famous “Misogyny Speech.”
Mumsnet
Authors: Pedersen Sarah
Published: July 2020

The UK parenting website Mumsnet was established in 2000. It is the largest parenting website in the United Kingdom, and is predominately used by middle‐class women. It bills itself as a “site for grown ups” with limited moderation and a commitment to free speech, and its discussion topics expand beyond traditional “mothering” subjects to include topical news discussions, politics, and feminism. Academic researchers on Mumsnet have discussed its more or less supportive nature, formation of an online community, growing feminist voice, affective practices, and construction of a neoliberal and consumerist motherhood. Mumsnet is seen by both the UK media and politicians as being particularly influential with middle‐class mothers, who are key floating voters. The site has an active community of users and has initiated and is involved in a number of campaigns on topics such as legal aid, rape myths, better miscarriage care, the removal of sales representatives from maternity wards, and the sexualization of young girls. In recent years Mumsnet has been attacked for what is perceived by trans‐rights activists to be a transphobic culture, particularly on its women's rights and feminism discussion boards.
Gender and (Post)Socialist Media
Authors: Jontes Dejan
Published: July 2020

This entry provides an overview of the research on gender at the intersection of class and nationality in socialist and post‐socialist media. It examines research from some of the key authors from Hungary and post‐Soviet countries, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, which emphasize the specificity of socialist and post‐socialist media culture. In terms of the media, the entry focuses mostly on research dealing with television and women's magazines where both the questions of representation and of audiences are taken into consideration. Moreover, the entry covers some specific topics, such as the transformation of cooking in food‐related texts in women's magazines, and the representation of the body, both of which are emphasized in the research as especially important from the vantage point of gender. Research highlights how advice about food consumption, cooking, and housekeeping were used to construct national identity in socialism while also supporting some macro‐political projects in post‐socialism and how advertising in these magazines has changed since the 1990s. The research focused on television emphasized a different temporal organization of socialist television, the role of television in the Westernization of everyday life, and the complex and ambivalent representations of (female) working‐class TV characters in post‐socialism.
Sexual Harassment of and by Media Professionals
Authors: Steiner Linda
Published: July 2020

Revelations in late 2017 of decades of predatory sexual misconduct by Hollywood film producer Harvey Weinstein sparked an international campaign and movement to expose and ultimately prevent harassment across many work domains, including among many professions. Among the influential and/or powerful people accused of sexual misconduct were male journalists, as well as political figures who sexually harassed women journalists reporting on them. In most cases across the world, the men harassing women journalists and experts in public relations and advertising were serial offenders. This entry reviews the kind and extent of harassment of young women working in journalism, public relations, and advertising, or who were interns or job‐hunters; and reviews literature on sexual harassment as turning on the deployment of power (i.e., not lust). Most of the harassment was not quid pro quo; nevertheless, it did, following the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's definition of work‐related sexual harassment, explicitly or implicitly affect individual women's employment, and created an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment. The entry notes the kinds of individual and collective resistance to sexual harassment across media platforms, some of which went well beyond making public accusations, and the responses to that resistance.
Comic Book Heroes and Villains
Authors: Bucciferro Claudia
Published: July 2020

Women have had a presence in comic books since the 1910s, first appearing mainly in supporting roles and later as heroes and villains in various stories. This entry discusses the characteristics commonly associated with protagonists and antagonists, the feminist critique of these portrayals, and new developments regarding women in comics.
Text Mining in Gender‐Based Research
Authors: Yang Kenneth C. C. , Kang Yowei
Published: July 2020

Text mining has emerged as a social scientific research method capable of analyzing a large number of unstructured and structured data to generate useful insights. Many communication researchers have employed text mining techniques to identify words, phrases, themes, topics, and sentiments in multimodal data available from different media platforms. This entry overviews the concept of text mining, explains different text mining techniques and applications in gender‐based communication research.
Women Heroes in Video Games
Authors: de Bruin‐Molé Megen
Published: July 2020

Though they have often been marginal, female video game characters have been present, even playable, from the early days of the industry. From Metroid's Samus Aran to Lara Croft to Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn, this entry tracks the history of women heroes in video games with a focus on titles where the player character is female. Broadly speaking, the representation of women in video games tends to reflect the gender politics and assumptions of the gaming industry as a whole. Early games regularly hypersexualize their female protagonists, for the benefit of an assumed male, heterosexual audience. From the 2000s, as identity politics started going mainstream and the gaming industry itself became bigger and more diversified, we see a rise in customization: the player is able to choose their gender, race, body type, and—on rarer occasions—sexuality. And in more recent years, with the rise of the indie games industry, complex and powerful women are more frequently represented, both on‐ and off‐screen, as capable of carrying a successful franchise. Despite the increasingly nuanced and visible depiction of women heroes in video games, however, there is still much to be done in terms of the frequency, intersectionality, and paratextual framing of these portrayals.
Male Action Heroes and the Racialized Body
Authors: Soberon Lennart
Published: July 2020

In this entry the academic debates centered around the male action hero and the racialized body are discussed. Being known as a genre in which mostly hyperbolic male White bodies are on display, issues of gender and race representation are evidently of great importance in studying the action film. How different racial identities, such as Black, White, Asian, and multiracial bodies function within the genre, and how these bodies interact with discourses of masculinity, will be discussed. On the one hand, the different authors contributing to these debates navigate between a type of appreciation for how the genre has succeeded in giving non‐White bodies a more prominent place in the Hollywood landscape. On the other, a rightfully critical attitude to these representations is adopted, because too often these non‐White bodies are positioned as inferior into racial hierarchies favoring a form of symbolic whiteness.
Women's Magazines and Women Readers
Authors: Alexiou Artemis
Published: July 2020

This entry provides an introduction to the main works on women's reading practices, and women as readers/consumers of women's magazines. Much of existing research in this field is based on the Victorian fallacy that women are passive consumers of media texts. In contrast, this entry focuses on the small section of existing work that understand women readers as active participants in meaning‐making, specifically concentrating on the pleasures, otherwise termed “uses and gratifications” that women gain through the act of reading magazines. The entry begins with Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory, and then discusses Holland and Sherman's, and Flynn and Schweickart's work on women readers. It then explains that some women readers identify with the messages found in women's magazines, and some do not; yet, they all continue to read women's magazines. Gender‐focused research reveals that women readers obtain a plethora of pleasures though the act of reading/consuming women's magazines and this is one of the reasons that they repeatedly revisit this particular media genre. Other media and communication studies research also confirms that there are a number of motives, urging audiences to repeatedly consume specific media. However, it would be interesting to see an expansion on reader‐response studies of women reading women's magazines, especially through a closer consideration of context, race, class, and sexual orientation.