Saturday, October 6, 2018

Internalised White Ideal, Skin Tone Surveillance, and Hair Surveillance Predict Skin and Hair Dissatisfaction and Skin Bleaching among African American and Indian Women

Internalised White Ideal, Skin Tone Surveillance, and Hair Surveillance Predict Skin and Hair Dissatisfaction and Skin Bleaching among African American and Indian Women. Kathryn Harper, Becky L. Choma. Sex Roles, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-018-0966-9

Abstract: Women of Colour are subject to unique pressures regarding their appearance due to racialised beauty standards and the pre-eminence of White features (e.g., skin tone and hair texture). Through associated self-objectification, Women of Colour can face negative outcomes, including negative thoughts and feelings about body features, and can engage in potentially dangerous behaviours like skin bleaching. The present research investigated the connection between internalisation of White beauty standards and Women of Colour’s dissatisfaction with their skin and hair as well as their use of cosmetic products to attempt to meet White beauty ideals. Participants were 149 African American women from the United States and 168 Indian women living in India. Results reveal that internalisation of White beauty ideals predicted skin tone and hair texture dissatisfaction as well as skin bleaching. Results also suggest that these associations are indirectly mediated by surveillance of skin tone and hair texture. Findings are discussed in relation to self-objectification theory and representations of racialised beauty standards. These findings suggest that in order to reduce the negative effects of internalisation of White ideals on Women of Colour, White standards of beauty ought to be targeted and dismantled. Broadening of beauty standards and increasing positive media representations of Women of Colour may also be important.

How Does Traditional Masculinity Relate to Men and Women’s Problematic Pornography Viewing?

How Does Traditional Masculinity Relate to Men and Women’s Problematic Pornography Viewing? Nicholas C. Borgogna et al. Sex Roles, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-018-0967-8

Abstract: Problematic pornography viewing (PPV) is a growing concern. Based on a masculine gender role strain framework, individuals endorsing traditional masculinity ideology (TMI) may be especially drawn to pornography. However, relatively few studies have explored how TMI is related to PPV. Furthermore, no known studies have explored how these connections differ in men and women. To address these gaps, we conducted a large survey of 310 men and 469 women in the United States assessing multiple PPV and TMI dimensions. A bifactor structural equation model was used to regress PPV domains onto global and specific TMI factors. Invariance testing further examined the moderating effects of participants’ gender in the model. Results indicated that global TMI was unrelated to men’s PPV. However, men’s dominance ideologies predicted greater functional problems and excessive pornography use. Men’s restrictive emotionality and heterosexist ideologies predicted control difficulties with pornography use and using pornography to escape negative emotions. Additionally, men’s avoidance of femininity ideology predicted excessive pornography use and control difficulties. For women, only global TMI was associated with functional problems. Invariance testing suggested the observed gender differences were not due to underlying discrepancies in the measurement of TMI or PPV. Clinical interventions for PPV that incorporate gender role themes are recommended.

The ecological and evolutionary significance of Neanderthal healthcare: Care for the ill & injured is likely to have a long evolutionary history & to have been highly effective in improving health & reducing mortality risks

Living to fight another day: The ecological and evolutionary significance of Neanderthal healthcare. Penny Spikins et al. Quaternary Science Reviews,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.08.011

Highlights
•    In the Neanderthal ecological niche mortality risks from injuries were typically high.
•    Neanderthal record of care practices is biased towards severe cases.
•    Healthcare appears to have been generally low cost and effective in reducing mortality.

Abstract: Evidence of care for the ill and injured amongst Neanderthals, inferred through skeletal evidence for survival from severe illness and injury, is widely accepted. However, healthcare practices have been viewed primarily as an example of complex cultural behaviour, often discussed alongside symbolism or mortuary practices. Here we argue that care for the ill and injured is likely to have a long evolutionary history and to have been highly effective in improving health and reducing mortality risks. Healthcare provisioning can thus be understood alongside other collaborative ‘risk pooling’ strategies such as collaborative hunting, food sharing and collaborative parenting. For Neanderthals in particular the selective advantages of healthcare provisioning would have been elevated by a variety of ecological conditions which increased the risk of injury as well their particular behavioural adaptations which affected the benefits of promoting survival from injury and illness. We argue that healthcare provisioning was not only a more significant evolutionary adaptation than has previously been acknowledged, but moreover may also have been essential to Neanderthal occupation at the limits of the North Temperate Zone.