The image of women in the philosophical tales of Europe.

In this period of sanitary crisis - Covid-2019, the article investigates the fictional portrayal of women in Charles Perrault's and Voltaire's writings. By analyzing the tales, we examine the gender-specific elements put forward in the philosopher's prose and thus to define a possible contribution to current women rights. In an effort, first, to determine the historical and social context, a consideration of "the image of women in 18th century France" has been established. Then the author derives from the observation of several critical studies, emphasizing on Charles Perrault's and Voltaire's contradictory attitude towards women. Therefore, this chapter attempts to provide an intelligible answer to the question if the free-thinker must be considered as a misogynist or as a precursor of feminism. The main part of this paper presents a synthetic overview, as well as a descriptive analysis of the female protagonists' profile, followed by a discussion of a few remarkable main characters and, finally, a review of closely related themes. The study concludes that, despite the strong masculine values dominating his epoch, Charles Perrault's and Voltaire's fictional work, in its historical definition, can partly be considered as a key in feminist efforts.Copyright © 2020 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.

The Image Of Women In European Philosophical Tales

In this period of sanitary crisis - Covid-2019, the article investigates the fictional portrayal of women in Charles Perrault's and Voltaire's writings. By analyzing the tales, we examine the gender-specific elements put forward in the philosopher's prose and thus to define a possible contribution to current women rights. In an effort, first, to determine the historical and social context, a consideration of "the image of women in 18th century France" has been established. Then the author derives from the observation of several critical studies, emphasizing on Charles Perrault's and Voltaire's contradictory attitude towards women. Therefore, this chapter attempts to provide an intelligible answer to the question if the free-thinker must be considered as a misogynist or as a precursor of feminism. The main part of this paper presents a synthetic overview, as well as a descriptive analysis of the female protagonists' profile, followed by a discussion of a few remarkable main characters and, finally, a review of closely related themes. The study concludes that, despite the strong masculine values dominating his epoch, Charles Perrault's and Voltaire's fictional work, in its historical definition, can partly be considered as a key in feminist efforts.Copyright © 2020 Ubiquity Press. All rights reserved.

No relevant spectator impact on home advantage in male and female professional volleyball – a longitudinal multilevel logistic model analysis over 25 years

Home advantage (HA) regularly occurs in volleyball (Pollard, Prieto, & Gómez, 2017, p. 55.6%). To date, only small samples of mostly female matches and no potential drivers (e.g., spectators) of HA have been investigated. This archival analysis uses multilevel modelling to examine HA in professional German volleyball (men & women) over 25 seasons in all regular and play-off matches (N = 6833). We analyze how spectators drive HA and whether this projects to the COVID-19 season 2020/21. When intercepts varied between teams (2-level model, ICC = 27%), the winning probability increased when playing at home (men: 57%, ORmen = 2.39, d = 0.48;women: 55%, ORwomen = 2.19, d = 0.43), while controlling for team strength, interaction with gender, and travelling distance. More spectators had a negligible effect on the men's and women's chances (;d;<0.07). Similar trends were observed for the probability of winning sets. Contrary to other team sports (e.g., soccer), there is no HA-development over the last decades.

Sheds for life: health and wellbeing outcomes of a tailored community-based health promotion initiative for men's sheds in Ireland.

BACKGROUND: Gender is increasingly recognised as a critical factor in designing community-based health promotion programmes. Men's Sheds ('Sheds') are community-based informal environments that represent a safe space in which to engage cohorts of hard-to-reach (HTR) men in health promotion. Sheds for Life (SFL), the first structured health promotion initiative evaluated globally in Sheds, is a 10-week initiative co-designed with Shed Members (Shedders) and delivered directly in the Shed setting in Ireland. This research describes the health and wellbeing outcomes experienced by SFL participants. METHODS: Purposive sampling was used to recruit a diverse representation of Shedders (n = 421) participating in SFL alongside a wait list control (n = 86). Questionnaires assessing constructs of health and wellbeing were administered one-to-one in Sheds at baseline, 3, 6 and 12 months. Descriptive data for health outcomes were generated for each time point and assessed for significant changes using inferential testing, while considering COVID-19 impact. RESULTS: Outcomes related to subjective wellbeing, mental wellbeing, physical activity, social capital and healthy eating significantly increased post SFL (p < 0.05). Mental wellbeing scores (SWEMWBS) post SFL remained significantly higher than baseline despite COVID-19 impact (p < 0.05). Binary logistic regression indicated that the odds of a meaningful SWEMWBS change was significantly higher for shedders that had lower SWEMWBS (OR 0.804), less loneliness (OR 0.638) and lived alone (OR 0.456) at baseline. Shedders with lower SWEMBWS had higher odds of experiencing positive changes in life satisfaction (OR 0.911) and trust (OR 0.928), while Shedders who lived alone had also higher odds of experience positive changes in healthy eating (OR 0.481). Finally, inactive Shedders at baseline had higher odds of experiencing increased levels of physical activity (OR 0.582). CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that the inclusive, community-based SFL model is effective in engaging Shedders and facilitating positive and sustained changes in health and wellbeing outcomes. Using gender-specific approaches in the informal and safe environment of the Shed are effective in engaging men in structured health and wellbeing initiatives, particularly those who may be more vulnerable, isolated or lonely. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study has been retrospectively registered with the 'International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number' registry (ISRCTN79921361) as of 05/03/2021.

Generalized anxiety disorder during COVID-19 in Canada: Gender-specific association of COVID-19 misinformation exposure, precarious employment, and health behavior change.

BACKGROUND: Growing evidence has demonstrated the mental health sequelae of the COVID-19 pandemic. Few studies have examined how pandemic-related stressors and resilience factors of anxiety affect women and men differently in Canada. METHODS: Population-based data from the Canadian Perspective Survey Series (CPSS-4: July 20 to 26, 2020) were analyzed to examine the relationship between Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7) with COVID-19 misinformation exposure, precarious employment, and health behavior changes, after adjusting for socio-demographic variables. Stratified by gender, two multinomial logistic regression were conducted to calculate the likelihood of having minimal-mild anxiety (1≤ GAD score <10) and moderate-severe anxiety (GAD score ≥10), compared to no anxiety symptoms (GAD=0). RESULTS: Overall, respondents (n = 3,779) were mainly Canadian-born (76.3%), aged >25 years (85.4%) and high school graduate (87.9%). The population prevalence of moderate-severe GAD was 13.6%, with women significantly higher than men (17.2% vs. 9.9%, p<0.001). For women (n = 2,016), GAD was associated with being absent from work due to COVID-19 reasons (OR=3.52, 99% CI:1.12-11.04), younger age (ORs range from 2.19 to 11.01, p's<0.01), being single/widowed (OR=2.26, 99% CI 1.18-4.33), no past-week contacts outside household (OR=2.81, 99% CI:1.24-6.37), no outdoor exercise (OR=1.86, 99% CI:1.13-3.07). For men (n = 1,753), GAD was associated with frequent fake news exposure (dose-response relations: ORs range from 3.14 to 6.55, p's<0.01), increased time of watching TV (OR=2.62, 99% CI: 1.31 - 5.27), no indoor exercise (OR=1.91, 99% CI:1.07-3.42). For both genders, GAD was associated with increased intake of alcohol, cannabis, and junk/sweet food (p's<0.01). LIMITATIONS: Cross-sectional data prohibits causal inferences; self-reporting biases of GAD symptoms requires confirmation with diagnostic records. CONCLUSION: The gendered impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was observed in the associations between clinically significant anxiety with COVID-19 misinformation exposure, job precarity, and addictive behaviors in Canada. Mental health interventions need to be gender responsive and should tackle upstream social determinants of health in this public health emergency.

Benefits of Digital Health Resources for Substance Use Concerns in Women: Scoping Review.

BACKGROUND: Digital health resources are being increasingly used to support women with substance use concerns. Although empirical research has demonstrated that these resources have promise, the available evidence for their benefit in women requires further investigation. Evidence supports the capacity of interventions that are sex-, gender-, and trauma-informed to improve treatment access and outcomes and to reduce health system challenges and disparities. Indeed, both sex- and gender-specific approaches are critical to improve health and gender equity. Violence and trauma are frequent among those with substance use concerns, but they disproportionately affect those who identify as female or women, further underscoring the need for trauma-informed care as well. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the evidence supporting the efficacy or effectiveness of online or mobile interventions for risky or harmful substance use in adults who identify as female or women, or who report a history of trauma. METHODS: This scoping review is based on an academic search in MEDLINE, APA PsycINFO, Embase, Cochrane Central, and CINAHL, as well as a grey literature search in US and Canadian government and funding agency websites. Of the 7807 records identified, 465 remained following title and abstract screening. Of these, 159 met all eligibility criteria and were reviewed and synthesized. RESULTS: The 159 records reflected 141 distinct studies and 125 distinct interventions. Investigations and the interventions evaluated predominantly focused on alcohol use or general substance use. Evaluated digital health resources included multisession and brief-session interventions, with a wide range of therapeutic elements. Multisession online and mobile interventions exhibited beneficial effects in 86.1% (105/122) of studies. Single-session interventions similarly demonstrated beneficial effects in 64.2% (43/67) of study conditions. Most investigations did not assess gender identity or conduct sex- or gender-based analyses. Only 13 investigations that included trauma were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the overall promise of digital health interventions for substance use concerns, direct or quantitative evidence on the efficacy or effectiveness of interventions in females or women specifically is weak.

Gender-related sociocultural differences and COVID-19: what influence on the effects of the pandemic?

In the first stages of the pandemic, the adverse outcomes of COVID-19 were significantly higher in men than in women most likely as the effect of biological, hormonal, metabolic differences between the two sexes. However, gender-related differences in lifestyles and social roles can also greatly influence the course of disease. To fully understand the influence of gender in the COVID-19 outbreak, the collection and dissemination of disaggregated data must be enhanced to allow a better knowledge of the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection in men and women, not only from a biomedical point of view, but also considering the risk factors associated with the different roles that they play in the society.

COVID-19 Lockdown Restrictions and Online Media Consumption in Germany.

The lockdown restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have led to increased stress levels and feelings of anxiety in the general population. Problematic usage of certain online applications is one frequent way to compensate for negative feelings and stress. The current study investigated changes of online media consumption during the lockdown in Germany. Gender and age specific differences in specific online activities were assessed. n = 3245 subjects participated in an online survey conducted between the 8th April and the 11th May 2020. Participants' age ranged between 18 and >55 years. A considerably high percentage (71.4%) of participants reported increased online media consumption during the lockdown. Male participants were more likely to increase their consumption of gaming and erotic platforms, while female participants reported a higher increase in the engagement in social networks, information research, and video streaming than males. The findings revealed an increased usage of all online applications during the lockdown. For the clarification whether the increase might present a risk for elevated Internet-use disorders or can be regarded as a functional and time-limited phenomenon, further studies, assessing changes in these online activities after the end of the pandemic, are needed.