This article summarizes gender-related aspects of the current social security reform paradigm in the countries of Latin America's Southern Cone—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. The author, Fabio M. Bertranou, begins with a review of the main elements that justify dealing with various aspects of social protection—old age, disability and survival. Bertranou then provides a summary of the main performance aspects of these reformed social security programs in the countries of the Southern Cone region in terms of providing protection for the risks of old age. Results for substitution (replacement) rates by gender are provided for Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. The author also discuss other conceptual and empirical evidence produced by other international agencies such as the World Bank and ECLAC. Finally, Bertranou discusses some of the general implications for incorporating this dimension in the debate about public policies and reforms of social protection systems, particularly pensions and related programs.

May Fourth women journalists appropriated the discourse of women’s emancipation advocated by New Culturalists to shape their discussions of women’s suffrage, labor movement, and legal rights. The rhetoric of emancipation enabled women writers to redefine gender norms and legitimized women’s presence in coeducational schools, modern professions, and public spaces. The interplay between the discourse and practices associated with new women enabled women activists to embrace the subject positions opened by the ideal of the “new woman” and to appropriate the rhetoric of human rights to advocate the sharing of male power and privilege, while seriously exploring how to be women in the political and social landscape of an emerging modern China.

T his decade of the twenty-first century is a pivotal one for Catholic women. The Church is in turmoil due to many factors, not least of which are the recently uncovered scandal ofpedophilia, the decline of vocations to the all-male priesthood, and the current transition taking place within the papal leadership. The effect these factors will have on the role of women in Catholic ministry is yet to be seen. I propose, though, that the role of women in the Catholic Church does not solely depend upon external circumstances. The female laity does not have to wait meekly until the Magisterium sees fit to grant greater participation to its sisters in the faith. There are circuitous routes that can be taken to claim ownership of the reins of our collective destiny if we but seek them out. It is my contention that the stories o f our biblical matriarchs can shed some light on a proposed course of action for assuming leadership. They, like many women in the Church today, were marginalized by the traditional social and religious institutions o f their time. Yet, these women of scripture possessed exemplary faith, and the wisdom and ingenuity to work within the confines imposed on them by their culture and society. So, too, can the female laity of the modern Church maneuver within the institutional confines imposed on them in the name of "tradition." My approach will be a bit different from the usual ways of addressing the question of female leadership within the Church. In the first of a series of two articles, I will select and analyze particular women in the First and Second Testaments

In this articles the authors analyze pension rights in the national pension schemes of the European Union countries from a gender perspective by using the mainstream regime-type framework based on the work of Esping-Andersen. An important aspect of pension benefits is the extent to which they allow individual claims for benefits or ‘family’ recipients through derived benefits or household means testing. Individual pension rights refer to a person's own insurance record or residence-based rights whereas derived rights are based on a spouse's insurance record. From the gender perspective, the authors examine how policymakers have responded in pension policies to challenges due to changes in the gender division of labor and the reshaping of the family institution.

The increasing prevalence of obesity in the adult population has important implications for the health status of the population. Understanding the reasons for this increase will provide guidance in developing public health approaches to address the problem. In this paper we examine the changing relationship between educational attainment and obesity. We use annual cross-sectional survey data (National Health Interview Survey) of non-institutionalized adults aged 18 years or older conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control. Our results show that the educational advantage in obesity is declining. The prevalence of obesity among those with more than a high school education has increased at a faster rate than it has among those with less than a high school education between 1984 and 1994 (76 percent versus 41 percent among whites and 77 percent versus 27 percent among blacks). If the prevalence of obesity by educational level had stayed the same, the increased educational attainment of the population would have led to a decline in overall obesity prevalence. If the educational differentials in obesity had not changed, obesity would have been expected to increase from 11.77 percent to 15.62 percent of the population between 1984 and 1994, compared to the 18.21 percent observed. In contrast to expectations, the increased educational level of the adult population has not resulted in a decline in obesity. Although future cohorts of older adults are likely to be better educated, they also are more likely to be obese, leading to increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.

The issue of sexual harassment has gained in prominence over the last few decades. On some college campuses, this has resulted in attempts to put a ban on consensual relations between college faculty and students. Proponents of such a ban argue that students can never give consent, hence all sexual relationships are coercive and exploitative in nature. In this paper, I explore the issues of power and consent in student-faculty relationships, arguing that students can give true consent for such relations. I also examine some possible consequences of such a ban, arguing that eventually such policies will harm the very women they seek to protect. In conclusion, I assert that future debate in this area must be shaped by the results of empirical research rather than conflicting personal opinions.

As medicine increasingly targets and identifies obesity as a disease, it is important for social and behavioral scientists to participate in the identification of obesity origins which exist outside of the immediate individual in question. While scholars in the medical arena often focus on proximate factors contributing to ill-health, distal factors can be critical sources of public health problems such as obesity. This paper will highlight important distal factors found to be associated with obesity. Empirical studies reveal the allocation of resources and goods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, low fat-high protein foods, exercise opportunity, and education on nutrition, health, and diet are not equally distributed. Moreover, cultural attitudes toward thinness, health, and beauty are not universal but subject to cultural and ethnic interpretation. The unequal and often distinctly different distribution of goods, services, and knowledge has been directly linked to obesity disparity rates by race, social class, and gender. Policy recommendations and suggestions for future research conclude the paper.

We conducted an extensive literature search of both published and unpublished sources to assess the use and effectiveness of worksite interventions that offer financial and other incentives. Many companies are using financial incentives, either alone or in combination with other interventions, to motivate employees to adopt and maintain healthier lifestyles. These incentives include cash bonuses, paid vacation days, and health insurance rebates. Although more research is needed, the literature suggests that financial incentives, if properly implemented, may successfully promote behavioral change among employees.