In discussions about gender and mental health, it is easy to become focused on the differences of rates of psychological pathology between men and women — the “gender gap”. Often cited are statistics indicating that women are more likely than men to be depressed, women have higher rates of anxiety disorders than men, and men are more likely to be diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder than women. The very state of being a woman is a supposed risk factor for developing certain mental illnesses. However, gender and mental health have far bigger concerns than statistics and vulnerabilities alone. The very history of mental health and psychology is steeped in gender and stereotypes of gender differences.
Turning the Tables on Perpetrators of Sexual Harassment
The recent ruling of the Federal Court in Mohd Ridzwan bin Abdul Razak v Asmah binti Hj Mohd Nor (Civil Appeal No: 01(f)-13-06/2013(W)) has introduced the tort of sexual harassment into our legal system. This article was first published in Issue 2/2016 of Legal Insights, a Skrine Newsletter. Reproduced with permission of Skrine.
The Potential Risks of Surrogacy Arrangements in Malaysia
The Malaysian Government has, in recent years identified the health tourism industry, including reproductive treatment as one of the national key economic areas for promotion by the Malaysian Healthcare Tourism Council for increasing revenue for the country. This article’s focus will be on the civil law surrogacy vis-à-vis non-Muslims.
Media and the Framing of Hillary Clinton
The media play an influential role in framing and ordering our social and economic world. Their influence shapes the way we interpret and engage with our global community. In the wake of Hillary Clinton’s electoral college loss in the 2016 United States election, there has been much discussion on who or what is to blame. Recently, much of the blame has been placed at the doorstep of the media and the rise in fake news not only on traditional news platforms but also on social media.
The Heroine in Fantasy: A Reconstruction of Femininity, or Misguided Gendered Embodiment?
Using several examples of fantasy in media, this discussion aims to analyse how the heroine reconstructs the notion of aggression as a gendered stereotype, one that is commonly attributed to being solely masculine and patriarchal. By examining Martha McCaughey’s article “The Fighting Spirit” (1998), we can see that the binaries of masculine/feminine attributes towards violence have been realigned, giving women a sense of empowerment and redefining aggression as being feminine. However, this sense of female empowerment also has its setbacks, which will be discussed using Lydia Morrish’s article on the dangers of watering down the meaning of “empowerment” for commercial purposes.
Healthy Masculinities: Are You Sexy Enough?
Images and texts of men in the media play a key role in reflecting and reproducing scripts of masculinity which influence men greatly in guiding their everyday masculine’s roles. This article discusses the various forms of men’s health that are promoted in Men Health Malaysia a leading lifestyle magazine for men in the country. The findings are based on an analysis of 86 articles across two issues of Men Health Malaysia magazine in January and February 2015.