Suchergebnisse

This edited e-book is a collection of articles that explores 'rural realities' of country life in Australia for global audiences interested in rurality, health and well-being. By transcending disciplinary-specific boundaries, this multi-disciplinary book not only presents contemporary challenges, but also equips readers with evidence-based knowledge to improve resilience in communities and individuals facing key issues such as aging, depression, disability, environmental degradation, limited service delivery and social isolation

This edited e-book is a collection of articles that explores 'rural realities' of country life in Australia for global audiences interested in rurality, health and well-being. By transcending disciplinary-specific boundaries, this multi-disciplinary book not only presents contemporary challenges, but also equips readers with evidence-based knowledge to improve resilience in communities and individuals facing key issues such as aging, depression, disability, environmental degradation, limited service delivery and social isolation.

Understanding what prompts 'community-fit' (subjective feeling of alignment with one's residential community) is vital for retaining city-leavers voluntarily choosing to live outside major cities and for community well-being/prosperity. In Australia, city-exit is supported by decentralisation policy and media using imagery of gentrified rurality, wholesome communities, and affordability to assuage metropolitan congestion and address non-coastal rural-regional depopulation. This results in land development accompanied by population turnover as a few urbanites permanently relocate inland. By presenting a thematic analysis of interviews with city-leavers and government/industry professionals, this article identifies key factors affecting (dis)satisfaction with communities sought/left. Findings show community satisfaction is achieved through sociocultural-affirming social interactions, not property/amenity consumption. Hence, developing rural-regional marketing strategies that better articulate communities' sociocultural dimensions may increase awareness of place-based values/characteristics pre-relocation to avoid poor community fit and cost. Finally, to support resident retention, inclusivity practices accompanying community change are advocated.

This research employs qualitative methodology to analyze social change in business news articles of The New York Times. A random sample of 127 articles published between 1970 and 2000, discussing advertising news and containing one or more of the terms "Gay", "Lesbian", " Bisexual", "Transexual", "Transgendered" and "Queer" (GLBTQ), were selected. Feminist, Marxist, Postmodern, and critical theory is used to analyze social representation, cultural norms, stereotypes and levels of visibility. The "meta-theoretical" lens applied is a gendered postmodernism grounded in stratification theory that assuages the cultural-based critique of Marxism, overcomes the essentialist limitations of radical feminism, incorporates the pluralism of socialist feminism and delimits the relativist tendencies of a purer postmodernism. Quantitatively, gay men were found to achieve twice as much business news coverage as lesbians. Bisexuals, transsexuals, transgenders and queers were highly invisible. Overall, a change in the representation and depiction of corporate interest in gays and lesbians was manifested. This socio-historical analysis revealed a shift from deviantization and stigmatization of homosexuality to the commodification, and spectacularization of GLBTQs. GLBTQ invisibility is documented and the misconception of gay and lesbian wealth, created by market research, is addressed. Invisibility of GLBTQs is posited to be both an intentional and actively managed form of politics. Furthermore, business news reporting is argued to be less "objective" and more a political, social cultural and political activity where the media itself is a stage for the cultural contestation of social norms. This sociologically informed reading of business news articles details numerous case-specific instances where The New York Times contributed towards the proliferation of norms, values and beliefs characterizing GLBTQs. The New York Times is argued to be a contributor towards the creation of sexuality as a cultural product. Its representations of GLBTQs are seen as one manifestation of an institutionally created understanding of the "culture of homosexuality". ; Ph. D.

Contemporary sociological research indicates rural men face increasing pressure to comply with hegemonic masculine gender norms. Adopting Butler's poststructural theory of gender performativity, this study presents findings from qualitative interviews with twenty-five self-identified male Goths living in rural Australia, revealing how participants enacted masculinity and how rurality shaped gender performance. Despite participants' believing their Goth identity transcended geographic location, Goth self-expression of counternormative masculinity was met with societal pressure. Rural Australian communities were presented as strongly upholding normative, traditional gender expectations as most participants experienced adverse responses, namely, homophobic hostility, employment discrimination, bullying, and/or physical assault, which necessitated modification of gender performance for individual safety and well-being. Participants largely attributed negative reactions to rural communities' "closed-mindedness" in contrast with the "open-mindedness" they experienced in urban communities. Overall, participants believed urban communities in Australia and beyond displayed greater acceptance of diverse gender performances than rural Australia.