Weekly Roundup
Jan 13 - 19, 2025
ARTICLES AND ESSAYS
Declines in Triplet and Higher-order Multiple Births in the United States, 1998-2023
NCHS Data Brief, 2024
Abstract: Objectives: This report explores changes in the overall rate of triplet and higher-order births from 1998 to 2023 by detailed plurality, maternal race and Hispanic origin, and age. Methods: Data are from the National Vital Statistics System birth files. Triplet and higher-order birth rates (number of triplet and higher-order births per 100,000 births) from 1998 to 2023 are presented. Also presented are the number of triplet, triplet and higher-order, and quadruplet and higher-order births, and triplet and higher-order multiple birth rates by maternal race and Hispanic origin and maternal age for 1998, 2009, and 2023. Results: From 1998 to 2023, the triplet and higher-order multiple birth rate declined 62%, from 193.5 per 100,000 total births to 73.8; the largest declines were from 2009 to 2023. The number of triplet and higher-order births declined from 7,625 to 2,653. Declines in triplet and higher-order birth rates were observed for White non-Hispanic (71%) and Hispanic (25%) mothers, while the rate for Black non-Hispanic mothers increased (25%). Triplet and higher-order birth rates declined for all age groups 20 and older from 1998 to 2023, and the largest declines were for mothers age 30 and older.
Back to Stick Figures: How Woke Warriors Destroyed Anthropology
Reality’s Last Stand, 2025
The peer review system no longer works to guarantee academic rigour – a different approach is needed
The Conversation, 2024
Yale course asks: Can science ‘be made queer’
The College Fix, 2025
Boston U. ‘Queering Health’ class to teach ‘LGBTQ+ affirming therapies’
The College Fix, 2025
Conservative professor’s lawsuit against ASU’s DEI training may proceed, judge rules
The College Fix, 2025
In His Words, 2025
Changes in First and Second Births to U.S. Teenagers From 2000 to 2022
National Vital Statistics Reports, 2024
Abstract: Objectives: This study examines trends in the numbers, percentages, and rates of first and second and higher-order births to teenagers younger than age 20 and for those ages 15-17 and 18-19 by race and Hispanic origin. Methods: Data for this analysis are from the National Vital Statistics System birth data files from 2000 and 2022. Analyses are limited to births to females younger than age 20. Changes in the numbers, percentages, and rates of total, first, and second and higher-order teen births from 2000 to 2022 were calculated for all teenagers and for non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic White, and Hispanic teenagers. Results: The number of first teen births declined 67% and the number of second and higher-order teen births declined 79%, while the population of female teenagers increased 7% from 2000 to 2022. The declines were greater for younger teenagers compared with older teenagers. First and second and higher-order teen birth rates declined 69% and 80%, respectively. Similar declines were found for each race and Hispanic-origin group. In 2000 and 2022, first and second and higher-order birth rates were lowest among White teenagers. First birth rates were highest among Hispanic teenagers in 2000 and for Hispanic and non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native teenagers in 2022. In 2000, second and higher-order birth rates were highest for non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic teenagers; second and higher-order birth rates were more similar by race and Hispanic-origin group in 2022.
Patterns of marriage and divorce from ages 15 to 55: Evidence from the NLSY79
Monthly Labor Review, 2024
Abstract: This article uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) to examine marriage and divorce patterns for a cohort born in the years 1957 to 1964. By age 55, 87 percent of men and women had married at least once and 40 percent had divorced at least once; among those who had married, 46 percent had divorced at least once. On average, people had 1.2 marriages by age 55. We find that marriage and divorce patterns over the lifecycle varied by race, ethnicity, educational attainment, and work history. Black men were less likely to get married than White or Hispanic men at each age, with the gap widening as they got older. Similarly, Black women had consistently lower rates of entry into a first marriage than White and Hispanic women as they aged. College-educated men and women married at older ages than those with less schooling. Men with a bachelor’s degree or higher were more likely to marry and less likely to divorce than those with less education. Women with a bachelor’s degree or higher were less likely to divorce. Men who spent more years in full-time work were more likely to marry and less likely to divorce. In contrast women who worked full time in at least 80 percent of the years from ages 25 to 54 were less likely to marry than women who worked full time in a smaller percentage of years.
Total and High-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in Adults: United States, August 2021-August 2023
NCHS Data Brief, 2024
Abstract: Introduction: This report presents prevalence of high total cholesterol and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) by sex and age group for adults age 20 and older from the August 2021-August 2023 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Trends in the prevalence of high total cholesterol and low HDL-C are also presented. Methods: Data from the August 2021-August 2023 NHANES were used to estimate the prevalence of high total cholesterol (240 mg/dL or higher) and low HDL-C (less than 40 mg/dL). NHANES's complex, multistage probability sample is representative of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population. The prevalence of high total cholesterol and low HDL-C were calculated using survey weights. Standard errors were estimated using Taylor series linearization, a method that accounts for the complex sample design. Differences between groups were tested using a t statistic at the p < 0.05 significance level. Linear trends for subgroups were tested using orthogonal contrast matrices, and linear and nonlinear trends over time were tested using JoinPoint software and linear regression, accounting for unequal duration and spacing of survey cycles. Key findings: During August 2021-August 2023, the prevalence of high total cholesterol was 11.3% in adults, with no significant difference between men and women overall. The prevalence of high total cholesterol was higher in adults ages 40-59 (16.7%) than in adults ages 20-39 (6.0%) and 60 and older (11.3%). The prevalence was lower in adults ages 20-39 compared with adults 60 and older. The pattern by age was different in men than in women. The prevalence of low HDL-C in adults was 13.8%, was higher in men (21.5%) than in women (6.6%) overall, and declined with increasing age for both men and women. High total cholesterol prevalence declined from 1999-2000 to 2013-2014 and remained stable through August 2021-August 2023. Low HDL-C prevalence declined from 2007-2008 to August 2021-August 2023.
HISTORICAL ARTICLES AND ESSAYS
On the state of the classics in higher education
The New Criterion, 2021
The Impact of Prior Heterosexual Experiences on Homosexuality in Women
Evolutionary Psychology, 2008
Abstract: An abundance of unwanted sexual opportunities perpetrated by insensitive, physically and sexually abusive men may be a factor in the expression of homosexuality in some women. In the present study, we examined self-reports of dating histories, sexual experiences, and physical and sexual abuse among lesbians and heterosexual women. Lesbians with prior heterosexual experience reported more severe and more frequent physical abuse by men. Lesbians also reported more instances of forced, unwanted sexual contact perpetrated by men, and this sexual abuse occurred at a significantly earlier age. These data show that adverse experiences with the opposite sex are more common in lesbians than heterosexual women, and therefore negative heterosexual experiences may be a factor in the expression of a same-sex sexual orientation in women. We propose an evolutionary psychological interpretation of this phenomenon based on the cardinally different mating strategies of women and men that have evolved for maximizing the likelihood of reproduction.
Victimization over the life span: a comparison of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and heterosexual siblings
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2005
Abstract: Lifetime victimization was examined in a primarily European American sample that comprised 557 lesbian/gay, 163 bisexual, and 525 heterosexual adults. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) participants were recruited via LGB e-mail lists, periodicals, and organizations; these participants recruited 1 or more siblings for participation in the study (81% heterosexual, 19% LGB). In hierarchical linear modeling analyses, sexual orientation was a significant predictor of most of the victimization variables. Compared with heterosexual participants, LGB participants reported more childhood psychological and physical abuse by parents or caretakers, more childhood sexual abuse, more partner psychological and physical victimization in adulthood, and more sexual assault experiences in adulthood. Sexual orientation differences in sexual victimization were greater among men than among women.
RUBBISH BIN
Dress codes written for dietetics education programs: A Foucauldian discourse analysis
Feminism & Psychology, 2023
Abstract: Organized in the US in 1917, dietetics emerged from the discipline of home economics as an “acceptable” area of study for women. Since its inception, dietetics has lacked diversity; most dietetics professionals identify as white, cisgender, heterosexual, middle to upper-middle-class women. In the supervised practice setting, interns are expected to dress “professionally” and follow health/safety protocols. Given the field’s history, it is reasonable to suspect that dress codes—rules/expectations regarding what employees/participants can/cannot wear—for dietetics programs may be problematic. To explore this, we conducted a discourse analysis using a Foucauldian feminist approach, drawing on the notion of governmentality. Eighty-five dietetics dress codes, supplemented with survey questions, from US-based accredited dietetics education programs were analyzed. Three primary discursive effects were identified: “Invisibilizing” informs dietetics students/interns how to be professional and modest. “Protecting” highlights dress to promote health and safety. “Normalizing” privileges conforming to thin, cisgender, white European women of higher SES. These findings show how the dress codes reify a “model” dietitian and privilege/oppress/discipline some bodies over others, supporting criticisms of dietetics dress codes as discriminatory and oppressing/privileging select societal groups. Recommendations are provided to address biases and prevent dress codes from negatively impacting diversity/inclusion in the profession.
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I always look forward to this round-up, including the 'rubbish bin' section, which illustrates the extent to which pseudo-intellectual activism has been allowed to infiltrate academia. It should be possible to use AI to create a database of these charlatans as a starting point for cleansing the institutions of their filth.