Lori Baralt - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Lori Baralt

Inspired by feminist narrative and the Latin American tradition of testimonio, this paper is grou... more Inspired by feminist narrative and the Latin American tradition of testimonio, this paper is grounded in the lived experiences of the four authors as academics, mothers, and organizers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on women of color feminisms and theorizing anti-racist feminist understandings of motherhood as a political identity, we examine how the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated challenges faced by parenting and caregiving faculty, especially those positioned at the intersection of multiple structural vulnerabilities. The COVID-19 tipping point presented both unsustainable challenges for parenting and caregiving faculty and opportunities for collective support and organizing as parents and caregivers. We participated in collective organizing with other academic parents and caregivers, most of whom are mothers, as we shared our struggles and organized to respond to changing conditions. We examine the ways in which undervalued, gendered, and racialized labor in the workplace merged with unpaid gendered labor in the home, highlighting how the pandemic brought caregivers-those providing care through their undervalued paid labor and unpaid household labor-to a crisis point. We also highlight the ways in which the organizing that began around parenting and caregiving faculty, who have been disproportionately overburdened during the pandemic, was in addition to and in the context of ongoing activism around other forms of structural violence. Finally, we conclude with a call for structural change at the institutional level to address the exacerbated racialized and gendered equity gap caused by the pandemic.

SAGE Publications, Inc. eBooks, 2007

Environmental Health Perspectives, May 1, 2011

In the article "Scented Products Emit a Bouquet of VOCs," Potera (2011) gave a broad overview of ... more In the article "Scented Products Emit a Bouquet of VOCs," Potera (2011) gave a broad overview of the work of Steinemann et al. (2010) regarding the quantification of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from fragranced products. Unfortunately, crucial facts were omitted about the materials cited and the use of alternative substances. Potera (2011) quoted Steinemann et al. (2010), noting that some of the VOCs detected "are classified as toxic or hazardous by federal laws" and "a single fragrance in a product can. .. react with ozone in ambient air to form dangerous secondary pollutants." Potera stated that limonene reacts with ozone to form formaldehyde but failed to mention that both limonene and pinene are naturally occurring materials found in citrus fruits and pine trees, respectively (Wei and Shibamoto 2007). Fragrance materials are naturally volatile; otherwise, they would not be detectable (Cometto-Muñiz et al. 1998). Langer et al. (2008) showed that exposure to limonene from peeling an orange is far greater than using limonene-scented cleaning products. These authors further showed that secondary organic pollutants formed from cleaning products exist in the lowest range of exposure and that a higher concentration of particulates is formed by peeling an orange. Potera (2011) quoted Steinemann et al. (2010), noting that "133 unique VOCs [were] identified among 25 products"; however, not all of the 133 VOCs are used as fragrance materials. For example, the highest reported concentration of d-limonene was 135 mg/m 3 (unidentified air freshener) in an experi ment using conditions completely atypical of consumer use (Steinemann et al. 2010). Although, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not issue safe exposure limits, they report those from other agencies [National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH)]. As of today, none of these agencies has issued a limit value for d-limonene. Germany (NIOSH 2005) and Sweden (International Agency for Research on Cancer 1999) have established limits for d-limonene of 110 mg/m 3 and 150 mg/m 3 , respectively. Even under the adverse testing conditions reported by Steinemann et al. (2010), the d-limonene concentration of 135 mg/m 3 still falls within safe exposure.

Womens Health Issues, Nov 1, 2012

In the midst of the many political attacks against Planned Parenthood and abortion rights over th... more In the midst of the many political attacks against Planned Parenthood and abortion rights over the past year (Guttmacher Institute, 2012b), the news that Komen for the Cure was halting future funding to Planned Parenthood for breast cancer screening and breast health education still managed to create shock waves among women’s health advocates and the general public. Within hours of the news breaking, social media sites erupted with the sounds of outrage and significant pressure was placed on Komen to reverse its decision (Gates, 2012; Lynch, 2012b; Preston & Harris, 2012). As the national interest in the controversy grew, news outlets began to focus on the socially conservative employee within Komen who was seen as engineering a new policy to provide cover for the defunding of Planned Parenthood (Lynch, 2012a). Unable to withstand the pressure or fearful of growing public backlash, Komen reversed its decisions and amended its policy to allow Planned Parenthood to continue to be eligible for new awards (Belluck, Preston, & Harris, 2012). Soon the media coverage declined and the world of online pundits turned to trying to assess the damage done to the Komen brand and the implications of the debate for Washington politics (Cohen, 2012; Sauer, 2012; Sutton, 2012). What remained unaddressed in the media frenzy surrounding the Komen–Planned Parenthood faceoff was the reality that breast cancer, and Komen’s approach to breast cancer advocacy, have a history of politicization (King, 2006;

Journal of Religion & Health, Jun 26, 2017

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between religiosity and sexual and repr... more The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between religiosity and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) knowledge and awareness of campus SRH services among college students on a racially and ethnically diverse college campus. The sample included 996 undergraduate students at a large public university in California. For women, there was a consistent pattern across religious affiliations of more frequent attenders reporting lower SRH knowledge than less frequent attenders. These findings suggest that higher rates of religious attendance among Catholic, Protestant, and Evangelical women pose a risk for lower SRH knowledge. The results suggest the need for SRH outreach and educational materials targeting men in general, who had lower levels of SRH knowledge and awareness of SRH services overall, and taking religiosity into account, particularly with regard to women. Keywords Religious affiliation Á Religious attendance Á College students Á Sexual and reproductive health Á Sexual and reproductive health knowledge Á Sexual and reproductive health services

UMI, ProQuest ® Dissertations & Theses. The world's most comprehensive collectio... more UMI, ProQuest ® Dissertations & Theses. The world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses. Learn more... ProQuest, Health social movements in a transnational context: Racing around the world for a cure. ...

Ba c k g r o u n d: The Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project was the first federally funded st... more Ba c k g r o u n d: The Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project was the first federally funded study of environmental causes of breast cancer. Although advocates were expected to participate in this study, the details of their participation were not adequately clarified in project guidelines, which resulted in confusion over their role in the project. The Breast Cancer and Environment Research Centers (BCERCs) are funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute; these centers continue to conduct research into environmental links to breast cancer and to clarify advocate–scientist guidelines for collaboration. Objectives: Practitioners in community-based participatory research (CBPR) are grappling with how to improve CBPR projects for all groups involved in breast cancer and environmental studies. The ever-growing body of literature on CBPR elaborates on a number of factors that make CBPR particularly challenging, specifically regard...

Sociological Perspectives, 2020

In this paper, we identify and discuss several important themes surrounding gender among millenni... more In this paper, we identify and discuss several important themes surrounding gender among millennials in the context of growing inequality covering various topics from college classrooms to cross-national settings. Findings of our paper suggest that we need to understand social contexts and challenges faced by millennials. For example, millennials, both men and women alike, are affected by a rise in socioeconomic inequality and show pessimistic attitudes about the future. In addition, millennials hold more progressive gender beliefs than previous generations, but the cultural belief about individual responsibility still remains and works as one of the reasons for persistent gender inequality. Most importantly, in spite of the diversity in topics, research methods, and study context, all research included in this paper indicates the importance of viewing the issue of gender inequality in a broad social context through a structural lens and an intersectional perspective. We conclude wi...

Society & Animals, 2004

The furor and public outrage surrounding the release of a fictionalized video in which naked wome... more The furor and public outrage surrounding the release of a fictionalized video in which naked women are hunted down and shot with paintball guns ("Hunting for Bambi") inspired this paper. Arguing that distressing representations of hunting as a sexually charged activity are resilient popular culture images, this paper examines the theoretical framework that links hunting with sex and women with animals and the empirical evidence of such linkages in the hunting discourse of a popular newsstand periodical. Contemporary feminist theory often connects hunting with sex and women with animals. This paper details clear evidence of the juxtaposition of hunting, sex, women, and animals in the photographs, narratives, and advertisements of a random sampling of Traditional Bowhunter magazines (1992-2003). Particularly prominent in the magazines' hunting discourse is the sexualization of animals, women, and weapons, as if the three are interchangeable sexual bodies in narratives of...

Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 2010

Within the literature examining media depictions of crime and the criminal justice system, very l... more Within the literature examining media depictions of crime and the criminal justice system, very little attention has been paid to the ways in which harms to the environment and human health have been constructed. This is not entirely surprising, given that the discipline of criminology has been reticent in addressing environmental harm more generally. This gap in the criminological imagination is beginning to be addressed within the growing field of green criminology, which seeks to focus attention on environmental harms as an important area of criminological investigation. Using a green criminological lens, this paper examines the case of mercury-contaminated fish as depicted in the Globe and Mail and New York Times from 2003 through 2008. Through qualitative content analysis, we examine the construction of responsibility for mercury contamination and for mitigating the attendant risks. We find that, in explaining the contamination of fish, both newspapers problematize the regulati...

Journal of Feminist Scholarship