Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story author, and writer of a series of novels featuring the character Frank Bascombe.
90-579: Jennifer Haigh (born October 16, 1968) is an American novelist and short story writer in the realist tradition. Her work has been compared to that of Richard Ford , Richard Price and Richard Russo . Haigh was born in Barnesboro , a Western Pennsylvania coal town 85 miles northeast of Pittsburgh in Cambria County . She attended Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania , and earned
180-703: A Master of Fine Arts degree from the Iowa Writers' Workshop . She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for fiction in 2018. She teaches in the graduate program in creative writing at Boston University. Haigh's first novel, Mrs. Kimble (2003)— telling the story of a mysterious con man named Ken Kimble through the eyes of his three wives – won the PEN/Hemingway Award for debut fiction. Her short stories have been published widely in print and online journals, including The Atlantic, Granta , Ploughshares , and many others. Her short story "Paramour"
270-406: A classroom or living room. During puberty, if not before, the tip and opening of a male's foreskin becomes wider, progressively allowing for retraction down the shaft of the penis and behind the glans , which ultimately should be possible without pain or difficulty. The membrane that bonds the inner surface of the foreskin with the glans disintegrates and releases the foreskin to separate from
360-504: A clear sense of Bakerton's vitality, or lack thereof." Baker Towers was a New York Times bestseller and won the 2006 L.L. Winship/PEN New England Award award for best book by a New England writer. Published in 2013, Haigh's short story collection News From Heaven returns to Saxon County and features encore appearances by several characters from Baker Towers . It won both the Massachusetts Book Award and
450-465: A delay in the onset of puberty past the age 14 in females and 15 in males is Kallmann syndrome , a form of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH). Kallmann syndrome is also associated with a lack of sense of smell ( anosmia ). Kallmann syndrome and other forms of HH affect both men and women. It is caused by a failure in HPG axis at puberty which results in low or zero gonadotropin ( LH and FSH ) levels with
540-589: A former prizefighter and hotel owner in Little Rock, Arkansas , as he did with his parents in Mississippi. Ford's father died of a second heart attack in 1960. In Jackson, Ford lived across the street from the home of author Eudora Welty . Ford's grandfather had worked for a railroad. At the age of 19, before deciding to attend college, Ford began work on the Missouri Pacific train line as
630-629: A locomotive engineer's assistant, learning the work while doing the job. Ford received a B.A. degree from Michigan State University . Having enrolled to study hotel management, he switched to English. After graduating, he taught junior high school in Flint, Michigan , and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps but was discharged after contracting hepatitis . At university he met Kristina Hensley, his future wife and they married in 1968. Despite mild dyslexia , Ford developed
720-582: A long list of writers during the 1970s and 1980s, including Tobias Wolff , Ann Beattie , Frederick Barthelme , Larry Brown , Jayne Anne Phillips , and Gordon Lish . However, many of the characters in the novels about Frank Bascombe ( The Sportswriter , Independence Day , The Lay of the Land , Let Me Be Frank With You , Be Mine ), including the protagonist, enjoy degrees of material affluence and cultural capital not normally associated with dirty realism. Ford's writing demonstrates "a meticulous concern for
810-542: A male reaches his teenage years, erections occur much more frequently due to puberty. Erections can occur spontaneously at any time of day, and if clothed may cause a bulge or "hump". This can be disguised or hidden by wearing close-fitting underwear, a long shirt and baggier clothes. Erections are common for male prepubescent children and infants, and can even occur before birth. Spontaneous erections, also known as involuntary or unwanted erections, are normal. Such erections can be embarrassing if they happen in public, such as
900-440: A male's first ejaculation occurs at age 13. Ejaculation sometimes occurs during sleep; this phenomenon is known as a nocturnal emission . In males, testicular enlargement is the first physical manifestation of puberty (and is termed gonadarche ). Testes in prepubertal males change little in size from about 1 year of age to the onset of puberty, averaging about 2–3 cm in length and about 1.5–2 cm in width. The size of
990-582: A memoir, Between Them: Remembering My Parents . In 2018, Wildlife was adapted into a film of the same name by director Paul Dano and screenwriter Zoe Kazan . It was released to widespread critical acclaim. In 2020, Ford's short story collection, Sorry For Your Trouble , was published. His novel, Be Mine , was published in June 2023 and is the fifth —and presumably final— book in Ford's so-called "Bascombe series." Ford began publishing his short stories in
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#17327651113841080-438: A more developed body may also result in the refusal to undress for gym. These experiences lead to lower self-esteem, more depression and poorer body image in these early-maturing females. Furthermore, as physical and emotional differences set them apart from people in their same age group, early-maturing females develop relationships with older people. For instance, some early-maturing females have older malefriends, "attracted to
1170-598: A party two years after Whitehead published a negative review of A Multitude of Sins in The New York Times . Thirteen years later, Ford remained unrepentant. Writing in Esquire in 2017, Ford declared that "as of today, I don't feel any different about Mr. Whitehead, or his review, or my response." Puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child 's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction . It
1260-514: A serious interest in literature . He has stated in interviews that his dyslexia may have helped him as a reader since it forced him to read books slowly and thoughtfully. Ford briefly attended law school but quit and participated with the creative writing program at the University of California, Irvine , to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree, which he received in 1970. Ford chose this course simply because "they admitted me. I remember getting
1350-400: A skin condition that is characteristic of puberty. Acne varies greatly in its severity. Testosterone will cause an enlargement of the clitoris and possibly has important effects on the growth and maturation of the vestibular bulbs , corpora cavernosa of the clitoris and urethral sponge . Changes of the vulva initiated by estradiol as well as its direct effects also appear to influence
1440-479: A story collection —set mostly in Montana —that includes what remain some of his most anthologized short stories. Ford's 1990 novel Wildlife , a story of a Montana golf professional turned firefighter, met with mixed reviews and middling sales, but by the end of the 1990s Ford was increasingly sought after as an editor and contributor to various projects. Ford edited the 1990 The Best American Short Stories ,
1530-785: Is menarche , the onset of menstruation, which occurs on average around age 12½. For males, first ejaculation , spermarche , occurs on average at age 13. In the 21st century, the average age at which children, especially females, reach specific markers of puberty is lower compared to the 19th century, when it was 15 for females and 17 for males (with age at first periods for females and voice-breaks for males being used as examples). This can be due to any number of factors, including improved nutrition resulting in rapid body growth, increased weight and fat deposition, or exposure to endocrine disruptors such as xenoestrogens , which can at times be due to food consumption or other environmental factors. However, more modern archeological research suggests that
1620-419: Is a chemical used to make plastics, and is frequently used to make baby bottles, water bottles, sports equipment, medical devices, and as a coating in food and beverage cans. Scientists are concerned about BPA's behavioral effects on fetuses, infants, and children at current exposure levels because it can affect the prostate gland, mammary gland, and lead to early puberty in females. BPA mimics and interferes with
1710-425: Is a wide range of normal ages, females typically begin the process of puberty around age 10½ and end puberty around 15–17; males begin around ages 11½—12 and end around 16–17. Females attain reproductive maturity about four years after the first physical changes of puberty appear. In contrast, males accelerate more slowly but continue to grow for about six years after the first visible pubertal changes. For males,
1800-552: Is achieved at an average age of 15 years for an average female and 18 years for an average male. Potential fertility (sometimes termed nubility ) usually precedes completion of growth by 1–2 years in females and 3–4 years in males. Stage 5 typically represents maximal gonadal growth and adult hormone levels. The definition of the onset of puberty may depend on perspective (e.g., hormonal versus physical) and purpose (establishing population normal standards, clinical care of early or late pubescent individuals, etc.). A common definition for
1890-524: Is completed when an adult body has been developed. Before puberty, the external sex organs, known as primary sexual characteristics , are sex characteristics that distinguish males and females. Puberty leads to sexual dimorphism through the development of the secondary sex characteristics , which further distinguish the sexes. On average, females begin puberty at age 10½ and complete puberty at ages 15-17; males begin at ages 11½-12 and complete puberty at ages 16-17. The major landmark of puberty for females
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#17327651113841980-462: Is considerably more complicated than in males. The main steroid hormones , testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone as well as prolactin play important physiological functions in puberty. The production of gonadal steroids in females starts with production of testosterone, which is typically quickly converted to estradiol inside the ovaries. However the rate of conversion from testosterone to estradiol (driven by FSH/LH balance) during early puberty
2070-467: Is for African-American females and the latest average onset for high altitude subsistence populations in Asia. However, much of the higher age averages reflect nutritional limitations more than genetic differences and can change within a few generations with a substantial change in diet. The median age of menarche for a population may be an index of the proportion of undernourished females in the population, and
2160-464: Is highly individual, resulting in very diverse development patterns of secondary sexual characteristics . Production of progesterone in the ovaries begins with the development of ovulatory cycles in females (during the lutheal phase of the cycle), before puberty low levels of progesterone are produced in the adrenal glands of both males and females. Estradiol levels rise earlier and reach higher levels in women than in men. While estradiol promotes growth of
2250-415: Is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads : the ovaries in a female, the testicles in a male. In response to the signals, the gonads produce hormones that stimulate libido and the growth, function, and transformation of the brain, bones , muscle , blood , skin , hair , breasts , and sex organs . Physical growth —height and weight—accelerates in the first half of puberty and
2340-493: Is more likely to leach out of plastic when its temperature is increased, as when one warms a baby bottle or warms up food in the microwave. Nutritional factors are the strongest and most obvious environmental factors affecting timing of puberty. Scientific researchers have linked early obesity with an earlier onset of puberty in females. They have cited obesity as a cause of breast development before nine years and menarche before twelve years. Early puberty in females can be
2430-473: Is normal. In Canada , the average age of menarche is 12.72, and in the United Kingdom it is 12.9. The time between menstrual periods (menses) is not always regular in the first two years after menarche. Ovulation is necessary for fertility , but may or may not accompany the earliest menses. In postmenarchal females, about 80% of the cycles were anovulatory in the first year after menarche, 50% in
2520-418: Is often the second noticeable change in puberty, usually within a few months of thelarche. It is referred to as pubarche . The pubic hairs are usually visible first along the labia . The first few hairs are described as Tanner stage 2. Stage 3 is usually reached within another 6–12 months, when the hairs are too numerous to count and appear on the pubic mound as well. By stage 4, the pubic hairs densely fill
2610-483: Is the Vandenbergh effect ; a juvenile female who has significant interaction with adult males will enter puberty earlier than juvenile females who are not socially overexposed to adult males. The average age at which puberty begins may be affected by ethnicity as well. For example, the average age of menarche in various populations surveyed has ranged from 12 to 18 years. The earliest average onset of puberty
2700-478: Is the issue of body image . As they physically develop, gaining weight in several areas of the body, early-maturing females usually look larger than females who have not yet entered puberty. A result of the social pressure to be thin, the early-maturing females develop a negative view of their body image. In addition, people may tease the females about their visible breasts, forcing the early-maturing female to hide her breasts by dressing differently. Embarrassment about
2790-707: Is to delineate the ways in which we are all connected, for better and worse, by pipelines and electrical wires, coal dust and gas fumes. Bakerton is us, and we are Bakerton." Heat and Light won the Bridge Book Award and a Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters . It was named a Best Book of 2016 by The New York Times , The Washington Post , The Wall Street Journal and NPR . Several of Haigh's novels are set in Boston , where she lives and writes. The Condition (2008) traces
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2880-419: Is usually a firm, tender lump under the center of the areola of one or both breasts , occurring on average at about 10½ years of age. This is referred to as thelarche . By the widely used Tanner staging of puberty, this is stage 2 of breast development (stage 1 is a flat, prepubertal breast). Within 6–12 months, the swelling has clearly begun in both sides, softened, and can be felt and seen extending beyond
2970-432: The American Academy of Pediatrics states there is "little evidence to affirm the association between circumcision status and optimal penile hygiene", various studies suggest that males be educated about the role of hygiene, including retracting the foreskin while urinating and rinsing under it and around the glans at each bathing opportunity. Regular washing under the foreskin was found by Krueger and Osborn (1986) to reduce
3060-644: The PEN New England Award in Fiction. Heat and Light (2016) explores the effects of natural gas fracking on the now-devastated community of Bakerton. The novel was reviewed by The New York Times , The Washington Post , The Wall Street Journal , The Boston Globe , the Pittsburgh Post Gazette , and National Public Radio . A critic for The Washington Post wrote, "Haigh's achievement in this expansive, gripping novel
3150-481: The androgen testosterone is the principal sex hormone ; while testosterone is produced, all males' changes are characterized as virilization . A substantial product of testosterone metabolism in males is the estrogen estradiol . The conversion of testosterone to estradiol depends on the amount of body fat and estradiol levels in males are typically much lower than in females. The male "growth spurt" also begins later, accelerates more slowly, and lasts longer before
3240-612: The beard area. As with most human biological processes, this specific order may vary among some individuals. Arm, leg, chest , abdominal , and back hair become heavier more gradually. There is a large range in amount of body hair among adult men, and significant differences in timing and quantity of hair growth among different racial groups. Facial hair is often present in late adolescence, but may not appear until significantly later. Facial hair will continue to get coarser, darker and thicker for another 2–4 years after puberty. Some men do not develop full facial hair for up to 10 years after
3330-456: The epiphyses fuse. Although males are on average 2 centimetres (0.8 in) shorter than females before puberty begins, adult men are on average about 13 centimetres (5.1 in) taller than women. Most of this sex difference in adult heights is attributable to a later onset of the growth spurt and a slower progression to completion, a direct result of the later rise and lower adult male levels of estradiol. The hormonal maturation of females
3420-568: The follicles in the ovaries increase in size. The ovaries usually contain small follicular cysts visible by ultrasound . The first menstrual bleeding is referred to as menarche , and typically occurs about two years after thelarche . The average age of menarche is 12½ in the United States . Most American females experience their first period at 11, 12 or 13, but some experience it earlier than their 11th birthday and others after their 14th birthday. In fact, anytime between 8 and 16
3510-462: The morphologic changes in size, shape, composition, and functioning of the pubertal body, is the development of secondary sex characteristics, the "filling in" of the child's body; from girl to woman, from boy to man. Derived from the Latin puberatum (age of maturity), the word puberty describes the physical changes to sexual maturation, not the psychosocial and cultural maturation denoted by
3600-404: The pelvis and thus hips widen (providing a larger birth canal ). Fat tissue increases to a greater percentage of the body composition than in males, especially in the typical female distribution of breasts, hips, buttocks, thighs, upper arms, and pubis. Progressive differences in fat distribution as well as sex differences in local skeletal growth contribute to the typical female body shape by
3690-487: The "pubic triangle". Stage 5 refers to spread of pubic hair to the thighs and sometimes as abdominal hair upward towards the navel . In about 15% of females, the earliest pubic hair appears before breast development begins. Perineal skin keratinizes due to effect of estrogen increasing its resistance to infection. The mucosal surface of the vagina also changes in response to increasing levels of estrogen , becoming thicker and duller pink in color (in contrast to
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3780-517: The 1980s, which corresponded with an American renaissance in the short story that centered around Raymond Carver (1938–1988). So there was a tendency early on to associate Ford's stories in Rock Springs with minimalism and its offshoot, an aesthetic style known as Dirty realism that referred to Carver's lower-middle-class subjects or the protagonists Ford portrays in Rock Springs . "Dirty realism" and "minimalism" came to be associated with
3870-594: The 1992 Granta Book of the American Short Story , the Fall 1996 "fiction issue" of Ploughshares , and the 1998 Granta Book of the American Long Story . In the latter volume's "Introduction," Ford stipulated that he preferred the designation "long story" instead of the term "novella." For the publishing project Library of America , Ford edited a two-volume edition of the selected works of
3960-532: The Mississippi writer Eudora Welty , which was published during 1998. During 1995, Ford published the novel Independence Day , a sequel to The Sportswriter , featuring the continued story of its protagonist, Frank Bascombe. Reviews were positive, and the novel became the first to win both the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction . During the same year, Ford
4050-513: The action of estrogen—an important reproduction and development regulator. It leaches out of plastic into liquids and foods, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found measurable amounts of BPA in the bodies of more than 90 percent of the U.S. population studied. The highest estimated daily intakes of BPA occur in infants and children. Many plastic baby bottles contain BPA, and BPA
4140-448: The application for Iowa and thinking they'd never have let me in. I'm sure I was right about that too. But typical of me, I didn't know who was teaching at Irvine. I didn't know it was important to know such things. I wasn't the most curious of young men, even though I give myself credit for not letting that deter me." Actually, Oakley Hall and E. L. Doctorow were teaching there and Ford has acknowledged they influenced him. In 1971, he
4230-756: The autumn of 2012, he became the Emmanuel Roman and Barrie Sardoff Roman Professor of the Humanities and Professor of Writing at the Columbia University School of the Arts . As the new century commenced, he published another story collection, A Multitude of Sins (2002), followed by the novels The Lay Of The Land, —the third in his Bascombe series— in 2006 and Canada , published during May 2012. According to Ford, The Lay Of The Land completed his series of Bascombe novels but Canada
4320-554: The avalanche of guilt this tragedy unleashes in one devout family." Published just months before the overturning of Roe v. Wade , Mercy Street (2022) focuses on the disparate lives that intersect at an embattled women's clinic in Boston. A rave review by the novelist Richard Russo appeared on the cover of The New York Times Book Review . A reviewer for The San Francisco Examiner wrote, "These characters' story lines intersect in unexpected and moving ways. Haigh deftly walks across
4410-472: The books sold little, and Ford retired from fiction writing to become a writer for the New York magazine Inside Sports . "I realized," Ford said, "there was probably a wide gulf between what I could do and what would succeed with readers. I felt that I'd had a chance to write two novels, and neither of them had really created much stir, so maybe I should find real employment, and earn my keep." During 1982,
4500-425: The breasts and uterus , it is also the principal hormone driving the pubertal growth spurt and epiphyseal maturation and closure. Puberty is preceded by adrenarche , marking an increase of adrenal androgen production between ages 6–10. Adrenarche is sometimes accompanied by the early appearance of axillary and pubic hair. The first androgenic hair resulting from adrenarche can be also transient and disappear before
4590-421: The brighter red of the prepubertal vaginal mucosa). Mucosa changes into a multilayered structure with superficial layer of squamous cells. Estrogen increase glycogen content in vaginal epithelium , which in future plays important part in maintaining vaginal pH . Whitish secretions (physiologic leukorrhea ) are a normal effect of estrogen as well. In the two years following thelarche, the uterus , ovaries , and
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#17327651113844680-492: The candidates is an androgen receptor gene. Researchers have hypothesized that early puberty onset may be caused by certain hair care products containing estrogen or placenta, and by certain chemicals, namely phthalates , which are used in many cosmetics, toys, and plastic food containers. There is theoretical concern, and animal evidence, that environmental hormones and chemicals may affect aspects of prenatal or postnatal sexual development in humans. Bisphenol A (BPA)
4770-468: The completion of puberty. Under the influence of androgens, the larynx (or voice box) grows in both sexes. This growth is far more prominent in males, causing the male voice to drop and deepen, sometimes abruptly but rarely "overnight", about one octave , because the longer and thicker vocal folds have a lower fundamental frequency . Before puberty, the larynx of males and females is about equally small. The first physical sign of puberty in females
4860-480: The dissolution of a proper New England family when their only daughter is diagnosed with Turner's Syndrome , a chromosomal abnormality that keeps her from going through puberty . In his review of Faith (2011), about a suburban Boston priest accused of molesting a boy in his parish. Washington Post book editor Ron Charles wrote, "Haigh brings a refreshing degree of humanity to a story you think you know well, and in chapters both riveting and profound, she catches
4950-441: The edges of the areolae. This is stage 3 of breast development. By another 12 months (stage 4), the breasts are approaching mature size and shape, with areolae and nipples forming a secondary mound. In most young women, this mound disappears into the contour of the mature breast (stage 5), although there is so much variation in sizes and shapes of adult breasts that stages 4 and 5 are not always separately identifiable. Pubic hair
5040-581: The effects of an early or a late onset of puberty in males and females. In general, females who enter puberty late experience positive outcomes in adolescence and adulthood, while females who enter puberty early experience negative outcomes. Males who have earlier pubertal timing generally have more positive outcomes in adulthood but more negative outcomes in adolescence, while the reverse is true for later pubertal timing. Outcomes have generally indicated that early onset of puberty in females can be psychologically damaging. The main reason for this detrimental effect
5130-414: The end of puberty. On average, at 10 years, females have 6% more body fat than males. Rising levels of androgens can change the fatty acid composition of perspiration , resulting in a more "adult" body odor . This often precedes thelarche and pubarche by one or more years. Another androgen effect is increased secretion of oil ( sebum ) from the skin. This change increases the susceptibility to acne ,
5220-437: The enlargement of the testicles and scrotum . The penis also increases in size, and a male develops pubic hair. A male's testicles also begin making sperm . The release of semen , which contains sperm and other fluids, is called ejaculation . During puberty, a male's erect penis becomes capable of ejaculating semen and impregnating a female. A male's first ejaculation is an important milestone in his development. On average,
5310-642: The fault line of one of the most divisive issues of our age, peeling back ideology and revealing what all ideology refuses to recognize: an individual's humanity. This in itself is an act of mercy." Mercy Street was named a Best Book of 2022 by The New Yorker , The Washington Post and The Boston Globe . In November 2023, it received the Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award . ——————— Richard Ford Ford's first collection of short stories, Rock Springs ,
5400-415: The females' womanly physique and femaleish innocence." While having an older malefriend might improve popularity among peers, it also increases the risk of alcohol and drug use, increased sexual relations (often unprotected), eating disorders and bullying. Generally, later onset of puberty in females produces positive outcomes. They exhibit positive behaviors in adolescence that continue to adulthood. In
5490-443: The functioning of the lower urinary tract. Hair growth develops under the arms, starting out sparse before thickening and darkening over time. In a general sense, the conclusion of puberty is reproductive maturity. Criteria for defining the conclusion may differ for different purposes: attainment of the ability to reproduce, achievement of maximal adult height, maximal gonadal size, or adult sex hormone levels. Maximal adult height
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#17327651113845580-447: The glans. The foreskin then gradually becomes retractable. Research by Øster (1968) found that with the onset and continuation of puberty, the proportion of males able to pull back their foreskins increased. At ages 12–13, Øster found that only 60% of males were able to retract their foreskins; this increased to 85% by ages 14–15, and 95% by 16–17. He also found that 1% of those unable to fully retract experienced phimosis at ages 14–17,
5670-598: The job for only one semester. During 2008 Ford was an adjunct professor of the Oscar Wilde Centre with the School of English at Trinity College Dublin , Ireland, teaching in the Masters programme in creative writing. Starting December 29, 2010, Ford assumed the job of senior fiction professor at the University of Mississippi during the autumn of 2011, replacing Barry Hannah , who died during March 2010. During
5760-504: The life of Frank Bascombe. Ford was born in Jackson, Mississippi , the only son of Parker Carrol and Edna Ford. Parker was a traveling salesman for Faultless Starch , a Kansas City company. Of his mother, Ford said, "Her ambition was to be, first, in love with my father and, second, to be a full-time mother." When Ford was eight years old, his father had a severe heart failure , and thereafter Ford spent as much time with his grandfather,
5850-428: The magazine was terminated, and when Sports Illustrated did not hire Ford, he resumed writing fiction, composing The Sportswriter , about a failed novelist turned sportswriter who undergoes an emotional crisis after the death of his son. It was named one of Time magazine's five best books of 1986 and was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction . Ford followed up that success with Rock Springs (1987),
5940-517: The normal population. After the male's testicles have enlarged and developed for about one year, the length and then the breadth of the shaft of the penis will increase and the glans penis and corpora cavernosa will also start to enlarge to adult proportions. Erections during sleep or when waking up are medically known as nocturnal penile tumescence and colloquially referred to as morning wood . The penis can regularly get erect during sleep and men or males often wake up with an erection. Once
6030-433: The nuances of language ... [and] the rhythms of phrases and sentences". He has described his sense of language as "a source of pleasure in itself—- all of its corporeal qualities, its syncopations, moods, sounds, the way things look on the page". Besides this "devotion to language" is what he terms "the fabric of affection that holds people close enough together to survive". Comparisons have been drawn between Ford's work and
6120-466: The onset of puberty is physical changes to a person's body. These physical changes are the first visible signs of neural, hormonal, and gonadal function changes. The age at which puberty begins varies between individuals; usually, puberty begins between 10 and 13 years of age. The age at which puberty begins is affected by both genetic factors and by environmental factors such as nutritional state and social circumstances. An example of social circumstances
6210-588: The onset of puberty, and then decline to adult levels when puberty is completed. The rise in GnRH might also be caused by genetics. A study discovered that a mutation in genes encoding both neurokinin B as well as the neurokinin B receptor can alter the timing of puberty. The researchers hypothesized that neurokinin B might play a role in regulating the secretion of kisspeptin , a compound responsible for triggering direct release of GnRH as well as indirect release of LH and FSH. Several studies about puberty have examined
6300-534: The onset of true puberty. The onset of puberty is associated with high GnRH pulsing, which precedes the rise in sex hormones, LH and FSH . Exogenous GnRH pulses cause the onset of puberty. Brain tumors which increase GnRH output may also lead to premature puberty . The cause of the GnRH rise is unknown. Leptin might be the cause of the GnRH rise. Leptin has receptors in the hypothalamus which synthesizes GnRH. Individuals who are deficient in leptin fail to initiate puberty. The levels of leptin increase with
6390-435: The past, early onset of puberty in males has been associated with positive outcomes, such as leadership in high school and success in adulthood. However, recent studies have revealed that the risks and problems of early maturation in males might outweigh the benefits. Early-maturing males develop "more aggressive, law-breaking, and alcohol abusing" behaviors, which result in anger towards parents and trouble in school and with
6480-448: The phenomenon could be linked to obesity or exposure to chemicals in the food chain, and is putting females at greater long-term risk of breast cancer. Various studies have found direct genetic effects to account for at least 46% of the variation of timing of puberty in well-nourished populations. The genetic association of timing is strongest between mothers and daughters. The specific genes affecting timing are not yet known. Among
6570-505: The police. Early puberty also correlates with increased sexual activity and a higher instance of teenage pregnancy, both of which can lead to depression and other psychosocial issues. On the other hand, late-maturing males develop lower self-esteem and confidence and generally have lower popularity among peers, due to their less-developed physiques. Also, they experience problems with anxiety and depression and are more likely to be afraid of sex than other males. In males, puberty begins with
6660-431: The rate of puberty as it occurs now is the intended way. Growth spurts began at around 10-12, but markers of later stages of puberty such as menarche had delays that correlated with severe environmental conditions such as poverty, poor nutrition, air and pollution. Puberty that starts earlier than usual is known as precocious puberty , and puberty which starts later than usual is known as delayed puberty . Notable among
6750-499: The remainder were partially able to. The findings were supported by further research by Kayaba et al (1996) on a sample of over 600 males, and Ishikawa and Kawakita (2004) found that by age 15, 77% of their sample of males could retract their foreskins. Beaugé (1997) reports that males may assist the development of retractile foreskin by manual stretching. Once a male is able to retract his foreskin, penile hygiene should become an important feature of his routine body care. Although
6840-491: The risk of numerous penile disorders, however Birley et al. (1993) reports excessive washing with soap should be avoided because it dries the oils out of the tissues and can cause non-specific dermatitis . In the months and years following the appearance of pubic hair, other areas of skin that respond to androgens may develop androgenic hair . The usual sequence is: underarm (axillary) hair , perianal hair , upper lip hair , sideburn (preauricular) hair, periareolar hair, and
6930-544: The rootlessness and nameless longing ... pervasive in a highly mobile, present-oriented society in which individuals, having lost a sense of the past, relentlessly pursue their own elusive identities in the here and now." Ford "looks to art, rather than religion, to provide consolation and redemption in a chaotic time." Ford once sent Alice Hoffman a copy of one of her books with bullet holes in it after she angered him by unfavorably reviewing The Sportswriter . In 2004, Ford spat on Colson Whitehead when encountering him at
7020-690: The same city, where his wife, Kristina, was the executive director of the city planning commission. For a while Ford and his wife resided in East Boothbay, Maine . As of 2023, Ford lives in Billings, Montana where he bought a house. During the intervening years, Ford lived in other locations, usually in the United States, as he pursued a peripatetic teaching career. He obtained a teaching appointment at Bowdoin College during 2005 but kept
7110-481: The subsequent result of a failure to commence or complete puberty, secondary hypogonadism and infertility . The average age at which the onset of puberty occurs has dropped significantly since the 1840s. A 2006 study in Denmark found that puberty, as evidenced by breast development, started at an average age of 9 years and 10 months, a year earlier than when a similar study was done in 1991. Scientists believe
7200-466: The term adolescent development in Western culture , wherein adolescence is the period of mental transition from childhood to adulthood , which overlaps much of the body's period of puberty. Two of the most significant differences between puberty in females and puberty in males are the age at which it begins, and the major sex steroids involved, the androgens and the estrogens . Although there
7290-452: The testicles is among the parameters of the Tanner scale for male genitals , from stage I which represents a volume of less than 1.5 ml, to stage V which represents a testicular volume of greater than or equal to 20 ml. Testicular size reaches maximal adult size about 6 years after the onset of puberty. While 18–20 cm is an average adult size, there is wide variation in testicular size in
7380-404: The third year and 10% in the sixth year. Initiation of ovulation after menarche is not inevitable. A high proportion of females with continued irregularity in the menstrual cycle several years from menarche will continue to have prolonged irregularity and anovulation, and are at higher risk for reduced fertility. During this period, also in response to rising levels of estrogen, the lower half of
7470-540: The width of the spread may reflect unevenness of wealth and food distribution in a population. Researchers have identified an earlier age of the onset of puberty. However, they have based their conclusions on a comparison of data from 1999 with data from 1969. In the earlier example, the sample population was based on a small sample of white females (200, from Britain). The later study identified as puberty as occurring in 48% of African-American females by age nine, and 12% of white females by that age. One possible cause of
7560-412: The writings of John Updike , William Faulkner , Ernest Hemingway and Walker Percy . Ford resists such comparisons, commenting, "You can't write ... on the strength of influence. You can only write a good story or a good novel by yourself." Ford's works of fiction "dramatize the breakdown of such cultural institutions as marriage, family, and community," and his "marginalized protagonists often typify
7650-594: Was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. It did not win the prize but the selection committee praised the book for its "unflinching series of narratives, set in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy , insightfully portraying a society in decline." As in the preceding decade, Ford continued to assist with various editing projects. During 2007, he edited the New Granta Book of the American Short Story and in 2011 he edited Blue Collar, White Collar, No Collar: Stories of Work . During May 2017, Ford published
7740-430: Was a stand-alone novel. In April 2013, Ford read from a new Frank Bascombe story without revealing to the audience whether it was part of a longer work. By 2014, it was confirmed that the story was to appear in the book Let Me Be Frank With You , published during November of that year. The latter work consists of four interconnected novellas (or "long stories"), all narrated by Frank Bascombe. Let Me Be Frank With You
7830-714: Was chosen as winner of the Rea Award for the Short Story , for outstanding achievement for that genre. He ended the 1990s with a well-received collection of short stories, Women With Men , published during 1997. The Paris Review termed him a "master" of the short story genre. Ford lived for many years in New Orleans in the French Quarter , on lower Bourbon Street then in the Garden District of
7920-667: Was included in The Best American Short Stories 2012. Three of Haigh's books are set in fictional Saxon County, Pennsylvania, in the coal region of northern Appalachia , earning comparisons to Sherwood Anderson 's seminal short story collection, Winesburg, Ohio . In Baker Towers (2005), a mining family experiences the decline of the coal economy in the years following World War II . In her review, New York Times book critic Janet Maslin wrote, "Ms. Haigh, beyond being an expert natural storyteller with an acute sense of her characters' humanity, sustains
8010-561: Was published in 1987. In the United States, Ford received the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for his novel Independence Day . In Spain, he won the Princess of Asturias Award for 2016. In 2018, Ford received the Park Kyong-ni Prize , an international literary award from South Korea. His novel Wildlife was adapted into a 2018 film of the same name , and in 2023 Ford published Be Mine , his fifth work of fiction chronicling
8100-495: Was selected for a three-year appointment in the University of Michigan Society of Fellows. Ford published his first novel, A Piece of My Heart , the story of two unlikely drifters whose paths cross on an island in the Mississippi River , during 1976, and followed it with The Ultimate Good Luck during 1981. During the interim he briefly taught at Williams College and Princeton University . Despite good notices,
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