This book examines women as individuals, as family members, and as a force in the greater social fabric. It is multidisciplinary approach reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the field of women's and gender studies while providing depth of knowledge and experience.
This landmark text introduces readers to the field of women's studies by analyzing the contradictions between social and cultural "givens" and the realities that women face in society. Written collectively by nine authors from various disciplines, Women's Realities, Women's Choices, Third Edition, has been updated to incorporate the latest research and statistics in the field. Covering the most recent developments in politics, labor, family life, religion, and culture, the book also features extensive research on relevant social issues, such as the impact of the post-Soviet world on women's lives, the experience of homosexuality in family life, and the effects of economic globalization on women worldwide. This edition features a discussion of the cultural construction of women's bodies, the expectations of girlhood, new perspectives on women's partnering roles, and the serious health issues women face today. Boxes and pictures now contain more information on the current cultural scene, including material on popular culture and women in music. Examining women as individuals, as family members, and as a force in the greater social fabric, Women's Realities, Women's Choices remains the most timely, comprehensive, and compelling introduction to the field of women's studies.
This new Canadian edition takes a critical look at social and cultural definitions of gender while incorporating thoughtful discussions of women's realities within Canadian cultural contexts. Covering the most recent developments in politics, labour, family life, religion, and culture, whileincorporating Canadian issues and perspectives throughout, this is a broad, nuanced, and in-depth treatment of women's and gender studies in Canada today.
The 1992 American election saw more women running for office, at both local and national level, than ever before. The number of women elected increased by 50% in the House of Representatives and by a staggering 300% in the Senate. This book describes these key races, revealing the underlying tales of voter and institutional reactions to the women candidates and highlights the unprecedented levels of support garnered on their behalf.
This book is about abortion, but more specifically, about abortions sought due to a poor prenatal diagnosis or due to serious maternal health complications. This book contains 46 personal stories, each one from a woman who decided to interrupt a much-wanted and oftentimes much-planned pregnancy. There is very little societal support for parents who make this decision, which leaves most parents to deal with their sadness and grief alone. The purpose of the book is to share our stories in the hopes of helping other parents who have undergone a similar loss to feel less alone, less isolated, and less stigmatized. We hope to give a voice to all who have suffered a similar loss and to show that there are situations in which abortion is the most moral option. Although the focus of the book is to provide support to those who will make or have made a similar decision, we don't cast judgment on those who choose abortion for other reasons or those who choose to carry a pregnancy to term despite a poor prenatal diagnosis. We support all parents in choosing the path that is best for them. We support ALL choices.
Documents the key feminists who ignited the second wave women's movement. This work tells the stories of more than two thousand individual women and a few notable men who together reignited the women's movement and made permanent changes to entrenched customs and laws.
"Today, only twenty percent of Americans are wed by age twenty-nine, compared to nearly sixty percent in 1960. The Population Reference Bureau calls it a 'dramatic reversal.' [This book presents a] portrait of contemporary American life and how we got here, through the lens of the single American woman, covering class, race, [and] sexual orientation, and filled with ... anecdotes from ... contemporary and historical figures"--
This international anthology highlights the problems of violence against women through the experiences and analyses of individual women and groups from over 30 countries, as diverse as Papua New Guinea, Argentina, Tanzania, France, India, the USA, Scotland, Czechoslovakia and Tibet. Broadly divided by theme, the book explores domestic violence and child sexual abuse, sexual harassment in the workplace, women and torture, genital mutilation and the effects of male violence on women's reproductive health. It also looks at efforts initiated by women to find solutions, examining schemes such as the introduction of women's police stations in Brazil and Pakistan, strategies to change the law in the USA and Bangladesh, and the value of popular education projects in Canada, Jamaica and Australia.
This “essential read” (Gretchen Rubin) from the author of Savvy Auntie tells the funny, sexy, and sometimes heartbreaking stories of today's well-educated, successful women who expected love, marriage, and children, but instead find themselves in the “Otherhood” as their fertile years wane. More American women are childless than ever before—nearly half those of childbearing age don’t have children. While our society often assumes these women are “childfree by choice,” that’s not always true. In reality, many of them expected to marry and have children, but it simply hasn’t happened. Wrongly judged as picky or career-obsessed, they make up the “Otherhood,” a growing demographic that has gone without definition or visibility until now. In Otherhood, author Melanie Notkin reveals her own story as well as the honest, poignant, humorous, and occasionally heartbreaking stories of women in her generation—women who expected love, marriage, and parenthood, but instead found themselves facing a different reality. She addresses the reasons for this shift, the social and emotional impact it has on our collective culture, and how the “new normal” will affect our society in the decades to come. Notkin aims to reassure women that they are not alone and encourages them to find happiness and fulfillment no matter what the future holds. A groundbreaking exploration of an essential contemporary issue, Otherhood inspires thought-provoking conversation and gets at the heart of our cultural assumptions about single women and childlessness.