Feminism and feminist theory Books

Book SynopsisThe obese' female body has often been portrayed as the other' to the slender body. However, this process of othering', or viewing as different, has created a repressive discourse, where excess' has increasingly come to be studied as a physical abnormality' or a signifier of a personality defect' in contemporary Western society. This book engages with the multifarious re-imaginings of the excessive' embodiment in contemporary women's writing, drawing specifically on the construction of this form of embodiment in the works of Fay Weldon, Jeanette Winterson, Margaret Atwood, Claude Tardat, and Judith Moore, whose texts offer a distinct literary response to the rigidly homogeneous and limiting representations of fatness, while prompting heterogeneous approaches to reading the excessive' female embodiment.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction: Difference of the Different: Challenges to the Homogenisation of 'Fatness' in Contemporary Western Culture 1. 'A comic turn, turned serious': Reading the Female Embodiment in Romance, the Trickster and the Cyborg in The Life and Loves of a She-Devil 2. 'I still think it was poetic': The Poetics and Politics of Hyperbole in Sexing the Cherry 3. Mothers, Daughters and 'Excess' in Lady Oracle and Sweet Death Conclusion: 'I am sorry I am so fat': A Narrative of 'Excess' in Fat Girl: A True Story Bibliography Primary Sources Secondary Sources Internet Resources

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe text surveys the position of Hindu women and suggests solutions for present-day problems related to childhood, education, marriage, divorce, widowhood, public life, religion, property rights, dress, and general attitudes towards women.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThrough meticulous research and compelling narratives, it brings to light how women have silently but forcefully asserted their gender identity during the period of militancy. The book serves as a powerful testament to the indomitable spirit of women in their pursuit of agency and equality.

Read more less

Book SynopsisAre the rules that define women leaders in Asia different from those in the West? How are women leaders perceived across Asia? What are the cultural barriers and biases that they grapple with? How is ambition displayed and aspiration cloaked?These are some of the questions addressed in How Women Work: Fitting In and Standing Out in Asia.From China to India, Singapore to the Philippines and Japan to Thailand, this book observes working women through a pan-Asian lens, using their triumphs and tribulations to present readers with lessons and learnings on leadership and success.''Fitting in'' and ''standing out'' are seemingly contrarian ideas, but, from all accounts, Asian women don''t view them as ''either/or''. Successful Asian women leaders do both on their own terms.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom Kasturbe Versus Gandhi: Conform! Conform! Why is a woman expected to conform to all the rigid expectations and standards of society? Why do I need to behave according to the dictates of society? Why can''t I stand my own ground and be myself? Why am I only nice when I am perfect and serve your needs and disregard mine? Why should I know what is expected of me and behave accordingly? From INDIRA: I realised soon that I need to prove myself , else I would be taken for a fledgling forever. You know (Pause) There is heartbreak in the heart of everything... You mean they have double stadards? They have one set of standards for a male leader, and another set for a female one, right?... From The Return of B: Pay attention to your education, for it is your books that will take you far. And why should girls be behind boys in any way? Girls are the pride of any nation . They shape the minds and hearts of the young when they become mothers. So it is very, very important to educate girls... I want my daughter to have the same opportunities as my sons. And all conditions being equal, it is in every girl''s interest to reach her best potential.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThink of Goldberg as the Al Gore of a sexual equality crisis. Reproductive freedom is not just a matter of justice, it's a matter of survival. - The American ProspectNew York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg's brilliant investigation of the global struggle over women's reproductive rights—the worldwide battle between the forces of modernity and those of reaction, being fought on the terrain of women's bodiesThrough Goldberg's meticulous reporting across four continents, The Means of Reproduction highlights the past and present of feminist activism around the world. In the face of a new wave of authoritarianism, we can look to the stories within this book—from an abortion provider turned health minister of Ghana to survivors of domestic abuse in India to pioneers of access to birth control throughout the Global South—as both blueprint and inspiration. With broad historical scope and lucid prose, Goldberg's analysis demonstrates tha

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis collection of essays by liberal and feminist philosophers addresses the question of whether marriage reform ought to stop with same-sex marriage. Some philosophers have recently argued that marriage is illiberal and should be abolished or radically reformed to include groups and non-romantic friendships. In response, Simon May argues that marriage law can be justified without an illiberal appeal to an ideal relationship type, and Ralph Wedgwood argues that the liberal values which justify same-sex marriage do not justify further extension. Other authors argue for new legal forms for intimate relationships. Marriage abolitionist Clare Chambers argues that piecemeal directives rather than relationship contracts should replace marriage, and Samantha Brennan and Bill Cameron argue for separating marriage and parenting, with parenting rather than marriage becoming, legally and socially, the foundation of the family. Elizabeth Brake argues for a non-hierarchical friendship model for marriage. Peter de Marneffe argues that polygamy should be decriminalized, but that the liberal state need not recognize it, while Laurie Shrage argues that polygamy could be legally structured to protect privacy and equality. Dan Nolan argues for temporary marriage as a legal option, while Anca Gheaus argues that marital commitments are problematic instruments for securing the good of romantic and sexual love. Taken together, these essays challenge contemporary understandings of marriage and the state''s role in it.Trade Review... every single essay raises crucial questions about marriage. For this reason alone, and, of course, for others, the book is a welcome and valuable addition to the writings on marriage. * Raja Halwani, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews Online *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements ; Contributors ; Introduction ; Elizabeth Brake ; Chapter 1: Liberal Neutrality and Civil Marriage ; Simon C?bulea May ; Chapter 2: Is Civil Marriage Illiberal? ; Ralph Wedgwood ; Chapter 3: The Limitations of Contract: Regulating Personal Relationships in a Marriage-Free State ; Clare Chambers ; Chapter 4: Is Marriage Bad for Children? Rethinking the Connection between Having Children, Romantic Love, and Marriage ; Samantha Brennan and Bill Cameron ; Chapter 5: Equality and Non-Hierarchy in Marriage: What Do Feminists Really Want? ; Elizabeth Brake ; Chapter 6: Liberty and Polygamy ; Peter de Marneffe ; Chapter 7: Polygamy, Privacy, and Equality ; Laurie Shrage ; Chapter 8: Temporary Marriage ; Daniel Nolan ; Chapter 9: The (Dis)value of Commitment to One's Spouse ; Anca Gheaus ; Bibliography ; Index

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

Read more less

Trade ReviewThe book moves us to rethink definitions of feminism and social justice. Feminism is not just a fight for gender equality. In societies, where forms of oppression are interlinked, a sole battle for gender equality is futile. The book raises critical questions that will motivate every feminist researcher, practitioner, educator, and activist to rethink and reconceptualize their own work through a feminist social justice lens. * Anindita Bhattacharya, Affilia: Feminist Inquiry in Social Work *"Margaret A. McLaren's book Women's Activism, Feminism, and Social Justice is a valuable contribution to the discussion of transnational feminism...Readers who are interested in global justice, transnational feminism, and feminist theories and practices in India will find this book informative and thought-provoking." -- Radical Philosophy Review"...excellent...McLaren's book brings together many often-disconnected threads of philosophy: abstract and pragmatic, analytic and political, systemic and small scale, global and local... I found this book well-structured, -written, and -argued. McLaren's critiques of the shortcomings of existing models are very effective, and her conception of relational cosmopolitanism is very provocative, an important concept that is greatly needed in the debates over globalization, worthy of future research and debate. I used this book in a mixed under/graduate seminar in feminist theory last spring and they found the argument provocative and engaging, and the book enjoyable to read. Highly recommended. * American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Feminism and Philosophy *The book moves us to rethink definitions of feminism and social justice. Feminism is not just a fight for gender equality. In societies, where forms of oppression are interlinked, a sole battle for gender equality is futile. The book raises critical questions that will motivate every feminist researcher, practitioner, educator, and activist to rethink and reconceptualize their own work through a feminist social justice lens. * Anindita Bhattacharya, University of Washington-Tacoma, Journal of Women and Social Work *Margaret A. McLaren's monograph is a fabulous addition to the growing body of work in Oxford's Studies in Feminist Philosophy ... I highly recommend this book as a supplemental text for undergraduate classes in social philosophy, women's and gender studies, economics, and other social sciences. It is also accessible for a general audience, for organizers and policy analysts, as well as graduate students and experts in the field. It provides a rich overview of pressing political and economic global issues by using two outstanding case studies from India. * Mechthild Nagel, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *This rich and important book offers nothing less than a new philosophical approach to justice and injustice. Against a trenchant critique of rights based accounts of justice, liberal and neoliberal theories of economic justice, and ideas of justice based in a transnational cosmopolitanism, McLaren develops a social justice feminism that makes a feminist transnational solidarity possible. Recognizing the need for both a critique of structural inequity or systems of power and attention to social location, she shows that cultural difference is not an impediment to transnational justice, but a resource and a basis for solidarity. Valorizing interdependence, intersectionality, and imagination over individuality, identity, and interest, McLaren maps a better way of thinking about justice, as well as concrete norms for action and collaboration. * Mary C. Rawlinson, Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Stony Brook University *In this timely book, Margaret McLaren deftly weaves the threads of scholarship and activism together into a rich tapestry informed by over a decade of work with SEWA (Self-Employed Women's Association) and MarketPlace India. The theoretical centerpiece of the book -- a feminist social justice framework -- explores the complexity of gender oppression in ways both lucid and incisive. Her multi-layered approach to transnational feminism is ambitiously designed to address oppression and injustice as they function on individual, institutional, and structural levels and the possibilities of empowerment of an ethical, social, and political nature... This is important reading for feminist scholars of many disciplinary stripes. * Sarah Clark Miller, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Penn State University *Women's Activism, Feminism and Social Justice theorizes global feminism(s) as intersectional and interdependent by engaging with both Western and Indian feminists. It argues for a responsive and responsible framework of feminist agency that addresses socio-economic oppression in culturally specific contexts. McLaren's pioneering explorations on decolonizing feminism promise to inform and enrich endeavors of transnational solidarities integrating theory and activism. * Kanchana Mahadevan, Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Mumbai *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe work of leading scholar Terry Castle, called by the New York Times always engaging...consistently fascinating, has helped to revolutionize thinking about lesbian studies and eighteenth-century literature. Reenvisioning the era as peculiarly alive with complexity, in which gender, sexuality, and culture are in constant flux, she offers provocative new theories on culture and sexual identity. This collection offers several of Castle''s liveliest essays on female identity from the eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. Throughout the book are woven themes which are constant in Castle''s work: fantasy, hallucination, travesty, transgression, and sexual ambiguity. Like the mythical thermometer of the title, which was purported to measure female lasciviousness, literature is filled with devices for quantifying elements of women''s nature and sexuality which are hard to define--or uncomfortable to confront. Looking at images that mask or mystify female nature, like the masquerTrade ReviewThe Female Thermometer is filled with incisive observations that make us re-examine the broad preconceptions we hold about the 18th century and reassess some of its specific cultural artifacts. * The New York Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis study traces how women have overcome a series of conundrums which would seem to block them from success no matter what they do. The author delivers a rousing and empathetic denouncement of victim feminism and illustrates how women have steadily advanced in our society.Trade Review"Like an infra-red light that makes it possible to see clearly in the dark, Kathleen Hall Jamieson's analysis shows up the tripwires in the paths of women leaders for what they are, double binds that can and must be challenged."--Right Honourable Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister of Canada "An important and illuminating book. Kathleen Hall Jamieson tells us that women have made progress, albeit in a damned-if-they-do/damned-if-they-don't tangle of old fashioned double binds and new fangled twists in the tale of sexism. She draws on a rich historical data base and a vast storehouse of compelling contemporary anecdotes to offer an optimistic but realistic analysis of women's advancement and leadership in new areas of endeavor. Her account exposes the roots from which double binds grew to restrict women, pinpoints the progress to date in loosening those restraints, and forecasts both continued breakthroughs and inevitable struggles ahead on the road to equality."--Ruth B. Mandel, Director, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University "If you are a woman alive today, you will recognize yourself on every page of Kathleen Hall Jamieson's brilliant new book about the progress of women as leaders. There are catch-22s for women--or double binds, as she calls them--where whatever we do, we lose. But Jamieson shows how we have surmounted these binds in the past and in the process moved forward. And she's confident we will continue to. What I most like about this book is that it's free of ideology. Jamieson is clear-eyed, unemotional, keenly analytical and above all...she's hopeful!"--Lesley Stahl, CBS News, "60 Minutes" "Kathleen Hall Jamieson provides a fresh framework for understanding the repeated frustrations that have slowed women's social progress. Her liberating conclusion: women can break every bind if they just avoid treating themselves as victims."--Harriett Woods, President, National Women's Political Caucus "[Ms. Jamieson] makes you want to get in there, on either side of a big, interesting war with lots at stake--a war intelligent people should find worth fighting."--The New York Times Book Review "Along the way [Jamieson] does a fascinating, minute-by-minute analysis of how Hillary Rodham Clinton came to be viewed as an antihousewife Antichrist during the 1992 campaign."--The New York Times "[Jamieson] is particularly fair in her discussion of the way in which some feminists have tried to dissuade women...from voicing views that disagree with the reigning orthodoxy within the movement."--Washington Post Book World "Jamieson draws a lucid, often entertaining, and at times shocking portrait of contemporary attitudes toward women leaders."--Kirkus Reviews "[Jamieson] proves herself adept at disentangling and questioning the mixed messages women receive about who they are and who they should be."--Publishers Weekly "[Jamieson] has written another thoroughly researched, well-crafted book...This substantive work makes a significant contribution to feminist literature."--Library Journal "Like an infra-red light that makes it possible to see clearly in the dark, Kathleen Hall Jamieson's analysis shows up the tripwires in the paths of women leaders for what they are, double binds that can and must be challenged."--Right Honourable Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister of Canada "An important and illuminating book. Kathleen Hall Jamieson tells us that women have made progress, albeit in a damned-if-they-do/damned-if-they-don't tangle of old fashioned double binds and new fangled twists in the tale of sexism. She draws on a rich historical data base and a vast storehouse of compelling contemporary anecdotes to offer an optimistic but realistic analysis of women's advancement and leadership in new areas of endeavor. Her account exposes the roots from which double binds grew to restrict women, pinpoints the progress to date in loosening those restraints, and forecasts both continued breakthroughs and inevitable struggles ahead on the road to equality."--Ruth B. Mandel, Director, Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University "If you are a woman alive today, you will recognize yourself on every page of Kathleen Hall Jamieson's brilliant new book about the progress of women as leaders. There are catch-22s for women--or double binds, as she calls them--where whatever we do, we lose. But Jamieson shows how we have surmounted these binds in the past and in the process moved forward. And she's confident we will continue to. What I most like about this book is that it's free of ideology. Jamieson is clear-eyed, unemotional, keenly analytical and above all...she's hopeful!"--Lesley Stahl, CBS News, "60 Minutes" "Kathleen Hall Jamieson provides a fresh framework for understanding the repeated frustrations that have slowed women's social progress. Her liberating conclusion: women can break every bind if they just avoid treating themselves as victims."--Harriett Woods, President, National Women's Political Caucus "[Ms. Jamieson] makes you want to get in there, on either side of a big, interesting war with lots at stake--a war intelligent people should find worth fighting."--The New York Times Book Review "Along the way [Jamieson] does a fascinating, minute-by-minute analysis of how Hillary Rodham Clinton came to be viewed as an antihousewife Antichrist during the 1992 campaign."--The New York Times "[Jamieson] is particularly fair in her discussion of the way in which some feminists have tried to dissuade women...from voicing views that disagree with the reigning orthodoxy within the movement."--Washington Post Book World "Jamieson draws a lucid, often entertaining, and at times shocking portrait of contemporary attitudes toward women leaders."--Kirkus Reviews "[Jamieson] proves herself adept at disentangling and questioning the mixed messages women receive about who they are and who they should be."--Publishers Weekly "[Jamieson] has written another thoroughly researched, well-crafted book...This substantive work makes a significant contribution to feminist literature."--Library Journal "Jamieson's take...is both optimistic and refreshing."--Philadelphia Inquirer "Outstanding! Well researched, well documented, clearly communicated thesis that summarizes every issue women face."--Marilyn E. Vito, CPA, CMA, Assistant Professor of Business, Richard Stockton College, Pomona, NJ

Read more less

Book SynopsisA counter-revisionist examination of John F Kennedy and his administration. Promises Kept presents a policy history of major domestic legislature efforts bnetween 1961 and 1963. Irving Berstein focuses on administrative and congressional progress under Kennedy in civil rights, education, taxes, unemployment, Medicare and the Peace Corps. He persuasively argues that Kennedy was indeed `a very successful President, that the revisionists are dead wrong''. He contends that many of Kennedy''s campaign promises were well on their way to being enacted by the third year of his first term, even after his first two years dealing with the transition of a society from conservative to liberal. Berstein also declares that many of Kennedy''s objectives that were later achieved by Lyndon Johnson would have been brought to fruition by Kennedy himself had he not been assassinated. He supports this argument by tracing Kennedy''s selection of advisers and directors on each issue, piecing together his overTrade Reviewshould be of interest to students of women's studies and Jewish studies, both male and female * Jewish Chronicle *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis collection of original essays explores the social and relational dimensions of individual autonomy. Rejecting the feminist charge that autonomy is inherently masculinist, the contributors draw on feminist critiques of autonomy to challenge and enrich contemporary philosophical debates about agency, identity, and moral responsibility. The essays analyse the complex ways in which oppression can impair an agent''s capacity for autonomy, and investigate connections, neglected by standard accounts, between autonomy and other aspects of the agent, including self-conception, self-worth, memory, and the imagination.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Autonomy refigured ; PART 1: AUTONOMY AND THE SOCIAL ; 1. Autonomy, social disruption and women ; 2. Autonomy and the social self ; 3. Feeling crazy: self worth and the social character of responsibility ; 4. Autonomy and the feminist intuition ; 5. Individuals, responsibility and the philosophical imagination ; 6. Imagining oneself otherwise ; 7. Intersectional identity and the authentic self?: Opposites attract ; 8. The perversion of autonomy and the subjection of women: discourses of social advocacy at century's end ; PART II: RELATIONAL AUTONOMY IN CONTEXT ; 9. Choice and control in feminist bioethics ; 10. Autonomy and interdependence: quandaries in genetic decision-making ; 11. Relational autonomy, self-trust, and health care for patients who are oppressed ; 12. Relational autonomy and freedom of expression

Read more less

Book SynopsisLouise Newman reinterprets an important period (1870s-1920s) in the history of women''s rights, focusing attention on a core contradiction at the heart of early feminist theory. At a time when white elites were concerned with imperialist projects and civilizing missions, progressive white women developed an explicit racial ideology to promote their cause, defending patriarchy for primitives while calling for its elimination among the civilized. Exploring how progressive white women at the turn of the century laid the intellectual groundwork for the feminist social movements that followed, Newman''s book thus speaks to contemporary debates concerning the effect of race on current feminist scholarship.Trade ReviewA compelling investigation of how racial questions informed the creation of white feminist thought in the United States ... I highly recommend this book. * Journal of American History *The book opens up the possibility of redirecting the framework through which a discourse of rights, any discourse of rights, can be understood. * Years Work in Critical Cultural Theory *Because its argument is both widely drawn and carefully detailed, Newman's book is engaging, often insightful, and always provocative. * The Journal of American History *

Read more less

Book SynopsisEthics: Classical Western Texts in Feminist and Multicultural Perspectives offers students a unique introduction to ethics by integrating the historical development of Western moral philosophy with both feminist and multicultural approaches. Engaging and accessible, it provides an introductory sampling of several of the classical works of the Western tradition in ethics and then situates these readings within feminist and multicultural perspectives so that they can be better understood and evaluated in our contemporary environment. While some of the non-Western works parallel the views defended in the Western works (e.g., Confucius''s work echoes that of Plato or Aristotle), others question the Western perspectives (e.g., American Indian works provide an interesting challenge to Western moral philosophy). Confucius, Jorge Valadez, Ward Churchill, Moshoeshoe II, and Eagle Man present multicultural perspectives to the works of Plato, Aristotle, Hume, Kant, Nietzsche, Sartre, Rawls, MacInTrade Review"Interested and broad-based approach to ethics."--Ursula Raynor, St. Martin's CollegeTable of ContentsPreface ; General Introduction ; I. PLATO ; 1. Plato, The Republic ; 2. Julia Annas, Plato's Republic and Feminism ; 3. Confucius, The Analects ; II. ARISTOTLE AND MUSONIUS RUFUS ; 4. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics ; 5. Aristotle, Politics ; 6. Musonius Rufus, Discourses ; 7. Eve Browning Cole, Women, Slaves, and the Love of Toil ; 8. Chuang Tzu, The Book of Chuang Tzu ; III. AUGUSTINE ; 9. Augustine, The City of God ; 10. Augustine, The Confessions ; 11. Rosemary Radford Ruether, Misogynism and Virginal Feminism in the Fathers of the Church ; 12. Jorge Valadez, Pre-Columbian Philosophical Perspectives ; IV. AQUINAS AND CHRISTINE DE PIZAN ; 13. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles ; 14. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica ; 15. Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies ; 16. Eleanor McLaughlin, Equality of Souls, Inequality of Sexes ; 17. Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed ; V. HUME ; 18. David Hume, Treatise on Human Nature ; 19. Annette C. Baier, Hume, the Women's Moral Theorist? ; 20. Ewe Proverbs ; VI. KANT ; 21. Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Morals ; 22. Immanuel Kant, On the Sublime and the Beautiful ; 23. Rae Langton, Maria von Herbert's Challenge to Kant ; 24. Bhagavad Gita ; VII. MILL AND HARRIET TAYLOR ; 25. John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism ; 26. John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women ; 27. Harriet Taylor, The Enfranchisement of Women ; 28. Maria H. Morales, Utility and Perfect Equality ; 29. Mo Tzu, Universal Love ; VIII. NIETZSCHE ; 30. Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil ; 31. Kathryn Pyne Addelson, Nietzsche and Moral Change ; 32. Mervyn Sprung, Nietzsche's Trans-European Eye ; IX. SARTRE AND DE BEAUVOIR ; 33. Jean-Paul Sartre, Existentialism Is a Humanism ; 34. Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex ; 35. Elizabeth V. Spelman, Simone de Beauvoir and Women: Just Who Does She Think "We" Is? ; 36. Eagle Man, We Are All Related ; X. RAWLS AND HARE ; 37. John Rawls, A Theory of Justice ; 38. R.M. Hare, The Structure of Ethics and Morals ; 39. Lynne S. Arnault, The Radical Future of Hare's Moral Theory ; 40. Ward Churchill, Perversions of Justice: A Native-American Examination of the Doctrine of U.S. Rights to Occupancy in North America ; XI. MACINTYRE AND NUSSBAUM ; 41. Alasdair MacIntyre, The Nature of Virtues ; 42. Martha Nussbaum, Non-Relative Virtues: An Aristotelian Approach ; 43. Susan Okin, Whose Traditions? ; 44. Xiaorong Li, Gender Inequality in China and the Cultural Relativism ; XII. GEWIRTH AND KORSGAARD ; 45. Alan Gewirth, The Justificatory Argument for Human Rights ; 47. James P. Sterba, The Justification of Morality and the Behavior of Women ; 48. Moshoeshoe II, Harmony with Nature and Indigenous African Culture ; XIII. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. AND CAROL GILLIGAN ; 49. Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from Birmingham City Jail ; 50. Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream ; 51. Carol Gilligan, Moral Orientation and Moral Development ; Concluding Feminist and Multicultural Postcript ; Each section opens with an Introduction and concludes with Recommended Readings

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Unbending Gender, Joan Williams takes a hard look at the state of feminism in America. Concerned by what she finds--young women who flatly refuse to identify themselves as feminists and working-class and minority women who feel the movement hasn''t addressed the issues that dominate their daily lives--she outlines a new vision of feminism that calls for workplaces focused on the needs of families and, in divorce cases, recognition of the value of family work and its impact on women''s earning power. Williams notes that good jobs in America are designed for the ideal employee, who works full-time and often overtime, with no career interruptions. Even today, most American mothers do not meet this ideal: a majority do not work full-time, and only a small fraction work overtime. Williams points out that women will never achieve equality until mothers do: she argues that employers need to implement parent-supportive policies--or face liability for sex discrimination. She also maintains Trade Review"This book makes a notable contribution to the feminist literature for its eminently sensible, readable, and thoughtful look into the roots of women's disadvantage in market work...Highly recommended to readers who seek real explanations and solutions to labor market gender discrimination."--Choice"In her thoughtful and thought-provoking book, Williams shows how the cult of domesticity limits both women and men--and how we can restructure the marketplace and the law to reintegrate work and family. Her model of reconstructive feminism promises to end the divisive gender wars between different brands of feminism, between tomboys and femmes, restructuring market work and family work."--Deborah Tannen, author of You Just Don't Understand, Talking from 9 to 5, and The Argument Culture"The only way we Americans can see ourselves plainly in the coming debates over child care and pay equity, private need and public obligation, is with a clear and unsentimental road map. Joan Williams' Unbending Gender is it."--Ray Suarez, host of NPR's "Talk of the Nation""At a time when we are searching for a way to restore meaning and cohesion to family life, Joan Williams has given us all--family workers, market workers, feminists, policy makers, and courts--a beacon on that way."--Zipporah Batshaw Wiseman, University of Texas Law School"In this theoretically sophisticated and thoroughly accessible treatise on gender, work and domesticity, Williams offers a new vision of 'family-friendly' feminism that would support women in all the various roles on the worker-caregiver continuum.... This groundbreaking study presents an important new perspective on this evolving discourse."--Publishers Weekly

Read more less

Book SynopsisHeyes'' monograph in feminist philosophy is on the connection between the idea of normalization--which per Foucault is a mode or force of control that homogenizes a population--and the gendered body. Drawing on Foucault and Wittgenstein, she argues that the predominant picture of the self--a picture that presupposes an inner core of the self that is expressed, accurately or not, by the outer body--obscures the connection between contemporary discourses and practices of self-transformation and the forces of normalization. In other words, pictures of the self can hold us captive when they are being read from the outer self--the body--rather than the inner self, and we can express our inner self by working on our outer body to conform. Articulating this idea with a mix of the theoretical and the practical, she looks at case studies involving transgender people, weight-loss dieting, and cosmetic surgery. Her concluding chapters look at the difficult issue of how to distinguish non-normalizTrade ReviewCressida Heyes has produced a book that should be of great value to Foucault specialists as well as to feminist readers not well acquainted with Foucault. It is accessible and brief enough for undergraduate students, but original and compelling enough to hold the interest and perhaps spark the imaginations of professional philosophers and social theorists. This book deserves a place in every library. * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsCONCLUSION: LIFE STYLE? ; NOTES ; BIBLIOGRAPHY ; INDEX

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is a revised edition of Walker''s well-known book in feminist ethics first published in 1997. Walker''s book proposes a view of morality and an approach to ethical theory which uses the critical insights of feminism and race theory to rethink the epistemological and moral position of the ethical theorist, and how moral theory is inescapably shaped by culture and history. The main gist of her book is that morality is embodied in practices of responsibility that express our identities, values, and connections to others in socially patterned ways. Thus ethical theory needs to be empirically informed and politically critical to avoid reiterating forms of socially entrenched bias. Responsible ethical theory should reveal and question the moral significance of social differences. The book engages with, and challenges, the work of contemporary analytic philosophers in ethics. This is a revised edition of Walker''s well-known book in feminist ethics first published in 1997. Walker''s book proposes a view of morality and an approach to ethical theory which uses the critical insights of feminism and race theory to rethink the epistemological and moral position of the ethical theorist, and how moral theory is inescapably shaped by culture and history. The main gist of her book is that morality is embodied in practices of responsibility that express our identities, values, and connections to others in socially patterned ways. Thus ethical theory needs to be empirically informed and politically critical to avoid reiterating forms of socially entrenched bias. Responsible ethical theory should reveal and question the moral significance of social differences. The book engages with, and challenges, the work of contemporary analytic philosophers in ethics.Table of ContentsPREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION ; PREFACE THE FIRST EDITION ; PART ONE. THE MIS-EN-SCENE: MORAL PHILOSOPHY NOW ; 1. The Subject of Moral Philosophy, with Postscript, 2007 ; 2. Where Do Moral Theories Come From? Henry Sidgwick and Twentieth Century Ethics ; PART TWO. CLEARER VIEWS: AN EXPRESSIVE-COLLABORATIVE MODEL ; 3. Authority and Transparency; The Examples of Feminist Skepticism ; 4. Charting Responsibilities: From Established Coordinates to Terra Incognita ; PART THREE. SELF- (AND OTHER) PORTRAITS: WHO ARE WE, AND HOW DO WE KNOW? ; 5. Picking Up Pieces: Lives, Stories and Integrity ; 6. Career Selves: Plans, Projects, and Plots in "Whole Life ethics" ; 7. Made A Slave, Born a Woman: Knowing Others' Places ; 8. Unnecessary Identities: Representational Practices and Moral Recognition ; PART FOUR: TESTING SIGHT LINES ; 9. The Politics of Transparency and the Moral Work of Truth ; 10. Peripheral Visions, Critical Practice ; EPILOGUE: SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT MORAL UNDERSTANDINGS ; NOTES ; BIBLIOGRAPHY

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe Trouble Between Us looks at the question why a radical interracial women''s movement did not develop in the 1960s and 1970s. It consideres white and black women''s experiences in the civil rights movement, the Black Arts and Black Power movements, including the Black Panther Party, Boston socialist feminism - particularly Bread and Roses, an early white socialist feminist organization, and the Combahee River Collective, a black socialist feminist organization, and Boston feminists'' efforts to develop cross- racial political projects in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The accepted interpretation of this period''s feminism has been that African American wmen did not join the women''s movement because it was racist. But while radical white women were often unconciously or abstractly racist, they were passionately anti-racist in their political objectives and worked hard to develop an interracial movement. At the same time, most radical black women were influenced by the Black Power mTrade ReviewBreines provides valuable insight in a book that could and should be one in a series of close investigations of race and gender relations in U.S. social activism. * Kristin Waters and Carol B. Conaway, The Journal of American History *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book challenges assumptions that philosophers traditionally have made in setting out the demands of the skeptic who asks, "Why be moral?" It aims to show the ways in which philosophers should broaden, narrow, and otherwise fine-tune the skeptic's position so that a defeat of skepticism is complete.Trade ReviewAnita Superson's The Moral Skeptic is an impressive book in many ways. It covers a great number of important topics in contemporary ethics in a thorough way and from a novel feminist perspective.... Superson manages to cover all this ground with expertise and also weave an interesting narrative thread through the whole book.... Superson's book is clearly written and well structured. * Jussi Suikkanen, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ; Preface ; 1. Introduction ; 2. The Self-Interest Based Contractarian Response to the Skeptic ; 3. A Feminist Ethics Response to the Skeptic ; 4. Deformed Desires ; 5. Self-Interest Versus Morality ; 6. The Amoralist ; 7. The Motive Skeptic ; 8. The Interdependency Thesis

Read more less

Trade ReviewI found Stacy Wolf's book fascinating and surprising. It not only gave me a fresh perspective on the history of musical theatre, it revealed things to me about my own show I didn't know were there. * Stephen Schwartz *This book is absolutely brilliant on many levels. Wolf manages, in one stroke, to place the musical's feminine fan base-long recognized but rarely valued-on the same critical plane that its gay male fan base has long occupied. This book truly defies gravity! * Raymond Knapp, Professor of Musicology, UCLA, and author of The American Musical and the Formation of National Identity and The American Musical and the Performance of Personal Identity *This beautifully written - and desperately needed - feminist history of the Broadway musical is filled with exciting insights, humor, and great affection for the American musical. It's an important and interesting book, one I will read again and again. * Elizabeth L. Wollman, Assistant Professor of Music, Baruch College, The City University of New York, and author of The Theater Will Rock: A History of the Rock Musical, from "Hair" to "Hedwig" *A valuable work with a strong and captivating feminist point of view. Scholars and serious fans of theater as well as those concerned with women's issues and studies will especially enjoy its detail-filled and imaginative perspective. * Library Journal *Carefully researched, elegantly written, and methodologically innovative...A rewarding and thoroughly enjoyable book that should appeal to a broad range of readers, especially those interested in the intertwined histories of gender, sexuality, and popular entertainment. * The Journal of American History *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Gender, Genre, and Musical Theatre Chapter One: 1950s Musicals and Queer Female Duets Chapter Two: The Single Woman and the Active Female Body in 1960s Musicals Chapter Three: The Ensemble as Queer "Family" Chapter Four: Women in the 1980s Megamusicals, Humming the Scenery Chapter Five: Musicals in the 1990s-2000s: Female Protagonists, First and Last Numbers, and the Intersectional Performance of Race and Gender Chapter Six: Queer Conventions in the Broadway Musical Wicked Epilogue: Wicked Divas, Musical Theatre, and Internet Girl Fans Endnotes

Read more less

Book SynopsisSimone de Beauvoir and the Politics of Ambiguity is the first full-length study of Beauvoir''s political thinking. Best known as the author of The Second Sex, Beauvoir also wrote an array of other political and philosophical texts that are less well known. Together, these constitute an original contribution to political theory and philosophy. The book both locates Beauvoir in her own intellectual and political context and demonstrates her continuing significance. For, in her unique voice, Beauvoir still speaks to a range of pressing theoretical and practical questions concerning politics. These include the political value and dangers of liberal humanism; how oppressed groups become complicit in their own oppression; how social identities are perpetuated; the limits to rationalism and the place of emotions, such as the desire for revenge, in politics. In discussing Beauvoir''s reflections on these and other matters the book puts her ideas into conversation with those of many contemporarTrade ReviewKruks has provided us with a book of exemplary clarity which opens our eyes to the continuing relevance of the neglected writings of a fine political philosopher and has hopefully opened the door to further analysis of Beauvoirs texts. * David Drake, History of Political Thought *Simone de Beauvoir and the Politics of Ambiguity is valuable not only for its contribution of a missing link in contemporary Beauvoir scholarship, but also for the broader challenge it presents to political projects and philosophical considerations that fail to take seriously the contingency and ambiguity of situations and political action. * Hypatia Reviews Online *... Simone de Beauvoir and the Politics of Ambiguity provides readers with an erudite yet accessible reading of the political theory of one of the great intellects of the twentieth century. ... It is well worth careful study and raises questions that will haunt the reader long after it is concluded. * Review of Politics *... Sonia Kruks provides a highly readable, rich and concise account Beauvoir's ideas but also deftly navigates contemporary debates in political thinking. This book is a must read. * Canadian Journal of Political Science *Table of ContentsList of abbreviations ; Introduction ; Chapter 1: Humanism After Posthumanism ; Chapter 2: Theorizing Oppression ; Chapter 3: Confronting Privilege ; Chapter 4: Dilemmas of Political Judgment ; Chapter 5: "Eye for Eye": The Question of Revenge ; Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisIs sex identity a feature of one''s mind or body, and is it a relational or intrinsic property? Who is in the best position to know a person''s sex, do we each have a true sex, and is a person''s sex an alterable characteristic? When a person''s sex assignment changes, has the old self disappeared and a new one emerged; or, has only the public presentation of one''s self changed? You''ve Changed examines the philosophical questions raised by the phenomenon of sex reassignment, and brings together the essays of scholars known for their work in gender, sexuality, queer, and disability studies, feminist epistemology and science studies, and philosophical accounts of personal identity. An interdisciplinary contribution to the emerging field of transgender studies, it will be of interest to students and scholars in a number of disciplines.Trade ReviewYou've Changed' is a thoughtful and engaging collection of eleven philosophical essays on sex reassignment, from a range of scholars with varying points of view.... The writing is interesting and lively, and there is a well-organized and insightful introduction by the editor, Laurie Shrage. Naturally, this book will be of interest to those working in gender and sexuality studies, queer studies, feminist philosophy, and science studies. But it should also be of interest to those interested in the epistemological, metaphysical, and moral aspects of personal identity. The theorizing here offers a set of reflections on identity from a new and important perspective, and several authors argue that ethics, politics and values are essential to understanding identity. This claim is worth considering from a broader perspective than just sex and gender. * Patricia Marino, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *The breadth of scope of the volume on 'trans' identities is awe-inspiring. Christine Overall's essay, like all essays in the volume, is praiseworthy for its sophisticated and serious effort. Gayle Salamon's essay, 'The Sexual Schema: Transportation and Transgender in Phenomenology of Perception,' is particularly brilliant for its appraisal of Merleau-Ponty's text and how it manages to illustrate how Merleau Ponty's work in general - once shunned for being too 'airy-fairy,' poetical, or qualitative - proves quite useful to discussions of trans identities. * The Feminist Review *You've Changed' is a brilliant collection of essays on the transgender and intersex experience... This illuminating book clearly has much to offer anyone studying queer or gender studies. However, it should not be overlooked by others, as this collection also presents some provocative food-for-thought to those with interests in race, body image, intimate relationships - even the meaning of 'identity' itself. * Contemporary Sociology *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. Christine Overall: "Sex/Gender Transitions and Life-Changing Aspirations" ; 2. Georgia Warnke: "Transsexuality, and Contextual Identities" ; 3. Jacob Hale: "Tracing a Ghostly Memory in My Throat: Reflections on Ftm Feminist Voice and Agency" (previously published in Men Doing Feminism, Tom Digby, ed., Routledge 1998) ; 4. Naomi Zack: "Transsexuality and Daseia Y. Cavers-Huff" ; 5. Gayle Salamon: "The Sexual Schema: Transposition and Transgenderism in Phenomenology of Perception" ; 6. Talia Mae Bettcher: "Trans Identities and First Person Authority" ; 7. Kim Q. Hall: "Queer Breasted Experience" ; 8. Cressida Heyes: "Changing Race, Changing Sex: The Ethics Self-Transformation" (previously published in Journal of Social Philosophy, 37:2 (Summer 2006)) ; 9. Diana Tietjens Meyers: "Artifice and Authenticity: Gender Technology and Agency in Two Jenny Saville Portraits" ; 10. Laurie Shrage: "Sex and Miscibility" ; 11. Graham Mayeda: "Who Do You Think You Are? When Should the Law Let You Be Who You Want to Be?" ; Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe cross of Christ has proven to be no less of a stumbling block for Christians living in the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first, than it was in the first century, when the newly established community of friends and followers of Jesus Christ sought to define the foundation of their faith over against the critiques of their Jewish and Greek contemporaries. This book presents a theological reception of the contemporary feminist challenge to classical christology by means of an explicit feminist retrieval and reconstruction of a theology of the cross. Gudmundsdottir argues that a feminist theology of the cross serves a dual purpose in feminist christology: it discloses the patriarchal distortion of traditional christology, and can also reveal lost dimensions in the understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Although Gudmundsdottir argues that feminist critique is an indispensable element of contemporary christology, she also claims that there isTrade ReviewAn insightful, lucid, and compelling panoramic view of the theology of the cross! With perspicacity and rare acumen, Gudmundsdottir offers an accessible yet astute analysis and criticism of the abuses and reception of the uses of the cross in theology from a feminist perspective. For those interested in feminist theology and inquisitive about interpretations of the cross in feminism and theology in general, this book is a must! * Vitor Westhelle, author of The Scandalous God: The Use and Abuse of the Cross *Table of ContentsDEDICATION; ACKNOWLEDGMENTS; INTRODUCTION; CHRIST, THE CROSS AND THE FEMINIST CRITIQUE; CONCLUSION: THE CROSS OF CHRIST AS A SYMBOL OF HOPE; BIBLIOGRAPHY

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat is a woman? And what does it mean to be a feminist today? In her first full-scale engagement with feminist theory since her internationally renowned Sexual/Textual Politics (1985), Toril Moi challenges the dominant trends in contemporary feminist and cultural thought, arguing for a feminism of freedom inspired by Simone de Beauvoir''s The Second Sex. Written in a clear and engaging style What is a Woman? brings together two brand new book-length theoretical interventions, Moi''s work on Freud and Bourdieu, and her studies of desire and knowledge in literature.In the controversial title-essay, Toril Moi radically rethinks current debates about sex, gender, and the body - challenging the commonly held belief that the sex/gender distinction is fundamental to all feminist theory. Moi rejects every attempt to define masculinity and femininity, including efforts to define femininity as that which ''cannot be defined''.In the second new book-length essay, ''I Am a Woman'', Toril Moi rewoTrade ReviewReview from previous edition a treat for weary readers of the outrageously obscure. * Elizabeth Fallaize, TLS *Moi's long-awaited re-entry into the lists of mainstream feminist debate will not be perceived as a reopening of hostilities. Moi shows herself extraordinarily attentive to the work of American feminists....The psychoanalysis of Freud, Lacan and Kristeva has been joined by the sociology of Bordieu, the existentialism of Sartre and Beauvoir and, increasingly, by the ordinary language philosophy of Wittgenstein, Austin and Cavell....A bold rehabilitation of the theoretical importance of Beauvoir's feminism....[Issues] an explicit challenge to American feminist orthodoxy. But it is a challenge issued only at the end of a sustained and immensely careful labor of thought. * Modern Language Notes *[Moi is] one of the most astute and lucid critics writing today. What she calls her `attempt to work [her] way out from under post-structuralism, and to see what happens when one goes elsewhere'--a move undertaken in good faith as a feminist and with uncommon critical common sense--points a way forward, both for literary critics and other feminists....[This book] could serve as a lucid introduction to recent theoretical debates, and also as a farewell to them....[Moi proceeds] through careful close readings, sensitive to both historical context and textual nuance....She offers the views of even those she disagrees with with refreshing clarity.' * Women's Review of Books *Table of ContentsPART I: A FEMINISM OF FREEDOM: SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR ; PART II: APPROPRIATING THEORY: BOURDIEU AND FREUD ; PART III: DESIRE AND KNOWLEDGE: READING TEXTS OF LOVE

Read more less

Book SynopsisOver the past fifteen years, a new dimension to the analysis of science has emerged. Feminist theory, combined with the insights of recent developments in the history, philosophy, and sociology of science, has raised a number of new and important questions about the content, practice, and traditional goals of science. Feminists have pointed to a bias in the choice and definition of problems with which scientists have concerned themselves, and in the actual design and interpretation of experiments, and have argued that modern science evolved out of a conceptual structuring of the world that incorporated particular and historically specific ideologies of gender. The seventeen outstanding articles in this volume reflect the diversity and strengths of feminist contributions to current thinking about science.Trade ReviewAn excellant volume of essays that summarizes the state of the art in the feminist perspective on the philosophy of science. ... No one concerned with a deep understanding of science can afford to ignore this perspective and this book is the ideal overview. Network No 66, April 1998The book will certainly enhance undergraduate reading lists. * Women's Philosophy Review *This valuable collection leads the reader through the development of feminist thinking in the sciences. The well chosen pieces are republished here in carefully abridged form, and the collection should make an excellent teaching resource ... an engaging read as a single book, though its structure obviously renders it a useful trove for individual papers a number of which were formerly difficult to get hold of. All the papers in this very good collection show how a feminist perspective can reveal political aspects of inquiry, thereby serving the twin goals of objectivity and understanding in both science and philosophy. I hope that this volume finds its place on standard reading lists so that students and professionals alike may benefit. * Miranda Fricker, University of London, Brit. Jnl. for the Phil. of Sci. *

Read more less

Book SynopsisSeries Blurb Oxford Readings in Feminism provide accessible, one-volume guides to the very best in contemporary feminist thinking, assessing its impact and importance in key areas of study. Collected together by scholars of outstanding reputation in their field, the articles chosen represent the most important work on feminist issues, and concise, lively introductions to each volume crystallize the main line of debate in the field. The categories of public and private have been at the centre of feminist theory for the past three decades. Focusing on the gendered relations of sexuality and the body, family life and democratic citizenship, feminists have redirected public debate on questions of privacy and publicity. They have challenged leading theories of the public sphere, adding immeasurably to the historical and cross-cultural understanding of public and private life, from the rise of liberal and democratic institutions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to today''s media-sTable of ContentsNotes on Contributors ; Introduction ; I. THE PUBLIC/PRIVATE DISTINCTION IN FEMINIST THEORY ; 1. Is Female to Male as Nature Is to Culture? ; 2. Context Is All: Feminism and Theories of Citizenship ; 3. Models of Public Space: Hannah Arendt, the Liberal Tradition and Jurgen Habermas ; 4. Toward an Agonistic Feminism: Hannah Arendt and the Politics of Identity ; II. GENDER IN THE MODERN LIBERAL PUBLIC SPHERE ; 5. The Public and the Private Sphere: A Feminist Reconsideration ; 6. Regarding Some 'Old Husbands' Tales': Public and Private in Feminist History ; 7. Gender and Public Access: Women's Politics in Nineteenth-Century America ; 8. The Inviolable Woman: Feminist Conceptions of Citizenship in Australia ; 9. The Patriarchal Welfare State ; III. GENDERED SITES IN THE LATE MODERN PUBLIC SPHERE ; 10. Live Sex Acts (Parental Advisory: Explicit Material) ; 11. Interview with Barbara Kruger ; 12. Sex, Lies, and the Public Sphere: Reflections on the Confirmation of Clarence Thomas ; 13. On Being the Object of Property ; 14. All Hyped Up and No Place to Go ; 15. Celebrity Material: Materialist Feminism and the Culture of Celebrity ; 16. Hillary's Husband Re-Elected!: The Clinton Marriage of Politics and Power ; IV. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE IDENTITY: QUESTIONS FOR A FEMINIST PUBLIC SPHERE ; 17. Impartiality and the Civic Public: Some Implications of Feminist Critiques of Moral and Political Theory ; 18. Wounded Attachments: Late Modern Oppositional Formations ; 19. Dealing with Difference: A Politics of Ideas or a Politics of Presence? ; Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhen does the pursuit of self-interest go too far, lapsing into morally unacceptable behaviour? Until the unprecedented events of the recent global financial crisis economists often seemed unconcerned with this question, even suggesting that greed is good. A closer look, however, suggests that greed and lust are generally considered good only for men, and then only outside the realm of family life. The history of Western economic ideas shows that men have given themselves more cultural permission than women for the pursuit of both economic and sexual self-interest. Feminists have long contested the boundaries of this permission, demanding more than mere freedom to act more like men. Women have gradually gained the power to revise our conceptual and moral maps and to insist on a better-and less gendered-balance between self interest and care for others. This book brings women''s work, their sexuality, and their ideas into the center of the dialectic between economic history and the histTrade ReviewA lively survey of economic thought from the late seventeenth century to the present... A thought-provoking and entertaining read. * Katie Barclay, Women's History Network Magazine. *Provides an original and comprehensive intellectual history of gender-related economic issues that may well complement - and challenge - more traditional histories of economic ideas. * Daniela Donnini Macciò, Storia del pensiero economico. *The story is complicated, interesting and well worth telling. Folbre tells it well. She brings to bear an impressive measure of erudition and analytical sweep to knit together themes from very disperate thinkers and very diverse times into a largely coherent whole. * Indraneel Dasgupta, The Economic Record *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. The Eye of the Needle ; 2. The Springs of Desire ; 3. Defining Virtues ; 4. Free Trade but Not Free Love ; 5. The Limits of Affection ; 6. The Perfectibility of Man ; 7. The Greatest Happiness ; 8. Self-Love Triumphant ; 9. Production and Reproduction ; 10. Whose Wealth? ; 11. The Social Family ; 12. Equal Opportunities ; 13. The Subjection of Women ; 14. Declaring Independence ; 15. The Icy Waters ; 16. The Sacred Sphere ; 17. The Unproductive Housewife ; 18. The Nanny State ; 19. Human Capitalism ; 20. Beyond Economic Man ; Conclusion

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn Simone de Beauvoir: The Making of an Intellectual Woman Toril Moi shows how Simone de Beauvoir became Simone de Beauvoir, the leading feminist thinker and emblematic intellectual woman of the twentieth century. Blending biography with literary criticism, feminist theory, and historical and social analysis, this book provides a completely original analysis of Beauvoir''s education and formation as an intellectual.In The Second Sex, Beauvoir shows that we constantly make something of what the world tries to make of us. By reconstructing the social and political world in which Beauvoir became the author of The Second Sex, and by showing how Beauvoir reacted to the pressures of that world, Moi applies Beauvoir''s ideas to Beauvoir''s own life. Ranging from an investigation of French educational institutions to reflections on the relationship between freedom and flirtation, this book uncovers the conflicts and difficulties of an intellectual woman in the middle of the twentieth century. Trade ReviewReview from previous edition This book makes us discover a Beauvoir analysed with sympathy but without complaisance. A worthy Beauvoir emerges: not the super-woman one so often hears about, but a complex, suffering woman who finds it hard to be different except in her jealousy and sorrow. But, what strength and what courage! She opened the way, and this book does her justice. * Julia Kristeva *Sympathetic and critical, Moi's impassioned study never loses sight of the difficulty of Beauvoir's intellectual and personal journey through her life, it will send its readers back to Beauvoir's writings with a new sense of political necessity and possibility for women. * Professor Jacqueline Rose, University of London *a landmark study on Simone de Beauvoir...a pivotal work for study of Beauvoir's autobiographical oeuvre * Susan Bainbridge, Modern and Contemporary France *Moi's brilliant analysis of her subject is de Beauvoir criticism at its very best, demonstrating that the richly stimulating text of Simone de Beauvoir deserves to be widely and well read. * Ursula Tidd, THES *Table of ContentsPART I ; PART II ; PART III

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis affordable, compact edition, designed specially for use in university courses, consists of two of the most celebrated essays from Toril Moi''s highly-acclaimed What Is a Woman?What is a woman? Does it make sense to think of a woman as the combination of sex and gender? Is ''I am a woman'' the same kind of declaration as ''I am a man''? What does it mean to speak ''as a woman''? In these essays Moi rethinks the contribution of Simone de Beauvoir to feminist theory, and shows that The Second Sex, properly read, offers inspiring solutions to urgent contemporary problems. By suggesting that we think of the body as a situation, the first essay offers a serious challenge to dominant poststructuralist theories of sex and gender. The second essay investigates the place of the personal in theory. What is the status of references to personal experiences, or to one''s person (one''s race, sex, sexuality, ethnicity, nationality) in theoretical debates? Both essays provide, in vivid and compelTrade ReviewIn these two essays Moi goes beyond her previous writings and shows the reader in great detail how Beauvoir can help us get past the stagnation that has come to characterize feminist theory. They provide, in vivid and compelling detail, a "third way" for feminism. * Nancy Bauer, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Tufts University *Each of the two chapters offers a very well-constructed argument that clarifies an important issue in contemporary feminism. Toril Moi has a very high public profile, and the quality of these essays shows her reputation is based on substance. * Emily R. Grosholz, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Pennsylvania State University *These two essays have the stature of classics, as theoretical contributions to feminist theory and women's studies more generally. The brilliance of these essays, and why they remain so inspirational, is that they offer not only a critique of the philosophical situation of women, but also offer a philosophical path forward out of that situation. * Carla A. Hesse, Professor of History, University of California, Berkeley *These essays have been very important in shaping my own thinking on a wide variety of subjects. Most importantly, they establish Simone de Beauvoir as a voice who engages the central questions of gender, culture, and society with which we wrestle today. * Linda K. Kerber, May Brodbeck Professor in the Liberal Arts and Professor of History, University of Iowa *These essays remain very timely and original interventions in two major problem areas of feminist theory, first the "sex/gender" debate and second the place of the "personal" in philosophical and theoretical thinking. Moi's work is important in its own right and her voice and theoretical positions entirely original; at the same time, because her writing is so rigorous and lucidly analytical, these interventions are immensely useful for students trying to find their way through feminist theory. * Diana Knight, Professor of French, University of Nottingham *Moi's two essays constitute major, original interventions into key debates in feminist theory. They are also accessibly and clearly written. * Sonia Kruks, Robert S. Danforth Professor of Politics, Oberlin College *Toril Moi's work is of central importance to the history of feminist theory and feminist literary criticism, and her thoughtful engagement with Simone de Beauvoir has been cited by scholars as the most important work on that founding feminist author to date. * Robyn Wiegman, Margaret Taylor Smith Director of Women's Studies, Duke University *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. What Is a Woman? Sex, Gender, and the Body in Feminist Theory ; 2. 'I Am a Woman': The Personal and the Philosophical

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe aim of this volume is to open up reflection on the nature of vulnerability, the responsibilities owed to the vulnerable, who bears these responsibilities, and how they are best fulfilled. In canvassing responses to these questions, the contributors engage with a range of ethical traditions and with issues in contemporary political philosophy and bioethics. Some essays in the volume explore the connections between vulnerability, autonomy, dignity, and justice. Other essays engage with a feminist ethics of care to articulate the relationship between vulnerability, dependence, and care. These theoretical approaches are complemented by detailed examination of vulnerability in specific contexts, including disability; responsibilities to children; intergenerational justice; and care of the elderly. The essays thus address fundamental questions concerning our moral duties to each other as individuals and as citizens. Contributing significantly to the development of an ethics of vulnerability, this volume opens up promising avenues for future research in feminist philosophy, moral and political philosophy, and bioethics.Trade ReviewVulnerability is a notable volume for multiple reasons, including the variety of philosophical perspectives it contains, the caliber of its contributors, and the rigor of the essays themselves. The value of the collection is evident from the very start, which is to say, from the introduction. Introductions to edited volumes rarely elicit comment, as they tend to function primarily as a preview of coming attractions. In this instance, however, editors Catriona Mackenzie, Wendy Rogers, and Susan Dodds demonstrate just how excellent and useful an introduction can be, offering one that is simply not to be missed. * Hypatia Reviews Online *Happily, the essays in this volume canvas a range of ways in which being (or appearing to be) vulnerable bears on a range of other important topics, such as agency, autonomy, care, competence, dependence, discrimination, justice, obligation, respect, responsibility, rights, and risk. Thus, those who read this book will be rewarded with a wealth of stimulating ideas, not only on what human vulnerability is, but also on what should be done about it. * Australasian Journal of Philosophy *Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors ; Acknowledgments ; Introduction: What Is Vulnerability and Why Does It Matter for Moral Theory? ; Catriona Mackenzie, Wendy Rogers, Susan Dodds ; Part I: Reflections on Vulnerability ; 1. The Importance of Relational Autonomy and Capabilities for an Ethics of Vulnerability ; Catriona Mackenzie ; 2. Vulnerability and Bioethics ; Wendy Rogers ; 3. The Role of Vulnerability in Kantian Ethics ; Paul Formosa ; 4. Moral Vulnerability and the Task of Reparations ; Margaret Urban Walker ; 5. Autonomy and Vulnerability Entwined ; Joel Anderson ; 6. Being in Time: Ethics and Temporal Vulnerability ; Janna Thompson ; Part II: Vulnerability, Dependency and Care ; 7. Dependence, care and vulnerability ; Susan Dodds ; 8. Disability and Vulnerability: on Bodies, Dependence and Power ; Jackie Leach Scully ; 9. Moral Responsibility for Coerced Wrongdoing: the Case of Abused Women Who "Fail to Protect" Their Children ; Marilyn Friedman ; 10. Parental Values and Children's Vulnerability ; Mianna Lotz ; 11. Children, Vulnerability, and Emotional Harm ; Amy Mullin ; 12. Vulnerability and Aging in the Context of Care ; Rosemarie Tong

Read more less