Gender studies: women and girls Books

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Book SynopsisAnne Aly, Liz Byrski, Sarah Drummond, Mehreen Faruqi, Goldie Goldbloom, Krissy Kneen, Jeanine Leane, Brigid Lowry and Pat Mamanyjun Torres are among fifteen voices recounting what it is like to be a woman on the other side of 40. These are stories of identity and survival, and a celebration of getting older and wiser, and becoming more certain of who you are and where you want to be.

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Book SynopsisGeared toward African American parents, this handbook offers more than 50 tips on successfully guiding girls into womanhood and helping them avoid common pitfalls. The book looks at topics such as education, the definition of beauty, peer pressure, social media, dating, career development, music, television, role models, and the importance of paternal participation to help parents learn and understand how to effectively support their daughters.

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Book SynopsisSpanning four seasons, 10 countries, three teaching jobs, and countless buses, Patagonian Road chronicles Kate McCahill’s solo journey from Guatemala to Argentina. In her struggles with language, romance, culture, service, and homesickness, she personifies a growing culture of women for whom travel is not a path to love but to meaningful work, rare inspiration, and profound self-discovery. Following Paul Theroux's route from his 1979 travelogue, McCahill transports the reader from a classroom in a Quito barrio to a dingy room in an El Salvadorian brothel, and from the neighborhoods of Buenos Aires to the heights of the Peruvian Andes. A testament to courage, solitude, and the rewards of taking risks, Patagonian Road proves that discovery, clarity, and simplicity remain possible in the 21st century, and that travel holds an enduring capacity to transform.Trade Review"Kate McCahill is a blues traveler, singing for citizens of the world who have no public voice. She depicts beauty within despair, allowing us to hear a comforting melody in an unsettling breeze and see the gorgeous colors within a bruise. If a feeling of loneliness pervades her essays, so do feelings of wonder and pleasure. It's simply impossible not to share her joyful and frequently bewildering sensations of travel." --Sascha Feinstein, author, Black Pearls"Oh, what a stunning and gorgeous book this is, and one I can't wait to gift my daughter when she's ready. The story of a young woman's year-long trip through the long and winding highways, foot-paths, city streets and dusty back roads of Central and South America, Patagonian Road reminded me of my own journeys and made me pine for the ones I never had. It also expanded my understanding of what the journey is--McCahill's rich and vivid and complex tapestry of landscape, culture, geography, ecology, and economics, shows us, lyrically and with great tenderness, how the individual is part and parcel of a much larger whole, and how we can't find ourselves without finding the world outside ourselves. I lived and breathed every place this book touched down and when I turned the last page my heart ached for the journey's end." --Robin MacArthur, author, Half Wild: Stories"Elegantly written and beautifully observed, McCahill's journey takes her across mountains and cities, into the reaches of culture and history, and into the self. Much of this is experienced from the seat of a bus, surrounded by a sea of humanity, both part of and an observer of the passing scene. A love affair is lost, new ways of being are found, and the adventurous McCahill turns herself not just not an intrepid traveler but into a fearless writer. By turns charming, scary, vivid, and reflective--Flung is a treat for the reader who need not buy a ticket but only open its pages to be transported." --Miriam Sagan, author, Black Rainbow and Searching for a Mustard Seed: One Young Widow's Unconventional Story"With her Lonely Planet guide in one hand and Paul Theroux in the other, Kate McCahill backpacks from Guatemala to Buenos Aires losing love and finding a whirlwind assortment of ex-pats, aid workers, travel junkies, and locals. Patagonian Road is a millennial's adventure story, roughing it in the age of Skype and cell phones, through a Latin America still in recovery from decades of revolution, American meddling, and authoritarian misrule." --Douglas Glover, author and editor, Numéro Cinq"Vivid . . . insightful . . . A beautiful debut." Kirstin Valdez Quade, author, Night at the Fiestas"A compelling addition to the growing genre of solo travelogues by women who end their journeys stronger, more self-aware, and more connected to the world." Emily Dziuban, Booklist"This welcome (and timely) call to explore foreign borders as well as our own comfort zones is highly recommended." Benjamin Malczewski, Library Journal

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Book SynopsisIn 1990, the groundbreaking television series Twin Peaks, co-created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, opened with a murder mystery when a beautiful homecoming queen, wrapped in plastic, washed up on a cold and rocky beach. Laura Palmer’s character began as a plot device that triggered a small town to face its fractured self. But after three seasons and a film, Laura Palmer is no longer just a plot device. Instead of solely focusing on the murderer, like most traditional storytelling at the time, the audience gets to know the victim, a complex young woman who explores her sexuality and endures incredible abuse. Laura’s Ghost: Women Speak About Twin Peaks is an examination of Laura Palmer’s legacy on the 30th anniversary of Twin Peaks. Palmer’s character was one of the few frank and horrific representations of sexual abuse victims which did not diminish the strength and complexity of the victim. Sheryl Lee, who played Laura Palmer, discusses the challenges of the role and how it has impacted herself as well as women she has met over the years, many of whom are survivors of sexual abuse. The role demanded Lee give all of her vulnerability as an actor to this role. This role is one she cannot escape, one with which she will forever be identified. It’s a role that still haunts her today. For many women, this character represents them. Here was a woman who was not just a victim, but who was owning her sexuality as well—a woman coming into her own and discovering her sources of power. This book is a reckoning in which women from the show and community speak about grief, mischief, humor, sexuality, strength, weakness, wickedness, and survival.Trade Review"Scholars looking for pop-culture references regarding abuse, women's issues, and feminist theories will be interested, and Laura's Ghost might just be a must-read for any true Twin Peaks fan." -- Melissa Minsker, Book List"Some of the women in the book (including the author) speak of their own histories of trauma, and speak of the catharsis they found in Laura's story. They may not have encountered the evil spirits that inhabit Lynch's imagined Pacific Northwest, but they've experienced the trauma." -- Kurt Gottschalk, Red Hook Star"The overarching consensus of the contributors that Stallings features in Laura's Ghost is that Laura's story has given visibility to women who have endured sexual abuse and assault. For many, their understanding of Laura as an inspirational figure is rooted in their own encounters with gender-based violence." -- Sophia Stewart, Los Angeles Books Review

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